Blog 3A

Tamia - "Love Me in a Special Way"

                                      

DeBarge - "Love me in a Special Way"

Tamia has been one of my favorite artists up to date.  Although she has not come out with anything lately, I thought using "Love Me in a Special Way" for this assignment would be great.  This is a cover of the same song done by DeBarge.

DeBarge is an older singing group and they have created many hits.  The two songs contain very similar qualities about them; however there are some contrasting elements in both songs. 

One contrasting component is the organization of the two songs.  Tamia’s version is much different than DeBarges.  The beginning of Tamia’s song sounds the same as DeBarges, with only the piano playing.  But as you continue to listen, right when she begins to sing “Love me in a special way” the song changes up.  To the listener, you don’t really know how she’s going to take to the song.  But as you keep listening, you see she makes the song her own! Tamia also adds much more instrumentation in her song.  There were many more layers in Tamia’s; instead of the piano driving the song, the drums and guitar were. 

The affinity within the two songs is the melody. Both songs are sung the same way, including identical lyrics. Tamia changed up/added a few adlibs to make the song her own, but as a whole the text in both of them were pretty equal.  I’m not sure if Tamia’s subtext in her song has the same meaning as DeBarge’s, but how many meanings could “Love me in a special way” have?  DeBarge is singing for a woman to love him, while Tamia is longing for a man’s love.  They both are targeting the song to a special person whom they are in love with.  

Another contrasting element of the two songs is the speed.  The original is more of a slow soulful song, while Tamia creates a more intense version.  As I stated before, Tamia begins singing slow just as DeBarge, but she instantly changes it up.  The different layers of instruments added speed to the song.  The tempo was around the same but since the drums were the driving force for Tamia, the song sounded a little different.  This song has two different grooves; from heartwarming soul, to funky and intense.                

To conclude, I would have to say I like Tamia’s cover better, not only because I’m a fan, but because of the song itself.  I feel as though DeBarge’s song has more of an old school feel and not so much something I would listen to.  It’s a great song though, don’t get me wrong.  I give credit to the older artists today because so many have been covered.  I never realized how many artists songs have been covered or sampled.  In a way it makes me mad because the generation today has no clue of these samples and covers.  Ultimately, the newer artists are receiving all the credit from the naive fans.  This makes me want to do more research on the music that is put out.

Blog 4B Music/Song Critique

Nathan Hoovers Song

Andrew Kelloggs Song

Blog 3B Soundscape Critique

Katie Everetts Soundscape


Dan Ahrens Soundscape


Alex Wisemans Soundscape

Music/Song Assignment

Blog 4A

"Brainwashed: Seven Ways to Reinvent Yourself” by Seth Godin is an article about the different approaches we can take to step out of what society expects us to be.  He begins by talking about how we have been brainwashed by the system.  How this system is creating average people for average jobs and if we were to ever step out of line the system would nudge us back to the center. “Show signs of real creativity, originality or even genius, and well-meaning parents, teachers and authority figures would eagerly line up to get you back in line.” 

Two of the seven ways to “reinvent yourself” are “Acknowledge the Lizard” and “Connect.” 

“Acknowledge the Lizard”

            The lizard he is referring to  a strand in our brain. This so called "Lizard brain" we have is the part of us that doesn't approve of rejection and worries about safety.  Being seen as a joke is the lizard brains worst nightmare and when our ideas get laughed at our art shuts down.  According to a man by the name of Stephen Pressfield, this shutting down is called the resistance.  The resistance is something inside of you telling you to follow instructions.  This resistance prevents us from taking risks.  When we refrain from the risk taking, our lizard brain takes control and we fall into society's average being.  If we become aware of the lizard brain, we can ignore it and reject this resistance. 

"Connect" 

             Godin says that social media is a waste of time and people get distracted by its elements.  Some people are just so wrapped up in all of the antics such as keeping count of followers, friends and wall comments that they aren't seeing what really matters.  However, the digital media is an effective way to make connections.  Digital media takes us out of the isolation era we used to be.  Now a days we are connected in so many ways that were unavailable to us just a few years ago.  Other people are able to share their insight and interact with you on so many different levels.       

             
"What they mean to ME"
           When it comes to acknowledging the lizard, this blog will be a direct connection because I will not hold anything back.  Now that I have knowledge of this lizard brain it ultimately make me better person because I am aware of this resistance we have inside.  I will take risks and follow my ideas while following the instructions, of course. With the idea of Connecting, I'm not sure I completely agree with Godin.  I feel as though social networks are a great way to connect.  That's what these blogs are for... to connect socially and digitally. Connecting through social and digital media is a positive way to reinvent myself because there is always someone out there to help me to become a better individual.

Soundscape Project

Emotion: An "AH-HA" Moment

Blog 2

Audio response to "Finding Your Howl"

http://changethis.com/

Blog 1B

"14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas" ,by Mitch Ditkoff, is a very gripping article about the different ways people can quicken the appearance of ideas and innovations.  He first mentions how there are other reasons besides caffeine and corporate pep to encourage new ideas.   Two approaches Ditkoff talks about are Western and Eastern.  Western has a strong bias towards thinking, whereas Eastern has a strong bias towards feeling.  When mustering up ideas, personally, I have never thought to think of actual ways to come across them.  I just do it. It was interesting to see what he had to say about ways to get ideas, and I learned quite a bit.  Some ways were pretty accurate, but other suggestions I questioned...

One of the suggestions was "Follow your Fascination."  This was the first suggestion he proposed, and I believe it is an effective and a good suggestion.  He starts off by saying "If you find yourself fascinated by a new idea, chances are good that there’s something meaningful about it for you to consider."  This first suggestion is a good one because if I were to find myself fascinated by any idea, that would be a great indication that it's probably not a bad one.  There aren't too many ideas that fascinate me, but the ones that do, I make sure I become engaged.  This idea of "following your fascination" could be implemented into my own creative life because it's not every day an idea is "fascinating" so with that, if I were to use this suggestion, my creative life would be that much more interesting.  When I'm trying to think of ways to make my life more creative, I probably won't want to go for the ideas that are less fascinating, due to the fact I want the best.  

Another suggestion I found interesting was "Take a Break."  I learned not too long ago that taking breaks while doing strenuous work helps the mind to work even better. So when I read this suggestion I knew from the beginning it was a good one.  When it comes to my creative life, taking breaks is a crucial part because if I do too much at once I'll crash.  I will definitely generate plenty of ideas when I take breaks.  When I take breaks between hours of brainstorming and doing things like my homework it definitely keeps me motivated to keep doing my work.  Although, sometimes taking breaks can cause procrastination I need to have control over how long my short breaks are.  Also, at times I have to execute the breaks because most times I will take too long of breaks.  If I just get the work done in one sitting it may be my best bet.

The last suggestion that would be effective is number 10, which is "Hang Out with Diverse Groups of People."  When trying to think of different ideas, it is always a good idea to surround yourself with different individuals.  Not only can they help you but you can also assist them in generating new ideas.  I love hanging out with my close friends, but sometimes getting to know other groups of people is beneficial to my Creative Life.  Other groups of people that I don't know as well can facilitate new ideas for the reason that they will not tell me what I want to hear.  Since they do not know me personally, I can hear opinions outside of my circle.  New people are always a plus;  it also creates networking which is also great.



At the end of the fifth idea, "Fantasize" Ditkoff has a prompt and asks 2 questions: Think of a current challenge of yours... What would a fantasy solution to this challenge look like? What clues does this fantasy solution give you? A current challenge I have is making the deans list this quarter.  Fantasy solutions would be some other student doing my work for me and getting all A's on my work! Or My professors understanding I have a ton of work in all my other classes and assigning no work...easy A!  From these fantasy solutions, I think of many clues to achieve the challenge I have.  Instead of having someone doing my work for me, I can have a tutor to help me.  They're not doing my work, they're assisting me.  Also, instead of having a push-over professor who just gives an A to everyone, I can go to their office hours and ask them how I can succeed in the class.  I will definitely use these ideas to my advantage and accomplish this challenge I currently have.                                 

The website to this article is http://changethis.com/

Blog 1A

Alicia Keys has been a very influential musician in my life since I have been a young girl.  She has influenced me to be the creative person I am today.  Along with other artists like Lauryn Hill she has created music that is easy on the ears, and has yet to disappoint me. 

Alicia Keys is the epitome of the contrasting artists out today.  She does not conform to the norm and she was not like other r&b singers that were out when she first came on the scene.  Alicia is different in many ways that could be appreciated by many.  She has a voice that no one had ever heard and this created a large fan base for her.  Not only was her voice beautiful, but she had a striking new look no one was used to.  People were used to the video vixen-type singers who did not show much emotion in their videos, and Keys portrayed the total opposite.  In the beginning, she was very natural, wearing braids and didn't go overboard trying to be something she's not.  An accomplished pianist, Keys incorporates piano into a majority of her songs and often writes about love, heartbreak and female empowerment.  Being that she plays the piano was very influential to me because as a child, I was FORCED to play piano, but when I saw Alicia Keys I did not feel so bad.  However, I ended up not sticking with the piano lessons... which was the worst decision ever!

Alicia keys has consciously created songs to empower women of all ages and this is another reason why I find her to be an influential individual.  Above, is a video of her song "Superwoman" and this is one of her many songs of empowerment.  Others include, "A Woman's Worth", "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart", "Unbreakable" and many more.  There have been many other female artists who have attempted to get the woman empowerment cause out through music, but I think Alicia nailed it.  Since she was a new face in the entertainment world, I think it was very bold of her to choose to come out with some of the songs she did.  Seeing as how during these times, the type of music she was putting out (which was more so on the gospel/vintage soul side) was not very popular, she ended up having breakthrough performances.  In my opinion, Alicia has attained so many fans because of her didactic ways of educating her listeners.  Not only does she sing on empowerment, but love as well.  She is not afraid to let us know how she feels about love, and tells her listeners it's okay to want to be loved.  As an artist, Alicia Keys shares her experiences with us (the listeners) through her art and this creates a deeper relationship between the two.  I love the fact that she is so passionate when singing about her life experiences and everything she goes through.  By Alicia singing about what she encounters, I, in turn learn from her past experiences and improve myself as a whole.  

Here is one of my favorite songs with Alicia Keys... although she is a feature, I still love it

                       

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