Listening Journal Week 5: The Search for Week 4

(Be warned; the beginning of this post contains heavy sarcasm and perhaps a little bit of tongue in cheek humor)

I'm going to apologize to the many people keeping close track of my journals for my lack of posting lately. Life has been getting the best of me lately (seriously) and it's been difficult to keep up with everything. I know you all must be absolutely starving for a nice big portion of my music and amazing observations about music...and since that's the case you should get ready for a large (as long as life cooperates) portion of said music and observation. Since I have such a large quantity of music to analyze, let's begin!

Halo by Martin O'Donnel & Michael Salvatori

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6T5WHpKK-E

My first piece of music that I'm going to talk about is the title screen music to a game I played long ago. I remember saying in class that I thought that Gregorian Chant had its own place in the world, implying that I didn't much care for it. Well, it turns out that I'm a hypocrite and that its place was in my past. This song opens up with such a chant.  The choral sound still sends shivers down my spine sometimes. It gives the impression of an otherworldliness that needs to be explored.  Of something foreign and larger than life.  Of a mystery that needed answers.  After the chant tough, the instruments come with soft dynamics, suddenly increasing shortly after.  I think tympanis, viola, double bass, cymbals, gongs, and undulating voices bring an emotion of action or perhaps a mission that needs doing.

Change by Yoshida Brothers and Monkey Majik

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc4AkEC_UWU

I have no idea what instruments they open up with, but I imagine that it's the Japanese equivalent of a guitar. Those instruments continue throughout the song and I think they sound awesome, even with the Rock/Pop sound the song has. The rest of the band has pretty traditional instruments for the genre of music the song fits into; electric guitar, drums, bass drum, and voice. Though the singer isn't the best, I like the lyrics and how they communicate a need for (surprise) change. It's almost like this is a break up song of some sort, even though it sounds less sad and more energetic.

 For my random music I decided to go to last.fm and use the Random Tag to help me find music.

1 by Three Trapped Tigers

Okay...perhaps using the random tag wasn't such a great idea.  This song was all over the place.  The dynamics change, the rhythm changes, the instruments and how they're used change...it's just everywhere.  I suppose that if you like seemingly random wailing on a guitar and beating on drums followed by periods of quiet and tiny sounds this song works out quite well.  There were no lyrics to speak of.  The  instruments I could pick out were guitar, bass guitar, keys, and drums. I suppose that for the most part, it sounded almost discordant. I didn't like it.

No Easy Way Down by Mark Eitzel

Well, the first thing I noticed that really stuck with me was that I thought this song had three counts per measure.  His voice sounds...well...kind of bland. I suppose my opinion is that he isn't a very good singer. The song has a slower, calm, kind of beat. I guess it makes sense with the kind of message the song title and lyrics imply.  The drums, bass drum, and his voice were the only instruments I picked up on. It seemed to me as if he just droned on, singing slowly.

I'm not so sure about using last.fm again. I think these songs were both pretty hard to describe and flesh out.  And the other ones were worse being new age, grungy, and hardcore screamo songs that were all just a little painful to listen to.

This is the week 3 music journal

Good old iPod shuffle hasn't failed me yet, so off I go again. Well, there were a few songs that I wanted to write about in that stretch, and one of them was pretty short...so I'll do two songs this week. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4f-4CajQyg

What Do You Do With a B.A. in English?

Avenue Q

So...this first song is from a musical (my favorite musical). It tells the story of a young man who just got out of college and is trying to find his place in the world.  This song starts the musical with a number has a sedate three count, which does change after this song to a brisk four count in the next song (It Sucks to Be Me). I like this song because I used to joke about how the dual degrees I was trying to earn at the time were synonymous with the message he portrays. The music starts out with a bass guitar, what I believe is a clarinet, and a keyboard. Between the beat and the instruments, I suppose it feels slow and easy going, though the lyrics bring in humor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb6t0I5KpSk

Hiro no Tsuki

Akino Arai

Get ready for some lyrics you can't understand unless you can speak Japanese. This song has been one of my favorites since I was a teenager and first heard it, even back when I didn't know what the lyrics generally meant.  The instruments in this song mesh with the beat and singers voice to express a..not quite sadness, but an aching longing of something that seems out of reach or indecipherable. The song has four counts that I think start out slow, but pick up to be andante or moderato.  The many instruments include bass guitar, harp(?), cello, a string instrument that I can't quite find a name to put to it since it sounds higher than normal, and maybe the viola.  

So, for my random music, I decided this time to go use 8tracks.com and click the random music button and see what pops up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BueQdiCREZY

I Love You

Alex & Sierra

The song opened up with a man singing in a tenor voice in what I think is a minor key.  The slow four count and the keyboard in the background make me think of a love song.  As the song goes on, and the other singer comes in to, I can't think of another word but counterpoint, the first singer.  It becomes sad, though the dynamic rises. Even though it's a love song, it seems to be a sad song, of love unrequited or unreturned.  Or perhaps of a broken relationship. I don't hear many instruments throughout the song either, but do notice a rhythmic instrument that sounds raspy.

Musical Journal No. 2

Time again for good old iPod shuffle to give me another song for my familiar music.

I'm going to warn you. Probably more than once, that this next song is explicit. I mean, really, even the title is explicit. Not to say that it's a song is one with a bad message, actually it's meaning lay in the opposite direction.

BE WARNED. EXPLICITNESS AHEAD.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grK2IrVKylY

Jason Mraz- You Fckn Did It

This guy...is one of my heroes.  I've loved his music ever since I've started listening to it.  I love the lyrical messages in the songs he sings as well as the messages that lay in the songs. He is probably in the top ten people I would ever want to spend a day with if I had the chance.  I've met him once at a concert after the show and as I had expected, he's awesome in person. But enough about that, lets get on with the song.

I've come to see that I can find that the song has four easy to recognize counts from the bass drum that plays throughout the whole song.  I've also come to see that the song has a certain rolling cadence to it between the few chorus that play. His singing style is quite staccato in this song and in a tenor voice.  I've always wondered how many breathing exercises he's had to do through his life to be able to sing in such a fast paced way while not getting tongue tied or out of breath. I can also now recognize where there are obvious pauses for him to catch his breath in the song after each phrase with a cadence.  I can actually anticipate where he's going to take a breath now that I think about it when he's singing rapidly.

The songs steady beat and moderately quiet acoustic guitar in the background set up a fast paced, I would guess an  moderato or allegretto tempo, but I want to say it's faster because of the way the pace of the singing plays.  It's like it's trying to trick me. 

On the whole the song feels as if it's trying to build a  person up. As if it's trying to send a message that the listener, or perhaps receiver of the message, is doing everything right. The steady beat and continual background guitar give me an impression of solidity; while the singing is fast and the message direct. It's like the singer is talking to you as a good friend, supporting you and letting you now that you're...well...awesome.

Unfamiliar music portion.  Again I went with the whole random music search...but this time I put a 2 at the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewDwizVpU9M&list=PLtIWH4lmjbVmgGXPytqS2GzconbEZNd4l&index=2

Sonic The Hedgehog 2- Sky Chase Zone Jazz Remix

I'm pretty pumped that this song was in the mix. It's the second song in playlist. While I have played sonic the hedgehog games in the past, I've never heard this song before.  It's so...relaxed and I suppose a good word to describe it would be 'chill.' It's a little more challenging to depict the song, but I find that's only because there are no lyrics. Not to say that detracts from the song. The way the slow (adagio perhaps? Maybe andante?) four beat interplays with the mellow electric guitar, bass guitar, electric keyboard, and drum set makes me want to lay back and relax.   

It's as if I can see myself on a cruise or watching scenery go by a window while on a train.  The music seems to speak to me a journey in the melodies; but not just a journey. It's like...going back home.  The last step on an adventure, I suppose. It amazes me that through most of the song, so much can be imparted through what seems like relatively few notes, even though the guitar eventually does wander off a bit into differences that I can notice. I'll admit...this makes me want to find other similar jazz pieces and put them in my musical library.