THE SOUNDS IN SIGHT…
In the not too distant past, I was on a car ride with friends headed to a music festival. I was a passenger, so I was able to take in our surroundings a bit more than had I been driving. For a recent work project, a concept had been developed that needed an identity and on that morning when I got in my car to meet Lady Di, the world outside of my home, as it often does, turned into a source of inspiration full of potential ideas for this project’s identity. A blank canvas can be a dangerous thing as sometimes the possibilities can be limitless, and this was one of those days. I have these days often. Days where everything is a potential logo, color scheme, tag line, or source for an idea, spot, or pitch.
Anyhow, during the car ride conversations of all sorts flowed. As we got closer to our destination we went over a patch of rough terrain and the car tires made an interesting sound over a small stretch of the road we were on, making us all take notice. One of the other passengers, a friend of ours that is a sound editor/engineer professional for film and television made the statement that “on our trip home they’d have to record that sound for later use.”
A few weeks prior, I had run into this friend at a music show we both attended and ended up in a lengthy conversation that went well into the night (I apologize residents near that area of Silverlake Blvd. who might’ve been trying to get some sleep) about sound and the way that this person interprets the world due to their profession.
Just like I’d started my day (and continued throughout the car drive) noticing various elements that could possibly be incorporated into the identity of something that didn’t yet have one, and just like when a musician/artist is seeking a band name for his/her musical project (and everything turns into a potential band name) this person shared insight into their daily life of going through their day noticing odd sounds or even run-of-the-mill sounds that are probably lost on the rest of us, as it’s not what our focus is on. The topics of the conversations ranged from how some imperfect sounds could be perfected and the various techniques to cut out white or overpowering noises to extract just that sound they were seeking to even more technical stuff that I may never have a use for in my own life but still kept my attention. I talk to a lot of musicians who are constantly manipulating sound on a regular basis via instruments and effects, but it was nice to talk with someone at length about just sound in general. While I do have some favorite sounds, I can’t say that it was a topic that I’d given much thought to, and I found it highly interesting.
It made me think of an experiment of sound manipulation in the area of music/performance art that artistic duo Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla had presented a few years ago, via their short entitled “Returning a Sound.” As you can see from the video below, the artists had installed an ordinary brass trumpet into the muffler of a motorcycle. So, as the motorcycle rider embarked on his journey around Vieques, Puerto Rico instead of the loud roar usually produced by the muffler a jazzier big-band like climax-building arrangement was the output. At the time I’d wondered what an orchestra of these modified-mufflers might sound like and also what would be the overall reaction of the general public were they to encounter this on a regular basis out in the world? To me the ground shaking roar of many motorcycles is one of the most obnoxious intrusive sounds that uninvitedly finds it’s way into our audio range. How would we feel about it if the noise emitted was one of the french horn instead? Would that be just as intrusive? I’m sure over time after we get past the novelty, it probably would. Although, in the beginning it might bring us to attention, bringing to mind the messengers/trumpeters of days of yore.
I know there are many innovators of sound who have tirelessly experimented with sound manipulation and have successfully amassed quite a catalog of musical compositions ranging from the theatrical to pop-tinged numbers to those that can only be described as downright silly. As a final thought, however, and seeing that since the annual Don’t Knock the Rock Music and Film Festival kicks off next week at the Silent Film Theatre I’ll leave you with a couple of film documentary recommendations if the area of composing and sound experimentation interests you. Both were part of last year’s festival.
The one that most applies to this post, which I had the pleasure of coming across was “Deconstructing Dad: The Music, Machines, and Mystery of Raymond Scott.” This is the story of Raymond Scott a gentleman who wore many hats in the world of music (musician, engineer, composer, band leader,inventor, music director). As the story goes although his bread and butter seemed to be with composing (a fact I found interesting was that he supposedly never wrote out his scores, instead demonstrated what he needed–so there was never any sheet music accompanying his creations). His passion also seemed to lie in experimenting with the electronic side of music as he went on to live a life full of innovation resulting in a few inventions for which the patents bear his name such as the Clavivox and the always a work-in-progress Electronium–which in it’s present day non-functioning state is currently owned by Mark Mothersbaugh of DEVO. Scott also employed Robert Moog early on in Moog’s career and served as a sort of inspiration for Moog Music and it’s line of Synthesizers. Despite all of his musical contributions most people would recognize his musical arrangements mostly from the early (primarily WB) cartoons (Bugs Bunny, Looney Tunes, Ren & Stimpy, Animaniacs, and later the Simpsons, etc.) to whom his music was licensed to. This film was directed by Stan Warnow, the son of Raymond Scott with whom we had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with and via conversations with him learned even more about Raymond’s Scott’s life, which really was a riveting one music-wise.
The second recommendation is the ‘The One Man Beatles.‘ This is the Emitt Rhodes story, directed by Italian Cosimo Messeri. People may recall Rhodes from the The Palace Guard, The Merry-Go Round,or possibly even the dating game. Although, I actually was familiar with Emitt Rhodes’ music, I can’t say I knew all that much about him. When I’d first moved to L.A. some friends (who happened to comprise one of my favorite bands at the time) I’d made were in the process of working with him as one of their producers and they ended up covering one of his tracks with his blessing. It wasn’t until our paths crossed at this doc’s screening that I actually got a thorough, entertaining lesson in the history of Mr.Rhodes from the man himself. That night, due to the fact that he wouldn’t sit in the theater as he didn’t want to watch himself on screen, a friend and I sat outside and chatted with him for the duration of the film, until his presence was requested for the Q&A portion of the evening. During that time I learned that he’d only been 15 years old while in the Palace Guard, and was still in high school during the time that the Merry-Go-Round was active, also writing a majority of the songs. He released his first (critically acclaimed) solo album at 20 years old, but was for the most part done with the music industry by the age of 24. The part I found most interesting during our conversation, aside from the “colorful” jokes, was his explanation of the recording process (which is also documented on his website) for that first solo album. He stated having utilized an Ampex four-track, and would always start with laying down a metronome. He also played pretty much every instrument on his albums (hence the “One Man Beatles” accolade) from the piano, to the drums (in the Palace Guard, his role was one of drummer– he’d later switch to guitar for the Merry-Go-Round), to rhythm and lead guitar, bass, and everything in between. The stories kept flowing and it was a treat to get to hear them directly from the horse’s mouth with such candor. Since that date, I have watched this doc a couple of times and think anyone who plays or has an interest in music should watch it, and if you ever have a chance to converse with Mr. Rhodes you should jump at the chance as just as much as it would fit someone like Raymond Scott, the term musical genius is not an exaggeration when it comes to offering a description for this at times overlooked talented man.
Raymond Scott image originally published here
REAL GONE – AN INTRODUCTION: ‘THIS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAN IS GONE’
I left Long Beach, CA for San Antonio, TX with a pair of chrome painted nuts hanging on the back of my Honda Civic. My brothers got this for me as a going away gift to remind me that I’d never truly be a Texan. Neither would those balls. I lost them somewhere on the 10 between Buckeye and Wilcox.
I didn’t consult very many people on my decision to leave for Texas. I knew I was leaving a month before I actually made the move.
A month and a day before, I was still asking my cousin how in the hell she could move to Utah?
Things needed to be run away from. Things needed to be changed. I needed to shock myself out of complacency in every aspect of my life. A geographical change seemed the easiest way (still, my mind operates on a very whatever, dude wavelength).
The first thing I sought to do was to find out where the writers were. In Los Angeles we have the Poetix Calendar that tells you absolutely everything about what’s going on. It’s easy to get to an open mic every night and tell highfalutin fart jokes in the form of poetry. San Antonio has nothing that compares. I searched poetry open mics in San Antonio and found one at a bar. My hopes were high. Possibly I could be just like all those drunken legends I drunkenly made shit up about in my head and tell great poems to a crowd of drunken blue-collared sons of bitches.
When I got to the Irish bar, there was nothing but a bunch of buzz cuts drinking beer and looking at my thick rimmed glasses suspiciously. There was not an open mic. Just some dude in a cowboy hat singing country versions of rock songs that didn’t deserve it. I drank one Lone Star and got out of there.
So instead of going to bars to read and be read to, I went to bars to get drunk and watch sports. San Antonio is Spurs country and I’m a Lakers fan. If I can’t make nice to people, I play the asshole. If I can’t be loved, I want to be hated.
“A shot of Jameson, a Lone Star, and can you put the Lakers game on?”
The bartender, being from California himself, agreed with a shit-kissing grin. The Spurs game was on at the same time as the Laker game.
“Who the hell turned on this shit!?” some drunken cowboy with a cigarette stained mustache yelled out from the other side of the bar. The bartender pointed at me, but didn’t change the channel back.
The boos were loud. The Lakers were still playing.
“Another shot of Jameson, please.”
“This one’s on the house.”
I felt good. The Lakers won. I don’t know how the Spurs fared that night.
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Andrew Hilbert is a recently displaced Southern Californian living in San Antonio, TX. He will be sharing the adventures he encounters in his new habitat via his column Real Gone (to be published monthly on the second Monday of each month here on intraffik.com) He still wears his Dodgers hat and argues passionately against Spurs fans. He is one of three founders of art/poetry magazine Beggars & Cheeseburgers. One day he will own a llama or three.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE ‘TEUXDEUX’ TODAY?
Friends are constantly on my case about how much I work or how many projects (both professionally and creatively) I take on (cough, Lady Di, cough …ahem).
I’ll admit that this hectic schedule they chastise me for does limit the amount of time they get to spend with me, and sometimes making up for that hang-out time can prove an especially difficult task since many of them are not in the same social circles. Thankfully for me, many of my friends are involved in either my creative or professional endeavors, at least allowing us some additional time together.
Don’t worry though, I still manage to have more fun than should be allowed–but yes, the truth is my schedule is constantly full. I’m not complaining though as I view being busy as a being a good thing, and I’m not sure I know how to be anything other than that. It’s safe to say I’ll never be accused of being “Shiftless When Idle.”
Although, some days it can feel like I’ve been busy accomplishing absolutely nothing (most of the times these days involve technology issues of some sort of another, because as much as technology can simplify my life it can also frustrate me to no end). This Thomas Edison quote comes to mind, “Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.”
Throughout the years, I’ve employed various organizational tools to help me stay on top of everything I need to accomplish each day. I’m going to be completely honest and say that I’ve yet to find one that I use faithfully and consistently aside from standard calendaring (Google and Outlook). I thankfully have a pretty good memory and can recall almost everything I need to do without really having to make a list or set up reminders for work meetings, etc. Although I still do set up reminders for important meetings or other date/time specific/recurring things (hey you never know, I may wake up with amnesia someday). Also, although I tend to have a pretty full social calendar, sites such as Facebook and other various social media keep making it easier and easier to keep track of events that I RSVP through via those sites with the way those events instantly synchronize with my phone and/or calendars.
Making lists of everything I have to do in a day never has really appealed to me. Maybe it’s for fear of bringing on a panic attack by actually seeing every single thing I am about to tackle listed out. I also would never share the list if I actually made one with anyone, as many times it might seem logistically and realistically impossible to accomplish all of the tasks that might be included It’s safe to say there is rarely any one other person aside from myself who knows every single thing I have to do each day (it can be so varied sometimes). However, I still do like to make lists. Even if I don’t end up using them. I know some people who will not start their day or leave the office without making a list. I’ve never really needed to do either as I can prioritize tasks in my head quite easily. However, I say whatever works for you, just do it.
About a year ago or more, I did start using one tool off and on. Some people like bells and whistles. I prefer something simple, efficient, easy to use, clean and uncluttered with aesthetic appeal (a reason why I use Google Search as opposed to Bing or Yahoo). This tool which is known as TeuxDeux has all of this for me.
It really is a simple, simple concept that they’re working with. It’s basically the days of the week as headers with the option to make a list under each day. You can add as many or as few items to that list, re-prioritize them, and also scratch them off the list all on one website/page.
What I like about it is that –as I mentioned, I don’t (and don’t ever foresee myself) use anything (even this) consistently– the items that have not been scratched/crossed off the list carry over to the next day, and continue to do so until you cross them off manually. That was always a thing for me with a list, that I usually would make a list on paper and half the time would lose it, or just couldn’t get in the habit of drafting one each day. With Teux Deux, I could actually create a list for the whole week on Monday since I usually know ahead of time a majority of the stuff I need to accomplish for the next several days. Sure new things pop up constantly, but I can easily add them at any time or remove things that I no longer need to do.
Currently, TeuxDeux (which has been buzzed about by Fast Company and PC World) is available as a free website that you create an account for and also just recently an iPhone app became available. They describe themselves as: “If you like making to-do lists, you will love TeuxDeux. The idea was to build a bare-bones, but visually compelling and highly usable to-do app: Use the free browser-based TeuxDeux at work/home and then take your to-dos on the road with the iPhone app. Yay for checking things off!”
This may not work for everyone, but for me it does exactly what I need it to do and allows me to continue to make small contributions to the “Green” initiative by adding yet another way to go paperless in my life. Also, they get extra points for using the word “Yay!” (which I probably overuse) in their product description.
Here is a video that explains TeuxDeux further:
Image originally published here
BIRTHDAYS, CARBON COPIES, AND GENERALIZATIONS
I recently had a birthday (So did half of my friends it seems. September and October in the 70’s and 80’s must’ve been very boring months).
A group of us that included some that recently had birthdays were recently sitting around having some beers and catching up. Somehow, the topic came around to what well known public figures we shared a birthday with.
One of them reminded me of the time we’d met Sofia Coppola randomly at a party and it turned out our birthdays were the same day (the topic came up because the party we were at took place a week before our birthdays), she had threatened to assume my identity so that she could be the age I’d be turning instead of hers (which is not old by any means).
I also have a friend who says she’s only friends with me because I share a birthday with George Lucas and another one says he is because I share a birthday with his musical hero David Byrne (I’m not sure what they think that might get them?). I’d never really paid attention to all of the people I share a birthday with (aside from people I know in real life, which there are quite a few of), while I might say that George Lucas and David Byrne are not bad company to keep (I’m not that into Star Wars, but definitely do love the Talking Heads and have respect for everything else Mr. Byrne has touched–I mean seriously, look at his body of work and he’s only a few years older than my parents) the other person that I was definitely ok with sharing a birthday that I knew of was B.C. Forbes (the founder of Forbes magazine).
One of our friends found a site via her phone that listed all of those people born on our birthdays and while of course there were too many to mention for each of us, some of the others that were born on my birth date included Ian Astbury (the Cult), Director Robert Zemeckis, Cate Blanchett, Tim Roth, C.C. DeVille (Poison), Raphael Saadiq, and many others I can’t recall (can you tell the person who was reading us the names is into music and film?)
Soon enough, everyone around us wanted to know who they shared birthdays with. We’d opened a can of worms for sure. If you ever want to make friends with a bunch of people in a bar, this is a good way to do so.
Out of all of the people I know in real life who share my birthday, I can’t really say that all of us are all that alike. I find all of them to be talented in one form or another, but I’m not really sure I’d say we’re all cut from the same cloth. Granted I’ve yet to know one who shared the exact same birth date and birth year as I do. Typically, they’ve always been older with the exception of one who is younger.
Speaking of sharing the same qualities and making generalizations. One of those friends that was having a drink with us had included a print-out of this in a birthday card she’d given me. She’d found it on the Cafe Astrology website.
If You Were Born Today, May 14:
“Creative to an extreme, you are also highly intelligent and possess strong business savvy. Many of your ideas are very marketable. Somewhat unconventional in thought, you quickly become bored with routine thinking. However, that is on a mental level. You can have a few stubborn habits yourself, and when your mind is made up, it can be difficult to steer you off course. Famous people born today: George Lucas, David Byrne, Dante, Cate Blanchett.”
I always find these generalizations amusing. Of course, this describes me to a T. Yep, me and the other thousands of people who share my birthday.
She insisted this really did describe me and proceeded to explain to me with not necessarily flattering examples why, which just made me laugh even more. I won’t include her examples, but I’ll do my own line-by-line breakdown of this generalized description.
“Creative to an extreme”
I am creative, yes this is true. I do constantly have to have some creative project going at all times, but I don’t know about the “extreme” part. I don’t ever wake-up and think “today I must do something creative or else” nor do I challenge anyone to any “creative duels.” What would qualify as “creative to an extreme.” Are those artists who do things like live in a glass box over Times Square (or whatever location) for days and call it an art installation “creative to an extreme?”
“You are also highly intelligent and possess strong business savvy.”
I don’t know about the highly intelligent part. I certainly don’t go around with a snifter full of Brandy à la every film made in the early 1900’s –swirling and sniffing all whilst spewing my thoughts on Modern Rationalism and quoting Descartes, nor do I sit around in an old-world style study smoking a pipe rambling about Nietzche’s school of thought whilst in one haughtily uttered statement successfully manage to insult and praise Sartre to anyone who even in passing utters anything that closely resembles the word Existentialism. I should consider doing both of those just for fun one day though. I’d find it highly entertaining. I actually think most people can be intelligent on some level and everyone is more knowledgeable than I in a multitude of subjects. We all have had different life experiences and also have a preference for various subjects, thus contributing to the retention of information that is related to that which we enjoy or that which we’ve encountered.
I do however, hope I possess at least some business savvy as there are a few things that depend on me to do so.
“Many of your ideas are very marketable”
Oh finally! Validation. Since my professional career primarily falls under Marketing and I very often have to contribute ideas, the next time I change positions or apply for a position within a new company I will be sure to include that statement in my resume. If the highly-credible Cafe Astrology says that “Many of my ideas are very marketable” it must be so.
“Somewhat unconventional in thought, you quickly become bored with routine thinking”
I do tend to get bored and my close friends can attest to the fact that every now and then they hear the statement “I need new” come out of my mouth. Funny enough, if you google my name and the word unconventional, somewhere among the top results you should find some info (probably this) on a fashion show that I put on with Gülbin Yavuz (the owner of Indie Collective), which we’d actually titled “Unconventional.”
“You can have a few stubborn habits yourself, and when your mind is made up, it can be difficult to steer you off course.”
Hmmm. Well, I am a Taurus after all. Stubbornness is a given. Actually, I’m not necessarily that stubborn. It’s only when I know exactly how to achieve the end-result that I’m looking for, that I find it pointless to take a different path. Aside from that, if you can show me a better more efficient way to accomplish something then I have no problem taking on your way of doing something.
While I don’t necessarily take these things all that seriously, they are amusing and I just like everyone else get sucked into reading them every now and then when I’m either sent these by friends or when I myself happen to stumble across them on my own. If you want to read the description for those born on your birthday click here. Please note that the descriptions are only up for those birth dates that have already occurred (meaning they are only up through today, June 1st), if your birthday has yet to happen you’ll need to check back once it has passed. I’m curious to hear if you can relate to your description at all.
POETRY AND JAZZ NIGHT AT EXHIBIT [A]
Tonight, Exhibit [A] hosts a night of wine, poetry, and jazz featuring five poets and one Jazz band. Sets will go back and forth between the poets and band.
Location:
Time: 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Poets:
Anna Badua
Jeff Epley
Kevin Patrick Lee
Marianne Stewart
Paul Kareem Tayyar
Jazz Band:
Japanese Gameshow
featuring
Ryan Rost
Mark Massey
Tom Cunningham
Matt Lesser