This.
My thoughts: FSCK YES. Olbermann is a fscking beast. That is all.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Bah, orchestration, cooking, what's the difference?
When I was a little kid, in the late 90s, I was fascinated with cooking. Call me weird, but I used to like watching cooking shows. For me, it was magical, how little bits of this and that can be combined with larger bits of this and that to form an integral product that was purposefully pleasing to the palate. [Do I get an awesome award for an astoundingly amazing aptitude in alliteration?]
Fast-forward to 2005. Thanks to an amazing friend, I became obsessed with orchestras, and subsequently became fascinated with orchestration. Call me weird, but I really really enjoy studying scores. For me, it's magical how little bits of this instrument and that can be combined with larger bits of this ensemble and that to form an integral product that was exceedingly enjoyable to the ears. [OK, so alliteration didn't work out too well, this time]
Realizing these two facts (did anyone else notice the parallelism between the two paragraphs above?), I noticed just how similar orchestration and cooking really were.
Think about it! It makes perfect sense!
Eating is something we (well, most of us) experience every day. We may enjoy many different kinds of food, from quick and easy fast food to the more expensive but ultimately rewarding haute cuisine. If we take a look at haute cuisine, we see that there are many different styles and tastes; some dishes may even have a delightful mix of different tastes. These fantastic flavors are created with a smorgasbord of ingredients; the right amounts in the right conditions at the right time. Of course, cooking takes a lot of practice. One cannot simply pick up cooking and expect their dishes to be the best (unless you're a genius). Food connoisseurs with some knowledge and understanding of how cooking works might be able to create such delicious dishes, but knowledge and understanding of how cooking works only go so far. While you might be able to identify the ingredients used, you may not know how to use them, how much to use, when to use them, etc. For example, how much water are you going to add? How much cornstarch? How many spices? Are you sure you got the ingredients right (MSG or salt?)? What temperature should the water be? How long will you keep the flame burning? High heat or low heat? How long should you let it simmer? If you simply toss all the ingredients together and "flame on!", it's going to be the same as nuking a dish. With a nuke. Or at least, that's my understanding of it.
Likewise...
Music is something we (well, most of us) listen to every day. We may enjoy many different genres of music, from quick and accessible pop music to the more complex but ultimately rewarding classical music. If we take a look at classical music, we see that there are many different styles; some pieces may be written for solo instruments, others for larger ensembles like orchestras, eliciting many tonal colo(u)rs. These terrific tonal colors are created with a smorgasbord of instruments; suitable ones in suitable conditions at suitable rhythms. Of course, orchestration takes a lot of practice. One cannot simply pick up music and expect their creations to be the best (unless you're a genius.) Music connoisseurs with some knowledge and understanding of how music and orchestration work might be able to create wonderful orchestrations, but knowledge and understanding of music and orchestration only go so far. While you might be able to identify the instruments used, you may not know how to use them, how much to use them, when to use them, etc. For example, how many oboes will you have in unison? How many violins to compliment? How many brass instruments? Are you sure you got the instrumentation right (bassoon or sax?)? What tempo should the piece be, practically? How much passage-work will you give? To what instruments? When do you switch instruments in good klangfarbenmelodie? If you simply make all instruments play the same notes altogether, it's going to be the same as blasting the same notes on many speakers. With General MIDI. Or at least, that's my understanding of it.
Fast-forward to 2005. Thanks to an amazing friend, I became obsessed with orchestras, and subsequently became fascinated with orchestration. Call me weird, but I really really enjoy studying scores. For me, it's magical how little bits of this instrument and that can be combined with larger bits of this ensemble and that to form an integral product that was exceedingly enjoyable to the ears. [OK, so alliteration didn't work out too well, this time]
Realizing these two facts (did anyone else notice the parallelism between the two paragraphs above?), I noticed just how similar orchestration and cooking really were.
Think about it! It makes perfect sense!
Eating is something we (well, most of us) experience every day. We may enjoy many different kinds of food, from quick and easy fast food to the more expensive but ultimately rewarding haute cuisine. If we take a look at haute cuisine, we see that there are many different styles and tastes; some dishes may even have a delightful mix of different tastes. These fantastic flavors are created with a smorgasbord of ingredients; the right amounts in the right conditions at the right time. Of course, cooking takes a lot of practice. One cannot simply pick up cooking and expect their dishes to be the best (unless you're a genius). Food connoisseurs with some knowledge and understanding of how cooking works might be able to create such delicious dishes, but knowledge and understanding of how cooking works only go so far. While you might be able to identify the ingredients used, you may not know how to use them, how much to use, when to use them, etc. For example, how much water are you going to add? How much cornstarch? How many spices? Are you sure you got the ingredients right (MSG or salt?)? What temperature should the water be? How long will you keep the flame burning? High heat or low heat? How long should you let it simmer? If you simply toss all the ingredients together and "flame on!", it's going to be the same as nuking a dish. With a nuke. Or at least, that's my understanding of it.
Likewise...
Music is something we (well, most of us) listen to every day. We may enjoy many different genres of music, from quick and accessible pop music to the more complex but ultimately rewarding classical music. If we take a look at classical music, we see that there are many different styles; some pieces may be written for solo instruments, others for larger ensembles like orchestras, eliciting many tonal colo(u)rs. These terrific tonal colors are created with a smorgasbord of instruments; suitable ones in suitable conditions at suitable rhythms. Of course, orchestration takes a lot of practice. One cannot simply pick up music and expect their creations to be the best (unless you're a genius.) Music connoisseurs with some knowledge and understanding of how music and orchestration work might be able to create wonderful orchestrations, but knowledge and understanding of music and orchestration only go so far. While you might be able to identify the instruments used, you may not know how to use them, how much to use them, when to use them, etc. For example, how many oboes will you have in unison? How many violins to compliment? How many brass instruments? Are you sure you got the instrumentation right (bassoon or sax?)? What tempo should the piece be, practically? How much passage-work will you give? To what instruments? When do you switch instruments in good klangfarbenmelodie? If you simply make all instruments play the same notes altogether, it's going to be the same as blasting the same notes on many speakers. With General MIDI. Or at least, that's my understanding of it.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
America's got what?
Well, America has a lot of things, including...
I won't pretend to be among the best of Florida, because that's
Anyway, a friend (we'll call him Paulo) showed me something from the incredibly popular "America's Got Talent," certainly a most entertaining and exciting show. It claims to showcase America's best talents in a competitive popular panel-influenced jury-elimination style format.
That's good and all... until I saw what he showed me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayos7IBbF0A
First thoughts: Maestro? He called himself maestro? Dang, he must be something else...
So I gave it a listen..
After I finished the video, I sat there going like... ho-hum
The playing was nice, but it was nothing special. It appears some YouTubers agree: "he's adept but not great." In fact, if anything, his tone is stiff and harsh.
Maestro's not a title fitting for him. For one thing, he's not even a conductor.
The piece itself was pretty bad. I don't know who composed it, but whoever did must've had a bad day or something, because it's a pretty bad piece!
But he made it on the show, apparently!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7rJaVupIGQ
So this guy's been playing for 12 years, practicing 6-8 hours a day. He's pretty untalented if this is what he produced: a half-assed rendition of Chopin's Black Key Etude....
Alright, well if this is the talent America's "got" (doesn't this blatant violation of grammar rules bother ANYONE ELSE?!), then America is probably unaware of much of its population.
But let's see what the judges say.
Oh Sharon Osbourne... X'ed him because she thought it was boring. What the fsck. Seriously? What kind of a judge does that out of boredom? With no regard to what they're actually judging?! The other judge was right: this is a talent show, you should be judging based on talent...
Then again... he also said he was one of the best talents on the show... that didn't go so well with me
I could name a helluva lot more talented musicians than you can barely lay a Bui finger on. This kid's got the populace fooled. And what's worse... he moved on.
People seem to be too easily convinced... a little flashy display of skill is enough to convince a lot of people that someone's "got" talent. Why is this? It seems it's because many people don't know enough about classical music to be able to judge for themselves who's good and who's mediocre, which "Maestro" (that title really sickens me) Bui is.
At least he's not all arrogant about it... but it sickens me to think that such a show that claims to showcase America's best talent would promote someone who is clearly a non-talent.
Of course, no offense is meant to Bui, but the show itself is flawed. What other classical musicians with notable talent can Bui be pitted against, after all? Perhaps that's why he went on AGT... the lack of competition makes it easy to shine.
But that's just the easy way out.
Now I know, some of you might accuse me of being elitist, because I have been in music competitions or whatever else silly reason. I can tell you right now that if you want an example of true talent, you needn't look any farther than your own state. There are truly amazing musicians everywhere. Just look at who's winning the REAL competitions. Oh yes, I can name some off the top of my head right now, from all around the country, even if the list includes people I don't like, I can and will list their names.
Alas... this is, after all, a populist show. If the populace is so easily fooled, then they will be fooled. As long as classical music is still assigned such a status of "BORING MUSIC" or "STUPID" or "TOO SERIOUS," then public awareness of what is truly amazing will only continue to decline rapidly.
As a populist show, it's not going to have any prestige. Bui shouldn't expect any major orchestras to contact him any time soon.
Yes, America's Got Talent, but it's not necessarily exemplified well in the content of the show of the same name.
I apologize if this seemed too rude/brusque/caustic/long/haranguey/whatever. I'll try not to be so bitter next time.
- People
- More people
- Lots of peop--... oh wait... this isn't India or China...
- Different kinds of people
- All sorts of people
- Baseball
- Constitution
- Jazz
- Lady Gaga
- Southern accents
- Mountains. Lots of 'em. And large lakes.
- Melting pot... yes that includes the fondue restaurant
- Travesty of a republican democracy
- Fast food, e.g. McDonald's
- Stupidity, ignorance
- Fundamentalism
- Westboro Baptist Church
- New York Times Bestsellers (all books nowadays seem to claim a spot on the list... which is truly the BEST-selling??)
- Apple, Microsoft, Intel, nVidia, etc.
- Silicon Valley
- Advanced medical technologies and greedy insurance companies
- Weapons
- Missiles, tanks, nukes
- Lots of them
- Backwards policies regarding many things
- Lots of internet
- That includes internet marketing
- eBay, Amazon
- Talent
I won't pretend to be among the best of Florida, because that's
- Certainly false, no matter what people say (this would also explain why I haven't won much of anything in the last 5 years in state competitions)
- Unfair to the truly brilliant ones (cough Alan Clark cough)
- Extremely egotistical, pretentious, narcissistic, untruthful, etc.
Anyway, a friend (we'll call him Paulo) showed me something from the incredibly popular "America's Got Talent," certainly a most entertaining and exciting show. It claims to showcase America's best talents in a competitive popular panel-influenced jury-elimination style format.
That's good and all... until I saw what he showed me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayos7IBbF0A
First thoughts: Maestro? He called himself maestro? Dang, he must be something else...
So I gave it a listen..
After I finished the video, I sat there going like... ho-hum
The playing was nice, but it was nothing special. It appears some YouTubers agree: "he's adept but not great." In fact, if anything, his tone is stiff and harsh.
Maestro's not a title fitting for him. For one thing, he's not even a conductor.
The piece itself was pretty bad. I don't know who composed it, but whoever did must've had a bad day or something, because it's a pretty bad piece!
But he made it on the show, apparently!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7rJaVupIGQ
So this guy's been playing for 12 years, practicing 6-8 hours a day. He's pretty untalented if this is what he produced: a half-assed rendition of Chopin's Black Key Etude....
Alright, well if this is the talent America's "got" (doesn't this blatant violation of grammar rules bother ANYONE ELSE?!), then America is probably unaware of much of its population.
But let's see what the judges say.
Oh Sharon Osbourne... X'ed him because she thought it was boring. What the fsck. Seriously? What kind of a judge does that out of boredom? With no regard to what they're actually judging?! The other judge was right: this is a talent show, you should be judging based on talent...
Then again... he also said he was one of the best talents on the show... that didn't go so well with me
I could name a helluva lot more talented musicians than you can barely lay a Bui finger on. This kid's got the populace fooled. And what's worse... he moved on.
People seem to be too easily convinced... a little flashy display of skill is enough to convince a lot of people that someone's "got" talent. Why is this? It seems it's because many people don't know enough about classical music to be able to judge for themselves who's good and who's mediocre, which "Maestro" (that title really sickens me) Bui is.
At least he's not all arrogant about it... but it sickens me to think that such a show that claims to showcase America's best talent would promote someone who is clearly a non-talent.
Of course, no offense is meant to Bui, but the show itself is flawed. What other classical musicians with notable talent can Bui be pitted against, after all? Perhaps that's why he went on AGT... the lack of competition makes it easy to shine.
But that's just the easy way out.
Now I know, some of you might accuse me of being elitist, because I have been in music competitions or whatever else silly reason. I can tell you right now that if you want an example of true talent, you needn't look any farther than your own state. There are truly amazing musicians everywhere. Just look at who's winning the REAL competitions. Oh yes, I can name some off the top of my head right now, from all around the country, even if the list includes people I don't like, I can and will list their names.
Alas... this is, after all, a populist show. If the populace is so easily fooled, then they will be fooled. As long as classical music is still assigned such a status of "BORING MUSIC" or "STUPID" or "TOO SERIOUS," then public awareness of what is truly amazing will only continue to decline rapidly.
As a populist show, it's not going to have any prestige. Bui shouldn't expect any major orchestras to contact him any time soon.
Yes, America's Got Talent, but it's not necessarily exemplified well in the content of the show of the same name.
I apologize if this seemed too rude/brusque/caustic/long/haranguey/whatever. I'll try not to be so bitter next time.
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