Peer Review Week 4

Dear Donnell,

After reading your post I found it very informative and I can see how Kanye West is innovative. From the samples he used to the other genres he explored for his sound. He is an amazing producer but what is funny is that people did say he couldn't rap. He didn't let people bring him down and stuck to what he believed in and changed the hip-hop game. I feel you hit everything from sampling from the 70's to electronic dance music. Kanye definitely came and changed how we make music but also inspired others. He is a legend in the game and hasn't been in it for to long.

Scott Storch Independent Research

He got his first chance when he became a member of hip-hop group “The Roots” as a keyboard player. He did that for a while but wanted to do more in the industry, he made his real breakthrough when he collaborated with super producer Dr. Dre and Scott created the infamous piano riff on the song “ Still D.R.E.” which Dr. Dre produced the entire song and it was a huge hit.

Scott’s biggest hit was producing the song “ Lean Back” in 2004 for Fat Joe, which in reality resurrected Fat Joe’s career. Scott Storch dominated the hip-hop and pop charts for about 3-4 years. By 2006 Storch was reported to be worth $70 million. He was living a lavish lifestyle with all the jewelry, cars, houses, and boats. He was very consistent with making pop records.

At one point, he was really on top when another super producer Timbaland started having problems with Scott because he was proclaiming and not to mention everyone was saying he was the best and Timbland started throwing insults and shots at Storch. By stating “ I get a half a mil for my beats/ you get a couple grand I’m a real producer and/ you just a piano man/ your songs gonna top the charts/ I heard em, I’m not a fan.

This isn’t the only problem Storch has had with producers. Producer Lil Jon even came to accuse Scott of taking his style. Storch said that the only thing they have in common is that they both like low-end bass. In 2003, Timbaland, Dr. Dre, and Eminem got into a serious battle with artist/producer Jermaine Dupri because Jermaine said that Scott’s work was far more superior to Timbaland and Dr. Dre.

What was innovative about Storch was the way he played the piano so amazingly. He didn’t play other instruments but what he would do is implement other instruments and sounds and load them up on the piano and would use his piano talents to play the other instruments, which is genius. He dropped out of school in the 9^th grade because he knew he wanted to play the piano and produce music.

In a 4-year span he conquered everything, he made beats for everyone that wanted a hit. Its like he had a formula, He resurrected Fat Joe’s career with “Lean Back” because before that Joe was on the downside of his career.

The impression he left me was he was amazing with what he had and knew. He doesn’t have a list of instruments he can play, nope just one. Again if Timbaland is a top 5 producer and he started the careers of Missy Elliot and Aaliyah, which are legends. Scott had Timbaland feel some type of way to make a song about him.

Scott has taught me a few valuable lessons; one is success and how far one can take it.  Trying to maintain it, and how dangerous drugs can run your life and career. Cocaine drastically changed his life. He went from top 5 to not mentioned at all.

Peer Review Week 3

Hey Donnell,

After reading this blog I can see how they made a difference in music and spreading into other genres. Like for instance, Walk This Way with Aerosmith was a huge song that broke a lot of barriers, it mixed hip-hop and rock-n-roll. I enjoyed reading your blog I found it very useful, especially the part that MIDI was made commercially for the public and their song Sucker MC's came out the same time. Overall I feel you made your point across and it was also very informative and I could tell you liked this group. Good Job on presenting.

Louis & Bebe

These two are pioneers in Electronic Music. They were the 1^st to make electronic music on magnetic tape, which was Heavenly Menagerie. But what’s more amazing is that they are the first to do an entire film score electronic for the movie Forbidden Planet in 1956. They created alien like sounds, scary environments, and interesting ambiences. The circuitry that was used for this project was home made and built by Louis and Bebe themselves. The equipment would overheat at times and cause of consistent use, a lot of sounds were not about to be reproduced.

The interesting thing about it was that they recorded piece by piece and it was mixed down from a tape recorder feeding into another recorder, it was a unique process. The music and effects completely awed the audience. They had their soundtrack distributed by GNP; who is a company known for producing and marketing science fiction film soundtracks.

John Cage worked with them and told them that what they were doing was electronic music. They didn’t even realize they were making a genre; they were just making sounds and experimenting.

What is great is that Modern Digital Technology is now imitating their sound with the old analog circuits. In 2000, Bebe Barron was invited to create a new work at University of California, Santa Barbara, using the latest sound generating technology to collect sounds there. In November 2000, Bebe did all the composing on Jane Brockman’s studio. The sounds collected at UCSB were imported into Digital Performer on the Mac and Bebe created her final project, Mixed Emotions.

What is amazing about them is after Forbidden Planets; they didn’t score another film about that. Their old recording and mixing techniques were innovating. People today use their circuits to use their old rich analog sound.

Kraftwerk

The music that Kraftwerk did was very innovative and also pioneering to electronic dance music. They used synthesizers, mini moogs, digital keyboards, and electronic drum kits.

The albums they released within the seven-year span of 1974-1981, they had their 1^st album that they put out and gave such a scenic concept with Autobahn. Kraftwerk, had an unusual approach with their long songs, which wasn’t your typical 3 minute song on the radio. What else was interesting was that they didn’t use to many refrains/chorus’s. The album titled song Autobahn was 20 minutes long and was unique with how they lyrics were in German, and the song was about driving around. The word Fahrn sound like the word Fun in America and was a popular song in the billboard.

Kraftwerk dropped their 2^nd album called Trans-Europe Express and that was a really good album with its innovation. On the hit record, the album titled hit song itself recorded a train for the rhythmic beat of the song. There were a few bands other there that were in Kraftwerk’s lane but nobody at that point in time was as big as them. But at the same time Giorgio Moroder was inspire by Kraftwerk music and made a pop record with that kind of style for Donna Summer’s hit song I Feel Love.

They released a 3^rd album The Man Machine, besides how good their new songs were, they sparked controversy with their album cover because it seem militant and a little racy with Matching outfits and how they were posed for the picture.

Their concepts for albums were brilliant because of a few albums and how it went with the album: Autobahn, Radioactivity, and Trans-Europe Express, and The Man Machine. In Radioactivity their talking about music and radioactive materials and even the sounds were complementing to it. Autobahn the album itself is about driving and riding about. Tran-Europe Express is about how Europe connects together and trains how it connects. 

The impression they left me was that they were experimental with sounds and it was successful and at times it wasn’t, but they kept evolving their sound and because of that it’s so popular to others. 

Podcast 1

Peer Review Week 2

Donnell your research on Marvin Gaye was very informative and interesting. You had a lot of great points on the development of the What’s Going On. You discussed main topics like the making the song and how he was affected with the label trying to stop the release of the track. You also described the kind of person he was before this album and the times he was in. I thought you blog was very good and got to the point.  The only feedback I can give it is, it is a little bit long.