Watched this while I waited in the Detroit airport to get to St. Louis.
Raise your hand if you didn't realize that Kara DioGuardi was a Duke Alum.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZBn_oDvUXg&w=640&h=385]
Don't miss Andrew Rohm, a Wesley student, playing the Bari Saxophone at the end.
-B
Gaga's got a new video. It's brilliant. So deep. So inspiring. So well-written. So perfectly executed. [vodpod id=Video.11139720&w=425&h=350&fv=]
She's received quite a bit of negative press for this one(But that's not that different for her, is it?).
In all honesty, she can do whatever she wants. If she chooses to write a song while taking shots with her dad on the piano after her grandfather died, then tell everyone that the song is about her grandfather (ought to be sentimental, right?), then dress in scant leather and basically have sex with poles and brick walls for the video; she has the right to.
But here's what I think happened:
Attention all Bryce Avary fans: The Rocket Summer is giving away his(their?) new acoustic live album for free. You can download it here. This reminds me of the first time I heard of The Rocket Summer.
I think it was Kaitlyn Baldwin's dance group at camp dancing to "Around the Clock" on the chapel pews. Changed my life forever.
The Rocket Summer is made up of one guy: Bryce Avary. He sings, writes, and plays every instrument you hear on the recordings. I remember when I first heard his music, I wondered how he did it all live. I've seen him twice (maybe three times?) and he's played with a band each time.
BOTH times, the best part of the show was when he played the acoustic guitar (once in the midst of the crowd) by himself.
In the days of overproduced music, acoustic music performed by the main artist alone is an incredible experience. It's something that harkens back to the original days of vocal recitals.
There is a purity inside of the crowd knowing every lyric, every meaning, and hearing nothing but the artist's own musings. Rock concerts have brought something to the purity of classical vocal recitals: audience participation.
On the new TRS album, you can hear the crowd just as much as Bryce. So much so that he named it, "Bryce Avary, His Instruments and Your Voices"
It's really, really good.
-B
Also interesting, is this whole "giving away albums" common trend happening these days. If you can produce an album relatively cheaply and distribute it digitally, why not give it away? Artists don't make money from album sales anyway. IF you give it away, you can drum up enough of a following to make more money at live shows. Seems like eliminating the middle man of the record company may be closer and closer than ever.
I preach to the music team at the church I work at all the time about the change that has occurred in how music is written over the past 50-100 years. I have a classical music education but typically lead worship in the contemporary tradition (ha! right?) on a weekly basis. I've seen the crossover from voice-written pieces to organ-written pieces to piano-written pieces to guitar-written pieces. There is both quality material and crap in ALL categories.
I have often expressed before, here, how much I care about the progressive church. At our church we try to find a nice balance between all of these worlds. It's a new experience for me and something I am not always successful with.
When we do hymns at church (you know, out of those little books that sit in the pew in front of you) I typically rely on my figured bass (I mean, it's not figured bass but that training comes to my rescue in a huge way) reading skills to play along to the hymns on the guitar. I am, at times, more successful at some than others.
I HAD to share this.
This song moves quickly, has a lot of running parts and the chords don't transfer to the guitar well. So, of course I went on CCLI and looked up a chord chart to see if they had one.
I was blown away.
I'm a fan of simplicity (welcome, Apple) and so this type of visual organization drives me crazy anyway, but this was crazy. I'm all about trying to take the good out of the old and moving it forward (we all do this in some way or another) but often times it ends up like this:
I'll probably get in trouble (with CCLI) for posting this, but it was too good to pass up.
-B
[/caption]
If you've ever been bored in front of the TV and have stumbled upon PBS, you've probably seen Andre Rieu perform with his 5o-or-so member orchestra. The Today Show did a special on him last week an replayed it this morning. I couldn't find it online, but plenty of his performances are on YouTube.
In short, the sequence talked about how Andre was raised in a musical family and his father was a classical conductor. I assume that they were referring to the genre, not necessarily the actual Classical period.
Supposedly, Andre didn't like the "stuffy" atmosphere that was present in the Classical music world and sought to fix that because "music is an emotion" and served a higher purpose. I suppose you could say that Andre felt as if the uppity sense of the Classical world and the fans of it ("that pop music is just too...catchy")was destroying the culture of the art and he desired to make it a fun experience. If you watch any of his performances on PBS, you'll know that there are all kinds of parts added to the "show" to make it entertaining.
That's the word I was hung up on. Entertaining.
When I studied music, I came to understand it as a form of art; it was sometimes in attractive forms, sometimes not...but still art. Often, because it is a form of art that many people are not as skilled at, musical performances of any degree bear a sense of entertainment. I enjoy going to recitals of singers who are better than me because I am not as good as them-I can learn from their performance and interpretations. At face value, that logic would hold for a non singer...because someone who doesn't sing well is by definition not as good as the performer meaning that they would find a degree of entertainment inside of the performance.
However, if you have been to a "Classical" performance (recital or otherwise) in recent years and you observe the audience, you'll do well to glean a few details that might lead to a better understanding:
Obviously these are generalized statements and will in no way hold true across every performance, but do have a ring of truth to them.
The logic from above just doesn't work. I've noticed it in the declining ticket sales of the Fine Arts Series in Branscomb Auditorium at Florida Southern. I've noticed it in conversations with others. I've noticed it in observing performances and the audiences of them. Perhaps you have too.
I think the key is that a musician (or one who sympathizes...I know the broad statements seem a bit utopian-don't be offended) has a bit of a higher understanding about the composition, about the technique, and about the practice of performance. This knowledge stimulates some sort of intellect that seeks to learn more. That learning is entertainment. It is enjoyable and will keep one who is intrigued by those thoughts on the edge of their seat at every phrase and breath.
But that's not the typical world. Most people don't understand. And because their idea of "good music" hinges around the backbeat and clever rhyming of words...this type of art is no longer as "entertaining" as it once was.
In the Baroque and Classical eras, music wasn't the "stuffy" thing we think about as now. It was meant for dancing. It was meant as background music. It was meant for parties. It was an art form, but entertained as well. It was all they knew. Gradually, over time, this shifted. What would have been considered "catchy" melodies in Bach's time were replaced by "catchy" melodies in Beatles' music. Sure, people went to Beatles concerts, but as recordings were easier and easier to come by, people played that music at parties. Even now, you cannot walk into a club or bar where music isn't playing.
The interesting thing about Andre Rieu is that he appears to have caught it. He seems to understand this disconnect between the art of years ago and the culture of today. In making it funny and adding showmanship he has made it "entertaining". He is incredibly popular.
What was funny about the Today show piece this morning is that they spoke about how the "Classical" world has turned their nose at Andre Rieu's efforts. They say it cheapens the art.
I try to be a little more positive. I think it brings an awareness back to a culture that forgot.
It probably only "cheapens" the art because our culture has been..."cheapened". The music on the radio today is much more simplistic than even Beatles songs. And The Beatles were known for having A LOT of catchy music (I mean, just compare their stuff to Dylan and you'll understand). But Andre Rieu is taking a form of art and entertainment that he enjoys and bringing it back to the masses in a way that will get everyone's attention. I don't think it can be considered "cheap" if it is referring back to the art of old.
Better yet: his main crowd...Seniors.
I guess I'm saying this: Artists tend to want to bring attention to the art that they view as "sacred". That's fine. But in the end it was just a creation by a human. Talented, brilliant, genius humans are born everyday. Let's celebrate the past and the thoughts and art forms of old. But let's also recognize innovation. Let's call what is good good and what is bad bad.
And finally, let's all get over ourselves just a little bit.
-B
I've been a fan of well done kinetic typography (music or spoken word put to motion) for a while. This is by far the best one I have seen. I watched it three times, and each time noticed things I hadn't before.
Phenomenal work. I'm sure it was hours of labor-intensive work with Adobe's After Effects, but well worth the effort.
Devote the next three and a half minutes of your life to it.
Jonathan Coulton's "Shop Vac" (art and animation done by Jarrett Heather)
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/17419652 w=640&h=360]
[Found via Daring Fireball]
Many churches are starting to use this moving text idea in worship services as a means of projecting lyrics for congregational singing. Sometimes it is done well. Most of the time, it is annoying.
This clip above proves that it is possible to do, and to do well. We are a visual culture, and perhaps the lyrical display of text can add to the intention of the song...so as to be better understood.
I thought that it was worth sharing.
-B
