AW Pseudoblog

Inception's musical secret

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:56:00 -0400

Inception's musical secret:

This nice little observation about a detail in the Inception soundtrack has been making the rounds…
[via BoingBoing]

Concert Record: The Cook Trio April 30, 2010 - Om Bar If you...

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 23:25:38 -0400

Concert Record: The Cook Trio April 30, 2010 - Om Bar

If you have never heard of the awesomeness of gypsy jazz, I recommend you check this band’s site out and go from there!

David Byrne: How architecture helped music evolve (TED2010)

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:05:51 -0400

David Byrne: How architecture helped music evolve (TED2010):

David Byrne postulates that venues (clubs, chapels, arenas, cars, mp3 players) shape music instead of the other way around. You could say he’s a step short of declaring a ‘survival of the fittest’ paradigm where the music best suited to the venue is the one that becomes successful.
Strangely, it kinda makes sense a little bit…

Lawrence Lessig: Re-examining the remix - TEDxNYED

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:17:35 -0400

Lawrence Lessig: Re-examining the remix - TEDxNYED:

Need I say more?

$5 or less album sale!

Sat, 29 May 2010 20:17:38 -0400

$5 or less album sale!:

All records are $5 or less (or more if you choose to)!! Records by bands like Tera Melos, This Town Needs Guns, Rx Bandits, Omar Rodriguez Lopez… I could go on, but I’m gonna go check it out now. :P

TEDx: Johanna Blakley-Lessons from fashion's free culture

Sat, 29 May 2010 18:02:48 -0400

TEDx: Johanna Blakley-Lessons from fashion's free culture:

Johanna Blakley talks about the fashion world’s lack of copyright protections and discusses how the other art/creative mediums can learn from this.

The Swinger

Tue, 25 May 2010 18:22:47 -0400

The Swinger:

A product of Music Hack Day, this piece of Python code will apply ‘swing’ to any piece of music. How does it do it, you ask? Well, it alternatively ‘extends’ and ‘compresses’ (time-wise) the beats of a song, giving it that ‘daa-ts daa-ts’; or, swung note, if you’re more musically inclined.

I suppose this wouldn’t quite work with a band like Tera Melos. :D

Gymnopédie No. 3 by Erik Satie I heard Gymnopédie No.1 while...

Mon, 24 May 2010 00:30:00 -0400

Gymnopédie No. 3 by Erik Satie

I heard Gymnopédie No.1 while watching Man on Wire a while ago and became obsessed with the song. I found the music sheets for all 3 gymnopédies and transcribed them all to the guitar. This is the third one.

End of the song

Sat, 22 May 2010 18:00:47 -0400

End of the song :

Have you ever seen that Monty Python skit where two mafia guys try to extort some protection money from an army base general?
Strangely (sadly?), this story (and a few others that I’ve heard of) makes me think of that skit. You open a nice little coffee shop and things are good. Shortly after, an ASCAP rep comes to your door ramming this ‘copyright infringement insurance’ contract down your throat.
It seems that even though the owners tried to reason with them arguing that they were local bands, they all played original music, and had no cover charge, there is only this ‘one size fits all’ kind of contract.

Check this part out:

The first letter from ASCAP, which Hopper received Nov. 13, included a general license agreement for Hopper to sign verifying that he was playing ASCAP-licensed music and agreeing to pay the fees to continue to play the music.

To sign that contract would be pretty damning. It basically implies that you admit you have been playing copyrighted music! I better get a law degree before I open up a coffee shop because, frankly, this is pretty ridiculous.

Would you sign this contract?

Gymnopédie No. 2 by Erik Satie I heard Gymnopédie No.1 while...

Fri, 21 May 2010 02:44:00 -0400

Gymnopédie No. 2 by Erik Satie

Music score notation in the browser

Thu, 20 May 2010 18:02:47 -0400

Music score notation in the browser:

This has got to be one of those “why didn’t I think of that” moments!

With the magic of

Gymnopédie No. 1 by Erik Satie I heard this song while watching...

Wed, 19 May 2010 06:26:00 -0400

Gymnopédie No. 1 by Erik Satie

I heard this song while watching Man on Wire a while ago and became obsessed with the song. I found the music sheets for all 3 gymnopédies and transcribed them all to the guitar. This is the first one.

German Unemployed Get a Boost Through Music

Fri, 07 May 2010 18:21:16 -0400

German Unemployed Get a Boost Through Music:

Music brings the unemployed together in a city in Germany.

Shirky: Napster tapped into our primate instincts

Thu, 06 May 2010 18:06:49 -0400

Shirky: Napster tapped into our primate instincts:

FTA:

“Back in the old days we used to have something called a CD collection,” Shirky said facetiously. “It was something like keeping the box that the Amazon books came in, but you kept the container the music was in all the time…If somebody else came over to my house and said, ‘That Vanilla Ice track is slammin’! Can I have that?’ No! This is my copy of ‘To The Extreme.’ If I give it to you, I will no longer be ale to enjoy Vanilla Ice’s music. That’s sharing of goods.”

Copyright law must be simplified

Tue, 04 May 2010 23:19:10 -0400

FTA:

The digital economy bill is driven by incompetence, not malice. Ably assisted by a three-line whip. And what justified incompetence! The copyright situation in this country is utterly confusing. Parts of the bill that have solid commercial sense behind them, such as clause 43, interact with so many other laws and precedents that it will be impossible to find a solution to the orphan works problem without annoying some group of creators.

NYT ethicist: OK to pirate ebooks once you've bought the hardcover

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 18:08:42 -0400

NYT ethicist: OK to pirate ebooks once you've bought the hardcover:

From the article:

“Buying a book or a piece of music should be regarded as a license to enjoy it on any platform. Sadly, the anachronistic conventions of bookselling and copyright law lag the technology.”

I think that’s what a lot of people have been trying to say for a while now. I guess it’ll never ‘make sense’ to the RIAA.

Concert Record: El Ten Eleven April 3, 2010 - Will’s...

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 18:07:41 -0400

Concert Record: El Ten Eleven
April 3, 2010 - Will’s Pub

I’ve already said it before. Seriously, go catch a live show ASAP!

Keeping the Score

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:07:42 -0400

Keeping the Score:

You’ve probably heard of some bands starting to experiment with putting their music online. Well, Kyle Gann experiments with putting his compositions online as PDFs. The music landscape certainly has been changing.

Concert Record: Auto! Automatic!! April 3, 2010 - Will’s...

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 18:05:45 -0400

Concert Record: Auto! Automatic!!
April 3, 2010 - Will’s Pub

If I had to recommend one rock band from Florida, it’d be Auto! Automatic!! Here’s a link to a live recording they posted recently. What do you think of them?

Why records DO all sound the same

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:04:42 -0400

Why records DO all sound the same:

A long article detailing the long history of the evolution of homogeneous-sounding records.