The Sound of the 80’s: Gated Reverb Drums
Happened across this video describing the happy accident of gated reverb, and how this particular sound shaped the 1980’s (and seems to be experiencing a bit of a comeback).
Posts Tagged "music"
Listening to What the Kids are Listening To
“… Pump is out there living his best life, as evidenced in his song ‘Drug Addicts,’ where he raps, ‘I’m a drug addict, I’m richer than my professor (man, fuck school).’
If you are an old person like me — I am a full decade older than Pump so he sort of treats me like a matronly aunt bothering him with questions about his grades — your first question about Pump is likely: Where is your mother?“
A Deeper Look at John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps”
I spent a lot of time surfing the Internet yesterday, as a kind of relaxing day. It’s been some time since I’ve done this, as the house work has kept us pretty occupied. I remember first seeing a visualization of Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” a long while ago, back in 2005. This was before YouTube was around, so I’m not sure…
Stratus: Interactive, Collaborative Piano Installation
Created by musicians Ólafur Arnalds & Halldór Eldjárn, Stratus is a piano installation project that allows people from all over the world to influence the music produced.
Laura Marling: Soothing
I found the bass line to be an incredibly curious and unusual opener. And as Marling’s vocals came in… the two seemed to do this really interesting thing where they were in sync and at odds with one another, at the same time.
A Look Into the Musical Structure of ‘Amar Pelos Dois,’ the Winning Song from Eurovision 2017
I’m introducing things in a kind of non-linear way here. Mostly because I want you to experience the same process I experienced, earlier today. So first up, I’d say watch the video below. It’ll give you a bit of context about the song, and after it dives into the specifics… give a pause. And then keep on reading.
Linying: Paris 12
It’s a rainy, gloomy kind of day today. Thunderstorms this morning, with a lot of clouds and fog this afternoon. Paris 12 seems like an appropriate soundtrack for the day.
Music Discovery
Earlier this morning, thanks to a post by Merlin Mann, I found a whole set of new music to explore. The whole MetaFilter thread is worth checking out, as there are various links to some really great stuff.
Suddenly, Suzuki
I found it kind of nice to remember some of these older tunes, but she clearly didn’t have the same reaction. The interesting thing with the Suzuki Method is that it really emphasizes memorization – so much so that even now, many decades later, I still can remember most of these songs. Even though I may not have actually touched a violin in years.
Martin Molin’s Wintergatan Marble Machine, Powered by 2000 Marbles
Musician Martin Molin (a member of the band Wintergatan) created a fantastic device that’s powered by 2000 marbles. The device handles percussion, xylophone, and bass, all the while recycling a torrent of marbles that makes the machine seem less like an instrument… and more like an entity with its own circulation.
Farewell, Rdio
I joined on August 2, 2011. The first thing I listened to was “Call of the Playground” by Shudder to Think. The song I played the most was Ordinary, by Copeland (a surprise). My most-played album was The Weatherman, by Gregory Alan Isakov (not a surprise).
Tech Memento Mori
When this happened, I was thinking that I wish I had a t-shirt. So I decided to just write in on a whim to ask. Lo and behold, I got a reply pretty quickly – and got sent a shirt in the mail several days later.
Goodbye, Rdio
While Spotify is the main streaming service in the US (which still baffles me), I chose Rdio because I just preferred Rdio’s interface. I tried Spotify initially, and just found myself confused as to how to navigate songs and collections. Going to Rdio after Spotify was like a breath of fresh air. Clean, intuitive. Well designed.
Helios: Yume
Yume is an interactive song that you can control in your browser. Created by White Vinyl, you can move some of the elements on the page to adjust the volume of various samples.
Bach’s “The Well Tempered Clavier,” Visualized
I was reminded a lot of the Music Animation Machine, and how amazing those visualizations were to see over 11 years ago. I can’t recall specifically whether that project was an inspiration for my attempt at visualization (back when I still used Flash, and Gould” target=”_blank”>animated a Bach piece by Glenn Gould).