Week 4 Podcast - Thriller "The Music Video"

Link to audio podcast: Podcast "Thriller Music Video"

Link to Thriller music video: Thriller Music Video

Enjoy!

Week 4 Peer Review - Kevin Humphreys

Peer Comment- Kevin Humphreys “Brian Eno”

First I want to say that I like this post a lot it was very detailed but yet not too wordy. I must admit that it was hard to find something that I didn’t like. After digging deep I did find one thing that bother me, this was the formatting. The whole post looked jumbled and you didn’t take advantage of using space. There were also some grammatical errors here and there. Overall great job Kevin, I was really impressed with your post! 

Week 4 Blog Post - Music Mogul Rick Rubin

Rick Rubin

On March 10^th 1963 Rick Rubin, one of the most influential people in Hip Hop was born and raised in Long Island, NY. He is known for being a Hip Hop ambassador and starting one of the biggest record labels today with his partner Russell Simmons. This label is Def Jam Records. They started the label in 1984 while Rubin was still in college and it was the only Hip Hop label at that time. LL Cool J was the labels first artist and his success quickly got them in position to be on top. What also makes Rubin even more influential is the fact that he is also a successful music producer. He has done things in every genre from artists like Jay-Z, to Red Hot Chilly Peppers, Mick Jagger and even Johnny Cash to name a few. His work is an example of never putting yourself in a box and being a musician rather than just a specialized “beat maker”. Though Rubin is an obvious musician he still pushes simplicity, this is something overlooked today because we tend to think that more is better. Rubin’s approach is less instrumentation.

Rubin’s versatility is definitely one of his characteristics in my opinion. The ways he can simultaneously shift between genres and even at time mix them together to create a unique sound. A great example of this is Jay-Z’s “99 Problems”. The rock influenced track contained distorted rock guitars over hip-hop drums. Rubin without question paved the way for such things being done now. Another one of Rubin’s characteristics is his sense of business. He was the founder of Def Jam and is the co-president of Columbia Records. What’s unique about him is how he is able to separate his involvement within the industry from business, and this is where a lot of producers/label executives have trouble. The final characteristic that I want to mention about Rubin is how he bridged the gap for Hip Hop as far as race goes. He showed the world that no matter the color of your skin you could in fact be apart of the Hip Hop culture because music is a worldwide language, which is apart of everyone. Being one of the biggest Hip Hop producers he opened up the door for producers of all racist. This is great.

As an industry professional having the dream of being a producer one day Rick Rubin leave a huge impression on me. From him I’ve learnt to never label myself and do as much of any type of music that I can. In the end I’ll be more versed and ready for anything thrown at me. Lastly I’ve learnt something that we all know but can still end up getting mixed up with. This is to know how to run your job and do your job. In order words handle your business but still run it.  Watch The Making Of 99 Problems 

Week 3 Peer Review

 Derek Harkin's - "Week 2 Blog" Marvin Gay's - What's Going On


The first thing I noticed when I read Derek's post was how broken down it was. I felt like he could have definitely put some more information into it because he missed some key points when talking about how the song came about. However if he was going for short overview, I will say he did a pretty good job condensing and compressing the information. One things that I really liked a lot was when he mentioned the fact that you never understand war until it's one of your own. I liked that he said this because it is so true and I also made a similar comment in my post. Overall good job! The only thing I would have done different was go more in depth at the beginning.

Week 3 Entries

Kraftwerk

The music of craftwork was revolutionary! Their aim was always to be fresh and come up with new sounds. Most bands from that time were all about perfection and experience while Kraftwerk was about experimentation and bringing back humor into the music. Their name means a power plant or power station. Starting out playing regular instruments their fist three albums were nothing unique. It wasn’t until their fourth album where they became what we know today. A huge contributor to this was producer and engineer Konrad “Conny” Plank who guided the band in their early years.

Between 1974 & 1981 Kraftwerk release five albums, one even earning them an international tour. In 1974 they released Autobahn. Autobahn is said to be the album where you really heard a change in their sound, through it the band gained financial help and were able to tour the US, Canada and the UK promoting it.   Shortly after the tour the band began working on their next album Radioactivity. This album didn’t do the best in the UK but went gold in France. Like with Autobahn this influenced a new tour and another album after the tour. Released in 1977 the album was called Trans-Europe express. It’ entirety was recording at the bands studio “King Klang Studios” and was mix at the legendary “Record Plant” out in Los Angeles. Due to the great work by the band this album earned them a disco award.

Another album released in this period was The Man Machine. This was the bands seventh studio album and was the first to see someone other than Hutter or Schneider. Both the percussionist Karl Batos and Emil Schult received co-writing credits. After a three year break the final album of this period was released. It was titled Computer World. This album was very unique, it consisted of vocal lines created using a Texas Instruments Language Translator and sequencing elements were heavily used for improvising. The Man Machine would send the band on yet another tour.

Two things that make Kraftwerk the biggest influence on electronic music today is their thought process. The way that they were able to come up with some of there production technique in a time where technology was limited. Everything from using vocoders to creating vocals with a Texas Instruments translator was genius, especially for that time. The other thing that makes them such a huge influences is there mindset of always wanting to be innovative. Electro/Pop music is something that can either always sound the same or can be something that amazes you and Kraftwerk managed to make it refreshing every time. They set the standard for what pop music is today, people are always trying to find ways of being innovative and amazing their audience.

As a listener and better yet an industry professional. The work of Kraftwerk leaves me with a simple yet important message. Always be innovative, no matter your position within the record making process. They’ve also showed me to forget about expensive gear you can be innovative with anything once you put your all into it. 

The Moog Synthesizer

The moog synthesizer is by far one of the most popular vintage synthesizers used to this day. Some may even call it the “MPC” of electronic music but it’s a lot more than that. Designed by Dr. Robert Moog these synthesizers came out in the 1950’s and quickly became popular through bands like Kraftwerk. Moog created the first modular synth and paved the way for more to come. Having such a unique sound the Moog became an industry favorite, it was in everything from movies to some of the top music acts such as The Beetles, Diana Ross and the Byrds to name a few. It was being talked about by industry professionals all over and still is to this day.

When talking about the Moog one of the characteristics mentions has to be the modular technology. This is mainly because they were the first to do it and it was a big deal that you could get all of these modules, expand the synth and therefore get more sounds through a simple patch cable. Another would have to be the sound. The Moog wasn’t just popular for it’s good looks and technology. It sounded amazing! When you listen to the quality of it’s sounds compared to any other synth, it’s evident why it caught on so much back then.

As an industry professional the Moog makes me appreciate vintage synths and how they work. Seeing and reading about it make me want to twist actual knobs rather than mess with a software emulation. It also humbles me because my generation is blessed; we are at the point in where we can have a million Moogs on our computers without a problem. However, back then they had to deal with this massive machine which had patch cables. 

Podcast 1 "What's Going On"

http://limelinx.com/files/41c9f28b05bacff2a48a744faf89584f

Week 2 Entries

The Velvet Underground & Nico Entry

Velvet Underground & Nico is a rock group, which was essentially formed by Lou Reed. It all started when Reed met a John Cale, who had just moved to America to study classical music. Reed and Cale met through working on mutural project and soon became very close because of their similar interests. Velvet Underground style is experimental rock and this was all inspired by Cale’s avant-garde experimental background.  Cale would take the bands material from what may have been considered noised to a sonic masterpiece. A big part of their sound also had to do with Reed’s comforting song stories along with his unique guitar effects and Stone Age percussion.

As mentioned briefly above Reed and Cale were the primary songwriters of the group. Born in Welsh, as a child Cade played both the Piano and Violin.  He was well on his way to being a great musician and was even featured playing an original composition on BBC. In 1960 Cale studied classical music at London’s Goldsmith’s College, where he would discover his lover for avant-garde. He would later earn a Leonard Bernstein scholarship, which came after catching the attention of American composer Aaron Copland. Lou Reed on the other hand was already working within the industry when he and Cale met. Reed was a songwriter working with Pickwick Records and recruited Cale as a musician.  

Two things that set this album apart from other albums of this era are:

The use of experimental characteristics in a rock genre: At that time this is not something that was commonly being done. For the most part much people weren’t mixing genres but Cale tried it and I think this has a lot to do with why this music is so influential today.

The fact that they took the risks and failed then but are a big part of music today: Velvet Underground may have had a few flops due to people not liking the music that they were creating. Though it seems crazy looking back, that was human nature we are always quick to dislike what we’re not used to. However this did not stop the band they pushed the envelope and took the risk. Now they are one of the most influential bands from that era.

As an industry professional Velvet Underground & Nico has a huge impact on me. My reasons for saying this are because they are about pushing the envelope and being cutting edge. That’s what it takes to survive in this industry and the fact that they were doing it from back then is amazing.

What’s Going On

Marvin Gaye born on April 2^nd 1939 in Washington DC was an entertainer/songwriter who is know for his wide vocal range and powerful music. Gaye had the image of an artist who speaks for the people; all of his songs had a purpose and came from the heart. There we a lot of thing that influenced what Gaye talked about, these were things directly related to him and things happening around him. Some of these things were his singing friend Tammi Terrell dying from a brain tumor, the shootings of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, his brothers war experiences and the violence occurring in Detroit at that time. All the music was written around real life situation and I think this is why people connected so easily.

The social and national concerns that influenced the lyrical content for What’s Going On were things like Nelson Mandela being held, the crazy things happening with the war, the violence occurring in America, losing people like Dr. Martin Luther King & Bobby Kennedy and losing close friends.

In recording and releasing What’s Going On Gaye was faced with a lot of problems, some of these came by surprise. First was that it took many mixes to get the song down but Gaye was positive since everything negative had worked out on this record. However, what caught Gaye by surprise was when Berry Gordy refused to release the record because he didn’t like it. Marvin believing in the song so much said until Gordy released the song he would cut no more records.

Two characteristics that set What’s Going On apart from everything that was out at that time was the songwriting and the studio musicians. The songwriting was different from anything else because of how deep it was and what they were talking about. Gaye always addressed world issues and pored his heart out on every song. Most songs of that time were about having fun and un-realistic love stories. Gaye knew how to write songs with substance and make them sound beautiful. Next were the studio musicians, though commonly done today Gaye brought in friends to handle his backgrounds and this was very unique for the time. These friends were members of the Detroit Lions and they were doing chanting.

To me as an industry professional this song has a huge impression on me because it shows me that you can have quality lyrics and still sell millions of records. It also shows me that I should never hold back creativity because it may be the standard of tomorrow.

Peer Comment

Briana Hopkins- Pet Sounds Post

The first thing that I noticed when I read Briana’s post was how well it was summarized but yet still covered almost everything important. However I must admit that some key elements were left out. For example when talking about Brian Wilson she talked about him being the producer but didn’t mention anything before that. One of my favorite elements of her post was in the first paragraph when she referred back to the Bob Evans show that point that she brought about their “tension” was very important and it was something that I even missed. Overall I liked the post I just feel like at certain point she could have given a bit more information.