African-American Music (Weekly Blog #7)

African-American music is a general term given to a range of musics and musical genres emerging from or influenced by the culture of African Americans. Many of their ancestors were brought to North America as slaves, bringing with them polyrhythmic songs from hundreds of black African ethnic groups across West and sub-Saharan Africa. The joining in the Americas of African peoples from different regions and from multiple cultural traditions merged their music with influences from polka, waltzes and other European styles. African-American genres have been influential across socio-economic and racial groupings internationally, and has also become popular on a global level. African-American music and all aspects of African American culture are celebrated during Black History Month in February of each year in the United States.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_music

The Illegal Downloading of Music (Weekly Blog #6)

I believe the downloading of music that was not paid for is wrong. Illegally downloading music takes money from those who work so hard to make the music, and that is thievery. Music artist work hard to make the music that we listen to everyday, and for one to just steal the music is wrong. And it makes no sense for a musicians “fan” to steal their music. If one steals music, they are taking away from the person he or she admires; that makes absolutely no sense. By stealing music you also run the risk of getting into trouble with the government, so there is no point in doing it.  

Back Then (Weekly Blog #5)

In the song and music video “Back Then” by Mike Jones, Mike Jones reenacts a scenario that happens pretty often.  He had a “Rags to Riches” type life, and in the “rag” part of his life a certain girl did not like him, but when he acquired riches the girl started to like him. Of course he realized that she only liked him for the moment because of his riches so he shunned her. This is significant because it tells people not to just get with someone off something as petty as money. This is why we have so many broken marriages today; because of people getting in a relationship with someone for the wrong reasons. This needs to end in our society.

You Are My Sunshine Template

Template

It was extremely difficult to make the template exactly like the song (in MuseScore) so I tried my best and this is the final result.

My Score

My score was an image of an iPhone. I did this because it would make sense that I would have to touch the score to get the sounds. Also, I knew that I could get multiple sounds out of the score if I drew separate apps. I connected the apps so that I could slide my fingers between apps. The idea to use the image of an iPhone for my score hit me while I using my iPod touch. I was using an app that made different sounds depending on where you touched the screen. I figured that I can incorporate this into my score, and the idea was a success. I made a cool beat in RJC and I incorporated the it into the video. I am a fan of hip-hop, so the beat of the toon has a hip-hop feel to it. The final video contains video filmed from two cameras (One panning around and one steady in place). I used the video in place as the base to my video and I cleverly switched back and forth to the panning video using slick transitions.  

Music: The Universal Language (Weekly Blog #4)

Music is the universal language because one can listen to any kind of music and appreciate it. One can walk into a musical situation and sit in with musicians from other countries, races or cultures. Music can create images without using words. Musicians are able to play music with other musicians without speaking the same language. This is because music is the universal language. Someone does not have to speak the same language with someone to play music with him or her. Musicians can just pick up their instruments and improvise. Music can convey thoughts and feelings on a visceral level; no matter where you’re from you can understand and enjoy music. Music is everywhere and has/is being made by every culture. One does not have to understand the words of another song to enjoy it, nor does it need to have words. Music is merely beautiful to the ears. Anyone can appreciate any form of music no matter where the person is from, what language he or she speaks, or what the person is accustomed to.

Can Listening to Classical Music Make Babies Smarter? (Weekly Blog #3)

Letting a baby listen to classical music can relax and turn him or her into a classical music fan later in life, but it won't make the baby smarter. Researchers at Appalachian State University believe that they have found the Mozart effect (a temporary increase in intelligence experienced after listening to a piano sonata written by the famed composer).

The Mozart effect was first reported in 1993 by scientists at the University of California at Irvine, and replicated by the same group in 1995. The study found that college students who listened to a Mozart sonata for a few minutes before taking a test that measured spatial relationship skills did better than students who took the test after listening to another musician or no music at all.

The effect in the students was temporary, only lasting about 15 minutes and has always been controversial. But the media and politicians jumped on the Mozart effect, claiming that listening to the music offered numerous benefits and could ease physical and mental health problems.

The idea that babies would be smarter if they listened to classical music came from this ordeal. One year, the governor of Georgia authorized that a classic music CD, which contained the sonata and other pieces, be given to all new babies when they left the hospital.

In spite of this hype, there was not enough evidence that listening to classical music made people smarter. The lead researcher in the original U.C. Irvine study himself said in a Forbes article that the idea that classical music could heal health problems and make babies smarter did not have enough evidence, though he believes that listening to a Mozart sonata can prime the brain to tackle mathematical tasks.

When the researchers at Appalachian State University tried to duplicate the original "Mozart effect", they found out that the presence of classical music did not affect student’s performance on exams.

Source: http://www.babycenter.com/0_the-mozart-effect-classical-music-and-your-babys-brain_9308.bc