What’s Hidden: The Creation of Electronic Music

One of the biggest revelations to me in the last few years is that electronic music is hard to make.

I’ve spent the last decade of my life writing blues, punk, rock and roll, metal, funk and everywhere in-between, but had never really thought about making EDM (electronic dance music). My brother, Cory Blake, has always veered closer to that edge of music than me  – we grew up listening to hip hop and rap together, but our paths forked and he headed toward electronic and dubstep music, while I bought a guitar and started learning to play it.

For years I would go to parties, watch the DJ push play on his iTunes and spend the remainder of the night on his Facebook, or YouTubing songs for requests. I had a pretty bad impression of DJ’s, but that all changed when I saw my brother play. He didn’t just push play – he was mixing songs together, fluidly and naturally. My years of editing and mixing my own music helped me to understand the basics of what he was doing on the turntable in the corner of the room, and I spent the rest of the party watching his hands, listening to the subtle changes in music – mixing the low-end of one song with the high-end of another, queuing up the next track and watching him prime it for its reveal to the audience. It completely blew my preconceived ideas of DJs out the water.

It’s a lot harder than vice makes it out to be.

Cut to a few years later, Cory has released two EPs of his own original music, and after years of evangelising the work that goes with making electronic music to my more rock n’ roll buddies I thought it was time to show what was hidden. I sat down with my brother and asked him about his creative process, and how he got started with writing electronic music, among other things.

One question that didn’t make the video was, ‘What do you think of the perception of DJ’s as button pushers?’, to which he replied:
“It could be a big name DJ where people go to see the show, and the show includes lights and fireworks and pyrotechnics and everything thats all timed so those DJs have to have a routine. When it’s a young bloke at a party, and he has a set list and thats all he’ll play, then he’s a dickhead.”

All Music copyright Cory Blake

Assignment 3 Ideas

Since assignment 3 is an Audio/Visual assignment, I  am thinking about tackling the ‘creation of music’. I have been writing music for almost 10 years, and my brother has been writing music for longer than that, so together we have a large knowledge of doing so – at least in an unprofessional way. I think most people take the creative process for granted, especially with todays ‘top 40 pop’ songs basically being reskinned versions of one another, so I would like to tackle this to show people that music isn’t as easily as writing some words and pressing the record button.

Regarding sound, I could easily replicate the feeling of tuning an instrument, jamming on a new riff idea, and probably messing it up only to have to start again. Also, I will be talking to my brother about the writing of electro music, so I would probably include electronic samples as well.

I could rely heavily on photography to show the mental stress that can be caused by repeating the same thing over and over again, and the product you are creating is still not working the way you wish it too. Video could show the actual process of playing an instrument though I feel this would be less impactful, and more informational instead.

The key characters I would be using would be my brother, Cory, a DJ and electro  musician. He writes his own music, and releases them for free via Soundcloud. I could talk to him about the process under which he writes and records his music, and take some photos of him doing so. I would likely try to get some photos of him at a gig as well, to show him in his ‘professional’ environment.

As far as a second character goes, my friend Pat has been playing guitar with me for years, so I would likely talk to him a bit. If not him, perhaps my friends in the Great Awake – the band I interviewed in my first assignment.

Convergent Journalism: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

After dealing with hours of terrible library wifi, and several seemingly unloadable stories, the best story (in my opinion, anyway) revealed itself. Sure, it is potentially the least groundbreaking of the several provided, but Suspect America hit every beat that it had to. Being accessible, interesting, fun and informational all at once allows this piece to grab its viewers attention, hold it for the few minutes it takes to make its point, and then let you go to continue on with your day. Clocking in at just over 4 minutes, this video definitely does not overstay its welcome – and that isn’t a bad thing.
In a world of smart phones, YouTube and Facebook sharing, creating content like Suspect America that is easily sharable, digestible and accessible to being viewed properly on all platforms is increasingly important for journalists to reach the largest audience possible.
Not everyone sits in front of a desktop computer, able to browse huge multimedia offerings such as ‘Snowfall’ at the times that they wish to read, or view, the news. Most people are on mobile devices, and the short and accessible format offered by Suspect America lends itself perfectly for these formats – and is easily sharable.

On the other hand, the story that impressed me least was Nuclear Nightmares: Twenty Years since Chernobyl – not because of the content, but how it was presented. Since it was an early attempt at multimedia journalism, this particular project is full of problems that have largely been abandoned in todays article writing. For example, the act of having many separate pages simply to show a few images became increasingly frustrating – it isn’t easy for the consumer to soak up the desolate nature of the project when each image is kept separate from one another. I think having the images on one, long scrollable page would make much more sense in todays climate, and could make viewing on mobile devices much easier.
Which leads me to another issue – this article would be near impossible to navigate on a mobile device. The images need to be scrolled over, which will reveal text giving context to their inclusion, and yet this isn’t possible on a touch enabled device, and the ‘next page’ buttons are so small that you can easily miss them. I understand that this article was made before touch devices were a source of news, but examining it today leads me to see a lot of flaws that would cause this story to be jarring to read.

The Great Awake at the Lock Up for One Night (a week)

The Great Awake are a melodic pop-punk band based in the Sutherland Shire that have recently come out of ‘the Lock-Up’ recording studio with the beginnings of their second E.P. In this short interview, lead singer Matt O’keefe explains how the band first heard about the studio, and how the direction of studio owner and producer Daniel Antix helped them define their sound. 

The Lock Up is a rehearsal and recording studio based in Sutherland which offer rooms and direction to many bands from the area to come together, gather new material to record and book shows around Australia. 

A critique of “Pissed Off”

“Pissed Off”, a piece by Ashleigh Johnstone, tells the story of a man named Adam who has decided it is time to come out to his parents. Although this is an interesting story, it ultimately falls short of it’s potential due to bad editing, lack of focus and next to no connection to the emotional side of the story. 

The interviewee, Adam, walks us through the night he was to come out to his parents. The stage is set quickly and bluntly, and the story soon falls into a retelling of every event leading up to the moment rather than stressing on emotional beats and important details. Surprisingly, there is no use of ambient sound or music. The dinner scene could have had plates clunking, or dinner music softly in the background, but instead just has silence.

You get the feeling Adam was very nervous, which makes sense considering the story he is telling, but I found it hard to emotionally connect to what he was saying since he quickly jumped through a bunch of inconsequential details, followed by an even quicker run through of his coming out, which ends abruptly and without much emotional payoff. He says he was mad, but the way he told the story didn’t sell that to me. 

 

Reflecting

The act of recording music has always been something that inspires me. I’ve been playing guitar for over a decade, and have recorded many hours of music, but have never released any of it. This is in stark contrast to a friend of mine, Matt, who has played in bands for many years and is in the process of recording a second E.P. for with his band – The Great Awake.

I’ve always enjoyed watching them play, as they don’t take the whole thing overly seriously – It’s more like a side hobby, or an excuse to get together with close friends and play some music.

I figured since this was an audio assignment, it was a good opportunity to talk to others about recording, and couldn’t think of a better fit than a band I know is in the process of doing so. I got together with them during their latest band practice, at a rehearsal space in Sutherland called ‘the Lockup’. This is where they practice, and record, all their new songs – and is the subject of the assignment.

One thing that became very clear is that it is difficult to record live music on a phone, and the audio peaked immediately. Upon listening back, I can make out some of the song, but I wouldn’t dare use it in something I’m submitting.
Luckily, I have copies of the recordings of their previous E.P., which are high quality, so will use the tracks from that, cut with dialogue from our interview and some ambient sounds I captured during my time with them.

Hopefully, it should turn out to be pretty interesting. If you want a taste of the music they write, check them out!

Extended Soccer Sounds

Soccer is a very visual, and strategic, sport. In my piece, I wanted to show not the flashy shots at goal, or the passing between players, but the strategic conversations that occur on the sideline between coach, manager and players prior to a substitution that can change the way a game is played.

Here, I show a coach and manager discussing who will be taken off, who will be put on, and where they will move their players around on the field, to best make use of the time they have left in the game.

Some issues arose with a nearby dog, which cried through much of my recording. I managed to contain it as best I could, but there are still traces of it left in the conversations. Being outside, there were also issues with background noise and wind, with the field being close to a highway, but I was able to cut the worst of it out.

Altogether, I hope I have successfully relayed what the sideline of soccer games sound like. It may not be like being at the World Cup, but since most of us didn’t get to experience that, this will have to do.

Semi Finals Soccer

Steph has been playing soccer for more than 10 years, and this year is her first after having spend a year abroad in Europe, causing her to miss a season. It’s no surprise that her team welcomed her back with open arms when she decided to play again, and this season she has been instrumental in having gotten them this far – having recently won their Semi Final match, after coming back from being 2-0 down to win 3-2, leading them into the Finals next week.

Having played for so long, Soccer is no longer just a sport to Steph – it is a way to connect with a group of friends she has held for more than a decade. Each week, they get together to exercise, play and hopefully win – but laugh the entire time, regardless.

 

What is the future of Journalism?

Come and check out my first post on Storify, covering the past, present and potential future of Journalism: Now with 100% more turtlenecks.

[View the story “What is the future of Journalism?” on Storify]

Playing for keeps

Spending a year full time studying a Bachelor of Business at UTS forced Hayleigh Sinclair to make a very difficult, but important, decision. She didn’t want to look at graphs for the rest of her life. She wanted to sing, to share her voice with others, and to do so in a way that only she can. So, she made the decision, and came instead to UOW to pursue a Bachelor of Creative Arts – majoring in Music – and a Bachelor of Journalism.

“It was too dry and boring for me,” Hayleigh reminisces on her first experience with University, “I’m not a fan of the city, so Wollongong has been a lovely change.”

Being well versed in string instruments, playing both the guitar and ukulele, Hayleigh has a keen appreciation for writing her own music, calling this her “favourite part of music”. Her works tend to draw on the musical inspirations of her childhood, echoing famous singer-songwriters such as James Taylor, Jack Johnson and Taylor Swift. In terms of genres Hayleigh places herself in country, blues and/or folk.

“I think it’s the storytelling aspect of these sort of genres that attracts me. The music reflects the meaning.” She explains, “I love playing with lyric melodies. I’m a proud, self-confessed English nerd from way back, so I love playing with the structure of lyrics and syllables to fit with music.”

In joining a music degree, Hayleigh has found a whole new circle of friends who share her passion for the musical arts, and in doing so has radically changed her life. She now has people who support her efforts to create music, and has become a part of a group of likeminded individuals who regularly get together in improvised jams on the campus lawns after classes.

“I have formed some really fantastic friendships. [It’s] really enhanced my social life.” Hayleigh says, “I have a lot of friends in bands or who are solo artists, both in my music course and from out of it, and I love going to see them play gigs.”

But music isn’t everything. Having attended surf lifesaving for almost ten years, and having been a competitive swimmer and kayaker until 2013, Hayleigh also loves the outdoors.
“I’ve also been pretty heavily involved in soccer, touch football and hockey and various points.” Hayleigh says. Aside from sport, and music, travelling is also a factor in her life.

“I recently went to Nashville, in January, and I sat in restaurants and bars for hours just listening to different artists doing what they love. I love hearing other aspiring musicians – particularly when they play their original stuff as opposed to covers. I’m a huge fan of live music settings in restaurants and venues too, rather than the radio, or playlists of ‘top 40’ style music playing in the background. It’s just such a good environment enhancement.”

Having taken her first step toward a hopeful career in music, Hayleigh has also launched a YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/hayleighanns, where she records herself covering her favorite songs and playing her own pieces.

I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you check it out.