I think luck can play a big role in how well musicians do in the industry. It definitely makes their journey to the top much, much easier. One example would be people who have relatives in the music industry. It's just like having an older brother or sister growing up. They are the ones that experience everything first, so when it's your turn, you're able to ask questions and get help from them. And the term "popular by association" comes to mind. If your dad was a famous artist, and people liked him, they might be interested in seeing how you turned out. People are curious in that way sometimes. For instance, take the Cyrus family. Billy Ray is a country singer, well known for his #1 hit, "Achy Breaky Heart". Then his daughter, Miley, starts her own music career, and people are like, "Hey, that's Billy Ray's daughter!". And they check her stuff out, from curiosity. Another example of some luck would be if you had started out in another industry, such as movies or television, before pursuing a music career. That way you are already well known, and don't have to struggle with getting popular. Take Hilary Duff, she was in television shows and movies before she began a music career. The public knew her well, so when she did start, it was easier to get her music out there because of her already established fan base.Without much luck, but a good amount of talent, you can still be successful in the music industry. It usually just takes more time to work your way up there. My Chemical Romance comes to mind for me, since I've watched a DVD on them talking about how they began their journey. MCR had started out by writing songs and recording them in one of the member's attic. They took these songs and were able to get a record label, and recorded their first album. Their gave free song downloads through MySpace and PureVolume, so they could build up a fan base. And they performed at various venues, in the hopes of getting more attention. A couple years later, they sign with a new label, and that's when they really hit it off. Look at them now, all that work paid off.It was quite hard to write this post, because I think most artists have a bit of both elements. Even though I used examples for luck and talent, each of them needed the other as well to get where they are now.Or you could just be silly like me and say that every artist is lucky that they were able to sing so well in the first place! :)
I'm going to be ranting about something that has really, really gotten on my nerves since school started. My rant is about how people voice their opinions on different kinds of music.I absolutely HATE it when someone says that a certain type of music sucks or is stupid. (I hope that when those people read this, they realize it's them.) The music doesn't suck, it isn't necessarily stupid, it's just not what you're into. You're not the only person who doesn't like some types of music, everyone has their least favourite music. Country is not my favourite kind of music, but I don't go out and say it sucks just because it doesn't sound like Paramore or Bullet for My Valentine. A lot of the time these people look stupid, because they can't really defend their statement. I think they are being very rude. There's this little thing that many people do, it's called being CONSIDERATE. Try it sometime. Keeping your opinions to yourself at times isn't a bad thing. You won't be hurting feelings and you prevent yourself from looking like a jerk. It seems like a much better option. Honestly, you should realize that other people feel as passionately as you do about your favourite music. If you got that, you wouldn't be saying that their favourite music sucked. Some people are shallow. I just think they should actually think of others before they open their mouth.I know this isn't typical Caitlin, but it's getting hard to be nice to people who aren't nice back. I wish people would realize that what they're doing is wrong, and try to be more understanding of other people's interests.
A lot has happened in Music Technology since my last post of this nature! We've had our first PA concert on the 13th of November! For this, I was in charge of running the sound. Before, I would've been freaked out do this! But we've learned more about the EQ since then! Mr. Jones has told us more about it, and the different levels each part of the band should be set at. It made things much easier to understand, and made me feel more comfortable about doing the concert! Overall, I thought I did a pretty good job. It was nice getting compliments from people about the sound throughout the night. Although I have to say it was pretty crazy handling MGI at first, 13 channels! Yikes! lol :) But I got used to where all the mics were set up, so it wasn't that bad. The lighting Logan did was really awesome, and Janel and Josh made the show SO efficient and tight! After watching a video from one of last year's concerts, I really understood the difference we were making. I really had a fun time doing this concert, and it gave me another boost of confidence in my MT abilities! I'm looking forward to the next concert!!Something we have started working with more now is Cubase, since the bands are starting new songs and we don't really need to set up for them. So far, I have mastered one new song since our first stab at Cubase with our acoustic recordings. I definitely feel like I now more about it now that I did before. We are now mastering in a "Stereo Mastering Setup" file, and we know how to export our finished project into mp3 files! I have also learned more about the EQ adjustments on there too. It makes it a lot easier to master when you know specifically what to alter in order to bring a certain part of the band out. But I still think we need more instruction with Cubase, because I am still not totally sure of what I'm doing in it. We have one acoustic and two concert band songs to master right now, so we'll only be getting better with all this practice! And, the newest addition to our MT class, our Myspace pages! We just started these last week, and I think they will be really wicked! I have never used Myspace before, so it'll take time to figure it out. Today I took pictures of Two Second Contact, it was fun! It was quite hilarious to watch Janel's full band photo of Made In China!! I am looking forward to seeing what we'll be doing with these pages in the future!Music Technology is a class that just keeps getting better and better!
I use music all the time! The majority of my days revolve somehow around music. Today for example:- 5:30am- Woke up to music
- 7:00am- Drove into town, listening to music
- 7:40am- Jazz
- 9:00am- Typography (with Mr. Van der Walt playing music on his computer)
- 10:15am- Band
- 12:00pm- Lunch
- 1:00pm- Music Technology
- 2:15pm- Watched a video on the evolution of music
- 3:00pm- Practiced my instrument in the band room
- 4:00pm- Listened to my iPod on the bus ride home
- 6:30pm- Practiced my instrument (again!)
- 8:00pm- Writing this post! (on MUSIC!)
I listen to music to amplify how I am feeling. When I'm angry, I'll listen to music to help me vent, and then I cool down. If I'm looking forward to something or am just in a really good mood, I'll play my favourite music to make myself even happier. And even though I probably shouldn't, I listen to music that makes me feel sad. For me, music holds memories, so when I hear a certain song, it reminds me of the first time I listened to it, what was happening in my life and what I was feeling at that time.Music helps to keep me busy when I start to over think. For example, this past Monday morning on the bus. I was quite nervous about playing the Last Post at the Remembrance Day Service at school, and that's all I could think of. So, I got out my iPod and started to listen to it, and it took my mind off it and I calmed down . This also ties in with music helping me fall asleep. Back in grade four, I wouldn't be able to fall asleep until midnight because my mind was processing so many different thoughts. My mom had told me to turn on my radio and focus on listening to the lyrics of the songs playing, so I wouldn't be worrying about falling asleep. It worked, and I've always listened to music at night since then. I use music to learn. I like to listen to music when I study. It helps to focus when there isn't dead silence in the background. I usually only have it playing at a low volume, and that's all I need. I try to listen to songs with no singing, like movie soundtracks, so I can focus on the words that I need to study! As well, I study music. I'm taking three music courses this semester, so it's kind of unavoidable. I'm learning how play music, how to record and manipulate music, and simply how to write about music. So now the question is, how does music use me? Or more like how advertising and corporations take advantage of me through music! I'd say I notice this more when I'm watching TV. If a real catchy tune is playing during a commercial, I'm going to remember what that commercial is about. One example for me would be the Nano Chromatic iPod commercial. That song sticks in my head, and makes me think about iPods, and how I want to get a new one! When I watch some of my favourite shows, they'll play neat songs during it and afterwards they sometimes tell you the artists of those songs. It kind of tempts you to go onto the computer to get it. That's what how music uses me on TV, it makes me remember stuff and want to spend money!Another way in which music uses me is probably when I'm out shopping. This is the one area where I don't feel I'm affected as much, because I don't shop as much as I watch TV. Shopping malls tend to play slower music so that you walk at a slower pace. They play Christmas music around Christmas time to get you excited and in the mood, and wanting to buy gifts. Their goal is to make money, so, they'll play music to tempt you to do just that. I usually don't pay attention to the music they play, or maybe I just think I don't notice. It's probably somehow all under the surface, all sly and what not.Well, that's my thoughts on music and I using each other. I find it hard to talk about how music uses me when it can be considered as something that I may not even realize. Overall, I feel like I use music more than it uses me. But I could be wrong, I just may not get it right now.
Milli Vanilli- To defend, or not to defend? Easy question, definitely NOT.We had people freaking out in the discussion after Kyle's rockumentary because Rihanna sang songs she didn't write. Well, these guys didn't even really sing, so, hopefully we don't talk about this in class, I'm kinda scared to image what would happen!This controversy ties in with what Janel and Josh wrote about in their rants, about artist images and how they use them to sell music and how you shouldn't choose your music because of an image.Milli Vanilli was formed to make money, plain and simple. The singers they had weren't pretty enough, so they hired models (Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan) to pretend to be the group and lip sync. See, it wasn't about the music, it was about having a pretty face to sell that music. For awhile, this was working for them. Milli Vanilli released their first album, sold millions, and were making money. Everything was going as planned. Rob and Fabrice let the fame soak in and thought, hey, maybe we can actually sing now! They pressured their producer to let them sing on the next album, but all they did was frustrate him and he revealed everything to the public. Uh oh, the charade was up! After this, it was all downhill. They lost the public's trust, money, and even got their Grammy taken away! Each time they tried to release a new album, it was poorly received. And to top it all off, one of them died from a combination of drugs and alcohol. So much for making money if you ask me. Can anyone say karma?I can compare this to situations in TV shows and movies, where somebody steals the credit from another person. Watching this kind of stuff drives me CRAZY! I can't stand it! It's not fair at all! I could never do that, because it would weigh heavily on my conscience. I think Milli Vanilli was horrible for taking the credit of other singers. I hate that it was about the money and not the music.It was really stupid of them to attempt this scam, because many, many artists are successful because of their music and NOT their looks. For example, I like Bullet For My Valentine. I think these guys look scary, but I love listening to their music. Many people enjoy their music, and they are quite popular. So, the morale of this post is, looks aren't everything. And that what goes around comes around!
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=HNqEfB6IYmEhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1bitZ9e4lYEven 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!
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.
