Noise made me do it

Meet Paramount’s brand new post production facility/team. As an audio engineer, this is the place to be (or a huge NYC studio like Avatar or MSR). The fact of the matter is that when you think of Hollywood, the romantic images of movie sets and backlots come to mind but there are more layers of beautiful scenery when you consider the huge and luxurious facilities that these places offer. Before technicolor, Paramount had post production services but studios like Universal, WB, Sony, and Todd AO really carried the torch in terms of world class Post facilities. However, Paramount just boosted themselves to the forefront of the major motion picture studios with this muscular display of creative capability. What an awesome place to grab an internship at…

If you haven’t heard of Blakroc you’ve probably atleast heard of The Black Keys. We’ve seen rock bands attempt to meld their sound with hip hop in the past: Anthrax and Public Enemy, Linkin Park and Jay z, Limp Bizkit, etc. On the whole, the “rap-metal” genre sounded contrived and created an unattractive aesthetic with these two very divergent forms of aggressive expression simply not mixing well. In fact, I’d argue that the only band to ever succeed at this fusion was Rage Against the Machine; their sound was so unique and well synthesized that it would be unfair to label them under a genre with such a stigma as “rap-metal.” Since Rage, there hasn’t been many attempts to combine hip hop with rock and thankfully so. However, if there were going to be some guys to do it, it would be the Black Keys, given their hard blues grooves and “low down” aesthetic; and that’s what they did. Being the only other band, in my opinion, to successfully combine hard rock with hip hop may be one of the reasons why guitarist, Dan Auerbach, won the grammy for best producer. The end result is a product that doesn’t even sound like a synthesis but rather the way hip hop is supposed to sound. It’s said that hip hop was born from the attitude and flavor of jazz and Blues, and with this album, they’re bringing it back home.

When Latin jazz first burst onto the American music scene from Cuba and Brazil in the 1940’s and 50’s it gave life to a popular culture that had started fading away from the complicated virtuosic leaps of the bebop movement. While Dizzy Gillespie attempted to show his audiences how danceable bebop was, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Gilberto, Chano Pozo, Mongo Santamaria and others in the Latin invasion blended the smooth lines and rich harmonies of American Jazz with the complicated yet danceable rhythms of Cuban and Brazilian music. With such a foundation, the advanced musical ambitions that were being chased by bebop-ers were now available in a popular context. Polyrhythms, polymeter, extreme dynamics, open harmonic stylings for more free improvisation, and an aggressive fast paced aesthetic could all be pursued while the underlying pulse of the clave rhythm kept the audiences moving. Moreover, the soft ballads sung by Luis Bonfa and caressed by the remarkably soft wave of Stan Getz’s lines laid down the new bar for what romantic truly meant.

In the modern context the Latin sound still provides a refreshing departure from the hurried, anxious and competitive NYC onslaught. It has however taken on its own sort of aggression and “difficult-ness” as the rhythms become more complex and the melody parts become more disjunct, a stark contrast to Getz’s warm legato.

David Sanchez knows how to play a ballad but some of his most exciting work comes in the form of tunes like Ay bendito which embraces a very modern sound incorporating odd meters interspersed in more common meters, phrasing with changing syncopated accents, dense harmonic structures, and an ambiguous straight eighths feel.

A question must be asked: What is the motivation that gives form to true art. Is it tragedy, happiness, intellectualism, competition, love? It is our path to overcome the alienation that so often bitters our taste and lengthens the night. It is the abstract emotion that can not be spoken lest it be completely devalued, so fragile that even thought can destroy it but what holds such a bed of inspiration as to stem from an infinite source. Knowledge/preparation/practice are only the first step while the true moment of “necessity” (Wagner) comes through patience as if we were displaying our worthiness to a conscious wellspring. In the fading away of our isolation, tragedy, alienation, violence, jealousy become minuscule while the gap between every person is recognized as erroneous; love is understood. The passing “hello” to every person in the day becomes more meaningful while the true relationships are recognized as sublime miracles of a chaos, an ever blooming singularity.

Slowly becoming aware of the world’s crises has made me appreciate this idea.

Often, there arises an illusory dichotomy when looking at the fine arts versus technology of the modern day. The aesthetics of electronic dance music and the total control or seeming perfection that the recording studio offers to pop music is seen as a paradigm which is wholly separate from the great Romantic composers or the flowing lines of Charlie Parker’s bebop. Digital sampling and processors such as autotune has made the legitimacy of every pop vocal suspect. However, there are those who understand the use of technology in its most utilitarian form. Their perspective places thought and philosophy as the underlying inspiration for their work while they pursue advanced skills in both the technological arena and the tangible creations that only their hands can mould. Peter Neubacker, the creator of the popular pitch/time/amplitude editing software Melodyne, is a uniquely skilled individual who not only commands a mastery of computer coding but speaks eloquently about the over arching and spiritual ideologies that inspire his work. His multidisciplinary lifestyle includes the study of music, mathematics, coding, and instrument construction in the classic renaissance-man fashion. For Neubacker, his laptop fits right in among the many classic writings on musical ratios and the inherent spiritual nature of art. His personality is reminiscent of a monk and his home gives the impression of a being a synthesis of studio, workshop, and monastery. In this video Neubacker logicizes the notion that music results from the relationship between nothingness and infinity after explaining the ancient concept that music is also something which exists regardless of sound. Such musings are a refreshing perspective in an industry which focuses almost exclusively on material image and an ambitious ladder climbing industry.

Blues music has always been understood to be a genre that does not strive for perfection in any of its elements. However, a more true statement would be that in the artists’ attempt to convey their angst and humanity, they explore and expand on the imperfections and homely nature of their position. There is no need for wide sweeping and lofty statements about the human condition as they themselves are the case, the example. The virtuosity is twisted by untuned instruments and a heavy handed approach that resembles the chopping of wood but what results is a stark truthfulness that only comes from strength of manhood. Whether it is a drum that refuses to lock up with the guitar, a raspy moan of a voice, sporadic clapping to a nonexistent pulse or the sound of a guitar as an atonal cacophony, there exists a stoic attitude at the core. In its darkness, blues music provides an exposed look into our humanity.

Within the institution of the University there exists a very complex and changing attitude that attempts to deal with the relation between musical complexity/intellectualism and visceral displays of self. How does the notion of songwriting compare to the discipline of art music or contemporary composition? Quite simply, songwriting is a community activity in that its necessity lies in the very direct and tangible affect it has on the group. The expression that it deals in can be very abstract or focused on daily activity, but its purpose is always towards personal and group connection. In contrast, the symphony, the string quartet, the improvisational medium, etc. are ultimately a group of disciplines meant for self exploration. Their welcome is reserved for those who pursue it and their concentration on the various mechanisms of form creates an environment that easily distracts the young student from more tangible and popular forms of music, leading to nothing more than a sort of fiddling with the tools of the musical trade.

To put it plainly, the “classical arts” are an idiom which requires a very extensive repertoire and high level of technical ability before the performer’s artistry is spoken through the compositional medium in which they are performing. The same could be said of traditional jazz. The university is not an inherently creative structure and has no active place in the developing arts but to inform new musicians through the teaching of structured and studied idioms. At its greatest height the college atmosphere provides advanced tools, and through personal inspiration of the professors and student atmosphere, encourages creativity while simultaneously being critical of new formats. In its starkest and most true form the conservatory is comparable to a fancy tree house that instructs “Keep Out. Prodigies Only.” It is in fact this very attitude that great musicians and champions of the “Classical” genre, such as Glenn Gould, have rejected. It is an attitude which rejects community and supports notions of hierarchy and structure while boasting traditionalism over experimentalism.

With a popular consumerist music culture built off of the entertainment/beauty industry, the strongholds of music’s advanced studies are rather expected to turn their nose up to less lofty expressions. So the question must be asked, “where is the potential of music most rightly pointed if not towards entertainment or towards academic study?” Well, it would be foolish to completely reject popularism and academia due to the necessity of their opposing extremes. Though, they must be seen as blocks in the construction of something most important to our global experience: community. With the correct application of entertainment and intellectualism we serve to synthesize their  strengths while curbing the great weakness of both extremes: ego.

Recently, within the past week, I decided to dive into an album which I had little experience with. Although I’ve watched a couple Christian Scott interviews and a handful of his performances on youtube, I really hadn’t sat down to explore either of the two albums I have from him sitting on my desktop. Lingering on campus with a coffee and an open feeling, the one song that I knew him for, “Isadora,” came onto my headphones. So, starting from the beginning I jumped into Scott’s second latest album, Yesterday You Said Tomorrow. Now, usually I tend to muse on the importance of modern jazz and its turn towards fusion styling as a crucial step in the survival of it as a growing artform; especially, in relation to the traditionalist view of jazz held by many academics. However, I’ll skip that discourse and go straight into the importance of the record as its own important piece of art. While Christian Scott has displayed heavy use of fusion elements (funk, rock, distorted guitars) in previous recordings, this album is refreshingly introspective. That is not to say that it lacks accessibility, but that it is warmly personal. There is so much space on this album that it practically invites the listener into the room, and the whispering quality of Christian’s horn is a detailed contrast to the live and brooding sound of the rhythm section. What is important is that the emotion that comes from listening to it feels truly crucial to the current moment. There is no struggle or any amount of work necessary to fall into the lines of their music, but yet, you appreciate everything these guys say because it truly means something. Starting with the epic and frantic K.K.P.D. and moving to the inspiring and contemplative “The Eraser,” they let you listener know that you’re listening to something special. Moving onto “Isadora” and “Angola, LA & the 13th Amendment,” they bring the perspective even deeper, exploring something profoundly personal and moving. Nearing the end of the album, you’ll encounter one of the more outwardly driving songs “Jenacide.” In all truthfulness, the last couple of songs on the record aren’t the strongest but they do hold something special, so I hope that these tunes eventually start to bloom for me. Overall, this album has the ability to have a large impact on anyone who gives it sincere attention.The emotion is as rich and complex as the delta blues but with a sound/aesthetic that is vastly exploratory and unique. Pick this album up and take some time with it.