My Very First Open listening:
Begins with chimes, low cricket buzz, incoming vocal noise loops, panning left to write of guitar sustain, and glockenspiel. Then incoming melody on synthesizer, and drums bring in a nice and easy rhythm that builds in complexity. The other noise from the beginning continues to loop. Incoming lyrics, feels like a live concert. More intense percussion: drum machine: thick vocal melodies: introduction of more of low organ synthesizer: oscillator sound waves, looped vocals that sound more like drum machine.
Reintroduction of main theme with the looped vocal drum beats. Reintroduction of Main vocal theme with lyrics. Battle of drum vocal beats. Yelping vocal refrain, effected as if it were a cat screetching. Then back to the chimes, low cricket buzz, an glockenspiel. Slowly fading and loosing energy. Then just the chimes and then silence.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
\\Syntax//
Snookered in 8:04 minutes: C Major in 4/4 Time
0:01: Chimes and Glockenspiel: (I)
0:18: "Thundering Crackle" Electronic loop
0:20: Vocal Loop "Uh E eh oh Uh"
0:32: Distortion Synthesizer
1:03: Drums, Lead Synth part: Main Melodic Theme (Echo Effect)
2:09: Main Vocal Theme and Lyrics: (V)
2:40: Drum Machine: Marimba
3:13: Keyboard Distortion Synthesizer
3:04: Pitch Oscillator
4:15: Cat Screetching/Chipmunk chirps/ Vocal Theme
4:15: Drop Out: Just drum machine and "Uh E eh oh Uh" Theme Loop
4:48: Chimes come back in and Keyboard (Electric Guitar Sample): (V/V Key of D Major)
5:20: Reintroduce Main Theme: (I Key of C Major)
5:53: Reintroduce Lyrics: (V)
6:24: Reintroduce Cat Screetching/Chipmunk Chirps/Wind Chimes
6:56: Everything drops out: Just Glockenspiel and Wind Chimes: (I)
8:04: Glockenspiel and fades out: (I)
Video Clip: At 7:00 minutes: Illustrates Using Recorded Technology in the Compositional Process:
0:01: Chimes and Glockenspiel: (I)
0:18: "Thundering Crackle" Electronic loop
0:20: Vocal Loop "Uh E eh oh Uh"
0:32: Distortion Synthesizer
1:03: Drums, Lead Synth part: Main Melodic Theme (Echo Effect)
2:09: Main Vocal Theme and Lyrics: (V)
2:40: Drum Machine: Marimba
3:13: Keyboard Distortion Synthesizer
3:04: Pitch Oscillator
4:15: Cat Screetching/Chipmunk chirps/ Vocal Theme
4:15: Drop Out: Just drum machine and "Uh E eh oh Uh" Theme Loop
4:48: Chimes come back in and Keyboard (Electric Guitar Sample): (V/V Key of D Major)
5:20: Reintroduce Main Theme: (I Key of C Major)
5:53: Reintroduce Lyrics: (V)
6:24: Reintroduce Cat Screetching/Chipmunk Chirps/Wind Chimes
6:56: Everything drops out: Just Glockenspiel and Wind Chimes: (I)
8:04: Glockenspiel and fades out: (I)
Video Clip: At 7:00 minutes: Illustrates Using Recorded Technology in the Compositional Process:
\\Phenomenolgocial Description: Sound in Time//
"Many people would be disposed to say that it was not the machine, but what one did with the machine, that was its meaning or message. " Marshall McLuhan (The Medium is The Message pg.23)
Phenomenological Description of a Dance Song:
0:01: Chimes and Glockenspiel>>Sounds like a nursey, soothing, and just waking up from a nap.
0:18: "Thundering Crackle" Electronic loop>> Ethereal and and internal.
0:20: Vocal Loop "Uh E eh oh Uh">> Seems like another place in time....
1:03: Drums, Lead Synth part>> Main Melodic Theme (Echo Effect): Rocking you gently, foot tapping and ready to move.
2:09: Main Vocal Theme and Lyrics>> Feels human now, the text bringing the emotion.
2:40: Drum Machine>> I think it's an electronic marimba helping the song build, rhythmically.
3:13: Keyboard Distortion Synthesizer: The peak of energy, another loop of the vocals/text>> the crowd goes wild.
3:04: Pitch Oscillator>>A whirlwind, no longer eternal but shared.
4:15: Cat Screetching/Chipmunk chirps/ Vocal Theme>> Fun and silly you really want to let yourself go here.
4:15: Drop Out: Just drum machine and "Uh E eh oh Uh" Theme Loop>> A break from complexity, really experiencing the percussion, stripped away from the rhythm.
4:48: Chimes come back in and Keyboard>> The layers are coming back together again and balance becoming restored.
5:53: Reintroduce Lyrics:Reunited with the text and comforted by it.
6:24: Reintroduce Cat Screetching/Chipmunk Chirps/Wind Chimes>> A sort of reckless abandon and feeling like the piece is going to explode and you along with it.
6:56: Everything drops out: Just Glockenspiel and Wind Chimes>> A return to the serene.
8:04: Glockenspiel and fades out>> Alone just like before, just like the text makes one feel. Restored and back to sleep.
Phenomenological Description of a Dance Song:
0:01: Chimes and Glockenspiel>>Sounds like a nursey, soothing, and just waking up from a nap.
0:18: "Thundering Crackle" Electronic loop>> Ethereal and and internal.
0:20: Vocal Loop "Uh E eh oh Uh">> Seems like another place in time....
1:03: Drums, Lead Synth part>> Main Melodic Theme (Echo Effect): Rocking you gently, foot tapping and ready to move.
2:09: Main Vocal Theme and Lyrics>> Feels human now, the text bringing the emotion.
2:40: Drum Machine>> I think it's an electronic marimba helping the song build, rhythmically.
3:13: Keyboard Distortion Synthesizer: The peak of energy, another loop of the vocals/text>> the crowd goes wild.
3:04: Pitch Oscillator>>A whirlwind, no longer eternal but shared.
4:15: Cat Screetching/Chipmunk chirps/ Vocal Theme>> Fun and silly you really want to let yourself go here.
4:15: Drop Out: Just drum machine and "Uh E eh oh Uh" Theme Loop>> A break from complexity, really experiencing the percussion, stripped away from the rhythm.
4:48: Chimes come back in and Keyboard>> The layers are coming back together again and balance becoming restored.
5:53: Reintroduce Lyrics:Reunited with the text and comforted by it.
6:24: Reintroduce Cat Screetching/Chipmunk Chirps/Wind Chimes>> A sort of reckless abandon and feeling like the piece is going to explode and you along with it.
6:56: Everything drops out: Just Glockenspiel and Wind Chimes>> A return to the serene.
8:04: Glockenspiel and fades out>> Alone just like before, just like the text makes one feel. Restored and back to sleep.
\\Musical and Textual Representation//
Text:
Been round this road so many times
Feel like its skin is part of mine
This taste of milk is almost gone
Still got no shame, but not for long!
Been wrong so many times before, but never quite like this
Heard it all, in the rain, but the rain all turned to piss
Refrain:
I hope to make it home one day
I doubt that day will come
I know, you know____________.
The text which always begins on 'sol' is sort of an push and pull between the tonic. A syntactical and metaphorical longing for "home." The lyrics seem straight forward and simple, yet I think it the metaphor behind them reflects a sort of inward reflection. A sort of quarter life crisis. These are the kind of lyrics you say, "hell yes" too and you sing them loud and make them your own.
Been round this road so many times
Feel like its skin is part of mine
This taste of milk is almost gone
Still got no shame, but not for long!
Been wrong so many times before, but never quite like this
Heard it all, in the rain, but the rain all turned to piss
Refrain:
I hope to make it home one day
I doubt that day will come
I know, you know____________.
The text which always begins on 'sol' is sort of an push and pull between the tonic. A syntactical and metaphorical longing for "home." The lyrics seem straight forward and simple, yet I think it the metaphor behind them reflects a sort of inward reflection. A sort of quarter life crisis. These are the kind of lyrics you say, "hell yes" too and you sing them loud and make them your own.
\\Virtual Feeling- THIS TRACK IS AN ANTHEM//
I believe that this song is similar to the worst day of the week... which ever that day is for anyone... You wake up aimlessly, you dress aimlessly, and you walk to work/school aimlessly. And then everything that could go wrong, goes wrong, and then you loose control of everything and realize that control never mattered and you finally abandon everything, joyfully. And then the day is over and you return to bed only to wake the next day to do it all over again.
-Soothing and some what of a baby child coddled in a nursery but not by its mother.
-If you were dancing you would rock back and forth, you would take it easy.
-You would scream out the lyrics if you were alone or in a crowd of other people singing screaming too.
-A slow build to a "MID-TRACK CRISIS"
- Then all the layers are synthesized and angsty rounding and rounding and eating you up inside.
-And the only thing left to do is throw your arms up in the air and give it all up, all the things this piece makes you feel.
-Then we come back to the tonic, the same area of peace as the beginning but only different: a realization has happened inside us and we are in a sort of meditation place with Tibetan singing bowls and yoga mats. Someone is reading us a poem and that poem is an inspiration and helps us carry our heavy bodies home.
-Soothing and some what of a baby child coddled in a nursery but not by its mother.
-If you were dancing you would rock back and forth, you would take it easy.
-You would scream out the lyrics if you were alone or in a crowd of other people singing screaming too.
-A slow build to a "MID-TRACK CRISIS"
- Then all the layers are synthesized and angsty rounding and rounding and eating you up inside.
-And the only thing left to do is throw your arms up in the air and give it all up, all the things this piece makes you feel.
-Then we come back to the tonic, the same area of peace as the beginning but only different: a realization has happened inside us and we are in a sort of meditation place with Tibetan singing bowls and yoga mats. Someone is reading us a poem and that poem is an inspiration and helps us carry our heavy bodies home.
\\Onto-Historical World// Concerned with the Nature of Being//
"You're part of the choir now." -Dan Deacon . (Baltimore City Paper)
Modern Technology: The use of electronics as well as incorporating real instrumentation creates a more modern piece>> a nod to the past and an eye on the future.
Past and Present and Modern experience of "Snookered:" I think that the use of real instrumentation makes electronics more accessible and relatable for the audience.
Historical Tradition: We've grown up in a rock and roll tradition which separates the audience from the performer in many ways. There has been a recent resurgence to create more interactivity in music, removing the barrier of the stage, and asking that the audience becomes participants in the musical experience.
There has also recently been a resurgence in the technique of Lo-Fi composition using 8-Bit data for composition (a.k.a Nintendo game music). I think that Dan Deacon is a leader of these ideas and many musicians are following this path of composition and performance.
Time and Place: Because the internet has removed many boundaries and more things are accessible to us, I think people want a more personal experience when they go see live performances. I think that is the main attraction to Dan Deacon's music>> they want to be in his ensemble too.
"The art made by Baltimore artist Dan Deacon is about community and how to organize and inspire it. From founding a now well-known art collective (Wham City), to organizing and running an annually sold-out DIY music festival (Whartscape), to conceiving, planning and curating a massive 60 person/30 band tour (Baltimore Round Robin Tour), it's clear to see that community and bringing people together is the major theme of his work. Bromst is the embodiment of that way of thinking. Pitchfork Media"
\\\Open Viewing///
New York University, April 2nd, 2009
This performance was held at E&L Auditorium, in the NYU Kimmel Center. It was produced by myself and NYU Program Board. It was the New York City kick off of the tour supporting his new album Bromst. He performed with 14 players and arrived to the venue in a school bus, (a.k.a. "cool bus"). It took them 6 hours to set up and rehearse for the performance. They had never played together before:
I think that looking at a performance example of this piece would be a great addition to the analysis of "Snookered" and will incorporate a visual account of how Dan Deacon conducts his ensemble of 14 players and 400 excited fans. This video encompasses the sense of community and interactivity Deacon's music brings to every concert hall:
DAN DEACON & ENSEMBLE: 14 Players on the stage and Dan Deacon performs on the floor with the audience. He never performs on the stage.
AUDIENCE: Dimly lit, hands in the air, turning around eyes closed, claps, trusting not to bump into everybody else, synthesizer starts: everyone is on the main screen! Everyone is swaying side to side (nice and easy) some hands sill up in the air, the refelction of them up on the screen. The camera scans the room looking for eye catching dancers and the lights, orange and pink hues... Deacon prefers the room dark with zero lighting. Deacon starts singing, desparatey and a bit off key, you can see the ensemble now just a bit and the pace is picking up.
PEAK OF THE SONG: People start dancing faster and the video seems a bit delayed so that’s taking away from the real time movement… chip munk theme is a bit helter-skeltered... Focused now on a guy frantically dancing… pitch black and can’t see anything now.
ENSEMBLE: Finally we get a view of the 14 person ensemble dressed in white mechanic's uniforms, the audience completely black and we can see only the screen and dan singing. Looks like he's frustrated and preoccupied with the ensemble. We can see now the two drummers working together, even though everything sounds electronic. This sounds quite different than the recording, a bit off pitch, and delayed. It’s probably because today was the first day they’ve ever rehearsed together as this version of the ensemble. It’s pretty great that there’s a delay on the visuals cause it looks like they are dancing harder. It’s great that the camera is focused on the screen during the lyrics cause we can get a more personal view of dan deacon singing…really ties into the text, as it is desperate and disappointed: Watching a film of the show, the audience is watching a video of the show.
Dan Deacon is below a pile of sweaty dancing fans. The film ends with a black out in the audience and one light shining over Deacon’s synths and doo-dads.
This performance was held at E&L Auditorium, in the NYU Kimmel Center. It was produced by myself and NYU Program Board. It was the New York City kick off of the tour supporting his new album Bromst. He performed with 14 players and arrived to the venue in a school bus, (a.k.a. "cool bus"). It took them 6 hours to set up and rehearse for the performance. They had never played together before:
I think that looking at a performance example of this piece would be a great addition to the analysis of "Snookered" and will incorporate a visual account of how Dan Deacon conducts his ensemble of 14 players and 400 excited fans. This video encompasses the sense of community and interactivity Deacon's music brings to every concert hall:
DAN DEACON & ENSEMBLE: 14 Players on the stage and Dan Deacon performs on the floor with the audience. He never performs on the stage.
AUDIENCE: Dimly lit, hands in the air, turning around eyes closed, claps, trusting not to bump into everybody else, synthesizer starts: everyone is on the main screen! Everyone is swaying side to side (nice and easy) some hands sill up in the air, the refelction of them up on the screen. The camera scans the room looking for eye catching dancers and the lights, orange and pink hues... Deacon prefers the room dark with zero lighting. Deacon starts singing, desparatey and a bit off key, you can see the ensemble now just a bit and the pace is picking up.
PEAK OF THE SONG: People start dancing faster and the video seems a bit delayed so that’s taking away from the real time movement… chip munk theme is a bit helter-skeltered... Focused now on a guy frantically dancing… pitch black and can’t see anything now.
ENSEMBLE: Finally we get a view of the 14 person ensemble dressed in white mechanic's uniforms, the audience completely black and we can see only the screen and dan singing. Looks like he's frustrated and preoccupied with the ensemble. We can see now the two drummers working together, even though everything sounds electronic. This sounds quite different than the recording, a bit off pitch, and delayed. It’s probably because today was the first day they’ve ever rehearsed together as this version of the ensemble. It’s pretty great that there’s a delay on the visuals cause it looks like they are dancing harder. It’s great that the camera is focused on the screen during the lyrics cause we can get a more personal view of dan deacon singing…really ties into the text, as it is desperate and disappointed: Watching a film of the show, the audience is watching a video of the show.
Dan Deacon is below a pile of sweaty dancing fans. The film ends with a black out in the audience and one light shining over Deacon’s synths and doo-dads.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
\\Conclusions on Why This Piece is Important/Meta-Critique//
Houston, Texas April 16, 2009
META MEAT:
It would have been very useful to have access to the master copy of this song and be able to listen to individual parts and the whole. Did I make Composer bigger than Snookered? Perhaps, but I think that's because he is "Snookered". If the medium he uses is an extension of himself and his songs and extension of feeling, then I think that highlighting that is okay. I believe that these terms we use to analyze can bleed and blend within each other... like we talked about in class, nothing is "Pure". Even though the analysis was to be done on "Snookered" I wanted to include the performance video because his performances encompass so many mediums and I think that is what attracts so many to his shows.
I think this piece is significant because it is a self reflection and I think that listeners can pick up on the genuine and heartfelt melodies layered in the piece. I think that the lyrics looping through out confirm that this piece is the anthem of the album and will make the album a cohesive addition to his existing body of work. I think Dan Deacon's work is mostly significant because it allows the listener to be actively involved instead of passively listening at a show. He invites us in to participate and be apart of his electro world.
META MEAT:
It would have been very useful to have access to the master copy of this song and be able to listen to individual parts and the whole. Did I make Composer bigger than Snookered? Perhaps, but I think that's because he is "Snookered". If the medium he uses is an extension of himself and his songs and extension of feeling, then I think that highlighting that is okay. I believe that these terms we use to analyze can bleed and blend within each other... like we talked about in class, nothing is "Pure". Even though the analysis was to be done on "Snookered" I wanted to include the performance video because his performances encompass so many mediums and I think that is what attracts so many to his shows.
I think this piece is significant because it is a self reflection and I think that listeners can pick up on the genuine and heartfelt melodies layered in the piece. I think that the lyrics looping through out confirm that this piece is the anthem of the album and will make the album a cohesive addition to his existing body of work. I think Dan Deacon's work is mostly significant because it allows the listener to be actively involved instead of passively listening at a show. He invites us in to participate and be apart of his electro world.
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