The Music of Mario - Time, Space, and Nostalgia

“All games have unique rhythms.” - Koji Kondo

The notion of progress is built into the Super Mario series, also the notion of resolution. That music needs to resolve implies that it is problematized to begin with, and we can relate that problem back to the motivation to complete a videogame, and the fact that the “rhythm of the game” is something complex that we all (players, composers, and designers of games) feel. Videogames are often spoken of in a way that relates their value (either in dollars or whether they are worth a player's time) to the amount of gameplay they offer, given in units of time. Fifty hours of gameplay is widely considered a good value. Part of this can be attributed to the high cost of videogames, but I think another reason for this is that the sense of progress built into them is satisfying, and the Super Mario series represents this progress by collecting items, defeating enemies, and moving through spaces, each action having a specific associated sound. The quote above, from the sound designer for almost all of the Super Mario series, relates to the entire soundscape of a game but for the purposes of this paper I am interested in the musical themes (the background music, or BGM) of certain levels and items, how these relate to time and progress, and how the simple themes of the Super Mario series mixed with the interactivity of the videogame medium create such a strong nostalgia for players and encourage the remixes that are featured as part of my audio mix. Specifically, I review the classic “Main Theme,” the “Underground Theme,” “Starman,” “Overworld 2 Theme” (from Super Mario Bros. 3), and “Ragtime Theme” (my title, from Super Mario World).

Here's a link to a big zip of everything: get it.

Gendered Sounds -vs- Gendered Scene

Is it possible to hear gender in music? By exploring sonic dimensions of electronic music by six composers, I locate and describe what could be considered stereotypically feminine and masculine sounds. I also detail electronica that lacks explicit gendered sounds. In these instances, I discuss the gender neutrality of the compositions in relation to their gendered composers. Complicating matters further, I discuss gender-bending in electronica, where gendered sounds do not match their composer’s gender. Lastly, I consider the artistic and political ramifications of classifying electronica by gender, as in the case of music compilations presented specifically as “women’s music.” I explore the possibilities of gendered sounds, but also its politics. I will post this paper on my blog.

Slowed and Thowed: Pharmacomusical Meditation

Michael Veal traces dub's influence on other forms of music in different geographic locations at the end of his book Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae. While he quickly glosses over the well-documented emergence of the hip-hop scene in New York, it is important to note that many of dub's production techniques and cultural production happen in other African diasporas. The South has contributed to the development of American music by injecting the blues, jazz, gospel and other styles produced by African-American communities. Of specific interest to me is screwed and chopped music, which has evolved out of Houston Texas, which has corollaries in memory, fragmentation, pharmacology, and consumption. In my examination, I take a look at “Servin a duce” by DJ Screw, “Still Tippin'” featuring Mike Jones, Slim Thug, and Paul Wall, “Cadillac on 22's (screwed and chopped)” by David Banner, “Love and Happiness (Al Green screwed and chopped),” and Kid606's “Robitussin Motherfucker (DJ Screw RIP).” I conclude by noting screwed and chopped's ability through pharmaceuticals and production methods to create a meditation space for resolving some issues I have with Southern rap culture.

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Here's a YouTube playlist for a sampling of some screw videos and videos of DJ Screw and DJ Kralos producing screw tracks:

Helios: A Showcase of Nostalgic Production

Helios: A Showcase of Nostalgic Production

Nostalgia has always been a very prominent emotion evoked by Ambient music. Since the genre rarely utilizes lyrical content to bring about emotions like this, it has always been interesting to me to figure out exactly what aspect of the sonic qualities of Ambient music bring about the feeling of nostalgia. In this essay, I attempt to tap into the sonic qualities via production techniques of five different songs by Ambient/Electronic artist, Helios, who has always been a strong communicator of nostalgic emotion to me, personally. The essay explores the tie that reverb – among other production techniques – has with the creation of mind-space, allowing the mind to fill the space with memories that consequently evoke a sense of nostalgia. Additionally, the concept of “technostalgia” and specific production techniques that represent it are explored as possible contributors to the overall nostalgic phenomenon of Helios’ music. Overall, through exploiting the aural experience of Helios’ work, I hope to provide insight into why it causes such a longing for the past.

The Multiplicity of Noise

The Multiplicity of Noise

The advent of audio recording and playback technologies greatly facilitated the increased use of noise as a compositional element in the 20th century. As this phenomenon progressed, the idea of noise itself began to rupture into multiple strings of conceptions and possibilities. In this paper I show some of the ways that noise has been used as an element of modern audio composition. This is accomplished through discussions of works by Pierre Schaeffer, John Cage, Brian Eno, John Zorn, and Merzbow. Though all of these works are radically different, they all make use of noise to accomplish their goal. As noise compositions, these works illustrate the multiplicity and plasticity inherent in the concept of noise.

Lolspace.org Call for submission

Josh and I have recently started a project in response to some of our readings, discussions and our interest in Lolcat memes. I just wanted to point you guys to our blog, and let you know that we'd love to have some images created by you all on the blog. You can email them to Josh (josh.fishburn [at] gmail.com) or I (hebert.sara [at] gmail.com), and if you're interested in contributing on a regular basis, we can set up an account on the blog for you.


kthnxbai!

Diplo Talks About Jamaica, Dancehall

Here's the video I mentioned in class, with Hollertronix and Mad Decent founder Diplo (Wes Pentz) talking his recent trip to Jamaica with Switch (Dubsided). He gives some really nice insight into what's going on there now, and what its like to produce with Dancehall artists.

Some thoughts on radio...

I had some thoughts on radio after our discussion on Monday that I wanted to share here. My experience with radio has not been one of ephemerality, but of intentional listening and archiving. I don't believe that ephemerality is a necessary byproduct of the medium of radio, but a willful creation of circumstances that invoke such a feeling (not unlike the willful suspension of disbelief engaged in by an audience and participant in hypnosis). The detailed archives that I assume most radio stations keep would show the opportunity to repeat what happened in the studio at any point, much like the storage space on our computers lets us store and listen to podcasts.

I understand the collective experience of listeners to a radio program, but this is also a largely unidentifiable phenomenon with the exception of listening in the same physical space with a group and again requires a sort of suspension of disbelief. Internet radio stations give us real-time statistics (the number of simultaneous listeners to a station) that quantify the collective experience, but a collective listening experience is present in physical space or in the imagination.

The transmission of particular information via radio waves requires a physical infrastructure that eventually sends information wirelessly, which at this point is also the way that many of us receive the information that arrives on our computers. If radio stations have not made their archives available, on demand, to the listening public in the past, today's technology makes that kind of framework possible.

Sounds from Saturn

Via BoingBoing and NASA:

The Eerie, Bizarre Sounds of the Saturnian System

Sounds from outer space are weird, if not downright spooky.

Be ready for a goosebump or two as you feast your ears on some of the greatest sounds gathered during the exploration of the Saturnian system.

Link