Dave Matthews Band – Crash

The Dave Matthews Band is a group from Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded by South African native, Dave Matthews, the group is known for its live performances and by fusing styles from rock, jazz, funk, and world genres into one. The groups debut album Under the Table and Dreaming in 1994 was the fuel to kickstart a long and successful career. DMB’s follow up album, Crash, forever etched them into music stardom. The album debuted at number two in the US and quickly went platinum seven times over. The track “Crash Into Me” was nominated for a Grammy and the album had several very successful singles.

The album helped solidify the jam band genre that was founded by the Grateful Dead in popular music. Prior to DMB, jam bands were more or less only had cult followings. But work like Boyd Tinsley’s violin on “Tripping Billies” and Leroi Moore’s saxophone on “#41” made a staple in popular music that you could play more than just guitars and synthesizers and be popular. Since the success of the Dave Matthews Band, we’ve seen a number of acts gain popularity that sight DMB as a big influence on their music and their live shows. One of the most notable of these acts is John Mayer. John Mayer has credited Dave Matthews as a big influence on his music and it definitely shows. For starters, John Mayer is one of the few pop acts that actually plays an instrument when he performs. Secondly, Mayer’s live performances feature extended jam sessions and improvisation that can make a 3 minute pop track turn into a 15 minute experience. I believe that Dave Matthews Band has spawned a way of music that should be how music is written, produced, advertised, etc. They have set up a model that creates a unique experience for the music listener. The first step is that the act produces an album that features songs and structures that are enjoyable in a CD listening environment, meaning that the album appeals to the popular music market and fans will want to buy the album. Next, once the album has been released, the live show is where the fans get to experience the music and the act in a new and unique way. The act pays tribute to the music that they have written in the form that appears on the album, but they get to make it unique with extended solos and improvisation, which allows the listener to really connect with the act itself in addition to the songs that brought them there.

At the core of what the Dave Matthews Band has created in popular music is that each member is an extraordinary musician and that they have developed a sound that fans can simply feel and experience. As mentioned before, the band’s most unique characteristic in popular music is that the group consist of all traditional instruments from genres like rock, jazz, funk, and world music. But the compositions and textures that the group creates with this instrumental palette is out of this world and takes listeners to a new place. It’s a sound that can only be experienced. The incredible abilities that each member has combined with Dave Matthews pure passion for music and emotion are what really set the band apart. 

I have been a Dave Matthews Band fan for as long as I can remember. The group has shown me that you may be studying a certain type of music on your instrument, but the ultimate goal is not necessarily master a style of music, but to grow as a musician. And if this is your focus then no matter what you do, you can be successful in any genre of music. They have also highlighted a theme that I have discovered through my work this month: the theme that developing something new and unique and then giving it everything you have is more or less one way of making a name for yourself in the music industry. 

My plan for this knowledge is simply to keep working, keep learning, and keep growing musically. Music is something you can particularly plan for, but you have to be open enough for you to allow it to find you. In order to keep growing, I want to get involved as much as I can handle. I’m a musician and engineer and simply need to experience as many musical things as I can. I am going to pursue my engineering as a baseline and pursue my music writing and performing and give it all that I have and see where it leads me.

Crash is definitely one of my all time favorite albums. You should definitely give it a listen! Dave Matthews Band – Crash

Trent Reznor / Nine Inch Nails

Trent Reznor is the founding and sole member of Nine Inch Nails. Reznor’s project is the most popular industrial music act to date. Reznor took the soundscapes of industrial electronic music that were “uncomfortable” to the average listener and made it presentable in a fashion that took the 90s rock scene by storm.

NIN’s sound was so unique at the time that almost every label that Reznor sent demo tracks to offered him a deal. He signed with TVT and debut NIN’s debut album Pretty Hate Machine. Reznor hired a backing band to tour with him and began opening for industrial acts around the US. But Reznor quickly saw the flaws in playing for just the industrial scene. He then decided to begin touring with popular alt-rock acts and a massive success began to grow. Reznor enjoyed the challenge of playing to people who may not like industrial music. The plan worked in NIN’s favor and its fan base skyrocketed.

Before Reznor could release a second album, he ran into conflict with his label because he refused to let them take creative control of the project. Eventually, Reznor left the label and signed with Interscope who then helped him set up his own label, which he released an EP titled Broken. The track “Wish” won a Grammy for Best Heavy Metal Performance and was another score for industrial music. NIN’s continued on its success with their second full length album The Downward Spiral. During the Downward Spiral era, the band’s live show was taking the nation by storm. MTV also attributed to The Downward Spiral‘s success by choosing to air the music video for “Closer”, which ultimately caused Renzor to become one of the biggest alt rock sex symbols.

After having huge successes with The Downward Spiral, Reznor went on a 5 year hiatus because of problems with writer’s block. It was in this time that acts had a chance to venture into this new industrial rock genre. As the years past, NIN finally returned with a follow up album, but the industrial rock craze was falling out. NIN continued to put out releases and even ventured into unique market campaigns, but NIN time had passed. But not for the worst. Reznor had made his mark on the music industry and had developed a brand that is still sought after. Reznor has since scored a number of films and has won an Oscar for the score of the movie, The Social Network.

For me, how Reznor approaches music is exactly how I want to approach music. In his interviews in the movie Sound City, Reznor talks about how his is classically trained and understands how the theory of music works, but its not what controls how he writes music. He experiments and lets the music “find itself” and lets the theory work subconsciously. He doesn’t need digital technology, he simply uses it as a tool. The ability to understand music itself and then using the tools around you to make it unique is how I feel the creation process of music should work.

Kraftwerk – How They Changed Music

This week I have been studying and listening up on the electronic music pioneers, Kraftwerk. For most of Kraftwerk’s career, particularly at the beginning, their music was years ahead of the times. During the early years of their career, they branded themselves on showing the world the good side of Germany. They developed strong concepts that they would use for the entirety of their albums, which were inspired from some of the innovations that Germany gave to the world like the Autobahn. Kraftwerk’s image for their music was almost scientific – their instruments at the time almost required you to be an electronics engineer. They dressed in clean shirts with ties and were almost distant to the point where they want the music to speak for itself. In time, they even got to the point where they had robots on stage “performing” instead of themselves. In order to get into the spotlight of popular music though they had to get a bit drastic and embraced some of the darker past of Germany. For their record, The Man Machine their cover featured the group dressed in red with ties starring off into the distance, which give off the impression of communistic Germany. This caused a spark in the community and got people talking, which in turn brought in more listeners. After this endeavor, the band continued to drift away from the public eye, but continued to release albums.

Kraftwerk’s release of Autobahn in 1974 was their first concept album to gather interest from listeners. It drew inspiration from Germany’s own Autobahn, which was one of the innovations that Germany brought into the world. Their next release in 1975 was Radio-Activity. It was the first album that Kraftwerk self produced and holds its own strong concept: nuclear radiation and the radio. In 1977, Kraftwerk released what eventually became diehard Kraftwerk fan’s favorite album, Trans-Europe Express. You can somewhat gather the concept of this album based on its title: trains. It featured “train-esque” rhythms and was one of the first of Kraftwerk’s ventures in more melodic electronic music. The 1978 release of The Man Machine was Kraftwerk’s jump into the public eye. Diehard Kraftwerk fans say that The Man Machine was their “sellout”, but nonetheless, it is the album that made Kraftwerk’s career. It was a much more bolder album. The cover features Kraftwerk dressed in red, which was a big change from their previous grey suits on Trans-Europe Express, and it talked about having communistic overtones, which is what got people talking about the album. After having much success with The Man Machine, in 1981 Kraftwerk got back to their roots with Computer World. Computer World’s niche was a take on the belief that electronic music required larger than life instruments, but in reality, you can make it with something the size of a handheld calculator.

Through Kraftwerk’s career, we’ve watched them grow and push the limits of what we thought was sonically possible and pioneered a genre that today is one of the most popular and ever-growing. One of the biggest influences that Kraftwerk had on pioneering the electronic music was their pursuits of concept albums. Most of their albums featured specific concepts and turned these everyday images that most people don’t think twice about into a sonic landscape. This crafting of landscapes is one of the most important traits in electronic music today. But perhaps Kraftwerk’s biggest contribution to pioneering this genre, however intentional or unintentional, was to let the music speak for themselves. For pretty much all of Kraftwerk’s career they more or less dressed up as scientist with their grey suits and ties. Not exactly the image you have come to mind when listening to Trans-Europe Express. Another factor that lead to this was their simplistic stage presence. They were never flashy on stage and almost seemed distant. They even had robots performing for them at one point. This is a trait that I feel like has carried through the electronic music scene: it’s about the music and not the act.

Not being a huge electronic music fan, I find it hard to relate to Kraftwerk’s music. But there is no denying what they’ve done for the genre and for music as a whole. In a time where no one could even conceive the idea of electronic music, they made it happen and in time created the genre themselves. And it’s this idea that makes acts great: they find something that has ever been done before and put everything they have into it until it catches fire and spreads. In a time and place where it seems like everything that could be done musically, has been done, it makes this sort of task seem impossible. But that’s music. You can never predict it and you just have to be open to see the inspiration and take full advantage when it hits.

Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On

Prior to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, Gaye was one of Motown’s popular sensations that helped drive the motown sound all around the US. He was clean cut, fresh suits, singing about good times and love. He topped charts with tunes like “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”.

The 1970s proved to be a time for action for Gaye and Motown artists alike. Four Tops singer Renaldo Benson spent time in San Francisco and witness himself some of the hard times and troubles that were hitting America. He saw things like police officers beating neighborhood kids and why families children were sent away overseas. This all lead to the question and the writing of “What’s Going On”. After a failed attempt to pitch the song to Joan Baez, Benson contacted Marvin Gaye and it was a matched made in heaven. Gaye’s R&B and gospel background, tied to his rebel status allowed him to add the final touches to “What’s Going On” that took it to the next level and helped create the timeless story.

The journey to greatest is never easy though. Gaye faced obstacles from his own record company to get the project started. Motown had been founded and was very successful with their signature upbeat tracks that Gaye himself had put out as well as from artists like the Four Tops and the Supremes. Gaye was relentless to take this path. He went as far as to changing his appearance and would causally show up to interviews with copies of books written by Malcolm X. He wasn’t afraid to show that things weren’t all that great in the world and he wanted to show the people. His persistence eventually lead to the creation of What’s Going On.

Gaye wanted What’s Going On to be as far from a traditional Motown record as possible. His lyrical content about the controversy that was going on in the world was definitely one of the firsts and obviously made an impact on the nation. He even addressed his arranger and the musicians directly, telling him that this album needs to be as far from a Motown record. Another recording trait that spawned from the What’s Going On session and later became a Marvin Gaye stable was the recording of two lead vocal tracks.

I have always been a fan of “What’s Going On”. It’s vibe, it’s lyrics, it’s performance all just stick with me. Not only from a technical recording side of the production is it inspiring, but the fact that Gaye felt strong enough to change everything that had made him successful in order to stand up for what he believed in and what he loved to do is the most inspiring aspect of the album.

I highly suggest checking out the album yourself! Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMFlupHV6Rs

Brian Eno: 40 Years of Changing Music

I’ve spent the past week reading about and listening to what Brian Eno has done to music. From rocking stages, to creating a new genre, to taking bands to stardom that reaches the heavens, Eno has done it all. It all steams from Eno’s fascination of sound. He grew up in the English countryside, where he considered the music to be, more or less, boring. Not being prone to playing an actual instrument, Eno spent a lot of his time manipulating this tapes to create new sounds. He eventually obtained his own recording device and took his manipulation farther by recording his own sounds and changing them to create more unique sounds. Then on one fateful day, Eno’s view on life and music changed forever. He was in an accident where he was hit by a taxi, which landed him in a hospital room with a record player. One day, Eno put the player on with the little strength that he had and collapsed back into his bed. He noticed that the player’s speaker was damage, which made it difficult to hear the softer parts of some of the songs. These parts seemed to blend with the rain that was falling outside and inspiration had struck.

Eno’s has developed his so called “brand” in the music industry. But it’s not a typical sonic brand that you would expect. Yes, Eno has a certain way of doing things from project to project, but you never really know what you’re going to get. Eno has an ability to constantly create and always has something new for the artists that works with. When an artist signs up to work with Eno, they can expect to have a whole new sonic world built for them. Eno uses his love of sound and his engineering abilities to create sonic landscapes that the artists music fits into and takes the listener to a place it has never heard before. His use of pads help create this landscape, but also incorporates special sound effects throughout his pieces and even incorporate melodies into the pads to the point where the background could stand on its own as a piece. Once this is coupled with an artists’ song, you have a completely unique piece.

Two great albums that you can hear this are U2’s The Joshua Tree and Coldplay’s Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends. Eno’s work with U2 was one of his firsts in popular rock music, but he was able to change it from day one. Eno was able to take U2’s sound to an “out of this world” level. The textures and effects that Eno’s production take the listener to a place you can only imagine while listening to this record. From the beginning of the record, the unique, larger than life pad sound coupled with the larger than life guitar effect and composition sparks something that you have to experience for yourself. Later down the line, Eno began working with Coldplay and gave us something again that was larger than life and that can only be experienced while listening to Viva La Vida or Death and All of His Friends. Eno’s textures and effects give Coldplay their unique and inspirational sound. The first track “Life in Technicolor” captures the sonic essence of this record. It’s modern day inspiration. I feel that Eno has kept up with the times and is using today’s technological boom as inspiration because that is what I feel when I hear this record. It’s larger than life, modern, and inspiration that can only be experienced.

As a hopeful, industry professional, Brian Eno’s work in popular rock music has had the greatest impact on me. It has shown me what a producer can really do to a song. I’ve always been a huge fan of Coldplay and finding out more about their albums and how Eno worked on them and what he did for them just makes me enjoy them more because I feel more connected to them. I may or may not want to make “larger than life”  recordings, but Eno’s passion and simple love of manipulating sound is definitely inspiration for me to find my own sonic world to create.

The Beatles – Revolver

Beatleland: the home of the band that forever changed the face of music and is responsible for the craze known as Beatlemania; also known as Great Britain. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Star developed an image and a sound that had all of Britain in hysteria and every teenager wanting noting more than to simply get a glimpse of them. They were able to craft catchy pop love songs, time after time and their black ties and matching bobbed haircuts were the perfect persona to propel them to pop stardom. After hit, after hit, after hit the Beatles set the bar for pop records and ultimately bid adieu to the pop world with their album Rubber Soul. It was an album acclaimed to be one of the first that was a great complete album as opposed to having great singles and filler songs. With 5 years of touring and writing, the Beatles finally took the opportunity to take a break from music, which ended up being the ultimate catalyst to the new Beatles sound found on Revolver.

In their first time off from playing music, the Beatles had the opportunity to relax and delve into their own interests and simply relax. It’s in this time though were the group began taking part in one of the new crazes of the 60s, drugs. The effects of marijuana and LSD changed how the members of the group viewed music and lead them to pioneer the most influential recording techniques and musical compositions.

One of the themes for Revolver was to use the studio as an instrument. They go as far as including sounds from the studio on the beginning of the first track, “Taxman”. While working with their go to producer, George Martin, the Beatles were able to innovate brand new recording techniques that at the time were inconceivable. Some examples are that they use heavy compression on the drums to get them more in your face, they ran tape backwards to create sounds that had never been heard before, their engineers invented an efficient way of double tracking by duplicating tape with a slight delay to give a new effect to the vocals, and they did things like running the vocals through a leslie cabinet to give a very eerie effect like on the track “Tomorrow Never Knows”.

Much like Pet Sounds, the story of Revolver is a great inspiration. To find the ability to push the limits of technology in a time where technology was more or less working against them to the point where they were discovering as they went is something all music professionals should stretch for. In a day in age of instant gratification, this kind of mentality is hard to find and I am going to strive to be all I can be and push my limits and the limits of those around me no matter what it takes to get the best sound I can.

Check out the album on Youtube! Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEz2YD-w2jc

The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds

The 1960s were the era of the California Sunshine sound. At the for front of this movement were the Beach Boys. Prior to the recording of their famous album, Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys were America’s Beatles. They were the face of the California surfing and hot rod era that teens everywhere sought after and all wanted to be a part of this new craze. After riding the success of their album Surfer Girl, the group slowly began to change.

Beach Boy and Producer, Brian Wilson began to change the face of the Beach Boys after already being responsible for their success on the charts. Wilson was the brain for the Beach Boys success. He demanded perfection from the talent he was working with on every session because he knew exactly what he wanted from them. Wilson pushed the boundaries of what could be done in the recording studio and was a pioneer in using the studio as an “instrument”.

Wilson dealt with personal demons and pressures throughout this new found success. In 1964, Wilson decided to stop touring with the Boys and began to focus solely on writing and producing. In this time, Wilson’s mind was open to influences around him, which would ultimately change the sound of the Beach Boys. Wilson had been struck with awe after he heard Phil Spector’s production of ‘Be My Baby” by the Ronettes, as well as, taking part in the 60s craze of experimenting with drugs like marijuana and LSD. These influences lead to Wilson use of new production techniques and lyrical themes that helped lead the Beach Boys’ The Beach Boys Today! album. But the final push that lead to Wilson’s inception of Pet Sounds was the Beatles’ Rubber Soul. It spawned the idea of writing great albums instead of writing singles and having filler songs in-between. Brain Wilson instantly set out to write Pet Sounds.

Although at the time it was a commercial flop, Pet Sounds pushed the boundaries on everything that was the 1960s. It was their first album that carried a single theme throughout the album lyrically, as well as being the first to use unorthodox instrumentation that hadn’t been heard on a pop record. The lyrics told the tale of life from childhood to adulthood. One specific lyrical first was that the track “God Only Knows” was the first pop record to have “God” in the title. To accompany the Beach Boys amazing vocals, Wilson pulled out all the stops to make a unique arrangement. He followed in the footstep of Phil Spector by having up to 23 musicians in the studio at once and he also brought in instruments that had not been heard in pop music before, such as the theremin and bicycle bells. It was innovations like these that, over time, made Pet Sounds one of the most influential albums of all time.

As a music profesional, the story behind Pet Sounds is what makes it special. All that lead up to its creation and the actual process that went into its creation has the biggest effect on me. Researching about how Brian Wilson was able to figure out what he wanted sonically and musically and then fighting to get what he wanted is something that is going to stick with me as I continue my career. Today’s industry is obviously very different from when the Beach Boys were in their hay-day, but I believe the blueprint is the same. Listen to what is going on today in the world of music. Seek out how people are doing things, learn from the pros, then find what you want and make it happen. As I listened to both versions of Pet Sounds (mono vs stereo), I discovered that no matter what technical advances we make, great music will always be great music. Yes, the stereo version I feel is more expansive and really sucks you into the sonic world of Pet Sounds, but the mono version still sucks me in. You can really feel Wilson’s take on the wall of sound in the mono version, but no matter which sonic realm you prefer, a great song is a great song and no technological advances will ever change that, which is what I am really taking away from Pet Sounds.

Listen to the album yourself on Spotify! Link: The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds 

Welcome Entry

Hello Everyone!

This is my welcome entry for my Music History II class at Full Sail where I’m going to introduce myself and talk a little bit about my musical interests.

I am currently in the Music Production Bachelor’s Program at Full Sail and is actually my second program at Full Sail. I lived in Orlando and complete the Associate’s Recording Engineering program in September of 2011. I have since moved to Columbia, South Carolina, which is about a half hour from my hometown of Lexington, where I have been working on my Music Production program and getting my first real world experiences in the music industry. I am an avid musician in my church praise band and in my band that I co-founded. In both of which, I perform weekly. I also have a few engineering gigs at two churches in town, but I am currently researching and developing my resume to send to recording studios in town.

My musical interests are quite vast. I am a performer, producer, engineer, and dabble as a businessman. I am obsessed with the musical creation process as a whole. I loved starting from the creation of an idea, working to get it arranged and completed with an act, recording it, then taking the whole product of the band and the recording and taking it to the people. The whole process is simply fascinating to me. Getting to watch the songs and the acts growth and how it effects people along the way is priceless.

From this fascination, I hope to grow into a successful music producer that finds acts or is sought out by acts to work with on new projects and build it from the ground up. It’s a long road to get to that status and you have to wear a lot of hats in order to be in such a position, but I feel I do that naturally and have already begun developing all the necessary skills to be successful.

That is my ultimate goal. My focus now in the music industry is to simply be involved. I want to meet people and find out what they are doing musically and either be a little part of it and just be a fly on the wall or take on responsibilities and work with people that I can connect with. I’ve enjoyed every step I’ve taken so far and I only see it getting better.

You can check out some of the work that I’ve been a part of in the links below!

River’s Inn: Lack of Direction EP

Coalition of Lost Arts: Ivory Tower EP

My current project: Rutland Revival