Here's a few soundscapes that I'm critiquing.
Jason Butler's Soundscape
-Jason's Critique
Kevin Crowder's Soundscape
-Kevin's Critique
Peter Hauptman's Soundscape
-Peter's Critique
Monday, January 31, 2011
Lizards and Brainwashing. (Another set of thoughts concerning a reading.)
Links for the people reading this:
Brainwashed
One of the big things that the article talks about is the concept of the "lizard brain," or the emotions that we feel when we take a risk that we are not used to. As the article puts it, the lizard brain "does not like to be laughed at and it does not like to be out of it's safety zone." What the article means by acknowledging the lizard brain is to understand that we are uncomfortable with risks in our lives and that we still need to try and take those risks. The lizard brain is a metaphor for the insecurities that we feel about our risks and our chances of success and failure, and if we want to make it in the coming age, we have to confront and overcome the fears that we have.
The second layer that I wanted to discuss is the learning layer. The article mentions that while we grew up, we learned only what was needed for the jobs at the time. But now that we have entered into this recession, it becomes vital to those seeking jobs to seek out and learn new information about anything. Jobs today require a versatile knowledge of our surroundings and a creative mind will always benefit from more knowledge.
I do feel that these two layers do tie in well with the way that we set up our blogs. Our blogs are our method of learning and finding out more about our creative side, and the postings generally seem to show a lot of promise with that. One thing to note is that the blog helps us to acknowledge our lizards and to help us overcome them. Likewise, we also learn more by reading the blogs of others. That being said, I do feel that the blog assignments are a little too restricting in terms of what we can write. Some of the assignments have felt like missed opportunities due to some of the restrictions that have been going on. In the future, either in this class or with any future classes, I hope we're allowed a little more freedom in how we write our blogs.
Brainwashed
One of the big things that the article talks about is the concept of the "lizard brain," or the emotions that we feel when we take a risk that we are not used to. As the article puts it, the lizard brain "does not like to be laughed at and it does not like to be out of it's safety zone." What the article means by acknowledging the lizard brain is to understand that we are uncomfortable with risks in our lives and that we still need to try and take those risks. The lizard brain is a metaphor for the insecurities that we feel about our risks and our chances of success and failure, and if we want to make it in the coming age, we have to confront and overcome the fears that we have.
The second layer that I wanted to discuss is the learning layer. The article mentions that while we grew up, we learned only what was needed for the jobs at the time. But now that we have entered into this recession, it becomes vital to those seeking jobs to seek out and learn new information about anything. Jobs today require a versatile knowledge of our surroundings and a creative mind will always benefit from more knowledge.
I do feel that these two layers do tie in well with the way that we set up our blogs. Our blogs are our method of learning and finding out more about our creative side, and the postings generally seem to show a lot of promise with that. One thing to note is that the blog helps us to acknowledge our lizards and to help us overcome them. Likewise, we also learn more by reading the blogs of others. That being said, I do feel that the blog assignments are a little too restricting in terms of what we can write. Some of the assignments have felt like missed opportunities due to some of the restrictions that have been going on. In the future, either in this class or with any future classes, I hope we're allowed a little more freedom in how we write our blogs.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Covers.... How do they work?
There's a few times in your music-listening life that you find that one cover song that just trumps the original in terms of enjoyment. I found one of my favorite covers a couple years back when I heard Jeff Buckley's cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" while rummaging through my brother's music collection, and I still listen to it when I feel the time is right (which is all the time). True, this choice might seem a bit over used, but I feel that's for a good reason. But if I'm going to look at both of these versions, I should probably start at the beginning, so let's look at the original.
Leonard Cohen: "Hallelujah"
As you may notice, Leonard Cohen's voice has a very low pitch, giving the rest of the song a certain amount of depth, almost like a narrator telling a story. Also, notice how the bass is very prominent in this version of the song, which lets the rest of the song come to life around it. Now let's take a look at Jeff Buckley's cover of this song.
Jeff Buckley: "Hallelujah"
Right off the bat, we notice that the song is much more somber, softer, emotionally intense, but it goes against the original by going for a softer sonic intensity and going more for emotional intensity. Using a higher pitch for his voice, Jeff Buckley changes the way that the listener interprets the song, which switches Leonard Cohen's narrator style of interpretation to a more personal, heartfelt approach, almost like it's a close friend telling you about their troubles.
Jeff's cover actually provides a great deal of tension to the listener, as there is a certain amount of emotional output that builds throughout the song as it builds up to what should be a logical conclusion. What Jeff did was create tension throughout the verses by gradually raising the intensity until it felt like it was going to break, and then released it in a subdued delivery so that the song could continue to ebb and flow with it's dynamics. Leonard did a similar amount of tension when he builds up to the chorus, but he lets out that tension with a louder, more pronounced release.
Another really notable shift between the two songs is the rhythm at which they are played. Leonard Cohen's original was played at a constant 4/4 throughout the song, whereas Jeff Buckley's cover begins with a sort of staggered introduction on the guitar, slowly moving in and out of each part without any real, true rhythm until Jeff starts playing the chords to the song. Jeff also changes the rhythm at the end, when he holds his voice at the quiet volume and when he plays his guitar a little bit faster. This really adds to the emotional output that Jeff Buckley is putting into the song.
Lyrically, there are some moments where the two diverge. For the first two stanzas, the songs share the same lyrics, but at the third stanza is when the two split. The lyrics that Jeff Buckley used in his cover are much more relationship based, dealing more with lost love, and they rely more on the vocal delivery in order to effectively create the mood of the song. Leonard Cohen's lyrics tend to be more world-weary and resigned, which lend themselves more to Cohen's vocal delivery rather than Buckley's delivery.
One last thing to note about the two songs is that lyrically, they both use a lot of subconscious lyrical themes. Most readers can consciously figure out what the meaning behind the songs are, but most of the lyrics themselves contain a large amount of symbolism and metaphor, which helps to enhance the delivery of each of the songs.
In regards to what I think is the better version, I feel that the Jeff Buckley cover of "Hallelujah" is better than the original, although I think anyone could have figured that out from how much I gushed on and on about it. Leonard Cohen's original is great as well, but I feel that the song works much better in a stripped down format rather than a grand, choral format. What I do love is that both of these songs manage to provide something unique, one has a strong air of wisdom about it (Cohen) whereas the other is delivered in a way that shows the signs of a younger individual, who's still learning about life, a style that hits closer to home for me (Buckley).
Leonard Cohen: "Hallelujah"
As you may notice, Leonard Cohen's voice has a very low pitch, giving the rest of the song a certain amount of depth, almost like a narrator telling a story. Also, notice how the bass is very prominent in this version of the song, which lets the rest of the song come to life around it. Now let's take a look at Jeff Buckley's cover of this song.
Jeff Buckley: "Hallelujah"
Right off the bat, we notice that the song is much more somber, softer, emotionally intense, but it goes against the original by going for a softer sonic intensity and going more for emotional intensity. Using a higher pitch for his voice, Jeff Buckley changes the way that the listener interprets the song, which switches Leonard Cohen's narrator style of interpretation to a more personal, heartfelt approach, almost like it's a close friend telling you about their troubles.
Jeff's cover actually provides a great deal of tension to the listener, as there is a certain amount of emotional output that builds throughout the song as it builds up to what should be a logical conclusion. What Jeff did was create tension throughout the verses by gradually raising the intensity until it felt like it was going to break, and then released it in a subdued delivery so that the song could continue to ebb and flow with it's dynamics. Leonard did a similar amount of tension when he builds up to the chorus, but he lets out that tension with a louder, more pronounced release.
Another really notable shift between the two songs is the rhythm at which they are played. Leonard Cohen's original was played at a constant 4/4 throughout the song, whereas Jeff Buckley's cover begins with a sort of staggered introduction on the guitar, slowly moving in and out of each part without any real, true rhythm until Jeff starts playing the chords to the song. Jeff also changes the rhythm at the end, when he holds his voice at the quiet volume and when he plays his guitar a little bit faster. This really adds to the emotional output that Jeff Buckley is putting into the song.
Lyrically, there are some moments where the two diverge. For the first two stanzas, the songs share the same lyrics, but at the third stanza is when the two split. The lyrics that Jeff Buckley used in his cover are much more relationship based, dealing more with lost love, and they rely more on the vocal delivery in order to effectively create the mood of the song. Leonard Cohen's lyrics tend to be more world-weary and resigned, which lend themselves more to Cohen's vocal delivery rather than Buckley's delivery.
One last thing to note about the two songs is that lyrically, they both use a lot of subconscious lyrical themes. Most readers can consciously figure out what the meaning behind the songs are, but most of the lyrics themselves contain a large amount of symbolism and metaphor, which helps to enhance the delivery of each of the songs.
In regards to what I think is the better version, I feel that the Jeff Buckley cover of "Hallelujah" is better than the original, although I think anyone could have figured that out from how much I gushed on and on about it. Leonard Cohen's original is great as well, but I feel that the song works much better in a stripped down format rather than a grand, choral format. What I do love is that both of these songs manage to provide something unique, one has a strong air of wisdom about it (Cohen) whereas the other is delivered in a way that shows the signs of a younger individual, who's still learning about life, a style that hits closer to home for me (Buckley).
Soundscape Project
Lots of work, lots of stress, but it's done. Now onto another one.
My partner was Logan Hayes for this project.
My partner was Logan Hayes for this project.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Finding Your Howl
I recommend reading through this link either before you start listening to the podcast or while you are listening to it.
Finding Your Howl
Podcasting Link for the audio.
Finding Your Howl
Podcasting Link for the audio.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Some thoughts about a reading. (aka 14 Great Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas, the Summary)
Firstly, so that everyone reading understands what I'm talking about:
14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas
The above link is to a very interesting and fascinating article by the author Mitch Ditkoff. The beginning makes a brief mention about the need for innovation in today's modern job market, from which it segues into a look at two different ways of coming up with innovation, which it labels as a "western" approach (or as the article puts it, "I think, therefore I am) and an "eastern" approach ("I am, therefore, I think").
Progressing from this point, the article begins listing the eponymous 14 Ways, some of which include fantasizing and daydreaming about what your creative thought (5), taking a break from working in order to get focused on it at a later time (8), and suspending our sense of logic (13). Coincidently, these are the three concepts that I really want to look at more in depth.
#5: Fantasize
The article mentions that many new ideas and innovations are born when people just fantasize about things, and this is something that I agree completely with. I feel that many ideas that I've had have occurred when I just daydream, although this usually happens when I need to study so that puts me in a bit of a problem at times when it's ten minutes until my test and I start fantasizing about an epic battle between a T-rex and a washing machine with legs. I do feel that the example with Gary Kasparov was a poor choice, but it ultimately ties in with the overall idea of the passage that dreaming about something ultimately beats having a computer try to achieve the same result.
One thing that I did enjoy about this passage was the note about companies and innovations. I felt it was kind of funny that CEOs expect great new ideas and then they don't give any time or motivation to actually look for those innovations. It's like a man telling you to grow crops but he won't give up the seeds that actually make those crops. But sometimes, we already have the seeds to our innovations, we just find it when we do other things, like....
#8: Taking a Break
I'll admit, this one really appeals to me, but that's partly because I'm a lazy guy. Truth be told, I only started work on this blog post after the original due date, which might come back to bite me in the near future. But what I did take from this passage was that taking a break may actually help me when I'm trying to think of new things. Plus, it can really relieve stress that comes with the day and with trying (really hard) to find something new.
I do feel that the example with Seymour Cray is actually one of the more relevant examples that I've read in this article. The passage really got how this worked with people, although I'm a bit surprised that a computer expert works on tunnels whenever he takes a break.
Also, I've been to Wisconsin multiple times, and I wish I could see elves in those trees. It would make the trips up there so much more exciting. But logic dictates that there are no elves in Wisconsin. Speaking of logic, that brings me to my next passage....
#14: Suspend Logic
One thing about this passage that I found interesting was the mention that most people in the world want to find or witness something fantastic, something that completely destroys what logic dictates. Another interesting bit was when it mentioned that kids tend to live in this state more often than adults, which may indicate that we may find our ideas when we look into our past. Although that isn't exactly what the article is talking about.
I would argue that this way may be one of the best ways to get an innovation or an idea, as it works well with some of the other tips that the article presents. For example, when we daydream, we tend to suspend our logic so that we can imagine fantastic and frightening thoughts that we wouldn't be able to experience in real life. Suspending logic can also work in tangent with suggestion #9: Noticing and Challenging existing patterns, because logic at times dictates what we follow and why we follow it.
With that being said, if there is one prompt that I would like to take, it would be the prompt to suggestion #14, which goes like this:
"What can you do this week to suspend practicality, logic, and rationality in service to birthing your big idea?"
One thing that I can do is to continue to daydream about various things that make absolutely no sense in any way, shape, or form, which would be a good start. Another thing I could do would be to break my traditional routine, or as my Sociology class puts it, "breaking away from the script." What this means is that I would need to find something that I could just subvert or invert so that I could find something of meaning out of this. Unfortunately, finding that will be tough, since my schedule is already very ingrained into my head and it would be tough to really get anything out of doing this.
Or maybe this is what they mean by suspending logic; just finding something strange about our ordinary routine. After all, some of the things that we do on a regular basis may not seem logical to other people and this also occurs in the opposite way. Maybe we can find something out of that, by having looking at the illogical actions of other people. That could definitely work out well in an office style setting.
That's all I have for this blog post, I'll see you guys later.
14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas
The above link is to a very interesting and fascinating article by the author Mitch Ditkoff. The beginning makes a brief mention about the need for innovation in today's modern job market, from which it segues into a look at two different ways of coming up with innovation, which it labels as a "western" approach (or as the article puts it, "I think, therefore I am) and an "eastern" approach ("I am, therefore, I think").
Progressing from this point, the article begins listing the eponymous 14 Ways, some of which include fantasizing and daydreaming about what your creative thought (5), taking a break from working in order to get focused on it at a later time (8), and suspending our sense of logic (13). Coincidently, these are the three concepts that I really want to look at more in depth.
#5: Fantasize
The article mentions that many new ideas and innovations are born when people just fantasize about things, and this is something that I agree completely with. I feel that many ideas that I've had have occurred when I just daydream, although this usually happens when I need to study so that puts me in a bit of a problem at times when it's ten minutes until my test and I start fantasizing about an epic battle between a T-rex and a washing machine with legs. I do feel that the example with Gary Kasparov was a poor choice, but it ultimately ties in with the overall idea of the passage that dreaming about something ultimately beats having a computer try to achieve the same result.
One thing that I did enjoy about this passage was the note about companies and innovations. I felt it was kind of funny that CEOs expect great new ideas and then they don't give any time or motivation to actually look for those innovations. It's like a man telling you to grow crops but he won't give up the seeds that actually make those crops. But sometimes, we already have the seeds to our innovations, we just find it when we do other things, like....
#8: Taking a Break
I'll admit, this one really appeals to me, but that's partly because I'm a lazy guy. Truth be told, I only started work on this blog post after the original due date, which might come back to bite me in the near future. But what I did take from this passage was that taking a break may actually help me when I'm trying to think of new things. Plus, it can really relieve stress that comes with the day and with trying (really hard) to find something new.
I do feel that the example with Seymour Cray is actually one of the more relevant examples that I've read in this article. The passage really got how this worked with people, although I'm a bit surprised that a computer expert works on tunnels whenever he takes a break.
Also, I've been to Wisconsin multiple times, and I wish I could see elves in those trees. It would make the trips up there so much more exciting. But logic dictates that there are no elves in Wisconsin. Speaking of logic, that brings me to my next passage....
#14: Suspend Logic
One thing about this passage that I found interesting was the mention that most people in the world want to find or witness something fantastic, something that completely destroys what logic dictates. Another interesting bit was when it mentioned that kids tend to live in this state more often than adults, which may indicate that we may find our ideas when we look into our past. Although that isn't exactly what the article is talking about.
I would argue that this way may be one of the best ways to get an innovation or an idea, as it works well with some of the other tips that the article presents. For example, when we daydream, we tend to suspend our logic so that we can imagine fantastic and frightening thoughts that we wouldn't be able to experience in real life. Suspending logic can also work in tangent with suggestion #9: Noticing and Challenging existing patterns, because logic at times dictates what we follow and why we follow it.
With that being said, if there is one prompt that I would like to take, it would be the prompt to suggestion #14, which goes like this:
"What can you do this week to suspend practicality, logic, and rationality in service to birthing your big idea?"
One thing that I can do is to continue to daydream about various things that make absolutely no sense in any way, shape, or form, which would be a good start. Another thing I could do would be to break my traditional routine, or as my Sociology class puts it, "breaking away from the script." What this means is that I would need to find something that I could just subvert or invert so that I could find something of meaning out of this. Unfortunately, finding that will be tough, since my schedule is already very ingrained into my head and it would be tough to really get anything out of doing this.
Or maybe this is what they mean by suspending logic; just finding something strange about our ordinary routine. After all, some of the things that we do on a regular basis may not seem logical to other people and this also occurs in the opposite way. Maybe we can find something out of that, by having looking at the illogical actions of other people. That could definitely work out well in an office style setting.
That's all I have for this blog post, I'll see you guys later.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
My Three Biggest Influences (And Other Useful Notes)
They Might Be Giants:
They Might Be Giants hold a special honor for me because they allow me to put on my rose-tinted nostalgia goggles for two separate instances. The first of which was my own childhood and the second of which was when I was beginning my teenage years. They relate to the first due to the fact that they were on various children's cartoons back in the day, such as KaBlam! and Tiny Toons Adventures, programs that everyone loved to watch before Nickelodean started rerunning everything.
They relate to the second part because that was around the time that I really found out about the Internet and about things like Youtube. Ah, I remember those days, when Youtube didn't have ads being played before every major video and the big Internet meme of the time was a big guy lip syncing to a Molodovan pop group while recording it with his web camera. Back then, I would watch They Might Be Giants videos on Youtube, when it was young and relatively innocent.
Actually, let me show this KaBlam! video just to illustrate the point:
What I love so much about their songs is how much subtext there is in the lyrics. Just hearing/reading the actual text might make no sense at first, what with worms wanting to be drummers and experimental films, but the subtext of the songs show other meanings, such as how the story of Dr. Worm can be seen as an analogy for striving towards your dreams. Speaking of dreams, that leads me into my next influence:
Sigur Rós:
This is the band that I could probably use to label myself as a hipster, but I think I might be stretching that a bit. What I will say is that I love this band's dreamy, atmospheric sound; the sounds of a lullaby.
The one thing that really strikes me about Sigur Rós (despite the fact that it's really hard to type Rós on an English keyboard) is how much they can change their sound while still keeping the same riff and melody. For example:
For the first four minutes, the song built upon an affinity, which was the dreaming sounding voice and the repetitive guitar riff. Throughout this half, there are variations on the melody and harmony in order to keep things interesting, but subtle enough not to disturb the overall mood of the piece. Then, at 4:53, the song changes dynamics, contrasting the quiet, peaceful lullaby with the loud, bombastic, and uplifting choral section in order to really maximize the emotional output of the song.
Being an audio production major, it makes sense that my first two influences were musicians. But sometimes, we all have a special place in our soul for other things outside our area of study. Which leads me to:
Monty Python:
Yes, these guys are an influence to everyone, but I find it strange just how much these guys lead me into the media business, which gives me a legitimate excuse to gush on and on about them. So much of their work has influenced what we see in sketch comedy that we sometimes fail to realize what was so good about their work. But what's even better is how well the work produced by the Monty Python troupe has stood up to the test of time. Take the Dirty Fork sketch for example:
What's so good about some of the humor in Monty Python sketches is that consciously some of the sketches make absolutely no sense, but subconsciously we find a new level of humor that doesn't exist when we look at the overall plot, because there is no plot (aside from that one episode about the British cyclist, but that still makes very little sense.) But when I think about all of these influences, I realize that one of them creates nonsensical music, the other creates music in another language, and the last makes comedy with a very loose sense of logic. All of these make a very strange combination when looked at together, but they all work together in a strange, complex way.
Now, enough of this silliness, let's move on to something completely different.
They Might Be Giants hold a special honor for me because they allow me to put on my rose-tinted nostalgia goggles for two separate instances. The first of which was my own childhood and the second of which was when I was beginning my teenage years. They relate to the first due to the fact that they were on various children's cartoons back in the day, such as KaBlam! and Tiny Toons Adventures, programs that everyone loved to watch before Nickelodean started rerunning everything.
They relate to the second part because that was around the time that I really found out about the Internet and about things like Youtube. Ah, I remember those days, when Youtube didn't have ads being played before every major video and the big Internet meme of the time was a big guy lip syncing to a Molodovan pop group while recording it with his web camera. Back then, I would watch They Might Be Giants videos on Youtube, when it was young and relatively innocent.
Actually, let me show this KaBlam! video just to illustrate the point:
Sigur Rós:
This is the band that I could probably use to label myself as a hipster, but I think I might be stretching that a bit. What I will say is that I love this band's dreamy, atmospheric sound; the sounds of a lullaby.
The one thing that really strikes me about Sigur Rós (despite the fact that it's really hard to type Rós on an English keyboard) is how much they can change their sound while still keeping the same riff and melody. For example:
For the first four minutes, the song built upon an affinity, which was the dreaming sounding voice and the repetitive guitar riff. Throughout this half, there are variations on the melody and harmony in order to keep things interesting, but subtle enough not to disturb the overall mood of the piece. Then, at 4:53, the song changes dynamics, contrasting the quiet, peaceful lullaby with the loud, bombastic, and uplifting choral section in order to really maximize the emotional output of the song.
Being an audio production major, it makes sense that my first two influences were musicians. But sometimes, we all have a special place in our soul for other things outside our area of study. Which leads me to:
Monty Python:
Yes, these guys are an influence to everyone, but I find it strange just how much these guys lead me into the media business, which gives me a legitimate excuse to gush on and on about them. So much of their work has influenced what we see in sketch comedy that we sometimes fail to realize what was so good about their work. But what's even better is how well the work produced by the Monty Python troupe has stood up to the test of time. Take the Dirty Fork sketch for example:
What's so good about some of the humor in Monty Python sketches is that consciously some of the sketches make absolutely no sense, but subconsciously we find a new level of humor that doesn't exist when we look at the overall plot, because there is no plot (aside from that one episode about the British cyclist, but that still makes very little sense.) But when I think about all of these influences, I realize that one of them creates nonsensical music, the other creates music in another language, and the last makes comedy with a very loose sense of logic. All of these make a very strange combination when looked at together, but they all work together in a strange, complex way.
Now, enough of this silliness, let's move on to something completely different.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Introductions
Hey everyone, my name is Eric Miller (aka Boxcar). The purpose of this blog is to post some critiques of various pieces of media and to post some of my assignments from my MDIA 203 college course. Don't have too much to say for my first blog post so either wait for me to update this thing or start scrolling.
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