THAT’s me,
1. driving down to WAGNER, (made that up actually, today it was driving down to a phone conversation)
2. listening to JAMES BROWN
3. reading a book about harmony by SCHOENBERG, and
4. going to AFRICAN DRUM class soon.
likely coming home to
5. JAZZ tonight.
harmonic structure…
an interesting and I’D say CRYPTIC term indeed…
p.s. don’t ruin my “fun.” I know I could google it or ask someone, but for now, for RIGHT now this MOMENT: I wanna keep thinking that the possible definitions and large and small concepts that a given person has in mind when they use this ‘term’ are myserious, perhaps conflicting…
so if my life WASN’T about coping with feeling unhappy, because I WASN’T unhappy…
would I do something different?
wonder what…
I got ideas, yo
be professional, be professional, blah blah blah
Mike Robbins is a Percussionist and all-around Musical Weirdo residing in Los Angeles, who spends his time playing and teaching African Music, rather crazed and rhythmically Complex yet Groovy Percussive Music, and has a very-likely-unhealthy obsession with the music of Steve Reich, which he also Conducts and Plays on occasion. He also teaches a little Music Theory of the Harmonically-Colourful Variety, and plays a little Harmonium to accompany North Indian Music. He also arranged some Marching Band and Drumline music, and composes his own stimulating musics as well.
so, a little discussion of what I call
The Zeitgeist Question, which refers, to me, to the notion of am I doing something with myself in mind, or others…
did I miss the day in school where-
where they taught you that when you work for people, yoi ddo what they ask, and not what you want?
or is that not true…
I mean, I have drumset students, kids.
they don’t know what they want or how to get it.
one of them is capable of butchering his way through a song, but if he ever wants to execute it WELL, in tempo, etc, he’s NOT gonna do what HE wants and just play play play, regardless of HOW to play well, so of course, he then needs to do what I say, the way I say it, (bearing in mind which approach I propose works best for him of course, blah blah.)
or am I just incredibly selfish, and never want to work for others, because what they want isn’t interesting to ME?
and why am I different than people who “do it anyway.”
perhaps I am just a selfish twit, only child after all, am I.
perhaps I’m impatient.
perhaps I have things I like.
perhaps a lot of average things just don’t “do it” for me.
perhaps I’m Super impatient.
or perHAPS-
you instead of me are TOO patient,
perhaps you DON’T have things you like, feel strongly about, love, can’t wait for.
perhaps a lot of average things DO “do it” for you.
perhaps you are super patient.
not that I have many “ideas for businesses”, but all the ones I do are usually not about every day things that happen to every day people, things that theoretically would be widespread, but
rather
highly specific things that are interesting to me, not every day things, but highly specific ones relating to me and my weird experience. things that aren’t widespread.
oh WHAT is the matter with me…
or what is the matter with everyone else.
why are we different at all.
and why must I suffer, on the lonely end of the stick so.
awesome as it is, here.
where do others GET the patience to provide a service which they have no interest in? (naturally, if they are poor, or are forced to because of capitalism, yeah that would make sense… but plenty of people I know are NOT like that, and STILL do things that I find muy boring.)
… seems always like things would be (seems…) so much easier if I just conformed, hid my feelings, bit the bullet and just conformed. but no.
it wouldn’t be easier, and I must struggle on, as the real me.
in response to a youtube thread about this song, I just posted all this:
it could be notated in 11/8 instead of 11/4, and I personally, based on the “drum” part hear it as two bars of 11/16 (per each bar of 11/8 (or 11/4, meaning the drum part would be two bars of 11/8) I personally hear even that as 6/16 then 5/16 alternating, and I feel the 6/16s as 3/8. like one(and)two(andTHREE(and)onetwothreeFOURfive capitalizing the snare hits. someone said they have seen the score and it says 6+6/8 (meaning two bars of 6/8 combined together, I presume.) that is probably a simplified version because someone thought a tune in 11 would be too hard for most people who would want to play it. I have often seen popular music charts from musicals or rock songs, that are “simplified” in various ways. but yeah. TOTALLY in 11, totally. real phat. it’s actually fascinating, cause, thinking of it as 3/8 + 5/16 + 3/8 + 5/16, per every ONE bar of 11/8, the bass is playing steady 8th notes, (11 of them of course) the bass part and the drum part are totally syncopated from each other, and there’s not saying which one is “right”, that’s the beauty of it, they both are. and thirdly, the melody contained numerous dotten 8th notes (three 16ths long of course), so it too is syncopated. three different patterns, all adding up to 11 in the end though, all superimposed. this kinda stuff is super super cool. like a melodic version of this percussive music (which is in 15/16 + 12/16 + 15/16 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOvM0layYP4&list=PLA3RtmQ1UVHXTH-61LVM8ecmItFuxn9Jm&index=3
omg dude…
hearing some music, a stready stream of unbroken fast 16th notes,
in groups of
6 followed by 4.
that is
onetwothreefourfivesixonetwothreefour
dotted quarter- quarter, that is.
5/8.
and yet…
I was playing triplets over it, three to a phrase…
which…. at least at this fast tempo…
is “so close to being the same…”
that it’s just trippy.
try this.
you are inclined to play
dotted 8th, dotted 8th (123 123)
then quarter (1234)
but, if you play THREE EVEN notes instead….
it is very close to being the same.
trippy.
a composer I know took a very simple thing and did a very simple thing TO it at the same time as doing a second very simple thing to said very simple thing.
tough to focus on such small things for me, (and the composer as well.)
trying trying…
I owe it to someone to write a paper about Symmetry and Anton Webern, someday. I made I promise that I would. I gotta do that.
R.I.P, Lucky Mosko
always love typing this out
you know Einstein on the Beach, by Philip Glass? it has several parts (two at least) which go:
1234 123 1234 123 1234
123 123 123 123 1234
123 123 123 1234 1234
123 123 1234 1234 1234
123 1234 1234 1234 1234
1234 1234 1234 123 1234
1234+123 1234 1234 123 1234
1234+123 123+123 1234 123 1234
1234+123 1234+123 1234 123+123 1234
1234+123 1234+123 123+123 1234+123 1234
1234+123 1234+123 123+123 1234+123 123+123
then
1234+123 1234+123 123+123 1234+123 123+123
1234+123 1234+123 1234+123 1234+123 123+123
1234+123+12 1234+123+12 123+123+123 1234+123+12 123+123+123
and LASTLY
1234+123+123 1234+123+123 123+123+123 1234+123+123 123+123+123
BOOYah
fm DbM AM B7 EM