Geek Girl Blog

This is a preface to an anthology I had to write for English class. Since I love the musicians, thought I’d share this.

Do note, it’s intended to talk about an “anthology collection”, or a collection of articles I would put together and the preface being the introductory. I’ve linked to as many of the articles as I am able to find available online.

I was nine before I ever realized that a radio actually played music, and not just talk radio and the weather report.

Before then, music consisted of whatever came out of cartoons on the television, and Sunday school church. I had heard of a handful of records my father would play on his stereo system (John Denver, mostly) but I never paid any attention to what was currently playing. My parents were pretty strict about what I could listen to or watch on television. MTV wasn’t acceptable television for a young child. I was way too busy reading or playing outside to full grasp the differences in music.

It was a day when I was riding on the bus to my elementary school that the bus driver turned up the radio that had just been installed. The Beach Boy’s song “Kokomo” was playing and some of the kids on the bus were singing along. As days wore on, I heard additional songs from different musicians, all of which other kids knew, but I was just discovering.

Since listening to the radio, and learning about music, I spend a lot of time over the years divulging in different genres. As most other 14 to 18 year olds, I spend a lot of time looking at MTV, learning about new music through videos or turning on a radio. When I discovered what country music was, I listened to it for about three months, and then moved to alternative rock, and general rock music. I would give rap and other music genres a listen. I was open to anything, and learned quickly what I liked and what I didn’t, but gave each a chance.

It wasn’t until I had access to the Internet in 1995 and later that I was able to stretch out from whatever was produced for radio and television. I learned more about vibrant, full pieces of music, from classical, to modern. Spending a full day doing nothing but exploring sometimes-unheard-of musicians was a very nice luxury. When Pandora, an online music radio, became available on the Internet, I took to it quickly. Not only did it play my favorite pieces, but it produced similar sounding music, and I was able to quickly sort through what I did and didn’t like.

It was in this way that I discovered my personal tastes in music. Acoustic rhythm piano, use of a string ensemble, minor key tonality, melodic string accompaniment, orchestral arranging; all descriptions, according to Pandora’s statistics, are the preferences in sound that I liked. The more I listened, the more I could compare different ensembles, lyrics and tones that seemed to be what I most favored.

For my collection, I wanted to bring about an acknowledgement of the types of music that display such arrangements, and explain the differences behind the selected genres, and introduce a few musicians that are quintessential to the genres.

Symphonic Rock starts with an article about the genre, and how symphonies are now collaborating with rock musicians in order to reach out to listeners. Classical symphonies are great on their own, but with the added use of guitars and music software, the music can be made to blend, making a much fuller sound.

Thomas Karr talks about Symphonic Rock in his essay, The Essential Elements of Symphonic Rock (I can’t find a link to the original article, sorry!). In it, he describes how symphonic rock music is really a smashing of rock music, with elements of classical, jazz, folk and other genres throughout. He expresses comparisons of some well known bands, such as Genesis, as occasionally dipping into this genre through specific music selections. Listeners may not fully realize what they are hearing, but once noticed, it becomes evidently clear to pick it out among other artists.

The Definition of Ruling is an article that shares the nature of one fairly “out of the way” group, E. S. Posthumus. The style combines combinations of rock, full orchestra, a full choir and operatic singers to make a mixed up example of the genre. Throughout the introduction and interview, the transitions of music and how it ended up is abundant through the article.

In the next section, classical crossover, I wanted to take a look closer at the music that simply mixes classical music and rock/pop. It’s heavily based on classical compositions. Some are even refurbished classical pieces, like Requiem of a Tower. When played by Escala, it turns into a rock piece.

While the introductory Classical Crossover article describes the genre, the real heat of the section comes from the interviews with Bond and Escala, two of the top classical crossover groups around right now. Both are very much what classical crossover is about. Bond and Escala are each a group of four women, playing string instruments, with a background of guitars, full instrumental inclusion. No rhyming lyrics needed. It’s simple instrument transpositions but with a well-rounded orchestral arrangement.

Here’s an example of Classical Crossover featuring Bond playing Explosive.

Chamber folk is not a new genre, but it is getting a new breath of life. If you could imagine regency era of Great Britain, and people would gather around in parlors and play songs from a piano and a handful of other instruments, this is the core of what chamber folk is. It has changed since its introduction into the music world. Vienna Teng describes much of her music as being chamber folk. Included in this collection are interviews and reviews from Vienna’s Waking Hour album, and an article about her inspirations in the article, Changing Her Tune.

A similar artist, Regina Spektor is interviewed, reviewed, and talked about in the article, New Angles from a Woman of Many Sides. In this article, the author shares some of the sense of what the music is, trying to define it. While not called chamber folk outright, they reword it as “anti-folk”. In general, the genre is the music smashing of a tiny bit of pop rock, with a large scale use of piano and story-telling lyrics.

The last section is called Awkward. It shares some additional looks into musicians like Chris Trapper. Chris Trapper is a lead singer for the group, The Push Stars, but has since come to produce seven albums under his own name. The music ranges from Cuban-flavored pop of “Tear Choked Eye”, to big band rock in the song, “Nowhere”. In the review, it describes only some of the range Chris Trapper takes with his music, but the real “test of fate” is displayed in the “Nowhere” music video provided.

Chris Trapper’s music video, Nowhere:

Introducing Vienna Teng again in another article and discography, the musician shows her own range in music, from ethnic to folk to her own versions of classical crossover. Showing these musicians and their wide variety introduces how other musicians can break out of the “single sound” mantra that makes nearly every song on a popular album sound so similar to the last. With musicians like Vienna Teng and Chris Trapper, one song may vary in style, genre and even the use of different instruments in order to stretch out of the subgenres they created.

In the last article, Jim Fusilli talks about how older singers who listen to only the classics, and how new musicians, like Vienna Teng, should really be given a hand. The new musicians are stretching the boundaries of music, without the need to fit into a predesigned set of sounds created by big music companies. Fusilli acknowledges a number of other bands and musicians, similar to Vienna Teng and Chris Trapper, who should be given a listen.

When Vienna Teng was asked how to describe her music, her response was, “Awkwardly.” This could be said true of many subgenres in existence or has yet to be created. Some do not fit so comfortably among the genres of simple “rock” or “rap” or “classical”. Combinations can allow a unique sound to become fuller. The world may not be finished making subgenres and smashing music genres together, but giving a listen to music outside the mainstream allows for appreciating the music and may open up new opportunities for musicians and listeners alike.

A simply awkward genre of music.

Vienna Teng’s music video, Gravity: