http://www.myspace.com/bobdylan/music/songs/i-m-not-there-28269741
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX7xddWLyYI
For this blog assignment, I've chosen to write about one of my favorite Bob Dylan songs and a great cover of that song. "I'm Not There" is a song by Bob Dylan recorded sometime during the 1970s but not officially released until it's inclusion on the soundtrack to the 2007 film of the same name. On that same soundtrack, alternative rock band Sonic Youth recorded a cover of the song that ended up playing over the end credits of the movie. The main contrast between the two versions would probably be the instrumentation. Dylan's version is, like most of his songs, a traditional folk song, with acoustic guitar and vocal driving the song and bass guitar, organ and piano playing in the background. Sonic Youth took more of a hard rock approach to the song, with a heavily distorted electric guitar being the main instrument and the rhythm being driven by drums. Their are several electric guitars in the background that attempt to make a lot of distorted noise to make the song more atmospheric and intense. The vocals to Sonic Youth's version are more laid back and not as emotional Dylan's. Vocalist Thurston Moore also has a more "bassy" vocal timbre than Dylan. Since Dylan's version was just a demo, the songwriting is not quite complete (which could say something about the subtext of the title of the song.) and the lyrics are more unorganized and chaotic than Dylan's version. Many of the lyrics to Sonic Youth's version were rewritten or reinterpreted (since many of Dylan's lyrics are indecipherable) to fit with the themes of the film.
The songs share many similarities as well. Both songs play at about the same speed or tempo despite their differing sources of rhythm. The rhythm of both songs is regular, while their arrangements could be called somewhat chaotic, since neither version has a true chorus. The melody and chords of each song are almost identical, giving them similar emotional appeal to the listener.
If I had to choose a favorite version of the song, it would be Sonic Youth's version. I am a much bigger Bob Dylan fan than I am a Sonic Youth fan, but Dylan's version seems kind of sloppy and incomplete. I also like the way that Thurston Moore sings the song more than the way that Dylan sings it. I love how his laid back vocals contrast the heaviness of the electric guitars, and I love how during the "chorus" (not really the chorus, but where the melody changes) he starts to put a lot more emotion into his singing. Reading the comments on youtube, I noticed that most people prefer the Sonic Youth version to the Dylan version. A lot of people can't stand Dylan's voice, but the reception to the Sonic Youth version just goes to show that although Dylan may not be for everyone, his songwriting is timeless. I have to give most of the credit to Dylan for writing the song, but I commend Sonic Youth for executing such a wonderful and faithful cover and breathing new life into this hidden classic. Both versions are great in their own way.
ME!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Blog Assignment 4A
http://changethis.com/
In Seth Godin's article "Brainwashed," he discusses seven layers of reinventing yourself. He refers to one of those layers as "Acknowledging the Lizard." This is in reference to our "lizard brain," which is our prehistoric brainstem that we have been conditioned to rely on. This outdated way of thinking is driven by a resistance in our minds that keeps us from thinking outside the box and encourages us to follow instructions. Godin proposes that we must acknowledge and transcend this negative way of thinking in order to achieve anything great.
Another one of the seven layers is titled "ship." Shipping refers to the constantly expanding ability in our modern world to spread our ideas and creations. The ability to get things done and get your ideas shipped to the rest of the world is what can make someone successful. With the increasing popularity of social networking sites and Youtube, it is becoming easier and easier to have your voice be heard by the general public.
I think that both of these suggestions apply to what we are doing in MDIA 203 with our blogs. I think it is important to acknowledge the lizard and overcome the resistance that has been put in our minds. This is easier to do now with a blog. By being required to put our work online, the process of overcoming skepticism becomes much easier. It also helps a lot with shipping, obviously, as we now have an effective way to get our work seen by a large audience.
I do not think that the exercises for this class are worthless, but I do think that this class should not be required. I am paying to go to Ohio University to learn about Audio Production, so I do not think I should be forced to take this class before I begin to take classes that are directly related to my major. I like how these exercises require you to think outside of the box, I just don't think they are necessary for most students in this school. These are things we could be learning in more specific classes. The exercises have kept me busy, though, learning the terms from class, which will definitely come in handy later on. I thoroughly enjoy the class, I just don't think it should be required (neither should 205, another class I enjoyed).
Blog Assignment 3B
I couldn't critique the 3 people above me because the videos weren't downloading.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Soundscape
I couldn't upload the way it said to on blackboard because I don't have powerpoint on my computer so i did it this way.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Blog assignment episode 2: Attack of the Clones
http://changethis.com/
It can often be difficult to create new ideas, sometimes you are just not in the creative mood. "14 Ways to Get Ideas" by Mitch Ditkoff is a great article that gives many techniques (14 actually, as the title very accurately suggests) to find the inspiration to create new groundbreaking ideas. I thought the article was very insightful and I can see myself using some of these techniques in the future. All of the techniques suggested seem like pretty good ideas, although there were 3 that really stood out to me.
The technique that stood out the most to me was #4- Making New Connections. This is something that I often do when making music. I will combine the ideas of two or more of my favorite artists and try to make something of my own out of it. This is how most music is made. Someone will be playing a Beatles song on the guitar, slowly change it to make it their own, then give it the sound of a Metallica song, and they have a (almost) completely original song. Many of the songs that I have made came from me playing an already established song and then changing it to make it my own. Some old person once said (and this is probably very misquoted but its the same idea) "All art is just other people's art rearranged in a new way." The quote would sound much better if it were the real thing but I think that quote speaks for most movies, songs, books, video games, etc.
Another good technique is #11- Brainstorm. I think it is very important to collaborate with people who have similar creative interests to yourself. Working with someone else on an idea can help because they can fill in the blanks in your mind to the things that you're unsure about, and you can do the same for them. Take the Beatles song "A Day in the Life" for example. Lennon had two verses written, but the song felt incomplete because there was nothing in the middle of the song. So McCartney wrote his own section, and the contrast (VOCAB WORD!!!!) between the two parts of the song is one of the elements that makes it such a classic. I definitely plan to try and collaborate with some of my fellow Bobcats on projects in the future, but its tough at the moment because I don't really have any friends, but I'm on Facebook so send a friend request don't be shy!
The third technique that I liked was #2- Immerse. I think it is important to to take time in the day to just sort of stop doing whatever your doing and just think about things. I usually only do this when I'm lying in bed at night, but that is when I get some of my best ideas or think of some of my best songs. I'm usually to comfortable on my cozy dorm room mattress to get up and write any of these things down, which probably explains my lack of creative output, but I know that I think of these things because all I'm doing is THINKING and not sitting on the couch listening to music, eating a PB&J (Peanut Butter and Jelly) and reading the Facebook status of some random girl from my highschool that I will probably never talk to again. Instead of multi-tasking, I am uni-tasking, or whatever the phrase is called. There are no distractions, so the mind can focus on one thing. In the future, I plan to take some time out of the day to do this, and hopefully it will work wonders.
The question under Tolerate Ambiguity reads "What new idea of yours is bubbling on the brink of breakthrough? In what ways can you stay with it, even if something in you is impatient for a breakthrough?" I'm constantly thinking of ways to make unique mashups of songs and I have several ideas that I think are pretty good but I'm having trouble piecing them together. I often get impatient with this and think that I will never create something unique out of these ideas, but then I put on the song "Don't Stop Believing" (Or sometimes I'll just read the title outloud a couple times) and I keep moving on. But all joking aside (not that Journey is a joke or anything) I think one of the best things to do is just keep working at it, and when you get stuck, take a break to get your mind off of what your doing for awhile, which was actually one of the other techniques from the text but I thought of it first and Mitch Ditkoff plagiarized it.
The question for the technique suspend logic is "What can you do this week to suspend practicality, logic and rationality in service to birthing your big idea?" Well I could take the normal logic suspending route of most OU students and simply hit up The Crystal, but something tells me this wouldn't be too beneficial to me. Then as I'm writing this I realize that we only had to answer one of the questions so I'm just gonna go ahead and stop before I give a stupid answer.
It can often be difficult to create new ideas, sometimes you are just not in the creative mood. "14 Ways to Get Ideas" by Mitch Ditkoff is a great article that gives many techniques (14 actually, as the title very accurately suggests) to find the inspiration to create new groundbreaking ideas. I thought the article was very insightful and I can see myself using some of these techniques in the future. All of the techniques suggested seem like pretty good ideas, although there were 3 that really stood out to me.
The technique that stood out the most to me was #4- Making New Connections. This is something that I often do when making music. I will combine the ideas of two or more of my favorite artists and try to make something of my own out of it. This is how most music is made. Someone will be playing a Beatles song on the guitar, slowly change it to make it their own, then give it the sound of a Metallica song, and they have a (almost) completely original song. Many of the songs that I have made came from me playing an already established song and then changing it to make it my own. Some old person once said (and this is probably very misquoted but its the same idea) "All art is just other people's art rearranged in a new way." The quote would sound much better if it were the real thing but I think that quote speaks for most movies, songs, books, video games, etc.
Another good technique is #11- Brainstorm. I think it is very important to collaborate with people who have similar creative interests to yourself. Working with someone else on an idea can help because they can fill in the blanks in your mind to the things that you're unsure about, and you can do the same for them. Take the Beatles song "A Day in the Life" for example. Lennon had two verses written, but the song felt incomplete because there was nothing in the middle of the song. So McCartney wrote his own section, and the contrast (VOCAB WORD!!!!) between the two parts of the song is one of the elements that makes it such a classic. I definitely plan to try and collaborate with some of my fellow Bobcats on projects in the future, but its tough at the moment because I don't really have any friends, but I'm on Facebook so send a friend request don't be shy!
The third technique that I liked was #2- Immerse. I think it is important to to take time in the day to just sort of stop doing whatever your doing and just think about things. I usually only do this when I'm lying in bed at night, but that is when I get some of my best ideas or think of some of my best songs. I'm usually to comfortable on my cozy dorm room mattress to get up and write any of these things down, which probably explains my lack of creative output, but I know that I think of these things because all I'm doing is THINKING and not sitting on the couch listening to music, eating a PB&J (Peanut Butter and Jelly) and reading the Facebook status of some random girl from my highschool that I will probably never talk to again. Instead of multi-tasking, I am uni-tasking, or whatever the phrase is called. There are no distractions, so the mind can focus on one thing. In the future, I plan to take some time out of the day to do this, and hopefully it will work wonders.
The question under Tolerate Ambiguity reads "What new idea of yours is bubbling on the brink of breakthrough? In what ways can you stay with it, even if something in you is impatient for a breakthrough?" I'm constantly thinking of ways to make unique mashups of songs and I have several ideas that I think are pretty good but I'm having trouble piecing them together. I often get impatient with this and think that I will never create something unique out of these ideas, but then I put on the song "Don't Stop Believing" (Or sometimes I'll just read the title outloud a couple times) and I keep moving on. But all joking aside (not that Journey is a joke or anything) I think one of the best things to do is just keep working at it, and when you get stuck, take a break to get your mind off of what your doing for awhile, which was actually one of the other techniques from the text but I thought of it first and Mitch Ditkoff plagiarized it.
The question for the technique suspend logic is "What can you do this week to suspend practicality, logic and rationality in service to birthing your big idea?" Well I could take the normal logic suspending route of most OU students and simply hit up The Crystal, but something tells me this wouldn't be too beneficial to me. Then as I'm writing this I realize that we only had to answer one of the questions so I'm just gonna go ahead and stop before I give a stupid answer.
Who influences The Rhoa?
There have been many different artists that have influenced my life and my approach to music. Not only am I influenced by musicians and producers, but also by artists in other fields like film and literature. So I'm going to write about three artists from three different disciplines: In music, the band Phish; in movies, George Lucas; and in literature, the author Chuck Palahniuk.
The band Phish has influenced my music and my life in general more than anyone else. I remember enjoying a few of there songs when I was a freshman in high school, so I decided to buy one of their live albums, and I had never heard anything like it in my life. The singer couldn't sing, and the lyrics were borderline retarded, but I had never heard such incredible musicianship or originality in my life. This has taught me the incredible amount of practice and dedication required to make music. The band has a large cult following, and I've found that there music is a very acquired taste that you either love or hate. Arguing with my friends and telling them that phish is the greatest band ever has taught me just how subjective music really is. There is no "greatest" at anything in music or art in general. This is a very reassuring realization for someone going into a profession such as music production because you're not constantly striving to be the best, but instead striving to to do something original and entertaining that people will enjoy. This clip is from Phish's New Years Eve concert at Madison Square Garden. It shows the bands goofy side but more importantly it shows thousands of fans having the time of their lives which is what the band is really all about.
Chuck Palahniuk, the author of Fight Club and my all-time favorite novel, Choke, has had a big impact on me. His books are filled with many themes that I believe are very important for someone my age. His stories usually involve characters who have trouble becoming their own person and escaping from the expectations of society. He does a great job of using subtext to display these themes. In Fight Club, the characters start there own underground fight club, but the subtext of this is that the fight club is a way for the characters to unleash their anger against the world. I find myself relating to many of the characters in his stories and the themes that he presents in his writing. Being in college and trying to find out what I want to do with my life and who I want to be, its great to be able to read an author who writes about these things and creates characters that I see elements of myself in. Although plot usually comes second to character in his stories, his books are filled with many great twists and turns and interesting narrative structures. You never know what is going to happen in the end of his books, but you know its going to be something mindblowing. This is a clip of Chuck talking about his fourth novel, Choke.
The movies that have had the biggest influence on my life would probably be the Star Wars films. As a child, I would watch these movies obsessively and force my baby sitter to read the subtitles of all the alien languages to me because I couldn't read at the time. I admire the incredible imagination of George Lucas. I think its amazing that he can imagine up an entire world like the one in Star Wars. This ambition and creativity is something that has always inspired me. I love the fact that you can didactically just watch and enjoy the movie, or you can be a more active viewer and read into the mythology of the whole saga. There are many books that have been written on how Star Wars is a retelling of many older greek myths and biblical stories. There is also a lot of fan fiction and an entire expanded universe to the series. George Lucas has gone out of his way to make the Star Wars universe as vast and detailed as possible. Another example of the active fanbase can be found in this clip, which is one of thousands of fan made star wars videos, both funny and serious.
The band Phish has influenced my music and my life in general more than anyone else. I remember enjoying a few of there songs when I was a freshman in high school, so I decided to buy one of their live albums, and I had never heard anything like it in my life. The singer couldn't sing, and the lyrics were borderline retarded, but I had never heard such incredible musicianship or originality in my life. This has taught me the incredible amount of practice and dedication required to make music. The band has a large cult following, and I've found that there music is a very acquired taste that you either love or hate. Arguing with my friends and telling them that phish is the greatest band ever has taught me just how subjective music really is. There is no "greatest" at anything in music or art in general. This is a very reassuring realization for someone going into a profession such as music production because you're not constantly striving to be the best, but instead striving to to do something original and entertaining that people will enjoy. This clip is from Phish's New Years Eve concert at Madison Square Garden. It shows the bands goofy side but more importantly it shows thousands of fans having the time of their lives which is what the band is really all about.
Chuck Palahniuk, the author of Fight Club and my all-time favorite novel, Choke, has had a big impact on me. His books are filled with many themes that I believe are very important for someone my age. His stories usually involve characters who have trouble becoming their own person and escaping from the expectations of society. He does a great job of using subtext to display these themes. In Fight Club, the characters start there own underground fight club, but the subtext of this is that the fight club is a way for the characters to unleash their anger against the world. I find myself relating to many of the characters in his stories and the themes that he presents in his writing. Being in college and trying to find out what I want to do with my life and who I want to be, its great to be able to read an author who writes about these things and creates characters that I see elements of myself in. Although plot usually comes second to character in his stories, his books are filled with many great twists and turns and interesting narrative structures. You never know what is going to happen in the end of his books, but you know its going to be something mindblowing. This is a clip of Chuck talking about his fourth novel, Choke.
The movies that have had the biggest influence on my life would probably be the Star Wars films. As a child, I would watch these movies obsessively and force my baby sitter to read the subtitles of all the alien languages to me because I couldn't read at the time. I admire the incredible imagination of George Lucas. I think its amazing that he can imagine up an entire world like the one in Star Wars. This ambition and creativity is something that has always inspired me. I love the fact that you can didactically just watch and enjoy the movie, or you can be a more active viewer and read into the mythology of the whole saga. There are many books that have been written on how Star Wars is a retelling of many older greek myths and biblical stories. There is also a lot of fan fiction and an entire expanded universe to the series. George Lucas has gone out of his way to make the Star Wars universe as vast and detailed as possible. Another example of the active fanbase can be found in this clip, which is one of thousands of fan made star wars videos, both funny and serious.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Why I chose Audio Production as my major
Going into college, I had no idea what I wanted to study. I started out as a Mathematics major, but soon found out that this wasn't for me. I considered several other majors such as Engineering and Journalism, but I couldn't find a major that perfectly suited me. When I discovered that Ohio University had an Audio Production program, I quickly realized that this was what i wanted to do. I've been playing music since I was in elementary school, and it has always been a big part of my life. After playing various instruments throughout high school and listening to a variety of music, I became interested in the recording process of music, but never really considered it a career until I read into OU's Audio Production program. I soon applied to the program and have been loving it since day 1.
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