By, Lawrence Waterhouse
Over the past 4 weeks in our ASEM class we were instructed to create a digital blog to upload our works to. Through reading and live performances, we improved our understanding of music writing in the 21st century. One could easily see that our enjoyment within this class was immense. Many of us haven’t had the privilege of discussing such a personal topic in an academic setting. Each assignment that we were assigned provided deep though while keeping our imaginations and creativity alive.
Annotated Playlist
In this assignment we were asked to gather a playlist of around 10 tracks of a band or artist that best describes their career. I decided to tackle one of my favorite bands for this project because of my knowledge of their history and my love for their execution. Rush was the band I chose and my knowledge of their music that was released at the beginning of their career allowed me to dive into music that most music fans are not aware of. I chose 10 of their songs that tackled problems with social class, race, and ethnicity; topics and ideas that were rarely discussed during the 1970’s especially in the United States.
This was one of the essays that I decided to revise. I added more information to each track about my early experience with Rush that was lacking in my initial submission. I have been a significant fan of this band for a while, and I needed to show the repercussions of this within my own life. In addition, I needed to add more information from our readings within my writing. I needed to use examples from other writers and develop my own ideas from their prior thoughts. My friend Patrick was the one that informed me of this advice.
Desert Island Disc
The second assignment discussed the age-old question of what album would you take to a deserted island. As one can see this was an adventure of an assignment and changed my look at musicals and my view of the album I chose. The album that I chose for this assignment was Chromatatica by Lady Gaga. This song has truly changed my life in the past 4 years, and I am so glad it was released during such a dramatic time in my life. Strictly listening to one album for the rest of my life is a terrifying thought that I’m glad is hypothetical but raises many questions I’ve never thought about. For example, at what moment would I become bored with the album I chose? I would guess rather quickly, and I could never choose one album. But Chromatatica is the closest decision I could come to since almost 100% of the songs on the album I’m in love with.
Live Review
During this course we were instructed to view a live concert of our choosing and write a descriptive review of the interaction we had. At first, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to discuss a live concert since COVID has been so prevalent, but Luckly my mom’s band was performing in a live venue, and I was able to secure tickets with her help. The concert was an amazing time and showed me how much fun small bar music can be, especially during a pandemic (haha). In my essay I discussed interview questions, the atmosphere of the venue, and the music that was played. All questions were answered through the help of my mom and her band mates. It was an eye-opening experience and brought me to love music in a whole new way.
This was one of the essays I decided to revise. I wanted to create a more immersive view of my experience and show the love I had for the music and the people performing. Discussing the sound of the music and how the small bar changed the sound in a significant way making the vibrations larger. The whole bar was shaking for the 30 hours of bands performing.
My portfolio is an obscure music group that many people are not aware of, even individuals that I consider close to me. From hard rock to electric dance pop, the genres that I chose were unique and flew under the radar for most individuals. My entire life I was never held down to one genre, frequently bands in all types of music were coming in and out of my playlists. A lot of people understand who Rush and Lady Gaga are in the public eye, but my analysis of their music is unique entirely. This was thanks to the descriptive assignment given to us within this class. The assignment forced the students to dive deeper into their own music whil learning about descriptive musical writing. Before beginning these assignments, I didn’t want to stray from the music I felt comfortable with. I chose the music I’ve listened to the most over the past few years to create a sense of confidence in my writing that would benefit my explanation and entertainment fact.
My portfolio’s content reflects how I will approach music writing in the future. My portfolio has created a distinct change in how I perceive music within my world. There is a lost world behind every song that takes dedication to uncover but it is very rewarding once successful. You can see this the most in my first WP, where I uncover the 10 best songs from Rush, where I dive into Geddy Lee’s heritage and connect his family’s past to his lyrical design in Red Sector A the song. I truly will not approach music in the same way after taking this class. Music is a science and can be studied extensively.
Creativity is the essence of music; it is the main draw for most musicians and listeners. The creation of life out of nothing is the idea of music and has been around since the beginning of humanity. If I had to suggest advice for the upcoming class, I would first tell them to be creative with the music that the student choice. Stay away from popular music that everyone is accustomed to and dive deep within your own music and find an artist that speaks to you. In addition, one should try to take this class in person. Not saying this class was completely lacking without interaction but discussion within a classroom would no doubt improve the learning for our classmates
