A Clumsy Foray into the World of TextSlide

Hello! I'm taking a break from our regularly scheduled pop music discussions to talk about a recent development in pop culture.

Being that it's still "pop," I'm going to run with it.

Today Mashable tweeted a link to an article about a brand new startup called TextSlide: a service that randomly links you to other users via SMS texting on your cell phone. You have a few simple commands: #start, which begins your session, #next, which pairs you up with a new user, and #stop for when you are finished. It doesn't give away your phone number, only your name and area code, so you can rest assured a perfect stranger won't walk away with your number.

The comparisons between TextSlide and ChatRoulette are obvious, yet the article promised that because TextSlide uses only SMS technology, users would be safe from unwanted pornographic images from other users. At the very least, if someone's language is profane or offensive, you can always #next them.

I never once desired to try ChatRoulette. Partly because I'd heard it was full of genitalia. Partly because I found something unsettling about random strangers being able to see me. I don't want to have to worry about what I look like when I'm browsing the internet.

But for a few reasons, random texts seemed okay. First of all, if I wanted to try it at the end of a long day and my makeup has worn off, I don't have to feel self-conscious. Secondly, Twitter has made it okay to engage in conversation with people we've never met- to share opinions, comment on current events, or bond over like interests. I love what Twitter has become and what it can do, and personally, as a compulsive Twitter checker, something about the real-time response appealed to me.

Thirdly, I'm an aspiring singer-songwriter, and am openly trying to increase my connections with people, whether through real life or social media. I find the more I share experiences with others and I the more of their stories I hear, the more perspective it grants me. Naturally, I'm looking to increase my network and ambitiously spread the word, and a couple more Twitter followers couldn't hurt, either.

I'm @lauravand, by the way. It's nice to meet you. ;)

I go to the TextSlide link to discover it's a portal where I enter my e-mail address and am told that they'll notify me when they go public. Have I been one of the first to jump on this bandwagon? By no means am I a social media guru, but I'm feeling pretty savvy at this point.

Imagine my elation when, a few moments later, I receive an email telling me I've been invited. I'd been doing some stalking of the creator's twitter feed, and saw people asking him for invitations. I feel like a bona-fide VIP.

After a few technical issues, I give in and tweet at Matt Hunter, who created TextSlide. He notifies me that the server is experiencing problems and he walks me through a few different tries via @replies, DM's, and finally an e-mail. I'm super impressed at his timeliness and super grateful for his help, especially considering that today's a pretty big day in his career. Thanks, Matt!

In no time I was up and running.

First I talked to Travis, who notified me that he was in San Diego. He knew right away that my 410 area code was a Maryland one, and he punctuates and capitalizes everything properly, so I immediately imagine him to be an in-the-know, up-on-current-events, detail-oriented type of guy. At the very least, I know he reads Mashable.

My suspicions are confirmed when he tells me that he does coding for the Department of Defense (at least I assumed that's what DoD stood for) and is "bootstrapping a startup in every other spare second". First of all, nice use of "bootstrapping." Second of all, um, awesome? I can relate to that level of ambition. I echo his syntax as I tell him I work during the day as a high school music teacher but I'm "bootstrapping a songwriting career in every other spare second." I like this TextSlide stuff already. It's connected me with like-minded, go-getting individuals.

I'm not entirely sure what happened next. I remember asking him what kind of startup he's working on, and he said "ide down for most musical genres".

Perhaps "ide" is some kind of technical term that I don't know. So much for priding myself on being one of the first to jump on this bandwagon. A panic-stricken trip to Google tells me it may stand for Integrated Development Environment, and I start to suspect I'm in over my head. Maybe I've jumped in too early, and this mystical place of TextSlide is still full of only media and computer people. I'm the lone renegade musician.

Either his startup has something to do with musical genres and I've hit the jackpot and found a random stranger on the west coast that can make me famous (if not for being GOOD, well then for being FIRST), or TextSlide cut off the first half of his sentence. I'm not sure which. He asks me if I have any demos.

I say yes, even though I'm somewhat ashamed how low-quality the recording and mastering is on our MySpace and on iTunes.  I'm more excited about this one that we have coming up soon:





but of course, I didn't send that link to him. Just the two-year old myspace page with our very very tinny two-year-old recordings.

This is when he doesn't talk to me for 30 more minutes. Two possibilities enter my mind:

1. He is so entranced by the myspace page that he's taking the time to check out our Facebook, our YouTube, our Twitter, and my own personal page.  He's going to get me in on the ground floor of whatever it is he's working on, the next Napster I imagine it to be. So naturally *I* give one more look to our band pages, and cringe at every edit I dream of making to our online presence. If only I'd waited until next month to join this TextSlide thing, when I'd have a much better-produced recording to send to people. If only I'd waited until we actually have a domain name. If only I'd waited until my songs are topping the iTunes sales. (Naturally, they shall.) If only. I'm left with the more realistic and far less imaginative alternative:

2. He's pressed #next on me. Being that this is my first time on TextSlide, I have no idea if the program notifies me. (I still don't... can anyone tell me?) I ask Travis if he has a Twitter account (shameless), and wait five more minutes. After no response, and a few crushed dreams of instant, if unrealistic, stardom, I type, "#next."

I talk to ceejay in atlanta about life for a bit. He doesn't capitalize consistently and uses abbreviations like "U 2", so I imagine him to be a laid-back type dude who's game for having a casual conversation. It comes out he has a motorcycle and he assures me that even though I'm only 5'2", I could handle a smaller bike like a 650cc. I have no idea what that means, and he helpfully gives me some things to google. We bond over traffic, then call it quits when he checks in at Buffalo Wild Wings. We trade Twitter handles, and I'm on to the #next.

(I'd like to pause and say that as an avid Twitter user and reader, I love that the code contains a hashtag.)

Next was Souke from Michigan, who graduated high school last year and is waiting another year to go to college due to some family issues. Even though it's an anonymous forum, her language is so intentionally vague that something tells me not to pry. We keep things light and I learn that she cheered in high school and is dreaming of being an interior designer or journalist. We bond over black and white Ikea furniture, trade Twitter names, and call it quits around dinnertime when my roommate comes home, and my boyfriend calls.

NOTE: At this point, I'm drawing the line at choosing TextSlide over actual human interaction. (At *this* point, mind you. I can see how potentially addictive it could become, and I have a couple faculty meetings in my future for which I have some less-than-honorable plans.) I type #stop, and my first TextSlide session is over.

I'm left with several thoughts on TextSlide: its potential is huge, certainly. I could connect with fellow musicians, gain Twitter followers, Facebook friends, kindred spirits. You can imagine the extension of this list and cater it to your own life: clients, street teams, sympathizers, supporters, listening ears, business contacts, anonymous recipients of heated rants.


Someone once claimed that the reason Twitter was so successful was because it was "communication with low expectations." You can just as easily use your 140 characters to say "I'm booooooooooorrrrrrreeeeeddddd" as you can to tweet a link and get your community to register to Walk for the Cure. The expectations are low, but the potential is extraordinarily high.

I can't "expect" anything lower than "random texting", and as I was reading the initial Twitter backlash, it seemed reminiscent of chatrooms in AOL circa '98 - a bunch of inappropriate sketchballs, or a load of unintelligent, one-word exchanges.

I'm refreshed and surprised to learn that the art of conversation is not lost, and that strangers can still be gracious and kind even when there's little to no accountability upon which to hang their behavior.

Does TextSlide have the potential to be inappropriate? Mundane? Graphic? Certainly. But that's why there's #next.

Tonight, I follow a couple more people on Twitter than I did before, and I'm energized by having lent a listening ear to a complete stranger or two. Perhaps TextSlide is what a pen pal looks like in 2010.

And just you wait. My music WILL be enormous.

Love,
Laura

How I Fell In Love with Katy Perry

It's true. It's official. I love her.

This wasn't always the case, mind you. I was unimpressed with "I Kissed A Girl" when it came out. I wasn't shocked, myself. *I* consider myself reasonably hip and edgy, and I can appreciate a song with a little shock value. It sells!

But I WAS shocked on the behalf of my future grandchildren. No way do I want my grandkids thinking it's perfectly normal to go about kissing girls, or taking such a cavalier attitude towards physical affection. I don't care WHAT flavor their chapstick is.

Why I'm unconcerned for my imaginary children (their parents I suppose they'd have to be...) I haven't the foggiest. I haven't even considered their existence, really. Maybe I assume my imaginary children will also be hip and edgy. They can totally handle it. Or, maybe my imagination skips steps sometimes. Don't worry about it.

I digress.

It's natural for every generation to have a "kids these days" attitude towards the music of the generation following theirs. Our grandparents thought ELVIS was shocking. What must they think of Britney Spears, singing about threesomes? What must they even make of Ke$ha?

I saw "I Kissed A Girl" as a cheap ploy to generate buzz. "Waking Up in Vegas" was catchy, I'd give her that. But I still didn't hear a lot of talent. "Hot and Cold" - Eh. "California Gurls" - please. "gurls?" I was seeing very little substance, and a whole lot of gimmick.

THEN, I came across THIS:



She plays GUITAR? She WRITES? She's a DYNAMIC PERFORMER? With a GOOD SENSE OF PITCH?

The dancy singles of jumpsuits and wigs did you no justice, my friend. After a little bit more digging what I felt was this brand new artist in my eyes, I come to find that Alanis Morissette is one of her influences. ALANIS!

Well, well, well. Isn't THAT ironic. (#SeeWhatIDidThere)

I can totally hear it, too! The snarky writing style, the breathy flipping in an out of head voice (were you paying attention, kids?), the intentional jumping of the melody, embracing the break in her voice...

It was like the earth opened up and swallowed me whole as I gasped and admitted to myself, "My gosh. I am a FAN of Katy Perry."

Congratulations, universe. You win.

Also, it should be said that "Teenage Dream" is fantastic- with a writing credit by Bonnie McKee, whom I'm just now discovering and on whom you should also do a little digging. And I have it on good authority that "FIREWORK" will be even bigger.

You go, "gurl"!

Love,
Laura

A Very Dorky Discertation on Head Voice in Pop Music

I realize I'm beind the times on this one, but I was inspired by the VMA's to tell my students about the difference between head voice and chest voice.

Exhibit A: Rihanna.



I'm going to leave Eminem alone to focus on Rihanna's vocal.

(But you're not off the hook, Slim Shady. We have to have a discussion about your recent decision to sing your own hooks, and quick. Before Nelly releases anything else in 2010.)

If you scroll to about 2:50 in the video, you'll hear the distinctive hook on "Love The Way You Lie." This hook is FANTASTIC.

Only, hold on a second. What's this? Why do the words "stand" and "watch" sound like some poor kitten somewhere is in the process of going through puberty?

A singer has two places they can resonate their voice. The lower pitches resonate in the sternum of the body, and as the voice gets higher, the higher notes spin somewhere in the vicinity of your skull and cheekbones.

Kind of gross, right? Happy Halloween, bitches.

We call these two registers, simply, head voice and chest voice.



Hm. That was quite a convenient find. Thanks, Whitney. Dang. They sure don't make them like they used to.

To go back to the first video, Rihanna sings "just gonna" in her chest voice. More commonly put, she's belting. When she hits the pitch for "stand", she flips her resonance up into her skull.

Only, thank goodness for auto-tune. Because Rihanna, we could have used a little more height and spin on those upper notes. Make a more vertical space in your mouth by raising your soft palette (it's what happens naturally when you yawn). Now spin the sound there and bring it as far forward as you need to.

In your defense RiRi, it's a difficult passage to sing. It requires you to go from chest to head, back to chest, back to head, and back to chest again.

Next time, spend more time warming up, and less time skirt shopping with Sarah Jessica Parker.



I kid, I kid. In all honesty, I think she looked really cute, and she's got a powerful God-given instrument. However, we have the luxury of so much technology in the studio to make music RECORDING easier. Let's not become lazy and allow our live performances to become less than stellar.

Love,
Laura

P.S. - Rihanna is hardly the only person using her head voice. Check out Beyonce, Katy Perry, Regina Spektor, Alanis Morissette, Ingrid Michaelson and Imogen Heap for just a few others that like to use both registers.