Song Assignment

Cover Songs

The song No Matter What originally done by Badfinger in 1970 was covered by Def Leppard in 2005.

The original version of this song has a much quieter and laid back melody than the sped up version Def Leppard produced. The newer version has a much more put together sound than the original which you sometimes can't tell what exactly the music is supposed to be doing and it doesn't fit in with the melody. Def Leppard has cleaned it up and made it sound much more modern and much more rock and roll. I prefer the Def Leppard version because it has a faster more upbeat tempo and all of the instruments are well coordinated, unlike the original.

Soundscape

Ways to Get Ideas

In the article 14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas by Mitch Ditkoff, he talks about how to get new ideas and where ideas come from. I think that his ideas are good ways to get new ideas, mostly because he talks about thinking about what you know and like and then letting your mind run with it, which is how I get most of my ideas.

2. Immerse
I think this is a great way to spark creativity. Just sitting and letting your brain wonder can really be a great way to think of new things. For various art projects I tend to use this technique to come up with what I want to do.

5. Fantasize
This is another thing that I think is a good way to come up with ideas. Thinking about things that don't exist or may not ever exist is a way to get new things into existence. Usually at the end of the day while trying to sleep I fantasize about a different life and things like that.

8. Take a Break
This might be the most important idea for being creative. Pushing your conscious to hard to come up with something isn't productive so taking a break can help recharge you so that you can have ideas. I frequently do this with almost everything that I do.



What new idea is fascinating to you?
Recently I've been into the idea of starting a YouTube channel.


What new possibility has captured your attention?
I've realized that there are so many possibilities that could come from doing this. Such as having a way to publicize my creativity and having a platform to get myself out there.


In what ways can you honor this inspiration today?
I've been beginning to put this into action by coming up with topics to make videos about.

Inspiration

The first piece that inspires me is Love Lost in a Hail of Gunfire by Bleeding Through. This song is important to me because most contemporary songs are easy for me to predict music-wise and the musical arrangements in this song are completely unpredictable to me. I love when bands can create things that don't follow that typical patterns that most bands do. For example, there is a great example of tension and release at 2:43, where typical patterns would break off into the release earlier than this song does. By extending this tension they earn a lot of respect from me for being different and doing different things. I love that they contrast typical metal music in that they don't follow the structure, but at the same time they are the same as other metal bands. As an aspiring music producer I want to be able to be a part of creating original music that isn't so predictable. This inspires me to help create more creative content and not just follow formulas that are known to sell.

The second thing that is inspiring to me is the band Chameleon Circuit who writes songs about the TV show Doctor Who. Over the summer my friend and I were listening to this song and talking about what other things that they should make songs about. Suddenly we realized that we could write songs about what we wanted songs about and decided to start working on my own stuff. Right now we have some things in first draft form and this summer we plan to do a lot of work on them and eventually make an album. Some of the cool things about these songs is that you don't necessarily need to know the show to enjoy the songs. My mom who hasn't seen the show but she likes listening to them because there are subtexts to the song that don't require you to be familiar with the main upfront texts. The guys in Chameleon Circuit are also vloggers who make videos on YouTube which is also something I've started considering getting into.

On the topic of YouTube and vlogging, this is an idea that I've been considering for a while and after I saw this video I decided it's something that I should start. Having some sort of record of myself for posterity never sounded important to me before, but something about the way he explains it in this video makes sense to me. Making a YouTube channel and having a way to publicize my creative endeavors is something that I think I really need to start doing. I also think that having a way to express my opinions and find other people who have the same opinions and interests that I may not otherwise meet is a benefit to starting this. Hopefully I will get this started over the summer if not sooner and it will be something that I will be able to continue with for a couple years and it will be something that benefits my life and lifestyle that I desire.

Jellyfish

This is a pretty sweet jellyfish.

Links

Hyperbole and A Half is an awesome blog.