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mostly music stuff

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A classic night-before-it’s-due post.

I think I’ve enjoyed this whole blogging thing. It’s been a good spot to say whatever the heck I like, and still have it be relevant. 

Anyway, here’s a parting song that I’ve been loving recently. This is such a cool live performance of this track, a model of what a tight band needs to be, especially with so many musicians in the one place. 

Plus it is [arguably, I guess] better than the original. 

Maybe we’ll be back next semester?  Maybe I’ll miss it so much I’ll have to post during uni break? 

It’s been real, Tumblr.

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That was not where I was expecting it to go

Jade O’Regan, about APTIHK (not a paraphrase)

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My Tracks

Here they are, what nobody has been waiting for - my final tracks for the final assignment for my first Contemporary Music unit. 

Nurtured is the first.

APTIHK is the second.

And here’s an extract from a bio I wrote about myself, because formal writing always needs a good quote to open it up.

“I’m a musician based out a bedroom, in a place you’ve probably never heard of. I make chill, minimalist, textural music. Let’s call it Acoustep. Listen on for the best (and only) Acoustep you’ve ever heard.”

Nurtured is an instrumental minimalist piece which develops over time, layering and adding and subtracting a whole stack of instruments to create a wholly interesting sound.

APTIHK is another minimalist influenced piece which takes a much larger turn in terms of musical direction. IT too develops over time with textural layering, but it pairs more guitars with vocals to the electric piano and drums of Nurtured.

I had a good time writing and developing these pieces. Hopefully much more where this came from!

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This is a great learning experience.  Don't perpetuate stereotypes; Be a musician AND be on time.

Clint Bracknell (definitely a paraphrase)

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Now here is a microphone.

What a looker.

What a stunner.

What a sound.

This is the Baby Bottle made by Californian audio company Blue, and it is the top tier of their “Essential Series” microphones.

And I have just bought one. 

I am seriously excited about this, I have been researching and researching to find a mic to suit me, and came across Blue by some major serendipity. But gee am I glad. 

I managed to snap up one of these bad boys for a fraction of RRP on musician's-best-friend Gumtree, and am so incredibly excited to use it on assignments, personal recordings and sound design experiments.

Sorry for ramble, I am just so so stoked. 

Oh, and my brother picked up a Hofner bass guitar from the same guy. And as a left hander, I think I'll use it to go all Paul McCartney style.

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Yesterday FBi Music Director Stephen Goodhew came to chat to us as a whole group in class about many, many things, all to do with self promotion and local radio.

Topics he covered include: - What to do in self promotion - What not to do in self promotion - How to represent yourself in an increasingly digital world - What local radio does for musicians - How to become noticed in a local scene - The benefits of finding your niche - How to be professional in a world of mediocrity - How to use first impressions to your advantage

And boy were we writing! I don't think I've ever seen so many pens flying as with Stephen’s lecture/conversation/ultimate-industry-mentoring-session. Everyone is the class was so impressed by his (unsurprising) knowledge on the topics he covered. 

It was awesome to have such an incredible lesson in practical ways of becoming a performing musician in the contemporary world.

And I know I just listed some stuff he talked about, but I’m still processing what he told us. 

Far out that was a helpful lecture.

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"Make it easy to digest. So much of what I receive is tl;dr"

Stephen Goodhew (probably a paraphrase)

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This here is a sweet video of Alon Ilsar and Gerri Jaeger performing their track  “Drum Vacuum One”, recorded in Amsterdam. 

As our Contemporary Music class, we saw Ilsar perform live a couple of days ago, and it was incredible. 

This video shows him playing an instrument of his own creation, the AirSticks, which are MIDI controllers sending MIDI data to a plug-in running in Ableton Live. He uses the controllers, which are electro-magnetic position sensing gaming console peripherals, to control and trigger loops and samples. This piece demonstrates the power of sampling acoustic instruments, where all sounds heard are of an acoustic drum kit. Jaeger is playing one live, whilst Ilsar is triggering samples from the kit with his AirSticks.

As an avid follower and user of computer music, this technology really enthralled me. I love synthesis, especially analog, and the latest ways of controlling music through digital interfaces (i.e. MIDI stuff) so when Alon came to lecture I became even more excited for the possibilities and potential of computer controlled music. 

Keep up the good work Alon, this is certainly part of the future of music creation and performance. 

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Music Making Apps

It’s incredible how many different phone apps exist today for making music. Equally surprising is the quality of what you can produce with them.

Here’s a few of the music creation apps I’ve been wildly into recently:

- Figure by Propellerhead: A loop based music creator, with 3 instrument loop creation. Featuring drums, bass synth, and lead synth, it is super powerful with tweaks, and full control over musical elements such as key, tempo, and swing. Awesome for on the fly composing, or for a lot of fun. And it’s free.

Take by Propellerhead: A sample based app that is geared more towards creating your own samples. They push using it for vocals the most, and is a great little recorder. Free too!! iKaossilator by Korg: An iOS version of the popular hardware synth. They brand it a “Dynamic Phrase Synthesiser”, which is pretty accurate, you create songs by holding your fingers on an XY axis, for 6 different parts. Super intuitive, and easy o create with. It’s cheap at the moment until the end of June, for $12

SyncKontrol by Korg: Made purely for the Korg Monotribe Synth, this controls the swing and tempo of the synth. Which is perfect for syncing with other gear or playing along too, because you can’t achieve totally accurate tempo without it. Free free free!!!

PCM Recorder MKII by  Tascam: A multitrack emulation of a field recorder. Reliable, stable. Good times. Made by Tascam who is renowned for their qualities recording hardware, so this software reproduction is understandably good. Free to a good home

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James Wierzbicki - Giving and Receiving Feedback

Lecturer and former  U.S. music journalist James came in for a lecture today to prepare our hearts, ears and minds for potential criticism. We all know that such criticism is coming, as the dreaded “Panel Review” looms closer... In fact it is just two days after this lecture that our prescribed peer feedback session will come to pass, after submitting our first process paper the day of. 

James talked a lot about a lot of things. Our conversations ranged from more traditional notions of journalism - the purpose and form of music journalism - to more intellectual, near-unanswerable questions: What makes authenticity? Who decides who is authentic? How does this affect perceptions and one’s writing?   As a musician, how much of what we read/hear about ourselves should we take on board? Does it really even matter what other people say about us?

These kinds of questions are certainly issues that we'll be wrestling with for our entire musical careers, and certainly when it comes to giving and receiving feedback from each other in a formalised way for the first time. It’s interesting time to be a musician, and this kind of journalism is definitely a huge consideration as mass media spreads in ways that everyone can have their say, and everyone else can access what you’ve just said. 

Either we’ll develop tough skins, or fall flat on our faces from the pain and suffering that the words of others have caused.

Sticks and stones, right?

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One of my last posts was about a certain concept album that I have loved for many many years.

And in a similar sort of vein, this post is about a kind of concept album with a theatrical twist: the Rock Opera. 

This is the Decemberists’ 2009 album The Hazards of Love. It follows the fairy-tale story of Margaret as she falls in love with mysterious William in a forest. And whilst it might sound a little too fair-tale - maybe even pretentious - to some, the music backs up the rock opera genre style undisputably. 

The actual narrative of the album is significant and meaty, albeit sometimes hard to follow - much of the lyrical cue to storyline is either occasionally throwaway in its delivery or lost a little in the music. [then again, this just might be my listening style, in which I often listen to music and production many times before I focus on the lyrics]. There is, despite all of this, a noticeable story arc with conflict and resolution. 

The main conflict comes in the form of “The Rake’s Song”, which was also the first single from the album. In a somewhat terrifying exposition on the psychopath that is The Rake. The lyrics back this notion up, as does the driving electric guitar and relentless percussion. The Rake sings about how he killed his own children, in a chilling confession to the audience:

“Charlotte I buried after feeding her foxglove Dawn was easy, she was drowned in the bath Isaiah fought but was easily bested Burned his body for incurring my wrath”

Far out, that is heavy. But that is just a taste of the kind of brutal songwriting you can expect from the Prog-Indie-Folk-Rock group. And this album really lives up to the name of Rock Opera. 

A must listen. And when you do, listen from start to finish, it’s the only way. 

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Rainbow Chan  came to class this week to talk about experimenting, and said some pretty cool things. 

I love experimenting, and listening to experimental music and adding elements of the weird/cool to my own music... so this was a pretty darn cool lecture for me. 

John Cage is such a prime example of what music can be. And whilst not necessarily musical to the average listener (and the musician) it can definitely be appreciated for what it is - experimental composition, pushing the boundaries of what music actually is. Rainbow talked about him, and plenty of other composers/producers/music-creators and linked it to a contemporary setting. 

A nice little contrast in what experimental music can be was the following tute... We played Dolly Parton’s Jolene in a genre of our choosing. What a contrast, class activities personifying our lecturers. That was a good day, a great tutorial. 

And I thought this picture was cool, it makes for a good banner. 

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Far out. I love this Album.

This is Time by Electric Light Orchestra, and it is crazy good. 

One of my favourite things about this album is the whole premise of the story. As a concept album, it really delivers on the “concept” part of that name. 

In summary, Time depicts the journey of a man who inexplicably travelled in time from the year 1985 to the distant future of 2095. Through the album, he comes to terms with what this means for his life, and how the world has changed. 

And whilst the lyrics might not weave a totally linear, cohesive story, the premise of time travel and futuristic living permeates the entire expression of the album. 

Jeff Lynne, creative, artistic and all things otherwise force behind the group, really deviated from a path that ELO had taken years to create, to great effect. This new sound for the band was especially denoted by one thing - the orchestra (or apparent lack thereof). Was Electric Light Orchestra simply just Electric Light Band? Would people have to rebrand their mixtapes “ELB” just to keep up with the new sonic direction?

I would argue not. Whilst there is a definite forgoing of the traditional Orchestra of the 70s, ELO keeps to its roots with full string sections and deep layering using a new kind of orchestra - a synthetic one. Synths and drum machines and noise makers replaced the trumpets and flutes and timpanis, in what still to this day stands in close ranks with contemporary electronic music. 

I think much can be learned from the album, from instrumentation, to composition, and indeed, the whole process of creating a cohesive concept. 

This offering from ELO represents both some of the greatest pop of the 80′s and beyond, and one of the best concept albums ever made.

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The Griswolds covered Vance Joy’s Riptide for their Triple J “Like a Version” debut. Everyone knows the song, *most* people like it. But they really made it their own. 

So what does make a good cover?

-- Originality and Signature Tone: The Griswolds boys chucked some really original material into this cover; their signature big synth sound and eclectic drums combined with more traditional guitar to transform what was pretty much written for ukulele and voice.

-- Recognisability: The Song is still 100% recognisable as Riptide. No doubts there, even with an electro club organ covering the background in what was a  vocal dominated original.

-- Arrangement:They have revamped the structure of the piece; this one isn't, in my opinion, as vital for a good cover; but by starting with one of the most recognisable vocal melodies from the song, you instantly think of Riptide before you are confused with a relentless snare beat. 

-- Other Stuff: I don’t know, just listen to it. It sounds like a good cover, you can just hear it. God groove, good feel between the band members. 

But then again, some might say this is rubbish. Personal preference is probably the biggest factor in determining a good cover. 

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The Features: “indie rock”, “indie pop”, and my personal favourite, “neo-psychedelia” according to Wikipedia. 

Personally, I think they're pretty sweet. 

One of my favourite tracks of theirs is track three on their 2nd studio album, “Some Kind of Salvation” (2008). Foundation’s Cracked features one of the grooviest things a piece of psychedelic rock, and indeed any kind of music, can include: 4 on the floor with soloing bass. 

Check out the full song here

Something else that strikes me is the quality of their live show, and the way in which the performance stays so true to the studio recording. This performance of Foundation’s Cracking has surprisingly good audio for the dodgy video, and shows off the awesome pick scratching of the lead guitar.

Great comparative listening, great example of what a live show needs to be when people fall in love with the sound off the album