I think the most prominent core value to me is the sense of hearing. Music is one of my favorite things, so it becomes obvious that this is important to me. Another value is a sense of obscurity and questioning. I'm into obscure things, such as underground music (again going with sense of hearing) abstract ideas such as science fiction as well as astronomy. If I didn't want to be a musician I would probably want to be an astronomer. I'm having a hard time thinking of a third core value, but I'm thinking it would have to do with having a close set of friends.
An issue that comes up for me fairly frequently, even in my guitar playing, is also one of my core values, obscurity. I'm always looking for obscure chord voicings, scale fingerings, and arpeggios to try out and integrate into my own playing. For example, when I first started learning jazz guitar, I learned about basic substitutions such as playing E-7 instead of Cmaj7, or playing F#7 instead of C7, a common tritone substitution. Before I started getting into this kind of music, I had no idea that these chords were even used widely, and I'm sure most "shredders" who go into guitar center or wherever have no clue about them or how to use them either. I can remember one time I went there to buy strings and I ended up testing a few different guitars. It was pretty typical, a lot of loud rock and blues players. I was playing a simple rhythm changes in Bb and slowly started to add on ornaments such as walking bass, extensions, and altered extensions and most of the store went silent. I wasn't even playing loud. I guess that's the power of obscurity.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Do over.
For me, writing is both the easiest thing and the hardest thing. When I have ideas and I know exactly what to write, it'll come out in maybe 10 minutes tops. If not, that blinking thing at the top of the page will stay there for the same amount of time. The hardest part is actually gathering all my thoughts and letting them out cohesively.
Almost everything I've done since the last do over has been college related. I finished my PiG paper, which allows me to graduate, and I've auditioned for Hofstra and just auditioned for Adelphi today, both on classical guitar. Now that auditions are almost over, I want to start focusing on jazz again. I bought a jazz chord book from Berklee, so I want to learn all the altered dominant voicings and inversions in there, then crack open my Real Book and just go through and play every song in there. This may or may not qualify as doing something "amazing," as most professional jazz musicians know pretty much all the songs in any given Real Book. This is just something for me to think about doing.
Again I'm sitting here with that thing just blinking at me from the screen, trying to think of what to write next. I have very little to do this upcoming semester, so my idea presented before should keep me busy for a while. Also, I know I've been neglecting this blog a lot, and I'm going to try to blog at least once or twice a week.
I'm going to end this post with a video of my jazz inspiration Joe Pass. There was a 6 part post on youtube of one of his instructional DVD's that taught me everything about jazz when I was starting it at the end of last year, and unfortunately the only part of it left is the intro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFqiDcvRW2Y
Almost everything I've done since the last do over has been college related. I finished my PiG paper, which allows me to graduate, and I've auditioned for Hofstra and just auditioned for Adelphi today, both on classical guitar. Now that auditions are almost over, I want to start focusing on jazz again. I bought a jazz chord book from Berklee, so I want to learn all the altered dominant voicings and inversions in there, then crack open my Real Book and just go through and play every song in there. This may or may not qualify as doing something "amazing," as most professional jazz musicians know pretty much all the songs in any given Real Book. This is just something for me to think about doing.
Again I'm sitting here with that thing just blinking at me from the screen, trying to think of what to write next. I have very little to do this upcoming semester, so my idea presented before should keep me busy for a while. Also, I know I've been neglecting this blog a lot, and I'm going to try to blog at least once or twice a week.
I'm going to end this post with a video of my jazz inspiration Joe Pass. There was a 6 part post on youtube of one of his instructional DVD's that taught me everything about jazz when I was starting it at the end of last year, and unfortunately the only part of it left is the intro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFqiDcvRW2Y
Sunday, January 3, 2010
wishful drinking?
To end a really lazy vacation that pretty much consisted of me playing guitar every day for a few hours, eating, and going to sleep, me and my family went to see Carrie Fisher on Broadway. For people reading who don't know, she was Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, and daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. The tickets were ten dollars a seat, which was actually a pretty good deal considering all four of us are Carrie Fisher and Star Wars fans.
The production started with her singing, and the rest of it was pretty much just a stand up routine. She detailed her parent's life and affairs, joking that her daughter and one of her friends might actually be related just "by scandal." Other topics covered included her bipolar disorder, addiction to codeine and alcohol, and that's pretty much it. For ten dollars a ticket, it was worth it, but any higher and I wouldn't see it unless I was a die hard Carrie Fisher fan.
The production started with her singing, and the rest of it was pretty much just a stand up routine. She detailed her parent's life and affairs, joking that her daughter and one of her friends might actually be related just "by scandal." Other topics covered included her bipolar disorder, addiction to codeine and alcohol, and that's pretty much it. For ten dollars a ticket, it was worth it, but any higher and I wouldn't see it unless I was a die hard Carrie Fisher fan.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
workshop #2
On Friday we started out with finishing up the discussion about Zach's script. The next one was Elisa's which opened up really effectively by establishing a close friendship.
Mine was next, which was about two guitarists in a band, one a nervous wreck and another one pretty much normal. The nervous one eventually snaps, violently blows up a bus, blames it on a "guy with a leather jacket and hood" (Kontroll reference, heh) and then finally confesses to his friend. While I was writing it, I really wasn't paying attention to whether or not it would be shootable.
What I took from the workshop is that something much less drastic could have the same effect, such as smashing a guitar instead of a bus. This would be much more personal and effect the audience much more than an exploding bus, which is completely impersonal, not to mention very expensive to shoot. I'm currently re-writing it, with much better choices in shots.
Mine was next, which was about two guitarists in a band, one a nervous wreck and another one pretty much normal. The nervous one eventually snaps, violently blows up a bus, blames it on a "guy with a leather jacket and hood" (Kontroll reference, heh) and then finally confesses to his friend. While I was writing it, I really wasn't paying attention to whether or not it would be shootable.
What I took from the workshop is that something much less drastic could have the same effect, such as smashing a guitar instead of a bus. This would be much more personal and effect the audience much more than an exploding bus, which is completely impersonal, not to mention very expensive to shoot. I'm currently re-writing it, with much better choices in shots.
workshop #1
Really interesting workshop. The focus wasnt on plot points as much as it was on changing and refining what was already written. Of the scripts that were read on Tuesday, I'd say my favorite was Cassie's. In my opinion it could make a really cool short film. I think her script is cool mostly because it could work with any two actors of any age group. Because it isn't specified, it could be two teenagers, two adults, or even two senior citizens. It involves two people who are presumed to be involved with each other, in a race. One of them wins (I forgot which one) and then they kiss, and it ends.
We ran out of time just after reading Zach's script. It was also about love, but this time it is much more direct. The main character accuses his friends of conspiring against him in order to win over his ex girlfriend. All in all, I didn't get as much from this workshop as I did Friday's.
We ran out of time just after reading Zach's script. It was also about love, but this time it is much more direct. The main character accuses his friends of conspiring against him in order to win over his ex girlfriend. All in all, I didn't get as much from this workshop as I did Friday's.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Hmm
I've come to realize something: when formally trained musicians get together to make heavy metal music, it will always suck, or it will be amazing. There is no middle ground. The bands are either focused so much on the individual parts that the virtuosity of the single members does not add up to the whole that it technically should be. On the other hand, bands with high skill levels of composition will look past single instruments and solos and realize that composition is key.
Let's start with the bad: Dream Theater. While they're not the worst band I've ever heard, (and I'll openly admit to liking their album Metropolis II: Scenes) they're an example of how NOT to write songs. Pretty much every member has some form of formal music training, such as the guitarist and bassist, who both went to Berklee College of music, but it simply doesnt add up. What you get is 10-20 minute songs with emphasis on showing off and flashy soloing. While this may be somewhat interesting for the first couple of times listening to them, to me they are superficial. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkF4JD2rO3Q
On the other hand, there are bands who's level of composition is so high that there isnt really any room for them to be showing off much. Swedish band Spawn of Possession is a pretty good example of the good side. With most of the members being formally trained, they are naturally more influenced by ensemble music such as Shostakovich and Bach than they are by death metal, although it definitely shows through. They make knowing use of counterpoint and compositional technique such as fugues. Contrasting with the metal makes them quite interesting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA7lBgn8Ukc
The German band Defeated Sanity is similar to the previous example in that they work together to form a cohesive unit. However, with them, the focus has moved away from melody and instead has moved to texture and sound. The bassist (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJEMHyFxUB4) and the drummer are both classically trained, yet from hearing them you probably would never guess. They are death metal of the heaviest kind, but they are so much better than pretty much all others. When trying to write this kind of music, a lot of bands just go for random notes and powerchords, but Defeated Sanity found a way to actually write it musically: Arnold Schoenberg's 12 tone technique. Combining this with very lucid knowledge of rhythm and syncopation yields some interesting results. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awlUcEQ8qt8&feature=related)
Let's start with the bad: Dream Theater. While they're not the worst band I've ever heard, (and I'll openly admit to liking their album Metropolis II: Scenes) they're an example of how NOT to write songs. Pretty much every member has some form of formal music training, such as the guitarist and bassist, who both went to Berklee College of music, but it simply doesnt add up. What you get is 10-20 minute songs with emphasis on showing off and flashy soloing. While this may be somewhat interesting for the first couple of times listening to them, to me they are superficial. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkF4JD2rO3Q
On the other hand, there are bands who's level of composition is so high that there isnt really any room for them to be showing off much. Swedish band Spawn of Possession is a pretty good example of the good side. With most of the members being formally trained, they are naturally more influenced by ensemble music such as Shostakovich and Bach than they are by death metal, although it definitely shows through. They make knowing use of counterpoint and compositional technique such as fugues. Contrasting with the metal makes them quite interesting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA7lBgn8Ukc
The German band Defeated Sanity is similar to the previous example in that they work together to form a cohesive unit. However, with them, the focus has moved away from melody and instead has moved to texture and sound. The bassist (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJEMHyFxUB4) and the drummer are both classically trained, yet from hearing them you probably would never guess. They are death metal of the heaviest kind, but they are so much better than pretty much all others. When trying to write this kind of music, a lot of bands just go for random notes and powerchords, but Defeated Sanity found a way to actually write it musically: Arnold Schoenberg's 12 tone technique. Combining this with very lucid knowledge of rhythm and syncopation yields some interesting results. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awlUcEQ8qt8&feature=related)
Monday, October 26, 2009
Magazine/film
The thing I thing I could do to contribute the most to the magazine project would be to write reviews of music CDs, whether new or old. I think the best way for that to work would be for the people in STAC to vote on CDs they want to see reviewed, and the one which gets the most votes will get a passage written about it. I would prefer it to be a CD that I haven't heard before so it could be as unbiased as possible.
From Wedneday until Friday was an eye opening experience for me, mainly because I had never worked on a film where no editing whatsoever is allowed. Everything had to be not perfect, but still completely correct at the same time. Right before we shot a scene, we had our lines/actions completely memorized, and some of our mistakes show through, such as me laughing in the car before the camera moves into the car. In the end I think that movies this way could actually turn out with a better storyline than an amateur film that did use editing. It's choppier but at the same time less choppy, because of the continuity of the filming. I look forward to making more of these films in the future.
From Wedneday until Friday was an eye opening experience for me, mainly because I had never worked on a film where no editing whatsoever is allowed. Everything had to be not perfect, but still completely correct at the same time. Right before we shot a scene, we had our lines/actions completely memorized, and some of our mistakes show through, such as me laughing in the car before the camera moves into the car. In the end I think that movies this way could actually turn out with a better storyline than an amateur film that did use editing. It's choppier but at the same time less choppy, because of the continuity of the filming. I look forward to making more of these films in the future.
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