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October, 2013

  1. The Walker’s Dilemma: An Overanalysis of Listening to Music While Walking About

    October 24, 2013 by Daniel Friedland

    So far in this blog, I have talked a lot about different genres and “sub-genres” of music. Therefore, to change it up a bit, I have decided to analyze (or overanalyze, if you will) a “musical” trend I have seen here on campus that got me thinking. My observation is simply the fact that many students walk around campus with headphones in their ears. This seems simple and harmless enough, right? Wrong. Have you ever stopped to think about why people do this or what it achieves? I would like to discuss my rationale regarding what I have come to call “The Walker’s Dilemma.”

    Listening to music is a way for the listener to experience an idea or emotion, but to people who walk around with headphones, it acts as a mere distraction. Is it a good thing to have a distraction from reality, even if it is just during a walk from one class to the next? I would argue that the answer goes both ways.

    Whether it be taking the listener’s mind off of a difficult exam he or she just finished or simply giving the listener’s mind something to engage in while walking around alone, listening to music while walking around campus distracts us from what happens in our immediate environment. Now I will not bore you with the safety hazards of walking with headphones in your ears, but they certainly exist. Plus, it makes you unapproachable because people see you as too busy to converse with or even greet. The most dreadful consequence of all is the fact that we are not able to clearly see, hear, and experience the scenery and people around us.

    Now for the positives. Sometimes we need a distraction from reality, or at least something that occupies our bored or exhausted minds. I must admit that I wear headphones some of the time when walking between classes, and I see it as sort of therapeutic. It allows the mind to reset itself and relax (assuming you do not listen to heavy metal). Also, it enables us to control our mood and mindset, which can be good thing at times. For example, listening to exciting “pump-up” music to boost your confidence before an exam can work wonders.

    Overall, there are valid benefits and detriments to wearing headphones while walking around, but I must say that for the most part, it is better to walk around with your ears wide open to the sounds of the world. You never know what you might hear or see. Some of the best experiences in life come when we least expect them, so why not take out those headphones once in a while and see what the world has to offer?

    Stay fly and goodbye!

     

    -Dan

     


  2. Analysis of “We Did Stop” from SNL

    October 18, 2013 by Daniel Friedland

    SNL Parody – We Did Stop

    Although the government shutdown is over, it lasted long enough for some very provocative propaganda to rise to prominence in the media. I witnessed this spectacle while watching Saturday Night Live two weeks ago. Miley Cyrus helps the cast of SNL to make a statement about the inefficiency of the government in a hilarious way. However, even though it seems like a mere parody video, “We Did Stop” contains plenty of rhetoric, as well as civically engages us by indirectly raising questions about the government and its status.

    “We Did Stop” is clearly a parody of Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop” song and music video, and while making a mockery of the stagnant United States government may be rather insensitive, it serves to bring awareness to a civic issue and place the blame. The video targets the Republican Party, blaming it for the government shutdown. Portraying John Boehner and Michelle Bachmann as manipulative, careless, and ridiculous figures discredits their images. The part towards the end of the video when “Boehner” and “Bachmann” are throwing money at “Uncle Sam” is especially effective because it subtly  introduces the generalization that the Republicans as a whole are rich, selfish, and only care about their own assets (not the state of the government). The video actually diminishes the ethos of the Republican party, which is an underhanded, backwards ethos appeal.

    The video also employs a logos appeal in the form of the lyrics. At the very beginning of the video, the deep voice says “This is our house, we can do what we want . . . vote how we want, defund how we want.” While this line is meant to be humorous and set the stage for the rest of the song, it impacts the viewer in a much more serious way. The line introduces the idea that the Republican party does control the house (of Representatives). They have voted against the budget bill and want to defund Obamacare. Regardless of the manner in which these facts or given, there exists some logical truth to them. They make the viewer of the video believe that the Republican party directly caused the government shutdown by voting against the budget bill and demanding that Obamacare be defunded. These facts are true; however, the makers of the video make it seem like the cause of the government shutdown lies solely in the Republican party, which is certainly a heavily left-leaning bias.

    “We Did Stop” brings awareness to the government shutdown and its supposed cause through the use of humorous, shocking images, as well as cleverly written lyrics. Rhetoric is all around us, even in comedy sketches. Whether or not “We Did Stop” accurately portrays the Republican Party and its role in the government shutdown, it certainly leaves an impression through its intelligent use rhetorical devices.

     

    Video URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik1bdoufPt0

     

    Works Cited

    We Did Stop – SNL Highlight. 2013. Video. NBC. YouTube, New York, New York. Web. 18 Oct 2013.


  3. Chamber Music: Musical Intimacy

    October 18, 2013 by Daniel Friedland

    I have been talking about classical music a lot lately, but I am going to do it again. I am in a string quartet here on campus, and we have just started looking through repertoire, which allows us to listen to a whole variety of styles within classical music. We ended up choosing two very different pieces, one romantic and one which is more classical (fundamental stuff, like Mozart, Beethoven, etc.). The beauty of chamber music is that it explores the different aspects of classical music in a whole new way.

    The experience of playing in a chamber group lies somewhere in the realm between soloing and playing in an orchestra. Chamber music is similar to an orchestra in that a group of musicians are working together and playing different parts in order to portray some musical idea. The difference is that playing with, say, 3 other people, rather than 90 other people is that one is able to  listen more closely to the individual parts and work off of each other more “intimately” than would be possible in a full orchestra. On the other end of the spectrum, chamber music is similar to soloing in that one is playing his or her part alone and exposed. There is no one else there to cover up mistakes or discrepancies.

    With fewer people, the setting is perhaps higher-pressure, but it is also more musically intimate. Players make eye contact with each other, cue their entrances, and coordinate musical ideas through sound and movement. These characteristics of chamber music are what make it so fun and rewarding, yet also difficult at the same time. It is tough to be engaged with everyone in the group while focusing on your own self-expression at the same time. Even so, I find chamber music to be extremely exciting, and I play it whenever I can.

     

    Here are some videos / recordings of the pieces my quartet will be playing this semester. Take a listen and see what you think!

     

    Grieg – String Quartet Op. 27 in g minor – Movement 1 (part 1)

    Grieg – String Quartet Op. 27 in g minor – Movement 1 (part 2)

    If you only want to listen to one part, watch the last 30 seconds or so of part 2. They even use a fan to blow their music away. How awesome!

     

    Mendelssohn – String Quartet No. 2 in a minor, Op. 13

     

    I hope you enjoyed the clips! Stay fly and goodbye!

    -Dan

     

    Video URLs:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlS0QgOHiqM (Grieg Part 1)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qj-W8i63fI (Grieg Part 2)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny4yzZy-9Ps (Mendelssohn #2)

     

     


  4. A comparison: Instrumental vs. A Capella

    October 10, 2013 by Daniel Friedland

    We know music in a variety of forms, but most songs today that play on the radio are formed by an instrumental and voice line. There are, as we know other forms of music, but it just so happens that this combination of an instrument and voice line predominates in current musical culture. Now, if we strip down these songs to their most basic forms, we get what is known as the  instrumental and A Capella. Musical instruments or any other sound other than voice is considered instrumental, and any sound produced by the voice is A Capella. While these two forms are normally seen together, there are certainly some good instrumental songs and pieces, as well as A Capella songs and pieces.

    Here is an instrumental song that stands really well on its own. The guitar is the only sound (besides the talking voices in the background), and it plays the melody as well as an accompaniment  at the same time, making for an interesting piece of music.

    Alt-J – Interlude II

    Because instruments and synthetic sounds can play two or melody lines it a time, it is easier for an instrument to play an engaging piece than it would be for a singer (as a generalization). This is especially evident in pop songs because the voice relies a lot on the instrumental for creating interest in the melody line. I go to my scapegoat pop artist, T-Swift, to show us just how weak a single vocal line can be.

    T-Swift – You Belong With Me

    Not all A Capella is uninteresting, though. In fact, a lot of it is really engaging to the listener because voices can make lots of sounds that mirror percussion and other instruments. Take a listen to this A Capella version of Paradise by Coldplay. The singer uses his voice in different ways to produce different sounds that come together to sounds extremely similar to the actual song.

    Cover of Coldplay’s Paradise

    In the end, voice and instrumental melodies are very similar for the simple reason that the voice is an instrument. While the voice can only produce one melody line at a time, the combination of voices can add a really interesting twist to a song. It is the same way with instruments. Solo pieces are nice to listen to, but accompaniment and the inter-workings of a variety of instruments makes for a more exciting piece of music.

    That’s all for now. Stay fly, and goodbye!

    -Dan

     

    Video URLs:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbQ_y0dO4js (Interlude 2)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-ZXoT9u5og (You Belong With Me)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2YSo8Z_-a4 (Paradise Cover)

     

     

     

     


  5. Silence: Is it Music?

    October 4, 2013 by Daniel Friedland

    What is music? Most people would say it is a combination of sounds produced by voices or instruments. This is to be expected, because I am sure every single song we have on our iPod, and every song or piece of music we have ever heard has had melodies of some sort brought about by voices and instruments. Another general conception regarding music is the fact that it makes us feel something. Why is this? I can’t really say. There may be some scientific explanation for the phenomenon somewhere, but I won’t bother with that for now. Back to my point, for some reason, sounds coming together to form a chord or melody tug at our emotions. For example, “River Flows in You” by Yiruma makes most of us feel sad.

    Yiruma – River Flows In You

     

    As another example, Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson is a song that generally makes the listener feel happy because of its feel-good melody.

    Eric Johnson – Cliffs of Dover

     

    Almost everything song does something to us, or impacts us in some way. However, there is a piece of music composed completely of silence and no instruments or voices at all. Check out John Cage’s 4’33” (4 minutes and 33 seconds):

    John Cage – 4’33”

     

    Now, is this really music? Does a composition which calls for no melody or sound at all constitute a piece of music? This is a tough question to ask, and the answer depends solely upon your definition of music. If you categorize music as sounds that are comprised harmonically and melodically and please the ear, this piece would certainly not be music to you. However, if you look at music in a broader sense of the term, 4’33” is a piece of music that combines the sounds of the audience that are normally not considered music, such as a cough or a heartbeat. Either silence does not really exist or people just cannot detect it. This must be so because even when there is no audible sound in our vicinity, there still exists our inner voice or consciousness, which always speaks within us. Eric Johnson gives his philosophy on sounds and silence as music in this interview:

    John Cage Interview

     

    Silence is an interesting thing to contemplate, as it leaves us with many questions. Does silence actually exist? And if so, is silence music? I certainly do not know the answer, so I’ll leave it to speculation. Stay fly, and goodbye!

    -Dan

     

    Video URLs:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-4wUfZD6oc (River Flows In You)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55nAwmVLQSk (Cliffs of Dover)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY7UK-6aaNA (4’33”)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcHnL7aS64Y (John Cage Interview)

     

     

     

     

     

     


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