Postmodern music - Kramers music theory.

Jonathan Kramer's 16 postmodern music theories:

1. is not simply a repudiation of modernism or its continuation, but has aspects of both a break and an extension
2. is, on some level and in some way, ironic
3. does not respect boundaries between sonorities and procedures of the past and of the present
4. challenges barriers between 'high' and 'low' styles
5. shows disdain for the often unquestioned value of structural unity
6. questions the mutual exclusivity of elitist and populist values
7. avoids totalizing forms (e.g., does not want entire pieces to be tonal or serial or cast in a prescribed formal mold)
8. considers music not as autonomous but as relevant to cultural, social, and political contexts
9. includes quotations of or references to music of many traditions and cultures
10. considers technology not only as a way to preserve and transmit music but also as deeply implicated in the production and essence of music
11. embraces contradictions
12. distrusts binary oppositions
13. includes fragmentations and discontinuities
14. encompasses pluralism and eclecticism
15. presents multiple meanings and multiple temporalities
16. locates meaning and even structure in listeners, more than in scores, performances, or composers

Since discussing Jonathan Kramer's throeies in class, i am now going to apply these to a variation of artists songs to identify how their choices of layered sounds create a new brand of music.

This is Aaliyah - Are you that somebody - produced by Timberland



Throughout this song Timberland has chosen to encorporate a baby gurgling in the backing track as well as vocal tics. I interpret this as ironic as the American culture often call each other 'baby' which is also included in these lyrics. Whether this is deliberate or not it adds an element of irony and humour.

2.is, on some level and in some way, ironic

13. includes fragmentations and discontinuties

14. enco,passes pluralism and eclectism



Karlheinz Stockhausen - Helicopter String Quartet



This piece of music by Stockhausen i find largely inspiring and enjoyable to listen to. I feel that the additional element of the helicoptor made the piece contemporary as well as creating additional elements that in their own way related to clasical music. For instance i felt that the continuous and accurate pace of the helicoptor was as effective as a metronome used to keep the pace and timing for music.

Alvin Lucier - Im sitting in a room

Homework postmodern essay

Discuss two or more media texts that you would define as 'postmodern' and explain why you would give them this label.

My first media text that I have chosen as a representable artist within postmodern media is singer and lyricist Lady GaGa. She has suddenly become recognised worldwide since the release of her debut album ‘The fame’ only 18 months ago. Since then she has successfully exploited herself in detail through her music and lyrical choices as well as the way she has always presents herself in the public eye. My reason for labeling Lady GaGa with this title is due a range of elements that display an additional identity for Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, this is Lady GaGa. Everything about her character is exaggerated to express features and connotations that make such controversial statements.
Lady GaGa’s character evolved from many inspirations from pop culture including Andy Warhol and David Bowie, both these people are often made reference to throughout her public displays and performances. An example of this was at the beginning of GaGa’s career when should never been see at performances or interviews without a lightening bolt across her face similar to David Bowie. This reference to his iconic image highlights his efforts to create new identities for each of his albums along with their genre of music; both these artists explore the impact of manufacturing a person that challenges society and values. For example Lady GaGa has deliberately molded her character around the negative things she feels are present in society similar to Andy Warhol who highlighted vanity and various cultural messages; her motivation behind her extreme clothing style such as dresses constructed from Kermit the Frog heads and another that consisted only of transparent plastic bubble, she strives to complete the image of a ‘freak’. This dramatic contrast between the appearance of fame and her image is the statement that has captivated people worldwide and forced everyone to recognise a new reality.
Another factor of her appearance is wearing black lens glasses - often present in interviews and large performances. This is reference to the image of the ‘haunted celebrity’; Michael Jackson was commonly known to make this statement also. Her concept of identity is what has made her career so explosive and fortunately for her the public has accepted her and appreciates her work. A quote from a Guardian journalist stated ‘[contemporary] rock and pop performers today have to speak in multi-media tongues’, Lady GaGa presence is an example of this.

My second media text that I am looking at is the film Fight Club. Despite starring Brad Pit and Edward Norton the film failed to make an impression on the box office and it wasn’t until it became released on DVD that it became the film to watch. As the word spread about this film so did the status that came with it, even to the extent that many fight club groups were formed all over the country following the films impact. Though it is not only this that has earned its name as a great postmodern film, it is numerous subtle elements that build up this narrative and challenge the audience.
An example of this is the narrative; beginning with the last scene of the film (the future) followed by jumping to the beginning of the film (the past). This irregular flow of time highlights that none of it is in present time and where it stands in reality. The element of manipulating time is a huge part of postmodernism as it creates a whole new reality, this ironically relates to the twist in then story where there Edward Norton’s character realises that he is both himself and Tyler durden (Brad Pit’s character). This concludes that a lot of the film is questionable whether parts are imagined or reality and therefore part of a new reality which is his imagination in his mind.
The strong address of violence within the film is often paired with humor; Brad Pit’s character is seen to influence many crimes and acts of destruction which are references to serious issues happening in the modern world and society however I believe that the film have twisted the character to also introduce humor to highlight that these events within the film are extreme cases. His character emphasizes to enjoy life and not worry about the risks involved in any actions, in some ways this does carry important messages though ironically I believe this is because Brad Pit’s character is only an imagination therefore can never lose anything and wouldn’t ever be afraid of anything.

Ethnographic model

Using the ethnographic model (try and separate it into the three areas highlighted) evaluate your own text. Have you inadvertently prevented certain 'audiences' from accessing your text?

My media has prevented various audiences concerned by 'stress one and three'. This is that due to the domestic enviroment that structures the media as currently it is not possible for every household to have access to the internet because of financial issues. This rules out those in society who are labeled as information-poor, these people may not be exposed to the media ......

Evaluation

Evaluation question 1 – In what ways does your media product use

Question two is a video commentary however it is too long to upload onto youtube or onto this blog and so i am going to burn it onto a disk.

Evaluation question 3 – What have you learned from your audience feedback

Evaluation question 4 - how did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Final cd case images

Album cover:



Cd print:



Inside of cd case:



Back of cd:

Close call!

This could have been a huge embarrassment! Just as i thought i had finished i realised that the image inside of my cd case had a word missing in the song title, below is the corrected version.

Cd cover

This image is a development from my last cd cover mock that i am considering as my final cd cover.

Back of cd case

This image is to be the back of my cd case, the yellow lines either side are to indicate where the folds will be that show the artists name and single along the side. I have lightened these side panels so that the text is clearer.

I feel this image sums up the character of Connor, the converse represent the life of the subject, well worn in and the stereotype of a indie music fan. I wanted this mage not to hold the attention most out of all the cd digi-pack though still maintain the same theme and conclude that this younger Connor is still present in the older generation. The faded effects i have continued to use i feel represent this element of past.

Ooop i forgot the all important barcode, i have corrected this below:

Inside of cd case

I am thinking of using this image for the inside of my cd case cover both the back of the cd cover and the other side behind the cd.



The image above i have made intending it to be the inside of the cd case.



Above i have altered the font as the previous text was too hard to read and i felt that this font portraying hand writing was most appropriate for the genre and a font for displaying lyrics. The previous one although nice i think it was too stylised and precise.

Below is the section of the above image where i am going to apple to apply to the cd. This works as the cd wouldnt break up the image behind, it becomes part of it.



This image is an alternative with simply the original photo can just the band name.



This s an example to show which part of this picture would be printed onto the disk. (ignore the yellow circle it is whats inside
that i want to focus on.

Final music video

Youtube doesn't do the effects or the colour justice and i am not able to just upload the quicktime movie so for now this will just have to do.

Final single release advert

Advert editing

This is my first edit of the single release advert. My aim to to keep the text minimal and keep the emphasis on the main imagine. I have selected various font i feel are appropriate for 'Rock and Roll' such as the text of the track name. I have also included my fictional record label 'RedRock Records', to create the backwards font i downloaded it off the following website from via google http://www.fontspace.com/wa2ise/backwards. So far this mock hasnt got all of the text on it though it is a working progress which id appreciate feedback on. I have manipulated the hue and saturation levels.



Above is the window within Photoshop that allows me to do this. I have chose the colours blue and red shades to be highlighted throughout the image, the connotation of these colours are that the blue shades appear cold and lifeless as this is the character from the past and the red shades are the future though there is no subject to represent this as he is still living in the past as portrayed through the video. This effect successful separates Connor and the foreground with the shadow and the gate in the background, i feel this reflects my video appropriately and continues the same these of a second identity through the shadow.

Further editing effects

This is the first 20 seconds or so of the music video with additional effects. I have applied an effect called overdrive to the clips relevant to resembling the past. Below is an image of where this effect is in final cut.



The default of this effect is set as below:



Below are the changes that i made to tone down the effect:

Colour editing and connotations

This is my latest edit of my video where i have began to develop the colours within various clips to highlight and support the narrative throughout the video. During this editing process i have reduced the saturation for all the clips featuring connor when he is younger clips where elodie alone; these clips now appear completely black and white, where as the clips in present day with David and some when he is with elodie are a reduced saturation though not black and white. When i first made these changes the clips in the present day were the original colours though they seemed too much of a contrast and as the lighting continuity wasnt perfect i chose to reduce the colour.



Above is a screen shot of my film being edited in final cut, if the arrow is visible this is where the saturation bar is (in the top middle window)

Below is a close up of this window:

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developing cd cover

This mock of a cd cover again was created in photoshop. I have cut out Connor from my first cd cover and layered him on top of a still frame that i have taken from my music video. This frame include three clips as all of the transitions are over lapping; i felt this was my first idea that began to resemble works similar to Sigur Ros. The text in the background over the road sign wasn't finished it was just to show the basic idea.

ideas for cd digi- pack

This was one of the photographs that i took a while ago of Connor in Leicester, here i have cropped it in photoshop and applied a graffiti font that i downloaded off the internet. I was experimenting with this to create either the back of the cd case of the inside of the cover. Although this font may fit in with the original graffiti on the wall it fails to fit into the indie/ creative genre that i am aiming for.

Latest music video edits

It is apparent that i forgot to post my latest edit on my music video back at the beginning of December, i will post it below as this version includes the lasted filming i did as well as my editing process as i have begun to explore appropriate transitions to help communicate the narrative throughout my video.



This second version is the same video though i had dramatically reduced the saturation on all the clips as i felt something wasn't right in the consistency of lighting and the colours limited the emotion of the narrative.

Sigur Ros influence

Again i have taken examples from Sigur Ro's work to help direct my own cd designs. His album covers all successfully communicate individual thoughts and messages using unique methods of presentation. It is clear that the use of photography is common with in his work, relying on outside locations and the realism that it created by this. It is also apparent that distort effects have been used and alteration of lighting; both these effect implies various things, the dark blurred photo suggests mysterious and depth whereas the lightened photograph of naked men running i think exaggerates the energy and humour conveyed from this idea. The other cover is a simple print which is equally as interesting as this black print reveals little about the character features and the lighter silhouette of trees around the subject provide many areas for peoples interpretation to explore. Personally i interpret this as a men lost in a whole new world.



It is apparent that all of these cd's follow similar conventions in that the image is relied on to capture the attention rather than the artists name. This creative edge suggests that the music follows a similar path, which consequently it does.



These are various edits i have made to my most recent mock of the cd cover, each have be edited only by varying the saturation levels. I feel that the change i have made to the text on the last one makes it merge in with the image more than the previous examples, though at the same time it stands out and looks realistic.

I am going to get feed back on these images which will help me come to a conclusion as to which is most preferred and effective.

Developing cd cover

Since my initial mock of the cd cover i have edited this further in photoshop and applied a non-digetic light source effect that exaggerates the natural lighting in the original picture.

first mock:


The difference between the two i believe is effective as this more powerful light almost implies the same as a spotlight suggesting that the focus is on this character and the highlight provides more energy making the photograph appear more interesting.

second mock: