http://www.divshare.com/download/16420043-15f
Taylor Hayes MH2 blog
Monday, December 19, 2011
Peer Comment 3
Although I am not a huge fan of I can definitely say he has
had a huge impact of a lot of people. He is a great lyricist something I have
seen and heard on many occasions most notably of a track he was on with Missy
Elliott called Bus a Rhyme off of her album Da Real World. I liked him most in
that Slim Shady era. I just finished writing an Independent Research Entry for
Dr. Dre and it is crazy to see how much he has done for west coast and non west
coast artist such as Eminem. Good Post!
Independent Research - Dr. Dre
It is said that no one was more
responsible for hip-hop’s move towards the platinum-enriched mainstream than
NWA’s Ex- gangster rapper member than Dr. Dre. Andre “Dr. Dre” Young grew up and discovered his talent
around the rough urban area of Compton, California, a virtually unknown quarter
at the time not to far away from Los Angles. Having quite the taste for
electro-funk and 60’s soul records, Dre (as he was nicknamed) began to play
these records as a DJ at house parties in the early 1980’s. It wasn’t too long
before this likable DJ became successful and started spinning records at
popular night club, Eve’s After Dark between 1982-85. Here after crafting some
beats of in his bedroom that also became his “ Sound Laboratory”, Andre would then cleverly implement them
into his set. By doing this he would quickly gauge what worked as well as what
didn’t. This helped him greatly. Also at Eve’s After Dark, he met another DJ by
the name of Yella who like him shared a lot of things in common musically.
Consequently, they would soon find themselves cutting demos in side rooms of
the club on an old four track-recording machine that was available. It eventually lead young a spot on LA’s
KDAY a radio station where he hosted a mix show. By using the same formula he
used at the club, he would see a lot of notoriety from his hometown of Compton
to the vast LA Basin. One of the many who caught on to Dre was Eve’s club owner
and aspiring singer Lonzo Williams. Dre, Lonzo and a high school friend of Dr.
Dre’s by the name of Cli-N-Tel would form the Lonzo williams’ group the
Wreckin’ Cru. They would enjoy modest success but Dre eventually left the group at the end of the 1980’s. Dr. Dre
would lend his talents after leaving this group to a new group that consisted
of himself, a rapper name Ice Cube, Eazy E, MC Ren, DJ Yella, and a briefly Arabian Prince named N.W.A. Comprising of harsh lyrics of gangbanging and
misogyny, N.W.A would rocket to fame. Dre made their sound be stark and
minimal”. However, after member Ice Cube left, Dr. Dre’s skills as a producer grew
exponentially becoming more layered and complex. It would later garner him outside ventures to other projects
for artist such as Michl’le, Snoop Dogg, Eminem in latter years, and even his
own work The Chronic which is now helmed as a hip hop classic. This would lead
him become the sound of the west coast. Two characteristics of this producer
that gave him much success were originality and truth. Originality comes from
recognition of his truth and truth comes from telling the story of the many who
grew up just like him. As an industry professional, this producer leaves me
feeling chill ,raw, and unapologetic.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Peer Comment 2
I
agree with you when you describe the Velvet Underground and Nico as having the
most chaotic and entrancing sonic landscape ever to be recorded on
tape. It would be definitely a “what the hell” moment if someone would
initially listen to. But you got to give credit where credit is due and it
credit is due on the fact that they were very influential. Andy Warhol helped
them out very much so and I also feel if he had not been as integrated as he
was in the group, the group would have not been as influential as they were.
Great job on the post!
Electronic Music and Innovations
The
technical innovation that I am choosing to discuss is modern minimalism discussed
by Bjork. It is a documentary featuring Arvo Pärt, Alasdair Mallory, and Mika
Vainio. The impact I feel that modern minilalism has had on eletronic music
would be by the simple sounds it produces, how the sounds are produced or what
are the things that produce these sounds, and above all, how these sounds are
turned into music. The sounds produce when hear put you directly in the mind of
electronic music. It’s that organic everyday industrial or natural sound that
is the basis of electronic music; for instance in the very beginning of the
documentary, when it showed a man playing the glass harmonica. What struck me
is the sharpness and tone of this instrument. It is that simple ambient sound
produced by the playing of this instrument that is noticeable in electronic
music. How the sounds are produced
is I feel another element that has impacted electronic music. This can be seen
when Bjork met a man by the name of Mika Vainio in Barcelona. During her
meeting him, she saw the various things he used to produce these “electronic”
type sounds in which one of them were made by turning a old wooden cigar box
into some type of bass synthesizer. It was very interesting. All these sounds
like I mentioned are produced in simple ways. And I think after looking at this
documentary, I feel that in a way, a lot of electronic music is simple and not
that complex. Two characteristics of this innovation are simplicity and its organic
qualities mentioned frequently above. The impression this innovation has made
on me is that you can make music out of the most basic and “non-musical” things.
It makes me as a listener and industry professional have more of an
appreciation of sound no matter where it comes from.
Electronic Music
The
music and image of Kraftwerk (which means in German power plant) was very
different from other acts throughout there time. And though some tried to
imitate (i.e. Gary Numan), there was only one original. Their music was
futuristic and industrial as Kraftwerk got inspiration from things like the
radio, cars down a highway, and even trains in Europe. Their image was
uniformed and emotionless, as they would wear suits while giving emotionless
faces as they performed on videos or in live settings. The albums Kraftwerk
released between the years 1974 to 1981 would get for the most part, receive little
recognition initially but more so later on as their work would influence a
whole genre of music and artist. When
Kraftwerk drop Autobahn at
the tail end of 1974, it push them to international status. Unlike previous
albums released, this one would actually have a concept. They would in dropping
this record give homage to the Beach boys with the title track. Their next
album Radioactivity in 1975 was very different from Autobahn were even though it
was another concept based record, the focus however was on nuclear energy and
the radio. It was an album with shorter tracks and a record that pushed their
sound into different areas were the sound would move very much into the
electronic sphere contrary to previous work where they would incorporate
non-electronic instruments. Following this was Trans Europe Express, a record
about the train system of Europe. It wasn’t as anticipated as Radioactivity due
to Radioactivity being deemed unsuccessful. Man Machine conversely became a break though for the group as
this album presented a new image with commercial material. Two characteristics that set the group
Kraftwerk in a position of being the biggest influence of electronic music
would definitely be the number of musicians following them taking cues and
because of their musical aesthetic. Kraftwerk inspired many from their music to
generate a synth/ industrial sound whether it was pop, rock, or hip hop. Their
music aesthetic was contagious. It also inspired a slew of artist like David
Bowie, Afrika Bambaata, Donna Summers, Throbbing gristles, and Gary Numan as
mentioned. The impression left on me by the group Kraftwerk is that creativity
is everything. I really enjoyed their originality because it longer lasting and
will get farther than mediocrity or imitation.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
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