Animals with Rhythm

What would you think of having a seal as a conductor?  I, personally really love studying animal behavior and their capabilities, so I thought, why not see if animals have rhythm? Take this California Sea lion for example:
Our local University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) actually did a study on this (shown above) on animals being able to keep rhythm! He described how they trained Ronan the sea lion to move her head in time to rhythmic sounds. When they first trained Ronan, they used a simple repetitive metronome sound, and rewarded her for her head-bobbing motion in time. After learning this, without further training, she was able to keep a constant rhythm and find the beat in different tempo songs. (Isn't it amazing?!) The only other animal that has been seen to keep a rhythm like this are parrots and other such animals. This created the belief that only animals with vocal mimicry could keep tempo. But because Ronan cannot do that, she disproves that fact. Sea lions are now the only known mammal other than humans to keep a beat (thanks to UCSC! (: ). An interesting topic to do further research upon, is what part of their brain allows them, parrots, and humans to do this?

A while ago, while browsing in the depths of YouTube, I came across a video of a cockatoo bird dancing to the song "Gangnam Style." At the time I thought nothing of it, other than, 'look, that bird is dancing to the song!' What never struck me was how it was bobbing its whole body and swishing its head from side to side in time. When cockatoos are very happy, excited, or angry, they fan out the feathers on their head (the difference between excited and angry is very clear, so don't think the song is making the bird angry). You can see the little bird clearly gets so excited when he hears the song that he can't contain himself, and has to start opening his wings, and fanning his feathers in excitement. I just found it very fascinating and amazing how music can make not only people feel good, but animals too! It's interesting too because most videos of birds dancing to music are specifically with the cockatoo bird. Maybe they are more responsive to it? I probably shouldn't be surprised, these birds are highly intelligent, and live to be 60+ years on average, with proper care. Here's some videos of cockatoos dancing to music, because who doesn't love it? :D


The one on the right really loves elvis, and the one on the left is embarrassed.

So, this just proves how rhythm in the animal kingdom is much greater than we thought it was. I hope some more research goes into this, it's really fascinating, and a great topic for research.

Mohini Batish

What Counts as "Music?"

        One of the main things my dad and I argue about is our music tastes.  I am very mainstream.  I like Top 40, trap, and rap/hiphop.  My father on the other hand likes folk, classic rock, and bluegrass.  He always asks me "Why do you like this crap? It's not REAL music!"  And so the question dawned upon me.  WHAT IS MUSIC?  Some believe that "real music" is anything musical.  Some believe "real music" only was produced during a certain time period.  Some believe that "real music" is the stuff that they listen to and that's it.  But I believe that music is anything that the artist has created with some sort of emotion to motivate them.  If it's heart-break, happiness, or just the pure enjoyment of creating something musical.  I, also, believe that music is something that the listener is given something by it.  If it's a sense of relation, a message, or just an emotion (like joy or sadness)  And in conclusion, if the music is meaningful to someone.  That can be the artist or the listener.  It doesn't matter if someone doesn't constitute it as "real music," if it means something to you that's your "real music."

Lemonade: Beyonce's Legacy

        Beyonce dropped an album very casually on April 23rd. Unfortunately, her new album is only on Tidal, a music app created by her husband, so I have only been able to listen to small amounts of each song.  But from what I have listened to, IT IS ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING.  She has put so much emotion behind each song and if you've heard it you'd know what I mean.  The emotion is so intense that at points her voice has cracked, yet she still sounds amazing!  Also, every single song on her album is COMPLETELY different.  She goes from Pop to Country to just screaming into the mic.  AND SHE HAS DONE IT SO MASTERFULLY!  And THAT, the ability to create something with so much emotion and in different genres, is TRUE TALENT!  

When The world Ends

This song was made for me when I was performing my dance solo for the YAGP. This song to me showed a story. The story was a man who hated worked and he wanted to break free and this song helps the meaning. The Music of the song is what gives the character life. Words are not always the point of a dance but the rythm and sound of the music it self is what gave me the passion to do more thing like this. The story I told was a man who hated his work life. He was high class and famous but hated it all and wanted freedom. He was pulling away from the side that he wanted to get away from but the other force was pulling him back. Soon it was a fight for control and the music gave it life. The slow parts was him breaking the chains and the fast parts were him breaking out from the force keeping him. The end shows the man defeated and the other side winning but the last you see is him (or me in this case) throwing his handkerchief away as that last sign of freedom saying "You beat me now, but I am still here, ready to fight again." The music was giving everything life and that is why dance means so much cause of the music you hear.
Here is the link to the song Enjoy! When the World ends song

Tech N9ne

So this is going to be a weird post for me but I want to share some advice that was learned the hard way.

When someone tells you to go to a concert because they think it will be a lot of fun and that the music will be awesome, you can NEVER be too hesitant. Always listen to an artist a bunch before you hear them live. Not only will it be more exciting to hear your favorite songs live, but you will also know what is happening. AND you will know what the words are to the songs even if the base is too loud for you to actually hear them. Additionally, plan ahead before spending 40$ on anything, no matter what it is. Do your research. Make sure you have friends are going ahead of time. Assume nothing. Make sure you know what kind of crowd is going to be listening to the music and that they aren't a bunch of old men that look very intimidating and only wear all black. If you like going to concerts to dance, make sure that you have that option. You would be surprised how many people can stand perfectly still for hours on end, filling up an entire concert hall. Another tip, concerts that are extremely overcrowded to the point where you can't move and trying to go to the restroom takes 30 minutes are also not the best option. Also if you think that the artist you liked used to be popular and fun and hip you should ALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT THEY STILL ARE. TIME GOES BY VERY FAST YOU NEVER KNOW HOW OLD YOU ARE. All in all I had a very strange experience this weekend at the Tech N9ne concert and I would never want the same thing to happen to any of you. I hope this could be of use to any of you hoping to go to more concerts and get into new music.

Spain's Got Talent

So, watch this...everyone though actually watch it it's absolutely amazing. I can't even describe what it is really.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv6jiqVmmSI

Importance of music in movies

Right now in English we're doing the film studies unit (favorite unit by far, we straight up just watch movies in class). After we watch a movie, we have a short discussion about it. Usually they aren't that extensive because it's the morning and we would much rather be sleeping, but today we discussed the movie Alien (which we had to watch at home on our own time for very obvious reasons). One big portion of the discussion and analysis of the movie was the effect of music and sound.

For those of you who don't know, a) come out from under your rock it's 2016, b) it's about a crew in space who encounters an alien and (spoiler alert) they all get killed except for one.

Back to the point of this post: music and sound play a crucial part in creating the atmosphere and feeling of horror. Not just in Alien, music sets up many scenes and what is going to happen in them. If you watch a horror movie, or any movie really, without sound or with out music, you're basically just watching people walk around.

The significance of "Man in the Mirror"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5ps

 When I first found out we were singing 'Man in the Mirror' for our classic rock concert I was not very excited. It's not that I didn't think it was a good song, I just thought it was not very interesting because the only lines I knew were "I'm starting with the man in the mirror." However, as we have learned it I started to pay more attention to the lyrics and became intrigued. When I found the music video for the song a was really amazing. I think the most intriguing part of the music video is that the artist, Michael Jackson himself, is not in it! What the video does focus on is social problems from all around the world, including malnourished children in small villages, homeless families in the urban landscape, and black youth protesting racial discrimination. What I think is really revolutionary about Michael Jackson’s video is that is includes a lot of scenes from civil rights protests. Thanks to APUSH I know that the majority of black civil rights movements took place in the 60s. The Man in the Mirror music video came out in the late 80s. It is shocking to realize that the music video came out only a little over twenty years later! Some of the civil rights protest the music video captures are the march on Selma and police brutality against African American protesters. I think the video does a great job of noting how far society has come, but how it still has a much farther way to go. Fair warning, the video is a little sad to watch, but presents a really important message that there are problems in this world that are not going to go away unless we all help.

One of the biggest debates that often occurs between students and parents it seems (or at least between me and my parents), is whether music can be helpful or harmful when concentrating on something important like studying. This issue is attracting the attention of many magazines and newspapers, and it is pretty easy to find articles both for and against the use of music while trying to concentrate. In my personal opinion, and feel free to argue with me about this, it is distracting to have music while working. The thing is. People naturally want to connect with music. Especially if it is music you like, which I assume it would be if you are listening to it while you work, it is a natural tendency to become actively involved with music. If it is music with lyrics, the obvious temptation is to sing along, but even if it doesn't have lyrics, I find myself wanting to just sit back a listen without any distraction from the music, and therefore music actually becomes the distraction. However, living with a brother and a dad who play electric guitar at all hours, I completely understand the need to drown out noise. I find what is the most helpful is listening to either white noise, or recorded nature sounds like the ocean or the rain. This allows your brain to block out noises that may distract you, and listen to something simple and monotonous, but not irritating, as an alternative for music.

Effects of Singing in a Choir

Singing and singing in choirs is extremely exhilarating for anyone who does it. When people sing, their bodies release endorphins and Oxycontin which make people happy and energized. Singing in a group makes the individual forget about what is going on in the outside world and completely focus on what is going on within the choir. In this TIME article, the positive effects of singing in choirs are explained and I absolutuely agree with what is said in the articular. When I sing in choir, I don't mind that my voice is the best. As long as everyone in the group is hitting the right notes, the whole choir will sound good regardless of how the voice of the individual is.

Positive Effects of Choirs

Otolaryngology

Since winter, I’ve had a sore throat on and off. It was so random and intermittent that I never knew what to do about it. One day I’d be ready to schedule a doctor’s appointment and the next day I’d feel totally fine. Some days I felt no pain, and others I felt like my throat was being sliced every time I swallowed. Eventually I did go to the doctor, who didn’t know what was going on. She thought I might have mono, but I tested negative. She also suggested it could be allergies, but I didn’t have any nasal symptoms. Finally she referred me to and Ears, Nose and Throat doctor, more specifically an Otolaryngologist. So, on senior ditch day, I legitimately went to the doctor in the morning.

I had no idea what they were going to do. First they gave me a questionnaire, where I had to answer questions about whether or not I smoked, drank coffee, drank alcohol, worked in hazardous conditions, or had “stress” in my life. There were also questions about how long my throat had been sore, and if my voice had ever returned to normal during the time period. After I filled this out, the doctor came in, asked me a few similar questions, and then told me that he was going to look at my vocal chords.  I was surprised to find out that this meant sticking a tiny camera on a bendy stick up my nose and down my throat. It didn’t hurt too bad, but I’m glad I only got a few seconds to process it before it happened, otherwise just thinking about the concept beforehand would make me too anxious to go through with it. It felt uncomfortable, and it felt like a nosebleed. While it was in my nose/throat (?) the doctor recorded a video of what he was seeing, while he asked me to sing “Eeeee” at different pitches. Afterwards, I watched a video of my vocal chords with him. This was really cool!

My vocal chords were “normal,” but the throat area around them was inflamed and swollen. Also, while my vocal chords themselves were fine, he pointed out that in my “relaxed” state (not phonating) my vocal chords don’t close all the way like they should. He said that this wasn’t necessarily inherent, but rather that my vocal chords were experiencing tension.

Tension could come from a lot of things. It could be bad breathing patterns (like breathing through my mouth when I sleep even), not hydrating enough, singing with poor technique, or a combination of all these things. I definitely think that this is due to a combination of things… I’ve never worked with anyone one on one about singing techniques, I sing a lot, I yell a decent amount, I breathe through my mouth and I clear my throat often.

The doctor suggested vocal rest for four weeks: no singing, no yelling, no whispering. I told him that I really wanted to be able to sing for my last choir concert ever in high school as well as my graduation, and he told me in that case go ahead. Because I’m young and the problem isn’t that severe, he told me to wait till June to do that regime. However, right now, my instructions are to drink water frequently throughout the day, take a break from singing if I feel pain, not to yell, and to stop clearing my throat. It is harder than I thought it would be.

All of this was really interesting to me, and for the first time ever I considered being a doctor in the future. I think it is probably important for any singer to think about how they treat their vocal chords, and maybe avoid the problem I’ve had by simply understanding a bit more about vocal chords.

Albums vs. The Internet

      I came up with the idea for this blog post a while ago. We were figuring out what order to put the songs for one of our concerts in, when it struck me that a large part of music is finding a logical and/or meaningful order for one's albums. I then realized I had almost never listened, without interruption or distraction, an entire album. I think this is mainly because of the increase in technology and how accessible music is nowadays, you can just hit shuffle and have a variety of music at your fingertips, but isn’t something lost in the process? It is almost impossible to listen to individual tracks from Pink floyd's Dark Side of the Moon because he made the entire album seem part of one song. He repeats the same musical themes in different tracks making them flow perfectly one after another, without listening to the whole album you can’t fully appreciate it. Even if there is not such an obvious need to listen to an entire album, the artists still put in the effort to set up the album in a way that would express themselves, or create a feeling. I encourage you, sometime this week, if you have time, to listen to an album and see if it makes you more appreciative of the artist.

Music, Studying, and Stress

The two weeks of AP testing are some of the most stressful, in my opinion. When I'm stressed, I like to listen to music because it is calming and makes me forget all of the studying and reading and essay-writing I need to do. Other times, I put it on as background noise when I study, because silence makes me anxious. In a recent article I read, I learned that there were a few different types of music to help reduce stress and encourage studying. One: singing and/or loud, upbeat music. This is the more obvious way of releasing stress and aiding in focus, because it is energetic and makes you want to dance. It keeps you alert when you are doing a task, and is especially helpful for when you don't go to bed until 2 A.M. because you need to finish that English essay you'd been putting off until the last day. Two: "Meditative" Music. I call this "meditative" because it is more calming and relaxing. Normally there's no obvious beat, and you can think of it as any non-upbeat music, for stress-relieving purposes. A lot of times, this type of music is set up in correlation to nature sounds, like rain or thunder. Both of these types of music are effective, depending on what you are studying, when, how long, and your taste in music. For me, I use both. For the subjects that bore me, I listen to upbeat music because it prevents me from being bored, but for subjects I like, I'll normally listen to nature sounds or more relaxing music.

Good luck on the rest of your APs!

Master Class

About a month ago, I went to go see Jewel Theater Company's rendition of Master Class by Terrence McNally. I went mostly because a friend of the family was starring in the lead role, but it kind of became about more than just that.
I wasn't expecting to find a lot of the same things I've learned in choir and voice lessons repeated onstage that night, nor was I expecting to find a story about an Icarus-inspired opera singer to be so interesting.
Master Class is a play about Maria Callas, one of the most famous opera singers in the 20th century. Throughout it, she gives an, as titled, master class to some students at Julliard. There are multiple operas performed within the play, all famous ones, and a slightly embellished backstory is woven in among the lyrics.
It's an absolutely beautiful play, and some of the lessons Maria gives the students throughout it are absolutely important for not just opera, but any type of singing. I'd definitely go see it again if I had the chance.

Who Doesn't Like a Musical?

Musicals have always been my favorite thing in the world, I just couldn't be the same without them. Musicals have taught me to be expressive, optimistic, and creative. Musicals (as we know them now) have been around since the 19th century. Musicals are a combination of acting, singing and dancing. My favorite musicals of all are Rent, Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera, Hairspray, Grease, Little Shop of horrors, and Cats. I personally feel that musicals can brighten someone's day with all the music and creativity. I also believe that musicals can bring people together, right now I’m currently in a musical production of cats and I’ve made friends that I never would believe that I could have made without being in the production I’m currently in. I hope that in my future I will be able to participate in many musicals and be able to show other people how amazing and wonderful musicals can be.

What Is Classic Rock?

In order to get ready for the next concert, Classic Rock, I have been listening to a lot of the classic and most well known bands that my parents used to play when I was younger such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Queen and many many more. However, when I was talking with my friends about music, one of them brought up the fact that back when the songs first came out, they weren't necessarily considered "classic" or even "rock" depending on the band but it was called "pop" music instead. They also pointed out how music today that is defined as "pop" really isn't music but rather machines making a series of noises. So is there an actual definition to "classic rock" and "pop" music or are we going to have a genre in the future known as "classic electronic"?

Well, after doing a small amount of research, the short answer is that the quality that makes classic rock “classic” is that it has nostalgic qualities to a majority of listeners old and young. What makes it “rock” is really up to the listener because that can mean so many things depending on what band you liked from the era. However I also believe there could be a lot more to an explanation of the genre. Any thoughts?

The Benefits of Music Classes

At my previous school, there was a choir program, but it was really only for around third grade and below. (Now, there is a class for seventh and eighth grade, but it is not highly enrolled.) So, I had not experienced a typical choir class until last year when I joined choir here at PCS. It seems like lots of schools have a visual arts or drama program, but not necessarily successful choir classes. I do not really understand why they don’t continue these classes, but I found an article with reasons why music classes should be kept. Some of the reasons include better memorization, students engage in school better with an “enjoyable subject,” a sense of achievement, and better coordination (musical instruments). These all made sense to me because usually people’s art class is the one they enjoy the most, learning sheet music practices memorizing, etc. But, some of the points that the article made were really interesting, and I had never really thought about them before. For example, music students are apparently better with dealing with anxiety, because they are more emotionally developed. Another one that is interesting is that learning music can build self confidence. To me, this one seems a little weird because you are putting yourself out there by singing in front of a group of people, but I guess it makes you more used to it, which will increase self confidence in the long run. Some of the reasons to take music are really interesting, and I are difficult to understand why they are the case. The article says that band and orchestra members are less likely to have substance issues later in life, because our society is built around music, and taking music class “builds character.” Also apparently music students score higher on the SAT, so that’s pretty cool. This article was very interesting to read, and it made me think about the benefits of music, and question why it is not a common form of art taught at schools. Here’s the article and I really recommend it: http://www.nafme.org/20-important-benefits-of-music-in-our-schools/

One thing I have always found interesting is the way in which some modern artists, remixers and producers, are often able to artfully combine different genre's. Whether they are making a remix, mashup, or simply sampling for an original piece, the use of  seems to have become a whole new dimension of the digital aspects of the art to intersperse older music from the 1930's through the 1960's into contemporary music, allowing the artist to capture both the unique sounds of the oldies, and a more contemporary sound at the same time.
You might ask how this directly relates to our choir? Well one great example of this temporal-musical syncretism was actually performed by the trap artist, Hucci, who did a phenomenal remix of the Mommas and Poppas song "California Dreamin'" called "The Leaves are Brown". What I find so great about this song is that it manages to preserve the overall feel of the original song by the Mommas and Poppas, the nostalgic air and semi-sweet melancholy which made it such a hit in the first place. While also transforming it into what is immediately recognizable as another hit by one of the most successful trap artists in the world.
If you're interested in listening to what I'm talking about there's a link below:
https://soundcloud.com/hucci/the-leaves-are-brown

This semester I'm in Mr. Hunt's seminar, Albums Worth Hearing. It's really great, and we listen to tons of diverse stuff. There was one French experimental album, one punk-feminist album, all sorts of really great stuff. My favorite so far, though is Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone. It's the only album released by a Canadian band called The Unicorns.

It is fantastic.

The idea is that the album goes along parallel to life. It is at times silly, at times poignant, at times dark, and always catchy. Mr. Hunt's albums are the only 'obscure' things I listen to, but this album is incredible. There is something about just sitting down and listening to it, though, because you're able to focus on the arc of the album and really focus on each song, the lyrics and the different musical elements.

My favorite songs are "Tuff Luff" and "I Was Born (A Unicorn)." I'm not sure what it is about the word "unicorn" that makes me automatically inclined to like something - probably some kind of nostalgia from a Barbie movie I used to watch. This album is really something to listen to because as much as I enjoyed just listening to it the first time, I've heard it about twenty times now and I still hear something new every time.

This is a link for "Tuff Luff" but it's soooo much better in context!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHz3klah2t8

When life hands you a choir class

Instead of vacationing or relaxing, my mom and I visited schools this year over Spring Break. And I sat in on classes if the school let me. The classes I chose were purely academic. But then at the end of our trip we had an extra day in Washington, so we decided to check out University of Puget Sound. Since the whole thing was last minute, there was no itinerary laid out for me, but there was a tour about to take place. As it so happened, one of the students helping perspectives check in was about to go to her next class. And her next class was choir. I began chit-chatting with her, and she asked me where I’m from, and how big my school is…and what part I sing and what type of choir I’m in. You know, the usual haha. Anyways, she offered to let me tag along, and explained that I could just catch a later tour. I figured that this would probably be my only chance to see a course at this school. And after a week of “break” spent sitting in classrooms, I was totally fine with going to music instead of ANOTHER english class. So I went with the flow. She showed me the locker rooms inside the music department on the way to class, which I’m noting here only because it was cool to see the different sized lockers given out based on a student’s instrument and a definitive non-competitive atmosphere, which can be hard to find in the world of performing arts. Anyways, the choir class was awesome. They let ME sing with them. It was a mixed choir, which was a new experience because I’ve only ever sung with guys for finales and intros. It was the top choir at the school, so naturally the student’s voices were very cohesive with each other. They were not only accurate, but melodious as well. I, of course, had to “sight read” aka not sing the first time through and pick it up by ear and with my basic solfegg skills so that I could do it whenever we made it back. But the girls I was singing next to were super friendly and not at all standoffish. It really felt like a choir I wouldn’t mind being a part of (and I was slightly impressed with myself for ~mostly~ being able to keep up). I thanked the director at the end for letting me sing with his choir, and he was super sweet. Moral of the story for me was that although I had been considering taking choir in college, I definitely am going to now no matter where I end up. The whole thing was just really fun. And since I hadn’t considered myself prepared musically for a more advanced choir, it’s nice to know how that I can do just fine and that I wouldn't be the runt. I will most definitely not major in music, but I will most definitely continue to sing in choir.