Perception- My Venture Into Ableton Live 9 And What I've Learned

Perception in music is such a strange thing just because of how many angles they are. You could be a person who listens to music all the time, or just a causal listener. Maybe a fan, or a musician. Each person is lead to perceive music differently, and that's great. This discussion of sorts is based on my recent ventures into Ableton Live 9, a popular Digital Audio Workstation which I am learning in order to create drum beats for my music since I do not have the space for drums due to location and literal space, and because I wanted to learn the software. As I used the software more and more, I started thinking about how I perceive guitar, bass, drums and the like in a musical sense. My mind wondered to artists who create their own music using an instrument, and those that use a computer.

Take for example three very different, yet accomplished musicians. David Grohl of the Foo Fighters, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, and Deadmau5. David Grohl played drums for Nirvana and would later on found the Foo Fighters. Throughout all of that, he never used a computer to make his music or play his parts. He find that music should be played by humans because it both feels and sounds more natural and well... Human. Trent on the other hand makes industrial rock music and welcomes the use of computers in both the creative and producing processes. He is a very capable and accomplished multi-instrumentalist outside of the computer, but he uses the computer to further his music making capabilities. The last example is Electronic Dance Music musician Deadmau5. He exclusively uses computers to make his music. There is nothing wrong with the way that the music is made, but it makes me wonder as to how we as people perceive music.

I take lessons at a music school and spoke to my instructor about drums. Everything from where to place a fill, and how one should go about making one, to pushing the best or keeping it laid back. I also analyzed the drum beats he played and tried to tab out how it would sound in Ableton in my head. It was during this that my initial curiosity in perception started to ferment.

I was looking at drums as a means to an end if you will. Songs need drums, at least 99% of them do, and I don't have a way to learn drums, record them, or pay someone else to do them. In my early analysis of drums, a instrument I paid little attention to, I sought out the basic patterns and the core fundamentals of it all. Of course I didn't have to worry about stick control or proper toe to heel positioning on the bass drum pedal, but I was still interested in the subtle placement of a kick drum in a Brad Wilk beat, or the placement of a fill that Bonham used.

Because of all of this, I viewed drums differently than my other drummer friends did, mainly because I wasn't a drummer. I showed my drummer friend my basic rock beat and asked her help for a fill. She gave me a fill that would work, and it sounded familiar, but odd. I've heard used it other songs before, but when I wrote it out, it sounded odd. But to the drummer, it correct, good even. That's so strange to me. David Grohl discussed his approach to writing guitar lines for his band and he stated that a lot of his guitar parts sort of act as drum part. He synchronizes some of the guitar parts to the kick drum, and others to the snare. Of course, he is not the first musician to do this, there have been countless others, but it was interesting for him to actually explain it and state it all. But even then I find it odd. It didn’t make much sense to me until I really looked at how it was made. Another example would be the way that progressive rock bands such as Protest The Hero make music. I recently heard the drummer from Protest The Hero record his playing on their song “Drumhead Trial”. The beat at its core was very basic, fast, but basic. The guitars that were layered on top of it though were doing completely different things that worked with the song, but didn’t sound like it should  have. On paper, it may not have sounded good, but in practice it did.

It was through this entire analysis of music and perception that I came to the realization that…well… that’s what makes music so cool to me. That David Grohl could write a guitar riff based on one idea, but if he explained the idea to say, Josh Homme or Tom Morello, it could be perceived completely differently and then played differently. Perception is such an odd thing in music.

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Not everything needs to be about the guitar

For the past couple of weeks or so, I have been making some music with my roommate Rob. He generally listens to EDM music and dubstep, but occasionally listens to rock and funk rock. Through making music with him, a person who's musical tastes are completely different than mine for the most part, I learned that not everything needs to have guitars in them. It sounds like such a dumb thing to say when you really think about. "Of course not EVERYTHING needs to have guitar." But when I hear music today and music from various time periods, I hear the guitar, whether it be the electric six string, or the bass guitar with four strings. He has musical knowledge in the respect that he has played piano for quite a while, but knows very little music theory, just like me. What he CAN do though, is hear a melody in his head, and keep it there long enough to write it out in the Digital Audio Workstation known as FL Studio via synths, claves' and other instruments.

Rob showed me a piece of music he had been working on for I'd say a week or two. He would always add new parts to it, ask my opinion on them, and re levels parts of the songs as he saw fit. Eventually, he came to a standstill, and had no more musical thoughts concerning this song. I looked at the most recent melody he had made, and I added on to it by transposing the piano melody onto my guitar, finding the key, and then writing a continuation to the piece. Adding on to that song showed me that everything isn't centered around the guitar, and that the guitar can still be used for writing, although it may not make an appearance in the song or piece itself.

What amazes me more is that when I played back the song, I was stunned that I had actually written that part, and that it got added into the song. It is as if a piece of myself is actually in that song and it represents just how far I have come as a musician. Writing a small part of that song showed me more about music and melody that I thought possible.  

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The brand of your instrument does NOT matter

Price of your instrument

Recently today, I found a post on Reddit under r/Guitar (http://www.reddit.com/r/Guitar/comments/1l2d2z/im_sick_of_being_judged_for_the_name_on_my/), and thought I'd share my thoughts on it.

First and foremost, I understand that each musician likes different types of instrument brands, body shapes, wood type and more. For example, my friend Fil loves the look and feel of a Jackson Warrior guitar while I am not terribly fond of it. My drummer friend cannot stand the sight of my Neon Orange Charvette by Charvel, but I personally love it. The type of instrument a musician uses should not categorize them or diminish their value as a musician. Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave uses guitars he buys from pawnshops in his recordings. If I'm not mistaken, David Grohl from the Foo Fighters uses a cheap version of the Gibson ES-335 for the studio recordings of the Foo Fighters albums, while on tour he uses an actual Gibson DG-335, his signature model.

I understand that more expensive instruments TENDS to mean quality hardware and woods used, but that isn't everything. Companies like Squier and Sterling are increasing the quality of their products, thus making them extremely good instruments for their price range. The Sterling by Music Man S.U.B. Ray4  Bass Guitar sounded stunning when I played it a couple of weeks ago through a small Fender practice amp with the bass and treble knobs turned to neutral on the pedal. The Squire Vintage Modified Jazz Bass also sounded great to the tune of $299.99. I would certainly not be ashamed to walk the stage with those instruments at my disposal, and I don't think anyone else should either.

With all of that being said, it shouldn't matter what other people say about your instrument or the brand you use; it should be whether you like how like it. Do you like the tone you get out of it? Do you like the feel of the neck, the color of the body, the type of pickups in the guitar (or bass)? If so, then who the hell cares whether it's a Squier, Sterling, Fender, or Gibson? In my opinion, the ones who judge what instrument brand you use are the ones that are insecure about their own instrument and playing. Sure you could buy the Alex Lifeson Gibson model for $3000 dollars, and run it through a Marshall JCM 800 whilst using a Boss Distortion medal, a MXR Carbon Copy Delay and a MXR Phase 90 pedal, it doesn't mean you'll sound good. It just means you money to blow. It doesn't show that you have any real talent, other than picking out decent musical gear. You can spend ten thousand dollars on musical gear, but it doesn't mean you know how to play the instrument.

What should REALLY matter is if you can play the instrument to its fullest . Can you play your band's full setlist in one take without making any mistakes? Can you play a variation of it if your guitar string (or bass string) breaks on stage? Do you know what key to solo in if you are improvising? That's the stuff that truly matters, your musical prowess and technical ability. And most importantly, are you having fun playing your instrument. If so, then don't worry about what anyone else says, they don't know you, your instrument, or your musical tastes as well as you do. Play whatever brand of instrument you want to play, because at the end of the day, you make the final call on whether you like it or not, not anyone else. 

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Rise Against's New B Side Album "Long Forgotten Songs"

Yesterday, Punk rock band Rise Against released news about their latest musical endeavor “Forgotten Songs”. This is essentially a compilation of all the band’s “B-Side” tracks that may have only been released in certain countries, or were just scattered across various compilation albums such as “Rock Against Bush” or movie soundtracks. I think this is a really cool idea, because I feel that a lot of B sides songs are amazing and should have actually made it on the album they were a part of. Tracks by Rise Against such as “Generation Lost” or “Death Blossoms” stood out to me a lot when I first heard them. They sound really raw, but still powerful and holding lyrical and instrumental value.

I hope a lot of bands start doing this, because this is a really smart way to satiate the want of “new material” from the fans. Chances are that not every fan has heard every B-side track, and it could give the band some extra time to get material for the next record. As the band also stated, this is a good way to see how the band changed and progressed over the years, as well as viewing how far they can stretch themselves. Rise Against did a track called “Making Christmas” for the compilation “Nightmare Revisited” CD that was released by Walt Disney. What was really cool about this track was that the band tried to follow the original score as opposed to doing a typical punk rock version of the song. A track such as this shows how creative a band can get.

Overall, I’m looking forward to this record and all it has to offer. It may not necessarily be new material, but it will satiate my Rise Against cravings for a good month or two! The album releases September 10^th I believe, mark your calendars!

Here is the link to Rise Against talking about the B Side album!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBw4A3F_MyQ

Here is the link to Making Christmas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCET4j8W_fU

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Spotify: The Double Edged Sword

For the past year or so, popular music streaming application has been gaining a lot of fame that for the most part was positive news. Spotify, for those who don’t know, is a music streaming application that lets you stream full albums by millions of artists. Record labels are in contact with Spotify and they get the bands that are signed to the label the ability to get their music on Spotify. It also lets the user create playlists and if they have Spotify premium, a monthly or yearly subscription to the service, lets them take their playlists on the go via smartphones and tablets.

But Spotify also comes at a hefty cost, a cost I’d say 50% of the users are unaware of. Music is something that people work hard to hone and master. They work on their technique, run patterns practically every day, and strive to make their music stand out and unique. Spotify, and other music streaming applications make this possible, but how would a indie musician or a band just get off of their feet be able to pay for all of this? Spotify does generate money for the musician, but not as much as they would generate if people bought the musician’s merchandise such as t-shirt and albums. 10,000 times a song is streamed; a band or musician would make about $2.00... and if that is divided amongst a band of four, each member would get around fifty cents. Hell, if a tenth of those people who streamed the song bought the single or something from the band, at least it would put the band in a better state financially. Spotify is also known to do side deals with record labels, and thus scything out more money from the bands that are signed to the label for themselves, an act I am strongly against since I don’t believe record labels have the right to have side contracts with other music platforms in order to get more money for themselves and not the artist.

In recent music news, Thom Yorke, the lead singer from Radiohead, as well as their producer Nigel Godrich have recently taken down any and all of Thom’s side projects off of Spotify as a protest. These bands would include Atoms for Peace, Ultraista, and Thom’s solo project. In his Twitter outburst, Godrich stated their reason for leaving Spotify was that:

” The reason is that new artists get paid fuck all with this model.. It's an equation that just doesn't work”

Although Atoms for Piece is not a new artist, but rather a collaboration of various musicians consisting of Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Thom Yorke from Radiohead, Nigel Godrich, and Joey Waronker from R.E.M., they are standing for what they believe in, and not become another mindless cog in Spotify’s machine. Pink Floyd recently got their music on Spotify, and Godrich uses this to his advantage by stating the following:

“Pink Floyd's catalogue has already generated billions of dollars for someone (not necessarily the band) so now putting it on a streaming site makes total sense. But if people had been listening to Spotify instead of buying records in 1973, I doubt very much if "Dark Side..." would have been made. It would just be too expensive."

           

I agree with this whole heartedly because bands such as Pink Floyd and ACDC and Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones have already made the mark on history. They have generated millions of dollars in revenue, and putting their music on Spotify is smart because they are bound to have a huge cataloge of music that not everyone can own. But in the case of news bands or artists that are coming out with their first EP or their first full length album it just works against them. Yes they get their album on Spotify, yes this gives the new band the ability to have their music heard across the music streaming platform, but they won’t generate any income out of it, not a lot of it at least. They’ll make pennies, and pennies won’t pay the bills, or walk the dog, or even buy you dinner. Music streaming applications such as Spotify (and Pandora) need to come up with a better monetary scheme so that they can directly benefit the musicians that are putting their heart and soul into their work and spending money on recording time, and getting shows. They deserve it, more than anyone else 

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What I expect from Avenged Sevenfold's new album

            In recent music news, California hard rock band Avenged Sevenfold has announced that they will release their sixth album, Hail to the King, on August 27th of this year. Upon release, it will have been three years since their previous release Nightmare which was the first album without their drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan. The passing of their drummer and friend impacted the band dramatically, as it should for any band and it can be seen in the lyrical content of the album itself.

Arin Illejay behind the drumkit bearing the two deathbats

I personally consider this their first release after the Rev, and not Nightmare because I recall reading the Rev wrote out some of the drum parts for the album. Hail to the King will be the real test for the band to see what they can do with their new drummer Arin Illejay, from the metalcore band Confide. Avenged has had a few interviews regarding their first album and there have divulged a little bit of information concerning how the album will sound. Lead singer Matt Shadows has stated that the album is very riff oriented and very bare bones, mentioning that the band had to restrain themselves from adding more background vocals and accompanying melody lines in order to keep it much more raw and "badass".

The album art for the album Hail to the King

Their guitarist, Synyster Gates, has also mentioned that the songwriting on this record would be sonically better than previous records. He also mentions how impressive Arin is in terms of his groove and how the way he plays is exactly what the band was going for in their new album. I hope that is true because this is the true test for them in my book (but then again, who am I to judge?). After losing the Rev, I expected them to either disband or put out a low quality album. I was wrong and they put out an album that on par with the rest of their releases, but it was not the best. Hail to the King will show how much they were able to recover from the loss of the Rev, albeit it three years, and continue as musicians together. I am very much looking forward to Arin's contribution to the band because of his immense drumming talents and abilities. If there is one thing I have learned from band lineup changes, it is that the drummer is a huge part of the sound of the band. You could look at Paramore and compare the Riot! Album to their recent self titeld release. The band sounds completely different, not because of the mics, or the vocals, or even the guitars and bass, but because of the feel the drummer offered and lent to the songs.

The band has stated that they drew inspiration musically from Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath for this record. I feel that this album will have reflect that strongly. There will be less songs that resemble Beast and the Harlot and Almost Easy and more songs that will resemble Whole Lotta Love and Iron Man in terms of song structure. Avenged Sevenfold also released a thirty second song snippet (Found at the bottom), that fans are assuming is the title track to the album. As one can assume, the snippet is very riff oriented and the drums are loud and in your face. Shadows is also the only vocalist here, with no harmonies from the other band members (minus the Hey! Hey! in the background).

Bottom Line: This album is going to be a loud, in your face hard rock album. The band is going for an older approach with just one vocalist, and that is a huge change for them in comparison to the rest of their albums. It could almost be compared to Waking the Fallen in that respect. There will be less complex harmonies, and more of their focus will be centered around the riff and the overall presentation of the song. As far as the harmonized solos that Synyster and Zacky are known for, I feel that there will be less of them, but there might be less shredding solos and more melodic solos, such as the one in Gunslinger or maybe even Dear God. All I know is that this album will be one of the most anticipated albums for me next to the Winery Dogs.

Here is the link to the snippet. There other low quality ones surfing around the web, but this is the one from Avenged Sevenfold's Youtube Page.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRPiPb_UcdI

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A Degree in Heavy Metal

Today I read an article concerning New College in Nottingham, England and one of their academic programs. An article on "Ultimate Guitar.com" talked about the New College's latest degree, Heavy Metal. They say the degree will have its inception at the college this upcoming Fall school year. I delved a little into this topic, and I would like to provide what information I have found, as well as my thoughts on it.

As far as I know, this is pretty new for a college. I have never heard of a college having a degree for heavy metal, which to me, is a huge step in the genre as a whole as well as music. To obtain the degree it will take two years. The first year basically introduces heavy metal and all of its aspects. The classes go through the history of heavy metal, as well as their relations to religion and philosophy. The first year sound amazingly interesting to me. Regardless of whether it is analyzing the lyrics of a Black Sabbath song, or the background and meaning of a Metallica song, the first year sounds like a fantastic time. I feel that heavy metal was, and currently is, one of the most lyrically intense genres to date. They stray from extensively singing about love, or heart break or other topics that are popular in popular, rock n' roll, blues music etc. Instead, metal bands (I'm thinking old school 80's and 90's) chose to sing about religion or philosophy and other topics, which is what the course also covers. In the second year of the degree, the musicians write music together and are provided gigs to play and perform in. They tour Britain, a nation known for its music ever since the 60's, and basically play as many shows as they can.

I am having mixed feelings about this degree currently. Although I think it is a breakthrough in music and pushing boundaries, one can only wonder the credibility of this degree and how far it can take them. My position on music has always been use what you have, and get out there and do it. If you have a guitar or bass guitar, learn technique, rhythm, and most importantly, music theory. Music theory is the fiber that holds all the music together, and is the essential basis as to why music sounds like it does, and why some notes or chords sound good together and why others do not. It's as simple as that. If you are a drummer, practice drum rudiments, technique, learning how to utilize your kit of whatever size to its fullest potential. Singer? Practice how to harmonize and stay on pitch and try expanding your vocal range and try to project more. Whatever the instrument, one should practice it and practice and play with others and just get out there. Play crappy gigs at a club for five people, play your younger sister's sweet sixteen, play the benefit show for breast cancer. Get out there and take the opportunities that are just waiting to be taken. Save your lunch money to buy a better amplifier, or get a job to fund your band's demo along with the rest of the members. Make friends with other local bands to make playing shows all the more fun, hell book shows together if you want. Get out there.

I feel that a degree in heavy metal just prolongs that beautiful process. It does not matter if the degree is for heavy metal, folk music, country, rock n' roll, blues, jazz or whatever, I personally feel it restricts people. When I think of people going to college, I assume they are going to obtain a degree which will lead them to their career. How serious will a company or an employer take an applicant that has a heavy metal degree? Sadly, not very seriously. This is not to say the degree is useless, and one will never have a successful career in heavy metal, but it will not amaze other employers. I feel musicians should jam out, get together, work their asses off and get where they want to go through seizing opportunities and pushing themselves, just like anyone else would do for their dream job.

This is also not to say that nothing fruitful will come out of this venture. With all musicians, connections are important. They basically create the web of interaction that gets a musician on their feet and out there. In the video link provided at the bottom, Kurt mentions that he obtained a lot of connections through his time in Berklee, and how he still maintains contact with them to this day. Bands should run around selling their EP's and demos and get their name to record labels and get a manager. One can also put to test how much theory they know and utilize in creative manners with other musicians who are just as energetic and willing to make music. But if one is truly motivated to make it in the music business, they will find different chord progressions that make them stand out, different arpeggiations or different rhythms. They'll paint their musical canvases with deep intricate colors that paint a mellow picture or a somber scene or whatever they chose. These heavy metal musicians want to play some god damn heavy metal, and if that is what they truly want to do, they should get out there and do it. A two year course is not going to put them on the map, they won't start touring with huge heavy metal acts like Iron Maiden or Led Zeppelin, they'll tour with their 'classmates' and other heavy metal bands in Britain. Although they will make fantastic connections, they won't leave the college with a successful band and a career with a ten year contract and a four album record deal with hundreds of hours of studio time and sponsors. They'll end up with a piece of paper that says that obtained a two year degree in heavy metal. This degree is amazing, the breakthroughs in the education of heavy metal will be huge, but in the end, how much will it really help?

Link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QjN4K3KutV4 

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Innovation

I wish I knew what happened to innovation in music. What happened to pushing the envelope and completely revolutionizing music like what Miles Davis or Jimi Hendrix or Randy Rhoads did during their time as musicians? They tried to advance musically and do things that other musicians weren't doing. Miles was so influenced by Jimi and what he was doing in music, that in his live album "Live-Evil", Miles used an electric trumpet and a wah-wah pedal. That's a god damn Jazz musician getting out of his comfort zone of Bebop and Cool Jazz and Hard Bop and trying to do something different, something that no one else is doing at that moment in time. When I listened to that record, I thought he was playing a guitar and it sounded amazing. Hell Jimi is still regarded as one of the best guitarists of his time and of all time because of what he did with guitar. Being a left player and mixing rhythm guitar playing with lead guitar playing was just so different for his time. Hearing Purple Haze, or All Along the Watchtower or Hey Joe just shows his abilities as a musician and how creative and innovative he could be. These musicians did not conform to the concept of making their music simple, they made it different, they made it technical and soulful. The second Hendrix bends a note or Davis starts to play a melody you can hear everything one has ever wanted to hear in music. One can hear emotions and thoughts, practically conversation in the music.

I feel like musicians nowadays do not try to be different. They might change a few things here or there, but there is nothing revolutionary or amazing about them. I mean bands like Muse and Lostprophets push the envelope with the creativity and ingenuity. Muse's guitarist Bellamy uses a Khaoss pad on his guitar to get different sounds, and the band as a whole are super creative and innovative in their music. No two albums of theirs sounds alike. They are always doing something different, something new, they are the Miles Davis of the modern era in rock/ progressive music. I may not be biggest fan of Muse vocally, but they are fantastic instrumentally. Bands like these guys just don't seem to exist nearly as much as they did during the 60's and 70's and 80's and 90's. I feel that more musicians are trying to just get famous and not try anything new or different that can redefine them as bands. They stick to the same power chords and root notes and trite solos and try to make a living off of it. 

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Soul of Music

One of the things I cannot stand is when people play music without any feel at all. Music is an art, and art is passion. I remember hearing an interview with Paul Gilbert, guitarist for Racer X, Mr. Big, and his own solo work, saying that he didn't really feel anything when he places some of the music he has written. As a fellow musician, I cannot understand that. I cannot understand how someone can write something and not feel anything. Not the beauty of the arpeggios, the gut wrenching tug of notes and tones tied together in harmony creating a beautiful melody, the anger in heavy palm muted down strokes etc. This is not to attack Gilbert in any way, I merely used him as an example, but I have heard other local musicians say that they too do not feel anything when they play their music. This is not to say that one should just not listen to musicians that do not 'feel' their music, but to me personally it adds more flavor and zest to it all. They don't have to get into like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani or even Daron Malakian from System of a Down and make faces and whatnot, but at least show you care about the music you made and enjoy it. 

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Music's Image

Why does music have to have an image? Why do musicians have to look or act a certain way to get a record label? What is with the stereotypes that rock stars have to do drugs, and have lots of sex, or the stigma that all country artists wear cowboy hats and the whole cowboy, lone ranger shebang? This concept is one of the most annoying things I see when I see how record labels sign artists; by their "image."

Musicians should be judged based on their merits. How well they can play, not just as band, but as individuals. How well the drummer can play his beat, or how well the guitar or bass players play when a string snaps. They should be judged on how well they play it, and how much energy or a crowd they can draw. If a local band is drawing a huge crowd of people that want to watch them, why should it matter how they look? Why should it matter if they look like the belong in Led Zeppelin or Avenged Sevenfold? Last time I checked, people like good music, music that they are interested in or that they can relate to, looks should come second. I understand that if a musician looks good, a fan might be more drawn to the band, but that should not play a large factor if the person like the act or not.

I know bands that look like they do not belong in the "scene" they claim they are part of, but they sound amazing and sure as hell belong in that "scene". Those bands, those groups of people writing music in someone's basement or in a big recording space, those are really people. We were always told as kids to not judge a book by its cover, why should we do so when it comes to bands and signing then. I thought it was the content of the book that mattered, not the pretty looking digitally remastered cover that was done with Photoshop. I remember hearing how record labels signed bands, and maybe they still do it this way... I recall hearing how record labels would send out a representative into a club where they had local bands playing. They would dress how they chose, whether it be casual or professional. Then they would watch the full set, all the bands and groups that performed. If they liked what they see, they might go to another show or two of the bands of interests, and then if they still like what they hear, they will give them card as an offer and from there it is up to band. Why can they not do things like that anymore, listen to the music, feel the energy, hear the crowd signing these local songs as loud as they can.

Music is something that should be limited to how one looks. I look like a guy that listens to post hardcore or "emo" music (kind of), but I fucking love Rage Against the Machine, System of a Down, 311, Paramore, Foo Fighters etc with every fiber in my body and would kill to see any of these bands live. It just seems really stupid and illogical to judge a band by their looks, and not by what they are creating and making. Labels should be more focused on the sound of the music, and how both the artist and the label could benefit from such a partnership, and not how the lead singer's hair looks, or how "brutal" the band looks. Image shouldn't be a credential for a band, and damn the person who first thought it should. 

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Being a real musician

Probably ever since my sophomore year in high school, music judging shows have irritated me and made me sick. Shows like American Idol and the Voice and all the other (Insert country here) Idols/ Talents have made me cringe because they reject all the singers who have amazing talent and true vocal control and keep the ones that "might improve or might not". Why does some pompous Brit or some talentless singer have the right so judge what's considered good music and what sounds good? Post Hardcore sounds good to me, but it makes a few of my friends cover their ears in pain. My friend listens to Revocation, and although they are fantastic musicians, they aren't my cup of tea. That doesn't mean that they shouldn't make music, that just means I personally, in my own opinion, don't. The worst part is when people think they don't have enough talent to get on these T.V. Shows and get a record signing. They think that getting on these shows is the only way that they can get a label to recognize them. I recall a few months back seeing a quote from Bruce Dickinson that captivated this idea perfectly.

"I don't understand these kids auditioning for X-Factor claiming they 'Just wanna make music'. Cut the crap. Let me introduce you to the kid teaching himself how to play guitar...... the busker in the train station..... the guys and girls recording their own demos and playing the small venues..... the unpublished songwriter with countless books full of lyrics.... the people who just want to be heard, who want to express themselves, their creativity and their artistic worth. They are the ones who just want to make music! They are the real artists!
Anybody auditions for X Factor it's because they want to be famous! Period! Otherwise they'd already be out there 'Making Music'."

Bruce Dickinson, Frontman of Iron Maiden

           

Recently David Grohl had an interview where he too shared similar ideals as I do, as well as Dickinson. And it makes so much sense. People like different genres, styles, tones. They want what they will like, and they know what they want to hear. Not everyone wants to hear shitty pop music like One Direction or Justin Bieber or whoever who get 6 writers to help them write a song that has a chorus of one repeated phrase and shallow verse and a terrible bridge. People want to hear music that will touch them, that they can relate to, mosh to, dance to, sing to without caring who will hear them. I can confidently say that I can belt out half of the "Wasting Light" album by the Foo Fighters without caring who would hear me at my college. I just walk around singing "Rope" or "Arlandria" as best as I can in a talking voice, but that's another tale.

Musicians should write their own music, on their own, or with a band. They should put their blood, sweat and tears into their work and make it as real as they can. Never compromising or worrying about if their songs will get on the radio. In his keynote speech for the 2013 SXSW, David Grohl mentioned that musicians and artists should try to find their own voice. Finding the inner you, and putting a rhythm, a beat, a melody and harmony to it. Finding the right words to fit the mood, letting one's emotions and feelings take over themselves so that they can properly express how, or what they feel. That's finding your own voice, at least that's what it is to me. Musician's should book their own gigs and make it as far as their van or car or truck can take them. A local band in my area, Picture Perfect, play shows practically every weekend, and through their hard work and determination, they got two or three EP's out. They even partially toured the whole East Coast on many occasions. At the time, their youngest member was a sophomore in high school... Being in a band, getting signed, pumping out albums, it's a job. Therefore, the effort should be put into it. For me personally, it's something to do on the side until I get it fully up and running. I want to learn how to play drums so I can record a full band experience by myself. Who knows, if I can hone my voice, I might even do vocals. But no matter what I come up with, I know that I will have made it, not someone else. I wouldn't have paid someone $100 bucks to write a verse for me, because at that very moment, when I hand over the money, I know I will become another dispensable cog in the machine. 

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