Class #1 - The Barrage of Noise
The first playlist was interesting, eclectic, and exactly what the class is all about. Mixing rock with classical, classical with electronic, or all three (and all their sub-genres) together is what happens in a society where the best musicians are never heard and "anyone can play guitar." Music today is in a blender. Some people say "let classical die" others say "rock is evil." I once read an article where Pope Benedict XVI was quoted saying "Rock music is the instrument of the devil." I am still standing here scratching my head asking, what is all the fuss?!
Call me a post-modernist or whatever but seriously can we all just watch the evolution instead of being another critic, to the long line of music critics that have ruined part of popular and classical music's greatness over the past 40+ years. Classical, Rock, and Electronica are joining forces at once because of innovative minds sitting in their basements, studios, practice rooms etc, and twiddling knobs on amps, mixers, drum machines, even the tuning pegs on cellos and violins! Its happening the great convergence of sound, where a wash of noise is the new Symphony no.9 or the blips along with a vocal track dubbed on-top is the next greatest hit (not only to make money but to also break new sound barriers).
Technology is the key here. A Digital Guitar? 20 amps in one? multi effects, digital layering, Pro Tools goodies, Max MSP that makes your mix go glitch and crash, and that was how you wanted it to sound? YES YES YES this thing that I mash my fingers upon right now this little technological box of wonder (if you can even call an iBook that) is a musical nightmare and heaven all at once. A Digital Juggernaut that has ripped apart the face of music is simply a box a machine CPU, HD, Memory, Logic Board, a few parts for an extremely complex world. Hard to believe that this has been going on for over 50 years and finally now its an 8.0 earthquake. Stockhausen and Xenakis were playing with music and computers long before most of us who read this were even breathing! Though, today most still insist on analog technologies, recording on tape cutting mixing etc. Basically what forefathers such as Schaeffer did to create musique concrète. Even then eventually the analog process is lost to digital mastering or even the CD or MP3 format.
Playlist #1 (and probably subsequent playlists) make me think of all the wonderful musical genres coalescing into sub-genres and new forms. Will classical keep on its route to becoming museum music and experimental? Will modern classical (post-classical if i dare) branch off and mix with modern genres and styles as it progressively has been over the past 15 years? Will rock become increasingly complex and run parallel with the techniques of classical? I cannot say...
On another note lets take a step back to 3 wonderful composers who not only changed classical music forever, but if it wasn't for them there wouldn't be rock, electronica, or even pop (do I dare relate SS&D to pop music!). We quickly went through Debussy's Sunken Cathedral, Stravinsky's Petrushka, and Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire. All three of these contributions shook the ground of the music world.
Every moment of Debussy's Impressionism in the Sunken Cathedral's decent into the water is matched to a note or chord. This creates the ambiance and water like texture created by rubato and pedal work. Each of the upward chord progressions is marked by a descending low note which really captures the movement of the cathedral plunging into the deep surrounded by other-worldish mists. This blurring and bubbling (especially in the last third of the piece) of sound was not heard in music since Beethoven's time. Debussy pushed the boundaries of tonal ideas and expression as seen in Sunken Cathedral.
Stravinsky's Petrushka captures the Primitivism of the pre WWI period. Stravinsky (and many other artists and composers of the time) looked back to primitive forms of human interaction, way of life, and mindset. He looked back to early Russian cultural concepts as well as to many folk tunes which are interspersed throughout the piece. A rhythm is the basic form of making music (in most cases) a simple taping on a table is enough to create some sort of rhythm. What Stravinsky embodied was the idea of using phrases over and over repeating and also layering on-top of each other. Hence we have ostinati throughout the piece as the main theme is repeated then variations of the theme are elaborated upon. The memorable theme is created by the flute in the very beginning of the piece. Violins then repeat the theme until others in the string and brass sections elaborate on the theme. The flute then returns with the familiar beginning. This process is continuous throughout the piece as the main theme returns and then mutates into many different forms through other parts laid on top. Stravinsky was the leader of the Primitivism movement which looked to the past to create the future of music.
Our dear friend Schoenberg was the leader of the Expressionist movement in Germany. At the same time Freud was developing his ideas of psychology. This movement to look into the inner-self and interpret the subconscious swept the world during this period. In Pierrot Lunaire Schoenberg looks into the inner subconscious though its atonality as well as Sprechstimme. Sprechtimme is comparable to the idea of 'the shrieking of the soul.' The singer assumes the pitches that Schoenberg has laid out in the score. Overall Pierrot Lunaire is an extremely complex work that touches upon the beginning of the twelve tone system as well as embodying atonality completely.
How do all these composers fit into where we are today? Assume I think of one of the songs off the playlist. Okay its a given but its National Anthem from Radiohead. Right there I can compare it to Stravinsky how both pieces have in mind the idea of ostinati throughout. In National Anthem the strong bass riff mixes with Thoms vocals and a complex drum part (as well as synths and other guitars too!). Sigur Ros reminds me a bit of Debussy how they create such large ambient spaces through sound. Debussy tries to create the same idea through the image of the Cathedral as it sinks. Also Sigur Ros can be compared to Schoenberg. Jonsi, the lead singer/guitarist of Sigur Ros created his own language on the ( ) album called Hopelandic, where he too sounds like he is mirroring the assuming of pitches that is involved with Sprechstimme. Zorn can be compared with Stravinsky as well in how he tends to have one part or theme playing then another comes in replacing it or creating a variation of it. Its amazing how music has evolved in 100 years. The impact has hardly been felt.
One thing I look forward in this course is to see where my perspective will come out in the end. Most courses dramatically change my perspective and understanding of the world. All of these topics are very close to me and drive me to study music, but what will i think in the end. Will I see the genres in a new light? I guess I will find out. Posing that question will cause me to contemplate this issue in December when its all over, although I don't think the progression of ideas will ever cease.
Call me a post-modernist or whatever but seriously can we all just watch the evolution instead of being another critic, to the long line of music critics that have ruined part of popular and classical music's greatness over the past 40+ years. Classical, Rock, and Electronica are joining forces at once because of innovative minds sitting in their basements, studios, practice rooms etc, and twiddling knobs on amps, mixers, drum machines, even the tuning pegs on cellos and violins! Its happening the great convergence of sound, where a wash of noise is the new Symphony no.9 or the blips along with a vocal track dubbed on-top is the next greatest hit (not only to make money but to also break new sound barriers).
Technology is the key here. A Digital Guitar? 20 amps in one? multi effects, digital layering, Pro Tools goodies, Max MSP that makes your mix go glitch and crash, and that was how you wanted it to sound? YES YES YES this thing that I mash my fingers upon right now this little technological box of wonder (if you can even call an iBook that) is a musical nightmare and heaven all at once. A Digital Juggernaut that has ripped apart the face of music is simply a box a machine CPU, HD, Memory, Logic Board, a few parts for an extremely complex world. Hard to believe that this has been going on for over 50 years and finally now its an 8.0 earthquake. Stockhausen and Xenakis were playing with music and computers long before most of us who read this were even breathing! Though, today most still insist on analog technologies, recording on tape cutting mixing etc. Basically what forefathers such as Schaeffer did to create musique concrète. Even then eventually the analog process is lost to digital mastering or even the CD or MP3 format.
Playlist #1 (and probably subsequent playlists) make me think of all the wonderful musical genres coalescing into sub-genres and new forms. Will classical keep on its route to becoming museum music and experimental? Will modern classical (post-classical if i dare) branch off and mix with modern genres and styles as it progressively has been over the past 15 years? Will rock become increasingly complex and run parallel with the techniques of classical? I cannot say...
On another note lets take a step back to 3 wonderful composers who not only changed classical music forever, but if it wasn't for them there wouldn't be rock, electronica, or even pop (do I dare relate SS&D to pop music!). We quickly went through Debussy's Sunken Cathedral, Stravinsky's Petrushka, and Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire. All three of these contributions shook the ground of the music world.
Every moment of Debussy's Impressionism in the Sunken Cathedral's decent into the water is matched to a note or chord. This creates the ambiance and water like texture created by rubato and pedal work. Each of the upward chord progressions is marked by a descending low note which really captures the movement of the cathedral plunging into the deep surrounded by other-worldish mists. This blurring and bubbling (especially in the last third of the piece) of sound was not heard in music since Beethoven's time. Debussy pushed the boundaries of tonal ideas and expression as seen in Sunken Cathedral.
Stravinsky's Petrushka captures the Primitivism of the pre WWI period. Stravinsky (and many other artists and composers of the time) looked back to primitive forms of human interaction, way of life, and mindset. He looked back to early Russian cultural concepts as well as to many folk tunes which are interspersed throughout the piece. A rhythm is the basic form of making music (in most cases) a simple taping on a table is enough to create some sort of rhythm. What Stravinsky embodied was the idea of using phrases over and over repeating and also layering on-top of each other. Hence we have ostinati throughout the piece as the main theme is repeated then variations of the theme are elaborated upon. The memorable theme is created by the flute in the very beginning of the piece. Violins then repeat the theme until others in the string and brass sections elaborate on the theme. The flute then returns with the familiar beginning. This process is continuous throughout the piece as the main theme returns and then mutates into many different forms through other parts laid on top. Stravinsky was the leader of the Primitivism movement which looked to the past to create the future of music.
Our dear friend Schoenberg was the leader of the Expressionist movement in Germany. At the same time Freud was developing his ideas of psychology. This movement to look into the inner-self and interpret the subconscious swept the world during this period. In Pierrot Lunaire Schoenberg looks into the inner subconscious though its atonality as well as Sprechstimme. Sprechtimme is comparable to the idea of 'the shrieking of the soul.' The singer assumes the pitches that Schoenberg has laid out in the score. Overall Pierrot Lunaire is an extremely complex work that touches upon the beginning of the twelve tone system as well as embodying atonality completely.
How do all these composers fit into where we are today? Assume I think of one of the songs off the playlist. Okay its a given but its National Anthem from Radiohead. Right there I can compare it to Stravinsky how both pieces have in mind the idea of ostinati throughout. In National Anthem the strong bass riff mixes with Thoms vocals and a complex drum part (as well as synths and other guitars too!). Sigur Ros reminds me a bit of Debussy how they create such large ambient spaces through sound. Debussy tries to create the same idea through the image of the Cathedral as it sinks. Also Sigur Ros can be compared to Schoenberg. Jonsi, the lead singer/guitarist of Sigur Ros created his own language on the ( ) album called Hopelandic, where he too sounds like he is mirroring the assuming of pitches that is involved with Sprechstimme. Zorn can be compared with Stravinsky as well in how he tends to have one part or theme playing then another comes in replacing it or creating a variation of it. Its amazing how music has evolved in 100 years. The impact has hardly been felt.
One thing I look forward in this course is to see where my perspective will come out in the end. Most courses dramatically change my perspective and understanding of the world. All of these topics are very close to me and drive me to study music, but what will i think in the end. Will I see the genres in a new light? I guess I will find out. Posing that question will cause me to contemplate this issue in December when its all over, although I don't think the progression of ideas will ever cease.
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