A piece of musical technology that is a streaming platform would be Spotify. Spotify is an easily accessible streaming service that can be downloaded to virtually all platforms. This includes desktop pcs, laptops, phones, gaming consoles, and more. The purpose of Spotify is to make music accessible in virtually any place as long as you have a device to do so. It works to achieve that purpose by making users pay anywhere from $5 to $20 a month to have access to the library of music they offer and download said music to play it anywhere. People use this technology in a way it wasn’t designed for by finding loopholes in the music system and putting literal movies on there and also make new genres on spotify alown. I have experience with this technology as I use Spotify almost daily during my daily routine. I love using it and it is a great form of Technology.

A piece of music that uses this technology that actually originated in Spotify and the depths of underground music would be a song named “Goodbye” by Sewerslvt. Spotify and other streaming services allowed Sewerslvt to have a cult following and eventually explode onto other platforms while still being a cult in a sense. Her music has helped thousands of people around the world, and it started the resurgance of a genre called “breakcore”.

The song that I chose for this assignment is “Hysteria” by Def Leppard. Def Leppard is a band that came about in 1977 who started in England. They are a heavy metal rock group with many popular songs including the one I chose, “Love Bites,” “Rock of Ages,” and “Photograph.” They became popular in the United States in the 80’s. Their first big hit was “Photograph” and their album named “Hysteria” is their most popular album. Ever since around 7th grade, I have come to appreciate songs from older generations. However, I never really listened to this band until this past year. Their music puts me in a better mood and is usually what I listen to while driving. I even went to their concert with my boyfriend this June. The song “Hysteria” has the keys D major and G major and is listed under the genre of Alternative Rock. Unlike their other songs, this one is a more soft texture song since it lacks the heavy instrumentals. There is a guitar melody as well as vocals. It has a tempo of 107 beats per minute and is written in the key of G. A musically interesting moment in the song is when it shifts to just an instrumental moment with different pitches. An interesting fact I found was that Rick Allen, their drummer, said in an interview that this is his favorite song and that it makes him feel comforted. I actually feel the same way listening to this song which is why when I listened to the interview I found it interesting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SluRyO4EA4

The piece of music technology that I chose to write about for this blog post is an instrument. I chose the piano. A piano is an instrument that was invented in 1700 and is “used to play two parts simultaneously.” It is actually classified as being a string instrument as well as a percussion instrument and not every piano has the exact same number of keys. It is versatile and allows for different textures to be produced. By a person pressing down on its keys, a hammer inside of the instrument hits the strings and that is what creates the sounds that make the music. Sound is produced automatically when the keys are pressed which helps achieve the sounds of music. I was not able to find ways that people have used the piano for things other than its intended purpose because I feel like there is not any other way to use this instrument besides to create music with its keyboard. I do not have any personal experience with this instrument but I have always wanted to learn to play the piano but I unfortunately never did. An example of a piece of music that uses piano in it is “Someone Like You” by Adele. The use of the piano in this song helps to maintain the solemn vibe that this song has. And, in this song, the only musical technology being used is just the piano and Adele’s voice. That makes the song more simple and so you focus more on the lyrics of the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLQl3WQQoQ0

A piece of music technology: The human voice (singing)

What is its purpose: Humans value their voices highly. They serve as our primary means of communication with the outside world, including both our thoughts and our feelings and personalities.

How does it work to achieve that purpose: To produce sound, your vocal cords vibrate. Inside the voice box (larynx), the vocal cords are tiny bands of muscle and other tissues. When the margins of the vocal cords come together, the air from your lungs causes them to vibrate.

Are there any people that use this technology in a way that it wasn’t designed for: In general, the human voice was a form meant to be used as a way of communication; just to speak. So, if it is used in any other way, it would be considered abnormal, but as time went on, humans began to discover the different ways that their voices can be used. For example, singing, ventriloquism, etc. So as forms of voices began to develop, it was widely accepted that voices are something that can have multiple effects on the world. 

Do you have any experience with this technology: I do have experience with this kind of technology. I do sing, but not professionally. I grew up singing as I have a very musical family. It is something that I picked up and enjoy doing. I still get stage fright to perform in front of people, so many don’t know what my singing voice sounds like. I wish to grow in this aspect of myself in the future and better my voice by getting vocal training.  

Song: Lyrical: Mere Dholna | Bhool Bhulaiyaa | Vidya Balan | Shreya Ghoshal, M.G. Sreekumar | Pritam

How did the technology influence the music it helped to produce: The voices that sang this song, had a great role in the effect that it needed to produce in order to portray the correct stance and reflect what was happening in the movie at the same time. Shreya Ghosal is considered one of the best singers in the Bollywood Industry. It’s been said no one can do what she can. You’ll even notice that the singers as well go off in a “Sargam” in the middle of the musical piece. Every beat matched the voices. That takes talent and breath control to do. The song is focused on love with Indian Classical Elements intertwined with it as well. The Indian Classical part, specifically the Sargam, was placed in this song to fit into the role of the “old times” that was shown in the video. This was something that singers and classical dancers frequented at the time. It still is recognized today, but many countries have adapted the western style of music that many of us listen to in this age of time. The fact that both the male and female voices were light and airy, and had the runs at the end, illustrated the mood and vibe that is needed in a song that is about love. Voices can play a very important part in music because voices can imply many different emotions and textures to make a song go to the next level and make the listener feel the intent of the song. If the singers did not perform the way that they did in this song, it wouldn’t have been one of the veterans of Bollywood music.

“Waltz for Zizi”, written by Yoko Kanno and performed by The Seatbelts is a Blues, slow and steady-paced song that has solidified itself as a thought provoking and emotional piece for me. I first listened to it while on the bus in my freshmen year of High School and since then I’ve used it countless times to focus and relax to. One part of the song (0:59) is especially interesting because the song takes an entirely different route than what was expected because there is now open space; a harmony. The notes of the guitar are accompanied by different players in the orchestra who are all doing their part, making it so that the guitar is maintaining a consonant interval and giving life to the piece. The second half changes up the guitar chords to a higher key, that much is obvious, but the aspect of this song that makes it Blues is because a regular Blues song does not add additional elements; this song is filled with them. From the key change of the acoustics to accordion at the very end, the form changes, this is noted. Giving this song less credit and saying “It just sounds bluesy” will not be doing it justice, The song makes its distinction and signature from following ABBA form, from the start of the “B” segment (0:59) and ending at the start of the next A segment (2:20). From 2:20 onward, we’re back to basics with an accordion and acoustic guitar. That being said, why classify a song that is titled “WALTZ for Zizi” as Blues in the first place if the song can swoon anybody to sleep? If that was the intent of Yoko Kanno, then it would have not ended with the A segment, it would have ended with a B segment, i.e. the orchestra rises up during 0:59 and fades back down into nonexistence at the end. By going “back to basics” with the acoustic guitar being the sole instrument the listener pays attention to; the genre is set. It’s not blues anymore, this song is altering Blues music by incorporating different instruments into a classical Blues (the rhythm of the acoustic guitar at the start and end), thus solidifying itself as something akin to an alternative Blues song; starting at the same point as it ended with a deeply emotional segment in the middle.

Song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ryqvdr0UxcI

One of my favorite songs is Flawless by The Neighbourhood. The Neighbourhood is an American band that was formed in 2011. The song Flawless was released in the album, I Love You. (2013). They are under Columbia Records and the genre they are mostly under is rock (alternative, indie, pop, etc). The band consists of vocalist Jesse Rutherford, guitarists Jeremy Freedman and Zach Abels, bassist Mikey Margott, and drummer Brandon Alexander Fried. This is one of my favorite songs because of the story of the song. It is about a man who falls in love and it seems perfect at first, but later he finds himself trying to keep their relationship alive after it starts becoming flawed.

The tempo is 120 BPM and the measure is played in 4 beats. The song is mostly in C key and in Major. The harmony is dissonant because it is reflecting the instability of the love between the two characters displayed in the song. It is a homophony as most modern music is. There is a melodic line (Jesse’s vocals) accompanied by chords. The form of the song is verse 1, pre-chorus, chorus, verse 2, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, chorus, and the outro. A musically interesting part is the chorus. When I first listened to it, I didn’t expect for the second part (“The only flaw, you are flawless”) to pick up in the song.

Cacophony is a heavy metal band formed in 1986 by guitarists Marty Friedman and Jason Becker. Their song Speed Metal Symphony was released on the album Speed Metal Symphony in 1987. It is considered one of the best neoclassical metal songs in the genre, and both guitarists the best in the genre as well. I heard this song in my junior year of high school as I was going into my deep heavy metal trance. I was extremely impressed my it due to how technically demanding it is and how it only took two people to come up with a song like that.

The song is in 4/4 timing, however it is very difficult to tell with how much is going on in the song. The song is basically an explosion of sounds from the guitars, which are at the forefront of the song. Although the song stays in 4/4 time, it does speed up and slow down throughout the song. It starts off slow, speeds up to a mid tempo range in the middle of the song, speeds up towards the end o=of the song, and slows down again, which feels, or sounds, a lot like a rollercoaster. It has a lot in common with most heavy metal songs in terms of rhythm, otherwise, by 1987 standards, this was a completely new thing.

The piece is basically the two guitarists interacting with each other, with the bass and drums keeping the rhythm going. Marty and Jason are harmonizing by playing the same guitar lines, trying to keep up with each other. It uses heterophonic guitar lines. The song alternates between guitarists, one playing single notes on his guitar while the other shreds, and then they’ll switch, letting the other guitarist shred while the other plays the rhythm. At the end it does turn into a cacophonic noise to bring the song to a climactic ending.

The song I chose is a game boss battle theme from Genshin Impact’s La Signora Battle, which was composed by Yupeng Chen, a Chinese composer on the game team. Genshin’s music serves the story in the game, so listening to their music allows you to visualize the story in your head. The main character in this song I chose is called La Signora, she is a sad and pathetic character. The innocent girl lost her lover and turned into a crimson witch. She resorted to all means and joined the evil forces to achieve the goal. She was willing to burn her life to fight against the injustice of the world.

The song is divided into two phases. From 14 seconds, celesta joined in. The cold timbre of celesta made people feel cold, and the bass strings and bass drum formed a heartbeat sound, which made people feel uneasy and dangerous. More and more strings join in, and at 60 seconds, dynamics become louder and louder. Then the female chorus joins in to sing the melody, and the female chorus here gives me the feeling that she is telling her suffering. At 2:08 seconds, along with the harp, the male chorus joins in, as to sigh and feel sad about her suffering. Then they call and respond, making the emotion stronger, and finally, they seem to reach some kind of consensus. The music stops and phase one is over.

In 4 minutes, the second phase begins, which is very different from the first phase. Compared with the cello sound in the first phase(at 0:02) , the rhythm of the music is much faster, and the string instrument was replaced by the electric guitar. At 3:36 seconds, the female voice joined again, this time no longer feeling sad, replacing sadness with anger. At 3:57 seconds, drum and bass, strings, and male chorus joined in. The crazy strings made me hear her anger. At 4:30, the electric guitar replaced the crazy strings again, bringing the emotions to the highest level. After the guitar is over, the female voice appears as an operatic solo with the flowing sound of the harp. It is as if she suddenly recalls the good times she had with her lover. Then the drums and the male voice come back and bring her back to reality. Finally, she stands in the fire singing her sorrow, flaming herself up, sacred and solemn.

This song mixes classical music with modern electronic music on the basis of opera. that is what I think is most interesting. Yupeng Chen combines these two elements so well that it sounds totally compatible. it was blew my mind when I heard this song for the first time while playing the game.

Here is the link: https ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VnMOQ2j2l4

“Centuries” by Fall out Boy. Fall Out Boy represents various genres, including Alternative Rock, Pop, emo pop, and pop rock. I like the message of the song but also the intense moments this song has. I liked this song because it begins with a soft melody for a few seconds and then immediately gets more intense by introducing more instruments. Then near the end of the song before the last chorus, the same soft melody played in the beginning, is played again. I found this very interesting because it reminds you how the song began. Lastly, throughout the whole song the same piano repetition/melodic line is played in the back, which is homophony. Chords also accompany it in order to create the song. https://youtu.be/vR18NP-acL4