The Dr. Rhythm Top 10 is music that represents talent, artistry, innovation and unique style. We encourage you to research and discover this music on your own.
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Maryanne Amacher
"Chorale 1"
Amacher is a brilliant woman. She uncovered a phenomena known as oto-acoustic emissions which are sounds generated from within the inner ear. The music she generates on her album Sound Characters (Making the Third Ear) evoke such sounds. The experience feels like your ears are being messaged, and you want to cover your ears. But the sounds will not harm your hearing, and extremely interesting to listen to. The music is ultimately made in your ear, which is what is intrinsically fascinating. Though, played enough times, any prisoner would crack in about three to four hours, guaranteed.
Karlheinz Stockhausen
"Mikrophonie I"
The first piece ever written (to my knowledge) solely for a tam-tam (a type of Chinese gong.) However, this piece is played by the microphonists, as they move their mics around a tam-tam being activated by two musicians using numerous objects to excite a variety of timbres from the instrument. Two additional musicians filter the sound of the microphones creating a dense and intricate work of art. The piece is fascinating to listen to and was the first piece to explore microphone proximity in musical terms.
Steve Reich, "Pendulum Music"
This work is created by a series of microphones swinging over amplifiers to produced tuned feedback. As the pendulums lose energy the piece slows down and reaches a constant state. An interesting use of both feedback and potential energy to create a musical structure.
Olivier Messiaen, "Oiseaux Exotiques"
French composer, Olivier Messiaen, spent a large amount of his career listening to and cataloging birds from all over the world. In 1950s he created a work for piano and small ensemble known as "Exotic Birds." This piece is an orchestration of various bird species through-composed to highlight various orchestral instruments. It is one of the great works of the 20th century (in my opinion.) Away from Guantamano, this piece is worth listening to.
Iannis Xenakis, "Metaux, from Pleiades"
One of the seminal works for percussion of the 20th century, this movement from Pleiades (a constellation of stars also known as the Seven Sisters) is mammoth work for metal instruments known as Sixxen (Six for the number of players, and xen for Xenakis.) The piece incorporates various solid musical structures that weave in and out of time, in unison and in complete harmony. Enough to make a music lover shiver with delight and a terrorist shiver with tinnitus.
John Cage, "Rozart Mix"
Cage is one of the great composers/philosophers of the 20th century. He did more for music in a decade than many did their whole lives. Rozart Mix is a collage of sounds, some from Mozart hence the play on words, that were generated using the chance properties from the I-Ching (Book of Changes from the Chinese tradition.) Cage wanted the universe, or God, depending on your interpretation, to ultimately decide how music was to be created, thus the I-Ching allows for divinity to be transceded. The piece is constructed of a variety of sound sources with the lengths and placement in time being dictated through these chance properties. The Beatles latched onto this idea with Revolution no. 9, another great piece for torture, though not nearly as poetic as Cage.
Erik Satie, "Vexations"
Satie is most well-known for his beautiful piano music. Vexations is no different, however, the piece is only a single line, a short chordal passage. The catch is that is to be repeated 840 times without stopping. There is only one person on record to have ever listened to an entire performance, though the US military could change that figure quickly. The piece is an enigma as to why Satie wrote it and why the number 840. Though, I am quite enthralled by the concept, as these types of notions I find quite fascinating.
Sun Ra, "Space is the Place"
Sun Ra is a brilliant avant-garde jazz musician who was one of the first musicians to be part of the afro-futurist movement in the 1960s. His music is very intense and demands a large amount of concentration and understand to get the full experience. Sun Ra noted an extraordinary experience in his youth after seeing a bright light during deep religious concentration. He claims he visited Saturn during this experience and spoke with other-worldly beings who prompted him to quit college and begin speaking through music. Sun Ra's music is also used for the film "Space is the Place" an afro-futurist sci-fi venture. Sun Ra is well-known in many music communities. His group appeared on SNL in 1978.
George Crumb,
"Black Angels: Night of the Electric Insects"
Taken from his string quartet, Black Angels, Crumb is one of the great composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. The quartet in its entirety is an amazing work spanning a wide range of styles and emotions. However, with enough coercion this movement, or perhaps even the entire piece, can give nightmares to even the most educated of music enthusists.
Alvin Lucier "Still and Moving Lines..."
Lucier is more of a revealer than a post-romantic composer. His works often display a phenomenon that is both intriguing and beautiful. The full title of this work is Still and Moving Lines of Silence in Families of Hyperbolas, where the tones between sine waves and a human voice create acoustic troughs and peaks ultimately forming valleys of sound and silence. The interference of this effect can at times cause various side-effects such as disorientation and rarely naseua, though the music is not designed to generate these responses. Lucier is a fascinating figure in contemporary music and has contributed numerous works to the experimental music catalog and is revered in many art social circles. And he is one of my most favorite composers. But would a terrorist agree? -- let's hope not.
A lot of music tech blogs and music magazines make long-winded predictions about the music industry and its subsidiary technologies at the end of every year. They sometimes get a few of their guesses right, but are often dead wrong. This is why we never make such predictions. We are honest here at Dr. Rhythm, and know that whatever we predict most likely will not happen as we say. So this year we are making shoulda-predictions, which means things that should happen in the next year. It is more like a declaration, or perhaps even a treatise. Whatever you think, the following shoulda-predictions would benefit both the industry and the consumer while providing a great "music ether" for future generations.
1) Royalties for music broadcasting will finally be settled. There has been a lot of problems leveling the playing field between the variety of companies that broadcast music. Internet companies howled when the government proposed an increase of over 50% in the next two years. Others cried foul that the air-wave radio companies do not pay royalties in favor of wide-spread exposure to artists' music. The big problem here is the government. Why do they have their dirty hands all over a free market? That was a silly question. But this has to stop, and we need the powers of capitalism to dictate the royalty process when compensating artists.
2) Video game formats will seriously compete with other music formats. We have all seen, or played, Guitar Hero, Rock Band and perhaps Wii Music. And we all know the relative success these games have had with consumers. We learned that consumers enjoy interactivity with their music, and the same time also want a passive listening format that is easy and convenient, while still maintaining quality. Records were a great way back when because we could literally see and touch our music. But they were ephemeral, like tapes and now CDs. Digital music is good in the sense that it could potentially last forever, but we do not have anything to actually touch and look at, just files and small .jpg images. If the video game industry could sneak its way into the portable music industry, they would create some serious competition. What do you think of being able to play a game like Wii Music, or something similar on your iPhone, as well as have the option of just listening to the music on your own time? You buy the game with the music embedded and have the option of interactivity or passivity. Keep your eyes peeled for this shoulda-prediction.
3) Small record labels and home-based labels will compete with the Big Four. One of the big four, Warner, EMI, Universal and Sony will fail sometime soon and either merge or declare bankruptcy (the former is more likely than the latter, with EMI being the loser.) As the world of internet distribution and marketing gets easier and easier for local bands and the cost of producing an album gets cheaper, small record companies as a whole could be the next number of the Big "Blank" of the music industry. There is no law that a major record label has to produce the next big song or artist, nor is it written that bands are not successful without a major label. It is a free market, so let us see it work.
4) Consumers will start thinking more about their music, before they buy. The days of spontaneous music purchasing through the remarkable number of quick-and-easy ways to buy will soon end. A deflated economy is one reason for such action, but people will begin to realize they have bought a lot of music that is just simply awful. How will they realize this? Two factors, education and accessibility. Everyone understands that when you buy music files online they add up fast. Websites like Pandora, YouTube, and Napster give you a variety of ways to access music without ever purchasing it. It's a little bit like going to Costco and trying all the free samples as a way to get a small, but free, meal. You are more likely to intelligently buy something if you have a decent listen before you click. Moreover, people are becoming more and more interested in music and in response reading and watching more edutainment based media, like Dr. Rhythm, among others. These media are usually free and informative. Fad mags like Rolling Stone are not part of this, as we all know RS is filled with gossip and political rhetoric. More people are also learning to play music of a variety of styles, which is another positive trend in our world, in response to the edu-access phenomena. In addition, research is showing that music making activities can make you smarter. Smarter consumers means more intelligent listening. Wink!
5) Music piracy will be largely controlled. Speeding is illegal, yet I see many on the road breaking this rule. Speeding can increase your chances of having a dangerous, or fatal, accident. Downloading illegal copyrighted material does not kill, but it does reduce the value of legitimate creative works. The music industry has already announced that they will no longer sue those that engage in illegal file sharing and other acts of copyright infringement, in favor of working with ISPs to curb such activity. Perhaps the better way is to treat this activity like we treat speeding. You pay a fine, or get a ticket, just like you receive that awful photo of yourself racing to make that yellow light. A certain number of infractions, like points on your license, will reduce or eliminate your ability to get internet service to your home. Repeat offenders may receive damage to their credit reports, with higher fees, and perhaps for the most extreme cases, jail time. Music piracy needs to be stopped, but overloading the court system is not the way to do this.
If you have a shoulda-prediction please consult the doctor.
In good musical health,
Dr. Rhythm
Ask the Doctor - 9.27.08 (want to ask the doctor? click here)
"To Drop a Class, or Not Drop a Class "
Dear Dr. Rhythm,
I am taking a music history class about jazz. I find that I really don't like or understand jazz and am seriously thinking about dropping the class. Do you any words to convince me not to?
AJ
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Dear AJ,
First, I'll assume that your either are seeking or engaging in a university education. At most universities, undergraduates have to take what is commonly known as general interest/education/studies courses. These courses usually encompass a wide variety of liberal arts, science and humanities topics.
Second, I'll assume that you are taking this class as a general course for your degree. Many students ask, "Why do I need to take these boring general classes?" It is a legitimate question which many professors and administrators do not answer.
The most common answer is that in a university education it is important to cultivate a diverse and interdisciplinary education. This means even students planning to go into engineering should take courses in the arts and languages. However, despite this being a very good asset to a broad and complete education, there is another good reason to both take and be successful in these general study courses.
When you leave college you are entering a job market where you have little to no experience in the field you are pursuing. This can be your greatest asset and liability. However, these general studies courses display an important part of your ability to learn and be successful. You could be a brilliant engineer, but if you show a consistent pattern of low grades in what are suppose to be simple classes, then it is possible that an employer may find you more of a risk than an asset. Why?
The reason for this is these classes show you can learn new subjects successfully and quickly. Even once you find employment there will always be new things to learn and if you can show that you have a track record of this behavior it could give you an extra advantage over another employee. Plus, you will have the experience of learning new things fast in which you may not have been entirely interested. A valuable skill for saving time.
So do not give up and make the time invested thus far a complete waste. Plus, you may learn you actually like jazz in the end...
In good musical health,
Dr. Rhythm
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"My Kids' raunchy musical taste "
Dear Dr. Rhythm,
My children, ages 13 and 17, listen to a lot of raunchy hip-hop and hard rock and I am worried this music will change their behavior. How can I get them interested in other, less harmful, styles of music?
PG
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Dear PG,
As their parent, you have every right to take away their music privileges if it does not resonate with your beliefs. There is some evidence pointing towards violent and/or sexual lyrics imposing these same types of behavior on children, however, in the end proper parenting will almost always override any negative effects of pejorative media.
Though, to directly answer your question, try teaching your children about the music you enjoy and/or give them listening exercises that involve music you find acceptable. You could try a variety of music trivia games, or show them films and documentaries about various musicians, though often these films show the negative aspects of these people's lives. You could also take them to concerts and other public performances that are inline with your values. Community Ed classes may also provide the kids some insight about the creation and fun aspects of music. Education is key and children may initially rebel, they will in the long run be thankful you spent the time and effort.
Whatever you chose, be active and very much a part of your children's listening behavior. This is probably good advice for other media your children imbue daily such as video games, television, movies and the internet. And do not be afraid to take your children's iPods away if your rules are not met. I guess this answer has become more of a parental empowerment message than a musical one, but I hope it steers your kids clear of any wrongdoing.
