Musical destruction: masterpiece or madness? The other side of the story...

Dear all,

Some time ago I wrote about the destruction of musical instruments in clips by The Who and Jimmy Hendrix. For this weeks assignment we were asked to take the opposite side in this debate. Since last week I said that the destruction was great and an extra dimension to the art, this week I should take the conservative side of life's values, and the protection of our poor little children.

First of all, the demolition of the musical instruments is bad because it is the destruction of a piece of art, a persons life. Somebody has put effort into making this instrument, and then some fool goes on destroying it. Besides that it is a waste of money, because they have to be bought again. Last but not least, if they really wanted to get rid of their instruments, they might as well have given them to me. I would not have minded having a guitar of Jimmy Hendrix or The Who.

Secondly, it is a bad example to young people and future musicians. It shows how not to take care of your belongings. That is a sad thing, because these people who are an example to many should be the ones showing our youngsters how to do things right. For future musicians it shows how not to play the guitar or the drums, whilst these people also copy these artists behaviour.

That was the other side of the story...

See you guys soon. I still own you a concert review!

P.S. (Shhhhht, don't tell anyone, but secretly I still think the destruction is awesome!)

Musical destruction: masterpiece or madness?

Hey everybody,

This weeks assignment was to look at the following performance of The Who's famous song My Generation, as well as the following performance by Jimmy Hendrix singing Wild Thing. Both can be seen below when clicking the links below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr81olQ1ibk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPvehX2aWb8

The thing that these clips have in common, is that they both feature the destruction of instruments at the end of the song. Destroying the instruments you have just played with sounds very strange, doesn't it? I mean, you destroy the tool with which you have just played your heart out.

When I saw both clips for the first time I was kind of shocked. It does not seem logical to me, for the above reasons. Still, when looking at both again, I must say that I do understand the destruction. I think that both artists have different motives for the breaking of their instrument...

In the The Who clip, I think the destruction of the instruments was part of their image, and also part of the point they wanted to make with the song. My Generation is about the new generation that has occurred, and how they do not want the older people to get involved with this new movement. A way to show this is by doing something new, something that offends the older generations and that distinguishes them from others: they destroy their instruments. The Who wanted to be this rebelling group, and so they showed that in this performance. Looking at the explosions and the smoke, by the way, I have the feeling that this destruction was planned long before they started this particular performance.

Jimmy Hendrix on the other hand really feels the vibe of his music. He completely loses himself in it. The music really stirs him and the crowd up. It is as if he is in some kind of trance. He is completely mesmerized by the music, and this makes him live up to the title of the song: he becomes a Wild Thing, and destroys his guitar.

Soon more posting, also on a concert I went to: Beatles in Symphony. Several singers singing two complete Beatles albums accompanied by the Metropole Orchestra.

See ya!

Blogging again: 80 dB 2010

Long time no posting everybody, I know. Let's just say I was very busy with school and music etc.

The annual musical spectacular of our school has gone by without further notice this march, so I thought I'd catch you guys up with a small evaluation of it all.

This year’s edition of 80 dB, as the event is called, was one of very mixed quality. There were some songs that were very good, and others that disappointed me quite a bit. Several songs were very good, such as Peace Without the Rest, Stand up to Cancer, Son of a Preacherman and I Don't Need no Doctor. On the other hand, (and I apologize to those who participated in the following numbers), Mamma is Morgen van Mij, Happiness and Empire State of Mind were somewhat disappointing. This was not always due to a lack of quality in the band, but some songs just lacked that little indescribable thing. The singer in Empire State of Mind, for instance, was extremely good, but it just felt empty without the rap part.

Another thing that bothered me sometimeswas the lack of presentation of in a song. Maybe this aspect should be included in the audition process in addition to the singing. In an event as 80 dB, singing well is not the only criterion for a performance to be good: the song has to be presented as well. I understand that people are nervous, but you can still perform a song properly, right?

When it comes to the band I think that the level of musicianship was very high. I have deep respect for the band that accompanied the song Moeilijk Bescheiden te Blijven. This song was sung by Chris Zeeuw van der Laan, a guy who has no sense of rhythm whatsoever. The band had, therefore, to constantly correct itself in order to follow him. They managed very well, which is very hard to do.

Also deep respect for Brian Abraas. This guy is an extremely good rapper with a very, very nice flow. Performing the song Peace Without the Rest, whose lyrics are not easy, he managed to get the entire crowd to go wild.

What worked quite well this year was the variation in the program. Not only with respect to the different genres, but also the time from which the songs originated and the age of the singers. I think that we have gotten some great new singers into our school with Noor Thierry and Isabel Leur. The latter, especially, is not only an amazing singer but - also very important - a good performer.

Last but not least, I would like to say thanks to Mr. Speelman. This man has directed the L&B Horns for many years, but is now retiring, and has announced that this would be his final 80 dB. We will miss him greatly. I hope that I can be a good replacement as the director of the L&B Horns, which I will try my best to be.

I will post other things soon.

See ya

Bands and songs I have discoverd lately

Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and Girls. PLEASE LISTEN TO THESE SONGS AND BANDS: THEY ROCK!!!!

Goldfish - Soundtracks and Comebacks

Hold Tight

This South-African duo creates a different type of dance which even I enjoy listening to when not dancing. They mix beats with influences from Jazz and R&B, and it all sounds great.

Michael Jackson - Workin' Day And Night

This quite unknown song from the Jackson's first solo album is incredibly good. It grooves a lot and really makes you wanna move.

John Legend - This Time

This song from Legend's latest album 'Evolver' is one that I really like. It is quite a classical soul song, and I find it really enjoyable and sometimes even touching.

More advises to come!

Elvis Rockin' The House

Dear all,

During the lessons after Klassiek & Unplugged we watched a documentary on the recording of his first album. I must say that I found in very interesting and inspiring. It was interesting to see how a white man dared to sing black music in that time.

Elvis' music was an indication that the times were changing. Before, the lives of black people and white people were completely apart. There was a lot of racism between the two groups. But, there came Elvis: A white man, with a black man's voice singing black people's music: the Blues. This new thing, showed that the differences between the two races were changing: they were coming closer together.

Also, Elvis really developed Rock 'N Roll. Then, I must say that all the factors were there. For the first time children and teenagers had money. Also, they for the first time wanted to differentiate from the parents, rebel against them. And there came Rock 'N Roll: A new style of music, with screams and shouts, subjects which at the time were very rude, and dancing moves that came with it that shocked the public. So what do teens do? They buy the records, to be different from their parents.

Still, Elvis of course also had an amazing voice and a real sense for music. Pity that he died so young, and the last years he had to sell himself so badly. Well, "only the good die young" to quote Queen...

Klassiek & Unplugged

Dear all,

On the eleventh of December the yearly musical event Klassiek & Unplugged took place at our school. Klassiek & Unplugged is an event for classical- and unplugged music, only this time there was not much classical music in it.

With our class we did the songs 'Because' and 'Blackbird', both by the Beatles, with in between a medley of Beatles songs by the utterly talented guitarist Andrew Riezebeek. I must say that I felt that the performance, besides Andrew's solo, was horrbile. We were of the notes and our timing was not good either.

I did several other songs too: I played saxophone in Watermelon Man and sang in Zing-Vecht-Huil-Bid-Lach-Werk en Bewonder by Ramses Shaffy, Is She Really Going out with him (acapella!!!) by Joe Jackson, JCB Song by Nizlopi. I especially liked the last two, because they are really cool songs. The Ramses Shaffy song was meant as a tribute to him, for he past away a week earlier. The crowd did go 'wild' during this song, for everybody sang along, and this was a great feeling.

Then, at the end, I won the encore, which was quite special to me. I am looking forward to the next event: 80 Db

An excurision to Zwolle is not as boring as it sounds...

Here I am again,

From the title you might understand that this post is about our excursion to Zwolle on the third of December. All the people from our class were supposed to go to Zwolle, to see the final rehearsal of the opera that our music teacher, Mr. Weisser, had composed. Unfortunately, some of the people in the class did not come because they thought that they were not obliged to. But, I have to say, that on the excursion I did not mind, because the nciest people from the class were with us.

We departed from Hilversum by train. On the railwaystation we met Mr. Weisser's wife, Sylvia. She was very kind and in the train to Zwolle we had pleasant conversations. When we arrived in Zwolle we met with Mr. Weisser, and walked to the theatre. We first sat in the foyer, and talked to the boss of the theatre for a while about opera in theatre.

When Mr. Weisser stepped in, we went with him to the theatre itself. I was suprised by the size of the theatre, for it was quite small. We sat on the chairs, and the performance began. The genre was, to my opinion, contemporary classical music, with a lot of influences from the jazz. I must say that I enjoyed the opera, and especially the intensity with which the lead sang her part.

After the performance, we talked with all the members of the orchestra, as well as with the director and the set designer. They latter explained to us their intentions with the design of the setting and the entire feel around the opera. The musicians showed us their instruments and told some things about their part in the score.

After the opera, we ate at an italian restaurant. we all sat together and it was really nice. The food was nice too, and so we sat in the train home with a nicely filled stomach. in the train we found the director of the play too, and we had great conversations on all kinds of topics, while I was also writing poems for the St. Nicolas celebration. They were not for my own, but for the presents of classmates, which they were going to give to their friends.

When we got off at Hilversum again, I felt that I had a really nice day. We found Christine's bike had been stolen, and so we took her on the ack of our bieks and cycled home. i felt the excursion was great, and the people that did not come really missed something!