Red was the color of his blood flowing thinAnd I realized how appropriate the passive voice in the last line is - "it was seen by him" rather than "he saw it." It's an interesting use of passive voice because it illustrates that the "he" referenced is no longer capable of action. Because he's dead, he can no longer be active and the verb has to change voices accordingly.
Pallid white was the color of his lifeless skin
Blue was the color of the morning sky
He saw looking up from the ground where he died
It was the last thing ever seen by him
Saturday, June 21, 2014
The Association's "Requiem for the Masses"
I was thinking about the Association's "Requiem for the Masses" this morning, specifically the lines:
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Musical Crosses
From February through April, I was reading John Eliot Gardiner's Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven. In Chapter 5: The Mechanics of Faith, Gardiner briefly mentions how Bach inserted crosses via the shape of the notes in his music.
In church to-day, I realized that these musical crosses are also in some of the music in the Divine Service, Setting Three (from the Lutheran Service Book). They may be in some of the other settings and liturgies too, but these are the two I noticed:
This might just be a coincidence, but I still think it's really interesting. Especially considering that I've probably sung these pieces dozens if not hundreds of times, and it was only now, after reading Gardiner's book, that I found the sign of the cross in them.
 |
| From Gardiner's Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven |
In church to-day, I realized that these musical crosses are also in some of the music in the Divine Service, Setting Three (from the Lutheran Service Book). They may be in some of the other settings and liturgies too, but these are the two I noticed:
 |
| In the Sanctus |
 |
| In the Nunc Dimittis |
---&---
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Cycles
A few months ago, I wrote a post about how I felt about guitar, which at the time was not very good. But reading what I wrote, now I feel kind of embarrassed by it. Especially the part when I said, "I'm starting to feel that while I may not know how to employ every technique perfectly, I at least know about them all." I tried to avoid sounding arrogant by saying that I'm not a perfect player, but even with that admission, it still seems arrogant to me.
So I guess part of the reason for this post is to apologize for how pompous I sound in that other one. Some of what I said I do still stand by though. Like how I'm still bothered by what I perceive the public perception of guitarists to be. But what I've realized is that it's my own problem that I'm bothered by that. I suppose I just over-think my role as a guitarist and ponder the larger issue of image when I should just be focusing on what I play and how well I play it.
But mostly I'm writing this post to say that I've actually been having fun playing guitar again lately. For my FAWM album, I started to get into chord voicings. I had first gotten into chord inversions during 50/90 last year, but back then, I was just finger-picking everything. For FAWM, I was strumming inverted chords, which made a huge difference, not only in overall sound but also in what types of chords I can play. During FAWM, I learned how to play minor elevenths, and just yester-day, I figured out how to play minor ninths. Also significant is that I started using a pick and my other fingers simultaneously. A few years ago, I saw Greg Lake doing this in a video of "The Sage" from ELP's Pictures at an Exhibition. I think I tried it, but it was really difficult at the time, and I thought I would never be able to do it. And now I'm doing it, and it's loads of fun.
That other post is just one that I wrote when I was sort of stagnating in pushing my musical horizons (that sounds like a cliché). I even acknowledged this cycle in that post, but I was too arrogant or pompous or something to realize that, by combining things I already knew, there was still more that I could learn. I am still sort of frustrated that I'm so much better at guitar than I am at keyboard instruments, but I suppose I just have to practise. I've been playing guitar over five years now, and keyboard instruments only two or three and I've not been practising them as much as I've been practising guitar. I just have to put the time in.
So I guess part of the reason for this post is to apologize for how pompous I sound in that other one. Some of what I said I do still stand by though. Like how I'm still bothered by what I perceive the public perception of guitarists to be. But what I've realized is that it's my own problem that I'm bothered by that. I suppose I just over-think my role as a guitarist and ponder the larger issue of image when I should just be focusing on what I play and how well I play it.
But mostly I'm writing this post to say that I've actually been having fun playing guitar again lately. For my FAWM album, I started to get into chord voicings. I had first gotten into chord inversions during 50/90 last year, but back then, I was just finger-picking everything. For FAWM, I was strumming inverted chords, which made a huge difference, not only in overall sound but also in what types of chords I can play. During FAWM, I learned how to play minor elevenths, and just yester-day, I figured out how to play minor ninths. Also significant is that I started using a pick and my other fingers simultaneously. A few years ago, I saw Greg Lake doing this in a video of "The Sage" from ELP's Pictures at an Exhibition. I think I tried it, but it was really difficult at the time, and I thought I would never be able to do it. And now I'm doing it, and it's loads of fun.
That other post is just one that I wrote when I was sort of stagnating in pushing my musical horizons (that sounds like a cliché). I even acknowledged this cycle in that post, but I was too arrogant or pompous or something to realize that, by combining things I already knew, there was still more that I could learn. I am still sort of frustrated that I'm so much better at guitar than I am at keyboard instruments, but I suppose I just have to practise. I've been playing guitar over five years now, and keyboard instruments only two or three and I've not been practising them as much as I've been practising guitar. I just have to put the time in.
---&---
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Pink Moon
I spent a majority of last year reading John Keats' complete poetry. (Incidentally, I also have a blog where I talk about literary things.) In September, I read "The Castle Builder" and noticed that two consecutive lines end with "pink" and "moon."
I think it's too much of a coincidence that both the phrase "pink moon" and the idea of writing on the wall would appear in both Keats' poem and Drake's song, so I'm pretty sure that "Pink Moon" comes from "The Castle Builder."
To-night I'll have my friar - let me think
About my room, - I'll have it in the pink;
It should be rich and sombre, and the moon,
Just in its mid-life in the midst of June,
Should look thro' four large windows and display
Clear, but for gold-fish vases in the way,
Their glassy diamonding on Turkish floor
Because I'd heard he had liked the Romantic poets, I was suspicious that this is where Nick Drake got the phrase "pink moon" that he used for both a song and an album, but I didn't really have a way to prove that. But yester-day, I looked up the lyrics for "Pink Moon."- John Keats - "The Castle Builder" (lines 24-30)
Saw it written and I saw it sayThe "saw it written" gave me reason to say that I'm rather confident that Nick Drake did indeed take the phrase "pink moon" from the line-ending words of Keats' poem. Later in the poem, Keats writes, "In letters raven-sombre, you may trace / Old 'Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.'" (lines 53-55) These are the words that are written on the wall in Daniel 5 that - once interpreted by Daniel - tell Belshazzar that his kingdom will be given to the Medes and the Persians. They're also words that inspired the phrase "the writing on the wall." Drake's "saw it written" has the same idea as "the writing on the wall." Also, the definitive declaration that Belshazzar's kingdom will be given to the Medes and the Persians bears some resemblance to Drake's "Pink moon gonna get ye all." Neither of these are things that can be avoided.
Pink moon is on its way
And none of you stand so tall
Pink moon gonna get ye all
And it's a pink moon
I think it's too much of a coincidence that both the phrase "pink moon" and the idea of writing on the wall would appear in both Keats' poem and Drake's song, so I'm pretty sure that "Pink Moon" comes from "The Castle Builder."
---&---
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Collection Audit Update
Every other year since 2008, I've listened to all of the music in my collection. When I did this in 2012, I had a few thoughts and wrote a few short posts about it, so I figured that I would put more effort into that aspect of the project this year and started an-other tumblr where I could catalogue the thoughts I had. I'm not very far into the project yet (I'm going alphabetically by album [with some exception], and I'm about a fifth of the way through the Bs), but I've written more posts than I thought I would. I went back and looked at some of the posts I wrote two years ago, and I was surprised by how simple they are. I wrote a post about instrumentation in some of the Carpenters' songs and an-other one on how I was listening to Christmas music out-of-season. Neither of which are very complex (and not even that interesting).
This year, I've already talked about record primacy, structural paradigms, allusions, musical impressionism, and studio effects. While I am still noticing a lot of instruments that I had failed to notice previously, I'm also thinking about stuff that's way more complex than just instrumentation.
The thing is... I'm not sure what I should attribute this to. Last year, I gave myself a lot of musical prescriptions in which I would listen to particular albums or pieces daily, weekly, or monthly. That certainly made me more familiar with particular works, which would allow me not only to think about those pieces more deeply but also to compare elements of those particular pieces to other works. The post I recently wrote about Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 is an example of this. I noticed that it uses the same sort of parallel opening and ending as does the Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed (except, of course, that Beethoven used it earlier). Because I listened to Days of Future Passed every week last year, I noticed what the Moody Blues had done, so it was easier to see that once I encountered it somewhere else. I was already cognizant of that sort of paradigm.
Aside from all of that, I've been thinking about musical structures and studio effects and such without any referent because I've been putting more effort into making my own music. Because I've been thinking about how I should structure my songs and what sort of instrumentation I want to use and what sort of effect I want to have (both in the sense of what I want the listener to experience and what sort of studio techniques I want to use in order to achieve that), I've been paying more attention to how other musicians have done it so that I have something on which I can base my own ideas. I wrote a post about the stereo effects in Jefferson Airplane's After Bathing at Baxter's around the same time that I was thinking about how I could use stereo in different ways. I was predisposed to notice stereo effects because I'd been thinking about them before listening to that album.
Regardless of why I'm having more thoughts (and more in-depth thoughts) about music, I'm glad that I am. Not only is it an-other reason to love the music I already love, but it also has me thinking about music a lot more, which will hopefully make me a better musician.
This year, I've already talked about record primacy, structural paradigms, allusions, musical impressionism, and studio effects. While I am still noticing a lot of instruments that I had failed to notice previously, I'm also thinking about stuff that's way more complex than just instrumentation.
The thing is... I'm not sure what I should attribute this to. Last year, I gave myself a lot of musical prescriptions in which I would listen to particular albums or pieces daily, weekly, or monthly. That certainly made me more familiar with particular works, which would allow me not only to think about those pieces more deeply but also to compare elements of those particular pieces to other works. The post I recently wrote about Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 is an example of this. I noticed that it uses the same sort of parallel opening and ending as does the Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed (except, of course, that Beethoven used it earlier). Because I listened to Days of Future Passed every week last year, I noticed what the Moody Blues had done, so it was easier to see that once I encountered it somewhere else. I was already cognizant of that sort of paradigm.
Aside from all of that, I've been thinking about musical structures and studio effects and such without any referent because I've been putting more effort into making my own music. Because I've been thinking about how I should structure my songs and what sort of instrumentation I want to use and what sort of effect I want to have (both in the sense of what I want the listener to experience and what sort of studio techniques I want to use in order to achieve that), I've been paying more attention to how other musicians have done it so that I have something on which I can base my own ideas. I wrote a post about the stereo effects in Jefferson Airplane's After Bathing at Baxter's around the same time that I was thinking about how I could use stereo in different ways. I was predisposed to notice stereo effects because I'd been thinking about them before listening to that album.
Regardless of why I'm having more thoughts (and more in-depth thoughts) about music, I'm glad that I am. Not only is it an-other reason to love the music I already love, but it also has me thinking about music a lot more, which will hopefully make me a better musician.
---&---
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Fifth Anniversary
To-day marks five years of playing guitar. I won't say too much about that because everything I would say is in the post I wrote last year. Really, the only thing that's changed is that I've learned more about guitar chord inversions.
In order to mark this anniversary, I recorded the first song that I learned to play - Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'." When I learned how to play it, I actually had not heard Dylan's original version; I was going off Peter, Paul, and Mary's version, so my version follows their arrangement.
In order to mark this anniversary, I recorded the first song that I learned to play - Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'." When I learned how to play it, I actually had not heard Dylan's original version; I was going off Peter, Paul, and Mary's version, so my version follows their arrangement.
---&---
Friday, January 31, 2014
FAWM 2014 Goals
I had thought I'd written a post like this for FAWM last year, but I hadn't even started this blog yet when FAWM 2013 started.
First things first: February Album Writing Month is the challenge to write fourteen songs in the twenty-eight days of February. I've been doing this since 2010. Technically, I've won every year, but for the first two years, that winning included my writing some terrible lyrics without music and some not-very-interesting instrumentals. So I feel I deserve credit only for 2012 and 2013.
For FAWM 2013, I gave myself the additional challenge to not use any string instruments. This forced me into using other instruments and getting better at them. I became more familiar with keyboard instruments, and I started using harmonica in my songs. I considered doing something similar for FAWM this year and not use guitar, but I don't think I'm up for that challenge yet. And since I'm already constricting myself from electric instruments until 1 July, I wouldn't be left with too many instruments to use.
I do have some instrumental aspirations though. I've been relearning trombone for awhile, and I'd like to use that in some more of my songs. I used it in one song for FAWM last year, but I replaced it with melodica when I re-recorded it. I'd like to use it a lot more and have it remain a significant feature. I'd also like to use more melodica. I'm sure there will be things I want to do on trombone that my limited skills won't allow me to do, but I could probably play them on melodica. While I'm not prohibiting myself from guitar, I'd like to keep it in the background and not emphasize it. At the most, I'm going to use it only for chordal accompaniment. If the other parts stand up by themselves, I may even remove that.
I've also been playing with the idea of writings songs that aren't so dependent upon repetition. In fact, I think there was previously a challenge for this in either FAWM or 50/90 where you write a song without any repeats. I sort of doubt I'll be able to do that for every single song, but I'd like to step out of easily-predictable formulae for at least a few songs.
First things first: February Album Writing Month is the challenge to write fourteen songs in the twenty-eight days of February. I've been doing this since 2010. Technically, I've won every year, but for the first two years, that winning included my writing some terrible lyrics without music and some not-very-interesting instrumentals. So I feel I deserve credit only for 2012 and 2013.
For FAWM 2013, I gave myself the additional challenge to not use any string instruments. This forced me into using other instruments and getting better at them. I became more familiar with keyboard instruments, and I started using harmonica in my songs. I considered doing something similar for FAWM this year and not use guitar, but I don't think I'm up for that challenge yet. And since I'm already constricting myself from electric instruments until 1 July, I wouldn't be left with too many instruments to use.
I do have some instrumental aspirations though. I've been relearning trombone for awhile, and I'd like to use that in some more of my songs. I used it in one song for FAWM last year, but I replaced it with melodica when I re-recorded it. I'd like to use it a lot more and have it remain a significant feature. I'd also like to use more melodica. I'm sure there will be things I want to do on trombone that my limited skills won't allow me to do, but I could probably play them on melodica. While I'm not prohibiting myself from guitar, I'd like to keep it in the background and not emphasize it. At the most, I'm going to use it only for chordal accompaniment. If the other parts stand up by themselves, I may even remove that.
I've also been playing with the idea of writings songs that aren't so dependent upon repetition. In fact, I think there was previously a challenge for this in either FAWM or 50/90 where you write a song without any repeats. I sort of doubt I'll be able to do that for every single song, but I'd like to step out of easily-predictable formulae for at least a few songs.
---&---
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Resolution Revision
A few years ago, I had the idea to revisit my New Year's Resolutions a month after I made them. That way, I could see which ones were working and either revise them or just cut my losses. Because musical projects are what have replaced my New Year's Resolutions, those are what I'm looking at now.
I still like all of the projects I'm doing; I just need to revise a few things about them.
In regards to my project of listening to all of the music in my collection: I think I'm going to make a new rule for this year (although I may not follow it after this year) - after I listen to something once, I can't go back to listen to it. The idea behind this is that if I can't go back to listen to things I've already listened to, I'll get through everything faster. Also, once I get through everything, I'll have to listen to all of the CDs that I haven't added to my collection yet. I might not follow this very strictly though because sometimes I just really want to listen to something and sometimes I listen to albums to write posts about them.
In regards to using only acoustic instruments for the first half of the year: I already made exceptions for covers and the Verulam Cover Project, but I think I need to make an exception for new recordings of songs I've already written. I have an idea for an album that I'd like to release sometime in May or June, and I have some of the songs written already. The thing is that some of them have parts I played on instruments that would be exempted if I strictly hold to the only-acoustic-instruments rule, and I'm not satisfied with what versions I have now. So I can't re-record those if I hold fast to using only acoustic instruments.
Initially, I had looked at this project as a total ban - aside from the exceptions that I made - but I think I do need to allow myself time to practise electric instruments even if I don't use them for new songs that I write. Otherwise, I'll go for months without playing bass or whatever, and then - once I do start playing again - I'll have to make up for a lot of lost time. So I need to practise in order to maintain my abilities.
I still like all of the projects I'm doing; I just need to revise a few things about them.
In regards to my project of listening to all of the music in my collection: I think I'm going to make a new rule for this year (although I may not follow it after this year) - after I listen to something once, I can't go back to listen to it. The idea behind this is that if I can't go back to listen to things I've already listened to, I'll get through everything faster. Also, once I get through everything, I'll have to listen to all of the CDs that I haven't added to my collection yet. I might not follow this very strictly though because sometimes I just really want to listen to something and sometimes I listen to albums to write posts about them.
In regards to using only acoustic instruments for the first half of the year: I already made exceptions for covers and the Verulam Cover Project, but I think I need to make an exception for new recordings of songs I've already written. I have an idea for an album that I'd like to release sometime in May or June, and I have some of the songs written already. The thing is that some of them have parts I played on instruments that would be exempted if I strictly hold to the only-acoustic-instruments rule, and I'm not satisfied with what versions I have now. So I can't re-record those if I hold fast to using only acoustic instruments.
Initially, I had looked at this project as a total ban - aside from the exceptions that I made - but I think I do need to allow myself time to practise electric instruments even if I don't use them for new songs that I write. Otherwise, I'll go for months without playing bass or whatever, and then - once I do start playing again - I'll have to make up for a lot of lost time. So I need to practise in order to maintain my abilities.
---&---
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
2014 Musical Projects
Last year, I effectively made the transition from making New Years Resolutions to making musical goals, which is a trend I'll be continuing this year and probably for all of the years to come.
So here are my musical goals for this year. Most of them are in the form of musical projects:
So here are my musical goals for this year. Most of them are in the form of musical projects:
- Doing February Album Writing Month and 50/90 again. I've done them every year since 2010, and I can't imagine not doing them. Currently, I don't have any specific plans for either, but that may change as they get closer. I've been playing around with the idea of not using guitar for FAWM like I did last year, but I haven't been able to fully convince myself to do it yet.
- Continue Hymnal Habitation. I started this project at the end of 2012 in an effort to re-familiarize myself with musical notation. Every week, I record a hymn. I chose hymns because I'm fairly familiar with most of the melodies (which makes reading the notation easier), and I have a few hymnals (which makes acquiring notation easy). I've gotten better at reading notation, but I'm still not as good as I'd like to be, so I'm going to continue the project. And even aside from the goal of familiarizing myself with musical notation, the project gives me a reason to actually employ that skill and a reason to consistently use my mandolin.
- I'll also be continuing the Verulam Cover Project - my foolhardy attempt to learn all of the songs by the Zombies and the other groups that the members formed after their break-up (so far, I've expanded this to include only Argent and Colin Blunstone's solo albums).
- Because this year is an even year, I'll be listening to all of the music in my collection again. I've done this every other year since 2008. This year, however, I finally have a name for it: Collection Audit. I'll probably write a few posts about this throughout the year. In many cases, I end up discovering new things about music I haven't heard for a long time or about music that I'm not very familiar with yet. Currently, I have 1240 albums, so - in order to get through them all - I have to listen to about four albums everyday. Last time, I think it was only three albums a day, and I finished in August, so I shouldn't have any problem with this.
- My big project for 2014 is limiting myself to only acoustic instruments for half of the year. I'll do this until 1 July, when I'll add only my electric twelve-string guitar. Fifty years ago, it was 1964, and when the Beatles came to America, they started a trend in electrifying folk music. I'd like to temporarily remove that influence and stick to acoustic instruments for a year. I've made a concession for my electric twelve-string though. Partially because I haven't used it very much and would like to rectify that and partially because of the influence of Roger McGuinn (and to some degree Paul Atkinson - my twelve-string matches the one he had). I'm interested to see how the Collection Audit affects this project. I've been imagining my hearing something done with electrified instruments and then trying to copy it only with acoustic ones, but I'm not sure if that will actually happen. I should also note that the acoustic limitation does not apply to the Verulam Cover Project or any covers that I do (usually when I do covers, I try to stay faithful to the original instrumentation); it applies only to what I write.
I'd like to release some more music too. Currently, I have ideas for two albums that I'd like to release before the year is over, but I'm not going to make any promises.
In any case, I'll keep working on music and continually endeavor to get better at it. I get more excited about music and all its various facets than I do anything else.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
2013 Retrospective
When I think of what musical stuff I did this year, I feel that while I've certainly progressed, I've only started to really do stuff. Mostly, this is in terms of writing and engineering. During 50/90 this year, I wrote two pieces that - if they aren't fugues by definition - certainly have some fugue elements in them and an-other piece that's sort of close to a string quartet. And since I've been recording at least two songs a week, I've become more familiar with Cubase. I've been writing more complex pieces, and I'm getting better at recording them.
At the beginning of the year, I gave myself four goals - although I don't think I ever really announced one.
At the beginning of the year, I gave myself four goals - although I don't think I ever really announced one.
- Note Continuity - every song I recorded would start on at least one of the notes that the previous song ended on. I actually did accomplish this, but now that I have, I think it's sort of a stupid idea. As far as sequencing, I think it has its merits (and I'm working on a project that employs it), but it gets sort of frustrating when it's the factor that dictates what song you'll record next.
- Alternate Audio - because I can't think of any good music video ideas and wouldn't have the means to do them anyway, I just film myself playing the parts at the same time that I record them. I had the idea to take the audio that the camera picks up and use it to do an alternate mix of the song. This lasted until about mid-April. Like Note Continuity, I think it's an interesting idea, but this wasn't the right context for it. Especially since a lot of the songs I was recording at that time included only one or two instruments.
- Complex production - I had had the idea to write complex arrangements for my songs, but I'm not sure this goal ever really got off the ground. Some of the songs I recorded this year would apply, but I certainly wouldn't say that I achieved this goal with everything I did this year.
- Post two songs a week - this I actually did, as long as you don't count this last week of December (it's only three days!). Every week, I posted a regular song on my YouTube channel (although many I took down after I re-did the song), and I posted a hymn for Hymnal Habitation on my tumblr.
While it wasn't as broad a goal as the four above, for FAWM this year, I decided to forgo using any string instruments. A lot of the songs I wrote aren't the best, but it was a good experience, and I learned more about keyboard instruments. I even started using harmonica and trombone in my songs. I started playing around with open D tuning in January and really got into it in starting in June, and during 50/90, I started experimenting with slide guitar. Using open D tuning also led me to experiment with inverting guitar chords and playing around with chord voicings.
I'll have an-other post that details my musical goals for 2014 (most of those goals are projects), but I do want to talk a bit about posting two songs a week. I feel it helped a lot as far as my finding my way around production. If you do something for long enough, eventually, you'll start to get better at it, and I feel that was my experience. But it's also rather draining (the video element in particular is time-consuming), so I won't be doing it next year. I'll still be doing Hymnal Habitation weekly, and I'm going to try to post videos with some frequency.
Along with all of the music that I created this year, I also listened to a lot. I even started a blog to catalogue (almost) everything that I listen to. With one exception, I listened to the Zombies' Odessey and Oracle every Monday, and I listened to the Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed every Tuesday. I listened to all of the Funk & Wagnalls' Family Library of Great Music LPs in May. With one few exception, I listened to all of my Zombies albums every week in June, all of my Colin Blunstone albums every week in July, and all of my Argent albums every week in August. And from around April to the end of September, I had particular albums that I listened to every day of the week.
I've been getting into more classical music too. At various points in the year, I was listening to a lot of Vivaldi, Bach, Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Saint-Saëns. I even learned a bit of Schubert's Octet in F major D. 803 and Mendelssohn's String Quartet in F minor No. 6.
And I started "auditing" music classes by watching all of the video recordings of lectures that various universities have posted. I went through all of Yale's MUS 112, and I have about a third left of Missouri State University's MUS 241.
I still haven't been getting much attention in what I've been doing; I released three EPs and two singles this year (some of them for free), but no one's bought any. Still, I feel like I'm getting closer to actually achieving something with my music aside from just personal satisfaction.
Along with all of the music that I created this year, I also listened to a lot. I even started a blog to catalogue (almost) everything that I listen to. With one exception, I listened to the Zombies' Odessey and Oracle every Monday, and I listened to the Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed every Tuesday. I listened to all of the Funk & Wagnalls' Family Library of Great Music LPs in May. With one few exception, I listened to all of my Zombies albums every week in June, all of my Colin Blunstone albums every week in July, and all of my Argent albums every week in August. And from around April to the end of September, I had particular albums that I listened to every day of the week.
I've been getting into more classical music too. At various points in the year, I was listening to a lot of Vivaldi, Bach, Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Saint-Saëns. I even learned a bit of Schubert's Octet in F major D. 803 and Mendelssohn's String Quartet in F minor No. 6.
And I started "auditing" music classes by watching all of the video recordings of lectures that various universities have posted. I went through all of Yale's MUS 112, and I have about a third left of Missouri State University's MUS 241.
I still haven't been getting much attention in what I've been doing; I released three EPs and two singles this year (some of them for free), but no one's bought any. Still, I feel like I'm getting closer to actually achieving something with my music aside from just personal satisfaction.
---&---
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Classical Music Is Not for Relaxing
Finals week is next week, so this week has been mostly review week. In my history class to-day, my professor told us to work on our study guides, and he turned on some classical music station on Pandora. Near the end of class, he asked if it helped. I didn't hear if anyone answered, although I guess somebody must have said something because then my professor said that that's why classical music is good to study to - you don't know any of the songs and you can't sing along. Of the pieces that were played, the only one I was even sort of familiar with was the fourth movement of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5 (I had to listen to the whole symphony afterwards to find what specific movement it was, which was only the second time I've heard the whole symphony).
I don't think he's wrong about people's not being familiar with classical music, but I sort of want him to be. Not because I want to see his being wrong but because people should be familiar with classical music. Because it's great.
Recently, I've started to get sort of annoyed with this premise - that classical music is good only for studying or relaxing. I think it's a stupid view. People didn't write this music just so that you would have something to listen to in the background while you're studying for your finals. Relaxation probably wasn't the highest priority they had either.
This may be where my rôle as a writer/composer supersedes my rôle as a listener, but I think that if you look to classical music only for relaxation, you're missing out on a huge part of it.
I don't think he's wrong about people's not being familiar with classical music, but I sort of want him to be. Not because I want to see his being wrong but because people should be familiar with classical music. Because it's great.
Recently, I've started to get sort of annoyed with this premise - that classical music is good only for studying or relaxing. I think it's a stupid view. People didn't write this music just so that you would have something to listen to in the background while you're studying for your finals. Relaxation probably wasn't the highest priority they had either.
This may be where my rôle as a writer/composer supersedes my rôle as a listener, but I think that if you look to classical music only for relaxation, you're missing out on a huge part of it.
---&---
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
The Magna Carta Exercise
I listened to a greatest hits album of Chicago (the band, not the city) to-day, and because I hadn't listened to Chicago for a long time (I think this is the first time I've listened to them this year), I noticed some things I hadn't previously been aware of. Actually, it was pretty much just one thing: some of the songs had electric piano in them.
So I got thinking about this (as I often do). I really like the sound of an electric piano. In my own compositions, I'm more likely to use electric piano than regular piano. Partially because the sound of the fake piano on my keyboard doesn't sound particularly good to me but also because I prefer electric piano. It's probably because of all of the Zombies songs I listen to. At their time at Decca, only three songs were released with piano; the rest feature electric piano or organ.
In any case, I got thinking about certain musical elements I like. Along with the sound of electric piano, I adore the sound of a Hammond organ, and I like hand claps as long as they're in an interesting rhythm. I hate the standard one-clap-on-the-first-of-four-beats sort of clapping.
Because NaNoWriMo was last month, I'd been reading Chris Baty's No Plot? No Problem! In the section of the book that explains how to come up with at least a general plot, he explains his two Magna Cartas. On the first, you're supposed to answer the question "What, to you, makes a good novel?" He writes that "Anything that floats your fictional boat should go on the list" and explains that "the things you appreciate as a reader are also the things you'll likely excel at as a writer. These bits of language, color, and technique, for whatever reason, make sense to your creative brain."
The second Magna Carta (called "Magna Carta II, the Evil Twin of Magna Carta I") lists "those things that bore or depress you in novels." The point is to avoid writing these into your novel.
I couldn't help but notice that my mental listing of instruments that I like the sound of was akin to the Magna Carta Exercise. And then I had the idea to apply my list in the same way that the Magna Cartas apply to NaNoWriMo. February Album Writing Month provides me with the perfect opportunity to do this. Like NaNoWriMo, it's a challenge that takes place during a single month. I can create a list of things I like about music and then try to stick as many of those elements as possible into the songs that I write during FAWM.
Of course, it doesn't apply in exactly the same way. Just because I like the sound of an instrument doesn't mean that I have the ability to play it. But I still think the Magna Carta idea could work as a general template.
And while I do intend to do this idea eventually, I don't think I'll be doing it any time soon. My problem is that I have too many musical projects that have objectives that conflict with each other. I stick with these projects for one year at a time, and the projects that I have in mind for the next two years either totally prevent my using electric piano and organ or constrain me from using them as fully as I'd like.
But I still think that applying the Magna Carta Exercise to FAWM is a good idea. I just probably won't get around to doing it for a few years.
So I got thinking about this (as I often do). I really like the sound of an electric piano. In my own compositions, I'm more likely to use electric piano than regular piano. Partially because the sound of the fake piano on my keyboard doesn't sound particularly good to me but also because I prefer electric piano. It's probably because of all of the Zombies songs I listen to. At their time at Decca, only three songs were released with piano; the rest feature electric piano or organ.
In any case, I got thinking about certain musical elements I like. Along with the sound of electric piano, I adore the sound of a Hammond organ, and I like hand claps as long as they're in an interesting rhythm. I hate the standard one-clap-on-the-first-of-four-beats sort of clapping.
Because NaNoWriMo was last month, I'd been reading Chris Baty's No Plot? No Problem! In the section of the book that explains how to come up with at least a general plot, he explains his two Magna Cartas. On the first, you're supposed to answer the question "What, to you, makes a good novel?" He writes that "Anything that floats your fictional boat should go on the list" and explains that "the things you appreciate as a reader are also the things you'll likely excel at as a writer. These bits of language, color, and technique, for whatever reason, make sense to your creative brain."
The second Magna Carta (called "Magna Carta II, the Evil Twin of Magna Carta I") lists "those things that bore or depress you in novels." The point is to avoid writing these into your novel.
I couldn't help but notice that my mental listing of instruments that I like the sound of was akin to the Magna Carta Exercise. And then I had the idea to apply my list in the same way that the Magna Cartas apply to NaNoWriMo. February Album Writing Month provides me with the perfect opportunity to do this. Like NaNoWriMo, it's a challenge that takes place during a single month. I can create a list of things I like about music and then try to stick as many of those elements as possible into the songs that I write during FAWM.
Of course, it doesn't apply in exactly the same way. Just because I like the sound of an instrument doesn't mean that I have the ability to play it. But I still think the Magna Carta idea could work as a general template.
And while I do intend to do this idea eventually, I don't think I'll be doing it any time soon. My problem is that I have too many musical projects that have objectives that conflict with each other. I stick with these projects for one year at a time, and the projects that I have in mind for the next two years either totally prevent my using electric piano and organ or constrain me from using them as fully as I'd like.
But I still think that applying the Magna Carta Exercise to FAWM is a good idea. I just probably won't get around to doing it for a few years.
---&---
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