tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74274871156811838662024-03-05T23:44:39.815-05:00The UnbehindRob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-23267204133118049332019-06-30T20:55:00.004-04:002020-12-05T16:20:31.251-05:00Good Day <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Anyone that knows me at all knows I'm a pedant when it comes to notation. I strive for simplicity and clarity. But notation should also be helpful. Take this example--t</span><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">his is how I've seen it notated online:</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinf9M3FPlpaZd3loZLAl0qoPnk2V5rWyd0Sx1VgyFPnOZaQLOLeOS1tRntxhQLAFSBGYAZbbnJwE5QglG6KNyL2F1IX0rlp2vtssTlp6IbCmZRa9knKDiVULrl7Sa_tsWIryyShmC_spmv/s1600/good+day+1.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="209" data-original-width="1316" height="99" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinf9M3FPlpaZd3loZLAl0qoPnk2V5rWyd0Sx1VgyFPnOZaQLOLeOS1tRntxhQLAFSBGYAZbbnJwE5QglG6KNyL2F1IX0rlp2vtssTlp6IbCmZRa9knKDiVULrl7Sa_tsWIryyShmC_spmv/s640/good+day+1.PNG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">But doesn't it sound more like this?</span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">I'm all for making things as easy as possible, but isn't this what is actually happening?</span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><i> <a href="https://youtu.be/6e01nNA02vw?t=94" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Especially when they drop a beat</span></a>:</i></span></span></div><div><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">If you can convince me that the word "sunshine" is NOT a downbeat I will give you $20 dollars and a "Rob Gerry Was Wrong" t-shirt.</span></div>
Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-11330177599191100272017-02-04T19:48:00.007-05:002020-12-05T16:21:27.409-05:00Light Sweater Recommended<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0UzCyWbsqcXc7FWEzSprph9JOqaOhFG55jdveGftxGvQQilvQR-JfpCJO7MXlhvlUvEBYD3Z9FOfXyB6sze8-9fiqiPrdBY3DU3RpO6SG9T6PSpIl-g6izg0npzRRZffiEd9oNB_vJOky/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="355" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0UzCyWbsqcXc7FWEzSprph9JOqaOhFG55jdveGftxGvQQilvQR-JfpCJO7MXlhvlUvEBYD3Z9FOfXyB6sze8-9fiqiPrdBY3DU3RpO6SG9T6PSpIl-g6izg0npzRRZffiEd9oNB_vJOky/" width="248" /></a></div></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
When I have a Phil Collins cover band it will be called <b><span>"Light Sweater Recommended"</span></b> and we'll play this unsung jam (it follows "In the Air Tonight" on the <b><span>Face Value</span></b> album--bummer for this song).<br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SiBpWhtENXk/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SiBpWhtENXk?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></span></div>
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Important notes:<br />
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-This is <i><span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonso_Johnson" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Alphonso Johnson</span></a><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></i>playing bass, thus explaining the generally badass nature of the bass playing.<br />
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-I count the chorus as 4/4 5/4, then 3/4 5/4. That 5 is more of a 4+1. In the 4/4 measure the melody enters on beat two, then on beat 1 every other time (3/4 measures). It's interesting how these moves work in a ballad/semi-reggae context.<br />
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-This album is great and all you Phil haters can suck it. Except for the Beatles cover. That one is pretty terrible.</span>Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-12007639055919386982015-09-10T09:45:00.002-04:002020-12-05T16:22:11.221-05:00The Beach Boys and your iPhone<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0zH_8uMRFt_7GLKsj-L_wNAkdFmm0lar9vihA7zvfOyR9pv-7UtNySKTtovVPXABVqnAO5t9LMu_C5aN3z9nmd258LnkGeBsl708A6Si-HTGHZVWHO7QlEsTbEXDSyg27djDd9dyXax5/s1000/05099931902151-cover-zoom.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0zH_8uMRFt_7GLKsj-L_wNAkdFmm0lar9vihA7zvfOyR9pv-7UtNySKTtovVPXABVqnAO5t9LMu_C5aN3z9nmd258LnkGeBsl708A6Si-HTGHZVWHO7QlEsTbEXDSyg27djDd9dyXax5/w234-h234/05099931902151-cover-zoom.jpg" width="234" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
First listen to this:<br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='289' height='240' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw-CnCeD1XtW2cna-Jzyu4dOxkPfnGF1qZFbVwtqD4y1ejJzzBbJDLs31ucqySdfPSNFYjMhFr2NdMNDphT_Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />Then this:<br />
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MWJXTdCVsKI" width="560"></iframe>
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<br />That's all.</span><br />Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-2133289478801292562015-08-31T21:30:00.003-04:002020-12-04T16:46:13.771-05:00Which synthpop hit from 1981 has the awesomest third borrowing from the parallel major?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">After a long hiatus I'm back at The Unbehind, asking the tough questions. Like "Which synthpop hit from 1981 has the cooler major-third-in-minor-context action?"</span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><span><div style="text-align: left;">I thought this would be simple. How was I to know the modal adventures I was about to embark upon (in my headphones at work)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uPudE8nDog0" width="420"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;">Jesus, is this ever going to get to C major?? NOPE. The bulk of this song is one long F to G dicktease that never gets to C (kinda like<b> <a href="http://unbehind.blogspot.com/2013/01/linear-tonic-continued.html" target="_blank"><i>this</i></a></b>). But it DOES get to A MAJOR at the "pre-chorus" or whatever the hell you call it. (I hate the term pre-chorus--is it part of the verse or the chorus--make up your damn mind!)</div>
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That happens at 1:09, by the way. A major, B diminished, A minor/C to E major. Solid passing diminished. And dramatic after the A major.</span><br />
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And no cadence on C. That would sound pretty stupid. So does the final A minor riff-let. But a cadence on C would have been worse.</span><br />
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And now that I think about it, no authentic cadence, perfect or otherwise, on A minor. And I totally just jammed the shit out of that vamp on a fretless bass with action that's too low. I sounded friggin' awesome.</span><br /><span><br />
But now...now I really get into it.</span><br />
<span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CCTBuOheUpE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></span>
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Let's discuss this video some other time.</span><br />
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0:42--it's my favorite unexpected major third in a synthpop hit from 1981. A few things:</span><br />
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-This song is minor. All the way.</span><br />
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-But this is by way of bass line plus melody--the verses have no explicit chords--only the harmony that is suggested by a minor pentatonic tune combined with a decidedly aeolian bass of G, B flat, E flat, B flat, C.</span><br />
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-And then that B natural he sings....YESSSSS.</span><br />
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"This has got to be my favorite parallel major borrowing from a synthpop tune from 1981," I thought. And then I found this:</span><br /><span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NSehtaY6k1U" width="420"></iframe></div></span>
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"Oh shit," I thought. "That guitar is playing major triads. Barre, lay them fingers down style."</span><br />
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What do I make of this? So is this major with a minor pentatonic melody? That's normal, but is that what is happening here? I really don't think so. Even with a (faint) major third in that voicing of the I chord, it still sounds so overwhelmingly minor (thanks to the non-minor pentatonic "flat VI"). And this isn't overcome until the vocal sings the major 3rd at 0:33.</span><br />
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But I think you have to hear this as a major inflection of minor, which goes against the norm.</span><br />
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But if the guitar is playing an F major chord doesn't that make it dorian?</span><br />
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Or for fuck's sake, <i>of course is isn't flippin' dorian</i>. This isn't some descant shit. NONONO. IT'S ALL MAJOR CHORDS ON A GUITAR IT'S NOT A MADRIGAL FOR CHRIST'S SAKE.</span><br />
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And you just heard an A flat chord two chords ago.</span><br />
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But what of that rogue major third, in this case an E natural on C? I've discussed the notion of power chords before, and that the added fifth above the root is of very little harmonic import:</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://unbehind.blogspot.com/2014/05/modal-mixture-and-power-chords-in.html"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">http://unbehind.blogspot.com/2014/05/modal-mixture-and-power-chords-in.html</span></a></span><br />
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Is this, perhaps, an extension of this? Is this simply a root progression, reinforced by fifths and major thirds, which are of course the extension of the harmonic series?</span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />
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As usual, I think about these things much too hard. I know this. But what do <i>you</i> hear? I can only say what<i> I </i>hear. And once again, chords prove themselves to be deceitful, and instead the combination of individual lines creates the sound, and not necessarily in lock step.</span><br />
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The verses of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" do not have explicit chords. Your brain is filling in the blanks. It's an illusion. That's really, really cool. And it happens all the time and you have no idea.</span><br /></span>
<br />Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-63277838338164610002015-06-23T21:47:00.002-04:002020-12-04T16:59:08.319-05:00"Two Tickets To Paradise": But what is the key? Dare to look within.<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9I1m6mRyFUnvgEYT-9Ur0KczgZs4d449wQtqBjMLtWX28oAXTvYCk33QUhivVd8ZlPuK4lbjMo9OR9xEHXEMt9NPR5czDKnPB_K053Pp-4Gwb6k1mw-zKJ5pVqUaHv6nCDfnTXbgt-ucx/s500/81d0yflhybL._SS500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9I1m6mRyFUnvgEYT-9Ur0KczgZs4d449wQtqBjMLtWX28oAXTvYCk33QUhivVd8ZlPuK4lbjMo9OR9xEHXEMt9NPR5czDKnPB_K053Pp-4Gwb6k1mw-zKJ5pVqUaHv6nCDfnTXbgt-ucx/w260-h260/81d0yflhybL._SS500_.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
I know what you're thinking. This song is in A. And I understand. Certainly the verses seem to pound a flat VII to I sort of deal. And yes the melody. Ah yes. It truly outlines the C#. And the A.<br />
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eYEgYVyBDuM" width="420"></iframe></div>
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Where are the transcriptions, you may ask? I am much too lazy for that. And if you're reading this, you can probably hear what I'm talking about.<br />
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And the persistent A majorish pentatonic-ness of the guitar solo? Yes. Of course.<br />
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Notice how I resisted saying "A-ness" just now. I am maturing slowly.<br />
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BUT. What about the (sorry excuse for a) chorus?<br />
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Do that four times and that's the chorus. With slightly different words.</span></div>
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So here's the thing. I'm not the type to say that things "change keys" unless I really need to. But this is tough. The chorus of this tune sure sounds like D to me, even after all of that A-ness.</span></div>
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Yes, I said it anyway.</span></div>
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The way the melody descends from G to D is one part of it. And the D chord is on beat one of the chorus--this would be an odd emphasis for the IV chord.</span></div>
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The melody lands on an E at the end of the chorus. Which is a better resolution, purely in terms of melody: the E as the fifth of the I chord or as the "re," part of the V chord and unresolved?</span></div>
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Well. Both pretty shitty. But I still hear this song, the chorus, at least, in D. And the verses are an extended, dominant upbeat? Maybe??</span></div>
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Listen! Listen to it! Try not to hear the D chord as the tonic during the chorus! This is not a good song! You must look within!</span></div>
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It's ok if you don't. Sometimes I sure do wish I could listen to music like this person I found online:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwSaPLWRT62VVvuUlsCf51u8p0MaIuo8-oRIZ1MB3gdUyn7XXerL8PzA8cILAiHPlizqpE3svSt3ozojRd0ux6jszzY_9f2VHW8jysZCL-eKSsObp-27iNtfQgymc2Qd-2Fcy0qZlIcO2w/s1600/2+tickets+comment.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwSaPLWRT62VVvuUlsCf51u8p0MaIuo8-oRIZ1MB3gdUyn7XXerL8PzA8cILAiHPlizqpE3svSt3ozojRd0ux6jszzY_9f2VHW8jysZCL-eKSsObp-27iNtfQgymc2Qd-2Fcy0qZlIcO2w/s400/2+tickets+comment.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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It's funny, 'cause I thought this song was about fucking. Any day of your life.</span></div>Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-77616284854378816312015-03-15T19:48:00.009-04:002020-12-04T17:20:30.848-05:00Artificial wonder, continued: Pi music<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWqZMIlYQq1mUKu_tcAb65gYx02xVfl8breXw-SbD62ur_PWSpDtDg1Q9yTfmHF1B0CJ9pT85XQcE0rwtupR-_rAfJ_etYcbXnt4Mm6P0ebVcYVSu-C6wukztoGmt2BDG-oU8-8W5aI4tP/s1600/PI+to+100.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="52" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWqZMIlYQq1mUKu_tcAb65gYx02xVfl8breXw-SbD62ur_PWSpDtDg1Q9yTfmHF1B0CJ9pT85XQcE0rwtupR-_rAfJ_etYcbXnt4Mm6P0ebVcYVSu-C6wukztoGmt2BDG-oU8-8W5aI4tP/s1600/PI+to+100.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /><div style="text-align: left;">If you do a search for "pi music" in YouTube a few videos come up. Here are the top two: </div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wK7tq7L0N8E" width="420"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OMq9he-5HUU" width="560"></iframe></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I will summarize my feelings as briefly as I can: This is some ridiculously stupid bullshit right here, and the results of these experiments are total trash.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Not only am I offended by the vague, meandering diatonic nonsense of it all, I am especially offended by the premise: "What Pi sounds like."</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">BULLSHIT. Pi doesn't sound like anything.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Give me a fucking break. Pi has almost nothing to do with either one of these. The series of digits is used as a random number generator, which is then run through an overly simple number to pitch-class matching scheme. THEN! These bastards just sort of pick some "nice" chords and woohoo! It's music-ish!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One comment on the first one is pretty right on:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Anybody can mash random white notes and it'll sound melodious since it is Cmaj. You could take any arbitrary random sequence of numbers and using this system you could say it was somehow "profound." No it isn't."</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I am also offended by his vest.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I have written about similar "experiments" before:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://unbehind.blogspot.com/2014/07/tree-rings-artificial-wonder-and-big.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">http://unbehind.blogspot.com/2014/07/tree-rings-artificial-wonder-and-big.html</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So it was with some reluctance that I wrote my own pi music. But I decided to have the digits govern all the pitches throughout. I organized them in groups of four (until the very end). I went through the 100th decimal place (which is right after the first appearance of consecutive 1s, which was convenient).</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">0=C, 1=C#, 2=D, 3=Eb, 4=E, 5=F, 6=F#, 7=G, 8=Ab, 9=A, 10=Bb, 11=B</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">-My scheme is no less artificial than the ones above.</div><div style="text-align: left;">-HOWEVER--in my scheme pi dictates all elements of pitch. The occurrence of sets like [3,3,8,3] provide contrast and suggest cadential moments. So I think that the numbers of pi influenced my choices a great deal more than in the other examples, where the notes could really be any stream of numbers from 0 to 9.</div><div style="text-align: left;">-I am NOT running the numbers through the same sort of arbitrary diatonic filter. This made for a lot more work.</div><div style="text-align: left;">-There's probably a mistake in there somewhere.</div><div style="text-align: left;">-Cadences are only partially about the notes. Cadences are truly made by everything else.</div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="no" height="225" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/196057496&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="50%"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXojfefO9aBxwQBgm67ykMeH-qxxHktarMa_863nDybj0r5ThQ14CT7LkpM4nE3lS-eMDAA5YymsBGMkAOMh3Lmw0L3e2Hdd4NaTXy36OjwqsSkdFEZvCkWbTABsTl5IUc3FR7jHzRgj5/s1600/snip+3.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXojfefO9aBxwQBgm67ykMeH-qxxHktarMa_863nDybj0r5ThQ14CT7LkpM4nE3lS-eMDAA5YymsBGMkAOMh3Lmw0L3e2Hdd4NaTXy36OjwqsSkdFEZvCkWbTABsTl5IUc3FR7jHzRgj5/s1600/snip+3.JPG" width="640" /></a></div></div>Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-19971515815981684832014-12-15T21:14:00.006-05:002020-12-03T17:15:47.724-05:00Bing Crosby just didn't give a shit<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01741/Bing-Crosby_1741680c.jpg" /></div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />
<span><br />
Bing Crosby's recording of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is the laziest piece of junk. I never noticed until this year. At least it was released as "<i>I </i>Wish You a Merry Christmas," thus relieving all arrangers, producers, and players from any culpability.<br />
<br />
Here are the lyrics as most of us know them:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pPmogJgVR2tfiogoSovfihwKtsMjbJyecW-B5IqrVGeVKJbm7hAcFB-xWZ73_ssSBrvGJxQUCLzAqUnJyHyKmaxmWb-31bs5y6BMS8xDZckkh5uchpbSNr9xFtrtw4LhsKzqkNzwztes/s1600/Merry+Perry.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pPmogJgVR2tfiogoSovfihwKtsMjbJyecW-B5IqrVGeVKJbm7hAcFB-xWZ73_ssSBrvGJxQUCLzAqUnJyHyKmaxmWb-31bs5y6BMS8xDZckkh5uchpbSNr9xFtrtw4LhsKzqkNzwztes/w714-h335/Merry+Perry.JPG" width="714" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />
<span>Holy shit! Jam with Joe friggin' Perry?? <i>LIVE???</i></span><br />
<i><br /></i><span>
Ok, sorry. </span><span>Here's Bing:</span><br />
<br />
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span> </span><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/wnFM_iPYy1k" width="560"></iframe></div>
<br /><span>
Yeah, double reeds! </span><span>Let's break this down:</span><br />
<br />
</span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
I wish you a merry Christmas.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
I wish you a merry Christmas.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
I wish you a merry Christmas,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
And a Happy New Year.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />
That's fine. A little selfish. But ok. Time for the booze-soaked, dried fruit gut bomb:<br />
<br />
</span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
UHHH bring us some figgy pudding.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
Uhh bring us some figgy pudding.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
Oh bring us some figgy pudding,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
And bring it out here.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />
Sounds like Bing has been hitting the brandy. Maybe the cooking sherry. (Editor's note: I don't care how desperate you are--don't drink the cooking sherry. Trust me. And I have no idea if Bing Crosby was drunk for this. But if I had been in his place, I would have been pretty drunk.)<br />
<br />
</span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
We won't go until we got some.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
We won't go until we got some.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
We won't go until we got some,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
So bring some out here.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
What kind of fucked up grammar is this? "We won't go until we got some?" And hold on...did they just end this with "bring some out here?"<br />
<br />
Where's my cup of good cheer? And aren't we missing a few "Good tidings..." and shit?<br />
<br />
And I have to take issue with the original carol/song--it's like some sort of wassail, door-to-door hold up. <i>WE WON'T GO UNTIL WE GOT SOME! AND WE'RE GONNA SING WITH WEIRD GRAMMAR, TOO! UNTIL YOU HAND OVER THE DAMNED FIGGY PUDDING!</i><br />
<br />
Bing's performance ends with the Merry Christmas, Figgy Pudding, then another Merry Christmas verse. Except he substitutes "I" with "We." Sorry, folks. Bing has now included all y'all in this travesty.<br />
<br />
He doesn't even do the "We won't go" bit. Maybe they got tired of singing traditional Christmas songs with verbs in the wrong tense. I would love to know how much time he spent on this tune at this session.<br />
</span><div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
I wish you a Merry Christmas.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
I wish you a Merry Christmas.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
I wish you a Merry Christmas,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
So bring some out here.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">And I won't go until I got some.</span></div>
Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-50583510391674435522014-10-29T21:05:00.006-04:002020-12-05T16:40:47.961-05:00Eighth note groupings and text setting in Roger Waters' "Pigs On the Wing (Part I)"<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: left;">This is my analysis of Roger Waters' "Pigs On the Wing (Part I)," the opening track of Pink Floyd's </span><i style="text-align: left;">Animals</i><span style="text-align: left;">:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/GfRWTg61W24" width="420"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyxQAsfGqcuOszCsryPl53C-Ka9qkAUDX_2Gz4XxvY-Z-p2reS1B1XqSIuKOwqQnF3jVpjRqNt6s0zr4JPk8QTyyskNrqI2xHmS6lai17YtKjQ5f7W4W1KLIU6mJ-A4C5-V84OrFw1VQAK/s1600/pigs.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><span style="clear: left; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="407" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyxQAsfGqcuOszCsryPl53C-Ka9qkAUDX_2Gz4XxvY-Z-p2reS1B1XqSIuKOwqQnF3jVpjRqNt6s0zr4JPk8QTyyskNrqI2xHmS6lai17YtKjQ5f7W4W1KLIU6mJ-A4C5-V84OrFw1VQAK/w1004-h407/pigs.JPG" width="1004" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">I think that after a cursory look, my Excel spreadsheet is pretty straightforward. The eighth note pulse is constant, starting with the 3+3+2 subdivision of 4/4 that is extremely common in strummy guitar rock music. It's often 3 eighths, 3 eighths, 4 sixteenths. Like the verses of this:<br />
<br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lwlogyj7nFE" width="420"></iframe>
</div>
</span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Oof. What a bad video. Or this:<br />
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/xsJ4O-nSveg" width="420"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
Wow. Super shitty.<br />
<br />This song plays around with the same stuff:<br />
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gnhXHvRoUd0" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
Yes, of course I count in 4/4. But the underlying "clave" is 3+3+2.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
It even carries over into the next track of <i>Animals</i>, just faster:<br />
<br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gOqblSqx_VI" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
</span><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
What I love about "Pigs On the Wing" is how the text dictates the time signatures. This is much like a lot of older country music, actually:<br />
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/19vApPwWqh8" width="420"></iframe>
</div>
<br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
Which is, strangely enough, a lot like this:<br />
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PWgvGjAhvIw" width="420"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
If you don't know what I mean, just count to four. Until you can't.<br />
<br />
The difference in Roger Waters' example is that the inconsistencies are much more unpredictable and expressive. If I did a similar analysis with "Hey Ya!" the phrases would line up cleanly and evenly. In "Pigs," the bottom of my chart is all gnarly. And that is a result of the text setting--using the eighth notes necessary to get the words out.<br />
<br />
And then the album continues after that. For me, this is Pink Floyd's finest. I used to listen to this on cassette on long car trips. If I was cool enough, I'd cite a Syd Barrett album as my favorite. But I can't--<i>Animals</i> is the best.<br />
<br />
As long as we're keeping score...listen from 1:41 in "Pigs (Three Different Ones)":<br />
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gOqblSqx_VI?start=74" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>
<br />
Don't need four beats to set your syllables? Then take one out.<br />
<br />
Or maybe you need an extra beat?<br />
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/h80lbFuhsMU" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
"There's a restless feeling knocking at my door today."</span></div>
Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-40293597057366395242014-09-22T20:22:00.001-04:002020-12-05T16:43:20.617-05:00The melodic genius of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful"<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img height="200" src="http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c220/wulffpaul/JamesBluntA.jpg" width="151" /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />
Mostly known as an unlikely, shaggy-haired, parrot-voiced, one hit wonder dork-throb, James Blunt should also be recognized for his unrivaled gift for melody. And it is clearest in that one hit of his--his breakout (one) hit "You're Beautiful."</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/oofSnsGkops" width="560"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<i>OH SHIT HE'S SO DREAMY!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Oh God, this song is 9 years old. Have mercy.<br />
<br />
While this song may seem simple on the surface, after a careful analysis you discover that not only is it simple, it's also one of the stupidest songs you've ever heard.<br />
<br />
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUXUzlO9GGfjZPLRGxpabqxr2I_YY8Xtiu8Eu2guOqrS2nSl9BojXVMVLr8ShUNx6re853JC3xDRLu5aEyfguoHodu8r0ouV2Glll2hCaZjzNI4OM-2jffe-AyMKOexDHgnm9BRNKlMNq2/s1600/blunt.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUXUzlO9GGfjZPLRGxpabqxr2I_YY8Xtiu8Eu2guOqrS2nSl9BojXVMVLr8ShUNx6re853JC3xDRLu5aEyfguoHodu8r0ouV2Glll2hCaZjzNI4OM-2jffe-AyMKOexDHgnm9BRNKlMNq2/s1600/blunt.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />
<br />
Ok. Really. I can't do this. I was going to do this one straight. Do a real transcription, then tear it up. But fuck it. My life is too valuable. This song is so awful. I'm resorting to a list. I'm so mad right now. This has been cooking for 9 years.<br />
<br />
-It's a I-V-vi-IV song. For Christ's sake.<br />
-The melody is nothing but the notes of the I chord, for the most part. Except for the dreadful bridge, which I'll get to next.<br />
-There's a bridge, of sorts. And it's awful. The most perfunctory, wordless, buy-a-few-seconds-of-radio-play bridges ever. (It goes IV, vi, IV, vi, IV, vi, ii, V, in case you thought I was slacking off.) Guess what note he sings a whole bunch? Right. It rhymes with Gee Splat. And the voice leading into the ii chord is horrible--direct octaves between the bass and vocal.<br />
-This video might be worse than the song. Sure, I understand the practical matter of removing the items from one's pockets before jumping from a great height into a body of water. But what does his compulsion with lining up said items <i>just so</i> have to do with his Craigslist Missed Connection? Or run-in with an ex or whatever it is. Maybe lining up the contents of your pockets means you're sensitive?<br />
-I don't wanna see his ugly feet or beat up sneakers.<br />
<br />
This song is straight terrible. Listen. <i>Listen</i>. I see hot girls all the time that I will never be with or "be with" or BE WITH or even <i>be with</i> (if you know what I mean). I have the courtesy and good sense not to write the worst song of all time about it.<br />
<br />
And I mean it. I have to think hard to think of a song that's bad on all the levels that this is. Top 5, for sure.</span><br />Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-48449300702145640952014-09-03T20:56:00.001-04:002020-12-05T16:49:14.382-05:00Trouble stop<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img height="225" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3570/3678974943_27d450b1a1.jpg" width="320" /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />
I loved Aerosmith growing up. And I still find myself defending them from time to time. I still believe that Tom Hamilton's work in the band is pretty much unimpeachable. I imagine him going back to the hotel after a gig, sighing at another Steven Tyler/Joe Perry shit show, then going online, checking his bank account, and climbing into bed with a smile and a shrug.<br />
<br />
But I have wondered about something for a while. His playing on "Dream On" is pretty much roots and licks in octaves with the guitars. But then toward the very end he does this:<br />
<br />
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCMyamXbGTVhJnqHJEKi8mDGNi4VjY42lvtDxxbcOjLFZROeLPmYyPcmutDnMBlk1kHFwPhFA5g9hq_bbp3NPJl1DeGDe_nZHEDC4yL2RrMe4foORJf7mIg2Ihcvi0gPNITqigKgy1AdGR/s1600/dream+on.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="71" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCMyamXbGTVhJnqHJEKi8mDGNi4VjY42lvtDxxbcOjLFZROeLPmYyPcmutDnMBlk1kHFwPhFA5g9hq_bbp3NPJl1DeGDe_nZHEDC4yL2RrMe4foORJf7mIg2Ihcvi0gPNITqigKgy1AdGR/s1600/dream+on.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />
Why the double stop then? And why on D flat? I can't think of any reason to do this. Lots of reasons to do it on F. He could have done it on all of them, for that matter. D flat is pretty muddy. If you don't believe me check it out. He doesn't do it until 3:46.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/89dGC8de0CA?start=226" width="560"></iframe></div>
<br />
WHY?? It's quite distracting once you notice it.<br />
<br />
Maybe it has something to do with the "Huge Chinese gong" at the end.</span>Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-48759340898414676572014-08-19T21:10:00.003-04:002020-12-05T17:03:34.047-05:00Spare Time<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Here's a very entertaining YouTube compilation/montage video:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5aLR-8c11ms" width="560"></iframe>
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />
Here's another:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6yaWVL_dnQg?start=226" width="560"></iframe></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
<div><br /></div>And here's a far less entertaining blog post about Stewart Copeland:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://unbehind.blogspot.com/2013/03/more-flams-than-you-can-shake-stick-at.html?spref=bl" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The Unbehind: More flams than you can shake a stick at!</span></a><br />
<br />
<br />
These all have two things in common:<br />
<br />
1) They took a lot of time to create.<br />
2) People like to say "Ha. Wow, they must have a lot of time on their hands to do <i>that</i>."<br />
<br />
I know I've heard that in response to several of my posts. And I've heard it whenever I've shared both of those videos with people. By extrapolation people are saying:<br />
<br />
"My goodness, man. To take such time and care to cull these David Lee Roth clips from the internet...I could have spent so much more time with my children! And read that Important Novel! And grown twice the crops I already grow for subsistence!"<br />
<br />
Yes, sir. I'm sure you would do all such things. And maybe make a macrame owl, to boot.</span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHcChm3QHnCIEKqGa9C1y2PNA3bvGrM1N8WzdU6AYij1JvpEZLCCJf89UzK0qrvGQuNtKH3DbGk4sNOeNrSIkIYEL_a1k40dYNzA2jT895wx8L5tqvq41Ya1Hy6aS-JIZeHIhVutahsDOx/s662/70s+Trend+Macrame.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="570" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHcChm3QHnCIEKqGa9C1y2PNA3bvGrM1N8WzdU6AYij1JvpEZLCCJf89UzK0qrvGQuNtKH3DbGk4sNOeNrSIkIYEL_a1k40dYNzA2jT895wx8L5tqvq41Ya1Hy6aS-JIZeHIhVutahsDOx/w232-h269/70s+Trend+Macrame.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
Or is it... to<i> hoot</i>?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
But I've noticed something interesting. No one ever talks about the macrame owls they're making. They do tell tedious stories about books and kids sometimes, for sure. But usually they talk about:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
-<i>House of Cards</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
-<i>Game of Thrones</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
-<i>Orange Is the New Black</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
-<i>Breaking Bad</i> (until recently)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
I mean ON AND ON AND ON AND ON about fucking TELEVISION.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
Don't get me wrong. This is NOT an anti-TV rant. If I had a TV and cable I'd be watching <i>Cops</i> eating Slim Jims and drinking High Life RIGHT NOW.<br />
<br />
(One of those things is true RIGHT NOW. I'll let you guess.)<br />
<br />
BUT! When someone is going on and on and ON about all of the goddamn shows they're following, does anyone ever say:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
"Ha. Wow, they must have a lot of time on their hands to do <i>that</i>."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
No. Never.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
Why is it that someone can make a really entertaining YouTube video that gets over 2 million views and people think "Damn, what a loser! That guy really entertained me by doing something I'd never think to do or ever be willing to do! I'm gonna go watch some quality HBO TV."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
Or my blog post, say. It has 108 views. Got a few Facebook likes (whee!). Certainly have made zero dollars from it. It certainly took many hours. Lots of hours I could have spent getting caught up on Awesome Show X. Alas. I didn't feel like watching TV. And I don't have a TV. And when I wrote that my computer was barely operational. So those are also considerations.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
But still.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
I really don't give a shit how anyone spends their time. The fact that we have any free time at all is an amazing luxury. It just burns me whenever I hear that comment. You might as well say it every time I write music that has weird notes and no one will ever play it correctly or even want to hear it. Or every time I play a gig that pays junk and nobody listens but at least I'm playing exactly what I want to play, as loudly or as softly as I want.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
Maybe next time someone makes that comment about a post or one of my musical endeavors I'll ask them about <i>Game of Thrones</i>, pretend I know what they're talking about, then say "Man, you must really have some time on your hands! WOW!"</span></div>
</div>Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-35946464337136396562014-08-10T15:37:00.004-04:002014-08-10T15:56:58.384-04:00Summer is great when you're a millionaire that used to be middle-class<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_QW10-kYmB-KNYBvz2KvPxpVbZVL2ilwbzSfabNfB1o9MLCUyAvLpvqR6Y2aM-AgLE5o5513yeJsuYr1Ne427QVCmDisoLBVzPLOgNhsiJwEmpcMJITHbyIjWsdEivX8ZPvQjC6iJrmF/s1600/brad+beer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_QW10-kYmB-KNYBvz2KvPxpVbZVL2ilwbzSfabNfB1o9MLCUyAvLpvqR6Y2aM-AgLE5o5513yeJsuYr1Ne427QVCmDisoLBVzPLOgNhsiJwEmpcMJITHbyIjWsdEivX8ZPvQjC6iJrmF/s1600/brad+beer.JPG" height="176" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
After a long day yesterday with two borderline heat stroke gigs and 8 hours of driving I'm spending a little time hiding indoors in the AC, pondering important issues.<br />
<br />
I'm not a big fan of millionaires singing songs about "not having a lot but at least we have each other" or the "simple life." It's their living. Whatever. And it's been around forever. But I heard a tiny bit of a song I'd never heard today. I was at my neighborhood Tedeschi, where depending on the time of day I procure coffee, beer, potato chips, Powerade, or some combination of the four. Simple pleasures. Anyway, I heard this:<br />
<br />
"Well I won two dollars on a scratch-off ticket<br />
So I went back to the counter and I bought two more with it.<br />
And I won ten bucks and that was just right<br />
So I bought a six pack and a bag of ice."<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Rough rhymes aside, my thoughts were:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">1) Oh great. Another "new country" song about being "country."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2) What kind of six-pack did he buy?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I mean really. Ten dollars. Let's say he spent a buck on the ice. That's still $9 for a six pack. Shit, you can get something decent for $9! And that does NOT go with the aesthetic here!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So then I looked up the song. It's Brad Paisley, who is actually pretty decent, but this song is not so great.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/8D5XTXSbrms" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
So I did further research. Brad Paisley lives outside Nashville in Franklin, Tennessee. As it turns out,<span style="color: #0b5394; font-style: italic;"> </span><a href="http://taxfoundation.org/blog/map-beer-excise-tax-rates-state-2014" style="color: #b45f06; font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Tennessee has the highest beer excise tax rate in the nation!</a><i style="color: #b45f06;"> </i>So maybe Brad's sixer of Bud Heavies and a bag of ice did cost $10. It doesn't go along with his tale of poor-ish simple life, but maybe it's more in line with Metropolitan Nashville prices.<br />
<br />
But who needs an entire bag of ice for 1 six-pack? And let's look at this picture again (it's from around the 1:11 mark in the video):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_QW10-kYmB-KNYBvz2KvPxpVbZVL2ilwbzSfabNfB1o9MLCUyAvLpvqR6Y2aM-AgLE5o5513yeJsuYr1Ne427QVCmDisoLBVzPLOgNhsiJwEmpcMJITHbyIjWsdEivX8ZPvQjC6iJrmF/s1600/brad+beer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_QW10-kYmB-KNYBvz2KvPxpVbZVL2ilwbzSfabNfB1o9MLCUyAvLpvqR6Y2aM-AgLE5o5513yeJsuYr1Ne427QVCmDisoLBVzPLOgNhsiJwEmpcMJITHbyIjWsdEivX8ZPvQjC6iJrmF/s1600/brad+beer.JPG" height="176" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Did he buy Coronas? What beer is that on the right? It's way too dark for bro country. Who brought the Jose Cuervo? I wonder if those limes are any good--who bought those? And HOLY SHIT, LOOK AT THAT CHICK'S BIKI...oh wait, those are guy nips.<br />
<br />
In summary. Brad Paisley can sing about being poor-ish if he wants. Everyone else does it, too. But the thing I find weird is when someone makes a video like this. I can't accept lyrics about buying beer with scratch ticket winnings when he and a bunch of guys that look like Someone's Dad are frolicking around in a river, ruining nice instruments, and doing tequila shots with swimwear models.<br />
<br />
Maybe the craziest part is that it makes this video look brilliant--a song which is, when you take about a step and a half back, exactly the same song:<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/aSkFygPCTwE" width="420"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
Oh well. Maybe I should just have a beer, enjoy the bikini tops and cut offs, and HOLY SHIT THAT'S A GODDAMNED SQUIRREL ON WATER SKIES!<br />
<br />
Happy August, everyone.<br />
<br />Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-41946890124286607172014-07-28T21:07:00.002-04:002014-12-17T20:06:20.456-05:00Tree rings, artificial wonder, and big farts: UPDATE 12/17/14<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<img src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LoM4ZZJ2UrM/maxresdefault.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></div>
<br />
<br />
Here are two things that bother me more than they probably should.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/LoM4ZZJ2UrM" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
And this:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZYLaPVi_I2U" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
It seems that the general reaction to this nonsense is "Ooo my, how grand nature is! The wonder! Music is EVERYWHERE!"<br />
<br />
I'm sorry. But birds and trees don't give a fuck about music. And if they did, they certainly wouldn't give a fuck about <i>this</i> bullshit.<br />
<br />
Two big points here:<br />
<br />
<b>1) These things have absolutely nothing to do with nature.</b><br />
<br />
They are all about a human being placing some sort of careful filter on nature.<br />
<br />
OH I'M GETTING WORKED UP AGAIN!<br />
<br />
I have an idea. Let's take a walk. We'll bring calipers. We'll measure the diameter of every piece of dog shit we see. Then we'll use the following table:<br />
<br />
.5-1cm=C<br />
1-1.5cm=D<br />
1.5-2cm=E<br />
2-2.5cm=G<br />
2.5cm+=A<br />
<br />
Then we come home and write some bad music! It'll likely be garbage. Dog shit, for sure. But since we've chosen a nice, lovely, pentatonic filter it'll be pleasant enough. And depending on the breeds that are common in your area, it'll either sound like C major or A minor. Like dog turd wind chimes.<br />
<br />
<b>2) Nature is amazing enough without our bullshit observations and extrapolations.</b><br />
<br />
Birds on a wire. Treble clef. Stupid. An interesting exercise, maybe. But all this "oo ah music is all around us" nonsense is outrageous.<br />
<br />
And trees rings. Tree rings are amazing enough! Don't get me wrong, the technology is VERY cool. But I don't need someone's vague minor chord rambling to tell me Nature's Hidden Secrets. I'll just look at some goddamned tree rings.<br />
<br />
Someone did make the comment "Sounds like Chopin," which wins big points with me.<br />
<br />
I had to get this out. If you've endured this post 'til this point, I'm sorry. But seriously. Go look at some birds. They're amazing. They don't need any of our nonsense. Then go home and write some music. How about that? With some work, your music won't need any sort of help from trees <i>or</i> birds.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">UPDATE 12/17/14:</span></b><br />
<br />
After months of searching and failed attempts, I finally got the chance to make my own bird music. I hope you enjoy it. Pardon the windshield wipers. It was raining.<br />
<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxD-eu-rgOJa8S5LepTAEaDYeLi7niZliNgFt_JduBHehax9i7NrCiiBwmF9UvsaLqRsIV5zvS6MWK54szkrQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-4613622848673019682014-05-26T21:11:00.001-04:002014-05-26T22:33:30.680-04:00Modal mixture and power chords in Nirvana's "In Bloom"<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx8a1t9mL01r8e3qzo1_500.gif"><img border="0" src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx8a1t9mL01r8e3qzo1_500.gif" height="312" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 39px;" width="400" /></a></div>
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My ability to "hear" music, both during performance and as part of the creative/composing process, developed in tandem with my progress as a player. I would even say that at some point my "ears" lagged behind, since at some point my initial "talent" was overtaken by my ability to play things that were more complicated melodically and harmonically--stuff I couldn't "hear."<br />
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(Quick note: I put all of those words in quotes because I find them contentious and problematic. It often seems that people use "hear" and "ear" as if "thinking" wasn't a part of the process. And I also think "talent" is used far to often. As if playing music is not work and that it's always just super wicked fun for us. Please.)<br />
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But back to my story. Kurt Cobain was a different sort of musician. His melodic and harmonic IDEAS (or the stuff he "heard") were far ahead of his facility on the guitar. He was terrible at the guitar. But what he was able to write in spite of it is often remarkable, especially when you consider that most of the songs consist of chords without 3rds.<br />
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"In Bloom" is a great example of how to project tonality through what is nothing more than a bass line (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_chord" target="_blank">power chords</a> are simply reinforced bass notes, in my book) and a melody. Not only that, this two-part construction manages to project a sort of modal mixture: B flat major and B flat minor. And this is NOT a "bluesy" sort of minor inflection, for the most part, but <i>actual B flat minor</i>, with G flats and everything.<br />
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Here's a reduced version of the intro/interlude/ending:<br />
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Please note that even though there are no 3rds, I am using the labeling protocol for B flat MAJOR. I don't care how many other flats I hear in this--the reference point is B flat major. I, vi, and V put the song firmly in B flat, and the A flat chord functions, as flat VII so often does, as a sort of stand-in for the V. However, the verse quickly makes things a little more interesting:<br />
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Yeah, that's right. I said C flat. Here's my take on this. The melody explicitly outlines a B flat minor triad, but even more jarring is the G flat in the bass, since a G NATURAL is heard in the intro. The really fun bit is the B (or C flat) to A natural. I could call the C flat a sort of Neapolitan in root position, or maybe a tritone sub for V. I think the A power chord MUST be heard as a surrogate V chord. That's its job,and that's what it sounds like. But no matter what you name it, it boils down to a two-note idea: half step above the tonic, half step below. And if you look at the whole line, the bass outlines a C flat 7 chord! Maybe it is just a big tritone sub...except for the G natural in the melody. Man, that G natural is nice!<br />
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After all of the rogue flats in the verse, the chorus starts with B flat major:<br />
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Lots of parallel fifths between the bass and the melody (and in the verse, too, for that matter). The melody outlines a B flat major triad quite explicitly at first, and then B flat minor returns, but this time as a blues-type inflection, almost turning the E flat power chord into an E flat 7. The song never really has a dominant I chord, but it does have a dominant IV. <br />
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And of course I feel the need to jump in and say well, yes, of course. By "dominant" I mean a major chord plus a seventh that is a minor 7th above the root. Just trying to appease the one person that reads this and calls me out. That A power chord in the verse is more of a dominant chord in terms of function. And what I've labelled as "II7" (when the backing vocal has an E natural)
could perhaps be thought of as V of V, which in turn makes the last 4
measures of the chorus a kind of prolonged ii-V (or II-V)--the C to E
flat being, ultimately, a dominant move back to B flat.<br />
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So that's a quick outline of this song, in terms of harmonic implication and suggestion. You can do a lot with just a bass line and a melody. A lot of things float to the surface when you combine two lines. I only wish I'd appreciated this music more when it first came out--to hear the music rather than focusing on the technical shortcomings of the band. Maybe he didn't know what it meant. But I don't know where he got those melodies. Which is more important?Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-31451052875082095262014-05-19T21:25:00.000-04:002014-05-19T21:28:19.729-04:00The two-note trombone solo in "Pennies From Heaven" <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gzb18uo2rIA" width="560"></iframe>
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I really love the Sinatra/Basie stuff. As much as I love anything, I figure. Like dry martinis. Mahler. Slim Jims. Dames with gams for days.<br />
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I've heard this recording of "Pennies From Heaven" a whole bunch of times. But it's been in my car. I heard it on headphones today and found a wonderful little treat. It happens at exactly 1:43.<br />
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<a href="http://youtu.be/gzb18uo2rIA?t=1m30s" target="_blank">CLICK THIS. WHY IT DOESN'T DISPLAY CORRECTLY, I DON'T KNOW</a><br />
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Oh yeah, 'bone 1! Major boner!<br />
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<u>boner </u><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">1<span class="ssens">: one that bones </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">2: a clumsy or stupid mistake</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">3: you know what defiition 3 is</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">"One that bones"! Ha!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Anyway. Trying to figure out how this mistake happened. </span></span>How?! I can understand two measures ahead, but not two beats. Especially after playing that and-of-two part for such a long time. Unless the copyist for this session was especially shitty and forgot to put a half-rest in the part.</div>
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How do you skip two beats??! </div>
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I could listen to this all day. I did, actually, when I wasn't making photocopies. Here's my transcription:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixem6c3lNFYLIz8Nirq1PjJemFKeio4KLaDZa8AUfVVeEJNDhG2dD5O1fJPGK9No_0kqQjgTq_BVNId-WP_W6t-Ne_zQppt5nZfmaNz9y2OMJJYPtq3fy6wn2EVN1jSgPAqBN3Ahjl5AYa/s1600/bone+1.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixem6c3lNFYLIz8Nirq1PjJemFKeio4KLaDZa8AUfVVeEJNDhG2dD5O1fJPGK9No_0kqQjgTq_BVNId-WP_W6t-Ne_zQppt5nZfmaNz9y2OMJJYPtq3fy6wn2EVN1jSgPAqBN3Ahjl5AYa/s1600/bone+1.tif" height="259" width="640" /></a></div>
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I still can't figure how someone would skip two beats. But I do appreciate that they kept the take, boner and all.<br />
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<br />Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-1023425869998359992014-04-15T21:08:00.003-04:002020-12-07T16:10:15.194-05:00These notes look so...MUSICAL!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYgw2bxk1dJx1BDD7kx8IhxB5MsNMldqQOyJP7agCmegfP6-U46JdKwcq6A4CNdML6hpBYyMskzikYjwT6DoWd1iLNsWGANjr5cyFyqU-9S7rGsH3dUmJ7dzNFvKQt6qEQKkk_F4e7qO_p/s1600/dim+arp.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYgw2bxk1dJx1BDD7kx8IhxB5MsNMldqQOyJP7agCmegfP6-U46JdKwcq6A4CNdML6hpBYyMskzikYjwT6DoWd1iLNsWGANjr5cyFyqU-9S7rGsH3dUmJ7dzNFvKQt6qEQKkk_F4e7qO_p/s1600/dim+arp.jpeg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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This
post is primarily for people that read music and cringe every time they
see music-y symbols. But it's also for folks that
see this junk and don't know the difference.<br />
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I just did a Google image search for "music notes." Let's start here:<br />
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Hot! Looks like trumpets to me!<br />
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Stirring!
This example, more than any of the following, seems to actually follow
some sort of protocol (the flat in the signature and the C sharp suggest D minor), and
is maybe even taken from something. It sounds better with some low
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Speaking of low brass:</span></div>
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Wait a minute...isn't that the Cheers theme song?</span></div>
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And my favorite is the one I used as a header. I think an orchestra hit with lots of reverb will do.</span></div>
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So stark! And mysterious! No time, no barlines, and that free-floating B, not tethered to the rest of that diminished arpeggio. Rogue! Do you think that <span style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://streetcharles.com/2012/11/26/life-set-of-music-notes/" target="_blank">Charles Street</a></span> knows what this sounds like? (Click his name. Not sure why I can't get that to display properly.)</span></div>
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"<i>Life is like the music notes of a song. There are three key notes;
Family, Health and Finances. Just like music, these three will go up and
down at different times.”</i></span></div>
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So true, man. So true. Family can be a real B. And F finances. But life is still simpler than "Mary Had a Little Lamb."</span><i> </i></div>
Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-57076589926058345222013-12-02T20:43:00.005-05:002020-12-07T16:06:31.840-05:00The "worst cover ever" of "The Final Countdown" and the resulting harmonic implications<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7rJkZGTX46VZ8nOOJW-OwzSP_d5ThvMQoVCtmxJcNaFQhX7s46GnkK012ztge243vFZPophlHlnvAEABzf4jlEc4reRj7mjIVh8-i3ggiPKYR_XhdXre6TMJkpyJiKwxBFgNkPgHzzLe8/s1600/The_Final_Countdown_single.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7rJkZGTX46VZ8nOOJW-OwzSP_d5ThvMQoVCtmxJcNaFQhX7s46GnkK012ztge243vFZPophlHlnvAEABzf4jlEc4reRj7mjIVh8-i3ggiPKYR_XhdXre6TMJkpyJiKwxBFgNkPgHzzLe8/s200/The_Final_Countdown_single.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">You should watch and enjoy this gem first:</span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/p1jW6X5vvzY" width="560"></iframe></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Now that you've watched it once, watch it again and listen to the first few chords. Oh man, so wrong, right? Funny funny ha ha. I felt the same, at first. But for me, something felt and sounded really good about those first few chords. But why? After a little thought I figured it out.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
<br />
What is going on in this video? It's pretty simple, I think. The kid playing the synth lead is playing in F minor. The song is actually in F SHARP minor, which suggests that he is either playing it in the wrong key or, perhaps more likely, his guitar is tuned down a half step. The other guitar, in addition to being rather out of tune <i>with itself</i>, is tuned to standard tuning. She is also simplifying all of the chords to root-plus-fifth <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_chord" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">power chords</span></a>. After two or three listenings I realized I was quite drawn to the sound of this. Here's a quick breakdown of this wonderful fiasco:<br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwGJgfMubBHPVXeRxqgKFrBgEXVRYKgxAGnciEyib66FHdBGUymXUtCgNobeH2wjKTo6NGF3NQyChFJrzlzz-NkGf__bMmB3j-7eC5dcHhRkbrf075_tNePKbyfxsG1QKGMi1X-NWZDG_p/s640/countdown+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="290" data-original-width="640" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwGJgfMubBHPVXeRxqgKFrBgEXVRYKgxAGnciEyib66FHdBGUymXUtCgNobeH2wjKTo6NGF3NQyChFJrzlzz-NkGf__bMmB3j-7eC5dcHhRkbrf075_tNePKbyfxsG1QKGMi1X-NWZDG_p/w634-h288/countdown+1.jpg" width="634" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">If you take the F minor line and turn the "horizontal" into the "vertical," you get some good sounds:</span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
<br />
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwVhZVWINKsuAVSrx9XbTLlXpzkmyhLTWcHLUnp_GPgcCH9wdkk77cSgew0Sbv5JvtyKSArBH3NcQfx9NstcocdTDhfPyDg8bkMT5KEA5PrvTDTs3d4KYOL3s3Dxobp9WFGP27kzCaPVx/s1600/countdown+2.tif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwVhZVWINKsuAVSrx9XbTLlXpzkmyhLTWcHLUnp_GPgcCH9wdkk77cSgew0Sbv5JvtyKSArBH3NcQfx9NstcocdTDhfPyDg8bkMT5KEA5PrvTDTs3d4KYOL3s3Dxobp9WFGP27kzCaPVx/w533-h280/countdown+2.tif" width="533" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />
Interesting that some of the minor chords from the original become major, and the major chords become chromatic disaster chords (chords with three adjacent pitch classes, like C, Db, and D, that are hard to name with the standard symbols). All of this contains a lot of possibilities (if you're me). Here's a Bach chorale-style treatment:<br />
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/122963261%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-6TQP9&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe> </div>
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRzi02UvM7RaYJralZs2cn8yY2u2wEtDZ4kySdws064eeNCHF7XiQY_epSckwNo_76vRrve6GObIDN4IDaTrjwNChQoNNaxBBbRZ7oBMDFGIyGdBgkIkv9Zd5xPyvRtnySqF7RpmBo8syJ/s640/countdown+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="640" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRzi02UvM7RaYJralZs2cn8yY2u2wEtDZ4kySdws064eeNCHF7XiQY_epSckwNo_76vRrve6GObIDN4IDaTrjwNChQoNNaxBBbRZ7oBMDFGIyGdBgkIkv9Zd5xPyvRtnySqF7RpmBo8syJ/w687-h301/countdown+4.jpg" width="687" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Another possibility is a goofy bossa nova number, like this:</span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/122961023%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-m0wgj&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe>
<br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkyNkEtXt2hplMnjpfJmwXj7g39anpvKLx3jJZUhyyAgQ3IWiEirZykp0tXJ7a-DXwzMcic26UpQuUdQas5ESvXQmRQcVoaxvm2Oe6WOEVZ3XIegc4af6LoeW7Ymjyp3CDkWo-dJxjEgaO/s640/countdown+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="640" height="443" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkyNkEtXt2hplMnjpfJmwXj7g39anpvKLx3jJZUhyyAgQ3IWiEirZykp0tXJ7a-DXwzMcic26UpQuUdQas5ESvXQmRQcVoaxvm2Oe6WOEVZ3XIegc4af6LoeW7Ymjyp3CDkWo-dJxjEgaO/w676-h443/countdown+5.jpg" width="676" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
Love that F minor pentatonic shit over Gb major! Oh <i>YEAH! </i><br />
<br />
So anyway. My point is that sometimes you find "inspiration" (whatever that means) in the strangest places.</span></div></div></div>Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-29797748679406540662013-11-19T14:55:00.002-05:002020-12-07T15:52:57.845-05:00Train (wreck) kept-a-rollin'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHbLaiffW-TlB0Pq6RfvzGbnzhcvtyPyPuD-9pKmLca-vyZotIsCm7dkMA-_GxQDVFP7duAEo1MjzB0FmHj7r5QZnFggk50rpHlEufKE59FDHRUHsTIjfg7PPyWMg8nEDxSo3IB0Dzi7M/s1600/arrowsmith.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHbLaiffW-TlB0Pq6RfvzGbnzhcvtyPyPuD-9pKmLca-vyZotIsCm7dkMA-_GxQDVFP7duAEo1MjzB0FmHj7r5QZnFggk50rpHlEufKE59FDHRUHsTIjfg7PPyWMg8nEDxSo3IB0Dzi7M/s200/arrowsmith.jpg" width="118" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
I was working on a post about the bass playing on Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" and wasn't really satisfied with my writing. The tone was wrong. So I amused myself by finding "bass lessons" on YouTube. Hilarious, as always. But I also found this curiosity:</span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mxwEFngA__c" width="560"></iframe></div></span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Ok, so...Tom Hamilton's bass sounds like ass. </span><i style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">His</i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> tone, as it turns out, is also wrong. And he has phones on his bass. And the dude looks like a lady. (I'm sorry. Not that sorry, really.) BUT. What the hell happens at 1:31? The drums are a beat late! And any performer, musical or otherwise, knows that the next question...whether spoken or not...is...</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
<br />
<span><i>(And I know, we're supposed to work through these moments together. As a team. Or as a family (barf). But come on. We all wanna point fingers. Don't deny it...)</i></span><br />
<br />
<span><i>Who is to blame?????????</i> </span><br />
<br />
NOT Tom Hamilton. He's a champ. Steady throughout this mess (other than the beginning, I guess--though I think Joey Kramer started too fast). And he quickly adjusts to this weirdness. So what is happening here? Here's my analysis.<br />
<br />
0:26 Bass enters, considerably slower than the drums. <br />
<br />
0:50 Joe Perry comes in with his Talk Box junk. But it sounds really weird, like something is wrong with the tube. Or his mouth.<br />
<br />
1:17 Steven and Tom are staring at Joe Perry, like "What the fuck, man??" This is also the moment when Joey Kramer hits the bass drum on beat 2 instead of beat 1. So someone was trying to readjust the whole thing. I'm guessing Steven Tyler did this.<br />
<br />
1:20 Steven Tyler is glaring at Joe Perry! Awesome rock star shit, here.<br />
<br />
1:23 Joe Perry looks...really lost/confused.<br />
<br />
1:31 This is when anyone that's paying attention has some real fun. WHOOOOOAAAAAAA, here we go!<br />
<br />
1:38 Steven Tyler is...trying to settle/slow down the tempo? I'm not sure. There seems to be disagreement about the tempo from the start, actually. The best part is Brad Whitford noodling stage right the whole time, in the dark and shaking his head. I assume. I've always figured that was his role in a band led by a couple of clowns.<br />
<br />
It's a harrowing minute and a half for me. Fascinating and uncomfortable to watch. So what happened? Here are my guesses.<br />
<br />
-Joe Perry was out of it for whatever reason. However, Steven Tyler overcompensated by cuing the wrong downbeat after following Joe Perry's meandering Talk Box stuff. Gurgle Box, more like it.<br />
-Joe Perry couldn't hear the bass in his monitor. <br />
-Joey Kramer couldn't hear the bass in his monitor.<br />
<br />
That was in order of likelihood. But I also think that Steven Tyler tried to be the boss and made things worse. Shame on Joey Kramer for taking orders when he had it right all along. And kudos to Tom Hamilton for hanging in there, junk tone or not. But wow, even after the botched intro, a muddled, TERRIBLE performance. And the Talk Box never sounds right.<br />
<br />
And if you make it to 4:45...the burning speaker cab thing is the dumbest gimmick I've seen in a long time.<br />
<br />
It's hard being an Aerosmith apologist. Very hard, indeed.</span></div></div>Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-5180225735607764532013-11-13T21:21:00.003-05:002020-12-07T10:06:47.728-05:00Apt to be pinched<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">I'm pretty good at writing for different instruments. I get it. How the different ranges work and sound. Especially winds. But I never knew...until today...how sexy orchestration can be.<br />
<br />
This is from my Kennan/Grantham 5th edition orchestration book:</span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5iz4rT6ZL1NXIhitkzAVdz1t9AT23lzUQb1thUAIxO4esqse4sv6Za-deIAyhNHag7pGaxFfG3FSmNGrz2wEu_CtJFXVAmqYH8LaSDMwrFd70PlunEFIt-lvbgyaSlSAKN2StCKnw6r9K/s1600/woodwind.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5iz4rT6ZL1NXIhitkzAVdz1t9AT23lzUQb1thUAIxO4esqse4sv6Za-deIAyhNHag7pGaxFfG3FSmNGrz2wEu_CtJFXVAmqYH8LaSDMwrFd70PlunEFIt-lvbgyaSlSAKN2StCKnw6r9K/s640/woodwind.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Oh my. <br />
<br />
Weak, breathy. Stronger. Powerful.<br />
Piercing. Oh dear.<br />
Thick. Oh <i>yeah</i>.<br />
Reedy, sweet, intense. Yeah, I don't know what "reedy" insinuates, either.<br />
<br />
And my favorite..."Apt to be pinched."<br />
<br />
Yes. Woodwind registers according to Kent Kennan. So damn sexy.</span></div>Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-18269812103137857582013-10-06T22:22:00.002-04:002013-10-06T22:22:23.618-04:00The difference between D sharp and E flat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-VN6IS_7ogMYO5Ovr6iqqk5Iw6UB95ItLfbrwtqroxzhGMbQeDc2zWGSYEA6SICvHCS0JW4gEk__BVp4n5nt5hXjzdlMIAhoEMMNFETWD_9bzillk-nRFUDUvt8y5m-BzISvpz3nisvDX/s1600/creep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-VN6IS_7ogMYO5Ovr6iqqk5Iw6UB95ItLfbrwtqroxzhGMbQeDc2zWGSYEA6SICvHCS0JW4gEk__BVp4n5nt5hXjzdlMIAhoEMMNFETWD_9bzillk-nRFUDUvt8y5m-BzISvpz3nisvDX/s200/creep.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
Anyone that works with me knows that I am a nerd about...everything. But especially note spelling. Sharps vs flats, etc. And I always come off as pedantic or as an asshole. Usually the latter. For me it's simple:<br />
<br />
1) Is it correct spelling in the context of the harmony/key? (The key is E major. No, that is NOT an A flat minor chord.)<br />
2) Does the note choice facilitate easier reading melodically? (Reading C sharp to E flat kinda sucks.)<br />
3) Some combination/give-and-take of 1 and 2.<br />
<br />
But that's not always enough. These are not <i>heard</i> examples. Those cases are fine on paper, but what about <i>sound</i>? Who cares if we call a D sharp a D sharp or an E flat?<br />
<br />
Tonight I heard a great example. It's actually a great, familiar example of a number of things. And it helps that the verses and chorus are the same harmonically.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJaAUyK-kNU" target="_blank">Radiohead, "Creep"</a><br />
<br />
This song has two classic pop/rock harmony cliches:<br />
<br />
-a major three chord (III) that moves to IV<br />
-a IV chord that becomes minor (iv)<br />
<br />
And here's where I can talk a bit about the difference between D sharp and E flat. The guitar plays different broken arpeggios of the following:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLh62Ig27ewEx_MJUAh2B1INvqxwl40N8m7OLY6_n62esl-JdW4pgRUrGZi_Awq_wJqm3dq5hB4MyhvQWo_iP3v2TfY0w2nDYbezBPglzmbK1PtTH4ue4u_l4wFlcOyRlGzfy9duo-nPN/s1600/creep.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLh62Ig27ewEx_MJUAh2B1INvqxwl40N8m7OLY6_n62esl-JdW4pgRUrGZi_Awq_wJqm3dq5hB4MyhvQWo_iP3v2TfY0w2nDYbezBPglzmbK1PtTH4ue4u_l4wFlcOyRlGzfy9duo-nPN/s400/creep.tif" width="400" /></a></div>
The chromatic line D, D#, E, Eb, is quite plain. And even out of context that makes sense: the non-diatonic note is spelled with a sharp ascending, flat descending.<br />
<br />
But for nerdy/pedantic/asshole purposes that is not enough. Context is most important. In the key of G major, a chord built on the third scale degree is B major. Obviously. And a chord built on the fourth scale degree with a flatted third is C minor. Yes. Ok.<br />
<br />
But beyond that...<i>what is the difference between a D sharp as part of a B chord and an E flat as part of a C chord</i>?<br />
<br />
It's possible that not everyone hears this the way I do, and maybe it seems really obvious, but...man, I hesitate to say this word...the <i>psychological</i> effect of the D sharp is so very different from the E flat. I find this terribly profound. In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_temperament" target="_blank">equal temperament</a>, these two <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_class" target="_blank">pitch classes</a> are the same. Yet within the contexts of B major and C minor triads, they mean such different things.<br />
<br />
Just listen to the song, and listen carefully for that chromatic line. It's the harmonic and emotional backbone. Doesn't the D sharp sound bright? It "lifts." While the E flat is so dark. It really pulls down to the D, which is part of the G chord.<br />
<br />
Again, maybe it's obvious. I know it's all mind tricks. Centuries of cultural conditioning. But still. <br />
<br />
Am I over-talking this point? Eh. But I find it so interesting. And it's all tied to note spelling and context. So there. I may be pedantic AND an asshole. But sometimes I'm right.Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-21026540615245908352013-09-24T21:30:00.001-04:002013-09-24T21:30:44.772-04:00My relationship with "Livin' On a Prayer" is complicated<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVrvXJj5VTdnIn3S-Gj_zbHbE4U4SpsufHn_qwmXeoCPi4G3_5mre9iL_C1y0U3UqR1_HJ7fVb5T-RLKk_ZMEHSqMOfTdJ-53nSkNJvcaFeUpVFOJPB5TRYFKdPhzTWn5GIwj6GEGK1Szq/s1600/livin_on_a_prayer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVrvXJj5VTdnIn3S-Gj_zbHbE4U4SpsufHn_qwmXeoCPi4G3_5mre9iL_C1y0U3UqR1_HJ7fVb5T-RLKk_ZMEHSqMOfTdJ-53nSkNJvcaFeUpVFOJPB5TRYFKdPhzTWn5GIwj6GEGK1Szq/s200/livin_on_a_prayer.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
My relationship with Bon Jovi's "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDK9QqIzhwk" target="_blank">Livin' On a Prayer</a>" (song and video) is complicated. Mostly I think it kicks major ass. But I must temper this enthusiasm. The following points outline my predicament.<br />
<br />
<u>PROS:</u><br />
1) The song itself is pretty solid. I was not surprised to find <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Child" target="_blank">Desmond Child</a>'s name in the writing credits.<br />
2) The talk box guitar hook is a classic.<br />
3) The bass line during the verses, pedaling on the tonic under i, VI, and VII in E minor is great.<br />
4) For 80s hair/glam/whatever the hell this is, I like the sound of the recording. Solid band.<br />
5) The video is a great concert video, complete with a "black and white rehearsal" versus "color concert footage" gimmick. Love that shit. Oh, and <i>flying for no reason</i>.<br />
<br />
<u>CONS:</u><br />
1) The video has absolutely nothing to do with the lyrics. The song is about a young couple struggling financially. So much so the guy has to pawn his guitar. This video seems to be about a bunch of overpaid young guys from New Jersey <i>flying for no reason</i>.<br />
2) The song's most distinctive feature is the talk box guitar hook. The song has the line "Tommy's got his six string in hock. Now he's holding in when he used to make it talk." GET IT? TALK?! Sort of on the fence with that bit. Mostly I think it's stupid.<br />
3) The bass line in the chorus is dumb/bad/too much. The walky-arpeggio stuff. No one cares if the bass player knows what notes are in the chord. Really. I mean, people say they care...but...I mean...after that cool E pedal for the verse, the line in the chorus is over-clever and dopey sounding.<br />
4) I guess someone thought that shitty arpeggio line going from I to IV was <i>soooo</i> great it's part of the guitar solo (3:02, 3:10)! What a goofy, stupid idea.<br />
<br />
So I'm at an impasse. These sort of balance out. No...but...WAIT. WAIT JUST A MINUTE.<br />
<br />
After the solo...going into the end-chorus-vamp-fade-amahjig at 3:23?!<br />
<br />
<u>PROS, TOTAL F'ING REDEMPTION:</u><br />
1) They drop a beat before they do the modulation.<br />
2) They go up a goddamned minor third!<br />
<br />
So there you have it. "Livin' On a Prayer," Unbehind-approved.Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-30969287562256227252013-09-12T21:15:00.000-04:002013-11-07T11:51:26.899-05:00Old Mother HuttyI got this rhyme from my father. If you say it quickly and mess up you might say a naughty word.<br />
<br />
<i>Old Mother Hutty had a cutty putty hunt.</i><br />
<i>Not a hunt punt cutty,</i><br />
<i>But a cutty putty hunt.</i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cutty" target="_blank">If you trust Urban Dictionary (ha HA!)</a>, "cutty" means something synonymous with the dirty word. <br />
<br />
I've found other versions, usually involving boats:<br />
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<i>Old Mr. Hunt<br /> had a cuddy punt<br /> Not a cuddy punt<br /> but a hunt punt cuddy.</i><br />
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But I like my Dad's version. He said it sorta like this:<br />
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And my brother did it this way:<br />
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Which is the point: get drunk and say this as fast as you can until someone accidentally says c***, then laugh and drink some more.<br />
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But something I noticed recently is that this sounds a lot like a snare drum marching cadence (<a href="https://soundcloud.com/user2977061/huddy/s-wPIZ7" target="_blank">audio here</a>):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPs2M0Xdq7dbPRe3oT19LTqHEhMutP6_9HeTXwxfKe6yjrIb3T6W2Jtj9FdpK8-dC_M1JiSKlZa_0BejAF4GP2CnPvETVX8BL4W3l8OfvTcII7mqVQ-9A2I0N7gyQtUg3xf02ZjJ43EjRz/s1600/huddy.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="48" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPs2M0Xdq7dbPRe3oT19LTqHEhMutP6_9HeTXwxfKe6yjrIb3T6W2Jtj9FdpK8-dC_M1JiSKlZa_0BejAF4GP2CnPvETVX8BL4W3l8OfvTcII7mqVQ-9A2I0N7gyQtUg3xf02ZjJ43EjRz/s320/huddy.tif" width="320" /></a></div>
I haven't found much online. I can't prove there's a relationship here. But it's interesting.<br />
<br />Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-70563559256351287652013-09-10T21:45:00.001-04:002013-09-10T23:36:45.846-04:00More stuff that isn't really in 7: Pink Floyd and the Bee Gees<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGAbhWfURf3Xu6kTM-kD6pvxCroGn5CaA8FzjbclDbTXYRdupil2ZnUfOmzcU-5RTcCFGB58qVD28S7lOZzmCwrM30LQiGW51Mjd3KZCMDxmnk2sar3ND-NbbgH1Y5j7Q_EO0rIO7Whudq/s1600/money.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGAbhWfURf3Xu6kTM-kD6pvxCroGn5CaA8FzjbclDbTXYRdupil2ZnUfOmzcU-5RTcCFGB58qVD28S7lOZzmCwrM30LQiGW51Mjd3KZCMDxmnk2sar3ND-NbbgH1Y5j7Q_EO0rIO7Whudq/s200/money.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjURSLGNCuqaU7NXxTiaHR_g43nI2s3LzNvIarrShzDvGy8vve6uV62X67bs66hEWyc99-6DA7sU_YpgG_sJqj3udlBmN7Av_IyJ8w_bCpdXJTtcbjI69KztCCcQFGgUBMD27iQe_2NvEUM/s1600/jive+talkin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjURSLGNCuqaU7NXxTiaHR_g43nI2s3LzNvIarrShzDvGy8vve6uV62X67bs66hEWyc99-6DA7sU_YpgG_sJqj3udlBmN7Av_IyJ8w_bCpdXJTtcbjI69KztCCcQFGgUBMD27iQe_2NvEUM/s1600/jive+talkin.jpg" /></a></div>
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Music that is actually in 7 is hard to find, and the following examples are no different. Sure, 4+3=7. But you still hear the split. <a href="http://unbehind.blogspot.com/2013/08/78-and-metric-modulation-in-led.html" target="_blank">And unlike "The Ocean,"</a> there's no 7/8 "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clave_%28rhythm%29" target="_blank">clave</a>" splitting the measure up. These are made up of measures of 4 and 3, though the effect achieved in each is quite different.<br />
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The first song I ever heard "in 7" was probably "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpbbuaIA3Ds" target="_blank">Money</a>" by Pink Floyd, written by Roger Waters. It's anchored by the following bass line:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JTWk6IaWedSieWNeWuMs6Uaff1LTLWs5HmN52qr9tfAjPSu5pnpltFCWiEqZg8Kn6ohpFb1Du4jtUEX1KmR8QrNL6B0PBapp9f-dfqPPC3o2TMrpGH_UsONWxMSw_jOkzDjrNgpWsLPs/s1600/money+1.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JTWk6IaWedSieWNeWuMs6Uaff1LTLWs5HmN52qr9tfAjPSu5pnpltFCWiEqZg8Kn6ohpFb1Du4jtUEX1KmR8QrNL6B0PBapp9f-dfqPPC3o2TMrpGH_UsONWxMSw_jOkzDjrNgpWsLPs/s320/money+1.tif" width="320" /></a></div>
And that notation is ok. But without that dashed line my eyes get lost. Isn't this more accurate?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhztc7FPuwmJ_f1SnUKrtEB-VxO3CbiinvUrFcoGQtSTd58IABfLFjcfopUcNr5Y5jZElxcFinbOiOO7_NtamL553-X8jB7-wyvq0gBmfLM70DRmhFIw1snfI4qzOYviS7kT7zM3v6aHop/s1600/money+2.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="59" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhztc7FPuwmJ_f1SnUKrtEB-VxO3CbiinvUrFcoGQtSTd58IABfLFjcfopUcNr5Y5jZElxcFinbOiOO7_NtamL553-X8jB7-wyvq0gBmfLM70DRmhFIw1snfI4qzOYviS7kT7zM3v6aHop/s320/money+2.tif" width="320" /></a></div>
I like notation to do more than tell me what the notes are. It's always better when it gives me more, and clearer, information. In this case it's clearly 4 beats + 3 beats. Just listen to the drums. The really cool thing about this line is that it's 7/4 by deletion AND elision. It's really the following line minus the last note (deletion):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ireEIpY9CivrcJ9vDw1M-uSVsIUu0f1Z7ApuALf1nHeWznrsxW5NuJelzt1EqMVctmyoqZeIkSqbTmOEnc7i9ie99wvbG2OTdIuDR22w5NEzh9YjKv-pfhPecwDAOZusr7BWJlzm-3FO/s1600/money+3.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="64" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ireEIpY9CivrcJ9vDw1M-uSVsIUu0f1Z7ApuALf1nHeWznrsxW5NuJelzt1EqMVctmyoqZeIkSqbTmOEnc7i9ie99wvbG2OTdIuDR22w5NEzh9YjKv-pfhPecwDAOZusr7BWJlzm-3FO/s320/money+3.tif" width="320" /></a></div>
The note that you might imagine as the last note of the two bar pattern in 4/4 <i>becomes the first note of the 7 pattern </i>(elision). Pretty cool.<br />
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"<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVjITlgqlHo" target="_blank">Jive Talkin</a>'" by the Bee Gees does something quite a bit different. Here's the sweet-ass major pentatonic synth lead during the instrumental breaks (1:16):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw-gIqlFplmCdzLgyGEIXISoAAMo3LbBT_bE8qrxW77P-7kuKntGxu4Vl8D5v9VZgrIxDicRyco56eF9adTrooQpzY-jWWyT6uC0VTySXW8fA7k7ClquPGTzAfgnJ_hPCS0Io1YvxRVLrt/s1600/jive+1.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="61" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw-gIqlFplmCdzLgyGEIXISoAAMo3LbBT_bE8qrxW77P-7kuKntGxu4Vl8D5v9VZgrIxDicRyco56eF9adTrooQpzY-jWWyT6uC0VTySXW8fA7k7ClquPGTzAfgnJ_hPCS0Io1YvxRVLrt/s320/jive+1.tif" width="320" /></a></div>
Wait. Is it this?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglZjXOI_kCrQbGuKb3cNS3fQMOreGHhzJltcrVsFgbh0Fw8ldjJJKPKowQdzw6prRV0JD92aQ5xT40s2gzbtR1rKCM-DBxns0h8nOWgSUrffxEbAhE1CkSKnl3w2rfJCRVgPWPwj0Ny9li/s1600/jive+2.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="58" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglZjXOI_kCrQbGuKb3cNS3fQMOreGHhzJltcrVsFgbh0Fw8ldjJJKPKowQdzw6prRV0JD92aQ5xT40s2gzbtR1rKCM-DBxns0h8nOWgSUrffxEbAhE1CkSKnl3w2rfJCRVgPWPwj0Ny9li/s320/jive+2.tif" width="320" /></a></div>
Actually, listen to the drums. The drums play in 4/4 straight through!<br />
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So to my ears, this is the most natural way to bar it. I like the strong 4/4 bars at the beginning and end of the 4-bar groups. Take a few listens and see if you agree:<br />
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Though really, I just think it's a 7 beat line repeated and superimposed over 7 measures of a 4-on-the-floor drum beat. Wicked sweet.<br />
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I love dancing.Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-57667074300359695232013-09-03T19:57:00.001-04:002013-09-03T20:01:56.985-04:00Marimba MoodHere's a quick follow-up to <a href="http://unbehind.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-iphone-marimba-ringtone-and-dance.html" target="_blank">yesterday's post on the iPhone marimba ringtone</a>.<br />
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Let's say you hear it right on the beat, no pickup notes. With just the tiniest bit of tweaking and a walking bass line you get something reminiscent of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR3K5uB-wMA" target="_blank">this Glenn Miller classic</a>. And in a much easier key for the bass! It's all about accenting every third note.<br />
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The first time I played this back I squealed with delight.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://snd.sc/1cDBmKT" target="_blank">Marimba Mood (click for audio)</a></span></div>
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Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7427487115681183866.post-13324859484759479382013-09-02T21:51:00.000-04:002013-09-02T22:33:15.712-04:00The iPhone marimba ringtone and the Dance TestI heard the iPhone default ringtone today. I wondered if I could find a transcription online, and I found <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2013/04/30/whats-the-story-behind-the-iphones-default-marimba-ringtone/" target="_blank">this article</a> and this transcription:<br />
<img alt="" class="qtext_image zoomable_in zoomable_in_feed" height="163" src="http://b-i.forbesimg.com/quora/files/2013/04/main-qimg-373737ec37373737a373737373737a3737f370373703737037f03737" width="400" /><br />
I'm not so sure, and I don't just mean the iffy notation of the second line. I have already started an informal survey. Please let me know if you disagree, but I hear the following, and I can't imagine being convinced otherwise:<br />
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When you hear it <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH9bKR1ruZ0" target="_blank">continuously without much of a pause</a> it works well in 4 (just put those 16ths into the first full measure). With a bit more of a pause you could write it in 3, but I still prefer 4/4 with a measure of 2-ish (it seems to depend on settings).<br />
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I hear the first two notes as pickups, and in my mind it's in a sort of half-time. I've found quite a few videos from people that clearly disagree, including this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2-S96FcFbk" target="_blank">cutesy nightmare</a> (which...I won't get started on how annoying I think this is). But really? Hearing those first two notes as pickups seems far more convincing, which brings me to the dance test:<br />
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Ok, maybe that wasn't helpful. But doesn't <a href="http://snd.sc/15RtoMy" target="_blank">this version (somewhat slower with simple drums)</a> sound better?<br />
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I'm going to sit back and wait to find out how wrong I am.Rob Gerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266857139889106283noreply@blogger.com4