Category Archives: African Music

African Music

Pilates, and unexpected upper body strength

my chiro thinks my upper body IS strong… which is kinda neat. that’s the LAST thing I think of myself as. must be the african music. (that and drumming with
2. heavy drum sticks
3. turning said sticks around and using their even-heavier butts, while practicing (which is ALWAYS ON the steering wheel, IN the car, WHILE driving, one handed.

perhaps THAT’S why “the arm stuff” at pilates is….. easier for me than it seems like it is for others (all women, usually)?

(my arms are HEAVY, and holding them UP sometimes is indeed harder than moving them. eh, blah blah

it isn’t about spectacle…. it’s about-

it isn’t about spectacle.
it’s about substance.

it isn’t about power, money, control, or fear, such things are meaningless.

it is about interest, stimulation, imagination, and being in the fucking moment.

I’m lucky…. that I have strong interests…

I’m lucky….
that I have strong interests… I can’t bear to imagine (nor can I imagine in itself)
how boring and dis-engaging life would be without such things.

I’m also ill-equiped to mentor people who don’t have such interests, as I’ve NO idea what they should do other than GET some of said interests…

and mine are I believe a function of being ADHD and smart, so…
don’t know what non-adhd’ers ought do.

but if you IS adhd, I know what should do.
come party and music make with me.

vile complaints about uninteresting music

dude, I’m making some parts (string ones) to a piece for rock band with some strings.   (for a high school.)
(It’s work.)

man, my god, this piece is a lesson in how NOT to write for orchestra!
my GOD-

each instrument has un UNCHANGING part, always in 8 bar groups, often the same ones repeated later, NO variation added EVER. no interesting voicings, just roots and 5ths, etc.

all the instruments of an orchestra, and EVERYTHING is just doubled doubled doubled, no one “switches roles” ever, no “have the trumpets play E and G HERE, THEN have the violas do it, while the trumpets play “oooh I know, G and B!”)

it’s COMPLETELY unimaginative (and very easy to copy, for it’s just endless repetition (and no, it’s not minimalism, it’s just very very boring music.)

I can’t believe people pay money, much less tons of it, to hear such crap.  my opinion, yes.

it’s as if someone with no understanding of nor INTEREST in orchestration, harmony, or voicing, took a two-line keyboard part and copied everything note for note without any THOUGHT to ALL instruments, and THEN thinks THEY KNOW HOW TO WRITE FOR ORCHESTRA.

(maybe that’s just the style, yes, but I don’t like no such style.)

AND THEN PEOPLE IN THE GENERAL POPULATION AGREE, either cause they don’t know better (cause maybe they aren’t exposed to more interesting things, or at least a broader variety of things, or because they don’t actually listen, and just do what the media and tells them, or what their peers tell them, or because THIS REALLY “IT” what they are interested in (doubtful), or still also perhaps because their attention spans are really short (hey, I’m ADHD, I’d know.)

but no…. (see addendum)

AND PEOPLE HIRE THEM BECAUSE THEY DON’T KNOW ANY BETTER, NOR CARE, CAUSE IT’S ALL ABOUT PROFIT, AND THE HELL WITH CULTURE OR ANYTHING INTERESTING OR ARTISTIC!

I’M OFFENDED THAT THIS PASSES FOR ART!
CAUSE IT’S BLOOOOOOODY GARBAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


this is something I hate about plenty pop music too. and edm.
they don’t  bother to try to do anything INTERESTING.

the hell with ’em.

I don’t need that.
people HAVE done interesting things.
be one of those.

leave these pathetic disinterested fools behind.

Addendum, written weeks later:

SOoooo that was pretty spiteful, yeah.

regarding the bit about people maybe having short attention spans?  no, that can’t be it.  they say “I’VE” got one, but only with things I don’t find interesting.

either many people don’t find music that is “at all substantive” interesting (by MY standards, anyway,)
or they simply aren’t listening, really, at all…

tagged burningman because they play tons of EDM there, and I hate edm.  yep:)

tagged African Music cause in IT, you REALLY have to listen CAREFULLY all the time, for various changes that happen, whenever the leader indicates.

tagged Minimalism, cause in IT, a similar thing to African music happens (in Steve Reich, at least.)  some Philip Glass too, in different but similar ways.

Tagged Music Theory and Harmony, cause I feel the palette of harmony used in a lot of popular music is WAY WAY simple and frankly, not that interesting.  not to me.

Tagged WAGNER for a similar reason (he had phat harmonies, man.

Tagged Philosophy cause, as usual, this IS part of MY philosophy:)

Tagged Adhd (duh)

Tagged Frustrations about Women cause I don’t see me being with any woman who greatly likes music that I find way boring.  and yep, I’m alone.  what’s your point?:)

a big change? how is this possible

has something happened to me? after DECADES of um, making plans, and not following through on them, and feeling guilt and shame because of this, comparing myself to others, incorrectly concluding that everyone else is doing better they me (you aren’t)
and eventually, giving up on making plans, because the mere THREAT of feeling the guilt and shame, was SO STRONG…. if I didn’t finish something… (so many things indeed take work for many days, and if I couldn’t finish it, that day… it is so hard for me to come back to it at all, that, well, guilt and shame ALWAYS followed.

so eventually, no plans. no doing.

so…

since monday… been happening for weeks now)

somehow…

I have been

1. working on uh, deleting crap from my computer, daily.
2. cleaning my “filthy” house, daily.
3. actually DOing things on a list, things that lead to playing more music and making money.

um,

why?

and why hasn’t it STOPPED is my question…

perhaps all these years, and therapy and my courage will pay off yet.

as a classical music personage….

as a classical music personage…. I despise the limited focus of so much music (as an avid fan of minimalism, African Music, and percussion without pitches, surely this means I’m crazy/a genius/ or at least crazy.)

I mean pop music mostly.

the breadth of emotions (if that’s what music is expressing at all)
is just so “expressed in a limited fashion…”
there are no 

moments of it suddenly being very quiet, at a different tempo, even rubato, played by only one instrument, almost inaudible…

I want more than that.

‪#‎Wagnergivesittome‬