Assignment 4B

My songs that I composed are available from the blog entry that was composed on Friday January 28, 2010.  And my audio playlist critique will be shown tomorrow. (garage band is acting up)

The problem I had with critiquing the various songs is that only one of my assigned piers had their songs posted on their blog.  Maddie Wolf had hers posted as of Jan 31 at 10:30PM.  However, Alex Scott, and Chandler Petri did not.  So as a result, i was only able to critique one song, Maddie's, as shown on the playlist above.

Links to the Songs that I critiqued :


http://u812productions.blogspot.com/ Alex Scott
http://maddsmedia.blogspot.com/
http://firstday-chad.blogspot.com/

Assignment 4A

Brainwashed !

For this weeks blog assignment, we had to read Seth Godin's "Brainwashed" which can be reached at http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/66.01.Brainwashed .

    The reading talks about acknowledging the lizard.  But what does that mean? What is a lizard ?  Well, the lizard is basically code for something that is called "the resistance" .  Well....... that explains a lot, but now what IS resistance ?  The article talks about what exactly resistance is, and explains that it is the voice in the back of one's mind that tells one to "not do that because it is wrong" or to follow instructions without thinking outside of the box.  The moment fear strikes our mind, and we worry about not doing the right thing, resistance occurs, and can be a serious blockade for those who can't look past it.  I think there is a lot of truth behind this, and that it really makes a lot of sense.  So, as a counterpart to the lizard, or the resistance we may experience.  It is said that we MUST acknowledge this barrier, this obstruction, the lizard.  We must acknowledge when the lizard becomes a problem in our genius of making art, so that we can dismiss it, and move on with whatever needs to be done.

    One part of the reading that really spoke to me was the part about failing.  It is said in the article that one must prepare him or herself to fail, especially in public.  For myself, failing is terrifying, and something I try to avoid at all costs.  But, it is absolutely necessary that one fails, and gets used to it in society today.  It is also important that we prepare people for failure, and show people how to react and know what to do in failure.  It also demands that we fail with grace.  There are a few examples of failures, with the idea of explaining how failure is common, and like I stated, necessary.  However, I am still scared of it.  Something I need to work on.

    I think that these notes are important in the production of this blog.  As frustrated as I can sometimes get while composing what seems like blog after blog. However, these thoughts such as failure, and forgetting the risk of failing does apply to my entries.  I think that it is definitely necessary to have to make these blogs, because it has forced me to learn how to use various parts of the internet, powerpoint, garageband etc..  I like computers, I like knowing how to use them, and this sort of expands my knowledge on a broad basis of technology that i probably wouldn't have taken the time to learn on my own.  I think this kind of stuff should be required for everyone, not just media students, especially in the age of computers.

Assignment 3B

Critiqued soundscape links:
http://timeswithtanner.blogspot.com/
http://kramersblog26.blogspot.com/
http://mikstep.blogspot.com/

My soundscape is posted under "older posts" at January 21, 2010

Assignment 3A

    The song entitled "The Chain" by Fleetwood mac has been one of my favorites while growing up.  Its rusty feel, and fantastic singing had struck me as something different, and as a matter of fact, my mother got me interested in the band and into the song.  When I was in eighth grade, one of my favorite bands called Tantric came out with a new CD.  Track 6 of this CD was entitled "The Chain" ."......It can't be"  I thought to myself.  Why would this new age band that is a completely different style cover a song by a band years ago.  Happily I was wrong, and as a turned on the track, to my amazement, was one of the best covers I had ever heard.  

     The songs were strikingly similar, yet very different from one another.  I believe that this is why I had so much interest in the song.  It had the same roots as the original song I loved, but a new "Face-lift" with it's own twists and style that I loved nonetheless.  The lyrics that compose both of the songs remained identical throughout both songs.  This is one pet peeve of mine.  When a band purposely changes the lyrics and style of an already famous, well known song, and basically rips out the backbone that we all know and love.  However, this cover is different.  The lyrics are the same, and I couldn't be happier.  There are many differences within the songs however.  First and foremost, one thing that seems quite obvious is that the intensity of the original song is MUCH softer, and laid back.  It uses cleaner guitar sounds, crisper vocals, and more acoustic guitar.  The version composed by Tantric is very different from this.  From the very get go of the song, it is obvious that the song is louder (recording advancements).  It also has a more grungy louder vocals, and electric distorted guitars.  The covered version is obviously and clearly a much more intense and louder song than its softer, calmer predecessor.  Another element of the song that is different than the original version, is the pitch of the song.  After the four first acoustic notes were played, I was able to identify that the new version seemed to be a half step higher in terms of note quality, possibly a whole step, whether the band used a capo on their guitar and sang at a higher pitch,  I think that it fits perfectly, and that they chose very wisely on composing the song with a higher pitch than the original.  It seems more catchy to me.

The last element that was different in both songs was the speed of the songs.  The first one, which I had mentioned earlier was softer, slower, and more laid back.  Where as the covered version is harder, quicker, has a faster tempo, and quicker more intense solo.  This clearly gives the song a more hyper feel compared to the original.  I think there is a lot of tension and release in both songs as well... as the song continues and builds, tension and anxiety builds within, and during the solo the tension increases.  It isn't until the very end when the song and lyrics end together that there is some form of release that eases the tension and anxiety within both of the songs.

    Its tough to say what song I like more, I like them both for different reasons.  On one hand, the original is what I grew up with, and learned to love, but the new version adds a twist and a new modern feel to it.  If I HAD to chose I would probably pick the covered version,  I think it is catchier and rings in my head long after I listen to it.

Soundscape 2011

Our project for this week was to create a soundscape with a designated emotion that is portrayed within the work, in relation to a famous artist.  Can you guess what our emotion was ?  

 

New playlist

The Howl

Johnathon Flaum's - Finding Your Howl

     For this week's blog we were to read an article called Find Your Howl by Jonathon Flaum.  The stories are very interesting but do not really pose anything deeper than the title.  However some parts do ask some deeper questions, the overall story in part ended kind of quietly.

     The story is about a wolf who has been in captivity for so long that he lost his howl.  The Howl to a wolf is like the driving force to their existence, and without it the wolf is meaningless.  Anyways so he embarks on a quest to find this power again when he encounters his first moral dilemma, he was hungry so he need to kill a deer, but then he questions himself, saying "why do I need to kill in order to survive?".  An interesting thought, but then he finds power from the deer's bones, until eventually he begins running.  He's a different wolf now, stronger and more confident.  The story takes a horrible turn.  As the wolf is running he is shot by a hunter and then the author begins to pour on the most confusing symbolism I have ever read.  The wolf had found his howl once he had died.  Somehow the act of dieing and returning to his instinctual roots had reinvented this wolfs how, for as he was in captivity beforehand, and lost his survival genes.