April 30, 2018

Tommy Dorsey and Thomas A. Dorsey. Weird wrinkle in segregation that it prevented confusion back in the day.

Autotune “de-skills” the singer. I can see that. Kind of like electronic rider aids “de-skill” professional motorcycle racers. I’m a lousy singer and far from being a pro-level rider, so I’ll gladly accept all the assistance I can get in both endeavors. However, the parallel with industrialization de-skilling and de-valuing skilled craftsman is something I’ve seen in my lifetime. Factory kitchen cabinetry is no match for a skilled finish carpenter, but the market is saturated with affordable, perfectly serviceable factory pieces. We usually shop by price, and therefore the number of specialized craftspeople are ever decreasing.

Never thought I’d agree with Marx, but his concept of “commodity fetishism” sounds like he was ahead of his time, in one respect.

Review/Course Overview. From Edison cylinders to digital recording, preserving voice and music is an example of displacement of time and space. I also suggest the written word was a similar form of displacement when it was still a new concept.

May 2, 2018

Additional review. Pop music’s legacy is as a diary/journal of US history. A history of racism, politics, and people displaced. Does DAW software impoverish or enrich the music experience? More the former than the latter, I would argue. Accessibility may be its own form of enrichment, I guess, but it’s not worth the trade off in value.

Culture contrasted with politics. Culture promotes blending, politics promote segregation, sorting and balkanizing groups to facilitate control. Ask yourself, which feels like human nature?

One final thanks to Claude Shannon. Reducing everything to binary data is more a blessing than a curse. Alexander Hamilton would have approved of Shannon.

April 23, 2018

Bumper music: The Carolina Chocolate Drops, “Don’t Get Trouble in Your Mind.” Audio first, then video. Well, now; that was a surprise.

The Snowden family vs. Dan Emmet. We may never know the truth, but since copyrights are similar to patents, it reminds me a little of James Rumsey, Robert Fulton and steam-propelled boats. Fulton was granted a patent for his steamboat, yet Rumsey had demonstrated his steamboat years before. There are design differences, but by broad definition Rumsey was first to propel a boat using steam. But I digress.

Phenomenon: Technology displacing artists from their work. In the case of artists selling midi files of their work to make some coin, I have no issues with it. Compared to live performances, it’s a force multiplier, making money 24/7 via PayPal. Does it cheapen or diminish their craft? Maybe, but it also disseminates their work farther than possible by other means. Power to the people.

Additional discussion of GarageBand project. I’m thinking of a song as a timeline of US history. Maybe dropping Neil Armstrong’s “One small step for (a) man…” audio somewhere inside my mix.

April 25, 2018

Class canceled.

April 16, 2018

Technology and Citizenship. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton contrasted. When examining the words and decisions of historical figures, I must always remind myself that I’m doing so with the benefit of x number of years knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. That being said, I still think Jefferson’s concept of a nation of “yeoman farmers” would have doomed the US to invasion and occupation by our friends the British. They were still kind of pissed about losing the Revolutionary War. I agree with his advocacy to gain more land, but agree equally with Hamilton in his vision for an industrial future foe the US.

Identity of an individual, identity of a nation. Technology is the master and potential destroyer of both. I’m afraid we’re becoming Wonder Bread. Perhaps hundreds of varieties of Wonder Bread, each living in clusters of sameness.

April 18, 2018

Discussion of Final project and demonstration of GarageBand software. Not so intimidating when watching someone else, but will have to try it myself in the STAR lab in JC. Using a Mac is like swimming on my back. I’m a good swimmer, but prefer something resembling the American Crawl. It’s what I’m familiar with, like a Windows PC.

GarageBand reminds me of a sportbike with a suite of electronic rider aids. Lean-sensing traction control, anti-lock brakes, launch/wheelie control. All these features can make a mediocre rider safer and better, but can be in the way of a highly skilled rider. I’ll bet GarageBand’s assistive tech may bug highly skilled musicians and purists. Just a hunch.  Initial plan: start with a midi file of Mickey Newbury’s “American Trilogy,” and modify/personalize it.