Category: Music Monday

Music Monday: A little late but better than never

Anybody like to guess what kind of day I’ve had?

Why that’s right: A Monday!

In Closing: freakin H-1B visas; anybody really shocked to learn this?; limes; open source seeds; bad idea retracted (hello did anybody think this through at all?); interesting idea (although I’d just as soon see one set of massive third party debates — let them all air their crazy and not-so-crazy ideas!); yeah, probably ought to declare a mistrial since the defendant died; job creation; I’d sooner vote for Chelsea; and thank God this man did not become Pope.

Music Monday: Modern Minimalism in March

Last week I introduced everybody to minimalism. Sure, there are “serious” composers doing minimalism, but I think that the dance music community has done a far better job with the genre. Notice the small selection of notes used and the repetition of slightly-changed thematic material. Oh yeah, and it doesn’t go on for a half hour:

 

In Closing: do you really think almost half of black preschoolers do things that warrant a suspension?; drug resistant bacteria are a problem; TPP; happy; random facts; birth control; on minimum wage, you can’t afford to live indoors; those damned tests; and marriage.

Music Monday: Minimalism in March

 

The first half of the 20th century saw the development of atonal music — music with no “main note” you could hang your ear on as the center. Needless to say, it’s hard to compose something atonal that still has something cohesive going on, which lead to the development of serialism, a type of atonal music where each of the 12 notes of the modern equal temperament scale are played before any are repeated. I will spare you the discussion of how that works.

This was the scene when Terry Riley did something radical: he wrote a piece of tonal music; he used a limited number of notes, repeated often; he structured it to be for any number of instruments and any period of time;  and then he rubbed everyone’s face in the fact by simply calling it In C. It turned out to be one of the top classical music events of the year.

In Closing: clean water is important; a few items on the minimum wage and the living wage; branching out; Common Core; why exactly do we need a pink one?; the finest justice money can buy; police state; and grounded.