Edition 2

MUSIC...

Arrr
Pirates, Tramps and Thiefs
By: John Lewis

The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.
-Hunter S. Thompson
The music industry has been a constant mess of confusion, bad deals, backstabbing and occasional triumphs. Record execs, for the most part, have remained reactive rather than proactive in their dealings within the music industry. A perfect example is John Mayer, an artist popular today, was just getting his feet off the ground in the mid-nineties. Unfortunately for him most record labels wouldn’t even consider signing him, despite his sold out performances, sky-rocketing popularity and musical ability, simply because he didn’t sound like the “In” thing at the time, Limp Bizkit. Need I say more?
But perhaps the best example of the reactive nature of record labels is their initial efforts regarding illegal internet downloads. Well aware of the possibilities of the internet and its potential impact on the music business record execs kicked back and continued to pretend it was still the early nineties, disregarding not only the potential market advantages of the internet, but the potential chaos it could bring to them and the music industry.
Then along came Napster, with Metallica hot on their tails, and their free file-sharing web-service. According to Shawn Fanning, founder of Napster, his music and file sharing web-service was meant to be a boost for small, independent artists to give them a broader commercial market, breaking them free of their regional limitations. However, with no restrictions on the kinds of music and artists one could upload, everything from Moby to Toby Keith was available. Having their music given away made some artists understandably upset.
Record labels and several major artists claimed Napster was hurting their sales by allowing music to be shared freely without charge. David Teather of the UK News-service The Guardian notes that two months before the injunction against Napster in March of 2001, CD sales had risen 5.8% in a year. Following the injunction, sales in fact dropped 0.9%. This prompted the LA Times to ask the question, “Has Napster been having a positive effect on the music industry?”

With myself being a musician nowhere near the top and without the budget of a successful, long-term multi-millionaire musician I am a bit dismayed at the thought of music I have spent years working on, being given away for free. On the flip side, being a fan of music I hate the fact that in the recent past I had to buy an entire album to get one track I liked in particular, when the rest of the album, in my opinion, sucked. This is one factor that many believe has led music fans down the path of illegally downloading music.

To find a happy medium, many independent artists have begun offering their album in free live-streaming format. That means, you can listen to their entire album on their website for free twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. You cannot, however, download the album in the format. The meaning behind this is that artists hope you will listen to the album and buy the specific tracks you like instead of feeling a choice between, paying $15 for the entire thing, or downloading the songs for free. In essence, you get what you pay for.

Back to Metallica, at the time of their stance against Napster, were receiving a lot of bad press due to their position. I was personally divided on my stance with Metallica at the time. I loved the band, especially their earlier stuff in the eighties before bassist Cliff Burton died in a tragic bus accident, but I also felt they were taking too harsh a stance on Napster. In hindsight, I can see that Metallica’s stance was a necessary opposite pole reaction if you will. Here's why.

While Napster may have initially been a “good” thing for the music business as a whole, down the line its easy to see the potential chaos. I recall a skit from the second season of the Chappelle Show in which Dave Chappelle depicts himself visiting the internet as if it were an actual place. After an, interesting encounter with Ron Jeremy, being assaulted by gambling and debt consolidation pop-ups, Mr. Chappelle comes across a music fan. Hearing a song he likes over his headphones he asks him where he got it. The fan replies, “Well you can get it here,” pointing to a 99 cent music download store; “Or, you can get it here” pointing to a store with a giant sign flashing Free Downloads with alarms blaring and people carrying armloads of music sprinting from the store as if they committed a bank heist.

My current opinion on how the music industry is a kind of bittersweet one. On the one hand you have artists attempting to give music fans a legitimate buy in the way of live streaming music and free videos on Youtube, giving them a sample of their entire discography. Then there’s the music fan who simply does not care and expects it all for free. Its almost too little, too late.

Some points to consider in closing: The amount of time put into creating a song, let alone an entire album is almost immeasurable. The years spent honing skills on an instrument and working with other musicians until the right mix is found alone keeps most people from taking a stab at the music business. With the digital age and the ever-decreasing costs of digital technology it is becoming easier for bands to buy the recording gear themselves and record their entire album themselves. The time spent, however, in learning the studio tricks and sound engineering techniques to make a quality production worth your money can take a solid year or more.

Let’s face it. Most, if not all of us have illegally downloaded music at one time or another. I can recall downloading Tom Green’s “The Bum-Bum Song”, Pantera’s “Cowboy’s from Hell” and Ted Nugent’s “Cat Scratch Fever” on Napster in 1999 on my high-tech dial-up connection so I am not claiming any purists position on this matter. However, as mature fans of music we have to consider the impact of our decision to download music for free, from artists who might not be for the pirating of their music. I can see, in the near future, music being merely a marketing tool for an artist to sell T-shirts, stickers, stuffed animals and action figures if too much illegal downloading takes the place of legitimate music sales.



'Indianapolis Music Students Harmonize with Fame'
a Review: Lawrence North's 'Autumn Classic'
by Jordan Brown

On October 2, 2008, myself and a colleague went to Lawrence North High School’s ‘Autumn Classic.’ Their fall concert performed every year usually contains pop medleys and likeable tunes to get students motivated for Christmas, but this year it’s different. LN choir members and the audience got a tasty musical, fun and educational treat.

Baritone Tim Shew has been in Broadway musicals Guys and Dolls, Scarlet Pimpernel, Disney's King David, Sunset Boulevard, and he played Jean Valjean in Les Misérables. Shew also starred in Radio City's Christmas Spectacular as Santa. Shew has also lent his voice to numerous cast recordings, including vocals for the movie Chicago. For the past 12 years, Tim has produced "Broadway Sings on Park Avenue," a benefit concert for children affected/infected with HIV/AIDS.

The collaboration of Shew and the members of LN choirs resulted in a fusion of Shew’s performed and favorite musicals accented with the choral setting. Tim began the evening with an array of music from these musicals. Beginning with Larry Bernstein’s ‘Something’s Coming’ from Westside Story he employed a wide variety of vocal technique and drama as if he were his own musical.

A perfect example of that would be his second song, Cole Porter’s ‘Too Darn Hot’ from ‘Kiss me, Kate!’ Tim conveyed his passion for the opposite gender with a confident, yet nonchalant attitude.
…“Mister Adam
For his madam.
Is not,
'Cause it's too, too
Too darn hot,”

Tim began his next song with the whistling in “Learn to be Free,” another tune with a moral suggesting relaxation. Following this, a change of emotion: Tim sang on a more serious note with ‘A Bit of Earth’ from A Secret Garden, this song told Archibald’s story of a girl who didn’t long for ponies, dollhouses or treasure, but expressed interest only in the fruits of the earth. This was a particularly nice piece, a moving one. Shew employed both chest voice and falsetto singing in higher parts depending on the mood of the vocal line, and conveyed a ton of emotion to his audience.

For another contrast, Shew turned to the popular work from Pippen, ‘My Corner of the Sky.” The lyrics and arrangement for the song are uplifting and encourage passion; it is a favorite among many who’ve performed it. Following was ‘Tell my Father’ from Civil War. Next, a crowd pleaser; a number called ‘Trouble.’ Tim didn’t share with the audience where it was from, but it seemed like a Western-American tribute to rodeo cowboys at the arrival for duel. Tim had the audience pretend to be spectators in the duel and had us echo ‘Trouble’ during part of the song.

Next was a classic, ‘Music in the Night’ from Phantom of the Opera. This was kind of disappointing, it seemed way above Shew’s comfortable range and he went quite flat near the finish in what seemed like an improvised jazz ending. He concluded his part of the program with ‘Go the Distance’ from Hercules.

Another aspect of the concert I’d like to mention is the guest piano accompanist, Michael Pettry. He is the Executive Director of the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir. Michael’s piano skills are impeccable. Every rather corny (to extremely corny) joke Tim told was accented by underlying chords of all kinds that accurately conveyed the mood of the tune, sometimes in the key. For example, when Shew was telling the story of his sixth piece, Michael was playing along with his speech in a closely related minor key with seventh chords and he modulated into the key of the song right before Shew began singing; it was a very cool effect. In Both ‘Free’ and ‘in the Night,” Pettry improvised jazz chords in a tag ending to which Shew sang along, often in dissonance. Very impressive.

For the last part of the concert, Tim Sang songs from Guys and Dolls and Les Miserables alongside LN choirs. Tim sang with two Chamber seniors in “Fugue for Tinhorns,’ and soloists were featured too. ‘Bushel and a Peck’ performed by Hip Street, ‘I’ve Never Been in Love Before’ by Classic Edition, “Luck Be A Lady’ featuring Tim and the choir’s men, ‘Sit Down, You’re Rockin the Boat’ with New Dimension, all from Guys and Dolls. From Les Miserables, ‘Castle on a Cloud’ performed by Diversity, ‘Do you Hear the People Sing?’ performed by Millenium, ‘On my Own’ featuring the choirs’ women, Shew alone in ‘Bring Him Home,’ (which should have been stricken from the program in my opinion, it seemed like Shew had never heard the song before and was working to remember words.) And Chamber Singers performing ‘Master of the House’ and ‘I Dreamed a Dream,’ both of which were very good. The finale was Tim and all choirs singing ‘One Day More’ which was basically a yelling contest, but there was emotion behind it.

Overall, it was a good concert. Tickets were $8, so the choir department probably made some money, and the students were sure to have enjoyed working with someone who’d been on Broadway and TV!



Anarchy Onstage
The Improvisational Genius of King Crimson
By: John Lewis

Fusing Jazz with Classical music while maintaiing an undertone familiar to Rock n Roll fans King Crimson embark on another musical journey before a live audience. Building the song into a frenzy of freeform guitar and explosive percussion the members of the wall of sound that is King Crimson let the music lead them on. Some times meditative, other times jazzy; and yet at times not unlike the heavy metal of later years, The King Crimson of the early seventies were groundbreaking in their own right.
"King Crimson is more than a name, it is a way of doing things," is how guitarist and founding member Robert Fripp would describe his band. Often times barely seen onstage, Fripp will take a seat somewhere in the dimly lit background of the stage while the other members stand right in the face of the crowd. He believes that music should be the focus and not the performers. This belief was considered career suicide by many, as the image of a seventies band was as equally important as their sound. But by keeping the music the primary focus King Crimson were able to establish a loyal following from the outset.

Described by John Wetton, former bassist and vocalist for King Crimson as, "Anarchy onstage," the format in which the band worked their live shows was a completely freeform one. Weaving in and out of the various musical styles King Crimson achieved a level of playing far superior to anything the Grateful Dead or any other live jam band achieved before or since. The completely boundless musical exploration of King Crimson has resulted in the development of many modern musical styles familiar to today's audience.

Tool is one of the bands that claim King Crimson as a major influence. Their experimental, yet accessible metal sound is a feat they claim they accomplished by listening to and understanding the musical goals of King Crimson. Maynard, lead vocalist of Tool would joke while Touring with King Crimson, "Now you know who we ripped off. Just don't tell anyone else, especially the guys in King Crimson."
Fans of improvisation and musicianship will find King Crimson to be a necessary part of their music collection. Their debut album, “In The Court of the Crimson King” was described by Pete Townshend as an “uncanny masterpiece,” and was embraced by the rock n roll community of the late sixties. Containing the classic “21st Century Schizoid Man” the album is both disturbing and serene with its jagged jazz and soothing mellotron sounds, covering every possibly emotion in the 45-minutes of music contained within.
Albums by King Crimson:
In the Court of the Crimson King -1969
In the Wake of Poseidon -1970
Lizard -1970
Islands -1971
Larks Tongues in Aspics -1973
Starless and Bible Black -1974
Red -1974
Discipline -1981
Beat -1982
Three of a Perfect Pair -1984
Thrak -1995
The ConstruKtion of Light -2000
The Power to Believe –2003