Personal Blah Blah

So I was pretty depressed today. Why? I am no good at Spanish and have a test tomorrow, I am wasting time in Advanced Computers (apparently a project without a due date can be late) because I'm not motivated by competition, creativity, subject interest, or a deadline...I'm going to live by myself in Boston in a couple of years at an intimidating college that charges $30,000 and doesn't get academic scholarships (I got a 32 on the ACT, I was leaning pretty heavily on a scholarship) my mom is annoying and never agrees with me, I want to do a song for an English project with Kyle and Joe but don't really have the time to write it (we'll only get one day to record at Liv's house, and that's assuming I finish my dumb project on tables tomorrow in Avd. Comp.), I don't know how to be depressed without calling attention to myself (but bottling things up is bad; I just hate being pathetic and having people baby me), I have not liked Gym class in weeks (I have this sudden urge to get in shape that I have no time to pursue outside of gym, where we no longer really exercise), I still have a missing assignment in English, I haven't finished my Bible project due tomorrow yet, I am blogging like some pitiful emo scum, my awesome girlfriend tries hard to cheer me up and I can't give her the satisfaction of victory, I have to answer questions all day because I'm acting differently (lethargic, apathetic, sluggish). Something about me: I tend to broadcast my emotions. If I'm happy or mad or depressed, everyone around me can tell. I just don't have a poker face I guess, and hiding them is dishonest I think. Man, my writing skills go down the tubes sometimes. My mom grounded me from church today. I always had to go to church when I got grounded before! "This is extracurricular." Well, now I have to call the worship leader and tell him I can't make it, on short notice. Then I'll get questions next week from the congregents. And I knkw that I'll probably lie. Do you know how that feels? I know that I'll probably lie to them to save face, but I can't resolve to tell the truth. And I call myself an honest person, or even a Christian? Man, this sucks. And why am I even showing this to people? Nobody will get this far anyway. Am I just attention starved? No, this is an explanation. So when I tell Mom that's it's selfish to ground me from church, because other people are affected, she says, "I think you're overestimating your value. Besides, you should have thought of that before you slacked off in Computers." Those have got to be the two most stupid sentences I've heard in a long time. First of all, who says that to their kid? "You don't matter." Just don't even bother showing up next week. In fact, kill yourself, because you're worthless. Oh yeah, and I completely thought, "I better get cracking on my work, because otherwise my mom won't let me go to church." What is this, the Dark Ages? Oh wait, people there went to church because they sinned. I didn't even think I was doing anything wrong. I have no due date. C'mon, is it really such a big deal? So I went in my room, listened to some songs, then took a nap. My mom left for work, and I have to stay home and write a song. Oh yeah, "why do all your projects have to be songs?" It's what I'm good at, the only thing I'm good at!!!! The only thing that I really like doing, the thing that makes me feel like a person and not a failure. The only thing I can be a leader at, excel at. Blah blah, I'm sick of bellyaching. Blah blah blah blah, none of this matters to you. You just clicked the link and didn't know what you were in for. By the way, don't expect me to give you some insight or props or anything if you talk to me in person. Yeah, whatever.

Everything is meaningless

What's the point of music? What's the point of all these millions of people learning, working, and obsessing about things that don't even matter that much? When I write music, just like most professionals, I deliberate, consider and hone every line, harmony, chord, melody, rhythm, tone, and structure. But why? Music isn't art in our culture anymore; it's entertainment. People don't care about the thousands of no-name artists who try to make something they feel strong about, just the formulaic garbage force-fed to them like sheep by the media. It doesn't matter how hard you work on something; people will just throw it away and conform. Why should I learn to perfect my craft? People don't care. It's not going to make a difference in the world. If it's entertainment, it's a temporal waste of time. But I want to make my career out of this! It's the only thing I can be good at! But it doesn't matter, because people don't want to listen to your artistic expression. It's a distraction from real life, what really matters. It's just a temporary cure for escapism, not worth more than a few minutes a day and especially unworthy of critical perception. What if I want to make the music how I want it, and who cares about any standards you might have? Well then I will have fun being a poor loner who nobody likes. Who wants to dedicate their lives to being able to form a distraction? Sure, music gives people emotions, but so does everything else. It's not worth it all just to give people emotions. As far as giving God the glory: there are too many other songs out there. I'm too naive to write some compelling piece searching the depths of God's heart; I'm just not good enough and too immature. But why do I have this desire? There must be some way that I can honor God and somehow give my life a little meaning. Right now it seems like I'm a big bag of juices walking on this big ol' world, just a huge waste of good food. If music really is meaningless, I'm screwed, because I have so little proficiency at anything else, and nothing else makes me happy. Not just a temporal giddyness, but happiness that's strong and true, throbbing and enduring in my heart. Maybe I'm describing the joy that comes through doing the Lord's will for me. Thing is, that is so hard to tell! Like really, who cares about the band I'll form? Who will listen? Will anybody like it who doesn't know me? How will I support myself, let alone a family? Is this what my life is for? Am I capable of actually doing a good thing? God I need your help!!!!

Progressive Rock Keyboardists

My friend Livingston and I have been going back and forth on this- who is the better keyboardist, Rick Wakeman of Yes or Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater? We both were strong advocates of our favorite bands, and exchanged links on youtube.
Rick Wakeman video
Jordan Rudess video
What do you think?

Song Quotes

So we all know that Keith Emerson from ELP used classical songs all the time, and that "Octavarium" by Dream Theater quotes Jingle Bells, but I just discovered that "Only Ash Remains," an intensely difficult song by a German technical death metal outfit called Necrophagist, contains a part from the Romeo and Juliet Suite by Prokofiev. How do I know? I played it in the Christmas concert with the Orchestra I'm in!!! I was disappointed to learn that someone had already spotted it and put it on Wikipedia. I wonder how many metalheads would've gotten that reference! Also, around 6:30 of "What if God Is Alone" by the Flower Kings, I can hear, very faintly, the "Close to the Edge" theme by Yes being played by the guitar. Now that's aweome! That's a tasteful and tributary (like paying tribute, not like a river) quotation, not like Coldplay ripping off a Joe Sartiani lick and getting a Grammy for it. When I write music, I sometimes throw in an allusion to a band or song - for example, if the lyrics are talking about a raven, I'll play something in the style of Nevermore or actually use one of their lines. Not many people will get it. Jazz artists do this while improvising to get the audience's attention, or if they're out of ideas.

I invite you to read all of my posts from the past!!

More Concrete Prophet

OK, this song was posted on Feb. 3, and I am the fifty-fourth viewer. Here is the youtube link. A video of the doubleplusgood drum tracking in the studio was recently posted, but I thought I'd review the whole song live. I mean, a studio album represents the band's ideal image of themselves within their resources of cash, time and talent, but a live performances reveals the band as they truly are, provided they aren't stupid and use backing vocal, guitar, sampling and keyboard tracks played back live. Anyway, Elegy by Concrete Prophet: an elegy is a song mourning the dead. We learned about this in AP Lit not too long ago. Unlike the last review, I did not watch the video before writing, so here's the song falling upon virgin ears:

0:00 - Clapping and "whoa"ing to rouse up the crowd. Key of Bbm. The crowd cannot keep up with the singer's prowess. Sweet drum part! "Bum bum bah!!" I like it!!

1:00 - Double-time and shredding! I like it! This is some hardcore stuff. I can't hear the pitches too well over the drums, but hey, it's a youtube video.

1:35ish - Sweet bass solo. Almost as cool as "Only Ash Remains" by Necrophagist, although doubtlessly more sensical. Verse! More double-time shredding- this is awesome. Not exactly a depressing funeral dirge, but I guess it's irony. Was that a scream?!?!

1:50- Headbang!! The singer is showing off his versatility. It sounds like the song's in Bm? Maybe the previous song was in Bbm.

2:30 - After another bass solo, it sounds more like F#m.

3:00 - Noooiiice snare part! The singer reaches out with claws of death.... Guitar solo now. Given the style here, I find it disconcerting that he only shreds while tapping. He starts off with melodic lines like perhaps a solo should, but can't build it up any farther with picking!?! Oh well, the solo's really short, anyway. In both these songs, I saw both the fretted guys tap. Maybe it's a motif. Awesome to be sure, but be wary of dependence.

4:00 - Breakdown....almost. Nice break, and contrapuntal bass action. I like the tempo feel here.

4:30 - ....and out with a last bass flourish.

Final Evaluation: I like this song a lot better, because I like metal music. These guys already showed that they can play softer rock, and now bustin' out some metalcore. I wish I could see the lyrics. Overall: 8.5 out of ten. I don't really have anything bad to say about this. Very well done guys, I cannot wait to buy the album. You know what, I take it back - the drumming, although really killer, is not really double-time. It's nowhere power metal speed. Although it's a standard song length with few progressive elements, this song is a nice one. This band really knows what it's doing. That snare-driven fill was too fast for me to get an accurate count, but I think it was 9, then 10, then 9, then 10 with three extra beats of rests. If they had a keyboard player, it'd be time for a dueling solo section while the bass plays that little riff that reminds me a lot of "Dance of Eternity" by Dream Theater. The drummer (from now on known as Brian) could play seven measures of twelve-eight over it. Wow, he actually uses all of his cymbals! I've been watching this new video for the past few minutes, which is the drummer laying down the studio track for this. Man, he's good. My drummer could not do this. The bass tone sounds more trebly in the studio - I liked it live. Great job, Concrete Prophet!

Concrete Prophet- Phreeze Phrame

This is a real-time review of "Freeze Frame" by Concrete Prophet, a really cool progressive rock band. The video can be found here. It took me forever to post this, because it sort of slipped out of my mind I suppose. I will pause the video at certain points and type thoughts. OK, here goes:

0:13 - the opening riff. With a snare hit from the drummer and a declaration of love from the audience, the opening riff is introduced. It consists of four power chords (F#, E, B, A) that contain notes only found in the F#m pentatonic scale. The rhythm is the three-against four polyrhythm found in almost every piece of music. Creative, huh? Once I realized that progressive music was supposed to be creative, I swore off that sure-fire endorphin generator in my songs.
0:20 - Visual aspect of the band: being part of the extended audience, I can form an opinion about the band from its visual appearance. The singer looks powerful, and the guitarist looks like that guy from Two and a Half Men. The bassist is tall, has what appears to be a six-string bass that sounds like John Myung's from Dream Theater.

0:30 - I see the bassist has started playing a nice little high line that sounds like an arpeggio of an A, an E, and a B major chord. There's some harmonic sensibility. The cameraman appears to know the song.

1:00 - The guitarist has been playing a slow tapping thing focusing on the C#m chord, and the drummer's hanging out on what sounds like a rimshot; he starts doing some cool cymbal work. The singer comes in; I can't discern the lyrics or his ability at this time. The bassist stops, the cymbals continue in a subtle example of layering. My favorite kind of layering is by people like Neal Morse and Phil Keaggy-you never actually think "Oh, it's quiet now," because there are no sudden changes. I still can't accomplish that.

1:20 - the bassist now plays a rhythm guitar part- an E chord with an F#m on the pickup. This is starting to reinforce the C#m/E tonality laid down by the guitarist.

1:30 - The bassist plays an A, an E, and an D (chords still- not there's anything wrong with that) and the singer's melody helps remind us of the A key. The singer's volume overall decreased, meaning he overcompensated for the increasing volume of his voice. The bassist taps some inaudible note, complementing the guitar switch from fingerpicking to an actual chord, like with a third and stuff. It looks awkward and possibly just for show. More three-on-four polyrhythms. I like the singer's operatic voice.

2:00 - Back to the verse and ambiguous tonality.

2:30 - The singer is very engaging. The drummer is like, "Yeah, I know what's up."

3:00 - Big chord! Distortion! The singer has fun for a while then the guitarits resumes his tapping, only starts a beat earlier. It sounds pretty cool.

3:10 - The drummer and bassist start rocking out a little. The pattern changes...the singer dances around a little...then some faster tapping! Sounds good. Bassist doing sweet stuff. Head banging! Main riff again!

4:05 - Chorus again! This time, it's intense. Everybody's letting it loose a little. Near the end of the chorus, the bassist and singer are being awesome.

4:30 - Main riff again, little one-beat drum solo, the half-time for a bit. The singer joins in. Lots of applause.

Debriefing: Nice stage presence by everybody. The singer's doing a killer job, he's the AV master. The bassist is doing chords and runs and supporting parts and tapping and the works-I tawt I thaw thome thwapping in the final chorus. The guitarist is like Phil Keaggy or Steve Howe - he knows Howe to shred and Phil up space, but is more musical than that. I did make that up just now. OK, enough adulation, this is what could be better. I can't really see how this is progressive metal- it has one time signature, standard structure, no keyboard player (thus, no dueling solos, although I'm sure the bassist could handle it) and a five-minute length. All-around great job, if you classify it as straight-up rock. Expect more to come.