Guitar Hero, the video game raved by the mainstream media that lets everyone – even musical dimwits – revive their long-dead ambitions of becoming a “Rock Star” has been secretly saving the now-ailing music industry. Should we be thankful?
By: Vanessa Uy
Now on its third edition – as far as I know, with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of 90 US dollars a pop, the video game Guitar Hero has been – believe it or not – been secretly saving the music industry in the past few years of its existence. I wouldn’t have believed it, except it’s the long-established rock acts like Aerosmith and Metallica who praised the somewhat simplistic-to-the-genuinely-skilled-guitarist-ergonomically-speaking video game of single-handedly saving the music industry. Especially the Hard Rock / Heavy Metal branch of the industry devastated by the proliferation of illegal peer-to-peer music file sharing which began near the very end of the 20th Century. The question now is to what degree of gratefulness should we be – especially us true blue rock enthusiast – to Guitar Hero, the video game?
Back around May 2001, I manage to wow my guitar teacher with my virtuosity when I accident discovered his “secret magazine stash” and Horror of horrors it’s the September 1997 edition of Guitar Player magazine with it’s then very depressing headline – “Who Killed Rock Guitar”. To me, it’s about as shocking when a kid finally learns that there is no Santa Claus (the truth is there is, but not like “The Man” portrayed him to be). Ever since then, the contents of that particular edition of Guitar Player magazine only shattered by delusions, but not my love of guitar-based music, especially Heavy Metal music.
Fast forward to 2008 and the runaway success of Guitar Hero in it’s “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock” incarnation not only revived the record sales “museum-bound” Classic Rock artists like Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, and Aerosmith. The video game almost single-handedly made an ever-increasing majority of the under-18 s to become rock stars again - make that: Guitar Heroes or is it Guitar Gods. Not only that, sales of real electric guitars are actually up since “Boy Bands” and their ilk made us forget how truly evil US vice president Dick Cheney and Karl Rove really are. So the guitar maker Gibson should probably go easy on that copyright infringement lawsuit they are filing against the video game maker that created Guitar Hero. Also, increasing number of the under-18 s are enrolling in guitar classes and the last time my older acquaintances has seen such musical enthusiasm was way back during when the Seattle Music Scene were earning ungodly amounts of money – i.e. 1992. But the question still remains is that whether this upstart variant of the Karaoke is actually a marriage made in heaven between the rock music and the video gaming industry it was touted to be?
In my opinion, anything that would stop a beautiful and established art form – whether Classic Rock or European Classical Music – from dying out should be embraced with open arms. Despite the video games faults – which there are lots of them from a real electric guitar virtuoso’s perspective. Guitar Hero will undoubtedly be one of the unlikeliest heroes that will save the rock music industry from the damages brought about by the illegal peer-to-peer file sharing of few years past.
On my views and playing experiences on Guitar Hero the video game. When I first played it about two years ago. I was expecting the guitar that came with the game as similar to the one marketed by Optek Music Systems back in 1998 called Smartlight Guitar. You know the guitar with those LED s / sensors on the frets serving as inputs which more or less mimics the ergonomics of a real guitar. But NOOO! It was just these five buttons located on the first five frets. If the gaming industry can manage to replicate the ergonomics of an FN FAL assault rifle using just a polystyrene and polypropylene simulacra of the “shoot ‘em up games” that they offer. Video game makers can even do this without the inevitable visceral recoil of the 7.62mm NATO round. On Guitar Hero’s sound quality, despite being played at volumes at under-96 to 97 decibels sound pressure levels. Its relatively poor digital sound quality – compared to a 1950’s era Fender Champ – can get on your nerves as time wears on (three hours or so). It feels as if after three hours of exposure to the video games sound, I feel as if I’m just 70 feet away from a Pratt & Whitney F100 After-burning Turbofan jet engine undergoing a compliance test burn without hearing protection. And believe me, the sound pressure levels 70 feet away from such a test often reach near - or a bit above - 140 decibels. As loud as firing a .50 caliber Browning M2 machine gun without hearing protection. One redeeming factor of the Guitar Hero video game is that when your playing is really good, it is not miserly of praise. It motivates you like some Playboy or Penthouse magazine photographer. Maybe the makers of Guitar Hero should make something incorporating a guitar similar to Optek Music Systems’ Smartlight Guitar – i.e. a virtuoso version of the existing Guitar Hero incorporating MIDI-based technology. I’ll bet there would probably still be buyers even if they sell one for 500 dollars a pop. Hell, if it’s ergonomically good as a real thing, I’ll even buy one if they priced it just a bit under-1000 US dollars a pop. Also the makers of Guitar Hero should branch out into the classical music realm for us “elitists” straddling between two musical worlds. Maybe a Violin Hero for those willing to nurture their inner Itzhak Perlman or a Cello Hero for Yo Yo Ma fans. Or a “Classical Mode / Version” of Guitar Hero for Andres Segovia fans.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
NY Loose ’s Year of the Rat: An Evergreen Punk Album?
Though I only discovered this album back in 2005, it does beg to question the naysayers’ adage that punk is dead because it sounded same-old, same-old for over thirty years. Is it really?
By: Vanessa Uy
Originally released back in 1996 which is coincidentally a year of the rat under the Chinese Zodiac, Year of the Rat an album by the New York-based punks NY Loose. A band that's named after a Stooges song (Stooges, the band that propelled Iggy Pop to stardom for those of you too ashamed to remember) NY Loose not only used traditional Chinese motifs to design this album’s cover art (you can’t do that with downloadable music these days) but also to the illustrative lyrics of an otherwise American Punk Rock music. With Year of the Rat, NY Loose manage to fulfill a goal that fewer and fewer bands ever achieve as time goes by. Namely, generating a large enough fan-base while not sticking to prevailing musical trends. Although the much hackneyed verse-chorus-verse songwriting formula being played via guitar, bass, and drums has been de rigueur in American pop music for over 50 years. And yet, a lot of people never seem to grow tired of such predictable formula. To overanalyze something that works so well might be deemed hair splitting, but it’s a good springboard for creativity for upcoming musicians. Noting that it’s much easier to make ear-friendly rockers from such tried and tested formula.
The songs on Year of the Rat seem to come from a stylistic wellspring that still inspires the current crop of punk / power-pop bands – like Paramore for example. NY Loose ’s Year of the Rat is also one of those rare albums that’s very satisfying to listen through from start to finish. The lead track “Pretty Suicide” still sounds fresh and interesting in 2008 like it probably did back in 1996. Other more interesting tracks include “Broken” which the band’s vocalist - Brijitte West – sang about her trusty six-string that’s broken beyond repair. With interesting lines like “black water around my bed” seems to be an attempt at illustrative poetry on how traditional Chinese paintings portray deep water as black, making the albums salient Chinese motif that more consistent. NY Loose did also a very good remake of that John Cale hippie anthem “Sunday Morning” which I thought was their original the first time I heard it. The version by NY Loose interests me to no end because they only applied only a smidgen of modernity. And this resulted as if the song is the viewpoint of someone looking 30 years into the past – from the mid- 1990’s. Other interesting track is the song “Hide” which lyric-wise is the vantage point of Western phenomenology looking at how traditional Chinese societies reconcile the pragmatic tenets of Sun Tsu’s Art of War with their relatively arcane-from-a-Western-perspective spirituality.
In short this album not only rocks it seems to also resist the ravages of time. Which from the perspective of the music industry might be seen as a solution for their ever-diminishing return on investment. NY Loose ‘s Year of the Rat could still be fresh when the next year of the rat rolls in – in the year 2020!
By: Vanessa Uy
Originally released back in 1996 which is coincidentally a year of the rat under the Chinese Zodiac, Year of the Rat an album by the New York-based punks NY Loose. A band that's named after a Stooges song (Stooges, the band that propelled Iggy Pop to stardom for those of you too ashamed to remember) NY Loose not only used traditional Chinese motifs to design this album’s cover art (you can’t do that with downloadable music these days) but also to the illustrative lyrics of an otherwise American Punk Rock music. With Year of the Rat, NY Loose manage to fulfill a goal that fewer and fewer bands ever achieve as time goes by. Namely, generating a large enough fan-base while not sticking to prevailing musical trends. Although the much hackneyed verse-chorus-verse songwriting formula being played via guitar, bass, and drums has been de rigueur in American pop music for over 50 years. And yet, a lot of people never seem to grow tired of such predictable formula. To overanalyze something that works so well might be deemed hair splitting, but it’s a good springboard for creativity for upcoming musicians. Noting that it’s much easier to make ear-friendly rockers from such tried and tested formula.
The songs on Year of the Rat seem to come from a stylistic wellspring that still inspires the current crop of punk / power-pop bands – like Paramore for example. NY Loose ’s Year of the Rat is also one of those rare albums that’s very satisfying to listen through from start to finish. The lead track “Pretty Suicide” still sounds fresh and interesting in 2008 like it probably did back in 1996. Other more interesting tracks include “Broken” which the band’s vocalist - Brijitte West – sang about her trusty six-string that’s broken beyond repair. With interesting lines like “black water around my bed” seems to be an attempt at illustrative poetry on how traditional Chinese paintings portray deep water as black, making the albums salient Chinese motif that more consistent. NY Loose did also a very good remake of that John Cale hippie anthem “Sunday Morning” which I thought was their original the first time I heard it. The version by NY Loose interests me to no end because they only applied only a smidgen of modernity. And this resulted as if the song is the viewpoint of someone looking 30 years into the past – from the mid- 1990’s. Other interesting track is the song “Hide” which lyric-wise is the vantage point of Western phenomenology looking at how traditional Chinese societies reconcile the pragmatic tenets of Sun Tsu’s Art of War with their relatively arcane-from-a-Western-perspective spirituality.
In short this album not only rocks it seems to also resist the ravages of time. Which from the perspective of the music industry might be seen as a solution for their ever-diminishing return on investment. NY Loose ‘s Year of the Rat could still be fresh when the next year of the rat rolls in – in the year 2020!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Twisted Red Cross: The Glory That Was in Philippine Music?
Given the dearth of both beauty and creativity of the current OPM offerings, will the retrospective of “past glories” kick-start a revolution for the “aesthetically ailing” Philippine music industry?
By: Vanessa Uy
Of all the 50 or so Original Pilipino Music in current rotation on the country’s leading FM stations and music video channels, only about one or two past muster – to me. This is quite sad because given the windfall of royalties – i.e. money – now up for grabs to every Filipino musicians and bands willing to release their works in the form of music recordings / downloadable media. Shouldn’t this have resulted to better songs, or at least a wider variety of musical genres? Sadly no, it seems as if the Bush-Cheney Neo-Conservative Cultural Gentrification Machine has reached our shores. And it probably established a foothold back in 1998! But all is not lost because a brilliant solution lay in the past, 11 or so years before I was born – 1985.
The Philippine record label Twisted Red Cross and her retinue of bands probably made the lives of a whole generation of Filipino teens seem more humanely bearable during the dying days of the Marcos Regime back in the mid-1980’s. But more importantly, Twisted Red Cross – quite single handedly as it seems – made bands like Wuds, Betrayed, Dead Ends, and George Imbecile (GI) and the Idiots establish the Philippine Punk Rock Scene when the phrase “Punk’s not dead!” is still a veritable cultural tour de force.
Like the influence of the record label Go Kart to the New York Punk scene of the 1990’s as epitomized by the runaway success of the Punk Rock phenomenon Lunachicks, Twisted Red Cross also had a lasting – if somewhat relatively obscure to the overall mainstream culture – influence on the Philippine Punk / Underground music scene. Even though our current powers-that-be in the Philippine music industry usually abhors the mere mention of Twisted Red Cross as a matter of policy. Especially when it comes to the record labels influence. Sometimes I wonder if these execs threatened by politically charged protest songs?
Though Twisted Red Cross recordings that survive the rigors of time are few and far between, especially when it comes to “garage sale” and swap meet availability. Fortunately during the 1991 to 1995 “Third Wave” of Philippine Punk, these albums were re-released – at the expense of the bands themselves – when they found out that there are still a market for their older stuff even though the record label was already several years defunct. You could almost smell the beer-stained floors of Club Dredd circa 1994.
After having acquired audio (and video) processing software that allowed me to digitize Twisted Red Cross’ cassette tape releases so that they can be transferred to CD while their audio problems like tape hiss and dull timbre can be alleviated in the digital domain. I manage to make them about MP3 download quality audio – you know that overly compressed Tom Lord-Alge kind of sound. Having allowed unsuspecting civilians aged 25 and below as my test subjects to gauge whether Twisted Red Cross bands circa 1985 can still rock their world proved really interesting. The test subjects’ first impressions of the bands’ performance were “highly gifted amateur musicians who should record and release an album”. I lied to my test subjects a little, telling them there a start-up band from my school – little did they know that they were already famous 23 or so years ago. My “test subjects” should plead the record label execs in Manila to re-release the entire Twisted Red Cross Catalogue.
Also, I recently acquired in a garage sale BETAMAX handycam recordings of the Wuds concert in PHILCITE – a purpose build ASEAN venue back in the 1980’s. Even though the quality is limited, this is probably the best live performance of the Wuds playing their two workhorses “Patay Buhay” and “Inosente Lang Ang Nagtataka”. Is this the famed July 1988 performance? Now transferred digitally to my currently available digital recording media available i.e. DVD and Video CD. In short, they too can still cut the proverbial mustard. Maybe I should start a campaign to re-release this stuff. Just to remind our current crop of mediocre musicians there’s more to life that riding high on the hog of music royalties. If you don’t want Anglo-Saxon musicians stealing your thunder, try listening to old Twisted Red Cross releases. We – the Filipino People - are long overdue to be amazed. I hope the next time when I turn on the radio or watch music videos on TV, I’ll be amazed as well.
By: Vanessa Uy
Of all the 50 or so Original Pilipino Music in current rotation on the country’s leading FM stations and music video channels, only about one or two past muster – to me. This is quite sad because given the windfall of royalties – i.e. money – now up for grabs to every Filipino musicians and bands willing to release their works in the form of music recordings / downloadable media. Shouldn’t this have resulted to better songs, or at least a wider variety of musical genres? Sadly no, it seems as if the Bush-Cheney Neo-Conservative Cultural Gentrification Machine has reached our shores. And it probably established a foothold back in 1998! But all is not lost because a brilliant solution lay in the past, 11 or so years before I was born – 1985.
The Philippine record label Twisted Red Cross and her retinue of bands probably made the lives of a whole generation of Filipino teens seem more humanely bearable during the dying days of the Marcos Regime back in the mid-1980’s. But more importantly, Twisted Red Cross – quite single handedly as it seems – made bands like Wuds, Betrayed, Dead Ends, and George Imbecile (GI) and the Idiots establish the Philippine Punk Rock Scene when the phrase “Punk’s not dead!” is still a veritable cultural tour de force.
Like the influence of the record label Go Kart to the New York Punk scene of the 1990’s as epitomized by the runaway success of the Punk Rock phenomenon Lunachicks, Twisted Red Cross also had a lasting – if somewhat relatively obscure to the overall mainstream culture – influence on the Philippine Punk / Underground music scene. Even though our current powers-that-be in the Philippine music industry usually abhors the mere mention of Twisted Red Cross as a matter of policy. Especially when it comes to the record labels influence. Sometimes I wonder if these execs threatened by politically charged protest songs?
Though Twisted Red Cross recordings that survive the rigors of time are few and far between, especially when it comes to “garage sale” and swap meet availability. Fortunately during the 1991 to 1995 “Third Wave” of Philippine Punk, these albums were re-released – at the expense of the bands themselves – when they found out that there are still a market for their older stuff even though the record label was already several years defunct. You could almost smell the beer-stained floors of Club Dredd circa 1994.
After having acquired audio (and video) processing software that allowed me to digitize Twisted Red Cross’ cassette tape releases so that they can be transferred to CD while their audio problems like tape hiss and dull timbre can be alleviated in the digital domain. I manage to make them about MP3 download quality audio – you know that overly compressed Tom Lord-Alge kind of sound. Having allowed unsuspecting civilians aged 25 and below as my test subjects to gauge whether Twisted Red Cross bands circa 1985 can still rock their world proved really interesting. The test subjects’ first impressions of the bands’ performance were “highly gifted amateur musicians who should record and release an album”. I lied to my test subjects a little, telling them there a start-up band from my school – little did they know that they were already famous 23 or so years ago. My “test subjects” should plead the record label execs in Manila to re-release the entire Twisted Red Cross Catalogue.
Also, I recently acquired in a garage sale BETAMAX handycam recordings of the Wuds concert in PHILCITE – a purpose build ASEAN venue back in the 1980’s. Even though the quality is limited, this is probably the best live performance of the Wuds playing their two workhorses “Patay Buhay” and “Inosente Lang Ang Nagtataka”. Is this the famed July 1988 performance? Now transferred digitally to my currently available digital recording media available i.e. DVD and Video CD. In short, they too can still cut the proverbial mustard. Maybe I should start a campaign to re-release this stuff. Just to remind our current crop of mediocre musicians there’s more to life that riding high on the hog of music royalties. If you don’t want Anglo-Saxon musicians stealing your thunder, try listening to old Twisted Red Cross releases. We – the Filipino People - are long overdue to be amazed. I hope the next time when I turn on the radio or watch music videos on TV, I’ll be amazed as well.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Is Music Really Good for You?
Ever since the “Mozart Effect” became a buzzword in the mid-1990’s as expectant mothers began playing Classical Music to their unborn as to provide them the best start in life. After ten years or so, can we really say that music - especially Classical Music - is good for you?
By: Vanessa Uy
Back around 1995 and 1996, film documentaries made about studies on exposing young kids to music – especially Classical Music – has a purportedly positive effect on their educational development gained widespread popularity. But recently, there’s increasing evidence that teachers and educators back then watched and participated in such studies more for their “novelty factor” than the intended outcome of increasing the participating kid’s intellect. Some studies even included programs of teaching the kids to play musical instruments as well. And surely enough, every one of these studies showed results that the kid’s became smarter.
Despite the study’s detractors, there’s a preexisting rationale for the experiment to be undertaken. An overwhelming majority of the “intellectual giants” that ever walked the Earth are either accomplished musicians or music enthusiasts (Does these include audiophiles?). Even Albert Einstein played the violin – albeit only on a recreational basis. If music made these people smart then ipso facto our kids could get smart also via music, even the mercurial frontman of Guns N’ Roses, W. Axl Rose, has a 120 IQ. Or is now a good time to tell everyone to get a grip?
But by 1999, increasing controversy has arisen over scientific with regards to the practice of playing classical music to babies may enhance their brain functions. Even the then newly established habit of expectant mothers in their final trimester playing Classical Music to their unborn child. A ritual once considered fashionably hip in 1996 was just – three years later – called into question.
The publication of “The Myth of the First Three Years” by Dr. John Bruer in the late 1990’s probably served as a “nail in the coffin” in ending a ritual. The ritual that an increasing number of the “Generation X” – you know those expectant mothers back in 1995 to 1996 who are fast approaching 40 by now (2008) – has a strong perception that listening to Classical Music is not only “unnecessary” to an overwhelming majority of them. But was also perceived by them as ritual that is an “anathema” to their generation.
In his book “The Myth of the First Three Years”, Dr. John Bruer says that there is no neurological evidence of enhanced brain functions of babies exposed to Classical Music. Even Dr. Francis Rauscher, co-author of the original studies on the “Mozart Effect”, has told The New York Times that she feels the press mangled her results. The original study was not conducted on young children but on college students, and the music’s effects were brief and limited to performance on a specific task of spatial imagery.
Basing on my quite extensive knowledge of “historically trivial events” that occurred in the 1970’s and 1980’s, the growing resentment disguised as a “silent consensus” that engendered studies relating to the “Mozart Effect” is the reaction of the music teaching community across the American Educational System. They feel that their (the music teachers / educators) “mystique” – even their livelihood – was threatened when the Reagan Administration in collusion with the US Board of Education spent disproportionately large sums of money promoting “Team Sport” programs over music education and appreciation. This was a nationwide phenomenon that came to define the fiscally austere period of the 1980’s.
Sadly, I have this nagging feeling that what the “Mozart Effect” study really exposed is a pre-existing “Kultur Kampf” in the contemporary American Educational Society between Team Sports and “formal” music education / appreciation classes. For what its worth, studies relating to the “Mozart Effect” was primarily designed to gain sympathy from then President Bill Clinton. Since the president back them is an amateur musician and a serious music enthusiast, then music educators across America could finally get what they are deprived of during the Reagan Administration.
By: Vanessa Uy
Back around 1995 and 1996, film documentaries made about studies on exposing young kids to music – especially Classical Music – has a purportedly positive effect on their educational development gained widespread popularity. But recently, there’s increasing evidence that teachers and educators back then watched and participated in such studies more for their “novelty factor” than the intended outcome of increasing the participating kid’s intellect. Some studies even included programs of teaching the kids to play musical instruments as well. And surely enough, every one of these studies showed results that the kid’s became smarter.
Despite the study’s detractors, there’s a preexisting rationale for the experiment to be undertaken. An overwhelming majority of the “intellectual giants” that ever walked the Earth are either accomplished musicians or music enthusiasts (Does these include audiophiles?). Even Albert Einstein played the violin – albeit only on a recreational basis. If music made these people smart then ipso facto our kids could get smart also via music, even the mercurial frontman of Guns N’ Roses, W. Axl Rose, has a 120 IQ. Or is now a good time to tell everyone to get a grip?
But by 1999, increasing controversy has arisen over scientific with regards to the practice of playing classical music to babies may enhance their brain functions. Even the then newly established habit of expectant mothers in their final trimester playing Classical Music to their unborn child. A ritual once considered fashionably hip in 1996 was just – three years later – called into question.
The publication of “The Myth of the First Three Years” by Dr. John Bruer in the late 1990’s probably served as a “nail in the coffin” in ending a ritual. The ritual that an increasing number of the “Generation X” – you know those expectant mothers back in 1995 to 1996 who are fast approaching 40 by now (2008) – has a strong perception that listening to Classical Music is not only “unnecessary” to an overwhelming majority of them. But was also perceived by them as ritual that is an “anathema” to their generation.
In his book “The Myth of the First Three Years”, Dr. John Bruer says that there is no neurological evidence of enhanced brain functions of babies exposed to Classical Music. Even Dr. Francis Rauscher, co-author of the original studies on the “Mozart Effect”, has told The New York Times that she feels the press mangled her results. The original study was not conducted on young children but on college students, and the music’s effects were brief and limited to performance on a specific task of spatial imagery.
Basing on my quite extensive knowledge of “historically trivial events” that occurred in the 1970’s and 1980’s, the growing resentment disguised as a “silent consensus” that engendered studies relating to the “Mozart Effect” is the reaction of the music teaching community across the American Educational System. They feel that their (the music teachers / educators) “mystique” – even their livelihood – was threatened when the Reagan Administration in collusion with the US Board of Education spent disproportionately large sums of money promoting “Team Sport” programs over music education and appreciation. This was a nationwide phenomenon that came to define the fiscally austere period of the 1980’s.
Sadly, I have this nagging feeling that what the “Mozart Effect” study really exposed is a pre-existing “Kultur Kampf” in the contemporary American Educational Society between Team Sports and “formal” music education / appreciation classes. For what its worth, studies relating to the “Mozart Effect” was primarily designed to gain sympathy from then President Bill Clinton. Since the president back them is an amateur musician and a serious music enthusiast, then music educators across America could finally get what they are deprived of during the Reagan Administration.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Of Music and Sound Levels: Hurting Each Other
All of us know that very loud sounds can damage our ears but what if it is required in a particular piece of music, is this the end of artistic integrity?
By: Vanessa Uy
For over a year now, my audio and music buddies have been actively speaking out about the role of loudness / decibels i.e. sound pressure levels in maintaining the artistic integrity of a piece of music. When it comes to loudness levels, the genre of music that usually gets the flack is the modern 20th Century variety like Rock & Roll, Disco and especially my favorite Heavy Metal Music. But the controversy surrounding the issue seems to be born out of ignorance. Almost nobody raises an issue or blame my other favorite form of music, namely Symphonic Classical / Romantic Music. A live Symphony playing a particularly loud piece can easily drown out the racket produced by an M-16 assault rifle fired in full automatic mode 30 feet away from you. And my current audio system can play that loud cleanly, the only sign I know that I’m playing to loud is when my ears ring afterwards. A really great sound system is really dangerous because you won’t know it’s hurting you ears but the damage produced like tinnitus is cumulative. But before going any deeper, let me try to dispel some myths surrounding loudness before our politicians legislate laws that violate the laws of physics.
Sound pressure levels – the one that travels in air since “almost all” live musical performances are performed on dry land – is measured in decibels. Decibels are determined on a base 10 logarithmic scale. So a sound wave that measures 10dB SPL (decibels sound pressure level) has ten times the acoustic (sound) energy than a sound wave measuring just 1dB SPL. 20 dB SPL has 100 times more energy than 1dB SPL and 30dB SPL has 1000 times more acoustic energy and so on progressing logarithmically. And since our ears perceive sound levels logarithmically we hear sound differently from artificial conveyances like microphones. Imagine two sound sources, a sound wave has to be ten decibels louder than another in order for us to perceive it to be twice as loud. So, what does the measured sound pressure levels of the sound that we hear in everyday (to me) life? An ordinary conversation 3 meters in front of us measures 60 to 70 dB SPL. A Symphony Orchestra in the loudest musical passages (especially pieces by Richard Wagner and Gustav Mahler) can generate 120 dB SPL as does a Heavy Metal concert held in a typical stadium. And that’s only a couple of decibels shy than a military fighter jet taking off with afterburners fully aflame. A typical assault rifle that uses 7.62mm NATO round generates about 130 dB SPL or a bit louder (measured using Radio Shack’s “relatively inexpensive” but sufficiently accurate 33-2050 Sound Level Meter) when fired in full automatic mode inside a tiled bathroom. 20th Century era artillery pieces, like howitzers usually approach or go over 140 dB SPL and generating sounds louder than this can become impractical because we are now reaching the “linearity limit” i.e. the acoustic power input = acoustic power output of air. That’s why military / naval SONARs that can get as loud as 230 dB SPL is never tested on dry land (in air) since their sound waveform can get distorted not to mention the racket it can create.
On the more tranquil side of the scale, 40 dB SPL is the loudness level of the softest note used in a musical score “technically” referred to as “pianissimo”. 30 dB SPL is the sound level found in a residential neighborhood at 2 in the morning when there is no electricity. 20 dB SPL is the level of ambient noise in a typical multi million dollar recording studio that’s acoustically treated properly (Don’t you just hate those people who claim that their sub-prime mortgaged “el-cheapo” houses are this –20 dB SPL - quiet?). Zero / 0 dB SPL can only be achieved inside an anechoic chamber commonly referred to as “the dead room” like the one found in Bell Laboratories. Anechoic chambers / dead rooms are pretty eerie places because if the person inside talking to you is not in the line of sight to your ears you can never hear them, even if they are only a few feet away from you.
There was a news story aired on DW-TV’s People and Politics last February 12, 2008 about the expanded plan to amend current laws concerning noise abatement in the workplace. The most “ridiculous” place targeted by the planned noise abatement in the workplace law were Germany’s world class Symphony Orchestras. It was shown on that piece that even a flute generates over 100 dB SPL within 30 centimeters (1 foot) from the instruments “bell”. Tinnitus could ruin a professional musician’s career. Currently legislated worldwide laws regarding occupational safety in the workplace requires anyone exposed to sound levels over 85 dB SPL over an eight hour period be required to wear ear plugs / ear muffs. To me, this law is extremely ludicrous because the first hand experience of my friends who worked in the music business since 1989 had never come across ear - plugs / ear protectors that are tonally transparent. Ear - plugs just spoils our enjoyment of the musical instruments proper timbre. Ear - plugs are nothing like the volume controls of our audio playback systems. I’ve tested one that’s designed back in 1992 exclusively for jazz musicians (still sold at the exorbitant sum of US$200 after all these years) and was touted to be acoustically transparent. The sound levels going to my ears did become softer but also extremely dull, all of the high frequency sounds went on hiatus. Though not as dull as the ones used for gun practice that’s commonly sold for only half a dollar per pair.
So what does this all mean? First of all, lawmakers everywhere should familiarize themselves with the laws of physics because we cannot easily repeal those as easily as legislated / man-made laws. Just imagine if we could amend the law of gravity, commercial aviation could become very cheap and non-polluting, space tourism would become available to anyone. If we could just repeal the laws governing sound of acoustics, the world would be a happier more aesthetically pleasing. But we can’t, we can only work in harmony with the physical laws that govern sound and acoustics. The sooner our policymakers realize it, the sooner sensible laws governing the auditory health / occupational health and safety of our professional musicians can be legislated. Just remember that tinnitus is still incurable, so Rock On responsibly.
By: Vanessa Uy
For over a year now, my audio and music buddies have been actively speaking out about the role of loudness / decibels i.e. sound pressure levels in maintaining the artistic integrity of a piece of music. When it comes to loudness levels, the genre of music that usually gets the flack is the modern 20th Century variety like Rock & Roll, Disco and especially my favorite Heavy Metal Music. But the controversy surrounding the issue seems to be born out of ignorance. Almost nobody raises an issue or blame my other favorite form of music, namely Symphonic Classical / Romantic Music. A live Symphony playing a particularly loud piece can easily drown out the racket produced by an M-16 assault rifle fired in full automatic mode 30 feet away from you. And my current audio system can play that loud cleanly, the only sign I know that I’m playing to loud is when my ears ring afterwards. A really great sound system is really dangerous because you won’t know it’s hurting you ears but the damage produced like tinnitus is cumulative. But before going any deeper, let me try to dispel some myths surrounding loudness before our politicians legislate laws that violate the laws of physics.
Sound pressure levels – the one that travels in air since “almost all” live musical performances are performed on dry land – is measured in decibels. Decibels are determined on a base 10 logarithmic scale. So a sound wave that measures 10dB SPL (decibels sound pressure level) has ten times the acoustic (sound) energy than a sound wave measuring just 1dB SPL. 20 dB SPL has 100 times more energy than 1dB SPL and 30dB SPL has 1000 times more acoustic energy and so on progressing logarithmically. And since our ears perceive sound levels logarithmically we hear sound differently from artificial conveyances like microphones. Imagine two sound sources, a sound wave has to be ten decibels louder than another in order for us to perceive it to be twice as loud. So, what does the measured sound pressure levels of the sound that we hear in everyday (to me) life? An ordinary conversation 3 meters in front of us measures 60 to 70 dB SPL. A Symphony Orchestra in the loudest musical passages (especially pieces by Richard Wagner and Gustav Mahler) can generate 120 dB SPL as does a Heavy Metal concert held in a typical stadium. And that’s only a couple of decibels shy than a military fighter jet taking off with afterburners fully aflame. A typical assault rifle that uses 7.62mm NATO round generates about 130 dB SPL or a bit louder (measured using Radio Shack’s “relatively inexpensive” but sufficiently accurate 33-2050 Sound Level Meter) when fired in full automatic mode inside a tiled bathroom. 20th Century era artillery pieces, like howitzers usually approach or go over 140 dB SPL and generating sounds louder than this can become impractical because we are now reaching the “linearity limit” i.e. the acoustic power input = acoustic power output of air. That’s why military / naval SONARs that can get as loud as 230 dB SPL is never tested on dry land (in air) since their sound waveform can get distorted not to mention the racket it can create.
On the more tranquil side of the scale, 40 dB SPL is the loudness level of the softest note used in a musical score “technically” referred to as “pianissimo”. 30 dB SPL is the sound level found in a residential neighborhood at 2 in the morning when there is no electricity. 20 dB SPL is the level of ambient noise in a typical multi million dollar recording studio that’s acoustically treated properly (Don’t you just hate those people who claim that their sub-prime mortgaged “el-cheapo” houses are this –20 dB SPL - quiet?). Zero / 0 dB SPL can only be achieved inside an anechoic chamber commonly referred to as “the dead room” like the one found in Bell Laboratories. Anechoic chambers / dead rooms are pretty eerie places because if the person inside talking to you is not in the line of sight to your ears you can never hear them, even if they are only a few feet away from you.
There was a news story aired on DW-TV’s People and Politics last February 12, 2008 about the expanded plan to amend current laws concerning noise abatement in the workplace. The most “ridiculous” place targeted by the planned noise abatement in the workplace law were Germany’s world class Symphony Orchestras. It was shown on that piece that even a flute generates over 100 dB SPL within 30 centimeters (1 foot) from the instruments “bell”. Tinnitus could ruin a professional musician’s career. Currently legislated worldwide laws regarding occupational safety in the workplace requires anyone exposed to sound levels over 85 dB SPL over an eight hour period be required to wear ear plugs / ear muffs. To me, this law is extremely ludicrous because the first hand experience of my friends who worked in the music business since 1989 had never come across ear - plugs / ear protectors that are tonally transparent. Ear - plugs just spoils our enjoyment of the musical instruments proper timbre. Ear - plugs are nothing like the volume controls of our audio playback systems. I’ve tested one that’s designed back in 1992 exclusively for jazz musicians (still sold at the exorbitant sum of US$200 after all these years) and was touted to be acoustically transparent. The sound levels going to my ears did become softer but also extremely dull, all of the high frequency sounds went on hiatus. Though not as dull as the ones used for gun practice that’s commonly sold for only half a dollar per pair.
So what does this all mean? First of all, lawmakers everywhere should familiarize themselves with the laws of physics because we cannot easily repeal those as easily as legislated / man-made laws. Just imagine if we could amend the law of gravity, commercial aviation could become very cheap and non-polluting, space tourism would become available to anyone. If we could just repeal the laws governing sound of acoustics, the world would be a happier more aesthetically pleasing. But we can’t, we can only work in harmony with the physical laws that govern sound and acoustics. The sooner our policymakers realize it, the sooner sensible laws governing the auditory health / occupational health and safety of our professional musicians can be legislated. Just remember that tinnitus is still incurable, so Rock On responsibly.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
30 Centuries of Scott Walker
A retrospective on a career that spans from being a lead singer for the Walker Brothers to “The Drift” album, will a documentary on Scott Walker’s creative process shed more light on his artistry?
By: Vanessa Uy
“Scott Walker: 30 Century Man” a “Rockumentary” released to whet the appetite of dedicated Scott Walker fans. Being young, I’ve only known Scott Walker’s circa 1960’s musical career with the Walker Brothers after seeing this documentary. I never knew that the Walker Brothers’ fame at the time rivaled that of The Beatles. Also, the deep baritone voiced Scott Walker was named as one of the most influential people of Rock music history and one of his famed admirers were David Bowie. Despite of this, Scott Walker is not exactly a household name in either Britain or America. But if you can manage to find a dedicated fan from both sides of the Atlantic (there are more of them than you think), you might gain a first-hand experience of what it means to be a dedicated Scott Walker fan.
After his success during the 1960’s, Scott Walker withdrew from the public limelight. Now 64 years old, Scott Walker still receive god-like devotion from his fans and most of them (even the under 35’s) claim that they stuck by him since the “Walker Brothers” days. “Scott Walker: 30 Century Man” is a documentary directed by Stephen Kijak documenting Scott Walker’s creative genius and his legacy with the attendant live performance footage from the 1960’s to the present. This documentary serves to spread awareness of Scott Walker’s works and even his existence (!) to the uninitiated.
In assessing the merits of “Scott Walker: 30 Century Man”, I also reevaluated my views on Scott Walker’s last two albums: “Tilt” and “The Drift”. I can say that Scott Walker is one of those gifted musicians who are terrified by fame even though he truly deserves praise for his talent. To me, Scott Walker probably single-handedly influenced the “anti-fashion” musical movement of the 1990’s with his Richard Wagner meets Heavy Metal style. After first hearing “Jesse” from Scott Walker’s “The Drift” album, my first impressions are- Did Scott Walker just invented a new genre of music? “Jesse” is a trippy sounding Oriental Modalism meets Guitar-Driven-Rock. This is a very radical departure from the sex-drugs-and-rock n’ roll that we have come to know and love of “conventional” Rock music. “Difficult avant- garde musician” is a description that comes to mind after hearing Scott Walker’s latest album. And the DVD of “Scott Walker: 30 Century Man” is also worth it because it caters to the uninitiated-and successfully-at that. Although the documentary raises more questions than answers about weather Rock music in its current format needs revision beyond its dogmatic “three chords and the truth” format.
If you like Keiji Haino or love those Miles Davis’ albums that are a tribute to the passing of Jimi Hendrix like “Bitches’ Brew” and “Agharta” then you will surely love this documentary and the attendant music. Scott Walker just reminded me why I love listening to music in the first place.
By: Vanessa Uy
“Scott Walker: 30 Century Man” a “Rockumentary” released to whet the appetite of dedicated Scott Walker fans. Being young, I’ve only known Scott Walker’s circa 1960’s musical career with the Walker Brothers after seeing this documentary. I never knew that the Walker Brothers’ fame at the time rivaled that of The Beatles. Also, the deep baritone voiced Scott Walker was named as one of the most influential people of Rock music history and one of his famed admirers were David Bowie. Despite of this, Scott Walker is not exactly a household name in either Britain or America. But if you can manage to find a dedicated fan from both sides of the Atlantic (there are more of them than you think), you might gain a first-hand experience of what it means to be a dedicated Scott Walker fan.
After his success during the 1960’s, Scott Walker withdrew from the public limelight. Now 64 years old, Scott Walker still receive god-like devotion from his fans and most of them (even the under 35’s) claim that they stuck by him since the “Walker Brothers” days. “Scott Walker: 30 Century Man” is a documentary directed by Stephen Kijak documenting Scott Walker’s creative genius and his legacy with the attendant live performance footage from the 1960’s to the present. This documentary serves to spread awareness of Scott Walker’s works and even his existence (!) to the uninitiated.
In assessing the merits of “Scott Walker: 30 Century Man”, I also reevaluated my views on Scott Walker’s last two albums: “Tilt” and “The Drift”. I can say that Scott Walker is one of those gifted musicians who are terrified by fame even though he truly deserves praise for his talent. To me, Scott Walker probably single-handedly influenced the “anti-fashion” musical movement of the 1990’s with his Richard Wagner meets Heavy Metal style. After first hearing “Jesse” from Scott Walker’s “The Drift” album, my first impressions are- Did Scott Walker just invented a new genre of music? “Jesse” is a trippy sounding Oriental Modalism meets Guitar-Driven-Rock. This is a very radical departure from the sex-drugs-and-rock n’ roll that we have come to know and love of “conventional” Rock music. “Difficult avant- garde musician” is a description that comes to mind after hearing Scott Walker’s latest album. And the DVD of “Scott Walker: 30 Century Man” is also worth it because it caters to the uninitiated-and successfully-at that. Although the documentary raises more questions than answers about weather Rock music in its current format needs revision beyond its dogmatic “three chords and the truth” format.
If you like Keiji Haino or love those Miles Davis’ albums that are a tribute to the passing of Jimi Hendrix like “Bitches’ Brew” and “Agharta” then you will surely love this documentary and the attendant music. Scott Walker just reminded me why I love listening to music in the first place.
Digging For Hazeldine
As a part of my ongoing curiosity for relatively unknown but very talented bands with a penchant for originality, I invariably dug up a veritable gem.
By: Vanessa Uy
Ever since I’ve started listening to music on a regular basis, I’ve fantasized on being an “A&R” person working during the golden age of rock (1950-1980). How exciting it would be hearing The Runaways (Joan Jett and Lita Ford’s first band) or Jimi Hendrix playing their hearts out just for me to gain my approval for that all important “music deal”? If you ask me, it might be my way of compensating for being born too late to meet Jimi Henrix “in the flesh” or for being born too early for interplanetary colonization or interstellar travel. To be pragmatic, I’ve put it upon myself to tour record bars and used LP stores in search of unknown but talented bands. The “sense of satisfaction” I usually get from these adventures are more or less similar to my “A&R fantasy” except this is healthier because it’s for real.
I’ve been listening to Hazeldine’s “Digging You Up” album for almost two years now and it never seems to disappoint me. On this album, their sound and style could be described as “alternative country” i.e. a genre of music that became somewhat popular during the mid 1990’s like Grant Lee Buffalo or Cowboy Junkies, or as my audiobuddies jokingly describe as any well recorded country music with college level lyrics. Hazeldine’s “Digging You Up” is first and foremost an electric guitar driven album. The skillful inclusion of acoustic stringed instruments that are “de rigueur” in traditional country music like banjos and glockenspiel only help the band in the originality front to no end. Their vocal style is reminiscent of “Cowboy Junkies” except it is rawer in a way that compliments the tones of the electric guitars used in this album. If you fancy the sound of a “Fender Champ” and you don’t have US$3,000 burning a hole in you pocket then this album is for you. The tempo on most of the songs on this album is slow as in Ben Harper circa1998 slow, but like Ben Harper this only helps in their song craft. If you’re into Lunachicks style 300 beats per minute frenzy, then this album might not be to your liking.
To me, the first four songs of the album were standouts compared to the rest. “Allergic To Love” really speaks to me as most can’t-stand-the-heartache kind of songs (there aren’t many of them). My partiality to this song is only enhanced by my current love interest who likes the same TV shows as me like 24, Prison Break, Jericho, “Leno”, ”Conan”, ”SNL”, etc;. “Drive” relates to me in a way that’s not might have been intended by the songwriter, because I play this song in my head every time I fantasize about space travel. I wonder if those “servicemen” involved on the “War On Terror” listen to this song on their way to their bombing target. “Digging You Up” the title track to this album is one of those rare “boy mistreats me” songs that is not crappy. Well most of them are! While “Realize” to me is a song that should be included on the soundtrack on the famed movie director Alejandro Gonzales Inarrittu’s latest opus “Babel”. Even if the rest of the songs on the album pales in comparison to the first four that I have mentioned. These songs are still miles ahead in terms of musicianship and lyric writing in comparison to the current-crop of “alternative rock” songs in both airplay and down-loads that stress fashion over music or emulate the latest cash- cow band du jour.
If I were asked on “Why does fame elude Hazeldine?” I think it’s because they’re a band that places creative and artistic integrity of paramount importance. Next, it’s even harder now in post September 11, 2001 America to be a “red neck” woman country singer who is a philosopher-queen of sorts to gain superstar status. I think one would be an anathema to the “Fascist Bush Administration” as what had happened to the Dixie Chicks a few years ago. But enough about that, I’m just glad that there are bands like Hazeldine out there who aren’t afraid to speak their mind. Looks like New Mexico has other subjects of interest besides Georgia O'Keffe’s paintings of flowers that look like a puckered up “labia”.
By: Vanessa Uy
Ever since I’ve started listening to music on a regular basis, I’ve fantasized on being an “A&R” person working during the golden age of rock (1950-1980). How exciting it would be hearing The Runaways (Joan Jett and Lita Ford’s first band) or Jimi Hendrix playing their hearts out just for me to gain my approval for that all important “music deal”? If you ask me, it might be my way of compensating for being born too late to meet Jimi Henrix “in the flesh” or for being born too early for interplanetary colonization or interstellar travel. To be pragmatic, I’ve put it upon myself to tour record bars and used LP stores in search of unknown but talented bands. The “sense of satisfaction” I usually get from these adventures are more or less similar to my “A&R fantasy” except this is healthier because it’s for real.
I’ve been listening to Hazeldine’s “Digging You Up” album for almost two years now and it never seems to disappoint me. On this album, their sound and style could be described as “alternative country” i.e. a genre of music that became somewhat popular during the mid 1990’s like Grant Lee Buffalo or Cowboy Junkies, or as my audiobuddies jokingly describe as any well recorded country music with college level lyrics. Hazeldine’s “Digging You Up” is first and foremost an electric guitar driven album. The skillful inclusion of acoustic stringed instruments that are “de rigueur” in traditional country music like banjos and glockenspiel only help the band in the originality front to no end. Their vocal style is reminiscent of “Cowboy Junkies” except it is rawer in a way that compliments the tones of the electric guitars used in this album. If you fancy the sound of a “Fender Champ” and you don’t have US$3,000 burning a hole in you pocket then this album is for you. The tempo on most of the songs on this album is slow as in Ben Harper circa1998 slow, but like Ben Harper this only helps in their song craft. If you’re into Lunachicks style 300 beats per minute frenzy, then this album might not be to your liking.
To me, the first four songs of the album were standouts compared to the rest. “Allergic To Love” really speaks to me as most can’t-stand-the-heartache kind of songs (there aren’t many of them). My partiality to this song is only enhanced by my current love interest who likes the same TV shows as me like 24, Prison Break, Jericho, “Leno”, ”Conan”, ”SNL”, etc;. “Drive” relates to me in a way that’s not might have been intended by the songwriter, because I play this song in my head every time I fantasize about space travel. I wonder if those “servicemen” involved on the “War On Terror” listen to this song on their way to their bombing target. “Digging You Up” the title track to this album is one of those rare “boy mistreats me” songs that is not crappy. Well most of them are! While “Realize” to me is a song that should be included on the soundtrack on the famed movie director Alejandro Gonzales Inarrittu’s latest opus “Babel”. Even if the rest of the songs on the album pales in comparison to the first four that I have mentioned. These songs are still miles ahead in terms of musicianship and lyric writing in comparison to the current-crop of “alternative rock” songs in both airplay and down-loads that stress fashion over music or emulate the latest cash- cow band du jour.
If I were asked on “Why does fame elude Hazeldine?” I think it’s because they’re a band that places creative and artistic integrity of paramount importance. Next, it’s even harder now in post September 11, 2001 America to be a “red neck” woman country singer who is a philosopher-queen of sorts to gain superstar status. I think one would be an anathema to the “Fascist Bush Administration” as what had happened to the Dixie Chicks a few years ago. But enough about that, I’m just glad that there are bands like Hazeldine out there who aren’t afraid to speak their mind. Looks like New Mexico has other subjects of interest besides Georgia O'Keffe’s paintings of flowers that look like a puckered up “labia”.
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