Change This

http://changethis.com/

"Acknowledge the Lizard"
Acknowledge The Lizard describes how our prehistoric brainstems hate to be laughed at.  Because of this, we fear being creative, and surprise our art.  This is described as "the resistance."  The Resistance is the little voice in your head that keeps your head down and makes you follow instructions.

"Connect"
Connect describes to us that we have endless possibilities in who we network with.  Just a few years ago we could only network and work with the people around us; our family, friends, and co workers.  Now we can connect with virtually anyone.  As long as you use the social utilities to their full potential the possibilities are endless.  If you are looking to see how many new posts you have, or how many facebook friends you have you may be using them for the wrong reasons.  Instead you should be seeing who you can connect with on a professional level that you could never have before.

Acknowledge the Lizard and Connect, both apply to me on a creative level, and to this blog.  Acknowledge the Lizard applies to getting over the fear of people reading your work.  Which, for this class, is all you do on your blog.  Everyone can see every piece of work you do.
Connect applies to me creating a professional body of work in this class.  I will eventually be connecting with industry professionals and I will have this blog of works to show them if needed.

Song Critiques

http://maddsmedia.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-garageband-song.html
http://csoergel.blogspot.com/

Soundscape Critiques

Kramer Lewis- http://kramersblog26.blogspot.com/
Michael Stephens-http://mikstep.blogspot.com/
Juliette Rocheleau-http://heytherejuliette.blogspot.com/

Song/Music Project

Mark & Tanner's Soundscape

Find Your Howl

Find Your Howl

            In Find Your Howl a wolf has been kept in captivity so long that he has forgotten how to hunt, howl and be a wild beast like he is supposed to be.  Upon trying to hunt a deer, the deer spoke to him.  The deer asked him who taught him how to hunt, Mumon answered that no one did.  He just knew how.  The deer continued by telling him his howl was the same.  Mumon the wolf caught the deer and ate him.  After finishing his meal he felt guilty for have eating the deer.  But now the deer was apart of him and he took pride in knowing that he had become his old self again.  He could now go back and lead his pack the way he was supposed to.

A quote that I found to be very meaningful for the media industry is this:

“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.”
William B. Sprague

This quote inspires me to continue trying to network, and perfect my craft.  It reminds me that no one at any time will come along and give me what I wish to have.  I have to make it happen on my own.  Set back and disappointment is inevitable and will happen almost every instance.  However, I only need to work hard for one opportunity.  By striking the iron and making it hot I can create my own opportunity.

Who Inspires You As a Creative Person?

As a music composer, DJ and musician; I strive to make creative works that will be remembered by you, the listener, later on in your day.  I try to avoid creating just another piece to be lumped in with the audible clutter of today’s creative hodgepodge.  My pieces are driven by bold melodies that invoke some kind of emotional response.  If a musical piece that I have put hours and days into doesn’t move me in any kind of way, I scrap it, and move onto another project.  I challenge myself to make chorus melodies more powerful than the project before, with equally catchy counter melodies for accompaniment on the verses.

            My favorite music producer, that in my mind does all of these things the best, is Jim Jonsin.  I’ve been drawn to Jim Jonsin’s work from the time I first started listening to hip hop.  Jim Jonsin is a music producer/songwriter that has multiple number one singles, and a Grammy.  In my mind the things that make his music so successful are things that we don’t consciously think of when listening to music.  For example, Jonsin’s musical numbers are always dominated by a bold melody that throws itself into your head.  Your brain doesn’t have to think about what it is that it is hearing.  No piecing together abstract sounds and unorganized chord structures.  Just aggressive drums with heavy kick drums and snare sounds that crack in your ears.  In a way you receive very didactive music, the chord progressions Jonsin uses are simple, but powerful, your brain seems to know what chord is going to come next yet you would have never thought to create the same progression yourself.  This strange interaction while you’re listening connects you to the music, a resonation begins.  The chords of the music stimulate emotions in your head that you can only express by bobbing your head to the beat.

           

An affinity is created between a creator and a listener when you can produce this kind of action when audiences hear your work.  This is what I aspire to achieve in my music every time I sit down with creative inspiration.  As an artist I feel like anything less than this is a creative failure.  

Blog Assignment, Cover Songs

(Top) Phil Collins-In the Air Tonight
(Bottom) Non Point- In the Air Tonight

The song “In the Air Tonight” is one of legendary music composer Phil Collins’s most famous hits.  From the 1981 album Face Value, “In the Air Tonight” has been a timeless hit for decades now.  The song has had such success because it sounds like it hasn’t aged at all.  Collins really was ahead of his time with the production and sounds he used for the song.  The song almost certainly couldn’t sound any better, but then a band named Non Point came along and made the song even more intense than it already is.  Non Point’s cover was so good that it was featured in the film “Miami Vice” with Colin Ferrell and Jamie Foxx.  Both versions are great in their own right, but they both have unique sound characteristics also.

            “In the Air Tonight” is a song that revolves around tension and release.  The original version begins very slow with quiet and haunting sounding instruments.  The intensity is very high, but strangely enough the feeling is created with very soft and suspenseful sounds.  I have always been drawn to this song because it draws you in.  The timbre creates this very spacey atmosphere as if you are wandering around in darkness looking for something.  I think this is what Collins was trying to achieve in the arrangement of the song.  There is an uneasy tension; to me this is the wandering feeling, as if I’m looking for something.  Later on in the song we find what we were looking for, which is a much faster and louder Rhythm brought to the forefront by an epic drum fill in.  At last our ears have found the release they were anticipating.

            In Non Points cover, all the original emotions are simply amplified with a much louder intensity and slightly more chaotic musical organization.  Non Point managed to take a song and add to it without hurting the original mood and feeling of the song.  Everything remains the same, except the excitement our ears were waiting for in the Phil Collins version is there from the beginning with heavy drums and distorted guitars.  Non Point successfully added modern rock features to this timeless classic.

            I personally really enjoy both.  I almost listen to them as if they were two different songs.  Even though they both have the same lyrics and melody the moods are very different.  The original is mysterious and you could almost relax to the sound of it.  The Non Point cover is very aggressive and angry; almost surely to excite your brain and raise your heart rate.  If I had to listen to the song over and over again, I would probably choose the Non Point cover for the previous reasons.  I enjoy the constant excitement without having to wait and wait for the release.  For all of these characteristics “In the Air Tonight,” regardless of the version, is guaranteed to be a radio classic forever; just as it has been since 1981.

Blog Day 1

Hello I am Tanner Simmons, aka DJ Tanner. I am an audio production major, DJ, and drummer.