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Making Music Make Sense; Making Music Make Evidence
How do we make music make sense or make music make evidence? What will best convey the message, i.e., make the evidence most effective? What is/are the most important factor(s) in making the message understandable and persuasive to listeners, jury, judge, students and audience?
Putting It My Way But Nicely - There Should Be No More Lawsuits...
This is my 100th post and will be the 5th and final post/adventure about the short 3-4-5-8 melody used in music of many composers and songwriters from 1730-2013 (Sebastian Bach to Sebastian Mikael), and the copyright issues surrounding this melodic gesture. In this post I will state my opinion about the matter discussed in previous posts about 3-4-5-8 and provide links to the music of Bach, Badfinger, The Beatles, Toby Keith, Sebastian Mikael, Rodgers & Hammerstein, The Rolling Stones and XTC.
Should The Rolling Stones Sue Badfinger?
Should The Rolling Stones sue Badfinger over the 3-4-5-8 melody that was so prominent in their Street Fighting Man and so prominent in Badfinger's Come And Get It? As I've stated before, there are music copyright infringement lawsuits in the courts in 2014 that involve NO melodic similarity. So what do you think should happen in this instance?
Should Badfinger Sue XTC?
Does XTC's Then She Appeared (1992) infringe the copyright of Badfinger's Come And Get It (1970)? Are four (4) prominent and clearly-heard notes in common between songs reason enough to instigate a copyright infringement lawsuit?
Should XTC Sue Toby Keith?
XTC's Then She Appeared (1992) is a song written and recorded almost twenty (20) years before Toby Keith's Red Solo Cup (2011). It also prominently features the 3-4-5-8 melody. The 3-4-5-8 is the opening vocal and the hook throughout the entire song. Are four (4) prominent and clearly-heard notes in common between songs reason enough to instigate a copyright infringement lawsuit? Should XTC sue Toby Keith for copyright infringement?
Should Toby Keith Sue Sebastian Mikael?
Are four (4) prominent and clearly-heard notes in common between songs reason enough to instigate a copyright infringement lawsuit? One answer could be found in comparing this hypothetical (or not) Toby Keith v. Sebastian Mikael copyright infringement case to the actual Marvin Gaye v. Robin Thicke copyright infringement case in which NO notes were in common between the songs. If one can sue when the similarity is only STYLE and NOT melody, surely one can sue when the similarity is MELODY.
How I Hear It - Beethoven & Van Halen
A slew of bagpipes playing tangos in a forest - My Favorite Tangos (Part 1)
Is tango a dance? Is tango music? Is tango both music and dance? To me tango is music and the accompanying dance. To others I'm sure the idea of an "accompanying" dance, meaning the visual subservient to the aural, is offensive. Music is meant for many as something to accompany dance. For me it's music - the invisible art form that grabbed and OCCUPIED me as a child - first. Other stuff - film, video, TV, advertising, ballet, dance, opera, musicals, etc. - is often secondary and there to serve music. I'll more often stick with what I think is this contrarian view - let the invisible (music) rule and let us serve her/him/it/them.
Best Chord Ever - Part 1 - The Beatles "All I've Got To Do"
Listen to the first sounds, i.e., the first chord, in this Beatles song:Beatles - All I've Got To DoThe chord has no business being here. Or in any pop song. Could this chord be heard in jazz? I don't think Ornette Coleman would use this chord. I don't think Thelonious Monk would have either. Cecil Taylor? Maybe Cecil Taylor would use it. Early Weather Report? Yes, maybe. I could imagine this chord/hear this chord in "Vertical Invader" from side 2, song 1 of Weather Report's second album, I Sing The Body Electric. The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Eminem and Kanye - nope, they wouldn't use it. The Beatles used it. Once and only once. The chord is used only at the opening. Never again in any Beatles song. Not in outtakes, bootlegs. Nowhere.
I Had Almost Given Up On You - This Chord Didn't Want To Change (Part 1), 14-Style Bliss
One of the most famous songs that stays on one chord for a long time is the first and only song I know responsible for the name of a great band and a magazine.Muddy Waters - Rollin' Stone (1st new chord occurs @ 2.05)The Doors created one of those "must-know" ubiquitous guitar riffs with the opening of "Roadhouse Blues." This guitar riff and song open the album, Morrison Hotel. Morrison Hotel is the origin of the famous name, "Hard Rock Cafe."Doors - Roadhouse Blues (1st new chord occurs @ 1.19)
Music of Africa & Copyrightable Intros - Les Têtes Brulées, Four Brothers & Thomas Mapfumo
I've been passionate about world music since I was a little kid and heard some of my parents bossa nova albums, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Perez Prado, and some others. Also in those days there was I Love Lucy with some of Desi Arnaz' very hot bands on TV. I always loved what I perceived as its sophistication...The point of this post is world music and copyrightable intros in world music. I want to limit it to just three (3) examples, all of them from two (2) African nations - Zimbabwe and Cameroon.
Three Songs (5/4) & Some Thoughts (7/4) About Dave Brubeck (9/8)
One of the important features of a lot of Dave Brubeck's music is his use of rhythm and especially uncommon time signatures. Brubeck met with resistance from Columbia Records when he insisted on having songs with unusual meter/time signatures on his brilliant million-selling album, Time Out. Fortunately for music, the public and Columbia Records, they gave in.I have selected three (3) Dave Brubeck songs, each in a different and unusual meter. 5 beats per measure, 7 beats per measure and 9 beats per measure are far less common than the most common meter in Western music - 4 beats per measure. In keeping with the idea of three - 3 different time signatures/meters - I have also compiled three (3) sets of three (3) songs each. In each of these three 3-song sets, I have chosen a Brubeck composition and followed it with two (2) other compositions that share the same number of beats. In each example, the songs I have selected are not of the same style.