In our final week we discussed a review of the themes of the course as well as the overarching goals: Did you do the readings and pay attention in class? Can you manage DAW software? Can you think critically and synthetically about working with DAW software? The themes we reviewed were: the problem of attention […]
In Monday’s class we continued the discussion of music transcending boundaries, using the example of the song Watermelon Man, written by Duke Ellington. The path of this song went from Herbie Hancock, to a renovation with Cuban influence by Mongo Santamaria, Johnnie Taylor transitioned it to soul, with a change in tempo to “white music”by […]
Today’s class focused on the final assignment and how to go about completing it. There are two parts to the assignment: a 3-5 minute piece of music and a 5-8 page analysis regarding our decisions and process in developing this piece. We received a short Garage band tutorial on midi files and how they can […]
In week eleven we discussed digital music theory, the influence of Latin music on American popular music, and Stephen Witt’s ‘How Music Got Free’. Monday’s class mentioned how twentieth century American music is originally based in the swing beat (featured in country, blues, jazz, gospel, pop, early rock, etc) which started to fade with the 1960’s […]
This weeks class discussion focused on copyright and ownership, particularly focused on the use of intellectual property in the modern era. According to the assigned articles to read for this week we are rapidly approaching a time when we will be charged or sued for singing the words to “Happy Birthday” due to intellectual property […]
This week the assigned reading and discussion for Monday focused on Wikipedia, as well as the benefits and downsides of using the site as a resource for accurate information. The article assigned was entitled “The Debate Over “Devil’s Triangle” Shows Wikipedia at Its Best,” by Stephen Harrison which focused on the edits on the “Devil’s […]
This week’s discussion focused on digital media and its control over information. The provided powerpoint stated that Cold War military research demanded secrecy and topdown control regarding information exchanged and produced by the United States. As a result there has been a revolution in control over information and in the ways we understand authority. An […]
This weeks topic focused on the connection between migrations throughout the US and the development of musical genres which followed. The primary migration discussed was the movement of Black and White Americans from rural areas to urban cities, typically after the Great Depression for industrial jobs (provided by the ever growing industrial complex). This migration […]
This class began with the sad but painful truth: White people can not clap on beat. Eurotraditional music typically features songs with emphasis on 1 and 3, while New World Beats feature emphasis on 2 and 4. According to the slides New World Beats also feature a third displaced beat and this swing beat has […]
This week’s topic focused heavily on the influence and presence of race in American music throughout history. Professor O’Malley stated that during the 1800’s and 1900’s, and I would argue even today, “American popular culture is strangely integrated in comparison to the distinctly segregated political atmosphere.” According to the lecture, the concept of the Minstrel […]