Blog
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.
The Beatles - 21 Songs For 7 Reasons
To continue from the last post - humanists will still want to save the world with “All You Need Is Love,” “Let It Be,” and “The Word,” optimists will be optimistic with “Good Day Sunshine,” “It’s Getting Better,” and “Here Comes The Sun,” lovers of love songs will sing “If I Fell,” “And I Love Her,” and “I Will,” community activists will be inspired by “With A Little Help From My Friends,” “We Can Work it Out,” and “All Together Now,” weddings will still feature “Something,” “In My Life,” and “When I’m Sixty-Four,” divorcees will be haunted by “Carry That Weight,” I’m A Loser,” and “Hello Goodbye,” and critics will still argue over the meanings of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” and “I Am The Walrus.”
The Beatles - It Was 50 Years Ago Today
The Beatles convincingly fused widely disparate influences throughout their seven-year recording career as they assimilated U.S. rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly, country, Motown, R & B, soul, Tin Pan Alley, Afro-Cuban, bossanova, classical, and Indian music influences. They also steadfastly avoided following any fads or attempting to be “cool” or something which they were not. Each of their albums was a significant musical event complete with the seemingly incongruous achievements of important artistic innovations and great popular appeal.
How I Hear It - Beethoven & Van Halen
Big Butter & Egg Man, Banana in Your Fruit Basket, Grinding Mill and other carnal songs
"I want a butter and egg man. Won't some great big butter and egg man want me?"Why does this woman sing so emphatically about wanting a man who possesses BIG BUTTER and EGGS? Is she headed down a dangerous dairy path? With all that is known in 2013 about a diet high in cholesterol, this song might already be maiming young minds but could the butter and eggs be representative of something more than food? Is this a tongue-in-cheek metaphor?
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)
Talk Amongst Yourselves, Turn Me On, Beatles One Louder, the Buttocks Bowl
How can you get one's attention? Play a Beatles recording. Play something loud and very noticeable. Maybe the intro to a Beatles song. If one wants to hear a loud, striking, very original opening of a Beatles song, one that will really hit the ear, there is one song that WILL not do it. It would be the WORST BEATLES SONG, worst only in terms of making a listener notice. What is the Beatles song LEAST likely to get one's attention?
Love Street, A Century of Women on Top, TimeHop, Mikasa
Three years ago today I wrote -"With today's copyright laws, most great composers - Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Stravinsky, Ives, etc. - would be as criminal as Girl Talk, Negativland, the Evolution Control Committee or anyone who finds creative preexisting elements and uses them."I still agree. I'm even more fervent about that.
How NOT To Write Great Music - Part 1
How do we create music? What are the best and worst ways to create music? Is it possible to answer these questions? I try to answer them in my own life and will begin a discussion with this post. So, here goes. I hope that the end result is laudable. I know the answer/end point and will concoct this path to get to the end. The way I'll approach these particular posts is to examine what NOT to do. By examining what NOT to do, we might better deduce what TO DO.
Mrs. General David Petraeus, Your Husband Is Cheatin' On Us; The World Wide (spider) Web
What have I heard about the blues? Things like this:Blues is realBlues is lifeBlues is real lifeBlues is the story of lifeBlues tells the story of our livesBlues reflects our timesBlues tells the truthThe blues chases away the bluesThe blues is a womanAnd when it comes to lovin', cheatin', hurtin' and schemin', the blues has that covered too.In the past few days I've come to realize that blues is intrinsic to, and helps tell the story of, THE BIG DEAL at the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA is in the center of all news right now (Monday, November 12, 2012). General David Petraeus, the Director of the CIA, resigned last week because of an affair. We are now finding out more.
Did Big Happens Here Do Digable Planets?
I know that many traditional jazz players, especially in the early and mid-1980's, would not likely latch on to a short phrase, repeat it many times and make this small and almost "throw away" motif into something big. This tiny melodic gesture, in the hands of an outsider (with respect to a musical tradition), could become the most important part of the melody, or sometimes the only melody that matters to someone from outside of that tradition. This "how does a foreigner view our music" idea is one I will explore later. I'll include myself in this - how and why did I get into hip hop, or Senegalese, Malagasy, Brazilian or Cuban music.All of this to get back to that famous Digable Planets song that samples some jazz.
Big Wind - a set list for Hurricane Sandy
In honor of The Big Wind (and Rain), I thought I’d compile some of my favorite songs about wind into a set list. These songs are carefully arranged by my mood - what I want to hear and what feels right following each song. The styles often don’t flow according to those who restrict themselves to a single style or two. But I restrict myself to music and sound that I can perceive - I love as many varieties of music as I do varieties of food, people and geography.Here goes:1. Florida Hurricane - St. Louis Jimmy2. The Wayward Wind - I have & love 3 versions - Neil Young, Gogi Grant & Patsy Cline