I just finished the last chapter in "This Is Your Brain On Music" called The Music Instinct.  This is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting chapters in the book.  It talks about the origins of music and how and why it might have been created.  One of the main topics discussed is the reason that music has lasted so long throughout human existence and evolution.

 Levitin discusses evolution and other theories of what scientists believe to be the origin of music.  One of the theories that was brought up was that music is a by-product of human's ability of language and communicating emotion.  It explains that most traits and behaviors are evolutionary adaptions and have clear evolutionary purposes, and then, found very rarely, there are attributes or traits that have no clear purpose or basis, such as the ability of musical creation or musical talent.  Levitin says that the adaption of such a trait "occurs when evolutionary forces propagate an adaption for a particular reason, and something else comes along for the ride, what Stephen Jay Gould called a spandrel, borrowing the term from architecture."

I thought considering music a spandrel, a mistake, or a by-product of human existence is an interesting theory.  An analogy that is made is that "birds evolved feathers to keep warm, but they coopted the feathers for another purpose - flying.  This is a spandrel."

    Over the weekend I recorded some jam sessions with friends and made up some new material.  We played music for a few hours and I got some solid material.  I finished the first song, which I plan on performing during the presentation with a friend who plays ukelele.  I am deciding whether or not to include bongos when I perform.  The recorded song features many other instruments than the "live" version that I will be playing during my presentation.  I have read the majority of "This Is Your Brain on Music" and I am now looking back at interesting quotes and ideas that I can write about in my blog and talk about in my presentation.  

           Today in class I will look over the material I have and begin to organize all of the separate recordings.  I have various recordings and versions of a chord progression that is the base of the song.  I also recorded a jam session over the weekend that includes a ukulele and the bongos, which I may or may not use.  My new goal is to have 3 songs for the final product.

            I have also been working on a song that features the piano that I plan to use.  I have found that it takes a lot of hard work and thinking to find the exact sound that I want.  Creating just the first song has taken many hours of brainstorming and editing.  For me, the most effective way to brainstorm or create something interesting has been to improvise with others who play different instruments.  I have created the majority of my material with this method.  I will continue to use this method and I am planning on completing the first song by Friday.  I am already partly done with the second song and have a basic outline for the third.  I will continue to read "This Is Your Brain On Music".  As I read farther in the book I am finding helpful tips an theories that help me understand what makes an interesting song.  I have also learned some interesting things about what the mind finds interesting when listening to music and how I can effect people with music.

   I recorded some material over the weekend and read more of "This is Your Brain on Music".  I have completed a version of the first song that I think I will stay with.  If there is time, I may go back later and add to it some more.  I have mad a solid plan for the other two songs.

      Today in class I plan to read more of "This Is Your Brain On Music".  Tonight, I plan on doing a final recording of the guitar piece that I have created.  It will be just a clean recording that I can work with and use as the foundation for the song.  I should be able to make at least an acoustic version of this song by the end of Friday night.

This video focuses on why music moves people.  It's interview with Daniel Levitin, the author of "This Is Your Brain On Music".

  Today I made great progress recording and working on the first song.  I also brainstormed and recorded small pieces of ideas for other songs.  I have various different recordings of pieces of the first song in different styles and keys.  I will later go through them and put together a final piece and add other instruments.  So far I just have an acoustic guitar and bongos.  I will go on to add electric guitar, drums, and possibly the piano.  My goal is to have a polished draft of this song by the middle of this week.  I will also continue to read the book by Daniel J. Levitin.

Post 3

       Yesterday I recorded some material.  Today I will go over it and figure out what I can add to it.  The recording process isn't as difficult as I thought it would be, but I am struggling with deciding what to do with what I record.  Figuring out what to add to the piece that I have now is more difficult than I imagined and is taking the most work.  I plan on trying different methods and styles with what I have recorded, in order to make different versions.  Later, I will choose the version that I like the best.  Now that I know how this process actually goes, I am thinking that I should make less songs than I was planning on making before.  I'd say 3 or 4 songs would be reasonable.

     Today my goal is to record some material whether it is a just some small segments or a full song.  I will start to create and brainstorm.  I have been reading This Is Your Brain On Music and I am finding it to be very inspiring.  It is definitely getting me in the mind set to start recording and I am feeling a little more excited about the project now.  I found a quote in the book that I thought was interesting:

     

   "A couple of generations ago, before television, many families would sit around and play music together for entertainment.  Nowadays there is a great emphasis on technique and skill, and whether a musician is "good enough" to play for others.  Music making has become a somewhat reserved activity in our culture, and the rest of us listen."  

I thought that this statement was interesting because of how true it is.  I never really realized how so many people care about perfection when it comes to entertainment and music and how the only people who get to play music anymore have to be wildly talented.  In the book he talks about other cultures like that of Lesotho.  Lesotho is a small landlocked country in South Africa.  He tells a story of how his friend went there during college to study the culture.  One day he was asked to join one of their songs, but he said to them "I don't sing."  The villagers were puzzled by this because to them, singing was a typical, everyday activity that everyone took part in.  He says, "It was as odd to them as if I told them that I couldn't walk or dance, even though I have both my legs." 

I plan to continue reading this book and find new understandings of music and culture as I record.

Post 1

         I have decided to read the book This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin.  I haven't read much of it yet, but I am planning on reading 30 pages of it tonight.  This book is about the role that music plays in everyday human life and explores the science behind why people enjoy music.  As it says in the title, music does seem to be a human obsession.  I am interested in reading about the theories of why music plays such a large role in human life and why it is so pleasurable to listen to.  I am hoping that these theories will help me create songs based on specific emotions, so that I can designate an emotion for each song.  I will take what I learn from this book and incorporate it into my project in hopes that it will help me in my process of musical creation.