Overview

This class turned out to be nothing like I expected, in a good way. It is great to see a class with so much constant interaction. It could be the fact that this class was during the summer, but I've never seen a class with so much active interest. Another first for me was the public blogging aspect of the course. I had mentioned my class at UCLA with some posting involved there, but it was quite different in the fact that there was little interaction between students. Having said this, I hope that everyone has good fortune in their future endeavors in life. I encourage you to keep an eye out for my band at myspace.com/approachingzenith as well!! Thanks for a very entertaining course!

Mike Greenwood

Keywords

It seems that many of my posts over this class have revolved back to music, so I figured this topic would suffice:

Music

This Keyword originally derives from the Greek mousikē, which was any art presided over by the Muses. The original usage for the word was translated through Latin and French before the modern English form was used. As forms of entertainment through the arts were limited in Ancient Greece, the meaning of this general term grew into something completely unique during the course of history. Music has adapted and taken shape to every technological and cultural influence on Earth. It makes perfect sense that this word has evolved forward into the meanings it takes on today.

As I mentioned in a previous post, music is something that can unite a people on a huge level. The reason for this is due to the many traits taken on by music. The first one easily being the sounds produced by patterns of chords, rhythm, and melody. Chords are the qualities that give the sounds their own unique pitches, while rhythm contains the pulsating beat that drives the song. The melody is a series of harmonic tones that flow well with the rest of the natural “chord progression”. The placement of these tones is what helps us remember one song from another. The only thing left out here is the instrument itself.

Without some form of instrument, these intriguing auditory occurrences would be impossible. This is where music and globalization come together. The instruments used to produce music vary in infinite possibilities, largely relating to the region in which the music is being played. Whether it be the Indian sitar, the American banjo, or Chinese pipa, all of these instruments use plucked strings to produce unique tonal vibrations. Depending on the melodic form of a song, different emotions can be brought forth through music. This idea of feelings produced by music gives way for the other meanings of the word.

Music is used in modern conversation as a representation of the emotions behind the words themselves. Many have heard the phrase, “It was music to my ears”. Using music in this way is meant to represent happiness in a situation of pure satisfaction. Some might be told to “face the music”, in which they would be judged for a series of unwanted actions. The polarity of this statement can represent how musical feeling is developed on every level.

Music, like auditory speech, can be notated on paper. The interesting point here is that this word survives the transformation from auditory to visual form. Spoken word is changed into the world of writing and grammar when it is translated onto paper. Also known as sheet music, scattered circular markings across waves of lines dictates which specific notes are to be played. These lines can be read as increments of time, as the notes must be played in coordination with the beat listed on the first page. During the Renaissance, the time signature was determined by a single emotion; dictated at the top of the masterpiece. In our society, time is determined by a specific number. 120 beats per minute is known as standard time.

It is not out of the realm to say that music can associate with identity, culture, and globalization. The use of music in a specific country makes the people of that country unique. Each society on this planet has a musical history that has adapted to their surroundings; with instruments made from mother nature, and emotional sounds passed down for generations. For many, music has reached the limits of religion itself. The amazing thing about music is that no matter how torn apart the world may become, this auditory phenomenon is something that us humans relate to on a global scale.


Thanks for a great course,
Mike Greenwood

Sources:
Merriam-Webster and OED online Dictionaries
The UCLA Ethnomusicology Archives

Heeding The Call

This is a picture of my version of Call of Duty 4. My personal experiences with through this game have led me to write this post.

Let me begin my post by creating a scenario. Todd Thompson is starting his first year at USC, and is very enthusiastic about getting his degree in Rich Parenting. As the first semester pushes forward, Todd realizes that this supposedly great school is in the middle of the ghetto. He fears for his life on a daily basis, leading him to revert back to what feels most comfortable to him. He stays inside his dorm room all day and plays Call of Duty 4 for the Xbox360. After feeling the rush of his first deathmatch victory, he only leaves his room for food from that point on. At the end of his first semester at USC, Todd Thompson is kicked out of school for failing all of his classes. Being that Todd was just kicked out of the University of Second Choice, his father gives him a second chance at Chapman University. Does Todd have what it takes to manage his personal call to duty?

Unfortunately for Todd, the moment he decided to purchase his own Call of Duty 4 sealed his fate forever. Let me transition now by explaining this game to those who are not as familiar with it. “Call of Duty” has been a series of military video games set in varying time periods. The first few versions of this game revolved around the stages of World Wars I and II. From your character’s first person viewpoint, you would be dumped off at places like Omaha beach, scurrying up the frantic hill towards the safety of the bunkers within. A long, winding close quarters battle would then take place, as your character would overcome insurmountable odds to achieve victory. This idea has been taken and shifted for the worst.

The most recent Call of Duty game is set in the near future. You play as Special Forces units in war-torn Russia and in the Middle-East. As you play through the game, plenty of Russian and Middle-Eastern stereotypes are present, and one of your characters is killed in the storyline by a terrorist-owned nuclear bomb. Having said that, the main attraction for this game lies within the multiplayer feature. The game producers came up with a genius system for online gameplay. Playing against other human opponents from across the globe has been a recent craze in the world of gaming, and the developers took this idea to the next level. As your character plays more “ranked” online matches, he gains experience points and military ranks. These ranks allow you to use new weapons and special features for your character. When you reach the highest level, you can earn your first prestige… and start all over again… Each prestige takes hours and hours of gameplay to reach, and there are TEN of them… This system, along with great graphics and the natural human drive to compete make Call of Duty 4 the most dangerous of games.

What makes this simple disk so dangerous? A multitude of reasons could provide an answer for this. I’ll start with something I briefly mentioned above. It is part of human nature to compete in some form or another. This game gives an outlet for gamers to feel good about themselves for sneaking up behind another player and knifing him in the back. The addition to headsets in this game adds the “trash-talking” aspect to this competition. After killing a friend, or even a completely random person, it is common for derogative verbal interaction to occur between those players. You could think of globalization through this game, but certainly not in a good way. Many Europeans have found interest in this game, and it is common to hear banter between Americans and them. The British take the majority of the punishment, as the non-English speaking players tend to stay quiet. Constant taunting of British accents and talk of tea and crumpets is disturbingly commonplace. I feel ashamed to call myself American in times like this, as it puts a label of ignorance directly on our foreheads.

Along with this twisted competition, the “rank” system would be my other main observation about the addictive properties to this game. At the end of each match, you can easily press one button and check your online stats. In this window, you can compare yourself to the rest of your friends, not to mention the entire world. Everyone knows the best players in the game, and they actually GIVE LESSONS in their downtime to earn money. When you are playing to earn promotions and get medals, every game is as intense as the last one. Depending on how you play from match to match, bonus points are given throughout the game to help boost your rankings. The false idea of all of these points flying around is what sets the trap. What people have to realize is that everyone is getting this array of points and promotions etc… In the grand scheme of things, you’re really just stuck in the middle of a never-ending cycle. Regardless, once you have begun your quest for that tenth prestige, you won’t just simply set down your controller and walk away, right?

From the inspirational US Army figures on the front cover to the genuine human ignorance and hatred brought out by the game itself; Call of Duty 4 has not only shaped the new gaming world, but has given millions of people around the world a new habit to break. Thanks Microsoft! Oh yea, and if I hadn’t stated this clearly enough, USC can go to hell.

The Virtual Audience

Along with this almost “ideal” artistic medium brought forth by Second Life, the issue of attracting an audience is surely important in the minds of the artists. From our earlier interviews with our group, a common theme seemed to be the issue of expectance in a world where you can be anyone you want to be. In a world full of struggling artists today, along with the decline of many record companies, turning to something like Second Life would seem like a legitimate move for some. Second Life is full of very open members who could relate to a struggling artist searching for online acceptance. Just like the example we discussed in class a few weeks ago, people do attract a virtual following through this game. If you step back and think about it, is this audience really virtual? Or could someone actually be successful in making the transition from this “fake” life into the real world?

In my opinion, the minute your first Second Life fan is achieved, your fate is already sealed. If someone has to remain in this virtual world to seek acceptance of their art, they will be surely blown away when trying to get noticed in the real world. The issue lies in the fact that Second Life is nowhere close to representing our world. In the world we live in, one must persistently promote him/herself to a wide variety of audiences. One must also learn to take rejection and learn/improve from it, so that they can mold their art to the liking of a large audience. This takes lots of time and patience, which can never be fully encompassed by Second Life. That world is full of an audience who will offer little insight into the real world, as it is an audience who spends much of their life in front of a computer screen. It’s almost sad for me to try and take some of these artists seriously, because I know that the bounds of human imagination have been trapped into this bubble known as Second Life.

The Artistic Medium

While exploring the truly interesting world of Second Life, I couldn’t help notice many different examples of “medium”. The most prevalent in my mind was through the arts. I’ve come to notice that many people use Second Life as an artistic medium. Being that Second Life is a visual chat room, more or less, any additional audio or eye-catchers help draw attention to specific members. I will talk about that more in my next post about audience. Using the arts in Second Life separates members apart, making an individual member unique in this strangely similar world. Through my discoveries thus far, being good at a specific artistic talent can draw a lot of attention, just like in the real world. Along with that, one must put forth a lot of effort into promoting him/herself so that more people can be aware of these talents. The ability to post personal artwork and music easily in Second Life gives the virtual artist slightly more of an edge over the real-life artist. With a cheap cost involved, anyone can promote their own music or artwork by posting it all over the world of second life. The streaming media feature will automatically stream the music for those who are nearby. This idea of easy recognition may be a reason many artists turn to second life for their own personal artistic medium.

Project Update: Second Life (SL)

At first, we were completely clueless as to what we needed to do in order to get adequate information. After about 30 minutes of aimless wandering, we came across one helpful "second-lifer". We met her on the Journey Fan Club Island, and had a long and informative conversation on how the game plays a role in her life. Through this conversation, we could see how the keywords of ideology and identity play a significant role in this second life. Out of everything we got out of her, there was one topic we found particularly interesting. She talked about how she had a husband on second life, and how they both "plead the fifth" on if they have a real life marriage. This idea of a virtual affair is quite interesting. We don't want to spoil too much of what we discovered, but one other comment roused our interest. Someone mentioned that the best way to meet people in second life was to search "free sex". We thought it was a curious statement, which reflects the game's ability to allow you to play out your every fantasy. We wonder if this is a common use of "SL". We plan to further investigate the motivations behind creating this second life.

Music and Culture

Seeing that culture has been a popular topic of conversation lately, I thought I would incorporate my knowledge in music to connect the two together. As we proved today, the topic of culture could be taken apart into many specific areas. My analysis is only addressing one of these areas, which is this connection between music and the contrasting generations of society. Although there are noticeable differences between these generations(whether it be fashion, manners, or use of technology), music’s undeniable test of time can bring out eerily similar connections between people of completely different generations. The key lies within the emotion behind the music.

Dating back to the days of Mozart and Beethoven, music has always been the same. The use of flowing sequences of what we now call chords can give, and always have given a song a unique emotion. The feelings given from a song hit a listener on much more than a superficial level. These musical emotions can be paired with similar emotions inside all of us, which is why certain songs speak to us more than others. The only thing that has changed over time is the rhythmic “disguise” given to a song to deliver this emotion in a socially acceptable manner.

After intensely working with music for the majority of my life, I found myself discovering more and more of these unique musical connections. From meeting people seeing their reaction to different music over time, I have been able to understand them on an entirely different level. There are people in the world who connect to songs that bring out the hatred and heartache for something in the past, whether that is expressed through the chords and lyrics of a 60’s Hendrix piece or an Infected Mushroom techno production. The point here is that these people are connected by the emotions underlying the two very different song styles. On the other side of the spectrum, the upbeat feeling of a Beethoven masterpiece can reach someone on the same level as a cheery pop song. People can be seen very differently from their initial “judgmented” appearance in this regard. For instance, I met a bouncer at a local show we were opening for. As I stood next to this large man, covered in tattoos and wearing all black, he was bouncing his head and grinning to a petite Marie Digby playing light hearted acoustic pop. He turned to me and said, “I really love her, she does such a great job”. After some continued conversation, the guy was really nice and truly had all the best intentions in the world.

All I would say after my observations is this: If you find yourself going to a concert to see a favorite artist, take in the entire experience. Meet some of the people around you, enjoy the energetic setting of a live production of music and lights. You may be surprised as to connections you could make between completely random people. From what I’ve observed thus far, the connections of music in our society are undeniable.

Cheers,
Mike Greenwood

****If you click on "complete profile" you can hear one of the new songs my band has coming out by clicking on the Audio link.