Comments for Ramble On

Comment on Sibelius 5 reviewed by William Parlier

William Parlier — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:30:54 +0000

You should note that Garritan comes with Sibelius. You should try running through VST instead of MIDI one day. The quality is actually pretty good.

http://www.sibelius.com/products/sibelius_sounds/essentials.html

Comment on Why does everyone hate opera? by William Parlier

William Parlier — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:25:59 +0000

I feel like such a strange kid… I think I am one of the few non opera singers who prefer bel canto singing over anything else. I’ve always loved the meldoic lines in opera. I remember how I would always run around as a kid singing La Donna é Mobile (sp?) and and Schuberts Ave Maria in the biggest chest voice I could belt out.

What I find strange about the average ear, is that they perfer out of tune vocals to bel canto. They cringe to beautiful in tune and wonderful timbred voices, but they are all over the out of tune and airy vocals of indie bands. It’s strange how the musical intrest has changed over the years (obviously due to the recording industry.)

The sad thing is that opera singer just aren’t as good as they used to be either. I’ve play so many operas (Die Walküre, La donna é Mobile, Čert a Káča, Siegfried und Isolda, Die Meister Singer von Nürnberg, Lohengrin, and Carmen), but the singers these days fail to impress me. The only place I’ve heard a really good opera was in Germany. I just find it hard to find a good vocalist in America. It just doesn’t seem to come easy to them (is this due to evolution? Are we losing our ability to sing!?) I’m greatful for the microphone though. I use it a lot in composition. I just wish music hadn’t come so dependent on it. :/

Comment on Why does everyone hate opera? by Casey

Casey — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:23:41 +0000

I fancy myself musical, but by no means a musician. I am very picky. I have a hard time with Musicals (save the classics like Seven Wives for Seven Brothers) because they seem to have license to put words to music without any real melody or return to a central theme (at least in my limited view that’s how I see it). I don’t listen to music to hear words. If I wanted to listen to poetry I’d listen to poetry. I listen to music to hear instruments come together to form an experience that connects with me on some level. If the singing happens to fit into that then all the better, and sometimes the blend fits perfectly. I allow music to affect me, that’s why I choose to listen to certain songs at certain times.

As for Opera. I’ve never given it the time of day because it’s farther down the continuum than Musicals on the do-whatever-you-want scale. Credit to creativity and talent goes to where it is due, but I’d rather go on a run and listen to Joe Satriani bang out a melodic solo than the Three Tenors. It doesn’t mean I don’t think they aren’t talented and truly musical. Maybe that provides evidence to your point with the current generation.

Comment on Sibelius 5 reviewed by Joshua

Joshua — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:21:13 +0000

I just added a sample of the default playback sounds to the post.

Comment on Sibelius 5 reviewed by Sam

Sam — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:06:12 +0000

Ever since they were bought by AVID/Digidesign, there has been the threat of trying to match the other popular programs available. They have a long track record of reaching out and trying to take over what the other companies do. Sometimes fort he better, but sometimes not. Hopefully, Sibelius keeps some of its independence.

How are the playback sounds?

Comment on Is Music Grading a Bad Thing? by William

William — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:49:30 +0000

It is pretty obnoxious. The only people who really play new music are chamber groups. Instead of picking up the new work, all of the bands are stuck with biased selections published half a decade ago, and if it is new work, it’s only from select publishing companies. It makes it so much harder for people like you and I to make a living, and then all of these kids get hit by surprise once they leave high school, because the majority have never read any literature outside of you standard major and minor keys. It’s something that has always driven me crazy. Fortunately, I think after the older generation of directors dies off, we might get some new work running through (that’s only if music programs aren’t removed from the schools systems completely. What a tragedy we’re faced with.)

Comment on Is Music Grading a Bad Thing? by Casey

Casey — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:19:59 +0000

Two things.
1. It looks like there’s an effort to standardize things. There’s an interesting article about that:
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2008/03/17.html
2. Music Grading is what we computer scientists call an NP-Complete problem. In a nutshell, it means that there is an answer to grading music, but the answer can’t be all completely calculated in polynomial time, so we just do the best we can by approximating. That’s why people go to college and then teach music classes in middle schools.

Comment on Is Music Grading a Bad Thing? by Scott

Scott — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 02:10:54 +0000

You used Swearingen in the same sentence with Brahms? Ha, Ha! I’ve met Swearingen on a couple of occasions, and he’s a pretty nice guy, but he is definitely a “cookie cutter” composer/arranger; and a little stuck on himself. You hit on some valid points. I, too, would like to see that state list expand without so many limits. The panel who approves music to “the list” looks for the same things in all they choose. It has been my experience to see many bands (and I do include mine on occasion) become mechanical based on pleasing judges. The grading system is useful to give a group some sort of benchmark from which to improve. For example, we played a gr. IV version of Holst’s, First Military Suite last year, and it was definitely a stylistic step up. Grading allows directors to validate improvement with their students, and the football coaches who are paying close attention! I enjoyed the post.