Mmm... breakfast. Delicious, right? But you might ask yourself, what's a good breakfast without some ridiculous music to get yourself going while you eat? That's right, it's nothing without some ridiculous music to get yourself going while you eat. And that's why I'm going to give you this quick guide to breakfast music:
Pink Floyd gives us a decent concept to start with, Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast. A time-honored classic, this song gets major points for actually being breakfast-themed. However, for some listeners the sounds of breakfast are too strange and disturbing to actually allow them to keep their breakfast down. Thus, we don't like marmalade, and shall continue our search.
An energetic morning starts with an energetic track. Kellogg's took this idea to heart when they selected Do Your Thing by Basement Jaxx as the music for their Special K commercial last year. But spend enough breakfasts with that in the background, and you'll easily go insane, thinking it's mocking you for eating your breakfast, "Do your thing" implying that you're just off in your own little world. We are not special, so the search moves forward yet again.
For the forward-thinking man, breakfast songs ought to be about eating, and have only a loose connection to it. Skindred has the perfect track for cleaning your plate: for a speedy breakfast and a happy stomach, look no further than Nobody. Crank it up loud, pull out all the stops and shovel that food down your throat! With this song to pump you up for it, you won't leave a single crumb on your plate.
The songs I have posted about all belong under a commonly known genre as techno. I hope that the ~1100 visits this blog received have at least added trance and electronica to your listening genres.
Open yourself up to try new stuff :]
The songs I posted are a few great samples the abstract, relaxing, and uplifting music of the wonderful world of trance. Have fun... blah blah blah... God bless... blah blah blah... all that other farewell stuff blah blah blah... etc.
Like the title suggests, this is the song to listen to when things go wrong. I first discovered this song in a long drive with my friend. I was looking out the window and this song started to play without me knowing. After a few minutes, I found myself bobbing my head and everything. Also, the zooming-by scenery fits perfectly with the style of this song. As a result, this track is not only for the times when the world feels like it's going to end, but it makes a great driving track also.
The repetitiveness of the amazingly addicting melody is not annoying, but I actually want the melody to keep going on full repeat. Combined with a gradual crescendo where the melody, bass line, and other ambients get louder and louder to a climax that reduces the volume and repeats until the end.
Notice the rapidly triplet sounding cymbal taps from the start of the song. It extends throughout the song until it is replaced by crystal like sounds at the end where they are clearly heard. Slowly, the cymbal taps are joined by a simple crystal like melody until the main melody comes in. Like all of my favorite songs, this song does not start with a drum beat, but instead everything fades in gently. The main melody is a hovering sound that sounds very grand and elicits a sense of serenity. The song breezily blows you up and forward. By the end, you will be both physically or mentally ready to move on from whatever stress that knocked you down.
This is the only music video on youtube that is not ruined by a poorly done video consisting of cartoon or anime clips.
Its been several years now since I first heard this song. I heard it under the name "RAVE TECHNO HOUSE - Matrix II Trance Mix" as it is titled in this clip. Like most favorite songs, I decided to look for the remixes, but no luck because that is not the real title of this song. After some searching I found out that it is actually a song by The Cynic Project called "Grid (Trance Remix)". Naturally, after discovering the artist, I went ahead and obtained a copies of their albums. Many people claimed that they have heard it in shows such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and in the movie "The Matrix" that's why it was improperly named. I can tell you that those claims are false as this track is has not been on television nor in a movie.
A little background... The Cynic Project was started in 1999 whose music predominantly progressive trance with extremely relaxing and spirit lifting melodies that you just won't get tired of. In the fall of 2007, The Cynic Project released a free album available for download called "Soundscapes 2000". "Grid (Trance Remix)" sits comfortably at track number 3 where most of the following tracks are extremely good dance tunes and progressive relaxants. It will be a hard task to find a copy of the album right now, but good luck with that anyways! You can try your luck on various P2P softwares, but beware... there may be booby traps and viruses in the files.
From the beginning to the end, this song is mixed flawlessly. When you first hear the song, the catchy and 'different' beat makes the listener want to keep going to see what else is in stock. Unlike many trance songs nowadays where it starts off with a heavy 4-4 drum beat and bass line, this song fires off with a simple melody as the intro. When the body is done being introduced by the piano, everything from there is a blissful sedative. The melody in the body that sounds like a high pitched hovering sound is comforting because of its fluidness and the range from one note to the next is not too far apart. At the breaks where a xylophone sounding instrument kicks in allows the listener to relax in various stages. The relaxant starts off in a strong volume for a more heavy duty calming session. As the song progresses, there is a subtle decrescendo where the volume is gradually lowered until the end. A few reasons for this:
1. To prepare the song for a easy transition from the end to the beginning again if it is on repeat, or simply to help introduce the next track by fading in the following track. Fade out and fade in is the most common way of outro-ing and intro-ing another song.
2. Once relaxed, you no longer need a powerful volume. The reduced volume actually helps maintain and sustain your state of peace and comfort. If you have the song on repeat, you can go for another round of peace, but the second time around will usually make you a bit jumpy since you eased yourself out of stresses and the repeat is for pure enjoyment of the bliss. If it is not on repeat, then the soft volume simply helps introduce the next track of any genre on your play list.
In this song, the best part is that every body and break in between the bodies are always different and evolving. The song gets better and better. You would expect the same melodies in the breaks, but every break is unique in its own melody and/or instrument. The piano in the ambient is not as strong in the beginning, but it slowly gains volume throughout the song until it is quite noticeable in the background. Combined with the happy and contented high pitched hovering melody, this song is better at relaxing you than classical music, which does not give you an energy boost. Happy listening!
I don't know if Ozone sang this song, but here is the numa numa song or "Dragostea Din Tei in English. Might be a bit cheesy for some, but ignore the lyrics and focus on the beat if you don't like it. Enjoy!
Bonus!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not sure if you have heard of it. Old news, but apparently... Dell laptops can explode on your lap or suddenly catch fire. Here is the parody.
I find the... "My pc... my ah.... my pc.... my ah" part very catchy... maybe its that simplicity factor eh. Whether this is an amateur home creation or a professional one, its all good! The support being the awesome beat... make this song good no matter the lyrics. In addition, the flute sound and the remixed melody make this version a bit different in a good way that is catchy in its own way.
This is a far more enthralling song than Dragostea Din Tei. When the song fires up, the melody that sounds like a controlled scratch sound from a broken record in the high pitch range instantly grabs your attention. In the video, that sound seems to be created by the electric guitars, but I am pretty sure it is just a synced sound for video effect. This song simply conveys a good mood and is a very good song to dance to or bob your head to. To me, the most interesting part lies in the whistling. The simplicity of the short phrase can be easily whistled by the listener. Since everyone can make a noise by blowing wind through their mouth, this song in a way commands you to do so also. In a way, this song sneaks up behind you and takes on the role of a favorite song that you tend to hum when it plays on the radio. If not immediately after the first listen, maybe after the second repeat. In addition... in trance music... you rarely hear whistles as part of the ambient.
Another good aspect is the part where the guys go "WOAAAAAA....... HEYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" at the end. I'm sure everyone has a favorite song that contains some very high pitched notes that they attempt to sing out loud for the heck of releasing the tension built up from the song. This little detour also has that same effect, I mean you can't help but try to yell out WOAAA and HEYYYY and then throw in song whistles. By the time you realized, you are creating your own version of the song. Most probably, you are in a very blissful mood after a few listens.
Another thing I need to touch on is the simple "la la, la la lay!" parts of the lyrics. It is also something simple that you can also sing out with ease that is actually quite enjoyable to do so. I think its mainly the way its sung that makes it especially enticing. I mean... the guy sounds like he's got something stuck in his throat that makes him sing his lungs out.
Overall, this song is beyond captivating, it is more like a song that lets you become your own musician for the duration of the song. The catchy beat and simple lyrics make this song fun and addicting. Dragostea Din Tei and Despre Tine are the only two songs by Ozone that I have listened to repeatedly non stop for 10 to 15 repeats in one sitting before I notice and change tracks. Not that it is bad or anything, but any good song becomes boring and annoying after 15 repeats. Enjoy!
Since I received a comment from a post from last week which suggests that I don't know my 'numa numa' songs, here is a dedicated post. Have fun reading!
This song is called Dragostea Din Tei by Ozone from the Republic of Moldavia (East of Romania) and almost naturally, the lyrics are Romanian. You don't need to understand what is being sung about, all you need to do is listen. The non-lyrical aspect to this song is anything but boring, it is very engaging and different. A few years back, if you visited the countries surrounding Romania, this was the song that you'd be listening to everywhere you went. It was simply contagious... especially when this happened...
Mr. Brolsma here single handedly popularized this song in America for all of those who do not usually listen to this genre of music. At that time, the exciting and positive energy you get form the song and a kid dancing wildly in front of his web cam got America hooked.
The way the lyrics are sung sound like as if the singer have a voice that is very robot like and that he is singing very casually and have not particular notes to aim for. The beat simply won't let you go. Combined with the awesome "numa numa" line, you will be singing this song for the rest of the day. Personally, I prefer the song without the music videos by Ozone and by Mr. Brolsma. The videos are pretty... "happy".
I believe there is one version not many people have heard of and in my opinion, this is the best version out there since I simply prefer female vocals to a guy's.
Overall... the video is better and the vocal abilities of Haiducii is simply astonishing... listen! She can hit those high notes and at the same time... blow you away with her breathtaking low notes that sounds like a guy... ironic eh? Either way, the beat and melody of this song is still surprisingly fascinating. If you listen carefully, I think the key part to the attractive beat is the very electronic sound you here that is synced with he drum beats. It sounds like what you hear when there is a constant stream of electricity from one tesla coil to another. Again, the "my ah he" and "numa numa" parts help in the captivating process. As good as this song sounds... it does get annoying after the 10th repeat.
The video contains some similarities to the movie "The Italian Job" (The Mini Cooper and mafia?). Just watch and listen, this song is very fast paced and it keeps moving you forward. I'm not sure who the vocalist is, but her voice is absolutely stunning and the way the lyrics are casually sung goes with the video perfectly to keep moving. This song is a musical road chase, the curvy beat gives the feel of driving on a winding road at high speeds. At the more blissful moments, the video reflects that by increasing the tempo and changing the beat to a faster one, as everything cools down and the pressure is off, the beat slows down to match the mood.
Throughout the song, you are probably "stuck in the groove" and do not really focus on all the details: the beat, lyrics, and the video. It's okay, just watch it a few more items if the song has captivated you. Not sure about you, but the 3 and a half minutes of this song feels a lot shorter than the declared time. I guess this is a good way to show that a song is gripping and exciting, when you do not feel it is taking forever and the song flies by and you want more by repeating it. I think the perfect word to explain this song would be that it is very unpredictable. The beat changes without you ever expecting it and the transitions between the slow and fast beats are so smooth, you do not really feel a change in the song. Overall, this is a very simple song that is very intriguing. Have a listen. Hope you had a great holiday. =)
Not all piano trance music is made like this, but this is definitely a starting point. Other equipments are required to add the crazy ambients and beats you get from a professionally mixed trance track. This is a very simple method to create trance music since the basic ingredients for a dance track is a 110+ bpm beat and a very simple melody that evolves throughout the song be it a different instrument or a change in tempo. After some working out with the beat and figuring out the types of instruments you want to use to change the sound of the track throughout the play, you will get something that will sound like this.
You will need to trigger those beats when you want them to play and continue to play the melody. Throw in some time to practice playing the piano and then some emotion and feelings into making the song... and you will be able to make a audience at a club go mental such as this one in the video. One thing might be in the minds of the audience... "how did he do that on a keyboard?"
To Sum things up on how to play trance on a keyboard or even a piano. Imagine a classical piece of music. Take a measure or two of it and continuously play those measures while adding a beat of any kind, be it drums or even another piano beat as the ambient. As the song progresses, in between the notes in those measures, add in notes that flow with the overall rhythm. Sounds simple enough, but like the videos suggest, it is quite the feat to accomplish. Have fun and good luck if you ever decide to make your own music... I'll leave it for the pros.
Back in the days, at the dawn of the new century... can you imagine this song playing on the radio on your favorite idea Bryan Adams was not a dance music artist. Who would've imagined Bryan Adams to have a dance song, especially such a praiseworthy dance track. On a general scale, most if not all tracks by Chicane are highly uplifting, this song is no exception especially since it has Bryan Adams in it. If you cannot make any connections between the music and a lifted spirit, then simply watch the music video. The video is nicely synced with the beat, so it is quite pleasant to watch the video and read the captions that appear every now and then.
The lyrics: "Don't give it up, you know its true... Gotta do what you gotta do.... yea....." blend really well with a dance beat. I'm not really a Bryan Adams fan... but his voice, which is quite wavy, goes really well with the 4-4 drum beat and the bass line. A reason for the successful blend of the genres is that Bryan's voice is very similar to male vocals in older dance tracks in that they sound like they are a bit blurred out or as if underwater. If you are familiar to older dance tracks, such as those by Deepest Blue (which I did a post on a few weeks ago), you will notice that only a male voice that sounds like the wind can go well with a dance tune. Today, most male vocals are deep and aggressive. There are exceptions however... such as the song commonly known as 'the numa numa song'. I believe this track was good enough to make top 10.
If you don’t like the ambient sounds, just listen or read the lyrics, they are near the level of an anthem. They are very encouraging and I believe a lot of young adults going through the education system, career obstacles, and other personal problems should listen to this song and follow the vocals. The trancy ambient sounds and melodies plus Bryan’s voice = a reminder to not give up and escape depression and find happiness by yourself. I mean… literally… don’t give up! If Bryan Adams can groove it up, I’m sure YOU can doanything.
Whether you are a fan of Chicane or Bryan Adams, the addition of the other should only be an improvement to the other artist. Have a listen and a nice day.
Dj Tiesto – Sensational!!! This is called Eyal Barkan and Yahel-Voyage(Dj TIesto Magikal Remix)
In this song by Tiesto, you as the audience is once again faced with a colorful bass line which tends to get you very jumpy as the video suggest. In my opinion, a Tiesto track usually turns out to be a really enjoyable trance track that you can listen to over and over again, or it is something that is just horribly bad to listen to. I like to say that maybe my sound system may be good as the one in concert halls, but it is decent enough to fully play out the bass. Actually, it is actually too good… the bass’s repetitiveness gets very irritating and boring after about 2 minutes of hearing it. That’s whenTiesto’s trance tracks shine like the sun after the rain.
Listen to this song, check out that idyllic yet over joyous melody that gets the crowd jumping up and down. I’m not a big fan of Tiesto, but this song just has all the elements of a good trance track: fast paced melody that changes throughout the song and a steady beat that is not mainly bass but other instruments such as a dense and rich hovering sound. Wow! IT is really magical and I mean if you know your music... this song has an increased beat to 142 bpm and not the original 140 bpm. Do not underestimate the effect of 2 more beats per minute, to some that means a few more dance moves and head bobs every second.
Thrillseekers - Synaesthesia [En Motion Mix]
The title itself may be extremely difficult to understand and pronounce, but the song itself is nowhere as complicated. The En motion mix is my favorite. It possesses a few more elements that make it more emotional than the other mixes. The melody itself is composed by middle to high pitched string sounds. In the back ground, you have chimes and crystal like instruments playing loops and loops of cool feeling sounds. As a result, this song is very wintery and every time I listen to it, I get this chilled feeling. Quite literally, I get a but colder and my mood is not as hot. This is simply a very uplifting and chill-relaxing song after a long day of work or a nice cruise on the roads in the summer.
The Alaska mix has an even more chilling effect. The added piano ambient and echoed sounds create a scene in my mind: that of a frozen lakes and a tall ice mountain in the background. My mind may be biased by the very title of this remix, but just give it a listen and see for yourself. Especially since it is cold out, it is quite easy to imagine how it feels like to be chilled right now.
Well if not icy and frozen images then you may see a very rich variety of colors in different patterns that appeal to you in some way or another. Personally, I like this songs simple yet enjoyable melody and a dense and upbeat bass line that gets you very jumpy at times. If anything, this is one of those old school songs that hooked many people onto the trance music genre today. Sorry to say, today’s trance tracks are no where as good as the old ones, but eventually, some talented mixers will bring back the old with a superb remix.
If no one told you and you don’t know your trance history, you will think that this is a modern track due to its jumpy and upbeat elements. Incredibly, this song is very old school it came out in around 1996, more than a decade ago. I’m no music historian, but I can tell you that this is one of the first trance songs ever created and it is one of the best if not the best.
My mind may be influenced by the title of this song, but when the piano melody kicks in, I am reminded of the sweet innocence we all enjoyed when we were a child. This will be the first time I have seen this clip and I think the video fits the music perfectly. In this song, you can see why it is quite enjoyable to listen to a very chilled trance track while driving. However, it is slightly better to be listening to trance while being driven. Anyways, a chill and relaxing trance track plus the world outside your car windows equals a lightened mood which does everything but remind you of your stressful day.
This is the first trance track I have heard many years back that has a piano melody. I was instantaneously hooked on dance music at that point. The simple 4 – 4 beat and string solos in addition to a gratifying melody makes this song… pleasing to the ears. So pleasing to the point that my brain seems to loosen and a burst of creative juice seems to flow.
It was very undisturbed and unruffled since it was the first of its kind. Soon after this song was remixed at least a dozen times or have been used as the ambient sounds to a song. Listen to a sample remix here. Really, this song’s melody is the most attractive part of this song, any addition to it just takes away from the focus of the song. It is great that some DJs are thoughtful enough to use different instruments for the melody. However those other instruments lack that innocent factor that high pitched piano notes possess. It is a sound that pierces through the human body, processed by the brain, and directly affects your mood. Rarely in other remixes of this song do you get reminded of those sweet innocent days as a child where the world seems to revolve around you. Listening to this song, you can’t help but crack a smile at the thought of a childhood moment that is unique to you.
To wrap up the season's round of blog posts, I'd like to leave a few words to remember when thinking of jazz and the awesome world of music.
First of all, the idea that jazz is based around improvisation is a critical thing to know when listening to jazz. Unlike the majority of any other genre of music, jazz artists perform extensive solos that they make up on the spot. Next time you're listening, keep this in mind. Not only are the solos incredible, but they're also a one-time thing that's being created as the song is recorded or performed.
Secondly, try branching out with the music you listen to. When you turn on the radio, it's easy to find a popular music, rap, rock, or country station, but beyond those genres lie a lot more music that's waiting to be found. I'm not talking only about jazz this time. Like my fellow writers on the Soulflex blog, techno and electronica are genres that are as full of great music as any other. Focusing on one genre is not as good as you might think it is. Try a new genre sometime.
The last thing I'd like to say is to always remember "the music". Don't allow the anyone to brainwash your ability to recognize amazing music. (Sometimes people get so caught up in what's rated as 'good' by the rest of the world that they forget about enjoying the music themselves) Always remember the characteristics that musicianship, talent, ingenuity, creativity, and quality bring to creating great music. Always listen to music that you enjoy; it has more mental effects than it may seem to be able to provide. Finally, always keep the spirit of the music. If you enjoy listening to music, never let that change. If you play an instrument, never allow yourself to quit. If you collect music from a genre, continue listening. If you love going to concerts, keep going to them. Never allow yourself to lose touch with "the music".
Following a post about drum solos, it's almost no surprise that I'd mention the works of Buddy Rich. Buddy Rich is one of the most famous jazz drummers of all time. It would definitely be safe to say that if you know anything about jazz drumming, you've heard of Buddy Rich. Buddy is known for his incredible displays of technique, and also the mind-blowing speed that he plays at. Personally, when I watch Buddy, I notice how fluid his movements are. Nobody looks as comfortable with playing drums as he does. Nothing comes out as forced, unless he's really trying to fit in that last 64th note into his solos.
It's hard to talk about Buddy Rich without seeing him firsthand. When you watch the following videos, notice how easy he makes some of the most difficult rhythms come out. Also notice how much he sweats and looks like he wants to kill the drum!
The first video is of Buddy in action with his Big Band. If you've ever seen West Side Story, you'll recognize the following song, but I bet you've never looked at the song this way before. This is one of my favorite Buddy Rich solos of all time, for the fact that it shows his ability to play with a band, along with being able to bust out an outstanding solo.
This second video I posted because it displays his amazing speed. If you want proof that he's fast, compare him to another very fast drummer: Ed Shaughnessy (from the Tonight Show) This is a drum battle, where one drummer plays something and the second drummer attempts to one-up it. Seriously, just watch the speed!
The third solo is another fantastic solo. In the song "Channel One Suite", which is an incredible song, Buddy's drumming is featured a lot. It opens with a solo, has another short solo soon after, and ends with three more solos. The solo here is the very last solo, which is the longest in the suite. I love this one because it's so "diverse". He changes a lot of things while he's drumming. At one point he'll be doing a lot of tom drumming. Then he'll focus only on the cymbals (one of the only people I know to play an amazing cymbal solo). Then all of a sudden he'll do a solo with just his drumsticks! After that, he'll switch to showing off his snare skills. In my opinion, it's one of the best solos he's ever done.
Of course, anyone who knows of Buddy Rich has probably also seen the Animal vs. Buddy Rich video off of The Muppet Show, but I'll just make a link for that one. Though, it is definitely worth watching.
This is a very simple song from that past that sounds like a modern hip song. This song gives me the feel that I should pick a day, sit back, and reflect on something I have neglected for a majority of my life... breathing. The house elements, a happy melody and simple vocal, easily makes this song a very chill song for a lazy day until something happens to distract you from knowing that you are breathing.
A goal of this song is to send the message to the audience that they should believe... just as they believe. "Just" breathe" and "just believe" is trying to tell you what Nike ads tell you, just do it! Well, just have a listen for yourself, there is nothing to lose.
Compared to the BT love song from the previous post, this is by far a better trance love song. One reason is that there is no J.C. Chasez in this song. I got caught by the lyrics even after the first verse:
" The sun will always shine on you You turn my ocean deepest blue I'll never hide my thoughts from you You're my deepest blue"
The whole deepest blue theme to me roughly translates into someone or something deep inside your body or mind. Through the years, the human mind or consciousness is compared to an 'ocean' of memories. If you feel that deepest blue relates to love in some way, that is probably the reason why. With that in mind... even though the word deepest is directly associated with the depth of the ocean where it is dark and cold. The delicate lyrics and smooth beat makes the listener feel pretty warm.
The melody and lyrics are slightly echoed for that wavy feeling to allow the listener to rally feel as if they are really by the ocean. This is a great song to sit back and chill as you dream about the summer of your dreams where you are with that special someone or something in your mind. Really does crack a smile on your face if you imagine the beach of your dreams and accompanied by something special.
Summer or not, this song is the perfect dance song for any holiday party. It is very uplifting and cheerful. Unlike most love songs, the vocals of this song are not themed around only dreaming about that special someone, but actually having that someone to call your deepest blue. Joel Edward’s voice is amazingly soothing and fits the beat and melody perfectly.
Deepest Blue - Give it Away
In this song, Joel's voice is infectious. It sounds like a gentle breeze that ruffles the leaves on the trees in a peaceful afternoon by the beach. During those choruses, his vocal and the beat make you want to groove to the song. The whole song is simply mesmerizing. The subtle keyboard in the ambient and the obvious drum beats create multiple layers of dancey tunes that allow you to pick which one to move to.
The chorus:
" When you slowly close your eyes Replay the moment in your mind Just give it away Just give it away When you slowly close your eyes Replay the moment in your mind Just give it away Just give it away"
The way Joel sings the chorus and the music that accompanying it is just pure bliss. It has a very warm vibe and is simply fetching. Deepest Blue is a one out of a few bands that can create music with a perfect balance between beat and lyrics. In addition to the balance, the beat and lyrics are excellent themselves. Have a listen. Enjoy and Relax.
This is a fine example of BT's ability to fuse different genre's and trance them up to create something different and interesting. This synthesized pop, trance track is definitely one of BT's finest tracks. It is very upbeat, the melody is catchy by itself, but combined with a simple and repetitive lyric, this song does not get boring at all. Here is a short excerpt of the lyrics:
" some little joy some little joy...it's complicated some little time some little time....be acclimated some little hope some little hope...and I'm prayin' out with love (yeah) some little time to make some change...been isolating"
If you listen to this song, I believe the only words you will hear are “simply” and “love” since they are repeated a million times. Thankfully, by the end of the song, when the vocals start to get annoying, the song is over. Interestingly, the song is better without the vocals. Listen to the instrumental here. Throughout the track, you get these broken record sounds that I found to be very entertaining because they have this ability to catch your attention. I believe that ability is derived from the fact that it is simply out of the usual and it is human tendency to focus more on new sounds.
Up until this moment when I found the video for this post, I really really liked this song. Simple, catchy male vocals (male vocals that are good are rare in trance tracks) and melody with an uncomplicated beat that keeps the song moving forward. HOWEVER... now that I've finally seen the video, I believe that is J. C. Chasez singing the vocals and I am now in awe. I don't really like J. C. and N'Sync, but BT was able to combine a "happy" (insert synonym that beings with the letter "g" and ends with "y") love pop singer with trance. BT succeeds in expressing love through trance in this track, but only in this track. The music video just ruins it. Just watch J. C... that dance is sooooooooo retarded...
I'll just pretend that J. C. was not part of this song to keep this song as one of my BT favorites...
Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter are the amazing musicians behind Daft Punk's robot masks. They are the incredible talent that drives crowds all over the world, moves clubbers deep inside the discotheque, yet makes music so awesome and so accessible that it's had plentiful radio airplay alongside mainstream pop, even in the USA.
Daft Punk's mix of 70's funk, edgy house beats, and simple yet driving lyrics is not only a very unique sound; it also has so much strong emotion and raw, grooving energy that I easily declare Daft Punk to be my favorite artist of all time.
I want to convert any nonbelievers, and introduce anybody who doesn't even know the name Daft Punk. To start us off, I'm going to be tackling the whole album Discovery, one track at a time. Last month, I posted about Kanye West's Stronger, which uses a track off of Discovery as its basis. If you liked Stronger, take a look at the original, get the album, and immerse yourself in the rest of the tracks on what may well become your favorite album ever.
I haven't been posting much lately, but rest assured that I'll actually get through this album. It's damn hard to convey exactly how awesome each track is, and to do each one justice in a simple blog post with just a short sample of the song, but I'm on a mission from God here so I'll be bringing you the gospel of Daft Punk. Enjoy.
This is an amazingly... insane song with one of the best vocals of all trance I have ever heard. See the lyrics here. I don;'t know if there is an official video to this song, but I doubt any video will be able to perfect match the song. This song dates back from the year 2000 and it is extremely popular among trance DJs and have been remixed a dozen times.
"Give me release Witness me I am outside Give me peace Heaven holds a sense of wonder"
I believe this would a very good opener for the Olympic opening ceremony since the lyrics asks for peace and freedom. The lyrics give that profound feel to the song while the changing beat and melody provide the rich texture to this song. Check out the extremely upbeat version by Tiesto:
Amazing how a simple bass line addition can make a song so much more upbeat eh. Technically, Tiesto didn't just add more beats, he threw in very house trance elements which are generally characterized bya 4-4 beat at about 130 to 140 beats per minute (which is also about the heart rate of a person on the dance floor in a blissful mood), simply yet misty or happy melodies, a snare drum hit in between the bass drums at time, and most importantly... female vocals. Guy vocals RARELY work out in a trance song. You may not notice in all the excitement going on during the song, but Tiesto threw in long extended string notes (I think extended notes are a favorite of Tiesto since a few of his best songs contain extended notes). Compared to the original, only short guitar notes are played along with a hovering sound melody.
This song is so good that the remixes are said to be better than many original songs out there. The original makes the audience feel very much at peace by the end of the song by featuring placid vocals and a pacifying vibe that is actually followed through in all of the remixes. Even if the song is upbeatted, the most basic elements that make this song good is kept. As a result, remix or no remix, this song beats out many more modern original tracks.
Technically, a solo is defined as a piece of music played by a single player.Whether this played on its own or within a break from a full band’s song, it’s considered a solo.However, even though a single artist is performing during a solo, the artist can still be backed by multiple other artists (which is most common in jazz solos).
The great part about solos is that they are ridiculously unique.Nothing about a song is more diverse than the solo.I don’t mean only the differences between genres of solos, nor solos performed by different instruments, though they differ nearly as much as anything else would.Solos performed on one instrument are unique within themselves.The main reason behind this is “improvisation”, which was discussed in my latest blog.When an artist improvises, they invent whatever they are playing right on the spot by combining past experience with creative ideas in the present.This in itself makes every solo impossible to be the same as another one.Specifically (for the purpose of this post), I’ll be introducing the drum solo.
A drum solo is most commonly recognized as a break in the middle of the song where the drummer starts showing off his skills.Though this is somewhat true, this isn’t the entire truth.A drum solo is just like any other solo on any other instrument, but it’s usually found as something entirely separated from the played song.This is simply because drum solos don’t work well with instrument backbeats in most genres.Though, it can be easily argued and proved that there are cases that drum solos work amazingly well with a bassist holding the backbeat or with a full rhythm section and brass line playing along with their chord progressions.There are even cases which drum solos occur during the melody and “head” of the song being played (where the rest of the entire band is playing the most recognizable part of the song).
A rock drum solo will almost always consist of the band dropping out and “featuring” the drummer, as if blatantly showing off his abilities, rather than fitting in a solo that keeps the entire feel of the song together.I don’t mean to bash rock solos, I actually love and respect them as much as any other one, but I just mean to display the difference between a rock solo and a jazz solo.Another distinct feature of a rock solo is that they are usually developed and composed before recording or performing the song.The drummer will sit and practice different beats that would normally be impossible to invent on the spot.This creates a more impressive display of the drummer’s talent.It also proves how much time the drummer puts into his work.
A jazz solo will almost always focus on the beat and rhythm given by the song.When the drum solo starts, you are still able to feel the song is still going, rather than sitting there asking “so, does that mean the song is done?”Jazz solos are also frequently based on improvisation (like any other jazz solo on another instrument). The most impressive factor of a jazz solo is the ability to invent rhythms in fractions of a second.
I would normally go on to describe what a drum solo consists of and the structure that builds it, but that would be impossible.Every solo is different.That’s the simplest way of putting it.
Here’s a video of three of the greatest drummers of all time playing a collaborative solo.It’s rare to find more than one drummer playing together, probably because it’s incredibly difficult and frustrating to arrange it, but in this case there are three drummers playing side by side.Notice the structure of the solo.Dave Weckl starts out with his own solo, then Vinny Colaiuta plays, followed by a solo by Steve Gadd.After Gadd plays, all three of them start playing a simple beat that combines to form a great groove.Over this groove, each of them take turns soloing.Also notice how each of the drummers are different from each other.This might not be easy to distinguish, but Dave Weckl and Vinny Colaiuta play with very different styles.Here is one of the best collaborative solos of all time:
This is an absolutely beautiful song (released in 1995)... in a more emotional way. I first heard it in the movie "The Matrix" (released in 1999) and I was hooked onto this song. I felt that the song relates to how one person is trying very hard to put some truth into his life or the world, but it is just so hard and death must come sooner for this person compared to others around him. That was my initial thought when I first saw "The Matrix" and hearing this song, but this video sort of confirms it since the guy in the video is defying what society is doing.
Everything I listen to this song, that thought goes through my mind. It is kind of like watching a very emotional movie... sad, happy, or scary. The point is it gets me thinking. Give it a listen, see if it gets you to start thinking. The piano melody looping over and over again seems to get me thinking and thinking until suddenly the song ends and I snap out of the trance like state. When I listen to this song when the stress level is moderately high, I keep thinking of the decisions I have to make and think about alternatives... which all leads to the logical analysis part. Conclusion: Tomorrow is another hard working day. You can read all those inspirational, motivating quotes all you want, but this song tells the truth. No matter how hard you try to hide those things you want to put aside, you have to face them sooner or later. If you choose to confront them, you might fail and if you put it off, you are even in more trouble. (By the way... if you feel the statements are getting a bit profound... blame the song.)
The song overall gives a very rock-ish feel due to the drum beat and the heavy accents of each note. The heavy notes make the song very powerful, especially using a piano. The mix between rock and orchestra turns out to be pretty evened and surprisingly... the rock aspect does not overpower the piano and the strings.
"About This Video This Is Stadium Style Gig - Tiesto with 25.000 ... This Is Stadium Style Gig - Tiesto with 25.000 Fans In This Gig , U Can See Tiesto Come Out From His DJ booth. Video Made By TERENCETRANCE - MALAYSIAN"
This is actually my favorite song by Tiesto. Reason is that this is one of the few songs that have a nice melody to it after a long bass-filled intro. I was very impressed the first time I listened to the song. The second time I heard it, the intro built up to the body extremely well, I guess I expected a good melodic body in the first place. The primary instrument in this song, if I remember correctly was literally called 'suburban train' or hovering sounds trying to give that 'trainy' feel. Long extended notes of some type of horn and screeching sound makes it sound very much like a train... musicalized. When those long extended notes hit, I feel a surge of energy as if I grabbed onto a train and is involuntarily propelled forward. That is how uplifting and energizing this song is to me. Give it a listen even though the quality isn't so great on youtube.
Here is the song with vocals:
After the vocals are added, I believe it was unofficially named "Urban Train". I believe it was because voices tend to be associated with the more urban areas and if it was just the train, it would be more suburban since there are mroe of those there. Back to the song... The original is better compared to the one with the vocal in my opinion. The high vocal notes fit the music perfectly and add to the 'trainy' sound, but I feel that a song titled after a piece of machinery should not use vocals, but instead everything should be synthesized. Another thing I dislike is that the vocals are no where near energizing as the synthesized melody. Have to applaud the singers for creating a close bootleg version, but it just isn't the same even if it is a good bootlegged version.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Armin Van Buuren – Serenity
Listen to it here.
This song’s focus is on bass. The title being “serenity” is very ironic. The bass in this song is very aggressive. A constant drum beat with a high volume makes this song very upbeat, but the serene aspect of this song comes in the form of a more soft melody. This song is for trance concerts and allows the audience to dance to the long, constant heavy beat of the song. The breaks and loops of the soft melody is long enough to let the listenerget a break and rest up before the next set of drum beats get introduced.
Listening to this song with a decent sound system and subwoofer, this song’s bass is strong enough to shake the floor. However, the bass is sometimes distorted due to a low quality music file… at least that is what I heard when I listened to it at home on a set of 5.1 surround sound speakers. The song sounded very obnoxious and is nothing close to being serene. I then took the song and played it in my car during one of my car rides. When the song came up, it sounded a dozen times better than it was at home. I have 9 speakers and a sub in my car and I started to think that the song is recorded in a 5.1+ setting. As a result, the sound system at home is not capable of bringing out the full potential sound of the song.
In my car, the subwoofer was pounding as the bass beats played during the song. The melody and bass sounds were crystal clear and the vibration I got in the car was very strong. I imagine my car to be a small concert hall and the song really played well in this mini concert hall. Hearing the song in my car, the bass line is energetic and calming at the same time. When the melody hits, the calming effect reaches its maximum. When that happens, the peace of mind one experiences is what actually propels the audience to dance even harder. On a side note, the melody does still act as a breather for some people if they choose to not use the sudden surge of energy, derived from peace, to dance.
Paul Van Dyk feat. Hemstock and Jennings - Nothing but you
I have been a fan of Paul Van Dyk for a long time and this is definitely one of my favorite tracks by him. The vocal loop or the chorus of this song is surprisingly addicting. Being a song I like and such, I tried to figure out what the lyrics meant. I figured it was related to the title and it would mean something along the lines of saying that the listener is one of high value. Eventually, I found the translation to the song and it means “I don’t have anything, but I have everything when I have you.” I first thought the song was sung in German or Romanian, but according to the translation, it is in Norwegian.
I actually set this song aside and had not listened to it after about a year after its release in 2003. By accident, I deciphered the meaning of the chorus and the meaning adds the emotional aspect to the song that I really appreciate. As the lyrics suggest, it is categorized under a more romantic genre. However, a romantic trance track easily takes a spot as one of my favorites. Knowing the meaning and having that meaning go through my mind every time this track plays, this song easily takes my attention and retain for some time.
After searching random videos on youtube, I came across one video of Miles Davis and John Coltrane that inspired me to write of one of the most important part of “jazz” as we know it. This video is of the song “So What” by Miles Davis, performed live with the great saxophonist, John Coltrane. (I would recommend speakers with a good amount of bass for the full effect of the song.)
“So What” starts out with a bass melody that, in a way, calls to the rest of the band, which then responds to the bassist with their own, two note “melody”. The entire melody sequence is known as the “head” of a song. (I’ll be referring to this word numerous times.) The head is the most recognizable and concrete part of any jazz chart. A whole song commonly consists of a head, a solo/improvisation section, followed by a repeat of the head. Many other songs choose to mix up the order and throw in a few extras, but essentially this is the skeleton of any jazz tune. It’s the solo/improvisation section that I’m mainly concerned with, as of now.
Improvisation is, hands down, the most critical element of jazz that I can think of. Improvisation is what qualifies music as jazz. Improvising is much different from playing music in any other genre. In the head, a musician plays exactly what is written on his music, but in improvisation, the musician is required to “improvise” (or invent) everything he plays, which is much more difficult than being told every note to play.
A general improvisation section would normally consist of this: the rhythm section lays down a groove to give the soloist ideas to play off of, which the soloist listens to the rhythm section and creates and composes a solo of his own, right there on the spot. The bassist will give a distinct set of notes confined to the key that the song is in. The pianist will do the same, while throwing over chords that follow the same rules. The drummer will usually keep a straight beat while adding in his own short, light bursts of improvised playing. Whichever musician is soloing must listen to each one of these and listen to the guidelines they are giving for the solo that is to be played. This is necessary because a soloist simply cannot play whatever he/she feels like playing. It must be something that fits in with the song being played in order to produce a decent song.
Improvisation is so impressive because it calls upon a musician to be able to create music while the song is in motion. There is almost zero room for error, since all of it is live and happening right in the present. The musician must have a lot of experience with improvisation, a decent sized repertory of music to pull ideas from, and a lot of creativity to be a great soloist.
I posted the “So What” video because it perfectly demonstrates improvisation and how it interacts with the band and the song structure itself. The song opens with the “head”, placing a melody in the minds of the listeners, and the soloists who will call upon it later for their improvisations. Almost immediately, Miles Davis enters with his solo. He listens to the rhythm section, pulls ideas out of thin air, and produces a beautiful sound. John Coltrane follows later on with the same thing. After they are finished, the bassist sets up the head, which repeats the melody and closes the song. This is the basis of almost every jazz song you will hear.
This is another song released in the 1990s that I think is timeless because it has been about 10 years since release and it is still not boring to listen to. I guess during that time when trance was extremely popular, BT's Brian Transeau has created something quite beautiful. This is also one of those songs of the past that beats out most if not all modern releases in terms of creativity.
Listen carefully and you will find that this song is both very upbeat yet very peaceful at the same time. The highly melodic nature of this track combined with a stead drum and cymbal beat does just that. Especially the high pitched melody that sounds like a piano played underwater, those loops and solos are very blissful and happy. This song is very original and it is the first of its kind I have ever heard and it is the only song that I've heard that sounds like that aside from the remixes. Whenever I listen to this song, a shade of blue that is kind of like a neon sky blue, but much brighter appears in my mind and starts to equalize with the song (maybe it's because I have listened to this song so many times that I know the beat and how it looks like on an equalizer already). Listen to it a few more times and you will notice the wide pitch range. From high pitched underwater piano melody to the lower notes of a normal piano, "Flaming June" is one of the best trance tracks because of its broad melodic nature.
This video contains bits of the original video which are the water skiing bits. The title of the track fits perfectly with this music video. The water and winter activities in the video are probably what many of us wanted to do in the hot or flaming month of June. The intro is very relaxing because of the guitar melody leading into the body of the song. This version is very free flowing and very progressive in that the beat is continuously moving forward and not taking and breaks for other melodies except for a few drum solos that lead into another part of the song. When the basic "Flaming June" melody is playing, this song becomes very serene, but when the bass and drum beats kick in, this song becomes audacious.
After receiving comments on the last two of my "time signature" posts (see "Take Five" and "Take...Eleven?"), I realized I should post something to clean up a few miscommunications.
"Common Time" is the wording used to describe 4/4 time, and only 4/4 time. No matter how "common" a time signature might be, it is only proper to call it "common time" if it is in 4/4. This opens the question of what 3/4 and 2/4 time signatures would be called, since most people would think of those signatures as a commonly used signature. In fact, the right wording for these would be "simple" time signatures. Even 4/4 time falls under the "simple" time signature category, but seeing how the vast majority of the songs in this world are in 4/4, it's given its own distinguishing name of its own.
All of the other times are the ones that I focused on in my past two posts. These times (5/4, 7/8, 43/62, etc.) are classified as "complex" times. These are the very interesting ones that either require lots of practice from a musician working within its boundaries, or call upon a unique (and quite genius) beat or groove that allows both the musician and the listener to feel the time subconsciously.
Also, in response to a question, the Dave Brubeck Quartet released an album titled "Time Out", which was an album devoted to complex time signatures. In fact, "Time Out" is the album that contains the hit song "Take Five", which was the focus of my post with that respective title. A lot of credit goes to this album, it contains a lot of groundbreaking works that have changed the music industry as we know it. I would highly recommend listening to this album.
Hopefully this cleared up a bit of confusion about time signatures. Good luck with the listening! Be sure to keep looking for complex time signatures in songs you regularly listen to.
When you go driving in your car, do you ever find yourself wondering, "What can I do to bother everybody who passes me?" Me too! So I've come up with a perfect solution that works every time.
One thing you can do to be obnoxious is to be an aggressive driver. But nobody really wants to be an aggressive driver, which means we have to find a different way to achieve this. And what better way to turn someone into an involuntarily aggressive driver than with loud, angry music? Bonus points for listening to music that offends others' ears, both with lyrics and volume (more bonus points for giant subwoofers)!
So, to help you all get in touch with that angry driver inside you, I present this playlist of intoxicatingly malicious music. Enjoy it while you can, which is until your car insurance starts costing more.
Drive Happy 1. Du Hast - Rammstein This is a delicious song, it is full of anger and Deutsch. It gets started about 15 seconds in, which is just long enough for you to pull out of the driveway. You still might have to drive a little aggressively to get on the road before it starts, though.
2. Dragula (Si Non Oscillas, Noli Tintinnare Mix) - Rob Zombie Don't be fooled by the foreign-looking text in the title, this little number is really American-Made Music to Strip by. That's the title of the album, anyway. The lyrics don't necessarily make sense, but there's lots of anger: it's a perfect addition to this mix.
3. I Love My Sex - Benny Benassi And who doesn't? No, not a trick question: old people don't love your sex, instead it will bother them as you whiz by. Some fast, edgy electro, this track is certain to get your car and your heart going faster. Plus, more than enough bass to bother everyone around. 4. Faster Kill Pussycat - Paul Oakenfold feat. Brittany Murphy Some more sexually-oriented music for your driving pleasure. Similar sound, slightly more sophisticated in taste. Might make you think you have lucky eyes, causing egotism and road rage.
5. You'll Be Under My Wheels - The Prodigy Great sentiments here for driving! How can you not drive aggressively if you're contemplating running people over? The lyrics are, "I rock," and, "I roll," so your in-car egotism is further bolstered.
6. Spitfire - The Prodigy Downshift when you really shouldn't, and you might get your car to spit fire: aggressive driving becomes more obnoxious when it's actually stupid! The Prodigy makes good driving songs that make you feel bamfy, and are best played loud. Spitfire is no exception.
7. Gunner Down - Leslie Spitzer, Brad Cross Yes, this comes from the Descent II soundtrack. Some industrial electronic stuff with lots of overdriven guitars, this helps you think of killing robots, and other vehicles on the roadway are basically robots. At the same time, it's a delightful segue into the next couple of songs, which are angry metal.
8. 2 x 4 - Metallica When driving aggressively, it may help some to envision beating people in the face with a two-by-four. This is the original stuff that made our elders say we youngsters are all going to hell. Try singing along, and giving people angry looks as you say, "Make my day."
9. Last - Nine Inch Nails Angry music, with lyrics about sex and instant gratification. Screaming people, electric guitars with lots of distortion, and a regular 4/4 kick for much of the song: anger, check. It also takes a subtle lyric from 2 x 4 and shares a riff with Gunner Down, so I had to put it in here.
10. Techno Industry - Johann Langlie (Also from Descent II) Industrial doesn't get much more industrial than this. It's a helpful song when you want to envision the other cars being rent and twisted in your wake.
11. Crawl - Brian Luzietti This here's a slow, brooding... crawling song. But when it's through, you'll have pent-up anger, which is the best kind for bothering people on the road. You need to hate people without reason, and this song will help you do that. More importantly, it prepares you to release the anger with a stomp on the gas pedal during the next song.
12. Bidibodi Bidibu - Bubbles Remember in Super Troopers, wenn die Deutschen go schpeeding by in der Porsche, blasting der German technomusik? This is de song zey are blasting, ja. In the world of driving out of control to loud music, the slogan is, "Crazy German techno: there is no substitute." Don't forget to crank the volume, especially at stoplights. Have fun with your new hobby!
Remember, kids: illegal things are illegal. This means you need to stay under the speed limit, stop at any official red things, and not discharge firearms from within a moving vehicle.
This was released about 2 weeks ago by Coki from Digital Mystikz, a dubstep due based in UK. Coki and his partner Mala host a dubstep nighclub held at the Mass club complex in Brixton, London. Dubstep is growing, and these guys are in the center of it. I was never big on the Grime/Dubstep genre until I heard side A Spongebob. This is off the chain.
There's good songs, epics, and then "tools". Its almost like its not even considered a song; every single element of this song, the tempo, the frequency, the body, the bass, and so on are all so perfectly atune to the point where its brainwashes the listiner. Honesly, from my perspective, there is no way not to dance to to this, let alone go all out. It digs way too deep into your instinctive side; deep into your subconscious.
Im playing a show in NWI this thursday, and Spongebob is going to be the highest point of the night. Ill slowly grind and start to build then finally cut all the lights and let the fog machine go full blast. Then ill dig this machine from the depths and drive people out of their minds.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, Take Five was one of the most unique and recognized songs in the jazz repertoire, mainly because of it’s awkward 5/4 time signature. You may or may not realize it, but Take Five isn’t the only well-known song with an time outside of the well known “common time”, or 4/4 time. As an echo to my previous post, this post desensitizes the idea of an uncommon time signature in our popular music realm, rather than focusing on one single song. A quick briefing on time signatures! A time signature is a notation that helps a musician to read music by specifying how many beats go into a measure (the top number) and the value of a note (the bottom number) as a fraction. More often than not, a song will be in common time, where 4 beats are in a measure. However, on the rare occasion that this isn’t the case, as long as the composer is talented enough, an amazing song is produced with one of the strangest, yet genius, grooves possible.
In 1959, Paul Desmond and the Dave Brubeck Quartet released “Take Five” along with an introduction to the uncommon time signature. Before then, the United States had hardly even touched on the idea of straying from 4/4 time. All of this was the focus of my last post. What I left out was that the Dave Brubeck Quartet later released a song titled “Blue Rondo à la Turk”. Blue Rondo wasn’t created in 5/4 time, like “Take Five” was. It was created in 9/4. This means that each measure would be counted 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9! Counting in groups of nine isn’t something that the subconscious mind can easily do, especially when it’s focusing on playing and improvising, as all jazz musicians are required to do. Just because it’s interesting: They actually count 9/4 as 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, rather than 1 – 9. This allows them to be able to count subconsciously and worry about the music they are playing, rather than where the actual beat is. Oh, and to make the song even more difficult, they decided that once into the song, they’d alternate between 9/4 and 4/4 time. It almost sounds impossible, but it actually comes together in an incredible display of music.
Most likely inspired by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, from 1959 and on, songs utilizing awkward time signatures started sprouting up all over the place. They’ve even found their way into songs that we hear on a daily basis, but most don’t realize what it is that makes them so unusual. The most popular of all of these songs is the theme from “Mission: Impossible”. I’m assuming everybody has heard this song. Duh duh, DUH DUH, etc. The “Mission: Impossible” theme is in 5/4 time, yet this doesn’t prevent the song from creating an amazing groove beat that’s been known by the majority of the nation since its existence.
Pink Floyd’s most popular tune, “Money”, is also one of the most popular songs with an uncommon time signature. “Money” is in a very unusual 7/8 time, which can be awkward, seeing how it’s only one beat short of being 8/8 (which really is 4/4). However, if you just listen to the song how it was meant to be listened to, without worrying about what time signature it’s in and how to count it, the song makes perfect sense. It grooves hard, it sounds amazing, and the members of Pink Floyd all play their part to make it a memorable song.
Fans of Radiohead, Tool, Yes, and The Mars Volta (my all-time favorite band) might also recognize different time signatures. All three of these bands love to mix and match both new and old time signatures to create some of the most genius work I have ever heard in my life. This is blatant opinion, but I’m not alone on this one. I’ll definitely be talking about The Mars Volta later on, but for now I’d like you to listen to a sample of one of their songs. Warning: This song is not for the weak, it's insane.“Cygnus…Vismund Cygnus” contains 4/4, 4/8, 5/8, 6/8, 10/4,9/16, 6/8, 2/4, and 23/8 time signatures. That is absolutely incredible for one song. I don’ expect anyone to be able to identify any of these times in the song, but I’d like to demonstrate what a band can do with all these time signatures that I’ve been talking about.
Other well-known songs with uncommon times are “YYZ” and “Freewill” by Rush, “The Sound of Muzak” by Porcupine Tree, and “The Ocean” by Led Zeppelin. Next time you’re listening to a song, try counting with the beat and see if it would make sense to count in 4. If not, perhaps you’ve found one of these incredible songs!
In last weeks post "Uh oh...", I talked about what happened to my car and what happened as I dodged a deer and went into a tree. Instead of making a post of what simply happened, I gave some detail on what songs were playing when the incident happened since this is a music blog and all...
I think it is a huge coincidence that I'm blogging on a music blog and listening to Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" as I wrecked my car. I had an inkling that there was more to my previous post, but I decided not to do anything more until I was told that there was really something more. After some time spent thinking about it... here is my conclusion of that event.
The fact that "Big Girls Don't Cry" was playing was to some extent ironic. The song is about having to leave someone (or something in this case) that you really love. However, you don't want to just leave and let go, but you can't do anything about it because it has already happened and you know it. It is time to face the facts, it's over. O well... I'm going to miss my car "like a child misses their blanket", "but I've got to get a move on with my life." It certainly will be hard to move onto a new car, but like the song suggests... I should take the opportunity and see what else is out there. Maybe I'll find something better, but it wasn't the cars fault that I wrecked it.
"It's time to be a big girl now And big girls don't cry..."
Although you might have heard it 50 times today, here is the song if you are interested...
This is called "My Vision" By Jakatta featuring Seal. This song dates back to 2002 when it was associated with being timeless because it is one of those songs you can play at a dance floor many years after the production and it is still not old or boring. The sleek and simple piano melody combined with the gentle voice of an RnB artist makes this track very stylish.
This is a very chilled out song and laid back dance song or just a normal song to listen to to relax. It is very laid back because of the slow tempo and allows a person to either cool down from the blissful dance vibe or to recover from a stressful day. For the duration of the song, the listener should feel very light and free due to the piano mixed with a mellow beat. In addition, the lyrics are very reassuring and are sung by a very soothing voice that has that soul touching element. From the sound of it, the piano piece by itself would be very slow and would be a very depressing song by itself. However, anything that is somber by itself is immediately transformed into something upbeat and joyful when it is tranced up.
Whenever RnB is merged with trance, the result is generally very satisfying. I believe it is that melodic element and simple, yet catchy beat of trance that creates an upbeat feeling which adds to RnB, consisting of blues and jazzy elements.
In the video, various elements make it very emotional and lively. One of them is the shots of Seal singing. You can see his facial expressions that show that he is really into the moment while singing the song. Everyone have the natural tendency to associate with the feelings and opinions of others, as a result; the viewer and listener takes on the mood of the video, which is very soulful, yet laid back.
This is a song by Gouryella called Ligaya (2002), one of many trance tracks created almost 5 to 7 years ago. The cool thing about this music video is that it gives an idea of what people see the digital and futuristic as.
Let's focus on the music and the concept of a digital word where anything is possible, your imagination is the limit. Listening to trance, everyone tends to temporarily dive into their own imaginary world that is also a place of sanctuary. For the length of the track, the person feels relieved and unattached to the real world. How? The long string melodies and the wavy hoovering sounds along with a very strong and heavy beat characterizes this track. This track is categorized under dream house which is categorized by very dreamy elements which consist of repeating string-like melodies or piano melodies. Combined with images of a depicted digital world and hoovering elements in the video, the audience really feels some relief. There is some comfort achieved from the mysterious elements that are constantly moving in the video because it keeps everything going. Most of the time, a negative mood is imposed by the lack of ability to keep moving ahead, but this video delivers nothing but happiness by propelling the viewer forward by having constant movements that match the hovering sound and beat in the background.
There is also an uplifting aspect to this video. The listener should be absorbed in the video and the song is arranged and created so that the build up to the climax is subtle and unimportant. When it finally hits you, happiness and bliss is thrown in your face. This is actually one of few songs I can listen to when I'm blue and make me into a more joyful mood. This song is very harmonious and mellow. I would consider this one of the best trance songs of all time because it conveys a lot of dream-like emotions that enlivens its audience.
Here is a remix.
This is an alternative version or the remix to 'Ligaya' as you can tell. In general, a remix consists of added elements such as more beats, different sounds using different instruments, and a change in the tempo, pitch, or volume of the song. In this remix of 'Ligaya' the intro has added elements such as loops of drum beats and hovering sounds that fades into the melody of the original song but the instrument sound is different. An addition to the original is that there are some string-like melodies that are played in sets of fives which is quite catchy. The original song was already very melodic, but this song is even more tuneful. Another addition is that there is a cymbal crash every time the melody loops in the body that gives the illusion of the volume increasing every time the melody repeats.
Remix or not, both of these songs bring joy and happiness to the listener despite the listener's former mood because there is a great chance that you will end up happy after you are done with the song.
“Take Five” is one of the most well-known songs in the history of jazz music. In 1959, the Dave Brubeck Quartet released “Time Out”, an amazing album with “Take Five” as its most popular song. There isn’t one single reason why “Take Five” became so popular, but rather there are many. It required the collaborative talents of all four members of the quartet to create such a great flowing song. Dave Brubeck brought his expertise with the piano. Paul Desmond produced his amazing saxophone sound, along with his composition talents in writing the song. Gene Wright provided an excellent bass backbeat. Joe Morello brought his amazing talents on the drum set to give the song exactly what it needed. All of these elements were in full force in producing this song.
Here’s an old video of the song performed live. I preferred a video over an mp3 because I wanted to “show” you why this band is so exceptionally talented. I’ll talk about the details after the video. First, watch it, see what you think, and try to pick out what you think makes this song so different from any other jazz chart.
First of all, the saxophone melody is very catchy. It’s something that makes you want to sing along before you have even heard the song all the way through. The other thing about the melody is that the saxophonist, Paul Desmond, is able to produce an incredibly clear tone. Every note he hits is exactly where it should be. This allows the melody to come out with a much stronger impact than if another musician were to play it. It also evokes a more powerful emotional response by having a more “beautiful” tone.
Besides the catchy melody, there’s something else that’s even more distinct (and famous) about this song. Have you noticed it yet? It’s in 5/4 time! (Which is the cause for the title) For those who don’t understand time signatures, that means that there are 5 beats in a measure. Most of the songs in the world are in 4/4 time, meaning that there are 4 beats for every measure. If you were to count the beats to a song (go ahead and try this if you are new) it would be 1, 2, 3, 4, | 1, 2, 3, 4, | 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. However, in “Take Five”, the song would be counted 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc. This isn’t easy at all for a musician. The subconscious mind always wants to count in 4/4, since that’s the way they were taught and have been used to. It takes a lot more concentration and practice to be able to play a song in 5. That’s what makes this song unique.
Another distinct, and amazing, part of “Take Five” is in the works of the drummer, Joe Morello. Soloing is not an easy art to master, but Joe Morello was able to take it beyond mastery. Being able to invent rhythms and beats on the spot takes a lot of experience, background, and talent with any instrument in music. Morello somehow did all of this, in a 5/4 time signature. This means that he has just as much experience, background, and talent in a 5/4 signature as most great drummers do with the common 4/4 time.
Joe Morello isn’t considered an amazing drummer just because he’s able to play and solo in 5/4 time, though. He’s recognized because of his style as well. This is where the video comes in to play. Watch the drummer during his solo. He hardly seems phased by what he’s doing; he looks like he’s played the solo millions and millions of times before. Also, his arms are so “loose” in the sense that he doesn’t force anything out. It’s as if the rhythms he’s producing are coming naturally to him. This is what separates a lot of great drummers from the ones who have something to learn. Morello proves his experience and talent to us just by using his body language. It's truly amazing, if you ask me.
Watch the other three members of the quartet as well. Brubeck and Wright’s beats are incredibly solid. They know exactly where the beat is (even if it’s not in 4/4) and they hit all the notes as they should be played. The saxophonist is a lot like the drummer. As he enters in the song, introducing the melody to the audience, his fingers move along the saxophone as if what he’s playing is a breeze. He looks like he could do it in his sleep. Combine this with his already amazing tone and sound, and you get a great musician.
All of the musicians provide equally important elements to the song. Without Paul Desmond’s amazing saxophone work and genius melody, the song wouldn’t have gone where it has gone today. Without Dave Brubeck and Gene Wright provide a solid, catchy beat, the song would have crashed and burned. Lastly, without the amazing drumming provided by Joe Morello on the drums, the song would not display as much talent as it needed to in order to make it. “Take Five” by the Dave Brubeck Quartet is a true display of musicianship and what can be produced when four amazing players come together to form one sound.
Mmm... breakfast. Delicious, right? But you might ask yourself, what's a good breakfast without some ridiculous music to get yourself going while you eat? That's right, it's nothing without some ridiculous music to get yourself going while you eat. And that's why I'm going to give you this quick guide to breakfast music:
Pink Floyd gives us a decent concept to start with, Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast. A time-honored classic, this song gets major points for actually being breakfast-themed. However, for some listeners the sounds of breakfast are too strange and disturbing to actually allow them to keep their breakfast down. Thus, we don't like marmalade, and shall continue our search.
An energetic morning starts with an energetic track. Kellogg's took this idea to heart when they selected Do Your Thing by Basement Jaxx as the music for their Special K commercial last year. But spend enough breakfasts with that in the background, and you'll easily go insane, thinking it's mocking you for eating your breakfast, "Do your thing" implying that you're just off in your own little world. We are not special, so the search moves forward yet again.
