Free Write – Arsenic

So I’m trying to get into the habit of writing daily, so everyday I’ve decided to write 16 lines of poetry/lyrics and if I create something I’m proud of I’ll post it here for you to enjoy. (Ps. subscribe to my YouTube channel for more content) This week I’m adding an audio visual element.

Arsenic

By: James Revels III

Take a sip of these syllables as they settle in your heart like arsenic.

My name in the tree of life carved in. This intentional flame arson then.

As far as I came only look back when checking pedometers.

Flow spill out of me like broken glass or a colander.

Quotes in quilted patterns held together by sutures.

You haul me out I relocate your like a mover.

Succeeding now or later, though I prefer sooner.

Flirt with lady luck, though mother nature’s much cuter.

On this boat of life, we all know that death rows.

Capital punishment for he reward of joy, I suppose.

Uploaded to the Over-soul, These words I download.

The wisest men are the ones who say the most with their mouths closed.

So that makes me a fool, cool like frost bitten fingers.

No soliciting, Advice unheeded by deep thoughts that linger.

I see red when friends are blue. Smell ya later. Burnt Cedar.

Trying to get in tune like an orchestra or a singer

Want some more Fire! Check this out!

Music Making Challenge Day 54 – Tactics

So. I haven’t posted an instrumental to my YouTube channel in almost a week because I was working on this beauty (in between partying for the new year). Usually I make instrumentals only 2 minutes or less, but his one I was trying something new. I was practicing my orchestration of a theme and a counter theme between various ensembles in order to play with textures and layering.

NEW VIDEO – Ear Training Day 1

Decided to make a video series showing the torturous process of ear training lol Ok it’s not that bad, but if you ever wondered what it’s like here’s a sneak preview.

Result 34/57 or 60% on Note Identification Training.

Advanced Music Theory – Granular Synthesis

Lately I’ve been trying to find some deep and obscure music theory techniques and facts. Today I found this thing called “Granular Synthesis”.

When a sound designer combines two or more sounds (usually called synthesizers) to make a new sound it is called “synthesis”. Granular Synthesis takes short 1-50 millisecond samples of a sound called “Grains” and layers them on top of each other with different types of alterations to create a new sound.

I have only lightly dabbled with this technique but it’s something I may gradually add to my repertoire so below is an example I found from YouTube

Daily Music Making Challenge

For those who don’t know I make short compositions to hone my music composition skills. My dream is to make Video Game/TV/Film Music.

There’s a poll above the video embed, Let me know what you think I’d love to hear from you.I post en masse so Subscribe to get the latest piece sent directly to your YouTube feed and not miss a beat!

The Oldest Song Ever

So, After some hours of boredom I thought to  myself what is the oldest song known to history. The answer is the “Hurrian Hymn”, which is circa 1400 BC from Mesopotamia.

Daily Music Making Challenge Day 30 – Adventures

After a week of taking a break to letting idea summer I’m back with day 30 – Adventures. For those who don’t know I make short compositions to hone my music composition skills. My dream is to make Video Game/TV/Film Music.

There’s a poll above the video embed, Let me know what you think I’d love to hear from you.I post en masse so Subscribe to get the latest piece sent directly to your YouTube feed and not miss a beat!

Ear Training Tips

So, you want to be a musician or a listen who want to take their music appreciation to the next level with ear training. You also want to do it as effectively as possible. Here are some tips to help you achieve that.

What is Ear Training?

The best way to describe ear training is “music theory for the ears”. It trains your ear to recognize crucial music theory elements such as intervals,chords,scales,etc.

Tips & Tricks

Here are some tips I found online and from experience.

Consistency over Quantity: They say it’s better to 15 minutes everyday for a week than cramming about 2 hours of practice into 1 day.

Variety is Key: There are a variety of types of ear training each one giving your ears a different set of skill so it’s best to cycle between them to lessen fatigue as the training progresses

Have Fun and Ignore the Score: Most ear training sites or apps keep track of your training results and scores. Ignore them! It’s fine to post up the results because I do it occasionally, but don’t take them to heart because a 90% one day cause be a 70% tomorrow. What really matters is the test itself, not the result.

Ear Training Sources

Musictheory.net has not only ear training exercises, but other music theory exercises as well.

“My Ear Trainer” is an app for Android and iOS that is an awesome ear trainer that I use. It may only do ear training,but has more test types for ear training than musictheory.net.

If the Music Industry Crashed…

After writing about the decline of the platinum album and my prediction of the future of music, I wondered what would it be like if the music industry crashed and people stopped buying music, attending concerts etc. due to over-saturation. Here is my theory.

Decline of the Record Label: I believe the biggest to be hit by the crash would be the record labels since they have the biggest stake in the industry. Labels will either close or focus their services on shows for revenue and create less CDs/Vinyls.

The Price of Physical Media will Rise: With the labels making less physical media the price of such media will rise. They may begin discontinuing content from older artists that don’t sell cause that artist physical to rise in price due scarcity (or decline in price depending on the artist’s obscurity)

The Revival of the Indie Scene: With the current vacuum created by the declining record labels this gives the independent artist a chance to fill the empty venues on the local level, but there’s one problem with that.

Artist Compensation: Due to the horrible state of sales, Label bound artist will cause a lot more than they used to book.This will translate to the ticket prices and will cause the venues to eventually lose money so they will seek lesser known independent artists, BUT the indie artist may be payed scraps based on said artist’s popularity and performance ability.

There goes my ideas about “if the music industry crashed” What do you think about them? Accurate or absurd? Leave a comment on what you think.

My Plan for 2016

Here are some plans I have for the rest of the year and upcoming year.

• Taking a break from the daily music making to let thoughts settle and will start back in a week or so.
• Working on mixing down songs for some friends.
• Writing more article and opinion pieces.
• Having more fun.