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 listener get 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.

So What?

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.

BT - Flaming June

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.

A Clarification of Common Time

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.

How to Bother Nearby Drivers

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.

COKI
SPONGEBOB

DMZ

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.