Concerts

1. The Temper Trap- Silver Spring, MD at The Fillmore
I saw a favorite band of mine called The Temper Trap on October 12, 2012. They are an indie rock band from Australia. I never saw or heard them live before other than from what I saw on youtube videos online. I was very surprised how good they were when they performed. The show was high energy all throughout the setlist. Most people in the audience reacted excited and seemed to know most of all their songs. The best part for me was when the played a newer song called "Rabbit Hole" which starts with the lead singer Dougie on solo guitar for the first half of the song. It was really cool once the full band kicked in during the songs climax. The band members also had great chemistry playing together. I would definitely see them play live again!

2. The Danvilles
I befriended the drummer of an underground band I like called The Dustys. He is also the drummer for another band called the The Danvilles and invited me to come to a show at the DC9 Club in October. The Danvilles opened for a rock n roll band called The Turbo Fruits whom I did not enjoy much. The Danvilles play modern rock music with heavy influences in rockabily, surf, and blues. The lead singer Mike Hindert is also the bass player for a band called The Bravery. The show was on a Tuesday night and wasn't very crowded at all. The Danvilles played a good set of their songs. They only played for 30 minutes but I enjoyed it. It was interesting to see how a lot of their songs work together in one set even though a lot of them sound different from one another. Later on, I got to meet all the band members. It was a good experience.

Afro-Beat: Fela Kuti and Tony Allen

I have listened to a combination of both Tony Allen and Fela Kuti. One song that stood out to me was “Every Season” by Tony Allen with vocals by Damon Albarn. The song focuses heavily on Allen’s drum rhythms, which follows a difficult time signature. Most of Tony Allen’s music sounds like pop music with a groove influence. It uses a variety of different instruments found in modern rock and found in traditional African music. 

Fela Kuti’s well-known song “Zombie” also stood out to me. It uses a variety of different instruments to carry the melody and rhythm of the song. The singing is also reminiscent of traditional African chanting. “Viva Nigeria” is a song with a good message that uses spoken word along with danceable music in order to influence peace. I noticed that a lot of Afro-beat music influences peace and moral issues along with the happy and uplifting tone of the music. African music has definitely grown as a huge interest of mine after listening to Fela Kuti and Tony Allen.

Miles Davis and John Coltrane

Miles Davis and John Coltrane are both very influential jazz musicians. They have many similarities which includes that they both played trumpet and developed an original sound for jazz music. However, I’ve noticed that they have unique differences. In the tracks I’ve listened to, Mile Davis seems to play much faster and a lot more unpredictably. Examples would be songs like “Lady Bird” and “Out of the Blue”. He seems very improvisational with his melodies of songs. The drums and piano are also very emphasized in his songs focusing much on unique rhythms. There was one song that I liked called “Blue Room” which was slower and different from some of his other songs. He expresses a great amount of emotion in the song.

On the other hand, John Coltrane’s music seemed to focus on all instruments rather than just the trumpet in order to carry on the melody. The trumpet is definitely emphasized the most in his songs though. Also I’ve noticed that most of his music is more relaxing and not as improvisational than Miles Davis’, such as in the songs “Love Supreme” and “My Favorite Things”. I feel like Coltrane’s music focused more on the melody than the rhythm.The rhythm between the drum, bass, and piano is also much simpler. I enjoyed listening to the song “Giant Steps” as it had a very nice trumpet melody that carried the song. It reminded me a lot of how Miles Davis plays, but it seemed more controlled than the way Miles Davis plays the trumpet. Despite their difference in musical style, Miles Davis and John Coltrane are both inspiring and unique musicians in jazz. 

Beethoven Assignment

 5 Moments That Stood Out To Me 

1. Allegro con brio- 4:38-15:15

The melody contains just a single instrument playing softly. It conveys a sad feeling at first but then the main melody comes in with multiple violins. The violins increase intensity with a rise and fall feel that I really like the sound of.

2. Andante con moto- 3:52-4:33

I really enjoy the violins playing the melody together in this part, especially with the pizzicato bass playing along in the background. The piece contains a very quiet and soothing sound in which stood out to me.

3. Allegro III- 4:37 to Allegro IV :02

It begins with picked violin sounds. I really like the sound of the picked strings. Then the violins become quieter and play one long note while another violin plays a melody over top. The melody has a really nice build and leads straight into IV Allegro. I thought it was a great transition.

4. Allegro IV 2:55- 3:20

The notes are played in a fast and intense pace. I think it has a great complex effect as many instruments are playing different notes of the melody all at once. Also, I noticed that at the end near 3:20, it has a very concluding sound that actually made me think that the song was ending at that point.

5. Allegro IV 6:50- 7:20

This part starts with a nice melody of different instruments combining together and almost playing notes back to each other. I like how the violin plays a part and then the high-pitched instrument will play the same notes back. It almost as if the melody is being toss around to different instruments in order to find a place to continue towards.

Interesting part of Beethoven's Life

I find Ludwig van Beethoven's childhood to be very interesting to me, especially regarding his relationship with his father. I would really like to know why his father was so brutal and forceful with him about playing music. Another thing that I found interesting is if his musical skills developed as a result of his father's rigorous teachings, or if he already had the skills to be the prodigy he was without his father's training. I think that his father definitely had a great impact on Beethoven's musical knowledge, but Beethoven must have already had a natural musical mindset in order to compose the pieces he did as a child. He also wouldn't be leaving school to learn music with other teachers if he didn't like music in the first place.

Week 6: Pink Floyd

I have for the first time ever listened to Pink Floyd’s universally acclaimed album “The Dark Side Of The Moon”. One thing that I like is how all the songs fade into one another making the album feel as though it is playing as one whole piece of music.

The album kicks off with “Speak To Me”, which contains many sound effects that are present throughout the entire album over a bass drum pulse. 

“On The Run” features an increased tempo on the hi-hat accompanied by various synth sounds and guitar flanger effect and feedback noises. There is no clear melody within this song. 

“Time” starts with many clock noises, and it contains a metronome type percussion in the beginning of the song. The melody and vocals come in nearly 2 minutes into playtime. I also find the chorus to be very interesting in “Time” as it changes the feel of the song from the verse. 

“The Great Gig In The Sky” starts with piano and includes slide guitar and a bass line. There is a clash of instruments and voice singing done without any lyrics. 

“Money” starts with cash register noises. It has a very prominent bass line. The instruments seems to be in different time signitures. The song also features saxophone and there is a jam of instruments towards the end with guitar solo overdubs.

“Us And Then” features organ sounds along with softly played guitars and drums. This is the only song where I noticed distinct dissonant chords within the melody. Also, it contains two saxophone solos and a delay on the vocals.

“Any Colour You Like” follows the beat of the ending of “Us And Them” and uses synthesizers, bass, and multiple electric guitars simultaneously. There are no vocals on this song.

“Brain Damage” features a hi-hat comprised tempo along with picked guitar chords, vocals, organs, and drums. Backing choral voices make the sound fuller during the chorus parts. There was a laughing sound that was present throughout the album and the vocalist addresses that laughter as a “lunatic in my head”. The song closes with the lyrics “Dark side of the moon” and ends with synths, guitar, and the same hi-hat as in the beginning with talking voices and the laughter.

The last track “Eclipse” begins strong with drums, bass, and organs in the forefront as vocals come in quickly. The melody becomes intense with guitar overdubs, strong backing voices, and simultaneous singing of the lyrics. The melody ends early and a fading bass drum pulse brings an end to this amazing album by Pink Floyd.

Week 5: Grateful Dead

This week I have listened to the 1960's psychedelic rock band Grateful Dead. Psychedelic rock music intrigues me as I really enjoy listen to music that creates an atmospheric feel and "overloads the senses". Grateful Dead's songs mostly consist of acoustic guitars, drums, bass, organs, and a heavy amount of electric guitar overdubs. The lyrics of the songs are mostly about psychedelic subjects such as drugs and imaginative imagery, such as in "Casey Jones", "If I Had The World To Give" and "Box of Rain". I enjoyed the song "Touch of Grey" which contains a very simple melody with acoustic guitar rhythms in the forefront and the catchy sing-a-long of "We will get by" at the end. The song "Friend Of The Devil" is also very similar song that uses the acoustic guitar to create the main melody with vocals. I like how the song stops without an ending to provide an artistic insight to the lyrics. Some songs, such as "Truckin" and "Caution" sounded influenced from blues music through the playing style of singing and guitar and walking bass guitar. I found the song "Caution" to be interesting as it portrayed the sensory overload of instrumentation that psychedelic music conveys. Throughout the ending, Grateful Dead manipulates the distortion of the guitar to overdub a variety of different sounds. In "That's It For The Other One" the band does the same thing at the end of the song, but also uses random piano, keyboard, and percussion sounds to create the psychedelic effect. "Serengetti" was a favorite of mine and it only contained a stylistic overdubbing of different drum sounds and xylophones. Grateful Dead was a very creative band and set the foundation as one of the greatest psychedelic rock bands.

Song List

Casey Jones
Touch Of Grey
Friend Of A Devil
Truckin'
Uncle John's Band
Box Of Rain
Ripple
Sugar Magnolia
Caution
That's It For The Other One
Serengetti
If I Had The World To Give

Week 4: The Beach Boys

For my third week, I have listened to music by the Beach Boys. I never listened to many Beach Boys songs before this week. They are actually a very unique band as they possess a sound that no other band has. Many of the songs have various instrumentations and vocal harmonies. The songs “God Only Knows”, “Surfer Girl” and “Wonderful” are examples on how the Beach Boys use vocal harmonies with multiple singers. “Our Prayer” was one song that was basically all vocal harmonies. The harmonies switch between consonant and dissonant throughout each song, such as “You Still Believe In Me” and “Barbie”. Many of the songs with vocal harmonies also contain many leaps between notes. However, there are songs where the Beach Boys define their surfer sound, such as in the pop melodies “Fun, Fun, Fun”, “Drive- In”, “Karate”, “Sail On, Sailor” and “Catch A Wave”. I found that The Beach Boys use many bluesy bass lines, electric guitar solos, and repeating melodies. In addition, the song “Barbara Ann” has one of the most catchiest hooks I’ve heard in a long time. I enjoyed listening to the Beach Boys and becoming familiar with their songs.

Week 3: Blues

This week I have been listening to Muddy Waters. I never heard much of Muddy Water’s music before this week, but I have known that he is a well-respected blues musician from the 1940s to 1950s. 

The instrumentation in his songs mostly consists of guitar, bass, drums, piano, and harmonica. In the songs “Mannish Boy” and “Hoochie Coochie Man”, I’ve noticed that Waters’ incorporates stop time and repeated chords throughout. Songs, such as “I’m Ready”, contained a sixteen bar structure as the melody. Furthermore, Muddy uses the harmonica, piano, and acoustic guitar to harmonize in most songs, such as “They Call Me Muddy Waters”, “Don’t Get No Further, and “Stuff You Gotta Watch”. I’ve heard that the guitar and harmonica harmonies also create dissonance in which makes the melody more interesting to listen to like in "Rollin' And Tumblin'" and "Got My Mojo Working". The songs “Louisiana Blues” and “Rollin’ Stone” only contain Muddy Waters’ vocals and a strummed, slightly distorted electric guitar, which gives a more emotional effect. Muddy always sings of provocative subjects involving love in each song, which was very different in the 1950s. Part of his vocal technique is to emphasize certain words by singing them louder like in "I Can't Be Satisfied". It gives nice crescendos throughout the songs. I’ve also noticed that he uses slang such as in "Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had", which might have not been popular among people during his time. 

I believe Muddy Waters was a very original and aspiring blues artist of his time and I have enjoyed listening to his music.

Song list:

Mannish Boy

Mean Disposition

Rollin' Stone

I'm Ready

Jitterbug Blues

I Can't Be Satisfied

Louisiana Blues

Hoochie Coochie Man

Mean Mistreater

Don't Get No Further

They Call Me Muddy Waters

Rollin' And Tumblin'

Mean Red Spider

You're Gonna Need My Help

Canary Bird

Stuff You Gotta Watch

You Gonna Miss Me

Got My Mojo Working

Evan's Shuffle

Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had

Specific Instrument Listening: Violin

For this week I chose to listen to an hour’s worth of songs by musician Andrew Bird. Andrew Bird’s music emphasizes a great deal on various violin techniques. One thing I noticed is that Andrew Bird will use the violin much like a musician would use a guitar in recordings. Many songs, such as “The Happy Birthday Song” and “Skin Is, My” consist of the melody being created by a pizzicato violin early into the song. Usually, Bird will then loop the main melody, and over-dub it with more pizzicato playing or classic violin playing with a bow. The best examples would be in the songs “Anonanimal” and “Desperation Breeds”. The end result is a very complex, but soothing harmonization of multiple violin tracks.

In some songs however, violin will only be present in the back of the recording creating harmony until either a chorus or an instrumental break down occurs, such as in the song “Souverian”. Bird’s pizzicato playing is present throughout every song, almost as a percussive instrument plucking the rhythm. In addition, Bird will strum the violin throughout the song, as one would do with a guitar, such as in the song “Orpheo Looks Back”. Andrew Bird is also known for whistling in his songs along with the same notes as the violin, which can be heard throughout the song “A Nervous Tick Of Motion of The Head To The Left”. No matter which technique he uses, violin is the main focus in every song I have listened to by him. Andrew Bird is a very clever and creative musician of our time and I respect the ways in which he uses the violin throughout his songs.

-Lou Fatato

Listening: Week 1

I have been listening to an hour’s worth of music by the bands Blur and Radiohead. Both bands originated during the late 80s and early 90s. Blur’s early songs that I have listened to, such as “Stereotypes” and “Girls and Boys”, are light, pop heavy songs as Blur developed the era of Brit-pop. Blur’s songs usually consist of pop horns and electric guitar to drive the song. In the late 90s, Blur developed a darker sound in which songs consisted more of various overlapping tones and heavy guitar playing. This sound lead me to listen to the band Radiohead as they have a sound that resembled Blur’s later work. I listened to most of Radiohead’s album “Kid A”. The song “Everything In Its Right Place” utilized electronic tones and clippings of vocal phases to piece together the melody, which I found to be very interesting. Another part I liked was during the song “How To Disappear Completely” was how the string arrangements dropped pitch in the middle of the song. It gave the song a feeling of confusion and madness in which lead singer Thom Yorke was trying convey. From what I’ve listened to, both Blur and Radiohead have originated some of the most creative alternative rock songs I have ever heard.