Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Audio: ‘New Dawn’ (8:15, Beat Pharmacy)
Allusions, comparisons: ‘Watergate Rock’ (2:50, King Tubby, 1974*); ‘Psalms of Dub’ (3:00, King Tubby, 1974*) *According to xraymusic.co.uk.
Playback architecture: I call it Desk-A-Phonic™ and it consists of a small 4’ wide desk, simple squared arc of wood with no frills, and inside the leg space on the carpet are two robust computer speakers in the far-most corners (good bass, ‘dem). Playing dub vibrates the desk, vibrates my hands on the mouse, and gives me the hint of a dub party – even if my puny bass-a-rockin’ is merely functioning as an audio symbol (nevertheless it reminds me of the dub context).
Beat Pharmacy’s ‘New Dawn’ flirts with the listener for 1:11 until the anticipated beat, a house beat, drops into the sound image; for that minute or so, the dubby guitar licks and bass harmony, and echo effects, are all calling out to us, it seems – or else they call out to the missing beat. At 1:11 the anticipated beat pummels the listener.
At 1:53 the beat forgets itself again in a dub oblivion until 2:23 (30 seconds). 2:55 – 3:02, another break-down. And at 4:00 a break. 4:32, a break which really gets down to bear bones. At around 4:50 the beat disintegrates noticeably before the break. In the fifth minute we hear effects, and more echo washing out and slapping around the beat, and a prominent bass harmony which is rather low and dark. The middle is the densest sound image. From about 6:40 to the end at 8:15, there is no beat.
The dub production strategy, if not theme, of sonic differance, if we may apply this Derridean term to the dub ‘surprise’, and to dub’s deferring the satisfaction of hearing resolutions to one’s aural expectations (namely, the bass line, beat, or vocals), has figured into house music albeit in a distilled and formalized way.
Dance musics like house (which grew largely out of club settings, and underground) have the dub differance usually toward the middle, where the track’s layers decompose, often revealing a spacious inner chamber, if you will. The dancers are enticed into this space (or must earn it by dancing), and after the break-down there is a moment to dub-out, a mini-oblivion, a clearing of the aural slate. When the party is hovering in that place of differance, perhaps not even dancing anymore, but simply swaying and tripping out, there is a level of expectation that arises about when and how the beat will flood the floor again.
Classic dubplates like ‘Watergate Rock’ (2:50, King Tubby, 1974) or ‘Psalms of Dub’ (3:00, King Tubby, 1974) – I have a theory that these two tracks are using the same riddim, but inversed – are not only using differance within the song’s own elements, but also playing with the listener’s expectations toward completing sound pictures from shards of previous songs. With dub differance the anticipatory climate is upheld or is completely freestyle throughout.
The Beat Pharmacy song complicates the expectation for the familiar house track’s middle break-down into oblivion. It does not occur. In keeping with the track’s dub inflections, ‘New Dawn’ instead goes the route of continuous differance melded with the stylings of house, and in this way it achieves a sonorous fusion whilst indicating the genetic ties between house and dub.
Joy Division Movie
heres a trailer I just saw of a movie about the band Joy Division.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/weinstein/control/trailer1/
Enjoy
Building Dub
Monday, October 22, 2007
transformation through reverb and equalization
The cultural and technological influences on dub music are centered in the Jamaican culture and political turmoil of the 70’s and 80’s. One use of technology that stands out is the use of reverb and the use of equalization and filtering devices. In King Tubby’s “Black Lash” The light and upbeat sounds of the horns playing drastically transform to a more desperate and even spooky feeling to the song as the use of reverb is applied to the horns. With the sound of the box reverb in the back transformed into a bubbling almost flapping sound I can feel the heat of the Jamaican sun. In contrast to the low tones of the horns Tubby uses equalization to bring out the higher and sharper tones of the symbols and guitar. “Equalization could also be used to help craft the ambient aspects of a performance. In particular, the interplay of echo and equalization enabled engineers to make simulated sound spaces sound as if they were continually morphing in dimension and texture. Lee “Scratch” Perry’s song “Upsetting Dub” is very similar in the way it uses reverb and equalization. The songs feels so heavy and drawn out. I can feel the tension and despair in the heat of the Jamaican ghetto.
Tubby Dub
Control in a Constructing Reality
The music emerging from
Domestication and Reclamation of Space in Dub
The home as the domestic space is a place of familiarity, where goings-on can be controlled. Riddims in dub music inhibit similar feelings as they are generic progressions that form the basis of these songs. The bass and saxophone lull in King Tubby's "Bag a Wire Dub" forming a space of familiarity and safety, allowing the listener over the the 3 minutes to become intimate with the riddim. The reclamation of this domesticated space takes place when (often) arrthymically, we hear a reverberated clang, which is probably King Tubby abusing his spring reverb unit. The domesticated space is disintegrated; it becomes fragmented and interrupted challenging the established safety within the riddim. "Bag a Wire Dub" is a constant flux of riddim-domesticated space and clang-reclaimed space. Scientist's "Beam Down" inhibits this flux in a slightly different way. A bass line creates a smooth, regular riddim with slight variations of reverb added. However, throughout the track, similar clangs and drum hits fragment the space created by the riddims, gradually growing in intensity throughout the track. The volume of these clangs grows throughout the track, reminiscent of of the hifi's volume level causing "spatial/spousal conflict" within the home. (Taylor 80) Much like how the hifi emerged as a reclaimer of domestic space, the abused spring reverb unit reclaims songs from the riddim.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Reverb is the Unifying Factor
When King Tubby first revealed delay on an amplifier he became one of the most sought out technicians in the region and soon everyone was trying to replicate his sound. Veal quotes Philip Smart, “The first time any other sound man ever heard delay, was when U-Roy came and take up the mic and say, “Your now entertained by the number one sound in the land, land, land, land, …”
Energy Fools the Magician
For this Blog Post, I looked though the material given though class and found this title called : Energy Fools the Magician.” After listening to this I had come to the conclusion that Timothy Taylor’s ideas on the Technoscientific Imaginary seemed to be the best way to describe this piece. This is a piece that carried a natural beat in through out but seems to bring in some kind of synthesizer at periods of the song. Through out the chapter,
Monks on Youtube
A friend of mine sent this by my way when he saw I was listening to the Monks. Totally wish I could have been dancing with those hip cats. They look a little more tame here than I thought they would have looked from our class discussion.
Beam Down
Having not listened to dub before, I have gathered several “first impression” observations about the genre; some of which are justly highlighted in Veal’s book, DUB. I thought it was interesting to look at the characteristics of dub that define the genre. In the second chapter of Veal’s book, he discusses several of these production strategies that make dub what it is. These include: spatial effects due to the use of reverb and echo, the use of equalization to create differences in the textures of sounds, and the inclusion of extraneous material. The best utilization of all three of these seems to come about in King Tubby’s Fittest of the Fittest Dub. Although, with perhaps the exception of the inclusion of extraneous material, it seems to me that every Jamaican dub in the class material utilizes the exact same techniques to the extent that I would argue that most Jamaican dub sounds the same. To me, the only real distinctive factor between these dub songs is the amount of inclusion or exclusion of vocal tracks. Although, perhaps it is merely the trends that certain producers have that I am hearing.
Producing Dub
“More then any other engineering mixing dub, Perry’s Black Ark suggests the mood of an engineer completely absorbed in the world he is fashioning; this is estatic music created at the mixing board. “
Alchemists of Sound
I recently discovered this great documentary about the BBC's Radiophonic workshop on youtube (in 7 parts). part 1. part 2. part 3. part 4. part 5. part 6. part 7.
from the BBC's website:
The BBC's Radiophonic Workshop was set up in 1958, born out of a desire to create 'new kinds of sounds'. Alchemists of Sound looks at this creative group from its inception, through its golden age when it was supplying music and effects for cult classics like Doctor Who, Blake's Seven and Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, and charts its fading away in 1995 when, due to budget cuts, it was no longer able to survive.
There are interviews with composers from the Workshop, as well as musicians and writers who have been inspired by the output. Great archive footage of the Workshop and its machinery is accompanied by excerpts of the, now cult, TV programmes that featured these sounds.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
w00t: a collage of computer game sound and image
Bob Ostertag, sound artist and professor of technocultural studies at UC Davis, just released "w00t" on his website.
Download "wOOt".w00t consists of a 50-minute sound collage, a 4.5 minute sound “trailer,” and associated “cover art.” There is, however, no cover. w00t is a free, internet-only release. w00t was composed entirely from fragments of music from these computer games:
Balloon Fight • Congo Bongo • Contra • Earthbound • Halo: Combat Evolved • Ico • Katamari Damacy • Killer Instinct • The Legend of Zelda • Massive Assault • Myst
• Star Fox • Super Metroid • Super Smash Bros.: Melee • Viewtiful Joe • WarioWare, Inc: Mega Party Game$ • World of Warcraft
Images from these same games were included in the w00t art work. The w00t music began as the sound for Special Forces, a live cinematic performance by Living Cinema (Pierre Hébert and Bob Ostertag), which addressed the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 2006.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Space and Human Destiny (FREE!)
In this ongoing discussion moderated by David Grinspoon, PhD, the Museum invites you to consider with scientists, astronauts, ethicists, and policy makers the ethical and political implications of human space activities. Co-sponsored by the Secure World Foundation and the Center for Space Exploration Policy Research at Southwest Research Institute.
What are the long term consequences and implications of space exploration for the future of the human race? Does space hold the key to the future of life and intelligence? Can the move into space help humanity to survive? Come hear the thoughts of some of today's most visionary thinkers about space exploration, and participate in a discussion about the human future.
Tuesday's Panel will include:
Jill Tarter, PhD, director, Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute, Mountain View, California. (Named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world; many people are now familiar with her work as portrayed by Jodie Foster in the movie Contact.)
Christopher McKay, PhD, Research Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, astrobiologist, and influential writer/speaker on interplanetary bioethics.
Robert Zubrin, PhD, President, The Mars Society
Moderated by Dr. David Grinspoon, Curator of Astrobiology, DMNS
Tuesday, October 16
7:00 p.m.
Phipps IMAX Theater; use IMAX Evening Entrance
Free
Reservations: 303.322.7009 or 1.800.925.2250
--
Dr. David Grinspoon
Curator of Astrobiology
Department of Space Sciences
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
2001 Colorado Blvd.
Denver, CO 80205
direct line: 303-370-6469
fax: 303-370-6005
dgrinspoon@dmns.org
President and Rhythm Guitar
Funky Science, Inc.
david@funkyscience.net
http://www.funkyscience.net/
Monday, October 8, 2007
In the Shadow of the Moon
Also, on the movie's website, there's a really nice writing by the film's composer, Phillip Sheppard and how he approached scoring the film (Under "About the Film"):
My initial impulse when thinking about the project was 'Space! America! Let's go big and bombastic adn write music that's going to punch them out of their seats.' But of course that's not what the film's about; its much more of a human story. Funnily enough it's more in the way of a chamber piece; it's more intimate...
So for the launch, where you may expect a full symphony orchestra to be playing right from the off, we're starting really small with just the tiniest instrument, the little marimba, and then building to something that's absolutely enormous We've gone the opposite way to what you might expect...
We recognized that this film is about the frontier mentality; the idea of discovering not the new West but the new world, and I wanted that pioneering spirit to be manifest in the score. I love the old West and this traditional American string music is among my favorites.
Sounds familiar but with a new approach. Its showing at the Landmark Chez Artiste on Colorado. Also, check out that computer! It looks like a giant wall of synthesizers!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
The Posthuman DJ - in the 70's at TX/LA radio
"I'm a human radio station, I'm the transmitter, I'm the tower, I'm the turntables, I'm the building, I'm every doggone thing."
More jive DJ's here.
RIAA -- "Sounds For The Space-Set!!"
Monday, October 1, 2007
The Amen Break
Here's a great video/installation by Nate Harrison on the Amen Break sampled from The Winstons' "Color Him Father". It's easily the most used breakbeat ever and I would assume followed up in popularity by "Funky Drummer" by James Brown/Clyde Subblefield (who has a myspace page!) and "Apache" by the Incredible Bongo Band. I think its an interesting meme in electronic music. I don't really have a background in memetics, or fully understand the concepts surrounding them but I would argue that the Amen Break, as a staple of hip hop, house, drum and bass and other genres of electronic music is really successful at survival. I really would like to spend some time looking at its mutations and also how it could be detrimental to its host (perhaps it's seen as too derivative?).
Also interestingly, Harrison argues that markets and capital will benefit from a more open and flexible culture and public domain.
EDIT: I'm sorry, as my fiance pointed out in the comments, the SONG the sample is from is "Amen, Brother" which is on the B-side. Color Him Father is on the A-side.