Hey folks. Laura here. If you're reading this blog, there's a chance you know me in real life, but in case this blog gets passed along (and I do hope it does), let me introduce myself.
I have been playing the piano since I was seven. I was raised by a father who sings and plays guitar and a mother who sang the alto line to every hymn in church. Once, when I was five, my mom missed church, and my kindergarten brain thought it wasn't okay for that harmony to be missing. So I did it.
High school was voice lessons, dance classes, choirs and musicals. I earned a Bachelor of Music in college as a musical theatre major. Testing out of a couple years of music theory, I used my extra credits to study more piano. I picked up the guitar from a girl who lived down my hall and fell in love with it. I wrote songs when I was supposed to be writing papers. I wrote melodies when I was supposed to be practicing my scales. If I learned about a chord progression rule in class, I'd rush to a piano and write two songs; one that followed it, and one that broke it.
Currently I'm a music teacher by day, teaching piano, guitar, jazz band, choir, and theatre. By night, I'm in a band that's been gigging and recording like crazy in hopes you'll hear of us one day soon.
I live and breathe music. I think about it all day. I love the intentionally crafted melodies of theatre composers. I love the rock harmonies of the 80's bands. I geek out over harmonizing guitar solos. I'm melted by bluesy, gritty voices. I'm blown away by the technical expertise of metal drummers. Concert pianists. Opera singers. I tear up over vulnerable and honest songwriting. Secondary dominance and other borrowed chords? Stick a fork in me. I'm done.
I'm a musician, and a lover of soul-stirring music. I've sung Verdi. Danced Bob Fosse. Played Chopin. Analyzed Beethoven.
However, I can't turn off the top 40 station on my radio.
On my way to work, I'm rocking out to Gaga. As I warm up for opera night, I'm harmonizing to Katy Perry. On my way to band practice, I've figured out the chord progression to a top 40 hit, a teeny-bopper flash in the pan, and a rap song, knowing for certain that the guys will smile and roll their eyes at me when I get there.
So much for being a music snob.
Am I shooting holes in my credibility? Am I risking being taken less seriously as an independent musician? Am I hiding my classical roots? Am I coming across as unintelligent? Vapid? A sheep that is easily swayed by the ebb and flow of mass trends and media? Sometimes I'm afraid so.
But by the definition of what constitutes a top 40 hit, people have to be flocking to these songs. People are requesting them. Purchasing them. Demanding them. People can't get enough.
I found a CD of the Top Billboard Hits of 1969 when I was a teenager and put it in my stereo. My mom came into my room, singing. She knew all the lyrics, verbatim, despite the fact that she hadn't heard these songs in decades. She regaled me with tales of the summer she first heard "Crystal Blue Persuasion".
As a kid, I saw the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, and they had "Joy to the World" on the program for the Christmas Pops concert. The audience was delighted when instead of playing the traditional hymn, they started playing the hit by Three Dog Night.
Break out a pop song in a guitar, piano, or music theory class, and suddenly students that are having trouble with an abstract musical concept "get" what a I chord is. They've heard it a million times.
Michael Jackson was pop. The Beatles were pop. Hell, Lizst was pop.
In the year 2032, we're going to look back on the hits of 2010, and be instantly transported by the Far East Movement's "G6", regardless of the fact that the melody sits on the minor third the entire. effing. time.
I'm not going to turn it off.
These songs are time capsules. They're what's going on in our musical history right now. Someday, the very college kids that are using this as their new going-out anthem are going to be putting their children on the school bus.
These songs are conversation starters. Love Gaga or hate her, for damn sure you've talked about her. Whether or not she remains in the public eye for a good 20 years from now, we will all carry a distinct memory of when she first came on the scene. We'll remember where we were, what job we had, who we were dating.
Daniel Levitin wrote a book called "The World in 6 Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature." He argues that humans evolved alongside music for the sake of six societal needs: friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge, religion, and love.
Did you pick up on what all of these six themes have in common? Of course you did, because you're smart.
Other people.
When I'm playing a show for people who've never met me before, I give them a break from all the stories I've written, and I play something for them that it's likely they know. I've seen contemplative, even apathetic audiences become transformed by recognizing the opening guitar riff of a song they love.
As long as there is dancing, there will be pop music. As long as there are parties, there will be pop music. As long as humans enjoy hearing something familiar, as long as people want to sing along with a tune they know, as long as we are unified by what we love, there will be pop music.
So the next time you tell someone you're into music they probably "haven't heard of", consider why you're doing it. To prove you're cooler than they are? Congrats. You also just ended the conversation, and severed a potential connection with another human being whose story looks different than yours.
By no means should you stop supporting independent and local music. (Read: please, PLEASE, support independent and local music. I'm personally begging you.) ;) By no means should you stop challenging yourself by listening to the complexities of the masterworks, or pushing yourself to change up your composition formula. You should never stop learning, never stop playing more complicated pieces, never stop refining your musical palette by discovering new things.
But don't lie about the fact that you know all the words to Smashmouth's "All Star". We've all heard you singing it.
Love,
Laura
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
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
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
Thursday, October 21, 2010
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
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
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Koncerned 4 Ke$ha
I'll admit it. When my car radio first digitally told me that I was listening to 'Tik Tok' by some new artist I'd never heard of named Kesha (my car apparently does not transmit dollar signs) I tweeted my girl @lauravand immediately. It was catchy. It was funny. It was different. She talked about waking up feeling like Diddy and brushing her teeth with Jack. Clever. I could already sense the presence of a new going-out anthem that I would embrace.
Then came "Blah, Blah, Blah" and I began to get concerned. Once again our new lovable artist is sing/autotune/talk-ing about meeting her in the back with Jack, but this time, with "no pants on" (holler).
Now, I myself will never go anywhere without pants, but I'm not one to judge. I have stated my love for Lady Gaga time and again who is notoriously never wearing pants. But for some reason, it is different with Gaga. She expresses herself without pants but also with...I don't know...talent. Our girl Ke$ha does not necessarily have the latter going for her.
"Your Love is My Drug" came along and I just could not take it anymore. This girl needs my help. While, this song actually does have something artistically relevant going for it- she carries the the 'drug' metaphor successfully throughout the song:
What you've got boy, is hard to find. I think it about it all the time. I'm all strung out, boy, my heart is fried...
Is she talking about drugs? Is she talking about love? The images go pretty perfectly with each. When you can seamlessly insert both images, I believe that makes a good metaphor. (Also, I appreciate that on her album she carries the dollar sign throughout with songs like: D.I.N.O.$.A.U.R. and BACK$TABBER. If you are going to be crazy, at least be consistent, that's what I say).
But she loses the metaphor (and me) with her breakdown section where she starts talking about slumber parties in basements and beards. She has given us mature metaphors, but then suddenly we are reminded that...oh wait...this is still Ke$ha.
And why all the drug/drinking talk, girlfriend? You haven't even been famous for that long, and you won't be if you keep these habits up! Humph!
"Party at Rich Dude's House" (yes, that is a song title. I can't decide whether to applaud her for her straightforwardness and simplicity or shun her for lack of creativity. Oh wait. I've decided. The latter. $eriou$ly?!) has our heroine vomiting in closets with no pants on AGAIN.
So I am concerned for Ke$ha. I really wanted to like her. But then I listened to her cd (thanks, @PkMikeyT!) and not only does she legit sample that schoolyard song we used to taunt boys with: "there's a place in France where the naked ladies dance" (see "Take it Off"- AGAIN with the pantslessness and nakedness!), you can also sing/talk/autotune "Your Love is My Drug" over pretty much every song on that album because they all sound the same.
"Maybe I need some rehab..."- Ke$ha, Your Love is My Drug
"Maybe" is no longer an option, honey. That went out a long time ago when you sang that hook with Flo.Rida's awful song about unmentionable acts (this blog is PG). Your song, "Hungover" (YES! THIS IS A TITLE OF A TRACK! NOW YOU UNDERSTAND MY CONCERN?!) makes me want to cry for you, friend!
So let's wipe that glitter out of your eye and pull you up by your boots (and boy) strap (a title of a song I REALLY wanted to like: "Boots and Boys". Because I LIKE Boots and Boys! I do not like this song, however) and get you on the right track.
Which is nowhere near a track called "Party at Rich Dude's House" or "Hungover".
You are welcome.
Sincerely,
Julia
Monday, May 24, 2010
Hip-Hop-Pop's Way with Words featuring Ludacris
"Watch out for the medallion, my diamonds are wreckless. It feels like a MIDGET is hanging from my necklace." - Ludacris, "Stand Up"
God bless America, Ludacris has made a comeback. My friends and other middle to upper-middle class white twenty-somethings are rejoicing everywhere. We did, after all, grow up with Ludacris. He held all of our undergraduate anthems like: "Move", "What's Your Fantasy", and "Money Maker".
Can't you just see a frat boy with a dirtied, off-white backwards cap cruising around campus right now thinking he is the SHIZ-NIT!?
You think I'm kidding, but alas, I am not.
Anyways, so imagine my GLEE (it's only a matter of time before that show gets its hands on some Luda) when I turn on the radio (after my Lenten hiatus) and hear that Luda is EVERYWHERE. The pop stations. R&B stations. If he'd made a rock or country song, he'd BE THERE.
And I love Luda because he has a way with words like no one else. Maybe Eminem. But Eminem is SO. SERIOUS.
In the words of The Joker, Why So Serious??
Luda, however, is famous for lyrics like the above quote and also gems like these from his latest: "My Chick Bad"
"My chick bad, tell me if you seen her, She always bring the racket like Venus and Serena"
and
"She knock a b**** out annnnd fight. Coming out swinging like Tiger Woods' wife"
See what he did there? Pop culture references for the win. Clever, my friend, Luda. Always Clever.
It kind of reminds me of Lil' Wayne's gem in my #songIhavenoreasontolike from long ago- "Down":
"'Cause honestly I'm down like the economy"
Cultural relevance for the win! I love it.
Now the rest of Luda's "My Chick Bad" is not quite as clever or classy:
"And when we all alone, I might just tip her. She slides down the pole, like a certified stripper"
Come on, Luda! You are better than that. You are not just Ludacris from "Area Codes" you are also Chris Bridges from Oscar winning films like Crash!
But your song "Ho" is still clever and awesome, albeit not classy, so we will give it to you:
"Why you think you take a ho to a ho-tel?...Reach up in the sky for the ho-zone layer
Ah, it kills me ;)
I would also like to take this opportunity to discuss the recent developments in hip-hop pop vocabulary. It occurred to me just the other day that hip-hop-poppers are starting to get a little more verbose (or are at least using a thesaurus. I mean, I would. Not all of us can rhyme "tip her" and "stripper" all the time...)
Take for example another Luda-colabo: Taio Cruz's "Break Your Heart" (and for the record, while this is a somewhat arrogant message on Mr.Cruz's part- "I'm only going to break-break, oh break-break your heart"- at least the dude's honest):
"No point trying to hide it. No point trying to evade it"
I don't know why, but I love that they use the word evade there. It would be a high scoring word in Scrabble, right? (Maybe not, I never play Scrabble). And while I'm pretty sure "evade" is just another fancy way of saying exactly what Taio just said, kudos for using a new vocab word.
Unlike Sean Kingston in "Eenie Meenie" (with Justin Beiber- SWOON!) who literally just re-instates what he just. said. :
"She's indecisive. She can't decide."
Yup, that's what indecisive means, Sean. No creativity points for you.
You know Luda would've come up with some culturally relevant way of saying it. I can see it now:
"She's as indecisive as Prince with his name change"
...clearly I'm not Ludacris. Don't worry, I won't quit my day job. Sigh. If only...
Peace,
Julia
God bless America, Ludacris has made a comeback. My friends and other middle to upper-middle class white twenty-somethings are rejoicing everywhere. We did, after all, grow up with Ludacris. He held all of our undergraduate anthems like: "Move", "What's Your Fantasy", and "Money Maker".
Can't you just see a frat boy with a dirtied, off-white backwards cap cruising around campus right now thinking he is the SHIZ-NIT!?
You think I'm kidding, but alas, I am not.
Anyways, so imagine my GLEE (it's only a matter of time before that show gets its hands on some Luda) when I turn on the radio (after my Lenten hiatus) and hear that Luda is EVERYWHERE. The pop stations. R&B stations. If he'd made a rock or country song, he'd BE THERE.
And I love Luda because he has a way with words like no one else. Maybe Eminem. But Eminem is SO. SERIOUS.
In the words of The Joker, Why So Serious??
Luda, however, is famous for lyrics like the above quote and also gems like these from his latest: "My Chick Bad"
"My chick bad, tell me if you seen her, She always bring the racket like Venus and Serena"
and
"She knock a b**** out annnnd fight. Coming out swinging like Tiger Woods' wife"
See what he did there? Pop culture references for the win. Clever, my friend, Luda. Always Clever.
It kind of reminds me of Lil' Wayne's gem in my #songIhavenoreasontolike from long ago- "Down":
"'Cause honestly I'm down like the economy"
Cultural relevance for the win! I love it.
Now the rest of Luda's "My Chick Bad" is not quite as clever or classy:
"And when we all alone, I might just tip her. She slides down the pole, like a certified stripper"
Come on, Luda! You are better than that. You are not just Ludacris from "Area Codes" you are also Chris Bridges from Oscar winning films like Crash!
But your song "Ho" is still clever and awesome, albeit not classy, so we will give it to you:
"Why you think you take a ho to a ho-tel?...Reach up in the sky for the ho-zone layer
Ah, it kills me ;)
I would also like to take this opportunity to discuss the recent developments in hip-hop pop vocabulary. It occurred to me just the other day that hip-hop-poppers are starting to get a little more verbose (or are at least using a thesaurus. I mean, I would. Not all of us can rhyme "tip her" and "stripper" all the time...)
Take for example another Luda-colabo: Taio Cruz's "Break Your Heart" (and for the record, while this is a somewhat arrogant message on Mr.Cruz's part- "I'm only going to break-break, oh break-break your heart"- at least the dude's honest):
"No point trying to hide it. No point trying to evade it"
I don't know why, but I love that they use the word evade there. It would be a high scoring word in Scrabble, right? (Maybe not, I never play Scrabble). And while I'm pretty sure "evade" is just another fancy way of saying exactly what Taio just said, kudos for using a new vocab word.
Unlike Sean Kingston in "Eenie Meenie" (with Justin Beiber- SWOON!) who literally just re-instates what he just. said. :
"She's indecisive. She can't decide."
Yup, that's what indecisive means, Sean. No creativity points for you.
You know Luda would've come up with some culturally relevant way of saying it. I can see it now:
"She's as indecisive as Prince with his name change"
...clearly I'm not Ludacris. Don't worry, I won't quit my day job. Sigh. If only...
Peace,
Julia
Sunday, March 28, 2010
The Evolution of Emo
This is a pop blog and I think it is important to recognize all that pop encompasses. Pop music is really just whatever is popular at the time, though I think it's come to mean bubblegum beats with trite lyrics...
...Justin Beiber anyone? Oh, man. This article is great if you are looking for a mock-analysis of Justin Beiber....
But I digress.
Pop music has been many things through the years. Sometimes rock, sometimes folk. Sometimes rap, sometimes country. (And, yes, sometimes- A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock and Roll. Though whomever thought Donny Osmond was Rock and Roll. Really?)
But what happens when something meant to be non-conformist becomes mainstream?
I'm thinking punk. I'm thinking grunge. I'm thinking folk. All three genres started out kind of revolutionary but became- in their own way- "pop".
Emo? Revolutionary?
Nothing revolutionary about shutting yourself in your bathroom to "scream infidelities", I say.
Well As for now I'm gonna hear the saddest songs
And sit alone and wonder
How you're making out
But as for me, I wish that I was anywhere with anyone
Making out.- Screaming Infidelities, Dashboard Confessional.
Ah, I see what you did there...
Emo may be under the guise of something indie or revulotionary but only because of its angst, I think. This is my critique on hipsters as well- a movement that guises itself as something non-mainstream but is in fact ultimately just that.
I don't care how clever or ironic you think your outfits or your beer are. PBR is just gross. Humph.
And wouldn't you know Emo music is the First Stage in the evolution of a hipster?
But where did Emo come from? Is it pop? Is it grunge? Is it punk?
I would say emo is more pop than anything else because if we are taking the definition of pop music to be self-indulgent and trite, it's that. But if we are taking it to mean music that is mainstream and marketable...oh, wait. It's that too.
While people who listen to emo may think they are so different and against the grain, I would not say they are revolutionary. Folk music was revolutionary. It was popular (folk and folklore by definition is 'of the people'...) but it still went against the grain even without being musically abrubt. Hippies and folk artists of the 60s preached their revolutionary message of peace with a peaceful musical movement.
The punk music of the 80s also had some crossover appeal, despite its anti-establishment themes. I'm thinking the Clash, Sex Pistols. Bands that became popular and ironically similar in theme to folk music, however obviously not musically similar. A different approach to the "damn the man" concept. Anger just replacing peace and love, really.
Then we have the 90s. Ah, the 90s. The grunge movement was revolutionary perhaps not in message, but in lifestyle and musical achievement. I would say that emo probably has its roots somewhere in grunge. A type of music that is a little bit self indulgent, kind of whiny, and involves wearing flannel and jeans. But grunge was at least still about society and culture. Even if it was getting a little bit softer around the edges ( ie, Live, Soul Asylum, Nirvana, Hole...the message is there, but no ones burning bras or flags because of it).
So, if we are keeping track:
60s folk= whiny, but pretty.
80s punk= whiny, but loud.
90s grunge= whiny, but empathetic.
00s emo= just plain whiny
(oh, and the 70s have been eliminated because disco was pretty much the antithesis of all things revolutionary. However, does it thereby make it actually the MOST revolutionary? Hmmm...)
Now that I think about it...emo is probably as indulgent, if not moreso than disco....
Well, there you have it, folks. Emo actually gets its roots from disco. And well, that actually kind of explains alot. The End.
Peace,
Julia
...Justin Beiber anyone? Oh, man. This article is great if you are looking for a mock-analysis of Justin Beiber....
But I digress.
Pop music has been many things through the years. Sometimes rock, sometimes folk. Sometimes rap, sometimes country. (And, yes, sometimes- A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock and Roll. Though whomever thought Donny Osmond was Rock and Roll. Really?)
But what happens when something meant to be non-conformist becomes mainstream?
I'm thinking punk. I'm thinking grunge. I'm thinking folk. All three genres started out kind of revolutionary but became- in their own way- "pop".
Emo? Revolutionary?
Nothing revolutionary about shutting yourself in your bathroom to "scream infidelities", I say.
Well As for now I'm gonna hear the saddest songs
And sit alone and wonder
How you're making out
But as for me, I wish that I was anywhere with anyone
Making out.- Screaming Infidelities, Dashboard Confessional.
Ah, I see what you did there...
Emo may be under the guise of something indie or revulotionary but only because of its angst, I think. This is my critique on hipsters as well- a movement that guises itself as something non-mainstream but is in fact ultimately just that.
I don't care how clever or ironic you think your outfits or your beer are. PBR is just gross. Humph.
And wouldn't you know Emo music is the First Stage in the evolution of a hipster?
But where did Emo come from? Is it pop? Is it grunge? Is it punk?
I would say emo is more pop than anything else because if we are taking the definition of pop music to be self-indulgent and trite, it's that. But if we are taking it to mean music that is mainstream and marketable...oh, wait. It's that too.
While people who listen to emo may think they are so different and against the grain, I would not say they are revolutionary. Folk music was revolutionary. It was popular (folk and folklore by definition is 'of the people'...) but it still went against the grain even without being musically abrubt. Hippies and folk artists of the 60s preached their revolutionary message of peace with a peaceful musical movement.
The punk music of the 80s also had some crossover appeal, despite its anti-establishment themes. I'm thinking the Clash, Sex Pistols. Bands that became popular and ironically similar in theme to folk music, however obviously not musically similar. A different approach to the "damn the man" concept. Anger just replacing peace and love, really.
Then we have the 90s. Ah, the 90s. The grunge movement was revolutionary perhaps not in message, but in lifestyle and musical achievement. I would say that emo probably has its roots somewhere in grunge. A type of music that is a little bit self indulgent, kind of whiny, and involves wearing flannel and jeans. But grunge was at least still about society and culture. Even if it was getting a little bit softer around the edges ( ie, Live, Soul Asylum, Nirvana, Hole...the message is there, but no ones burning bras or flags because of it).
So, if we are keeping track:
60s folk= whiny, but pretty.
80s punk= whiny, but loud.
90s grunge= whiny, but empathetic.
00s emo= just plain whiny
(oh, and the 70s have been eliminated because disco was pretty much the antithesis of all things revolutionary. However, does it thereby make it actually the MOST revolutionary? Hmmm...)
Now that I think about it...emo is probably as indulgent, if not moreso than disco....
Well, there you have it, folks. Emo actually gets its roots from disco. And well, that actually kind of explains alot. The End.
Peace,
Julia
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