Week 4 Comment

Hello Reilly,

Looking at this post the first thing i did when i was done was to go and do a little bit more research and listen to Joey Beltram. That is what this post did most for me, you really conveyed the message that this is someone not only influences other people but is obviously an influence on you as a musician. This post really gets you excited about this Beltram and electronic music. The only criticism that I have for you is to maybe talk a little bit more about his legacy or who is influenced by him besides Daft Punk. Other than that the only thing O have to say is to keep up the great work and i look forward to reading more posts.

Sincerely,
Steve Campagna

Independent Research

            For the independent research post I chose an innovation of technology that as an audio professional use daily. The modern DAW software multi track recorders are what I’m talking about. DAW software has really opened a lot of doors as far as home recording and popular music. As before where you had to go to a studio to get any type of recording done, now you can just buy software and you don’t have to pay for things like tape and a multi-track recorder. Its impact on popular music can also be seen by the sheer amount of processing that can be done with digital signals. As before where a studio would have to buy many rack units and gear now they can just simply download some plugins and they’re ready to use right at your fingertips. With this new amount of processing you can change the sound a lot more then before to create all new sounds not previously available. A characteristic of the innovation that is really the selling point on this one is the low cost of purchase. You can buy software that is anywhere from completely free to about a thousand dollars. Which is almost nothing compared to buying recording equipment before DAWs where implemented. A DAW is a one-time purchase but recording to tape requires the user to get tape and possible pay to fix it when it breaks. Software you can just simply re-install and it will be fixed. Another characteristic that really makes DAWs stand out as one of the greatest technological advances for recording is that you can simply record many, many more tracks you could previously. This opens many more doors as far as arrangements go because you can have well over 200 tracks for one session. This makes it possible to get many more instruments and drums and allows for a more rich and full production to a song. Also you can have all your sounds neatly organized if you are doing post for movies because they can use upwards of 500 tracks on a feature. With sound design you can also neatly trim your sounds and process them all with a nice visual to make everything nice and clear. As a listener this makes almost no difference that you would be able to hear except that you are now able to make all the sounds that you hear in modern music much easier. As a profession this is of the greatest things that has come out. It makes my life so much easier because I now can practice mixing and recording at my house and I don’t have to have that much gear. I can also now do home recordings for friends and clients much easier and don’t have to worry about buying tape or the machine breaking down while I’m recording.   

Where electronic music starts

The person that I chose to write about has had a huge effect on early electronic music and especially experimental electronic music. Karlheinz Stockhausen is one of the composers that almost every sixties and seventies electronic musician was influenced by. Stockhausen was a German avante garde composer who wanted to redefine music to something that people had never heard before both sonically and composition wise. One of the biggest influences on modern electronic music; kraftwerk cites Stockhausen as one of the primary inspirations for their music. When you listen to some of his music you can definitely tell that a lot of people making ambience music or soundscapes were influenced by Stockhausen. His music seems to have no beat or any type of organization or themes yet when you listen to it it still makes sense and most of all it sounds good. It is his compositions that I feel really let to influence people on those ideas. Another thing about Stockhausen that really influenced people I think is just his mentality about music in general. He clearly isn’t looking to make something that is going to sell a lot of records. They might sell today but he was making them in the sixties and seventies. Hi mentality was much more that of someone who is experimenting and trying to do something innovative. This I think inspired musicians after him to be able to take what he did and then add more musical components to it to create things that people actually will buy. I consider Stockhausen’s music to more art than music for the reason that there is no theme or motif or really any elements of music besides the sounds. As a listener the impression he leaves on me really is that his music is just something to put on in the background. There really isn’t anything that makes these songs amazing. His actual compositions on the other hand I think are great. As an audio professional I can hear him when I listen to a lot of electronic music and I wouldn’t have thought that by just hearing it without hearing Stockhausen. 

Kraftwerk

            The music of Kraftwerk was not something that I though I would not like beforehand but was greatly surprised that while I was listening to it I found that I really enjoyed it. The only thing I really though was lacking in the whole song was the lyrics. The lyrics were extremely simplistic and really said nothing other than the obvious that yes it is fun to drive on the autobahn. The do however provide the rhythmic motif for most of the song. The composition is really where this group shines. They take you through these long composed pieces that seems to take you somewhere hen you listen to it yet always keeping the same motif of the lyrics. Another thing about Kraftwerk that is pretty remable is that the time in which they were making music. They sound nothing like other popular music of the early seventies. They were definitely more about making art then they were about making money and it shows in their music.

The release of autobahn is both what propelled Kraftwerk into success and changed the direction of their musical career. They get newer technology that gives them the ability to make more complex and in my opinion much better music. Autobahn also gave them an international fan base, which then led to them being able to also go on extended tours. Autobahn also gave then an all-new musical direction then they were previously. Prior to 1974 kraftwerk was much more experimental and less musically structured than they were afterward. But it seems that they grew more as musicians on autobahn and later.

Kraftwerk had a great influence on electronic music made after them. I think this is due to two things. The first being that they did an amazing job at recreating all the instruments that were not actual instruments. The bass sounds like a bass and you can hear other recognizable rhythm elements. The next being that they were one of the first to compose using mostly electronic instruments and they were really one of the very first to have commercial success doing it.  They were able to blend elements from many different styles and use of modern technology to make something that people would actually listen to.

As a listener I would say that the impression that Kraftwerk left on me was that theses people sound so ahead of their time as far as electronic music goes. I found they’re music to be a lot better than I expected it to be, the lyric again weren’t the best but I thought the instrumentation was great. As an audio professional I get the impression that kraftwerk must have known a lot about synthesis and the way electronics work for the time when they started. In most other kinds of music they really don’t use too much electronic instruments except for pianos and synth in bands. 

Reilly Parsons Blog Review

Reilly,

            Your post about the Velvet Underground and Nico was pretty great overall. I really like the descriptive words you use to describe their sound. Your paragraphs are really “beefy” and contain quite a lot of information and explain exactly what was required to write. I like how you are not afraid to say that it was not an influence on you and point out its flaws. I think if there is anything else you might do it is to go more in depth on the impact Andy Warhol had on the band. You could give a little bit more information on the multimedia experience that Warhol brought to the scene.

            Again overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog and the other posts were just as awesome. Keep up the good work man!