Rant #1

In this rant, I'm going to be talking about video game music, specifically one that got stuck in my head as I was thinking about this post. Super Mario Galaxy. I got this game for Christmas last year and I've played it so much that when I play with my cousins now, I'm whistling along with the music. As this music was playing in my head, I wondered, how did that come to be what we hear in the game today? Thanks to Wikipedia, I've learned more about SMG's music, and I'm going to share that with you!
At the beginning, Mahito Yokota (who was in charge of the composition of the music) wanted SMG to have a Latin style of music. This was because a Latin percussion instruments (like congas and bongo drums) had been used in past Mario games. He used these instruments and a synthesizer to make the sci-fi sounds for the game's theme song. The game's designer (Yoshiaki Koizumi) approved the song, but was told by another composer (Koji Kondo) that it was no good. A few months later three different options were shown to Shigeru Miyamoto. The first was orchestral, the second was orchestral and pop, and the last was pop. The orchestral music was chosen for the theme song (written by Koji Kondo) and it was decided that the game's soundtrack would be written for a symphony.
I thought just this itself was pretty amazing, but there still more things I have learned about the music!
Apparently the music was played at strange tempos so that it would match up with Mario's movements and the different sound effects better. A few themes from previous Mario games were used in various levels throughout the game. And probably the thing I think it the coolest, is that some of the music it is more interactive compared with other games. I never payed attention to this, but at certain points in SMG when there is an increase in tension, the Wii has the ability to adjust the speed of the tempo to match what is currently happening in the game. One example it listed was when you fight Bowser, the music will speed up as you get closer to him.
I thought writing about SMG music was very interesting. I think the sound in this game is really cool, even to down to the sound it makes when you click "Save" or "Don't Save". The soundtrack for this game is so perfect, it's hard to imagine what it would've been like otherwise.
I never noticed in great detail how much music has an effect on a video game. It provides the game with character. Super Mario Galaxy has definitely succeeded in doing this, the music is amazing!
It's neat finding out how one of your interests correlates with another interest that you have!

Just so you understand what I'm talking about, here's something you can check out!
(I swear I did not mean to rhyme!) Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNqEfB6IYmE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1bitZ9e4lY

Even if you just search "Super Mario Galaxy Music" on Youtube, you'll see others as well. Or you could just get the video game and play it! If you're into Mario, of course!

Is Music The Career For Me?

Music will always be a part of my life, and I can guarantee each of my classmates will say the same thing.
When I started writing this, I thought about my two cousins, Kristen and Abby. Both were really into music when they were in school. Now Kristen teaches in Winnipeg and has directed and played music on a number of cruise ships. Abby works in the movie industry. I think they are so cool!
As for how I will be using it, I'm not 100% sure, at least career-wise. I can't say for sure whether I will pursue a music career or not, so I will talk about possible careers I could see myself doing and why I may not go through with them.
I would really love to work with music within the movie industry. When watching LOTR Special Edition DVDs I saw some different careers that looked really interesting. The first was dealing with what we are learning about right now, expect it was with a concert band. (I'll get more of a feel with that once we start working with the band concerts.) I would enjoy this because I have more knowledge about concert band than I do for rock band. I know about the different types of instruments and how they should sound with the rest of the band. Listening to soundtracks like LOTR inspire me to want to be a part of that process. That type of music just overwhelms me and I love it so much, to think I could do that one day would be amazing. The second career I saw was dealing with sound effects. The people working on LOTR got to create sounds for things such as imaginary creatures and weapons. I would enjoy doing this for two reasons. One, you'd get to use your imagination and creativity, and I absolutely love doing that! Second, you'd get to experiment with a wide range of sound. You wouldn't be limited to a certain genre of sound, it would all be open for you to be influenced and inspired by. In the careers I've described, the thing I would probably enjoy the most was the feeling you would get once you saw the final product. That feeling you get when you're like "Wow, I helped make that!". (And winning an Academy Award wouldn't be too bad either, lol!)
Something that might hold me back from exploring these careers would be my confidence level. I don't know if I could handle all the stresses that would come with the job. Another thing is just because we've only just begun this course, and I don't think I've experienced enough yet to make a yes or no decision. After finishing the course, I will probably have a better sense of where music stands as a career with me. One other reason I might not pursue a music career is because I also really enjoy graphic design and photography, and may want to choose one of those as my career.
Well, that's my discussion on my future with music. I think it would be really cool to have a career in music, but if it doesn't happen, so be it. Music will always be around me, whether I'm making money off of it or not.

Thoughts on Music Technology #1

I have to say at the start of the year I was a bit scared. I didn't know anything and didn't know what to expect. (But that's typical Caitlin! Worry!) But now, I am really enjoying the class! Basically, the more I learned, the more comfortable I felt in class. I don't think I could have been put in a class with better people. Everyone is friendly and I know that if I need help with something I can always count on my classmates.
To start, I enjoy the routine we've worked ourselves into at the beginning of class, when setting up. (Minus hurting myself with the mic stands, not good!) I like how Mr. Jones decided to start using the snake once we got the new soundboard. It was a way to turn up the difficulty notch for setting up, compared to how we would at the beginning of the year. This way we communicate more with one another, when we need to know what a certain channel is labeled as. But it's quite hard to do that when it is SUPER CRAZY loud! It's frustrating at times, trying to yell across the room to get a person's attention, if we need to match up mics to channels or try to start a sound check.
Next, I'm glad to say I don't find the soundboard as confusing as I once did. I understand the main concepts, such as the input/gain, monitors, pan, speaker levels, and individual channel levels. But there as still a few things I'm not totally sure about. I get what the EQs (and frequencies as well, or are they the same?) are used for, it's just that we haven't altered them much. I think in future classes I will strive to work with them more, experimenting, to see its impact on the overall sound of the band.
Again, recording is much simpler than I thought it would be. The Zoom H4 is easy to use and it's cool how we can hook it up to the soundboard. The trouble I have when recording is being able to tell whether the sound is good or not. I may feel like it is good, but when I hand the headphones over to someone else, they may feel differently. That's an area where I'm still somewhat nervous. We haven't used Cubase a lot yet, and I'm having a hard time understanding it. There are many different controls and I don't really know how to use the majority of them. This again ties in with what I think sounds good and what may not. When changing the levels of a file, I'm uneasy, because I'm not sure that I'm doing the right thing. Sometimes it's hard to work as well because the band that isn't playing is in there doing random things. That's the only computer in the entire school that we are able to work on, and they are playing and goofing off while we are trying to listen and edit music. We eventually get them out, but 15 minutes later they're back in there doing the same thing. (AH!) I found it to be tough when I was doing my first acoustic mastering, because everyone was off watching Kyle's rockumentary and I was all by myself. (But I think it turned out okay anyways.)

I have to say that I really love our blogs! It's allowing me to express and share things that I probably wouldn't have revealed to others. I'm actually having lots of fun as I write these, especially when I listen to music at the same time! I also love reading what everyone else posts, it's very exciting! I'm looking forward to starting our websites, I have never really made one before, so it will be another new experience!
I am usually the type of person who quits something when I get scared, but I am really glad I took this class. It's cool to learn about something new, it's really interesting, and this is helping me grow as a person. It's bringing me out of my shell. Music Technology has definitely been a surprise, that is, a good one!