Metal music - still in the thought stage

[Gian P Gentile]

Marc:

What might be an interesting line of inquiry for you on this topic is music played at memorial services in Iraq for fallen american soldiers. When I was there we referred to it in the program as "special music." At the memorial ceremonies for the soldiers from my squadron we usually stuck with the basics like "Amazing Grace" perhaps sung by a soldier with a good voice, or I remember once having "Amazing Grace" played by a british doctor from the green zone who played the bag pipes; pretty moving.

But the best special music I remember and draws me back to it every time i hear the song on the radio is Bob Dylan's "Knockn' on Heaven's Door." At this memorial ceremony for a fallen infantryman 3 soldiers from his platoon, all talented musicians, played a version of it in the chapel with drums, a bass, and electric guitar along with a young man who had a very good voice.

I will never forget the subtle but resonating guitar riffs in synch with the lyrics to the song; and I am still deeply moved when I hear these lyrics to it:

Mama put my guns in the ground
I can't shoot them anymore
that long black cloud is comin' down
I feel I'm knockn' on heaven's door

Anyway, thought Iwould share that with you.

What instrument to you play?

gian

[marct]

Hi Gian,

What might be an interesting line of inquiry for you on this topic is music played at memorial services in Iraq for fallen american soldiers. When I was there we referred to it in the program as "special music." .....

But the best special music I remember and draws me back to it every time i hear the song on the radio is Bob Dylan's "Knockn' on Heaven's Door." At this memorial ceremony for a fallen infantryman 3 soldiers from his platoon, all talented musicians, played a version of it in the chapel with drums, a bass, and electric guitar along with a young man who had a very good voice.

Thanks for sharing that, Gian. I can picture it and it would be really moving.

On the whole, I'm trying to avoid looking at situations where the music might be programmed by official convention - Amazing Grace would be an example of that. What I am really interested in is the almost circular feedback loop between a state of consciousness and a genre of music or specific piece. Steve's comment about Ride of the Valkyries or Ken's about American Pie would be specific pieces (okay, I can definitely see Ride of the Valkyries, but American Pie?!).

What instrument to you play?

I'm a Baroque singer . Tonight's recording was BWV 4 Christ lad in Todesbanden and BWV 78 Jesu, der du meine Seele. Tomorrow afternoon, we are recording BWV 227 Jesu meine Freude (these are the works we did in our concert last night).

Part of the reason behind the interest in in theatre music and how it's used comes from being a musician myself. I've found hat I can "program" my mind (and emotions) to think/perceive in certain ways by controlling what music I listen to and I've also noticed that a number of people I know, both musicians and non-musicians, will do the same. I've also seen people who go through some pretty profound shifts in their lives (e.g. losing a long time job, getting a divorce, etc.) will sometimes change their entire taste in music.

Marc

[Ken White]

...Ken's about American Pie would be specific pieces (okay, I can definitely see Ride of the Valkyries, but American Pie?!).

the chorus resonates if you substitute 'you' for 'I.'

So bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin� whiskey and rye
Singin�, "this�ll be the day that I die.
"this�ll be the day that I die."

As an aside, Ride of the Valkyries worked in a movie, it would not in reality for the troops -- though the two sons who are Cops have been known to play it or the theme from Jaws, whichever is most appropriate, on the PA speakers of their Cruisers as they answer calls.

[marct]

the chorus resonates if you substitute 'you' for 'I.'

LOLOL - okay, I can see that ! Some of the other lyrics probably fit with general perceptions as well

Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
Eight miles high and falling fast.

and

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?

I've got to ask - does an M-60 keep the rhythm during the song?

[Ken White]

...I've got to ask - does an M-60 keep the rhythm during the song?

so does an M 134 Minigun fired in bursts.

[marct]

so does an M 134 Minigun fired in bursts.

I can see the video now ! To bad YouTube wasn't around...

[Stan]

I've got to ask - does an M-60 keep the rhythm during the song?

Good question, and interestingly enough, there's a song reminiscent of gunfire (sorry, they weren't weapon specific in the early 70s).

Machine Gun (Commodores album)

The lead song features Milan Williams on clavinet, which led Motown executive Berry Gordy to the song "Machine Gun" as the clavinet work reminded him of gunfire.

[marct]

Good question, and interestingly enough, there's a song reminiscent of gunfire (sorry, they weren't weapon specific in the early 70s).

Machine Gun (Commodores album)

Interesting. The 70's and 80's seems somehat devoid of particular songs, except for a few classics that didn't get much mainstream play (I'm sutre and Tom remember this one!).

[Stan]

Interesting. The 70's and 80's seems somehat devoid of particular songs, except for a few classics that didn't get much mainstream play (I'm sutre and Tom remember this one!).

Fantastic blast from the past, Marc ! I listened to that several times at the Belgian military attache's house (despite the fact he had never seen a real Thompson (Zaire was mysteriously equipped with M3 greaseguns ).

BTW, Tom was our team's Warren Zevon fanatic

I'll assume you recall this famous song as well:

Machine Gun (Jimi Hendrix song) which debuted in 69 as a protest song to the Vietnam War

Machine gun
Tearin' my body all apart
Evil man make me kill you
Evil man make you kill me
Even though we're only families apart.
Well, I pick up my axe and fight like a farmer,
You know what I mean?
Hey, and your bullets keep knockin' me down..."

Hence the Geneva convention against using .50 cal on humans (forget that one).

[wm]

Interesting. The 70's and 80's seems somehat devoid of particular songs, except for a few classics that didn't get much mainstream play (I'm sutre and Tom remember this one!).

MarcT,
I think your point here needs a lot of support. I could probably list many metal hits from the 70's and early 80's--let's just start with Machine Gun, Hendrix, '70; Iron Man, Black Sabbath, '71 Smoke on the Water, Deep Purple '72, Edgar Winter, Frankenstein, 1973; Golden Earring, Radar Love (not head-banging metal I admit), '74;Walk this Way, Aerosmith, '75(another iffy metal call, but metal in the 70's was not the same as metal in the 90's or the new millenium).

I was OCONUS 77-80 and forced to listen mostly to what AFRTS jammed into my ears or AAFES had in the PX as music so I am a little short off the top of my head for cutting edge metal for that time period.

[Surferbeetle]

Drowning Pool's song 'Bodies' can pretty much say it all at times...Tool's song Jambi is a pretty good jam as well...

Usually however, I tried to listen to some songs to help smooth things out when I got back to the hooch...

[selil]

I just finished a paper that looked at technology, music, and protest. Social networks and mining play lists was part of the lit review. I think they are likely related.. Some resources.

Malcolm, S., & William, W. (2006). Measuring playlist diversity for recommendation systems. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 1st ACM workshop on Audio and music computing multimedia.

Cheng, Y. (2003). Peer-to-peer architecture for content-based music retrieval on acoustic data. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 12th international conference on World Wide Web, Budapest, Hungary.

Ahn, Y.-Y., Han, S., Kwak, H., Moon, S., & Jeong, H. (2007). Analysis of topological characteristics of huge online social networking services. Paper presented at the The 16th international conference on World Wide Web, Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Bockstedt, J. C., Kauffman, R. J., & Riggins, F. J. (2006). The Move to Artist-Led On-Line Music Distribution: A Theory-Based Assessment and Prospects for Structural Changes in the Digital Music Market. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 10(3), 7-38.

[marct]

I just finished a paper that looked at technology, music, and protest. Social networks and mining play lists was part of the lit review. I think they are likely related.. Some resources.

Thanks, Sam, much appreciated. I'll see if I can track them down. If you have URLs for them, 'twould be appreciated.

[selil]

Thanks, Sam, much appreciated. I'll see if I can track them down. If you have URLs for them, 'twould be appreciated.

Email enroute.

[marct]

Hi SB,

Drowning Pool's song 'Bodies' can pretty much say it all at times...Tool's song Jambi is a pretty good jam as well...

Okay, I just listened to Bodies on YouTube - definitely not Bach ! What about it says it all?

Usually however, I tried to listen to some songs to help smooth things out when I got back to the hooch...

So what do you listen to when you get back?

[Surferbeetle]

Hi SB,

Okay, I just listened to Bodies on YouTube - definitely not Bach ! What about it says it all?

So what do you listen to when you get back?

Marc,

Music is an interesting method of human expression. I participated in music programs in elementary, jr. high, and high school. Coming through rotc we were often inundated with country songs while eating. In central america, well away from the cities I have stumbled across disco's that make the jungle shake. As i mentioned previously iraq has an interesting fusion of (for want of better description) classical mideastern melodies and pop although I enjoyed the call to prayer as well. Commercial german music was for the longest time pretty bad, italian, and spanish on the other was quite good. In short I am all over the board when it comes to music; mozart, coldplay, country, world, and of course rock. Like most it just depends upon my mood and geographical location.

Are you working on a paper referencing music? The US music industry shift from cd to mp3/4 (I started out with transistors and 45's) has been fairly dramatic. A reflection of the Nomad lifestyle?

Urban nomads have started appearing only in the past few years. Like their antecedents in the desert, they are defined not by what they carry but by what they leave behind, knowing that the environment will provide it. Thus, Bedouins do not carry their own water, because they know where the oases are. Modern nomads carry almost no paper because they access their documents on their laptop computers, mobile phones or online. Increasingly, they don't even bring laptops. Many engineers at Google, the leading internet company and a magnet for nomads, travel with only a BlackBerry, iPhone or other “smart phone”. If ever the need arises for a large keyboard and some earnest typing, they sit down in front of the nearest available computer anywhere in the world, open its web browser and access all their documents online.

Steve

[marct]

Hi Steve,

Music is an interesting method of human expression. I participated in music programs in elementary, jr. high, and high school.

Pretty much the same for me, although I started doing semi-pro classical singing when I was 9 (hey, weddings paid much better than paper routes !).

Coming through rotc we were often inundated with country songs while eating. In central america, well away from the cities I have stumbled across disco's that make the jungle shake. As i mentioned previously iraq has an interesting fusion of (for want of better description) classical mideastern melodies and pop although I enjoyed the call to prayer as well. Commercial german music was for the longest time pretty bad, italian, and spanish on the other was quite good. In short I am all over the board when it comes to music; mozart, coldplay, country, world, and of course rock. Like most it just depends upon my mood and geographical location.

Sounds like you've definitely heard a lot . That fusion in Iraq sounds interesting - pop and classical ME? Are we talking about the quarter tone scale ME stuff? I'm definitely going to have to try and track some of that down!

Are you working on a paper referencing music? I have noted that the US music industry has shifted from cd to mpeg (I started out with transistors and 45's). A reflection of the Nomad lifestyle?

It's still in the thought / concept stage. I'm putting the last touches on a paper tying singing Bach and taking a pilgrimage to the Thomaskirche in Leipzig looking at the interplay of performance, place, emotion and ritual (I've sung there twice now and we've been invited back for next year - it's a mind blowing experience!).

The Nomad lifestyle is an interesting one and, when it's combined with pervasive networks, it can produce some really interesting forms of music. Last month, I reviewed a book called Cybersounds for RCCS that looked at a lot of the changes happening in the music scene. One of the things that I thought, but didn't toss in the review, was that there is a real difference between a live performance, a recorded performance that is used as "background mood music" and a recording that is, for want of a better term, used as "mood shifting" music (I don't like that term, but I haven't come across a better one - suggestions welcome !).

I think there's a major difference, at the neurological and emotional levels, if we "sing" (perform even if it's in the car or shower) vs. just "listening". I think I need to take a trip up to Montreal and see if I can buy Dan Levitin a couple of beers and pick his brains .

[selil]

Are you working on a paper referencing music? The US music industry shift from cd to mp3/4 (I started out with transistors and 45's) has been fairly dramatic. A reflection of the Nomad lifestyle?

Caveat, I am a TECHNOLOGIST playing at sociology.

The paper I just finished made a good case for linking the technology shifts in playback equipment, venues, and instruments to audience volumes. What people listen to and share creates a commonality of experience. There is a certain level of indoctrination that occurs when music becomes a center point to a common experience. The actual message can be important, but the context is more important. Music indicative of protest has specific themes (especially folk music), but non-protest music can be just as important to the shared experience.

[Rank amateur]

What I am really interested in is the almost circular feedback loop between a state of consciousness and a genre of music or specific piece.

Have you looked at national anthems? Have you looked at other forms of "battle" i.e. a pregame football locker room? Or are you focusing on where and when people use metal to create this effect?

[marct]

Hi RA,

Have you looked at national anthems? Have you looked at other forms of "battle" i.e. a pregame football locker room? Or are you focusing on where and when people use metal to create this effect?

I'm focusing on perception effects creation - metal sprang to mind from some things a few people had said, but it certainly looks like many other genres are being used. Xenophon's before an op = metal after an op = country is an example of that.

I'd rather restrict it to in theatre use, but that's not an absolute . I do want to stay away from the pre-programmed response type, which would include national anthems (BTW, have you noticed how almost all of them are un-singable?).

On a related point, I haven't found any popular music that could be called "war music", at least in the same sense as WW I and WW II. To me, that points towards a disconnect.