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Post reblogged from Matron Saint of Lesbians
I showed my friend Heat from Medium and she said it “was the music you play in a walkthrough museum exhibit on space” and so I showed her Frogs and she was like “this is the introductory 5 min video to the rainforest exhibit” and I showed her Light and she was like “this is the wonders of the caribbean. alternatively, the childrens section of the space exhibit.”
And then I showed her Flare and she was like “NO YOU DONT UNDERSTAND THIS IS THE FRENCH REVOLUTION EXHIBIT”
she asked why the artists soul isnt owned by a museum because of his “supernatural ability to make exhibit music”
so tell me plazmataz
which museum owns your soul?
I visited the Science Museum of Minnesota dozens of times as a kid, and then did a bunch of volunteering there after high school. Were it possible, I’d love for them to own soul.
They’d be like, “You’re interested in selling us your soul?”
And then I’d be like “No, I want to donate it.”
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Audio post reblogged from Weasles Ripped My Flesh.
946 playsMr. Paganini (Live At the Crescendo)
It’s time to take a short break from our usual genres of music in favor of something with a little bit of history and a whole lot of class. I’m going to tell you about the best singer who ever lived.
Her name is EllaFitzgerald; Queen of Jazz, First Lady of Song.
That song up there is called “You’ll Have to Swing It” or “Mr. Paganini,” a classic jazz standard that was popularized largely by Ella herself. This particular recording is my favorite one, it comes from her legendary twelve-night gig at the Crescendo club in Hollywood. There at the top of this post, take a look at that photo. The audience is enraptured, and center among them is Duke Ellington, world famous composer, songwriter, pianist and bandleader. Even the Duke himself was known to be in perfect, worshipful awe when Ella sang her songs.
This lady is incredible. She started off in a pretty bad way, being born in Harlem to a father who left and a mother who died young of illness, leaving her in the care of an abusive stepfather. Before her career in music she is known to have worked street jobs, the stories say at a brothel or as a mafia numbers runner. Even after her career started in 1934 she was married twice; both ended in divorce.
She was known to be shy and quiet, mostly keeping to herself. Band members she worked with would say that she was a lonely person. She even said once “I don’t want to say the wrong thing, which I always do. I think I do better when I sing.”
As for her voice, she had an astounding three-octave range, and a perfection of tone and intonation that is simply the best there ever was. Beyond that she was known for invention, popularizing the scat style of improvisation. Over her career she casually took homethirteen Grammys, not to mention the two awards given to her personally by two U.S. Presidents. The world has never seen and will never see again the likes of Ella or the divinity of her vocals. When writing a memorial piece after she passed away in 1996, music critic Will Friedwald had this to say:
Unlike any other singer you could name, Fitzgerald has the most amazing asset in the very sound of her voice: it’s easily one of the most beautiful and sonically perfect sounds known to man. Even if she couldn’t do anything with it, the instrument that Fitzgerald starts with is dulcet and pure and breathtakingly beautiful. As Henry Pleasants has observed, she has a wider range than most opera singers, and many of the latter, including Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, are among her biggest fans. And the intonation that goes with the voice is, to put it conservatively, God-like. Fitzgerald simply exists in tune, and she hits every note that there is without the slightest trace of effort. Other singers tend to sound like they’re trying to reach up to a note - Fitzgerald always sounds like she’s already there. If anything, she’s descending from her heavenly perch and swooping down to whatever pitch she wants.
That guy Friedwald just mentioned, Henry Pleasants, doesn’t even care about jazz; he usually writes about opera singers and classical vocalists. But this this is what he has to say about Ella:
She has a lovely voice, one of the warmest and most radiant in its natural range that I have heard in a lifetime of listening to singers in every category. She has an impeccable and ultimately sophisticated rhythmic sense, and flawless intonation. Her harmonic sensibility is extraordinary. She is endlessly inventive… it is not so much what she does, or even the way she does it, it’s what she does not do. What she does not do, putting it simply as possible, is anything wrong. There is simply nothing in performance to which one would take exception… Everything seems to be just right. One would not want it any other way. Nor can one, for a moment imagine it any other way.
As for me, I own eight of Ella’s albums, and they’re the most treasured pieces in my personal music collection. Even if you’re not into jazz, I seriously recommend checking her recordings out. She’s one of my greatest musical heroes, and she’s someone I think every lover of music should be familiar with.
Today is Ella Fitzgerald’s birthday! Were she still alive she would be turning 96.
“She was the best. She was the best there ever was.” — Johnny Mathis
Shine on, Ella. We miss you down here.
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Did you use Logic Pro to produce music from the very beginning of your digital music career? I got Logic Pro recently, but I don't really have any experience in music production and I have no idea what any of the technical stuff means. Should I just stick to Logic Pro, or should I start with easier software first?
Asked by Anonymous
I feel your pain; Logic is the most complicated and confusing piece of software I’ve ever had the privilege to learn.
I started out using Garageband, which, like its sister Logic, is also made by Apple. Both programs run on the same engine and their interfaces and functionality are highly similar. The difference between them is that Garageband is designed for those who are new to making music, and since it comes installed on every Macintosh computer it is much more accesible and intuitive than Logic, which Apple markets more in the direction of professional producers. Making the transition from GB to Logic was silky smooth for me, and probably would be for you too!
I would recommend that anyone on a Mac computer start their musical journey with Garageband; I personally spent my first few years there. When you start to feel the program holding you back, you’ll know it’s time to move on to more complex software.
And remember that these are Apple products, which means that there is an unbelievable level of online documentation and customer support. I’m constantly checking the manual for Logic Pro, even after four or five years of using it nearly every day.
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how'd you come up with plazmataz? it sounds really cool
Asked by Anonymous
It was a nickname given to me long ago during the early days of my internet-using career. I’m afraid I can take no credit for its inception.
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Do you like Gymnopedie by Erik Satie? The beginning of Day That Never Came made me think of that song, and I really love the beat you put into it. Also, would you happen to have an instrumental of Day That Never Came?
Asked by Anonymous
The beginning of Day That Never Came is an effected sample of the iconic first Gymnopedie! In answer, I do like Erik Satie.
I do not have an instrumental of it, I never felt that was one necessary! Astro Kid and Diana Ross go together like peanut butter and marshmallow fluff.
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I want a The Sorrow doll with a little chalkboard attached to his hands so I can write messages on it and leave him sitting around the house for people to find.
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Hey! I just want to say that I adore Austin, Atlantis. I actually want to ask about it: What, besides Pärt’s Magnificat and Dirk Strider, inspired you to write it like you did? What can you tell me about it? I'm using Austin, Atlantis as part of a project in Music class (if that's OK), and I just need a bit of information about it. I'm sorry for bothering you.
Asked by Anonymous
Like most of what I do it was a really organic composition process, coming together as a result of fruitful experimentation and exploration of sounds.
It started off with me tinkering around with audio processing. I used a highly effected Beatdown to create the opening soundscape. Sampling Arvo was a whim; I had to modify the pitch of Beatdown to match the choral performance, which I discovered was somewhere on a flat quartertone. I really liked the way it sounded, and I started to improvise some piano to follow it up (I had pull the piano down in pitch as well, 33 cents flatter than standard), and I had fun working in Homestuck themes like Explore and Flare. The second processed soundscape was derived from Atomyk Ebonpyre, in keeping with the Strider aesthetic. The off-beat percussion is a sliced up clip from a Battlestar Galactica episode, which was also an experiment-gone-right.
As a composer, happy accidents are my best friend.
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4,378 playsAustin, Atlantis (piano duet)
Download: Austin, Atlantis (piano duet)
I decided to remaster the piano duet and choral interlude from my old Homestuck tune Austin, Atlantis. Track art by the magical Tynic.
Happy 4/13, Homestuck!
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I composed this song as a commission for a company that produces board games, specifically for their most recent game Baldrick’s Tomb, which is currently Kickstarting (I played the prototype, it was a blast).
Composing this song was an interesting challenge, because I decided to write music that sounded the way that playing the game felt. In the end I went for a cautious curiosity, and arranged the parts for various stringed instruments. I think it came out well!
You can download the song from my Bandcamp page.
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Do you have any plans to release sheet music for Symphony Impossible to Play? I am very interested in playing this piece.
Asked by hiromiyamoto27desu
I’d love to put out a piano reduction of the symphony, but I just don’t have the piano experience to do something like that.
Maybe I should hire Tyler to help…
