This post contains the collection of my four choice cuts to finish off this first term. The experience of taking Music Appreciation has been wonderful and I can only hope it was as fun to teach as it was to take.
Choice Cut 1. Based of blog prompt 4
If very suddenly the music of the world was purged to only include works by living composers the genres of music that I play on my instrument, the trombone, would completely change. At this current time I am mostly playing western classical music as well as some Christmas carols but, in this scenario nearly all of that repertoire would disappear leaving me with only a handful of very recent wind compositions. As an added negative nearly all Christmas carols would be forgotten leaving us with only Mariah Careys “All I Want For Christmas is You” and similar which would drive me insane. Since the genres I am currently playing would have been reduced to almost nothing or changed so much that I am no longer interested in them my performing genres would naturally shift to be more in line with the musical styles that I listen to on a regular basis that would still exist within these parameters. These genres include R&B, Funk, big band swing as well as Progressive Metal and Math Rock, some of these would be relatively simple to start playing on the trombone. For example, if I wanted to find solo pieces to play I could look to modern funk performers like Vulfpeck or Cory Wong and arrange them for trombone and alternatively Trombone Shorty if I was interested in music written specifically for my instrument. In terms of music that I would try to perform en masse I would join or create an R&B band, play in a jazz combo or join a big band like Best Coast Swing. Specific pieces I would want to perform from the R&B genre would include things like I The Mighty “The Hound And The Fox” (Oil in Water version) – YouTube or Dirty Loops – Roller Coaster (HD) – YouTube. “The Hound And The Fox” sits very comfortably in my vocal range which would mean that I could make a recording of it entirely on my own as well as being something that could be played at a wide variety of different venues ranging from a reputable restaurant to a swing night. “Roller Coaster” would be a great piece to play at parties or higher energy venues and would be extremely fun to play to boot. The most difficult of these genres to play on the trombone would be the final two that I mentioned, Progressive Metal and Math rock since there are not often horn parts in these genres. Even though there are not often horn parts written into these genres there are occasionally as with A Night on the Town but a piece like Psychedelic Porn Crumpets – Cornflake (Official Video) – YouTube would be very interesting to play on a wind instrument. If the aforementioned situation were to occur my musical career would be altered entirely and even just the thought experiment has reinforced to me that I don’t want to only be a classical trombonist.
Choice Cut 2. Based off blog prompt 5
For this choice cut I followed blog prompt 5 but, rather than choose a song from the text I picked a song that I came across elsewhere. In total I spent approximately 57 minutes listening to “All Hands’ ‘ from “Protest the Hero’s” most recent album “Palimpsest” which has a run time of 4:40, so it was in the range of ten to fifteen consecutive listenings. Immediately from hearing the title of the piece and the band that plays it I was expecting a Prog Metal piece with nautical imagery in the lyrics due to the phrase all hands on deck. To my surprise the lyrical content mostly heavily featured trains and train related content but was otherwise expected. The lyrics at 2:00 really make me think of a train arriving and the plume of smoke blotting out the sky. Initially when I was listening to this I struggled to find a consistent pulse but, I eventually determined that I could count the majority of the piece in 4/4 and that I could count sections like 0:28  as a bar if 8/8 followed by a bar of â…ž. One thing that dawned on me during this listening session is that I prefer music with a difficult to follow beat. If the beat of a piece is too strong I find that I am unable to keep myself from moving along with the music which, over an extended period of time often leads to me getting physically sore and too tired to continue listening. Contrarily, when I listen to music with complex or inconsistent beats I find that my stamina is much greater even though the music itself is more complicated. Knowing this, it makes sense that I enjoyed listening to “All Hands” as much as I did since it contains many different styles for example 4:00 is wildly different from 3:08 which is only a few seconds prior in the song which is also unlike 2:48 and so on. One portion of the song that didn’t make sense to me was the very beginning, the opening continually caught me off guard but over time I became much more comfortable with it and I am no longer surprised when the opening riff starts playing. The largest change I saw in how I thought of the piece from starting to listen to it and the end of my listening session was how comfortable I felt with it. By the time I had listened to “All Hands” four or five times it felt like something that I had known for years and listened to many times. I can think of a number of reasons for this. Firstly I am extremely familiar with the style of Protest the Hero, this year alone I spent nearly two days(48 hours not just daylight) listening to their album “Volition” although this was the first time I listened to anything from “Palimpsest”. Secondly, since I was devoting all my attention to only listening to the music I was picking up on the subtle changes that they make throughout the piece for example the tone of the bass at 2:30 changes to be almost funk like.
Now, an aside that I wanted to include since I thought it was quite interesting. Having done some research into the origins of “All Hands” it turns out that it is about an event known as the boston Molassacre in which a massive tank of molasses exploded in Boston releasing 24 million pounds of molasses onto the city which drowned 21 people. The lyrical content of trains is in reference to the fact that the 8 ft. tall wave of molasses supposedly sounded like a train as it moved through the city.
Choice Cut 3. Based off blog prompt 7
In the first recording “Polacca” there is extremely noticeable “participatory discrepancy in the opening vocal lines in combination with the drums. It seems as if the percussion forms the basis of the rhythm with one of the three voices being slightly ahead of the rhythm that the drums are laying down, one in time with the drums and another voice being slightly behind it. The effect of this combination of timings makes it seem like there are significantly more people singing as well as giving the impression that it is an unprofessional setting. That is not to say that the musicians are incompetent but rather that they are talented enough to make it appear as if they are, and maintain that appearance in complete coordination with one another so as to create the desired effect. Additionally, at 1:40 the prominent backgrounds slowly fade in and out at different times and change timbre as they do so adding an almost psychedelic effect to the music. The second piece “Spaced Cowboy” by Sly and the Family Stone features participatory discrepancy less overtly than the first. It uses it in the opening instrumental solo where the soloists seemingly are attempting to play an unwritten part in similar fashion. This makes it sound very organic. Later once the vocals come in it sounds like there is someone far off in the distance that the lead singer is performing with. This effect is produced by one singer singing very quietly and a few moments before the others so it is as if they are leading but due to the sound having to travel the others are a little behind. The third selection, “Agua Que Va A Caer” notably features participatory discrepancy in the call and response portions of the song, specifically in the response segment. It paints a picture of a group performing one of their best known songs in a bar and the patrons drunkenly singing along to the chorus with the help of the guitar. Particularly when one voice continues the response when no others do cements the image in my mind. The guitar also partakes in a dance with the bass wherein the two player take turns pushing and pulling the tempo, the majority of the time it is the guitarist who is ever so slightly ahead of the bassist but they will occasionally stop and allow the bassist to catch up or overtake them like the tortoise and the hare.
Choice Cut 4. Based off blog prompt B(from the extra prompts)
The riots at the Rite of Spring premiere are one of the most interesting and widely known events to occur at a musical function to date. The music and dancing were so odd for its time that the audience did not know how to react and as such reacted poorly. I think that because the ballet featured pagan themes and ideas as its basis as well as the fact that the music was composed with uncommon harmonies and rhythmic structures made it so the performance did not align with still majority Christian views at the time. As learned earlier in the course the church has often been quite closely associated with music so I believe that the outrage was not entirely due to the music itself but the context in which it was utilized. Similarly, Donald Trump has been using the music of a number of different artists at different pep rallies and events, much to the outrage of the musicians who composed these songs. Well known artists such as Neil Young, Elton John, Adele, Brendon Urie and many others have openly voiced their dislike of the use of their music by Donald Trump and his campaign. Some have gone as far as attempting to sue Donald Trump for copyright infringement and statutory damages. I believe the parallels between the current situation with musicians ire for Donald Trump and the rioting that occurred upon the premiere of The Rite of Spring are quite strong given the vastly different contexts in which they both occur. In the case of the modern day issue with President Trump the music itself is not what is causing the drama but the way it is used. The musicians do not want their music to be defamed by the things that Trump does or his political beliefs. The problem is not the content of the music but the context in which it is being used and the disrespect from Trump towards musicians. Similarly, I do not believe it was the music that caused the concert goers to riot at the premier of The Rite of Spring but rather the fact that the compositions were used in a way that opposed their religious views. The two differ in the fact that the premier of The Rite of Spring caused the general public to become enraged while Donald Trump’s continued use of a plethora of different titles has caused a smaller, but more involved group of composers to become angered.
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