Saturday, 1 May 2004

Adobe Light Shadow 9:14:47 PM  Permanent Link 2 this Entry   Music + Communication One of the most important aspects of music is communication. What do I want to communicate and what will people hear? Some of the musical information will only be understood by certain people, while other parts might be understood by a larger group. How do I approach composition with this in mind? For me the secret lies in the melody. If the melody is seductive enough, the casual listener will not object to the rhythm being in a strange meter, or the harmonies sounding more complex. "Yasmeen" from "Opium" is in 5/4, as are several songs on that album, but the melody carries the listener past that. There are also songs in 6/8, 10/8 and 12/8 on several albums. On "La Semana" I recorded a song where the background guitar pulses in 3/4, while the rest of the guitars and rhythm plays in 4/4. Another song has an underlying rhythm that remains in 4/4, while the guitars and the bass play in 3/4 during the verses and 4/4 during the chori. But, I bet you won't notice those changes, unless you are a musician or a dancer or simply versed in rhythm. Where am I going with this? Well, in my case I feel that my melody can carry the casual person past any tricky sections. But doesn't the same communication "problem" also exist in politics or in any learning? In other words, as the world evolves and situations become more complex, how do we explain those complex issues to people who don't understand them? How can a Ken Wilber reach more than the 5% of Americans who might be at an Integral level? How can he present his teachings so that the average person gets it, or rather gets something, anything... And doesn't this also apply to politics? Politics remind me of Rap music. A lot of Rap music covers very, very simple, even primitive issues....like: I am cool and you are not, I am the best, I am the strongest, and if you mess with me I kill you. Well, that's about as base as one can get. I feel that most politicians end up rapping like that as well, because they don't think that people will "get" more complex messages and, frankly, TV or radio would not give the politician enough time to present anything more complex anyway. They need a melody... 9:12:30 PM  Permanent Link 2 this Entry   Sunset from Thursday? 8:30:28 PM  Permanent Link 2 this Entry   Drawing on my PDA 8:20:11 PM  Permanent Link 2 this Entry   Music Shuffle Music: iPod Shuffle Mood: delighted My iPod took me on a nice journey this evening, as I was taking a walk in Santa Fe. I heard "Bella" from my last all-original Luna Negra album "Innamorare"...had not heard that in years. "Innamorare" was the last album I recorded analog. My brother mixed it together with Gary Lyons. Anyway, from "Innamorare" the journey went to Björk's brilliant album "Vespertine", from there to a song by Jazz Saxophonist Ben Webster, then Paco's "Patio Custodio" from "Cositas Buenas" and at last a song from Fareed Hague's "Voices Rising". No radio DJ has delighted me with an exciting sequence of songs in years...the last time I was floored by a DJ was when Jack Kolkmeyer was at KIOT in the nineties.... On Monday I will order the ICELink, which will connect the iPod to the back of my Toyota Prius radio and will allow me to change tunes or volume from my steering wheel... 8:13:05 PM  Permanent Link 2 this Entry

© Copyright 2004 Ottmar Liebert. Last update: 01.06.04; 10:27:19.