I’ve always loved music and been a bathroom singer. My interests are Bengali and English music. I’m still learning to play the guitar from YouTube videos and hopefully I can master it someday. I’d love to sing in public either in Roosevelt Island or at the Jackson Heights subway in NYC, in hopes of becoming viral. xD
This class combined two things dear to my heart: writing and music. Oh, and reading too, but you know I’m not a fan of academic reading. Yet, this class has made me realize that learning common music terms is easy and beneficial to understand music. Cheers to everyone from this semester! Below is also a Marvel meme as you can’t possibly imagine me without fangirling over Marvel!
Just a Marvel meme!
Attached is my final portfolio that consists of my revised song album review, revised record club and final essay.
Taking a chance on new music was what brought me to “Song for You” sung by Avery Wilson. Never would I ever have expected for it to have me hooked and in search of any other musical productions that could amount to Wilson’s sound and his arrangement of this song. Truly embodying the meaning of R&B soul music, the genius behind this song lies within Avery Wilson’s ability to take us on a journey. It is vocally intense, lush in vocal complexity, and beyond intriguing for its unique sound.
The instrumentation of this song is not to shine on its own nor is it to overpower. Rather it is to compliment, making it very light. There is piano, cello, violin, and flute whispering throughout the piece. Each instrument enters at a different moment leaving a fuller sound towards the rear of the song captured after the 4-minute mark. “Song for You” is led by Wilson’s vocals but its secondary compliment is the piano which can be argued as a leader within the beginning and bridge. The song begins with a gentle icicle-like piano entrance. Beginning at the top of the scale, the piano chromatically descends from major pitches into minor ones. As the piano descends into the deeper pitches the tempo is slowed down and each minor note is emphasized on the downbeat. This provides a sense of intensity, setting the tone of what’s to come in the singer’s entrance.
The piano and vocal arrangement work as a duo. Bouncing off each other and adopting one another’s tempo and volume. As Wilson belts out the word ‘love’ within the repeated line “Cause my love is in there hiding” as the piano repeats the same lick played at the beginning of the song, both are at a forte volume and descend together to mezzo forte. If Wilson’s vocal performance of the song was transferred to sheet music we’d be able to see clusters of notes carried through by a slur just like the piano’s. There is a moment in the song where Wilson is riffing echoing the piano, creating a call and response. The piano and vocals are compliments.
Avery Wilson’s use of voice within this soulful arrangement is instrumental. The manner in which Wilson sings is like a violin or more obviously a piano. Singing in a legato fashion with heavy melisma upon each line while simultaneously carrying his breath through is complex. However, Wilson’s use of melisma is not accidental nor a means of lucky sound. Rather his use of melisma is complex in its intentionality within each word. This is particularly present when we hear him say ‘I love you’ within the song or within the line “You’re a friend of mine”. Wilson’s use of melisma is not only intriguing for its complexity of jumping in and out of a note, but for the emotional intensity he provides in doing so.
Avery Wilson recreated the song “Song for You” originally by Donny Hathaway. Wilson reinterprets Hathaway’s jazzy form and implements his own R&B sound to it still soulfully arranged. He forces his audience to feel his emotions by utilizing his voice as an instrument. Although the instrumentation is simple and the lyrics repeat, he still nonetheless brings the listener on a journey of heart attack, agony, and loss.
I know you all asked me to post my EP. So here it is!
sorry for the delay, been a lot with my midterms and final assignments coming up. Anyways, here’s some music for you all to jam while you study!
I suggest listening from track 1 all the way through. The transitions in to each songs are really what me and my friend focused on with this and how sonically they creates it’s own story(similar to chapters in a book) with it.
I produced tracks 2(Hawaii) 4(Margaritas) 6( Yosemite) 8( New Fazos) , my friend the others.
To name one popular English song of all times, my choice will undeniably be Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life.” Released in 2000, this song still holds its prestigious throne among audiences of all ages. It is also unique to see how ‘Bon Jovi’ is simultaneously the name of the vocalist Bon Jovi and the American rock band itself. “It’s My Life” is a single from the band’s album Crush.
Set at 120 beats per minute (bpm), this song is not your average rock song. Now, I do not say this just because it had secured a place in the top ten songs of music top charts in most countries back then. This song has all the spices needed to relieve you from your struggles and to push you until the end of the finish line. Content-wise, it begins with an instrumental intro consisting of piano, guitar and talkbox. The use of talkbox also happens to be a signature style of Bon Jovi’s songs. The talkbox specifically creates a captivating effect in this artistic piece, producing some uncommon sounds. Then comes the first verse of the song, which instantly delivers a badass vibe, targeting the listeners:
This ain’t a song for the broken-hearted
No silent prayer for the faith-departed
I ain’t gonna be just a face in the crowd
You’re gonna hear my voice when I shout it loud.
Intensified with drums, this is an upbeat song with a powerful chorus that goes like this:
It’s my life
It’s now or never
I ain’t gonna live forever
I just want to live while I’m alive
It’s my life
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just want to live while I’m alive
It’s my life
Bon Jovi has talked about the inspiration behind this song. He wanted to make this song as a way to speak for himself and how he was caught up between acting and singing. The greater message of this song was to take charge of the steering wheel of his life. Although he did not intend to capture the real life occurrences of the audience, the song somehow did its own magic and got the audience engaged. One question that was raised among the audience was regarding the identity of “Frankie.” The “Frankie” in the chorus lyrics refers to Frank Sinatra, whose lifestyle and song “My Way” has influenced Bon Jovi heavily.
If you have not yet heard this song, please be sure to do. I do not really think that you would want to miss this!
Daniel Glover’s alter ego, Childish Gambino constructed a 6 minute and 18 second track that somehow is able to represent the male orgasm in all of its complexity. The track begins with the sound of a sweet organ almost trickling down your spine as you let the song carry you towards this climactic journey that Childish Gambino provides. The track then teases us with the phrase “I’m in love when we are smoking that la la la la la”, the phrase is repeated 8 times. This seems to never end while listening and can be compared to the foreplay in the track, or the build up to something more. According to Ann Powers, “The real reason American popular music is all about sex is that we, as a nation, most truly and openly acknowledge sexuality’s power through music.” This supports the theory that Gambino felt comfortable enough to release a track with sexual undertones. Gambino also does a great job in somehow allowing the listener to enjoy the repetition of these phrases because as each plays out he adds underlying tension with a subtle change in rhythm within the beats.This can be labeled as “desire” because it leaves you wanting more, completely unsure of what’s to happen next. As the next stage plays out, we hear a really sultry guitar riff with a beat drop as well as Gambino’s cry “Do what you want”, this definitely ignites excitement in the listener. Childish Gambino seems to have a desirable cry whenever he sings on this track that continues to amplify as the song continues until he gives out an orgasmic “Oh, oh god!” and continues to cry out and go into his falsetto for “Girl, you really got a hold on me.” Lastly, as the song comes to a close with a noticeable decrease in tempo which leaves the listener clear headed and in full resolution. The track’s total bpm is 118 and a man’s heartbeat can reach up to 130 beats per minute, both numbers being fairly close to each other. This song doesn’t explicitly discuss topics of sex or the male orgasm but with the dissecting of this or any track, it can lead to strange yet cool undiscovered discoveries.
Musical Terms
BPM- The amount of beats that occur in a minute.
Rhythm- A strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.
Riff- A short repeated phrase in popular music and jazz, typically used as an introduction or refrain in a song.
Falsetto- a method of voice production used by male singers, especially tenors, to sing notes higher than their normal range.
Class will be on Zoom this week. The link is here. It’s also under Links on the right.
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