Lamb – Listen to New Things

February 20th, 2014

I listened to something today that I hadn’t heard before: Lamb. It is a little strange at times, but I liked it. It’s strangeness is part of why it is good.

Stretch yourself with your listening. Too often I hear people say silly things such as, “I don’t like rap,” or “I don’t like electronic music.” That’s as broad as saying that you don’t like the climate in Africa. If you had any idea how diverse and huge that continent is you would not make such a sweeping claim.

lamb-genre-weather

Africa clearly has some complex weather!

Lamb (upon my first listen) seems to be a blend of electronica, jazz, and some blues. If you don’t like those genres, give this a try anyway. Something might click and give way to your future appreciation of something you previously thought unpalatable. If you don’t like it, you’ll still know something you didn’t know before.

In any case, don’t forget to listen to some great music today (that you haven’t heard before). There’s a ton of it out there.


Autotune: It's for Pros

February 19th, 2014
autotune

My autotune’s interface.

I’ve never been against autotune. However, my classical training and bias have always looked upon it as a “lowbrow” tool. A tool for people who don’t want to take the time to get a good take. These are the musings of a musician more worried about making themselves awesome than about making awesome music. Here’s what I mean by that:

The cliche, “It’s about the music” isn’t as much of a cliche as many would have you believe. An artist should be more worried about making great music than about being an awesome musician. Being a great musician is a means to an end: great music. You can be a great musician and use autotune because great musicians are generally more worried about the final product than about how they got there.

So a track was doctored  to sound better. So what? It’s sounds great and that’s all that matters to an artist. There is no moral value tied to the means by which we make music.

“You used autotune. I didn’t need it. My audience will appreciate my awesomeness.”

Sorry bud, no one cares. Oh, and I was able to use a take that had more passion even though a couple of notes were a little off pitch…so I guess they do care.

I am a proud user of autotune.

Make sure to listen to some great music today. Here’s a suggestion:

Nickel Creek


Autotune: It’s for Pros

February 19th, 2014
autotune

My autotune’s interface.

I’ve never been against autotune. However, my classical training and bias have always looked upon it as a “lowbrow” tool. A tool for people who don’t want to take the time to get a good take. These are the musings of a musician more worried about making themselves awesome than about making awesome music. Here’s what I mean by that:

The cliche, “It’s about the music” isn’t as much of a cliche as many would have you believe. An artist should be more worried about making great music than about being an awesome musician. Being a great musician is a means to an end: great music. You can be a great musician and use autotune because great musicians are generally more worried about the final product than about how they got there.

So a track was doctored  to sound better. So what? It’s sounds great and that’s all that matters to an artist. There is no moral value tied to the means by which we make music.

“You used autotune. I didn’t need it. My audience will appreciate my awesomeness.”

Sorry bud, no one cares. Oh, and I was able to use a take that had more passion even though a couple of notes were a little off pitch…so I guess they do care.

I am a proud user of autotune.

Make sure to listen to some great music today. Here’s a suggestion:

Nickel Creek


Rdio and the Listening Life

February 18th, 2014
Rdio

Noninvasive advertising or $5 a month

I’ve recently concluded a chapter of my life where I really didn’t listen to music unless someone else had it playing. This started at the end of graduate school. Simply put, my professors weren’t around to make me listen to stuff. My wife doesn’t really listen to music on her own either, so we just didn’t listen to music for a long time. Although, I suppose there were the 10-20 artists that we were already familiar with to whom we listened in the car.

For a long time my brother was pushing me to check out Rdio and to make sure that my own music got on there. So I checked it out but it didn’t stick with me. After listening to a few classical things in a similar genre to my previous work I just lost interest. Looking back I realize that I was just stuck in a mindset that listening to music was supposed to be an active process of consuming ideas. The artist has something to say, so I should listen attentively and not do anything until the music is over. But I just don’t have time for that.

A year or so has passed and recently I’ve tried listening to music again. Turns out I was listening to the wrong stuff. I like classical music, but it’s really not my favorite. My favorite is a massive variety: metal to jazz, electronica to rock, dub step to folk. I just love music and just because I don’t have time to actively engage it all the time doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have it on!

Don’t limit your listening. Listen to everything; even stuff you don’t think that you’re going to like. I highly recommend using Rdio to help you do this.


Mario Paint

February 17th, 2014

Mario Paint is my earliest composing memory. I had forgotten about that until my brother shared this on Facebook:

Now THAT is some talent. I’ve said before that limited resources stimulates creativity. This is a great example of that.

Talent is everywhere; enjoy it wherever you find it.

Mario Paint

Nostalgia, right here.

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