For those of you who are interested in poetry and jive, check it.

Helloooo

So, is this place a ghost town or what?
Really guys, this is a bit dismal. It's summer, I know, but this hasn't been updated since before school ended. I don't want this to die, and I figure the only thing to restore it from its coma is to contribute. However, I'm not writing out to the mass void of the web, I'm a people person. Sooo, someone better ping the occasional comment.

Lion King Beatbox

I bring you another beatboxing video. I think this one is pretty wicked.

What is the name of the song?

I found a site that can help you find and identify pieces even if all you know is the melody! Go here.

Beatboxing Flautist and Cellist

I found a short clip of these two guys on youtube, a cellist and a flautist beatboxing. I really liked it so I tried to find a better video. This is what I found:

Creative Juices

This is a video I mentioned to some people in class that I would post here for its humor value more than anything else.

Oh geez. Music Theory in Action.

http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/er.shtml

This dude totally analyzes Eleanor Rigby. As in chords, and phrasing, and how if you put all of the letters into this weird system he made up, and send $5 to his paypal account, your true love will kiss you within 30 days, and if you don't tell at least 10 more people, Santa Claus will step on your dog, or something like that. Okay, part of that is outright lying, but the rest is good stuff. It's hard to make new songs if you dunno what they're made of. Check this out. k thx.

Percussion Project

Ok, so, I sat down today to figure out exactly what I was doing for this percussion project, but I looked at the sheet from the website and was confused. Are we only allowed to do either a multiple percussion solo: a piece to be played by one person with multiple instruments, or a piece for a percussion ensemble with a minimum of 8 instruments? In other words, we can't have a piece with three instuments being played at the same time by three different people? If anyone could clarify, it would be greatly appreciated.

Sightreading

So, today, I looked at sheet music for the first time, with the intent of trying to find something I recognize. It was from a book of video game music that I'd heard before, but I was looking for a particular one. Only, all of the titles were in god-knows-what-language (cause I sure don't), so I couldn't just look in the index. Oh noes!
So, the only way I could figure this out, was to sightread. *Gasp*
Okay, I lie, I totally could've asked Evan, as it was his book, and he reads freaky languages a little, and he's played the one I wanted, but I felt like being difficult, okay? Besides, my way was educational.
Anywho (ha, guess which teacher I picked that one up from), I sightread the right hand of the pieces quickly. Okay, I scanned them for the rhythm of the one I wanted, but it counts. Kinda.
And I could do this a lot easier than I used to, because I've been practicing. There is this awesome website
http://www.practicesightreading.com/index.php
and it spits out sight reading rhythm examples like that. No, wait, like *snaps* that. And you can pick what level you're at, and how many measures, and what kinda meter you want. It also does more than three-four, four-four, six-eight, etc. You know you wanna practice five-four and seven-twelve. Give in to the urge. It builds character.

Beethoven Like You've Never Heard It...

La Pathétique (Sonate n°8 en ut mineur - Beethoven)
Uploaded by pierreyvesplat

Instruments!

The Philharmonic Orchestra has a great site with information on the traditional instruments we're discussing in class, as well as some "world" instruments. Go explore!

Finale!

Alright, I haven't really told any of you this, yet, but I'm pretty sure 99% of you already know that I won a mini grant to get Finale installed on about 12 or 13 of the computers in the lab at school. To contrast that, I'd like you guys to read an article by Eric Whitacre pretty much bashing Finale and a lot of the things we do in class. I think this should provide some interesting discussion. Actually, when I was a composition major in college, I refused to use Finale until my last year; then, naturally, I got addicted once I tried it.

Rockband Creator Video

The video we were trying to watch can be found here. I want you to think about his discussion of goals for his company, as well as how he markets his work. To be a succesful professional in any field requires this kind of focus and a set of detailed, clear goals. Also, as composers, the gaming industry is an exciting new frontier to be explored as a means of not only affecting your audience, but even promoting your own unique sound.

Trumpet vs Cornet

Both of these link to a youtube video that features that instrument playing the Super Mario theme. This is a school affiliated website, so I promise no Rickrolling.


Trumpet
Cornet

Notice that the trumpet makes pfbbbbbt noises, and the cornet is more mellow. It's cause the cornet is more conical.

File this under: "People You Don't Hear About Until They're Dead"

Odetta was a pretty influential folk singer who has a pretty interesting story that is definitely worth a read. She was hoping to sing at Barack Obama's inauguration, but she never will get that chance. Why? Because she just died.

World Aids Awareness Day

I thought it would be fitting to see how musicians around the world are using their talents to benefit society by raising funds for finding a cure as well as increasing AIDs awareness to hopefully rid the stigma surrounding it and ultimately save lives.

From Senegal, we have Baaba Mal, a singer.

Then we have what's left of Queen reaching out to the Ukraine.

Then there's Sheryl Lee Ralph and of course, out own beloved, if not sometimes slightly misguided MTV.

Miriam Makeba

A pretty famous non-Western singer from South Africa just died recently. I shared an article about her with some people in the class, but figured I'd post something here so the rest of you could see it.

harmonic progression

So, as I was working on my composition tonight, I began to experiment with the different things we learned in class the other day. I'm using the one where the notes are upside down, but I don't see how I can keep the correct harmonic progression and turn the notes upside down. If anyone can help before I get too far, it would be greatly appreciated.

A Couple of Living Composers...

I thought I'd post something about two currently successful American composers that I've mentioned to some people in class. The first is the heavily techno influenced choral composer,Eric Whitacre. [He creates some really astounding a capella works.] He has also started a NEW BLOG which he keeps updated with rehearsals, performances, and releases of his work. If you want to get a true sense of what being a full time composer is like in this day and age, that is a wonderful place to start.

The other composer is Philip Glass who has been not only a great creator and proponent of minimalism, but he has also composed for many films, operas, etc.

The Soloist

There's an intriguing movie set to be released this coming March called The Soloist. This movie traces the interaction between journalist Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Anthony Ayers- a former Julliard cellist who succumbs to schizophrenia and winds up homeless on the streets of L.A. This is based on true events, and the actual articles that Steve Ayers published, beginning in 2005, along with a video journal with actual footage of the REAL Ayers can be found here.