Skin & Wires

The past couple days have been a productive few for my music and I.

When I attended the songwriting workshop with Brien from Australia I've been thinking about what he said: "To write good songs, you have to make time for it and do it everyday." (of course I am paraphrasing a bit...but I digress). I have taken that to heart and I'm writing more now than I ever have in the past.

I've also been recording more demos recently (I have had a 1:1 ration of recordings to days for the last 3 days). Overall, I'm feeling much more comfortably musically than I have been in a long while.

I'm thinking of making a short 4-song "EP", if you will, and self-releasing it as a made-up band comprised of anonymous musicians.

Skin And Wires

-Peter

Cheap Self-promotion!

Today I had as little homework as I will ever have ever again for the rest of my life.

Therefore I recorded another drum cover video for my YouTube channel (I will put the link for such at the bottom of this post). "Have A Cigar" by the legendary rock band Pink Floyd was a more than appropriate choice for today's cover, I think. I have always like Mr. Floyd and company, but I recently began listening to them a lot more often around a year or so ago. I played drums on "Have A Cigar" for a Pink Floyd cover show about four months ago and I have loved playing the song ever since.

John, Ellen, Lisa, Austin, and I are also looking to perform the song for the upcoming (and pending) STAClive...

I sure do enjoy music.

THE LINK TO MY FREAKING CHANNEL :D --> http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNoLoops?feature=mhee

-Peter

Smells Like Teen B.O.

I don't understand why so many people criticize their respective peers so often. Actually, I do understand, I just refuse to accept the fact that it is true.

This is especially evident when an occurrence of high interest (the recent shooting in Connecticut, for example) is publicized and therefore easily accessible to most of the general public.

NOW FOR THE POINT!

I cannot fathom all the legitimate bullshit that is floating around our heads each and every day. Who told you that it's not okay to express your opinion on something? You should've really paid attention in American history class, my friend, because I am almost certain that the first 40 percent of that course is composed of how we died for that right.

ALSO, who made you a god? How come everyone else's opinion is foolish besides your own? Show me your ruling scepter, Zeus. No one is righteous enough to put someone down and make them feel like crap, not even you.

-Peter

A "Monumental" Critic

Boy, isn't procrastinating just the greatest? I literally spent my entire day doing homework, with most of said homework being annotating Nathaniel Hawthorne's godforsaken The Scarlet Letter. When I finally completed that task, I moved on to beginning, and henceforth completing my photo series for STAC.

My concept for the entire series was, well, simply put, the image of my head "critiquing" some of the world's tallest and most recognizable structures. You're probably telling me "Peter, you bumbling idiot, that idea is completely out of left field and it will never suffice as a meaningful work of art.".

To you I say "Correct, young grasshopper!"

I do realize that this may be an odd idea, but I wanted something as entertaining and attention-grabbing as possible. Call me when you don't see someone stop and give five moments of their time to look at one of my pictures (that's about as conceded as I'll ever intentionally get).

Here's a sneak peak:

-Peter

Alley, Pacifistic Woman

Isn't it weird how much the word "pacifistic" looks like the word "pacific"? I think it's pretty sweet.

Anyway, this blog post is all about the Rolling Stones song Street Fighting Man. It's a good song.

I've always enjoyed listening to this song, but recently, and most probably because of STAClive, I have been listening to it a lot more and really thinking about it more in-depth than ever before. 

The first thing that has always struck me about the song is its pure rebellious attitude. Think about it; for a song made in 1968, this is as punk as it gets. When I listen to this song I'm not sure if I want to get up and yell out my window, run down the street naked, or punch a hole in my wall.

This song gets me excited.

What's interesting, other than the inspiration for the song (which, contrary to most people's ideas, is about the riots in France at that time rather than the Vietnam War), is its recording technique and writing process.

Guitarist Keith Richards and lead vocalist Mick Jagger would usually record some riffs or melodies they thought sounded cool while on tour. When they returned from their journeys, that melody would sometimes turn into a tune. Street Fighting Man happened to escalate into one of the most famous rock songs of all time.

Richards played a riff on his acoustic guitar and recorded it using one of his cassettes (you know, those little rectangles that our ancestors used to use to listen to music)while he was on tour. Using a simple open-E tuning to accent barred chords on the upstrokes during the verse, the iconic and startling acoustic guitar part was born. From there, Jagger improvised half-heard lyrics that fit perfectly into the revolutionary attitude of the song.

Something I found really interesting about the entire process is that the drums that were first recorded on the demo cassette were played on a 1930s toy jazz kit that was "incredibly louder than the guitar, yet sounded nice", as described by Richards. The track was recorded on a tape in the studio that had no limiter. 

The result was a perfectly sounding, distorted wonderful mess that crackles in your eardrums during the verse and chorus only to be surpassed by a smooth piano riff in the outdo to end the day. WooOOooOOwOOoooooOOoOoOoo!

-Peter

Meaningful Nonsense

The coldest my coffee can possibly become at this moment is 63°F.


-Peter

Sometimes

Sometimes I want to be able to look out my window and see what I want.

Not what is there.


Sometimes I wish there was was someone here who got it.

Someone who gets it.

Who gets me.

This.


Sometimes looks really weird if you stare at it long enough.

I wish someone understood my clichés.

I know someone does.

I think.


Sometimes I want to stop making everything so personal.

I wish I didn't have to make everything so personal.

It's too cliché.

And those were never easily understood.



Sometimes I don't think.

I only assume. 


-Peter

Asleep While Sleeping

My work is becoming stale.

Why is it becoming stale? Did I forget to close the box? 

No. 

That's just silly. 

It's common sense. Everyone knows that you need to close the box of work when your finished with it. 

Maybe I wasn't finished. 

I think I still wanted more of it. 

But now it's too late. Now it is stale. 

Now it is work. 

Now it is not work. 

What is it? Why is it stale? 

It's more than that. 

It's reminiscing. 

It's no longer the present. Therefore, it is no longer itself. 

I think it is becoming stale. 

I don't want them to become stale. 

I don't want her to become stale.

It is not about her.

Anymore.


-Peter

Oedipus Takes Manhattan

Please forgive me, for I am loathing the world right now. Tomorrow should be fun. I'm planning to shoot some video of "normal" (and I use that word lightly) urban life and possibly turn that into a music video.

You: A music video eh?

I: Why, yes ol' chap! My main mission is to take the audio that I capture and record a song over it, using The City as my inspiration. I already have an idea of what the song needs to be about.

The City is a wonderful, but hectic place. So many things are occurring at one particular moment in time and so many lives are being affected at once in such a densely concentrated area. There are things that repel and attract us all over the place (see what I did there?).

You: Well then I suppose we will see you tomorrow then!

I: No you won't! You are just a figment of my imagination! You don't exist silly!

-Peter

Off A Cliff

There's not much I need to say about The Fall. That is probably true, but it can also be due to the fact that I am suffering from a case of extreme lack in want.

Maybe.

...but for the sake of this blog (and my ass) I'll elaborate. What can I say? It amazed me. The Fall was, in my eyes, a perfect visual execution of Tarsem Singh's representation of imagination through stories. That really gets my head spinning sometimes, just thinking about all the movie's meanings that are brought out into the foreground and yet all of its meanings that underly and burrow their way into the mind of the viewer, ever so underexposed due to its creator's complexity.

Like I said, the movie was absolutely stunning. Every thing filmed, down to the directions each grain of sand was blown by wind in a desert, was so carefully observed that only its utmost beauty was showcased. This being said, the movie is imaginably one that has the audience's full attention.

Singh and his team also devised a twisting plot that had your heart hung from puppet strings at any moment in the film. From the first time Alexandria meets Roy in the hospital to the last intimate moment they share before she is sent back home, there is never a moment where the true emotions of the character are hidden.

Speaking of Alexandria, Catinca Untaru has put on probably the greatest performance I have ever seen a child actor or actress do in film. The moments where she is happy are the brightest moments of your day and the moments where she is sad are the most gut-wrenching moments of your life. Her interaction with Lee Pace (Roy) is also unusually genuine for a actor or actress. She interacted with him during filming almost as if they were off the set, just like family.

While this is obviously a great film, it is also one of the more complex ones I have seen. And by complex I don't mean that you need an above average IQ to watch this movie, but in reality the movie is simply weird. While it is not as cryptic as something like Inception or 2001: A Space Oddessy, their are many subtle yet important meanings that, unless pointed out, are extremely difficult to catch, making The Fall just that much more riveting. 

-Peter

Th3 Math of Me

1. Dignity

2. Consciousness

3. Individuality

It seems like everything spurs from this, at least for me...personally. My entire living character is spawned from these three core principles. Is that okay? I know the whole point of this exercise was to find ourselves and to get a better sense of our artistic direction, but I still feel lost.

Lost.

That would probably have been a better word to use. The thing is, all other emotions stem from these three words. These emotions, like markings on a map, are supposed to lead you to your destination. They are supposed to give you an answer you are looking for. Their purpose is not to propose even more questions than the amount you had started with. According to my calculations:

Individuality + Dignity = Creativity

Dignity + Honor = Respect

Respect + Creativity = Knowledge

Knowledge + Individuality = Originality

Originality + Knowledge - Individuality = Knowing

Knowledge + Consciousness = Answers

Answers - Knowledge + Creativity = Mystery

Mystery + Consciousness = The Greatest Enigma

The Greatest Enigma + Knowledge + Capability = Life

How can an idea as simple as the ones I began with circle all the way back around to the greater meaning of life? Life? Really!? You're telling me that the answers to all my questions are more questions?? This is infuriating.

But maybe this is a good thing. After all, without questions, life would be boring. If we knew everything there is to know, there would be no motivation to learn and we would all eventually shrivel up and die not knowing anything more than what we did the minute we were born. 

-Peter 

BIG Questions (Double Post Yaya!)

I like that..."Double Post Yaya!". I'm pretty sure that's going to become a regular thing.

Anywhösen, my first big week was part hectic, part malarky. At times I felt as if I was trying to do so much that it seemed to me that I was about to one-up Superman in a way, but other times I didn't know what to do. Maybe these questions will help answer some of my own.

1) You've worked on a group film and on your own. In which situation are you most comfortable - group or solo? Which do you work best in?I wish I couldn't say this but I think I work more productively alone as to with a group of people.

2) What did you learn that you expected to learn?
I learned how to manage my time more wisely and precisely, which really helped me towards the end of the week.

3) What did you learn that you didn't expect to learn?  
I was constantly surrounded by others who were also working on their various BigWeek projects, so I guess you could say that I learned more about the others in STAC and their interests, especially during presentation day.

4) What didn't you learn that you expected to learn?
To speak truthfully, I wasn't expecting to learn much, if anything at all when starting this whole shebang. Whatever I did learn was a total, pleasant surprise.
 

5) Praise your amazing achievement and explain your brilliant plan for pulling it off.

My end result was better than I expected, but I sort of saw that coming, being that I'm usually hard on myself and critical about most of my work. I had done things in that recording that I have never tried before (using glassware as an instrument) and was impressed with the first-time results. This coming from myself, a guy who had no idea how he was going to record common kitchenware a week and a half ago.

6) How much time did you spend working?
I spent about three to five hours a day working. So over the course of BigWeek (not counting presentation day) I would say I spent a total of about 18 hours on this project.

7) How much time did you spend thinking about the work - sort of sitting there and staring at it, or listening to it over and over again, etc.?
Probably a quarter of my total work time.At times, it really took a while to figure out what I wanted to put next into the song...almost like creative trial-and-error.

8) How much time did you spend doing other stuff that seems like work to that make you think you're working but you're not?
I would have to say only about an hour...I don't have time for games you know?minecraft

9) How much time did you spend socializing?
I'm not sure exactly how much time, but yes, I was talking to people here and there.

10) How did you use your community?
If I was stumped on a part in the song, or I wanted someone's opinion on a new track I just added etc., I would ask someone to listen to what I had so far. I'm also a part-time charcoal model as it may seem...

11) Rip apart your awful project and how did such a disaster happen?
I hated the fact that I didn't have much time for final mixing/mastering because that's what I usually do with songs I produce and I'm used to their kind of quality. Time was also an issue when I came up with the brilliant idea to create a "music video", per say, to accompany the song. I have it half completed to this day.

12) You've completed a step on your path. What is your next step?

This is a very abstract question. It deserves an abstract answer. Peaches.

As Drew Carey would say: "Don't forget to get your pet spaded or neutered! Have a good night everybody!"

-Peter

Thursday: The Day After Wednesday

Sorry about the lack of writing the past few days...I've been pretty busy. The project is almost complete and, well, most of you know what it is anyway so I might as well just let y'all be informed. Due to lack of motivation and extreme laziness (side effects usually associated with Claritin-D) I will be using my final statement for Luke as my writing for today. Please excuse me if this is sort of scatterbrained.

And now I would like to present to you, a crappy excuse for a blog post!


To Luke,

THIS IS MY FINAL STATEMENT!! DUHDUNNNN!!!

No but really, my project is definitely 100% going to be my own rendition of "Hedwig's Theme", the theme song for the Harry Potter series. It may also possibly be a music video accompanying the song…and by music video I mean a visual representation of what's going on in the song such as the guitar being played in sync with its instrument track etc. I am currently working on the video right now so it's existence all depends on whether or not I'm pleased with it's "birth" by the end of tonight.
By the way, I hope you don't mind that I am using this as my blog post for tonight…life gets pretty hectic as an internet mogul you know?



-Peter

Tuesday: Day Two

Today was a surprise. I was finished early with what I had to do! Granted, the project is still unfinished, but I had completed my self set in-class task today and I was lost...which led me to thinking. 

I was inspired.

I was inspired by the things around me and how they act. A general idea, yes, but a common and almost constantly occurring phenomenon in our world. With a little thought, I found that this can be related and applied to all forms of art. I will keep this in my mind for the weeks to come and try to revel in this idea every time  I look for a source of inspiration for a project. Such a broad theme to work with...the possibilities are infinite.

-Peter

Monday: One Small Step For Stan...

Today was a good day I say. It was a good day, today.

The moment when a sudden realization hits you like a runaway freight train (boy, I've never heard that analogy before). Today I noticed that I may have bitten more than I can chew...at least that's how it seemed at first. I chose my project after deciding to do something fun and unique. Anyone can easily write a song and record/perform it, and I could have easily done the same, but I wanted to do something different. Sure, it's a daunting task, but it turns out, not so difficult when focused. As long as I keep my mind in the appropriate creative state for the duration of this week, this should turn out alright. Now, I put emphasis on the word "alright". I'm not promising anything spectacular so don't go calling Capitol Records (unless you want to, then feel free), there just simply is not enough time to perfect it. Granted, my standards for my music are very high, so you might think it's decent but I'll always know that it could be improved. 

In conclusion: expect acceptable mediocrity!

-Peter

Seven Questions

For the record, I thought the questions needed to be handed in physically during class...a little miscalculation on my part. Anyway, here are the answers to the questions, completed on time, "handed in" one day late:

*---------------------------------------------------------* 

1) What is the first creative moment you remember?

   I can remember going around my old apartment and scouring the various nooks and crannies of my abode for random toys. I would use those toys to try and create an elaborate (at least in a three year old's case) apparatus to complete a simple action, such as eventually toppling an action figure or something like that. Almost like a rube goldberg machine.

2) Was anyone there to witness or appreciate it?

   I'm sure I called my parents over to see them once or twice, but other than them, I was the only one who ever knew about them.

3) What is the best idea you've ever had?

   I never had a best idea, but I've had a few times where I was just thinking about life and developed great questions. For example, have you ever wondered why things are the way they are? Or how about thinking about the universe and how ever-expanding it presumably is? Have you ever wondered what is beyond it?

4) What made it great in your mind?

   It's great to have "ideas" like these that are unanswered because this way there is room for discussion and debate and most of all, creative thought. Since these ideas have no definite answer, you are free to think what you want to think and beautifully never find an answer.

5) What is the dumbest idea?

   I built three coal power plants in the center of one of my metropolises in Sim City 4 because there was no room on the outskirts of the city.

6) What made it stupid?

   The citizens were not happy...

7) Can you connect the dots that led you to this idea?

   I was low on funds, low on land, and my mayor's rating wasn't exactly optimal. The rest is pretty much history.

-Peter

Ghostly Guitar

So I'm just going to quickly post some amazing music on here. First, let it be known that I absolutely hate Bruce Springsteen and I think he is the offspring of the devil and that expired feta cheese in my fridge. But in this case he's playing with Tom Morello (guitar god) so it's acceptable. Tom's solo at around 6:00 is still to this day one of the coolest solo's I have ever heard.

-Peter

Thoughts on STAC: First Day's Journey

I must be honest, when I worked with STAC last year in their fall performance Metamorphoses, I thought the program looked pretty stellar and that there could be no other better way to express the artistic side of me. so I took it upon myself to audition, majoring in music, and fortunately i received my acceptance letter in the mail shortly thereafter. well...

MY ASSUMPTIONS WERE PRETTY SPOT-ON

STAC truly is a great program and a great way for talented and unique students to do what they love doing, whatever it may be. as one of the new students in the program (noobs, as we're infamously called) I was immediately captivated by the wild and creative atmosphere that just the room alone gives off. and being a noob, I naturally had some concerns about things involving the experienced stackies which were swiftly erased from my thoughts because of the great attitude of the other students and the quirky (yet, sort of inspirational) humor given by Luke, the program's director.

Because of a strong storm that moved across the area today the STAC room had no power from 6th period on, so plans for the '12-'13 inaugural classes were thrown for a bit of a curve. instead of a "special surprise presentation" planned for us newbies and, I assume, the rest of the class to enjoy, the class was divided into a few groups to direct and plan a puppet show with each group showcasing different topics involving the program. The end result could only be described as funny, cooperative, chaos. An unusual end to the first day of school, but surely an enjoyable one.

I feel like I'm some sort of restauranteur who visits art program after art program and simply writes boring, heartless reviews about each of them. but this is impossible. because I am sure that there is no other program like STAC out there. I already feel at home and I am looking forward to a spectacular year.

Well, here come the waterworks...

-Peter

STAC!

...so does this sarcasm count as a post on a blog? hmm...well I was told to post what's going on in my mind soooo....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsZRxkQ0EWM....ok well that was creepier than I expected. you can tell that this "blogging" thing that all the young'uns are doing now isn't exactly my fortè.

SARAH! ELLEN! HELP ME!

here's a picture:

Also, that's a link up there and I'm not sure if it works...if it doesn't, well, there will be utter awkwardness!

-Peter