First Week

I have been messing around with garage band creating various beats and sounds, trying to create something i could possibly play my acoustic guitar too. i have also been peicing bits of differents of my favorite artist’s songs together to see how they match up. I have been playing my acoustic guitar just about daily, creating different melodies and tunes that i look forward to recording in the booth and adjusting with either Garage band or pro tools. Havent had a chance to get into the recording booth yet, but that is my plan for this week. Thats all for now.

Comment on blog by Aaron Lewis – Staind frontman

From the day i first heard Mudshovel by Staind from thier 1st debut album, i knew i would be following this band for a long time, through every single released, through every album, so on and so forth. Even to this day, most who take a listen to Staind’s music would say that the lyrics and music make it seem like Aaron Lewis and the band are very gloomy and hopeless. That the music is dark and doesnt promise any sign of change in the world. That is where these listeners are wrong, and are not fully appreciating the change within the lyrics in the same song they would call dark. Aaron Lewis said it himself in his blog that “I’ve always been kind of pigeonholed into being dark and brooding and angry all the time, when that’s me one day out of a hundred,” he says. “In every song, there’s a twist or a turn or just one little phrase that changes everything that a lot of people don’t catch.” In their newly released album, “The Illusion of Progress,” the tone, the emotions, and the overall music has taken a huge turn and changed what people thought they knew about the Band. On this record, Aaron Lewis released the band’s first outside collaboration on a record, which so happen to be with in the form of a six-piece gospel choir, something Lewis envisioned from the moment he came up with the song “The Corner.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RIqgU48yNk

“We were all standing around the counter, bullshitting, when we were supposed to be writing songs and getting work done,” he says. “[Producer] Johnny K. said something about it, and my reply was, ‘Yeah, it’s kind of like the illusion of progress.’” The album name, “The illusion of progress” had a literal example with the band during the making of this album. The name also refers to the state in which this country has been in for many years now. With the new President – elect, Aaron Lewis hopes that the capaigning slogan of Change will truly occur for the better for this country. I think what Aaron and the band are trying to do with this album is just to show people that there is more underneath the surface of things in todays world, using their music as an example, and that you really have to pay close attention even to the smallest details, or you will miss the message completely. This goes for many people in our society on many different issues. As i do with every album that Staind has produced, i bought this new album the day it came out, and really listened to each song, over and over. I appreciate what the Band has done with this album, and i hope that all those who characterized the music the way they did has a chance to listen to the album, and hear the message.

Commenting on Tyler’s post. Culture and Music

I would definitely have to agree with Tyler’s point that music is a very important factor in culture. From listening to a group or artists music, listening to the lyrics as well as the instrumentals of the music, will give you an idea of what their culture is like, what sort of experiences they have on a daily basis, and what emotions are provoked with these experiences. I believe that Tylers point can also be switched, as culture is a big part of music. Either way you look at it, music and culture both influence eachother. As an example, Pitbull is a Cuban rapper that came to the United States to escape Communism and pursue his music career. If you listen to his earlier stuff, he lashes out against the communist government of Cuba. I saw an interview with him a couple years ago, and he talked about how he could never publically rap about the things he wanted to, or about he truly felt about his situation in Cuba, or he would be killed if he was heard lashing out against the government. As he has done so in this country, he said he would never be allowed to return back to Cuba because of the things he has said in his lyrics about cuban government. This just shows how culture can effect music and how music effects culture at the same time.

I took Tyler’s challenge and listened to some French Rap. I tried to compare it to the typical rap we here in the United States, but i just couldnt do it, because the two are so extremely different in sound. The artist i listen to was Keny Arkana, a very young french rap artist. The song La Rage, along with the music video, has a extremely powerful message. “Rage of the People” chanted over and over. It was very easy to see what cultural influences effected him and how he wants his music to have an effect on his culture. It is not something that i would typically listen to, because it is completely out of my comfort zone as far as music, but i went into it with an open mind, listening to find the message and the differences between our cultures.  La Rage – Keny Arkana. 

Playlist

Killing In The Name Of – Rage Against The Machine

The General – Dispatch

Heard the World – O.A.R.

My Life – 12 Stones

The Way I Am – Staind

Comment on Pat’s Guitar Tapping Blog

After reading Pat’s blog and watching the video he posted i was glad to see someone else searching for and appreciating the art of guitar tapping. I have been a fan of artists that play this way, i think it is just absolutely amazing how anyone could learn to play the guitar in such a manner. I would agree that guitar tapping is a real way to play the guitar. I believe that the artists that do play like this have to know more about the sounds of a guitar and where and what to play at what exact moment than the traditional style of guitar playing. One artist that i have been following for a few years which got me interested in this style is Andy Mckee. His more well known song for his style of playing is called drifting, if you have never seen or heard this before, i would encourage you to watch this video. http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddn4MGaS3N4

Right Now

Right now I have been workin on a smaller piece that i can add some video to, hopefully. I am also trying to record some melodies and some guitar sounds i can use within my final piece. Trying to get some sort of inspiration for exactly what i want in a final piece, I want it to be an overall expression of what i have taken in from this class so far this semester, and just an overall expression of what music, sound, and noise means to me. I want structure, and at the same time, i want it to be absolutely free from structure and form and just me and what i am thinking and feeling at that exact moment in time, just letting my feelings out and show through the music. There may be several parts to my final piece, what i am working on right now, and maybe an extended showing of what i have already created, maybe just presenting it in a different way to produce a different effect or experience with a live “performance.”

 

 

Playlist:

311 – Beautiful Disaster

Red Hot Chilli Peppers – Around the World

Rage Against the Machine – Renegades of Funk

Dispatch – General

Dave Matthews Band – Ants Marching

Incubus – Pardon Me

O.A.R. – I Feel Home

Little Pieces Here and There

Frustrating, frustrating, frustrating. I have had a long week, had two pieces for class ready and finished, when i went to transfer them from a flash drive in the Mac lab, the garage band that i created the songs on was not compatible with the version in the studio or mac lab. I couldnt access my songs on the original laptop i created it on either after that. Instead of recreating the same songs, i decided to go a completely different way. As i blogged about last time, i was interested in making a piece having some significance to the situation with our military in Iraq, as my brother is in the Army and has served 3 tours and been injured in 2 of them. I am excited to present the piece in class tomorrow, hopefully everyone will get what i am trying to express after they hear it. Hope it sparks an exciting convo in class! haha I also have a second piece i would like to present, for some reason while sitting and messing with garage band, i got the idea that i wanted to create a song using completely synths and make my own techno. Its about 5 minutes long, building up ;layers, subtracting layers, and building them back up. Hopefully ill get some good feedback. That seems to be about it for now.

P.S. If you havent heard of it yet, check out pandora radio.com, its a site that allows you to create your own radio stations of favorite artists. Say i put in Dispatch as one station, it will play Dispatch and other artists you may or may not know that have a similar sound. You can choose whether you would like for the station to continue to play certain artists, or not. Its really a really good mix while doing homework or even just chilling around. You can have as many stations as you like. Enjoy!

Comments on blogs

I would also like to comment about Andrew’s blog about Dave Matthews Band. I have been a huge fan of this group for a while now. I would agree with Andrew on what he commented on the band, they truly make and play the music for their audience, its not about the money or the deals or any of that with this band, they really just love to play great music and share it with everyone. Their musicianship is outstanding and the quality of performance is amazing. They truly do make each performance different, leaving each crowd at the end of the show amazed from witnessing something new, even if they had seen the band perform 100 times! I was really sad when i heard one of the band’s saxiphone players had died just recently during the summer, LeRoi Moore, he was an outstanding performer and i know a big part of the band. One thing about the band and the death of LeRoi, as i heard from a friend who was at a concert in California the day LeRoi died, Dave and the band were told right before the show was about the begin about LeRoi, and they still came out on stage, told the audience of the situation, and played in his honor despite the horrible news. I was told that it was one of the greatest shows, by any band, that he had ever been too!

Where Am I At Now?

Right now i have found myself exploring different paths through recording my acoustic guitar. One path i have gone is layering different melodies played at higher and lower ranges to amplify the melody with some sort of relaxing and soothing background music, beats, or effects. The other path i encounter while trying to layer these different pitches where the layering comes out to be very drone and gives you that drowsy dizzy feeling when you listen to it. I am looking to match up the sound with some sort of video that gives you this effect while you watch and listen, to see if the music has any kind of “caught in a daze” effect on the audience. I am also looking into creating a piece that touches upon the situation over seas, including the sounds that a soldier in Iraq might typically here on a day to day basis.

I am starting to plan for my final piece. Im not quite sure where that is going to take me to be honest, some sort of live performance would be nice if the others in class are still wanting to do something of the sort. I would also like to create a few more smaller pieces before the final, and would like those to touch upon more sound and noise aspects, because i dont think i have really explored them that far in depth. School is stressing, everything is due at the same times, all i can do is hope for the best!

Playlist

This is the way i am – STAIND

Citizen/Soldier – THREE DOORS DOWN

Running Away – THREE DAYS GRACE

Whispers in the dark – SKILLET

Fall For You – SECONDHAND SERENADE

Linkin Park

The next band i chose to go with is Linkin Park. Their style is a combination of “nu metal”, “rap rock”, alternative rock, and electronica. Their personal DJ John Hahn utilizes programming and synthesizers to give the band’s sound a little extra. One of the reasons i really like this band is due to the fact that their sound is comprised of more that just one typical genre of music, it explores the areas of various styles and blends them beautifully to create a whole new style. Linkin Park’s music shows there are very close and similar links between different styles of music, and that when introduced together, its not necessarily a bad concept. I really like the fact that lead vocalist Chester Bennington has a distinctive range of singing styles, whether its melodic singing on a slow song, or growling and screaming in another, he really explores what music and the emotions are all about which are tied so tight within each lyric. Mike Shinoda is one of the founders of the original band and is the member that lays down backing vocals and the rapping portion of the bands music. His rapping contrasts with Chesters vocals so well in each song, as it is the complete opposite side of the vocalists spectrum, Linkin Park blends these two singing styles amazingly. Linkin Park is also know for their mash-ups and remix abilities. They came out with a CD entitiles Collision Course where they mashed-up some of their songs with the rapper Jay-Z. Jay-Z would rap to the instrumentals of Linkin Park songs, as well as Chester and Mike signing/rapping their lyrics on a Jay-Z beat. Once again, another display of how Linkin Park really strives to stand out for fans of various music genres. This ties into what interests me because i want to explore combining contrasting genres of music, different styles of band together to see how well they “mash-up”, trying to exploit the inter-realtions and roots between various styles of music.

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