You sometimes hear of artists creating their own instrument, but this is an amusing find. An old 70's blender! Who would have thought that you could make music and a smoothie at the same time.
A fun audio experiment for sure. I wonder what other electrical machines could be turned into instruments this way. All you need is something with varying speeds I guess. Explaining this is futile, just watch it.
*there's some unnecessary foul language in one part*
I'll explain a couple things:
"Gating" - refers to setting a volume threshold. So unless the instrument (in this case a blender) produces a certain amount of volume, that red, blinking machine won't play the signal from the Mic to the speaker (in other words, it's either pure sound or silence).
The part where he is talking about pissing on G&L guitars etc.. is just referring to some very expensive guitars and amps. This guy seems to have something against snobby guitar culture?
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
A Choir of Screaming Men?
I just heard about this choir yesterday, and I am now completely mesmerized by their existence (This one is courtesy of Benjamin): Mieskuoro Huutajat.
Consisting of 30 Finnish men, this choir covers everything from traditional Finnish songs to national anthems of several countries. What makes them unique though, is that they scream everything at the top of their lungs, all the while dressed in suits with black rubber ties.
The rhythmic choices and nuances are really interesting, and it is clear that each shout/scream is a practiced, orchestrated choice (In other words, it doesn't just sound like a karaoke booth full of drunk men). It's definitely intense, and I can understand why it would be a neat experience to see them live. Speaking of seeing them live, because of the ambiguity regarding the genre of their music, they have played in venues ranging from rock clubs, to chamber halls, to the MoMa!
That being all said, I wonder how hilarious they find their success. They've played in concert halls in Japan, all over Europe, and the Americas.... yet they confess that they only started this choir because they had nothing else better to do. Sounds like there's an element of tongue in cheek here, and I find that refreshing! For example, take their trip to the ice floes in the frozen Baltic, where they stood on the ice floes to shout (at? to?) the crew of an ice-breaker ship. ...and because of their attire, they kind of resembled penguins, which I am sure they were keenly aware of. To sum up their expedition, one member said:
"It is always something the choir has wanted to do, because such antics create a form of absurdity which we find works the best."
Awesome. To learn more about them, go to their website. To get a taste of their performance, watch the video below:
Consisting of 30 Finnish men, this choir covers everything from traditional Finnish songs to national anthems of several countries. What makes them unique though, is that they scream everything at the top of their lungs, all the while dressed in suits with black rubber ties.
The rhythmic choices and nuances are really interesting, and it is clear that each shout/scream is a practiced, orchestrated choice (In other words, it doesn't just sound like a karaoke booth full of drunk men). It's definitely intense, and I can understand why it would be a neat experience to see them live. Speaking of seeing them live, because of the ambiguity regarding the genre of their music, they have played in venues ranging from rock clubs, to chamber halls, to the MoMa!
That being all said, I wonder how hilarious they find their success. They've played in concert halls in Japan, all over Europe, and the Americas.... yet they confess that they only started this choir because they had nothing else better to do. Sounds like there's an element of tongue in cheek here, and I find that refreshing! For example, take their trip to the ice floes in the frozen Baltic, where they stood on the ice floes to shout (at? to?) the crew of an ice-breaker ship. ...and because of their attire, they kind of resembled penguins, which I am sure they were keenly aware of. To sum up their expedition, one member said:
"It is always something the choir has wanted to do, because such antics create a form of absurdity which we find works the best."
Awesome. To learn more about them, go to their website. To get a taste of their performance, watch the video below:
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Can you listen to music when you're deaf?
Have you ever heard of Evelyn Glennie? Unless you're familiar with the classical music world, you probably haven't. She is the first person in the world to have a successful career as a solo-percussionist. She is an amazing virtuoso marimba player. She has won Grammys, collaborated with Sting, Bjork and others, and has been on Letterman, Sesame Street...etc. (Funny how being on Sesame Street is a great indication of success, like Letterman.) She also has the Order of the British Empire (so she is a Dame!).
...but there is an interesting twist to her story: She is legally deaf (known as being "profoundly deaf", which is not totally deaf). This isn't mentioned in any of her promo materials.
Fascinating isn't it? When she discovered that she was going deaf during her childhood, she re-learned how to listen to music through her body. This in principle isn't hard to imagine: We feel heavy bass beats through our body in clubs, annoying neighbours, and cars that blast their music. That thumping, rumbling feeling in the stomach. What's extraordinary is that she learned how to feel all sorts of tones, and to be able to distinguish tones through her body. Amazing!
Ofcourse, the natural question to ask then, is: What is it like to "listen" to music through the body instead of your ears?
To which she responds, quite cleverly, with the question in reverse: ...What is it like to "listen" to music through your ears?
Mind blowing! It's impossible to answer this question! We just "do"! These questions cannot be answered in any straightforward manner.
However.
What this does do is question our notions of music, and listening. How much of what we experience in music is non-aural? What IS the act of listening?
Questions like this (and the work of Evelyn Glennie) have since spurred an interesting partnership between the deaf and the hearing in music enjoyment. What do I mean? Deaf people are sometimes requested to consult on the quality of newly built auditoriums/concert halls. Why? Because they have learned to pick up subtle differences through their whole body their entire lives...such that they are more sensitive to sound than many hearing people. And that's just one example of the phenomenal changes that the notion of "listening to music" is going through right now.
If you're interested in this, and Evelyn Glennie, I would highly recommend watching "Touch The Sound", a film about her experiences with music. In the meantime, here is her talk at TED, which is in many ways even better than the film. She really challenges you to reconsider what music, and listening is:
Finally, if you're in the Toronto area, you have a chance to see her perform with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for...6 bucks. That's right: 6 bucks. January 28 and 29. If you don't go, you're just being lazy. Buy Tickets Here
To read more about her experiences of listening, go to her website.
Really interesting stuff.
-- update --
There's a project that took this notion of listening and turned it into special speakers for those who are hard of hearing, or even completely deaf. For more on that, read my blog post about it here
...but there is an interesting twist to her story: She is legally deaf (known as being "profoundly deaf", which is not totally deaf). This isn't mentioned in any of her promo materials.
Fascinating isn't it? When she discovered that she was going deaf during her childhood, she re-learned how to listen to music through her body. This in principle isn't hard to imagine: We feel heavy bass beats through our body in clubs, annoying neighbours, and cars that blast their music. That thumping, rumbling feeling in the stomach. What's extraordinary is that she learned how to feel all sorts of tones, and to be able to distinguish tones through her body. Amazing!
Ofcourse, the natural question to ask then, is: What is it like to "listen" to music through the body instead of your ears?
To which she responds, quite cleverly, with the question in reverse: ...What is it like to "listen" to music through your ears?
Mind blowing! It's impossible to answer this question! We just "do"! These questions cannot be answered in any straightforward manner.
However.
What this does do is question our notions of music, and listening. How much of what we experience in music is non-aural? What IS the act of listening?
Questions like this (and the work of Evelyn Glennie) have since spurred an interesting partnership between the deaf and the hearing in music enjoyment. What do I mean? Deaf people are sometimes requested to consult on the quality of newly built auditoriums/concert halls. Why? Because they have learned to pick up subtle differences through their whole body their entire lives...such that they are more sensitive to sound than many hearing people. And that's just one example of the phenomenal changes that the notion of "listening to music" is going through right now.
If you're interested in this, and Evelyn Glennie, I would highly recommend watching "Touch The Sound", a film about her experiences with music. In the meantime, here is her talk at TED, which is in many ways even better than the film. She really challenges you to reconsider what music, and listening is:
Finally, if you're in the Toronto area, you have a chance to see her perform with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for...6 bucks. That's right: 6 bucks. January 28 and 29. If you don't go, you're just being lazy. Buy Tickets Here
To read more about her experiences of listening, go to her website.
Really interesting stuff.
-- update --
There's a project that took this notion of listening and turned it into special speakers for those who are hard of hearing, or even completely deaf. For more on that, read my blog post about it here
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Write Songs on the Fly! Microsoft Songsmith...
Microsoft has come up with a program that - get this - automatically writes an arrangement to a melody you sing. Sing any jibberish you can come up with right now .. and the program will do the rest. It analyzes the melodic lines, and figures out the chord changes that work. It further simplifies it by having an adjustable "happy /sad" slider, as well as a "jazz" slider to change the feel of the music. Neat!
All you need is a microphone, and everyone can become a song writer!
The final product is fairly cheesy (because it's still a MIDI file with your original vocals on top), but it's a really eye-opening experience to see how a simple melody can be dressed up with an arrangement. ...And it's just plain fun watch it do its thing.
Try it out. It's pretty cool. And very laughable. It's free and downloadable Here
What do you think? Leave a comment!
In fact, here's a thought: If this technology takes off, and it actually made really great songs off the bat... would you listen to it? Would it still be on par with human made music? Or would it be lacking something? Fun thoughts to ponder...
All you need is a microphone, and everyone can become a song writer!
The final product is fairly cheesy (because it's still a MIDI file with your original vocals on top), but it's a really eye-opening experience to see how a simple melody can be dressed up with an arrangement. ...And it's just plain fun watch it do its thing.
Try it out. It's pretty cool. And very laughable. It's free and downloadable Here
What do you think? Leave a comment!
In fact, here's a thought: If this technology takes off, and it actually made really great songs off the bat... would you listen to it? Would it still be on par with human made music? Or would it be lacking something? Fun thoughts to ponder...
Monday, January 12, 2009
Van Canto
A quick update today.
This is kinda neat. It's sort of acapella.. but I've never seen anyone do heavy metal acapella by actually simulating the guitars. A Metallica cover at that. Different!
Watch Here
This is kinda neat. It's sort of acapella.. but I've never seen anyone do heavy metal acapella by actually simulating the guitars. A Metallica cover at that. Different!
Watch Here
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Jaydiohead - Radiohead vs. Jay-Z
Remember the "Grey Album"? A mash up by DJ Danger Mouse between Jay-Z's Black Album and The Beatles White Album? (Danger Mouse has since then been involved with the last Gorillaz album, and one half of Gnarls Barkley. His big break was his self-produced mash-up!)
Someone else has come by mashed up Jay-Z with.... Radiohead! I personally like Radiohead quite a bit, and I like the swing that Jay-Z has in his delivery, so I find the resulting creation pretty neat. Certainly worth a listen if you like Radiohead or Jay-Z. It's interesting how the songs take on a more sombre, serious, non-bombastic feel because of the Radiohead influence. You can tell the guy who made this is a big fan of both artists.. a lot of these pieces are relatively obscure stuff from their respective repertoires (i.e. Black Swan is from Thom Yorke's solo album....which I guess isn't technically Radiohead, but whatever).
I especially like the tongue-in-cheek shout out at the very end of this "album". "It's only entertainment!" says the Jay-Z soundbite, as if to preemptively respond to the "Cease and Desist" letter that will inevitably be coming from the record companies.
What do you think?
For more information, and to download the whole thing (at least until EMI finds out..), go here!
Jaydiohead.com
Also, while we're at it:
Viva La Hova - The Jay-Z and Coldplay mash up that came out last Fall can be checked out, and downloaded here: Vivalahova.com
OJAYZIS - The Jay-Z and Oasis mash up that came out last Summer can be checked out and downloaded here: OJAYZIS
As you can see, Jay-Z is quite the mash-up star.
Someone else has come by mashed up Jay-Z with.... Radiohead! I personally like Radiohead quite a bit, and I like the swing that Jay-Z has in his delivery, so I find the resulting creation pretty neat. Certainly worth a listen if you like Radiohead or Jay-Z. It's interesting how the songs take on a more sombre, serious, non-bombastic feel because of the Radiohead influence. You can tell the guy who made this is a big fan of both artists.. a lot of these pieces are relatively obscure stuff from their respective repertoires (i.e. Black Swan is from Thom Yorke's solo album....which I guess isn't technically Radiohead, but whatever).
I especially like the tongue-in-cheek shout out at the very end of this "album". "It's only entertainment!" says the Jay-Z soundbite, as if to preemptively respond to the "Cease and Desist" letter that will inevitably be coming from the record companies.
What do you think?
For more information, and to download the whole thing (at least until EMI finds out..), go here!
Jaydiohead.com
Also, while we're at it:
Viva La Hova - The Jay-Z and Coldplay mash up that came out last Fall can be checked out, and downloaded here: Vivalahova.com
OJAYZIS - The Jay-Z and Oasis mash up that came out last Summer can be checked out and downloaded here: OJAYZIS
As you can see, Jay-Z is quite the mash-up star.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Musical Drums!
Q: What do you call a drummer that breaks up with his girlfriend?
A: Homeless.
Q: What's the last thing a drummer says in a band?
A: "Hey guys, why don't we try one of my songs?
...and so on and so forth. If you've ever been in a band, you know how often jokes like these pop up! As much fun as they are, I actually think drums are quite underrated by most people. The rhythm section alone can make or break a song, raise the intensity of the music, and completely dictate the direction of the music. In fact, if I am just jamming with people, I tend to grab the bass or the drums...
Part of the misunderstanding comes from the common misconception that drummers don't have notes or melodies to play...therefore less "musical" than other instruments. But that's actually quite mistaken. The big timpani kettle drums in an orchestra are tuned very specifically to different notes. African drums of various varieties are tuned as well, with a stand out example in "talking drums" (I'll probably talk about that in another post). ...and even regular drum kits are tuned. The art is to chose proper tuning, and know when to hit what drum.
Here's a fun video by someone I've followed for a little while..and it's brand spanking new for 2009. He clearly tunes his drums for each song, and the resulting arrangements really make you see how "musical" drums can be. Plus...anybody who plays arrangements of Super Mario, Tenacious D, and the Macgyver theme song is pretty damn cool. Check it out!
A: Homeless.
Q: What's the last thing a drummer says in a band?
A: "Hey guys, why don't we try one of my songs?
...and so on and so forth. If you've ever been in a band, you know how often jokes like these pop up! As much fun as they are, I actually think drums are quite underrated by most people. The rhythm section alone can make or break a song, raise the intensity of the music, and completely dictate the direction of the music. In fact, if I am just jamming with people, I tend to grab the bass or the drums...
Part of the misunderstanding comes from the common misconception that drummers don't have notes or melodies to play...therefore less "musical" than other instruments. But that's actually quite mistaken. The big timpani kettle drums in an orchestra are tuned very specifically to different notes. African drums of various varieties are tuned as well, with a stand out example in "talking drums" (I'll probably talk about that in another post). ...and even regular drum kits are tuned. The art is to chose proper tuning, and know when to hit what drum.
Here's a fun video by someone I've followed for a little while..and it's brand spanking new for 2009. He clearly tunes his drums for each song, and the resulting arrangements really make you see how "musical" drums can be. Plus...anybody who plays arrangements of Super Mario, Tenacious D, and the Macgyver theme song is pretty damn cool. Check it out!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Fascinating top 40 right now...
What do the following songs have in common?:
Jason Mraz - I'm Yours (the verse, chorus)
Nickelback - Gotta be Somebody (The entire song, minus the pre-chorus bits)
Taylor Swift - Love Story (The chorus)
T.I. - Whatever You Like (The whole thing)
They all share the same chord progression. ...which isn't to say that they are the same song, and I'm not about to start talking about the demise of music and originality etc..etc... Instead, I am going to talk about how fascinating! This is.
Wait, let's back up. A chord progression is like the bones of the song. It's the underlying tonal structure that repeats over and over again (while the melody is sung over it). What the heck do I mean? Well..listen to the melody played by the bass guitar in this classic U2 song:
SeeqPod - Playable Search
See (...er..hear) how the bass plays the same 4 notes, in the same order...throughout the whole song? The vocal melody, and the guitar parts change change, but the bass doesn't... yet it all still sounds okay. This is because the bass is playing the "bones" of the song.
Those same "bones" that are used in that U2 song is used in all those songs I mentioned at the beginning. True, they are in a different key, but the "bones" are still the same...and hence the actual tonal structure is very very similar between all of those songs. In fact, this chord progression is EVERYWHERE. I can't think of one band/singer that does not have a song with this chord progression in it at some point. Usually it's fairly obvious. Listen to the guitar in that Jason Mraz song now, with the U2 bassline in mind.. I think you'll be able to tell:
All the other songs I mentioned are structured similarly. However, while the Jason Mraz, Nickelback, and Taylor Swift songs are easy to spot, the T.I. song is a little tricky! Instead of starting C-G-A-F, it starts at F-C-G-A.. so it's the same progression, just slowed down, de-emphasized and turned around a little. I absolutly find it amazing when somebody finds a new way to "hide" this incredibly common chord progression (because it's otherwise too easy to sound like some other song).
I go around "collecting" songs that hide this chord progression in a way that makes it sound different. Liiiiike, the pre-chorus and chorus of this famous song. It is structured similarly to the T.I. song, in that it starts this classic chord progression at what is "typically" the last chord (but since it loops around it's all the same really). Pay attention to when he sings "What have I become" and the chorus:
...in fact, this is in the same key as "Love Story", the Taylor Swift song! How cool is that?
Another song that hides it well..is from one of my favourite bands, Sigur-Ros:
What they did here was slow it right down..and play the third chord in the progression one beat earlier. All combined, even if the bass is playing the chord progression quite straight forwardly, it isn't immediately obvious! Neaaat.
There are SO many song with this chord progression, it's great as a medley. Why? Because the "bones" are the same, you can just keep playing the same thing on your instrument over and over again...and just sing a different song over it. Here are some fun one's I found:
I'm Yours (Jason Mraz) + No Woman No Cry (Bob Marley)
No Woman No Cry (Bob Marley), Glycerine (Bush), Damnit (Blink 182), When I Come Around (Green Day)
*I squashed the videos on purpose, because otherwise this post is going to take up too much space*
Jason Mraz - I'm Yours (the verse, chorus)
Nickelback - Gotta be Somebody (The entire song, minus the pre-chorus bits)
Taylor Swift - Love Story (The chorus)
T.I. - Whatever You Like (The whole thing)
They all share the same chord progression. ...which isn't to say that they are the same song, and I'm not about to start talking about the demise of music and originality etc..etc... Instead, I am going to talk about how fascinating! This is.
Wait, let's back up. A chord progression is like the bones of the song. It's the underlying tonal structure that repeats over and over again (while the melody is sung over it). What the heck do I mean? Well..listen to the melody played by the bass guitar in this classic U2 song:
SeeqPod - Playable Search
See (...er..hear) how the bass plays the same 4 notes, in the same order...throughout the whole song? The vocal melody, and the guitar parts change change, but the bass doesn't... yet it all still sounds okay. This is because the bass is playing the "bones" of the song.
Those same "bones" that are used in that U2 song is used in all those songs I mentioned at the beginning. True, they are in a different key, but the "bones" are still the same...and hence the actual tonal structure is very very similar between all of those songs. In fact, this chord progression is EVERYWHERE. I can't think of one band/singer that does not have a song with this chord progression in it at some point. Usually it's fairly obvious. Listen to the guitar in that Jason Mraz song now, with the U2 bassline in mind.. I think you'll be able to tell:
All the other songs I mentioned are structured similarly. However, while the Jason Mraz, Nickelback, and Taylor Swift songs are easy to spot, the T.I. song is a little tricky! Instead of starting C-G-A-F, it starts at F-C-G-A.. so it's the same progression, just slowed down, de-emphasized and turned around a little. I absolutly find it amazing when somebody finds a new way to "hide" this incredibly common chord progression (because it's otherwise too easy to sound like some other song).
I go around "collecting" songs that hide this chord progression in a way that makes it sound different. Liiiiike, the pre-chorus and chorus of this famous song. It is structured similarly to the T.I. song, in that it starts this classic chord progression at what is "typically" the last chord (but since it loops around it's all the same really). Pay attention to when he sings "What have I become" and the chorus:
...in fact, this is in the same key as "Love Story", the Taylor Swift song! How cool is that?
Another song that hides it well..is from one of my favourite bands, Sigur-Ros:
What they did here was slow it right down..and play the third chord in the progression one beat earlier. All combined, even if the bass is playing the chord progression quite straight forwardly, it isn't immediately obvious! Neaaat.
There are SO many song with this chord progression, it's great as a medley. Why? Because the "bones" are the same, you can just keep playing the same thing on your instrument over and over again...and just sing a different song over it. Here are some fun one's I found:
I'm Yours (Jason Mraz) + No Woman No Cry (Bob Marley)
No Woman No Cry (Bob Marley), Glycerine (Bush), Damnit (Blink 182), When I Come Around (Green Day)
*I squashed the videos on purpose, because otherwise this post is going to take up too much space*
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