I have been asked, time and again, a question that I routinely ponder myself; Where does music come from? What comes first, the music or the lyrics? The simple answer is: It depends. Or, I don't know. I am always amazed that any group of musicians can agree on anything as personal and subjective as music enough to complete a song.
Of course the story would be different if it were one songwriter working alone, or at least making all the decisions her or his self, but when a band is required to agree to create a piece of music together and all the parts eventually come together and it works, it's amazing. It's mystifying. It's a wonderful thing to be a part of, and yet, after twenty something years, I'm still no closer to understanding how or why it works when it does. Or why sometimes everything clicks so effortlessly for one song, perhaps one that at first blush seemed like it would be so hard to write, but other times, and more often than not the songs that appear to be walks in the park end up being akin to trips to the dentist.
I suppose it's the mystery that makes the magic, and if we fully understood it, it might not make it so special after all.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Just for my own information
The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic lasted from March 1918 to June 1920, spreading even to the Arctic and remote Pacific islands. It is estimated that anywhere from 50 to 100 million people were killed worldwide, or the approximate equivalent of one third of the population of Europe. An estimated one third of the world (500 million people) became infected.- Wikipedia
The 1957 pandemic of Asian flu lasted from late February 1957 until February 1958. Estimates of worldwide death rate varies widely depending on source, ranging from 1 million to 4 million.
For reference, about 36,000 people die in a typical flu season.
The 1957 pandemic of Asian flu lasted from late February 1957 until February 1958. Estimates of worldwide death rate varies widely depending on source, ranging from 1 million to 4 million.
For reference, about 36,000 people die in a typical flu season.
H1N1 update
May 17 (Bloomberg) -- Swine flu sickened 21 more students in Japan and Turkey reported its first case of the potentially pandemic virus that’s spread to about 40 countries.
Nine high school students in Osaka, western Japan, tested positive for swine flu and another 12 are infected in nearby Kobe city, including the country’s first reported case of local transmission, Haruki Ogawa, a health ministry spokesman, said by phone from Tokyo today. A U.S. citizen who arrived in Istanbul was found to have the virus, Turkish officials said yesterday.
Health officials are trying to gauge whether swine flu, known as H1N1, is spreading in people not linked with international travel in communities outside North America, where most of the almost 8,500 cases worldwide have occurred. Evidence of that would prompt the World Health Organization to declare the first influenza pandemic since 1968.
The health ministry is investigating the route of infection for the Japanese high school students, of whom 11 are male, Ogawa said. The infected students in Osaka attend the same school, the spokesman said. Seven of the 12 in Kobe are from one school, and the ministry is checking on the others, he said.
Nine high school students in Osaka, western Japan, tested positive for swine flu and another 12 are infected in nearby Kobe city, including the country’s first reported case of local transmission, Haruki Ogawa, a health ministry spokesman, said by phone from Tokyo today. A U.S. citizen who arrived in Istanbul was found to have the virus, Turkish officials said yesterday.
Health officials are trying to gauge whether swine flu, known as H1N1, is spreading in people not linked with international travel in communities outside North America, where most of the almost 8,500 cases worldwide have occurred. Evidence of that would prompt the World Health Organization to declare the first influenza pandemic since 1968.
The health ministry is investigating the route of infection for the Japanese high school students, of whom 11 are male, Ogawa said. The infected students in Osaka attend the same school, the spokesman said. Seven of the 12 in Kobe are from one school, and the ministry is checking on the others, he said.
Friday, May 01, 2009
I Am U
We are working on a new song. It's quite an unusual one this one is, for a few reasons. One, because of a very difficult transition between the two main parts: We have a verse. We'll call this "A melody", because that's what we call it. Morich, Masa, shunt and I are all good with "A melody", I even already have a nice vocal line picked out for it, which is fairly unusual so early in the game, (and that's reason 2). The second part, we'll call "B Melody" for the same reason as stated above has a different time signature (I think), and quite a tricky chord progression (see C. A. D. F. on facebook for that) that we're still learning. It's good clean fun, but it's also work.
Reason three for calling this song unusual is that I have chosen a title already, even though the music isn't finished and not one word has been written for it. The song will be, or is, I Am U. While we were working on it this evening, I made a face that I realized I had adopted from a former student of mine. Not a face I normally make, but one that she makes all the time. Then I remembered a thousand (give or take) little things that I have absorbed from everyone i meet and incorporate into my daily expressions. Facial poses, figures of speech, word usage, even accents and dialects. I realized at that moment that I am not, as some would say, the sum of all that I have learned, but more likely the sum of everyone I have met. I'm like a bad actor, the one that everyone who sees him perform can identify some little hint or cue taken from another actors repetoire. So if I am indeed the sum of everyone I have ever met, than in a nutshell, I am you, whoever you are. And if I'm not, I will be.
Reason three for calling this song unusual is that I have chosen a title already, even though the music isn't finished and not one word has been written for it. The song will be, or is, I Am U. While we were working on it this evening, I made a face that I realized I had adopted from a former student of mine. Not a face I normally make, but one that she makes all the time. Then I remembered a thousand (give or take) little things that I have absorbed from everyone i meet and incorporate into my daily expressions. Facial poses, figures of speech, word usage, even accents and dialects. I realized at that moment that I am not, as some would say, the sum of all that I have learned, but more likely the sum of everyone I have met. I'm like a bad actor, the one that everyone who sees him perform can identify some little hint or cue taken from another actors repetoire. So if I am indeed the sum of everyone I have ever met, than in a nutshell, I am you, whoever you are. And if I'm not, I will be.
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