My little project was simple, just tidying up my room and my desk that have grown so fond of the messy stacks of papers and books. I had books and papers lying all over my desk and sprawled on the ground, so I organized them into stacks and shelved books and filed papers. I had pencils in masses from the need of a sharpened pencil after the one I had used "died." Cleaning my room is, for me, not as a lot of people describe it (painful, boring, tiring,etc.) I actually enjoy it. So I began, with Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas is you" "jamming" in the background....
Before the project, I felt really messy, I couldn't think straight, my eyes kept getting distracted by the unorganized stacks of papers and books. Something inside me was uncomfortable and annoyed at seeing my room disorganized. As I was cleaning my room up I felt little by little more "relieved" as in free from all the stuffiness. It felt nice and a bit less stuffy as I saw more and more books and papers disappear from my desk and from the ground. After I was done cleaning my room, I felt accomplished and ready to do other work. I wasn't distracted by seeing my room messed up. My thoughts calmed down and I could think straight and focus on the other work that needed to be done. No more distractions... The project made my mind a bit easier to focus afterwards. I felt comfortable and ready to work on other things. The organized piles organized my thoughts and I could look around my room and not feel like there was something that I had to do before I went to bed.
I've realized time after time that I think I might be an obsessive neat freak... I can't stand a lopsided stack on my desk or little pieces of paper embedded in my carpet, or papers lying everywhere because I was too lazy to file away into their individual folders. "Yikes" I think when I see my room slightly different than the perfect state that I like. For everything in my room I have an exact place that I want it to be, or it's safely stored in a folder or in a neat pile. If the computer screen on my desk is a little shifted from its normal position, it will most likely bother me. For me one thing is quite certain, I cannot work if the workspace around me is disheveled and messy. I get distracted with asking myself, "When am I going to clean up? Where should I put that? Where does that belong?" When my workspace is clean and organized, I feel refreshed inside like starting on a blank sheet of paper rather than a doodled paper. So naturally, after I had cleaned my room I felt ready to do anything. While cleaning my room, I find that I do some of my life related thinking. Many say it's idle work, cleaning a room, or discovering old and lost treasures, but for me it's also a time of reflection. As I organize books, I organize my thoughts, thinking ahead what I need to accomplish and what I need to get done and perhaps get around doing... Music and cleaning my room are surprisingly the medicine for reflection on my life and giving myself a refreshing start!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
iMedia: Video Games Live
Civilization IV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6GU5fNQq9U&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
Halo Suite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5aezS1FbiM&feature=related&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
Kingdom of Hearts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c94VLFEQqbA&feature=related&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
These are only some of the many video games songs covered live.
Playing this piece in orchestra and hearing it numerous times revealed to me how our society has shifted as well as our interests. In the end it also extends to how this kind of music affects our society. When I first heard this piece I was amazed at the power of strings and surprised at how much classical string instruments have evolved. Interestingly, our music reveals the postmodern nature of our society. For example, in the Halo Suite, as the strings hit those high sixteenth notes, the drums follow each beat. Each piece has all the instruments necessary to perform a symphony, but with minor adjustments, we have a rock orchestra. Ever since music became respected and composer after conductor passed through our history, music has been categorized. When we open our little itunes app, we see the fifty different genres of music listed: rock, pop, classical, modern rock, etc. We've had many crossovers between pop and rock, but generally classical music stays pure to its nature and we leave the classical genre alone to isolate the beautiful natural wooden sound of a violin concerto from the electronic piano and riffs. However as our culture continues to mix with other cultures, everything is hard to categorize; we've definitely entered the postmodern society. This affects some people in our society who had found classical instruments bland and "unexciting" in that it changes their views 180 degrees. They see that classical instruments have more flexibility than we have normally given them. Video games live is a mixture of powerful strings singing like a choir in the background even as an electric guitar riffs away.
The fact that our orchestra, which is known to play mainly absolute classical (and some modern) pieces, picked this piece shows a change in our society. A larger integration between sounds made by nature and technology. It affects our culture in that after the Video Games Live tour plays for thousands of people and it's likely that the same people will go home and look up these songs to hear them again, and perhaps in the end become video game designers and end up inputting the very sounds into their new video game. The reaction as our orchestra conductor tells us to pull out this piece is not surprising, loud whoops and happiness is reflected in the students, and personally this piece is also one of my favorites. This composition as well as the tour will serve to encourage other "movements" towards combining technology and music that dates back farther than any ipod.
For me, it was also a realization of the solidifying of the convergence between nature and technology. The fact the postmodernism has now penetrated through an art form that has been celebrated by Mozart, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Corelli, etc., is amazing. However, it's also a sad realization because the things that we have tried to keep pure are subject to the constant changes in our society and changes in interests. Depending on the individual, it triggers emotions to want to keep classical instruments and classical styles pure of any pop, rock, roll, rap, while others would argue and say that everything needs to crossover. No matter what the point of view this mix will spark greater interest and perhaps less interest, but progress nonetheless. For me personally, when I hold my violin to play this piece, I'm so thrilled to be suddenly able to play music that I had thought was only possible for drums, guitars, and singers.
Halo Suite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5aezS1FbiM&feature=related&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
Kingdom of Hearts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c94VLFEQqbA&feature=related&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
These are only some of the many video games songs covered live.
Playing this piece in orchestra and hearing it numerous times revealed to me how our society has shifted as well as our interests. In the end it also extends to how this kind of music affects our society. When I first heard this piece I was amazed at the power of strings and surprised at how much classical string instruments have evolved. Interestingly, our music reveals the postmodern nature of our society. For example, in the Halo Suite, as the strings hit those high sixteenth notes, the drums follow each beat. Each piece has all the instruments necessary to perform a symphony, but with minor adjustments, we have a rock orchestra. Ever since music became respected and composer after conductor passed through our history, music has been categorized. When we open our little itunes app, we see the fifty different genres of music listed: rock, pop, classical, modern rock, etc. We've had many crossovers between pop and rock, but generally classical music stays pure to its nature and we leave the classical genre alone to isolate the beautiful natural wooden sound of a violin concerto from the electronic piano and riffs. However as our culture continues to mix with other cultures, everything is hard to categorize; we've definitely entered the postmodern society. This affects some people in our society who had found classical instruments bland and "unexciting" in that it changes their views 180 degrees. They see that classical instruments have more flexibility than we have normally given them. Video games live is a mixture of powerful strings singing like a choir in the background even as an electric guitar riffs away.
The fact that our orchestra, which is known to play mainly absolute classical (and some modern) pieces, picked this piece shows a change in our society. A larger integration between sounds made by nature and technology. It affects our culture in that after the Video Games Live tour plays for thousands of people and it's likely that the same people will go home and look up these songs to hear them again, and perhaps in the end become video game designers and end up inputting the very sounds into their new video game. The reaction as our orchestra conductor tells us to pull out this piece is not surprising, loud whoops and happiness is reflected in the students, and personally this piece is also one of my favorites. This composition as well as the tour will serve to encourage other "movements" towards combining technology and music that dates back farther than any ipod.
For me, it was also a realization of the solidifying of the convergence between nature and technology. The fact the postmodernism has now penetrated through an art form that has been celebrated by Mozart, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Corelli, etc., is amazing. However, it's also a sad realization because the things that we have tried to keep pure are subject to the constant changes in our society and changes in interests. Depending on the individual, it triggers emotions to want to keep classical instruments and classical styles pure of any pop, rock, roll, rap, while others would argue and say that everything needs to crossover. No matter what the point of view this mix will spark greater interest and perhaps less interest, but progress nonetheless. For me personally, when I hold my violin to play this piece, I'm so thrilled to be suddenly able to play music that I had thought was only possible for drums, guitars, and singers.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Connection: Dvorak's New World Symphony and The Tragedy of King Lear
(Before reading this entry, becoming familiar with Dvorak's New Symphony would help the reader to understand this blog better)
Mvt 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OAXCy3YS54
Mvt 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ENf4VEhI40&feature=related
Mvt 2 (part 2): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phbYpnPlYq0&feature=related
Mvt 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp0-FVuLtOk&feature=related
Mvt 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yctfXIqugXc&feature=related
Content, phrasing, form, and transitions are all important pieces in both music as well as books, especially plays. An art piece that masters these proponents would make it what we call, "successful," lucky for us history and time has brought us people who can tie in most or all of these components, i.e. Shakespeare and Dvorak.
In Dvorak's "New World Symphony" we start by analyzing each movement, each expressing a multitude of emotions and sections. Similarly, in King Lear, we notice that there are different sections in the play that call for different emotions. For example, sadness (as Cordelia is disowned by Lear), regret (both Gloucester and Lear as they realize what they've done to their children), and hope (Not all the bad stays bad - Albany). In the "New World Symphony," the 1st movement, the ending is much more energized with powerful string parts and the band instruments blowing the melody, compared to the beginning of the 2nd movement where the oboe is a solo along with an quiet and peaceful harmony in the back. These differ as a section in King Lear might differ. For example, the oboe solo could be seen as some of the soliloquies delivered by Edgar and Edmund, while the beginning of the 1st movement can be seen as the fanfares made in King Lear as Lear decides to hold a contest among his daughters. An interesting parallel is that the 1st and 2nd movement start out very quietly and somewhat establish a melancholy and quiet atmosphere, however as the symphony progresses the beginnings of both the 3rd and 4th movement are empowered by strong string sections and in general a much louder entrance. In King Lear, this can be seen through the acts, in the first couple of acts there isn't much "action" occurring, simply the stage is being set up and warming up the audience for what is ahead. After act 2 we start to climb towards the drive of the play everything is set up so the piece just drives full speed ahead. For example, the actions being fulfilled by Edmund in order to get rid of his brother. Just like how the 3rd movement and 4th movement are essentially the driving forces of the piece after the audience has been warmed up by the first 2 movements, which are mixtures of the excitement seen in the 3rd and 4th mvt. In acts 1 and 2, we see glimpses of the action in the future, Edmund's plan, Cordelia being sent off, and the two sisters having a discreet discussion.
Interestingly, the "New World Symphony" has quite instantaneous transitions, it'll go from heavy woodwinds to a quiet choral of strings. This is quite similar to the transitions in King Lear, where many scenes and acts have no solid transition, rather it's just one event happens and then moves onto the next important detail to mention. It's very direct, which is what Dvorak's symphony also accomplishes, moving swiftly from a slow 30 measures to 30 measures of sixteenth notes for the strings and scales up and down for the wood winds. In King Lear, even though we know there was a lot of preparation to set up Edmund's plan (the soliloquy, the letter), but when the events actually occur, we are taken aback by exactly how much Edmund is willing to do. Similarly, although the build up in the 1st movement might have shown us what lies in movement 4, when we reach movement 4, it's very different than what we might have expected, with the sudden Jaws-like theme.
In my opinion, when we see parallels like this between a symphony and a play it says a lot about the pieces as well as the writer and composer. The fact that a play can be compared to a symphony, that says the play is in some ways like music. Overall we may not see the entirety of the play as a song, but the sonnets and when Shakespeare uses heightened language, that translates into music. This "New World Symphony" like King Lear can be seen as battles within each movement and battles between the different instruments as well as "allies." For example, we hear some little battles between the woodwinds and the strings in the 4th movement, as the strings are involved in high fast notes, the winds will either support them, or have their own melody on top of the strings. (Where the strings have short notes while the winds are playing the melody) In King Lear there are battles among the characters as well as alliances (Goneril, Regan, and Edmund vs. Cordelia, Albany, Edgar). This says also a great deal about this symphony, it tells a story it has conflicts, a climax, and the filler parts. I think that whether we write a story or compose a song, there are so many similarities, conflicts, battles, climax, a set up of the climax. So the techniques used in writing is not exclusive to simply writing, but to the arts as well, and vice versa.
Mvt 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OAXCy3YS54
Mvt 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ENf4VEhI40&feature=related
Mvt 2 (part 2): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phbYpnPlYq0&feature=related
Mvt 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp0-FVuLtOk&feature=related
Mvt 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yctfXIqugXc&feature=related
Content, phrasing, form, and transitions are all important pieces in both music as well as books, especially plays. An art piece that masters these proponents would make it what we call, "successful," lucky for us history and time has brought us people who can tie in most or all of these components, i.e. Shakespeare and Dvorak.
In Dvorak's "New World Symphony" we start by analyzing each movement, each expressing a multitude of emotions and sections. Similarly, in King Lear, we notice that there are different sections in the play that call for different emotions. For example, sadness (as Cordelia is disowned by Lear), regret (both Gloucester and Lear as they realize what they've done to their children), and hope (Not all the bad stays bad - Albany). In the "New World Symphony," the 1st movement, the ending is much more energized with powerful string parts and the band instruments blowing the melody, compared to the beginning of the 2nd movement where the oboe is a solo along with an quiet and peaceful harmony in the back. These differ as a section in King Lear might differ. For example, the oboe solo could be seen as some of the soliloquies delivered by Edgar and Edmund, while the beginning of the 1st movement can be seen as the fanfares made in King Lear as Lear decides to hold a contest among his daughters. An interesting parallel is that the 1st and 2nd movement start out very quietly and somewhat establish a melancholy and quiet atmosphere, however as the symphony progresses the beginnings of both the 3rd and 4th movement are empowered by strong string sections and in general a much louder entrance. In King Lear, this can be seen through the acts, in the first couple of acts there isn't much "action" occurring, simply the stage is being set up and warming up the audience for what is ahead. After act 2 we start to climb towards the drive of the play everything is set up so the piece just drives full speed ahead. For example, the actions being fulfilled by Edmund in order to get rid of his brother. Just like how the 3rd movement and 4th movement are essentially the driving forces of the piece after the audience has been warmed up by the first 2 movements, which are mixtures of the excitement seen in the 3rd and 4th mvt. In acts 1 and 2, we see glimpses of the action in the future, Edmund's plan, Cordelia being sent off, and the two sisters having a discreet discussion.
Interestingly, the "New World Symphony" has quite instantaneous transitions, it'll go from heavy woodwinds to a quiet choral of strings. This is quite similar to the transitions in King Lear, where many scenes and acts have no solid transition, rather it's just one event happens and then moves onto the next important detail to mention. It's very direct, which is what Dvorak's symphony also accomplishes, moving swiftly from a slow 30 measures to 30 measures of sixteenth notes for the strings and scales up and down for the wood winds. In King Lear, even though we know there was a lot of preparation to set up Edmund's plan (the soliloquy, the letter), but when the events actually occur, we are taken aback by exactly how much Edmund is willing to do. Similarly, although the build up in the 1st movement might have shown us what lies in movement 4, when we reach movement 4, it's very different than what we might have expected, with the sudden Jaws-like theme.
In my opinion, when we see parallels like this between a symphony and a play it says a lot about the pieces as well as the writer and composer. The fact that a play can be compared to a symphony, that says the play is in some ways like music. Overall we may not see the entirety of the play as a song, but the sonnets and when Shakespeare uses heightened language, that translates into music. This "New World Symphony" like King Lear can be seen as battles within each movement and battles between the different instruments as well as "allies." For example, we hear some little battles between the woodwinds and the strings in the 4th movement, as the strings are involved in high fast notes, the winds will either support them, or have their own melody on top of the strings. (Where the strings have short notes while the winds are playing the melody) In King Lear there are battles among the characters as well as alliances (Goneril, Regan, and Edmund vs. Cordelia, Albany, Edgar). This says also a great deal about this symphony, it tells a story it has conflicts, a climax, and the filler parts. I think that whether we write a story or compose a song, there are so many similarities, conflicts, battles, climax, a set up of the climax. So the techniques used in writing is not exclusive to simply writing, but to the arts as well, and vice versa.
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