Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Creative Writing VI

Today I feel like writing about some of the music theory that I learned the otherday while I was sitting in on a college class. The class was called Music Theory I but it is actually the second music theory class. The most interesting part was towards the end of the class when he was talking about overtones. Essentially he was talking about how notes came about. Each note is a frequency based off of the sequence 1/n. The first note has a fraction of 1/1. This could be any not which you please(depending on the frequency of the waves for the notes). So you could start on a lower A, which starts as a frequency of 55. The next fraction in the sequence is 1/2. So you would multiply the frequency by two, so the new frequency is 110. This frequency is one octave above the lower A, so the first step in the overtone series is an octave jump. The next fraction is 1/3. So the next frequency would be 165. This frequency would result in a new note, E. This is a major 5th about the A (the fifth note in the A scale). The next note would be the fraction 1/4. 1/4 is half the frequency of 1/2, so it would be one octave about the 1/2 frequency fraction, which was an A, so the new note would be an A at frequency 220. The next fraction would be 1/5. This would yeild a frequency of 275, which is the note C#. This jump would be a major third (third note in the A major scale). The next note in the series is the fraction 1/6. This is half the frequency of 1/3, so it would be an octave about the note with the fraciton of 1/3, which would yeild the frequency of 330, which is the note E. The next fraciton in the series is 1/7, which is frequency 385. This note doesn't exist on a piano. The reason is because a piano is tuned to play all the keys in music, not just one. So, the next step for the 385 frequency or a 1/7th fraction is a step size that is greater than a minor 2nd and less than a major third. In other words a note between F# and G, one a piano. Just an interesting face, that a piano cannot play all the notes, unless the piano was tuned to just one key. Then we would beable to play all the notes in the overtone series, which is what defines a note. The first people to use the fraction 1/n to define notes was the greeks. ANd essentially this is how the piano/guitar was made, based off of mathmatics. So, all the music you hear today is really just some mathmatical relationship in harmonics and waves vibrating to create a sound in which you hear. Kind of interesting eh??? Well thats all i remember from the class. Continuing onto music, I would have to say it is one of those things in which you must be super outstanding in, and yet have a hard time making a living out of it. Unlike the buisness world and other markets, it takes a lot of practice and detication to beable to make a decent living as a musician, and takes a lot of talent. With that said, other markets do take a lot of talent to make a living in, and they are talented people. Especially those who compete in the olympics. The atheltic ability and the way they push their bodies is insane. Who could think someone would jump over something eight feet tall. Well thats it.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Creative Writing IV

Masquerade
Author: Andrew Loylld Webber
http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/thephantomoftheopera/masquerade.htm

Masquerade!
Paper faces on parade . . .
Masquerade!
Hide your face,
so the world will
never find you!
Masquerade!
Every face a different shade . . .
Masquerade!
Look around -
there's another
mask behind you!
Flash of mauve . . .
Splash of puce . . .
Fool and king . . .
Ghoul and goose . . .
Green and black . . .
Queen and priest . . .
Trace of rouge . . .
Face of beast . . .
Faces . . .
Take your turn,
take a ride
on the merry-go-round . . .
in an inhuman race . . .
Eye of gold . . .
Thigh of blue . . .
True is false . . .
Who is who . . .?
Curl of lip . . .
Swirl of gown . . .
Ace of hearts . . .
Face of clown . . .
Faces . . .
Drink it in,
drink it up,
till you've drowned
in the light . . .
in the sound . . .

2. I chose this poem/song because it fits well into the Musical in which it is featured. It talks about masks and different faces and the whole musical is about a man with a mask who tries to deceive a girl. It is interesting because although it is meant describe a man who is trying to hide his appearance, but yet people do it in everyday life.

3. Masquerade is defined as a party, dance, or other festive gathering of persons wearing masks and other disguises, and often elegant, historical, or fantastic costumes according to www.dictionary.com. This fits the work because the song talks about different people who wear masks, for example "Queen and Priest." It also fits the musical because of the man who wears a mask and hides his identity. Also the piece as a whole can describe someone who has all the attributes described in the song, and takes on many different faces to hid their true apperance.

4. "Drink it in, Drink it up" is a metaphor. It is a metaphor for all of the faces and noise that is going around to something a person can drink, like water. This helps create imagery of people taking in the people around them and what they are doing. It helps create a sense of no one knows who the other person is. Everyone becomes annonymous the phrase Drink it in Drink it up helps create the feeling to adapt. "Hide your face so the world will never find you" is a metaphor for hiding. Someone can't just hide their face and then the world won't see them, thats impossible, but it means to hide your identity from the world so they will never know who you are. This is one of the opening lines, so it sets the tone of the song as a cheery song, but yet has a distrubing side to it, just like the Phantom.

5. The tone of this piece is cheery yet creepy at the same time. The music behind the words make it a cheery song, but if you listen to the words, some of them are kidn of disturbing. Like "Hide your face so the world will never find you." This is saying that you should hide whatever you are so people don't know who you are. This relates to the Phantom in the musical, because he hides his face from the world so they never know of his amazing muscial talent. But it is also a cheery song because they are celebrating something and that is Raoul and Christine's engagement. But it has a creepy side to it because the Phaontom isn't finished with those two yet.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Creative Writing: Writing Territories

1. Writings that I like to read usually include some articles in the Newspaper and mostly science-fiction/fantasy novels. Some of my favorite books are science-fiction/fantasy, like Lord of the Rings, and the Redwall series. These intrigue me because I love all of the epic storytelling and the adventure that takes place. The most fun style of writing, I think, is that of a narrative. Unfortunately outside of the class I do not write at all. I do read books outside of class, but he only time I write is for a class assignment. When we do have school assignments, I find that the topics that essentially have no bound of styles are the most fun. Usually just telling a story, or a narrative is the most fun to write. I like to write those because I can add epic tales into them and have huge battles, and do it all without trying to prove a point.

2. Once upon a time there was a little man, about four and a half feet tall. He was known as the outcast of his village. Even thought he was very small for a grown man, he knew how to fight. He was very proficient in sword fighting and archery. He wanted to join the village army, in case of any attack, he could help the people protect their village. But they declined him, only because of his height. This little guy was named Jared. Now Jared had grown up in a "normal persons" house, and had a "normal" mother and father. When he was a teenager he was often made fun of for being so short. But his parents kept telling him that he would grow, he was just a late bloomer. But as time passed he never bloomed. Once he was old enough to live on his own, his parents kicked him out of the house and banned him from the village. Jared, being torn by the love for his parents and a girl named Catie, decided to hide in the mountains near the village. Always looking after it, especially Catie. This girl Catie was his childhood love, and still is his love. He admires her, and wonders at her beauty. But no one knows of his secret love for Catie. And Jared cannot tell anyone of this love because he is an outcast and Catie is the daughter of the mayor. Jared waits in the mountains until his day may come, when he can ride off into the sunset with Catie, on horseback. One day, towards dusk, the warning bell of the village rang. This warning bell warns all the people of an attack. The army mobilized near the gates of the village, men clad in heavy armor with swords and shields, and archers behind them. Jared ran to the top of the mountain overlooking the village and saw the enemy running in, an enemy village had gathered an army to attack Jared's village. Jared became outraged. He ran over to the pass where the army would have to come through, ready to pounce. As the enemy village's army walked through the pass he set off his little trap. He pushed a boulder over, blocking the pass from the back and spliting the army in two. Then he released a lever, this lever was holding the latch that held up a pile of logs, which spilled into the pass. The enemy army was dumfounded. The back half ot he army retreated while the front half surrendered. After that attack the village was never in danger again, due to Jared's craftiness and knowledge of the hills.