More info on Copyright

Ran across an article from an Oneonta, NY newspaper that gives some practical explanations about copyright from a songwriter's perspective. It's short and to the point, and might clear up some confusion.

Copyright links - interesting articles to read

These are link to articles where you can see the effect of copyright. In both of these article you can see the problems some people face because fo copyright - however, they really don't tell you the whole OTHER side of the story (these people are using other people's work, who should get paid)

http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20081106/digital-music-deal-nearly-done-but-web-radio-darling-pandora-not-out-of-the-woods/

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/nov/08/collector-keeps/?partner=RSS


Here's a take on the content owner's side:
http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2008/11/copyright-in-a-free-market/

How Math Unraveled a Beatle's Mystery

One of those "hmmmmm....." things I run across. The Beatle's "Hard Day's Night" starts with a mysterious chord that no one has really figured out.

It took Dalhousie University professor Jason Brown six months and some
advanced mathematical analytical techniques to crack the code

Read about it here

Quite interesting! The article has a sample of the opener, if you don't what this is all about.

Classical/Romantic Test - NOTE

Your score listed in WebCT is based on "out of 81 points".

I'm curving the test - instead, it's out of 72 points.

For example, if WebCT says you scored 66 - instead of 81%, your score is 92%.

I'm going to ask for some feedback on the test in class.

Get ready for the 20th Century - it's a wild ride!

Medieval/Renaissance Notes

Medieval Period
450-1450
Primary music: Chant, Mass
Ordinary vs. proper
Secular, instrumental music in Medieval

Organum = development of Polyphony
Step 1 – second part marched in Lockstep
Step 2 – second part many notes to Chant’s one
Step 3 – add rhythms (measured rhythm, Notre Dame)

New Age (Ars Nova) – Secular music rampant, new rhythms, notation system updated
Music written that DOESN’T use chant as basis
Machaut


Renaissance
1450-1600

Music Characteristics
Word Painting (illustrate text with melody line)
Texture: Polyphonic
A Cappella (“as in church”) – unaccompanied
Syllabic vs. melismatic

Gently flowing Rhythm
Say this phrase:Hail Mary Full of Grace The Lord is with you, serene Virgin.

Music Types
Sacred:
Motet
Mass
Secular:
Madrigal
Instrumental

How to make a living
Church: as a monk. Steady, traditional, high quality.
Court/Patron: higher profile, not much job security. Just beginning to happen in this period.

Youtube Video Links used in class
Short People
Organum
Palestrina Mass
Madrigal: La Guerre
Madrigal: Fair Phyllis

PDQ Bach: Sonata Innomorata

Medieval Music Youtube Links

Notre Dame
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB8gn3ixehk

Other Monks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ8iRv67lVM

Organum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W2-xz0nr9c

Instrumental
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e98MKAP3x7w

Note about the upcoming test

Don't forget to look at the composer of each piece as well as the title, and connect that info with the sound of the piece.

See you next Wednesday AT THE LIBRARY - downstairs, all the way past the stairwell. Lab #1.

Bring something to write with.

..... and your brain!



Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Spring 08 Final Exam notes

The final exam is graded - you should be able to see your grade on WebCT.

I did throw a curve in there - on my gradebook your score is out of 74 instead of 79.

Your final grade should be available on Banner Tuesday noonish, which is the deadline to get grades posted.


Listening:

#1) Hallelujah, by anonymous. A gregorian chant, so it's medieval.
#2) Concerto Grosso, by Zwilich. 20th century, but based on a baroque melody by Handel.
#3) Surprise Symphony, Haydn. Classical era.

Jazz - Preview for Monday, featuring Bill Cosby

We're going to start with Bebop - and here are 2 youtube clips.

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First, Bill Cosby being interviewed on a talk show in 1973. He's talking about playing Bebop (though he never says that).

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... and Wynton Marsalis playing the tune Cosby talks about: Cherokee

20th Century music........and the Class Piece

Click the title of this article to hear the results of our composition the other day. (You can also hear last Spring's version - but the audio quality is not nearly as good.)

So what TYPE of 20th century piece is it an example of... Quotation music? Expressionism?

Hmmm.......

Don't forget that copyright questions will be on the test, and that there is a study sheet linked down there on the right sidebar.

Is This Music?

Is This Music?

More about Synthesis

The text mentions "modular synthesizers" ; here's a vid of a college student who demos one. Watch all the stuff he has to plug in to make a sound.

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Electronic Music - Notes & Vids

1. We'll listen to a bit more of the Varese piece Monday - but I wanted you to take a listen to some other stuff. Using Electronics to make music is fairly old by now - CLICK HERE to read about the 1897 Cahill Telharmoium (all 200 tons of it - it took 36 boxcars to transport). So the idea of using electronic gizmos to produce music is nothing new.
2. Ever heard of the "Hammond Organ"? You've definitely heard the sound - it's also electronic, and can be called the first commercially available sysnthesizer. (But they called it an organ because an organ would - but a "synthesizer" no one would buy.
3. Another electronic instrument - the Theremin - is the only instrument you don't touch. It's electronic, and has been used all over. Here's a BBC story about the Theremin:
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. ....and here's another performance of an artist playing a Debussy piece on the Theremin:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Watch this one, and look at how the experiments of the last century have produced something that you hear every day.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. ..and finally, an interview on "ScreenSavers" with Dr. Robert Moog, who took all the stuff the electronic musicians were doing and put it in a small, portable, easily usable (relatively speaking) case. He also demos a Theremin that the company makes.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Studying for the Classical/Romantic test

1) You can now access the powerpoints that come with the test. Login to WebCT, click on the Classical or Romantic organizer pages. (Thanks to the person who let me know there was a problem!)

2) Check out the study sheets here on the blog - links are on the right sidebar.

3) Listening - you should have been listening to the CDs and getting them in your head well before now. Well, better to start late than not at all - trust me on this. Listening will come from the Classical and Romantic eras.

Standard answer to "How many questions are there on the test?" still applies.

(Between 1 and 10,000).

Note about Beethoven

Something for today's class: from the Wall Street Journal, Fri 3/8/08 Edition, Page W14:

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Recapturing the Excitement of Beethoven
Mikhail Pletnev Makes the Symphonies Sound New Again
By GREG SANDOW

When Beethoven's symphonies were first performed, there was sometimes wild enthusiasm. "The listeners could scarcely restrain themselves," said an early Beethoven biographer, talking about the premiere of the Ninth Symphony, where the audience burst into applause right in the middle of the music.

And later, when the symphonies began to be played regularly, everybody knew that something special was happening. People in the audience would cry out with "wonderment and joy," as one observer wrote. When "a violin passage [in the Fifth Symphony] ripped down from the highest notes of the orchestra to the lowest . . . the orchestra entered into a community with the public, they exchanged glances."

This of course doesn't happen in our time, when surely there's a Beethoven symphony played somewhere at every hour of every day. And not just because the etiquette of the classical concert hall forbids those wild reactions. We know these pieces now, and they're not likely to surprise us. We're used to them.

And yet . . . isn't something missing? Isn't shock and surprise -- and wild excitement -- built into Beethoven's DNA? In the Fifth Symphony, there's something just about unprecedented, at least for any listener in Beethoven's time. The third movement, dark, uneasy (and full of goblins, as E.M. Forster memorably wrote), can't bring itself to end. It collapses into tense and almost formless expectation, out of which the last movement explodes like a long-awaited burst of light. Nobody had connected movements of a symphony before, and certainly never with such drama. Audiences in the 19th century understood how new this was and would lose control, erupting with spontaneous applause.

..........

Something we'll discuss in class in the future (cool!)

Free tickets to events: The College Town Series

Click HERE for an entry regarding the CollegeTown Voucher - your student activities fees at work!

Studying for the upcoming test - A suggestion

The test will cover the first three eras in teh book: Medieval/Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque.

Outlining the chapter is a good idea. Pay special attention to the musical characteristics of the music of the era, what types of music there were (i.e. Ren. = mass, motet, madrigal) and their definitions, and how musicians made a living.

Another good study aid is the powerpoint presentations stashed on WebCT. Log in, and click the "folder" for the period. You'll see a link to the presentation. Sadly, it works best in Internet Explorer on Windows, but IS functional on the other browsers & platforms.

Yet another resource is the textbook website. There's a link on the syllabus.

If you have questions, shoot me an email, or ask in class. Check webct for my email addresses.

Elements Test Study suggestions (12/11 update)

Music Instrument Production

Antiqua Winds Factory (woodwinds)

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Some suggestions for studying

1. Look at all the elements of music discussed in class and in the text. Make sure you know the definitions.

2. Anything that is bolded or underlined, make sure you know what it is (terms, for example).

3. Instruments - what instrument is in what family of the orchestra. Single reed vs. double reed. Get an idea of the top to bottom order of instruments in a family (i.e. for strings top-to-bottom order is violin - viola - cello - bass). Don't forget that the Voice is an instrument as well!

4. Listening - as you listen, make sure you have an idea of what makes that piece unique. For example, the Chopin piano prelude is (duh) piano by itself. The jazz piece has a unique sound in this set. The Britten piece has that primary melody that is repeated a whole bunch.

5. The listening section is matching (piece #1 is title A). I'll be playing about 60 seconds of each.

6. The textbook table of contents is a great way to get your thoughts organized. So are the in-class powerpoints, available on WebCT

7. The test will come from BOTH the text AND your notes.