Category: Prompts

Covid-19 has made life more difficult for everyone, especially those whose careers rely on live entertainment, such as musicians. While it is uncertain when in-person concert gigs will be an option for musicians to make a living and gain exposure, there are other options for musicians in the meantime. Luckily, live music is still a possibility with technology, and musicians can livestream their talents using applications such as Instagram, Facebook or Stage.It. Although it is not the ideal way to experience live music, livestreaming is one of the best ways for musicians to adapt to a socially distanced world.  Of course, live music isn’t the only medium for musicians to share and profit from their abilities. Musicians can still upload their tracks to Bandcamp, Spotify, and SoundCloud; Services which have implemented easier ways for listeners to support struggling musicians, such as Spotify’s “Artist Fundraising Pick” feature. However, musicians are not limited to selling music; They can find more creative ways to get income, such as selling merchandise. Musicians can take advantage of these strange times by working on their branding as a musician, practicing, and preparing for future concerts that will advance their career and compensate for the loss of income that Covid-19 has brought. They could use some of their creativity to create a colorful website that showcases their abilities with an option to donate or buy tracks, or create a Patreon that gives listeners an option to support them if they already have a following.

The piece “Polacca” by OOIOO consists of drums, bass, vocals and electric guitar. The instruments remain rhythmically and harmonically consistent throughout most of the song, although the guitar tends to drift from the key a bit.  Every element of the piece has a different energy level, making the texture very layered. The energetic vocals at the beginning shift to light, fluttery vocals while the drums and bass maintain the same energy and the guitar builds energy.  The most noticeable instance of participatory discrepancy, where the guitar and what sounds to me like a marimba are very dissonant and atonal together. The elements in “Spaced Cowboy” by Sly & The Family Stone align relatively well. However, the intonation of the vocals sounds more like speaking than singing at times, and they lack precision. “Agua Que Va a Caer” by Patato and Totico combines bongos, vocals, guitar and bass to create a very interesting sound. In this piece, the bongos and vocals seem to operate independently, with the vocals loosely following the rhythm of the vocals. In the middle of the piece, there is a guitar solo that continues the trend of loosely sticking to the rhythm of the bongos.

For this exercise, I chose “A chantar m’er” by Countess of Dia. I listened to the recording on repeat for about 30 minutes, as the recording is quite short. During the first 10 minutes or so, I found it quite difficult to recognize which part of the recording I was listening to, as the piece is texturally and dynamically uniform from when the solo voice enters to the end. However, upon further listening, I began to notice more complexities in the solo voice part. For example, I noticed that the high point in the vocal line (a C during the line “Qu’a-tres-si’m-sui”) is quite prominent, and I began to appreciate the legato singing style with lines such as “no vol-ri”. Near the end of the 30 minutes, I attempted to pay closer attention to the vielle to see if I would notice any sort of recurring theme. While doing this, I realized that the piece has no discernable time signature or recurring melodies, which is something that is quite unique to renaissance era music.

Playing music from the past would only be ethically wrong if you claimed to have written it. To preserve my conscience, if I were to perform music from the past, I would find a way to communicate that the works performed were not my own. If you were to somehow claim the rights to the music you were performing nd profit from something you did not create, that would be ethically wrong, especially if you were unable to do the original works justice. If all music from the past was erased from existence, I would probably try to perform songs by some of my favourite bands such as the Beatles or Nirvana on my guitar, as those are the only songs I could remember completely. I could try to play some piano songs such as Chopin’s Nocturne in B flat minor Op.9 No.1, but I would most likely be unable to do it complete justice. I fully agree with the Nietzsche quote; I believe that unless you try your hardest to leave yourself out of the music you are performing, you will be unwittingly taking ownership of the music rather than leaving it in the past. I agree with the sentiment that you can only interpret the past with a present mindset, and you can never fully recapture it.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=chopin+nocturne+in+b-flat+minor&view=detail&mid=17754479B0EFB53652C917754479B0EFB53652C9&FORM=VIRE

Upon first listening, the first section (aria) of the 1955 recording has a much fuller sound than the 1981 recording. The 1981 recording is much quieter, and Gould plays the aria in a much more delicate fashion. However, the audio in the 1981 recording is much less compressed, meaning there is a larger dynamic range in this recording. Additionally, there is more reverb present in the 1955 recording, and the 1981 recording has much less echo.

1.

For the first item, I chose an audio (and video) clip of a young man and his friends in 1987 who walk around a 7-11, talking to the customers while filming their interactions.

2.

Secondly, I chose Chopin’s “Nocturne Op.9 No.2 in E flat major”, which is a widely recognized and relatively short piano piece.

3.

Finally, I included “I Feel Fine” by the Beatles, a pop song released in 1964. It is a very feel-good and catchy tune that can be compared to many popular songs that have been released following its creation.

I think my 3 selections would provide a positive impression of the world if an intelligent extra-terrestrial species were to find it. The 7-11 recording provides a good look at how humans interact with each other in the wild, as people were not used to being recorded in the 80’s, and they are simply having candid conversations. The Chopin Nocturne and the Beatles’ hit each sum up two very different eras and genres of music, and they are both very easy to digest and create a strong emotional response in the listener.

Throughout most of my life, I have engaged in art in the form of music. I began learning to play the piano at a young age (4 or 5), so music has been a big part of my life. It wasn’t until the last couple years that my interests have shifted towards the creation of art in the form of songwriting and drawing. There aren’t many things I own that I would consider powerful other than my fender acoustic guitar, because it was the first guitar I ever owned, let alone played. It also helps inspire me to write songs and explore new music. When I walk around my neighborhood, on the sidewalk, I notice the sounds of cars passing by most of all, and when I walk in the park near my house I notice the sounds of nature, such as squirrels rustling around in the trees or birds chirping. To me, the phrase “free time only works if you steal it” means that you cannot simply do nothing and call it free time, but you have to be doing something productive and letting your mind run free in the moment. I can relate to this, as when I am completely engrossed in a song that I am playing or even a menial task I am performing, it feels like true free time. My favourite section of the film is when Laskey talks about the theatrics of creating art, as I like the idea of turning the creation of art into an artwork itself.