The presentation I am choosing to talk about is Music and World Peace Playlist (Ashton ). The author made a connection between music and world peace. Since music can be used as a way for sending a message, Artists can express their concern for the relations of our planet. World peace is something that is fought for everyday through numerous protesting and advocating. Music can help carry the message across the globe. The author mentions 2 songs which are “Heal the World” by Michael Jackson, and “We are the World” by USA for Africa. A musically intresting moment from Heal the world was at part (4:34) where people come together to sing the song and it creates a echo tone and less of Michael singing. A interesting moment for We are the world was at part (3:09) where all 45 singers are sining the harmony for the song.

Two songs I would choose for this topic are “We are here” by Alicia Keys, and “No more Trouble” by Bob Marley. “We are here” relates to the topic since Alica Keys believe in an empowered world community built on the true meaning of equality – where we are all considered one people, regardless of race, religion, gender, zip code, belief system or sexual orientation. “No more Trouble” relates to the topic since Bob Marley is tired of seeing wars happening around the world , and we need to bring love and having the strong help the weak. An interesting moment in “We are Here” the keys are being played and the kick drum thumping a few bars before the rest of the instruments start playing for the chorus. An interesting moment in “No more Trouble” is that there are three female vocals that are singing the chorus.

“We are Here” Alica Keys (2014) https://youtu.be/ktpUOHUwrUA

“No more Trouble” Bob Marley (1978) https://youtu.be/vPZydAotVOY

A piece of “good” music I have chosen is “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO. LMAFO are a duo that do genres consisting of EDM, Pop and Hip-Hop. The Unit lesson it would fit in would be “What is Good Music”. The form is in verse-chorus form, and the texture of the song is heterophonic. The background of the song was suppose to give a party club vibe for everyone to enjoy while dancing.

Party Rock Anthem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ6zr6kCPj8

“I am the bread of Life” is a Catholic hymn sung in the Catholic Church.This was created by Suzanne Toolan .The characteristics of the music shows, Homophony. Their is Choir that stands out with the organs playing in the background. The key of the song is A major. This song express religious belief through the lyrics of the hym. This hymn is “based on the bread of life discourse in chapter six of John’s Gospel”. Part of the first verse It says “I am the bread of life.He who comes to me shall not hunger…No one can come to me unless the Father draw him.” This refers to John 6:35 in the Bible of what Jesus Christ was saying to his followers. This song means that through the Heavenly Father, Christ can forfill your needs and longings.

sources:

https://www.cjmmusic.com/songs/i-am-the-bread-of-life-song/

https://www.wnewsj.com/opinion/columns/83226/meaning-of-i-am-the-bread-of-life#:~:text=Jesus%20says%2C%20%E2%80%9CI%20am%20the,full%E2%80%9D%20and%20overflowing%20with%20blessing.

Hymn “I am the Bread to Life”:

A concert I watched on youtube was called Rolling Loud. The performer I watched is named Asap Rocky. Asap Rocky is a Hip-Hop artist from Harlem, New York. When Rocky performs at night, he is usually the main event of the whole concert. The atmosphere of the whole concert has a big crowd. Usually Rocky likes to get the crowd hyped and everyone jumping to his music and sometimes create mosh pits. The stage has red colorful lights, a Dj, stage smoke, and a Crash dummy prop. Asap Rocky is dressed with fancy clothes while singing out loud to his fans. Everything met the expectations of what his concerts would be like. He likes when it when he gives off an aggressive energy to the crowd; almost like a Rockstar.

In “100 years ago today, ‘The Rite of Spring’ incited a riot in a Paris theater” article, the author believes that it is unclear that if the audience was disturbed by the ballet dances or it could have been a publicity stunt. In  “Did Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring incite a riot at its premiere?” article the author says because of how the harsh music is, the choreography, and the ugly costumes are, it made the audience mad and they were booing. This led to people acting violent. He was able to find sources through Dr. Levitz essay, which has first hand accounts from the theater. “The disrespectful behavior of the aristocrats appalled the critics, musicians, and music lovers, so they responded by complaining and insulting the aristocrats……. Levitz speculates, “In truth, only those sitting close to the people who uttered these insults probably heard them at all.” If I would’ve heard it for the first time during 1913 I would’ve been shocked and interested. The Usually style of ballet is totally different from Rite Spring Ballet. The Violins gives a horror feeling and the costumes and dances moves look different from the norm.

The song I chose for this blog is called “I’ll be there”. The Jackson 5 originally sung this song in 1970 and Mariah Carey Re-sang the song in 1992. The Jackson 5 were a Motown pop band that consist of 5 family members from Indiana . Their names are Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and the most known Michael Jackson. Mariah Carey is an American singer from New York. She was the first artist to have her first 5 songs hit the billboard hot 100.

The song “I’ll be there” gives emotions such as romantic, caring, joyful, and happiness. The song talks about “a man who tells her former lover that he will always be there for her even if she finds someone new she can always go back to him”. Lyrics that show emotion from the song are, “Let me fill your heart with joy and laughter, Togetherness, well is all I’m after, Whenever you need me, I’ll be there (I’ll be there)”; “I’ll be there to comfort you Fill my world with dreams around you…”. The tempo for The Jackson 5’s version is 94 bpm, and the tempo for Mariah Carey is 74 bpm. The Texture of the song from both artist is Homophony. A similarity of the two songs is that the lyrics are the same. Differences of the songs are that the tempo is different. In Mariah’s version, the song is slower, and the Jackson 5’s song is faster pace. The Jackson 5 have a male singer and Mariah Carey is a female singer. Mariah Carey stresses the sound of the lyrics to make it sound like a slow love song. The Jackson 5’s version has an upbeat feeling but also gives a romantic feel to the song. The recording of the Jackson 5’s song sounds older while Mariah’s version sounds clearer. The instruments used for Mariah Carey’s version are piano and drums, while the Jackson 5’s version is guitar, piano , bass, and drums.

Sources:

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-jackson-5/ill-be-there

Songs:

DAWs or Digital Audio Workstation is any software that runs on a computer, that records, produce and edits music audio files. You can record vocals for sing/rapping and sampling audio. You can also play instruments virtually on a DAW that were digital recordings of real instruments and synth sounds.People that use this technology are mainly Music producers, Artist (Singer, Rapper) and Mixing engineers. They can use this technology for creating music for genres like Hip-Hop, Pop, R&B; or creating music for Tv, Film, and Commercials. DAWs influences the way how music is produced because, it is a faster method of creating music. You no longer need a band or orchestra to compose music when you can play all the instruments on one digital software. You can also record and edit faster on a DAW. Examples of DAWs that are known are Pro-tools, Ableton, FLStudio, Logic Pro x, MPC, and NI Maschine.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio_workstation

The song that I am familiar with and chose for this blog is, Flashing Lights by Kanye West(ft. Dwele). Kanye West is a Rapper, Producer, and Fashion Designer. Kanye is not only one of my favorite rappers/producers, but he is one of the most influential Hip Hop Musicians of all time . He is from Chicago IL., and he first gained recognition as a producer at Roc-A-Fellas Records (in New York). It wasn’t easy, but he had intent on pursuing a rap career. He was able to release his first album which was called the ”College Drop Out”. That album became a commercial success and made him really famous. Until then , Kanye West has released a lot of hit singles/albums and is still one of the biggest rap artist today.

Kanye West is very experimental and diverse with his music. The song Flashing lights comes from one of his known albums called “Graduation”. The bpm(beats per minute) of the song is 90 bpm, slow paced, and the key is in F sharp minor. The instruments consists of violins, synths, and digital drums. The Harmonies of the song gives a consonant sound when the violins are playing smoothly like an orchestra. It then switches to a dissonant sound where the synth stabs are playing. The synth stabs gives a bright loud feeling to the song. The Texture of the song shows a sense of Homophony. The chorus of the song “What – do – I – know; Flashing – Lights!” stands out the most, and it is being accompanied by the synths stabs playing in the background. This song is definitely one of my favorite songs from Kanye. Not only the song has a cool feeling but it also gives an anthemic vibe.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanye_West

Song: https://youtu.be/ZAz3rnLGthg

The historical period I read on was the Baroque period. What I have found interesting during the Baroque period is how there was a lot of historical events going on at that time. In the text it says that more colonies was being established in the new world (America), there were religious conflicts between the Catholics and Protestants, there was a lot of violence going on in England, and the powers of the absolute monarch in France reached a new height where the citizens had to pay heavy taxes to Louis IV and 20,000 courtiers. What I already know about this period is that there was also a lot of art and architecture to express their emotion. The text describes the music from the Baroque period by saying, how there was a rise instrumental music (like sonata, concerto, and suite) and how composers used their instruments for specific emotional states. I listened to music from the Baroque era, and it sounded like what I expected from the text. In the text it says that there is dramatic intensities based on whether a certain part of the song is loud or soft, and the emotional feeling of the music is either happy ,joyful, anger, love or grief.