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Saturday, March 10, 2012
shameless self-promotion
if anyone from my ENG102 class sees this...if you like hip-hop, try giving this a listen and maybe even liking the page, sharing it, offering critique, etc.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
ambitions worthy of a year tenfold...
If I could spend ten years to become an expert in anything, it would be to learn how to use this damn blog.
Kidding aside...
I would want to master different aspects of performing and creating music. I have been involved in music for the greater portion of my life, though I've never become as immersed in it as I would like to be. I'll provide a brief background: as a child in a Catholic school, I pursued developing musical interests through choir and band. I was a mediocre singer at best, and for some unbeknownst reason to even myself, I played the clarinet in the "band". It was all a start though. At the age of 11, I picked up an electric guitar, and the possibilities of what one could do by creating music has captivated me since. As of the past couple of years in particular, I've sought to expand my horizons past just playing guitar, which has lead to the obtaining of a drum kit, a 76-key portable grand piano, an electronic workstation (Korg Electribe), each of which I am moderately familiar with, but nowhere near as much as I'd like to be. I bit off more than I could chew; my skill with my 24-fretted friend began to falter, while I was not able to devote enough time to become even halfway decent at any of the other instruments I began pursuing.
This brings me to the present day.
I've recently set a goal for myself; a goal to really go for what I want. I don't know why, but it feels like the perfect time to do it...the perfect time to start with small steps and build up from there. If I could be an expert on any one damn thing in the world, it would be the creation of music. From writing a song, to recording it...producing, mixing, mastering...the entire process. That's what I'd be an expert on, and that's what I'm beginning to strive for. I want to know how to work Pro Tools or Logic, how to create beats on Ableton or FL Studio (a.k.a. Fruity Loops), I want to know when and where to use samples in a song, how to use them to my advantage to get my point across, and how to do those samples justice. I want to know how to make the perfect mix, to obtain that highly-sought-after-yet-seldom-obtained idealized balance of guitars, bass, percussion, vocals, pianos, synths...of ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. Even more than that, though, I want to create something that I can be truly proud of. I want to say something that matters. I want people to hear it, to take in that point, and for something in them to change. I want to make a difference in someone, somewhere. I want to invoke thoughts, inspiration, questions, emotions... whether through a 16 bar verse stocked with multisyllabic rhyming, or through a lone acoustic guitar howling out individually picked notes.
Kidding aside...
I would want to master different aspects of performing and creating music. I have been involved in music for the greater portion of my life, though I've never become as immersed in it as I would like to be. I'll provide a brief background: as a child in a Catholic school, I pursued developing musical interests through choir and band. I was a mediocre singer at best, and for some unbeknownst reason to even myself, I played the clarinet in the "band". It was all a start though. At the age of 11, I picked up an electric guitar, and the possibilities of what one could do by creating music has captivated me since. As of the past couple of years in particular, I've sought to expand my horizons past just playing guitar, which has lead to the obtaining of a drum kit, a 76-key portable grand piano, an electronic workstation (Korg Electribe), each of which I am moderately familiar with, but nowhere near as much as I'd like to be. I bit off more than I could chew; my skill with my 24-fretted friend began to falter, while I was not able to devote enough time to become even halfway decent at any of the other instruments I began pursuing.
This brings me to the present day.
I've recently set a goal for myself; a goal to really go for what I want. I don't know why, but it feels like the perfect time to do it...the perfect time to start with small steps and build up from there. If I could be an expert on any one damn thing in the world, it would be the creation of music. From writing a song, to recording it...producing, mixing, mastering...the entire process. That's what I'd be an expert on, and that's what I'm beginning to strive for. I want to know how to work Pro Tools or Logic, how to create beats on Ableton or FL Studio (a.k.a. Fruity Loops), I want to know when and where to use samples in a song, how to use them to my advantage to get my point across, and how to do those samples justice. I want to know how to make the perfect mix, to obtain that highly-sought-after-yet-seldom-obtained idealized balance of guitars, bass, percussion, vocals, pianos, synths...of ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. Even more than that, though, I want to create something that I can be truly proud of. I want to say something that matters. I want people to hear it, to take in that point, and for something in them to change. I want to make a difference in someone, somewhere. I want to invoke thoughts, inspiration, questions, emotions... whether through a 16 bar verse stocked with multisyllabic rhyming, or through a lone acoustic guitar howling out individually picked notes.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
"The Matthew Effect"
"In what ways does Gladwell's examination of hockey challenge traditional notions of success as merely the result of hard work and talent?"
Gladwell's examination of hockey implies that there are many factors that one's success can hinge on, factors which are not normally acknowledged. Success does not merely depend upon one's work ethic, or upon how much talent they were so graced to be blessed with. It does not entirely depend on factors that are within your control. Yes, hard work and talent may be part of the equation, but they are not all of the equation. They do not make up a definitive formula of how to be successful.
I believe Gladwell is correct in his examination of success...not 100% correct, but I do not believe that success can truly be dissected into words and phrases about how to attain it. I do believe that even the most seemingly insignificant details - such as your birthday, for example - can have a profound effect on it, as is examined by Gladwell in "The Matthew Effect", and I think he used an excellent metaphor when referring to the tallest oak in the forest as being not only from the hardiest of acorns, but being able to draw in more sunlight, to have the luck of being placed in the richest soil, and to not have had its growth interfered with by another creature (The Outliers, pg. 19-20). This can most definitely be applied to the personal and professional success that humans experience. In the example of the hockey league, a vast majority of the team members were born early on in the year; closer to the start of the age cut-off. As the year moves on, birthdays become less and less frequent. As Gladwell states, this has much to do with the maturity of the hockey players: those who were born earlier in the year are more mature than those born later in the year, and this is especially prominent among earlier ages, which is when the search for which hockey plays who will move up to the next tier begins. In other words, it has less to do with how much potential you have or how much talent you could have: it has more to do with the fact that, as unfortunate as it is, where your physical maturity lies. Having that extra little boost is enough to get you up to the next level, where that little boost will turn into a bigger one, and so on until you are what is considered to be a professional. All of this will happen not because you earned or deserved it, but simply because you had a leg up on the rest of your competition as a result of the time of the year you were born.
Now, I don't believe myself that that is how success should be determined, and I do agree partly on Gladwell's theory of having different leagues for those born different times of the year (The Outliers, pg. 33), but unfortunately that just isn't how things work - and that's a damn shame. One may never get their chance to shine simply because of the day they were born - something well out of their control.
Gladwell's examination of hockey implies that there are many factors that one's success can hinge on, factors which are not normally acknowledged. Success does not merely depend upon one's work ethic, or upon how much talent they were so graced to be blessed with. It does not entirely depend on factors that are within your control. Yes, hard work and talent may be part of the equation, but they are not all of the equation. They do not make up a definitive formula of how to be successful.
I believe Gladwell is correct in his examination of success...not 100% correct, but I do not believe that success can truly be dissected into words and phrases about how to attain it. I do believe that even the most seemingly insignificant details - such as your birthday, for example - can have a profound effect on it, as is examined by Gladwell in "The Matthew Effect", and I think he used an excellent metaphor when referring to the tallest oak in the forest as being not only from the hardiest of acorns, but being able to draw in more sunlight, to have the luck of being placed in the richest soil, and to not have had its growth interfered with by another creature (The Outliers, pg. 19-20). This can most definitely be applied to the personal and professional success that humans experience. In the example of the hockey league, a vast majority of the team members were born early on in the year; closer to the start of the age cut-off. As the year moves on, birthdays become less and less frequent. As Gladwell states, this has much to do with the maturity of the hockey players: those who were born earlier in the year are more mature than those born later in the year, and this is especially prominent among earlier ages, which is when the search for which hockey plays who will move up to the next tier begins. In other words, it has less to do with how much potential you have or how much talent you could have: it has more to do with the fact that, as unfortunate as it is, where your physical maturity lies. Having that extra little boost is enough to get you up to the next level, where that little boost will turn into a bigger one, and so on until you are what is considered to be a professional. All of this will happen not because you earned or deserved it, but simply because you had a leg up on the rest of your competition as a result of the time of the year you were born.
Now, I don't believe myself that that is how success should be determined, and I do agree partly on Gladwell's theory of having different leagues for those born different times of the year (The Outliers, pg. 33), but unfortunately that just isn't how things work - and that's a damn shame. One may never get their chance to shine simply because of the day they were born - something well out of their control.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
a little bit about myself...
Matt.
Freshman at RU, starting Spring 2012.
Graduate of Lane Tech.
Musician.
Lyricist.
I've been told I look likey I'd be a douchebag...I can assure you that is not the case haha. I love conversation, and I love finding out new things about...well, anything. It's a crazy world we live in. Why not take it all in and make the most of it?
Freshman at RU, starting Spring 2012.
Graduate of Lane Tech.
Musician.
Lyricist.
I've been told I look likey I'd be a douchebag...I can assure you that is not the case haha. I love conversation, and I love finding out new things about...well, anything. It's a crazy world we live in. Why not take it all in and make the most of it?
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