Music Morsels

An Animated Description of Mr. Maps.from Lost And Safe (2005) by...

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 20:15:30 -0400

An Animated Description of Mr. Maps.
from Lost And Safe (2005) by The Books

This is truly an ingenious technique; sampling and cutting up a vocal narration is standard fare, but approximating its rhythm by quantizing it to percussion in a syncopated way is not. For those who are curious on how something like this can be done, check out Propellerheads ReCycle.

I Knowfrom VideoSongs Volume 2 (2008) by Jack Conte This is an...

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:44:00 -0400

I Know
from VideoSongs Volume 2 (2008) by Jack Conte

This is an awesome track, and I love this outro bit; those two chords and the uneven rhythms in the melody. I hear this as a BMaj6 to A#7/B. I find examples like these useful because I tend to under use inverted chords, and because it’s another great sounding pedal point. Try playing the non-inverted versions of the chords with the same melody (in this case, G#Min7 to A#7), so you can hear how drastic of a difference there is without the pedal point bassline. Be sure to listen to the whole song for better context.

My intention with this blog is to showcase bits of music I like and attempt to explain why in a way that can be understood by anyone with a basic musical background. Let me know if anything confuses and I’ll do my best to make things clearer.

Book of Glassfrom One-Armed Bandit (2010) by Jaga...

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:05:04 -0400

Book of Glass
from One-Armed Bandit (2010) by Jaga Jazzist

SYNCOPATION. And crazy amounts of it. There’s another fantastic example of this kind of syncopation in Siberian Khatru from Close to the Edge (1972) by Yes. Listen for it from 7:00 - 7:30.

C.M. Bluesfrom Solo Piano (2004) by Gonzales Really fantastic...

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:43:00 -0400

C.M. Blues
from Solo Piano (2004) by Gonzales

Really fantastic use of pedal point. I love the way he interweaves the pentatonic figures and the pedal in the same range.

(Feel free to chime in on any of these posts if you hear something in a different fashion.)

Waterworld 1 (The Limp Joust and Other Battles of Interest)from...

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:18:00 -0400

Waterworld 1 (The Limp Joust and Other Battles of Interest)
from Worlds (2007) by Ebu Gogo

The bassline really makes this. In particular, the seventh note played, the major 3rd, is a great turn that toys with your expectation.