Hybridization of Artistic Genres and the Development of Multiple Creative Disciplines ~ by Lee Duane FitzSimmons

photo courtesy of ensia

One of the most clever ways to use a newly perceived idea is to apply its concept to another format or genre. One can also combine genres in an infinite number of ways. One can also take ideas from one genre and apply them to another or combine genres and apply ideas to the new hybrid. It is also possible to take foreign ideas that have been used in another type of art form and apply them to completely different art forms. This process allows for a creative work to have fresh material while still maintaining a ring of familiarity.

When combining genres, one should be careful and selective with the process required to perform this operation. Sometimes the various stylistic elements of a particular genre need to be carefully dissected in order to find appropriate aspects that may be either extracted and inserted into another genre or used as a foundation or template on which to place foreign elements from other genres.

It should also be remembered that each genre is a careful selection of artistic elements that have been used over and over again and have managed to find a certain kind of creative formula that rings true in the souls of many of those who enjoy experiencing creations of that genre. Creating a successful hybrid that also elicits this response is a feat that is not easily accomplished.

Thus, it should be realized that most attempts with any sort of hybridization are more than likely not going to be as well received as a new creation that can be considered as belonging to a specific genre. However, if this process of combinatorial endeavors is successful, then something wonderful and magical is created and the whole world benefits. It is like a bridge has been built that spans the width of a great chasm because the new hybridization can now be used as a blueprint for future creations to link the newly combined idioms together.

Once the bridge over a massive canyon has been built, it becomes easy to walk to the other side.

When it comes to the various fields of art, there are often many

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sources of inspiration that can potentially spark the fires of the creative process. However, sometimes the reverse is true. Therefore, it is important to have multiple inputs of imaginative fancy at one's fingertips. Different branches of art can very easily feed into one another if the imaginative process is constantly put to use in new and creative ways using multiple artistic and scientific disciplines.

Another important aspect to the benefits of having more than one field of artistic endeavor is the alleviation of boredom in all of its many incarnations. Due to the high level of repetition needed to develop one's technical prowess in any type of creative discipline, boredom quickly becomes a factor. One can lose interest at the early stages of an individual's artistic development in a particular field because only amateurish content can be produced due to lack of technique. Once an artist has gained enough technical proficiency to produce a high-quality product, an enormous amount of repetition has been performed in order to gain these skills.

By having more than one source of artistic passion, the alleviation

photo courtesy NorthShoreAcademyfor the Arts

of boredom in the fields where an individual is technically proficient becomes far easier to accomplish. Learning a new technique in a new field inspires technique and design ideas in the fields with which an artist is already fluent. In addition, the new discipline that the artist is learning is crafted in a new way that is inspired by this individual's proficiency within her/his areas of competency. One art feeds into the next and vice versa.

It should also be noted that the Western theory of "courting the

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muse" is very damaging to the creative process because reducing creative inspiration into a singular entity is rather limiting to the imaginative whim. The entire notion of "the muse" was not singular when it was first known to have been asserted publicly back in the ninth century B.C.E. by Hesiod. In fact, throughout the centuries, the idea of "muse" was quite often plural. To court one's muse would seem like a restriction of the imagination and not an enlargement of it. Instead, a more proper way of expressing creative inspiration would be "courting the muses." This type of assertion would be more in line with the expressions of the past centuries and would seem to be more likely to gather some type of creative energy from the collective consciousness.

There is also a bit of creative suppression when one uses the verb court. This verb implies that some effort is necessary to garner the affections of the muses. Instead of requesting the aid of just one fairy-muse, it would make more sense to have many ladies performing for the artist in need of inspiration. Therefore, instead of begging for the hand of an aloof muse-maiden, it would be more logical to let the entire harem of the nine muses perform for the artist seeking inspiration.

photo courtesy of pinterest

The fairy-muses of the aesthetic woodlands would then compete with each other for the affections of the individual in need of creative guidance.

Lee Duane FitzSimmons

Lee Duane FitzSimmons is an award-winning musical prodigy who creates customized background music. ATTENTION AUTHORS - FREE MUSIC FOR BOOK TRAILERS 

He not only became proficient on several instruments, but also learned music theory and ear training at age 12, so he could combine all of the creative sensibilities inherent in possessing all of these disciplines. While still in his early teens, he began writing and recording with a multi-track recorder while still in junior high school. Winning medal after medal in saxophone and vocal performance competitions, Lee especially excelled at ear training and music theory competitions. He placed first in state competitions for music theory and ear training his junior and senior years in high school, and received a $5,000 scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston where he tested out of over half a dozen semesters music courses.

Lee went on to earn a living professionally in music for many years. He played in several different house bands and toured on the road with many different groups as he traveled all over the country.  

For Lee, the only thing that matters now to humanity is peace. He feels that peace allows for the development of nations and individuals. Peace allows for the development of the arts and sciences. Peace allows for the continuous ecstasy of the soul.

You can connect with Lee at

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UK Radio personality Brian Player

Brian Player is a well-known radio show host on Wey Valley Radio in Alton, UK. He is devoted to sharing the talents of the independent musician/singer/songwriter. You can catch Brian's show, Tea Time Favorites on Monday afternoons at 1 pm CST and The Acoustic Cafe on Tuesdays at 2 pm CST by using the tune in app HERE

The Role of Radio in Music ~ by Brian Player

Is there a role for radio in promoting music today? Well, I might

Deposit photos

claim there is but maybe not in the way we have come to expect from past history.

Never has there been such a choice of media to entertain as there is today. We all know about streaming services giving free or near free access to new music and the hundreds of radio services all competing for our attention.

So, how is the radio scene evolving? Who are the winners and how are listeners making their choices?

Firstly, national broadcasters continue to dominate the world of popular music. In the UK we are very much habit driven and still tune to the stations we know will deliver a balance of the tunes and chat we enjoy. Specialist shows also tend to be of a quality and content that can be relied upon for an enjoyable listen.

Where does that leave local and community services? We have over 400 in the UK alone.

Perhaps... All enjoying international reach through the internet and a massive choice for listeners.

The local element, news, interviews, and bands from

Acoustic Cafe

the area can be relied upon to provide a small increase in listener numbers when featured, which can also lead to a more loyal following for the station if the shows are enjoyed.

But I emphasize the word small, and this is where local and specialist shows can score against their bigger national competitors.

It takes work, but by clever manipulation of social media alongside digital broadcast any particular show or presenter can build a following of loyal supporters that will benefit his/her show, station, and those taking part.

The numbers will never be huge, but the reputation can be built to the extent that musicians and artists will see that show as giving real benefit in promoting their music.

Take the world of Indie and Folk Music. A popular radio show can draw a regular listening population of around 200, equivalent to a reasonably large gig but with the advantage of featuring lots of artists. And listeners can comment, chat and ask questions while the music is being played, without distraction.

This creates a social element where like-minded people come together over the topic they love... MUSIC. They are also sure to come back.

That could not be easily achieved in the bigger arena. The numbers would be too great. But via the local network, friendships develop that often span continents, and musicians come together with those who love their music on a personal level not possible in other areas.

Yes, a specific role for community and local radio not achievable elsewhere and helping musicians promote their music, the numbers will never be big but by offering a two-way interactive experience that will not matter.

In a recent survey carried in the UK the most important feature recognised by listeners to local radio was companionship.

What better example of that being achieved than in the enjoyment and promotion of independent music.

Brian Player, Host 

Acoustic Cafe

Wey Valley Radio, Alton UK

 

Handcrafting music ~ by Kristine Raymond

Music has always been a part of life.  You know those scenes in movies where the mom and kids dance around singing their favorite songs?  Yeah, that happened in my house.  The stereo was alive from sunup to sundown and if Mom wasn't playing her vinyl, then the radio was on.  In addition, both my sister and I took piano lessons - she excelled, I barely learned the scales - and I sang in my school chorus from seventh grade through eleventh. 

What intrigued me, though, was my Dad's guitar, mostly because I'd never seen him play it.  It was a basic acoustic instrument, nothing fancy, and sat in a corner of the basement, its strings untouched.  Every once in a while, he'd let me pick it up, my fingers producing a horribly out of tune racket in my attempt to make music.  When I left home to begin my own life, he gave it to me, but I never learned to play and eventually sold it in a yard sale.  (Man, I wish I'd hung onto it - but that's another story.)

Fast forward a a few years.  How lucky was I that the man who became my husband shared my love of music?  Not only that, his fascination with guitars rivaled my own.  It wasn't long before he bought one.  There's just something about having a musical instrument around - any musical instrument - that adds a homey feel.  Kind of like having a fireplace.  But I digress.  
 

Copyright © Kristine Raymond

A second acoustic guitar soon followed the first, then an electric model with an amp.  To date, I think we're up to eight, including a classical guitar.  Or is it nine?  I've lost count.  And there's a mandolin in there somewhere, too.  (Funny thing to note is that I still don't play - we both took lessons a few years ago and, as with the piano, I struggled to learn scales.  I'm definitely less musically-inclined than I'd like to be.)  The hubs, on the other hand, picked it up right away and is quite talented.  He'd play all day long if he could.  

Copyright © Kristine Raymond

Another of his passions is working with wood and, recently, he combined the two.  Cleaning up the yard not too long ago after a storm, he picked up a tree branch and an idea formed.  (Isn't that how it happens?)  Cutting a manageable-sized chunk, he brought it inside and set to work, chiseling and shaping and sanding, then hand-polishing his creation with beeswax and mineral oil to a satiny finish.  

Voilà!  A handmade guitar pick.

Copyright © Kristine Raymond

Not only are his picks beautiful, they're functional, and produce a lovely tone when stroked against an instrument's strings.  He's been experimenting with different varieties of wood - the ones in the pic below are made from black locust.  (Check out the one shaped like an arrowhead.) 

Copyright © Kristine Raymond

There's nothing better than tapping into your source of creativity and letting it take you places you never imagined.  In my case, it's crafting new worlds with words.  In my hubs' case, it's crafting music with wood.

Note - if you're interested in owning one, please contact me for pricing.

Love True--It Can Be Just for You ~ by musician John Tracy

We are all searching for true love, aren’t we? The motivation behind the new single “Love True Just For You” was to encourage my youngest daughter to be patient, that love true would indeed find her when she least expected it.


“…You’ll find rescue from the lonely abyss in a tender kiss …” 

I truly do believe that. I’m a romantic at heart. It happened for me when I thought I’d never find the one who was meant for me until one day out of the blue she appeared, almost thirty-six years ago now. In our complicated world with so much negativity swirling around, such a positive thought might seem simple or trite. But it is a belief I hold firmly to.

I think, however, that this search for “love true” is about more than just romantic love. This idea goes as deep as wanting to find true love in what we do each day - in our work as well as in our play. My love of music started back in my teens. It was right around the time I turned twenty that this hobby became a passion. The songs from my musical heroes did something in me – they gave me hope, made me feel less alone, and gave me a glimpse of happiness. I wanted to learn how to do that for other people. So, I began studying the art of songwriting.

The demands of daily living soon got in the way of this passion. Getting married, raising and supporting a family became the priorities and I suppressed this desire to create music. That is until 2006, when the need to be creative would not stay down any more. 

I was working with my father in the family business. My years there had been fraught with conflict, tension and more stress than was healthy. I was burning out and the fissure in my resolve allowed this pent-up passion to bubble over.

I said goodbye to all that logic dictated and with the support of my daughters and wife, I set out on this journey to create music that

tells the stories of our lives. It didn’t go as smoothly as I had envisioned it. Things seldom do. But through the years and the release of seven albums to date, I continue to grow a loyal fan base who relates to and is encouraged by the messages in my songs. 

Why do I create music? 
I believe people want to feel. We all want to feel alive. We want to feel hope, excitement, peace, joy. Sometimes we just want to cry. I believe that music is the catalyst that can awaken that in all of us. That’s why I write music filled with stories of real life – to help us have that vehicle to experience life with all of our emotions ignited. It is the way I am able to bring hope, joy, inspiration, peace and honesty to you and hopefully in the process, make your journey a little better.

But don’t take my word for it! Come see for yourself!

courtesy of YouTube

John Tracy Bio
An article in the February 2019 issue of Jamsphere Music Magazine hailed John Tracy as “… decidedly one of the most talented active Americana singer-songwriters in the indie industry...” His voice and delivery have a way of worming their way into your heart, in songs populated by instantly sympathetic characters, both clean and dirty guitars, rich melodies, and cleverly written, heart wrenching lyrics.

John is a prolific songwriter with seven full-length albums to his credit. His newest single, “Love True Just for You,” is quintessential John Tracy: a perfect encapsulation of everything that makes his songs and videos as inspirational as they are. When John isn’t writing about love, he is observing, considering and commenting on life, addressing its trials and tribulations and dealing with a world that is changing into something most of us barely recognize any more. His lyrics revel in minute detail, rendering his settings and characters with exquisite clarity. Truly REAL MUSIC for REAL LIFE.

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Wisteria vines and Dan Fogelberg ~ by Kristine Raymond

It's funny how one thought can lead to another.  I'd intended to write a post about Wisteria and my fascination with the flowering vine; instead, I'm writing about one of my favorite musical artists - Dan Fogelberg.

Now, the switch from one subject to the other came about honestly. I was searching YouTube for the link to Dan's song, Wysteria - it's a hauntingly beautiful tune, one of the earliest I remember listening to - and had it playing in the background while I gathered facts about
Wisteria frutescens.

As happens on YouTube, the song ended and immediately went into another, and I found myself transported back decades to a time when Dan Fogelberg music was the soundtrack of my life.  I have a clear memory of the first time I heard Nether Lands, sitting in a darkened stairwell after choir practice waiting for my ride; of the week spent camping alone in the woods of New Hampshire, rewinding my portable cassette player over and over again in order to listen to Souvenirs, There's a Place in the World for a Gambler, Old Tennessee, and Song from Half Mountain, praying the batteries would last the entire trip; of looking up at the moon on a partially-overcast night and 'hearing' the first line of In the Passage.


It was his song, Tucson, Arizona, quoted by Dan as being his all-time favorite track, that intensified my desire to move west.  Not so much the lyrics about drug use and murder, but the melody; and the emotions those notes invoked.  I could envision that wide open space; 'see' the expanse of cloudless blue sky, 'feel' the heat of the desert that was nothing like the day-to-day humidity in Rhode Island.        

In my late teens, I learned that Dan Fogelberg was touring nearby, and quickly snapped up a ticket, only to be disappointed when the concert was canceled.  I'd hoped to see him perform at a later date but never had the opportunity.  Instead, I bought every album he recorded (yes; vinyl) and wore them out listening to his powerful ballads and stirring anthems, falling in love with his more obscure stuff.  Interestingly enough, his top 40 songs are my least favorites. 

So, that's how my post navigated from Wisteria (this is what's growing in my yard.  Isn't it beautiful?) to Dan Fogelberg.  A single song that opened a floodgate of memories.  Don't you love when that happens?

Copyright 2019 - Kristine Raymond

  

Never Too Soon to Sell Out ~ by Dennis Green

The popularity cycle is the shortest it has ever been.

Pop culture used to live according to "The Five Stages of Life As An Actor," credited to Hugh O’Brian.

(1) “Who is Hugh O’Brian?”
(2) “Get me Hugh O’Brian!”
(3) “Get me a Hugh O’Brian type.”
(4) “Get me a young Hugh O’Brian.”
(5) “Who is Hugh O’Brian?”

Trust me, he was a big deal at one time.

Not that long ago, this progression played out over a number of years. But the kind of rapid rise and fall that we used to associate just with One-Hit-Wonders or Flavor-Of-The-Month teen idols now seems to be the rule for everything in entertainment.

If a movie doesn't debut at #1 the first weekend of the release, it's a disappointment. An author I know recently blogged to his fans that the most important thing they could do to help his new book was to buy it on Amazon the day of release.

“First week sales,” he said, “are the only ones that count.”

And don’t even get me started on technology, where it is perfectly OK for an Apple or Google to quit supporting a phone that is less than two years old.

It’s also happening in in pop music. I’m not necessarily talking about chart life. I haven’t researched average life span of a pop hit, although I bet it’s a good deal shorter than in the past. No, it’s the licensing of current songs for commercials.

Remember when letting a song be used in advertising was the worst kind of selling out, or the final refuge of a has-been who needed the money? Today, songs pop up in ads while they’re still on the radio as a current hit.

It also used to be that only a giant company could afford to buy the rights to a pop song. But Hy-Vee, a mid-sized Midwestern grocery chain, recently licensed Sia's "Unstoppable." No idea what they paid but I'll bet it was modest compared to what Chevrolet paid for "Like a Rock," even in 1991 dollars.

And even stranger, it’s now not uncommon to sell commercial rights to more than one company at the same time. A couple years ago, you could hear Phillip Phillips' "Home," in back to back commercials for totally different products. I can only assume that the company that only bought the instrumental "hook" paid a lower price.

Originally, the reason for a company to license a song was to connect a product with the good feelings we associate with a favorite tune. But now it can also be the other way around.

Sofi Tukker's "Best Friend" was featured last year a commercial for the iPhone X. The YouTube video was viewed 8 million times in just 24 hours after Apple's September launch event.

And that's not even an Apple Watch on her arm.

I guess it's now the musicians that seek the benefit by connecting to a much-loved product.

But on the up side, it used to take me months to get well and truly sick of a song. Now I can do it in about twenty days.

The Jazz of Star Trek--Music in Science Fiction & Fantasy ~ by Dennis W. Green

  

photo courtesy of Dixon_Hill

      What jazz standard shares a melody with the Star Trek theme? And what rock & roll tune tells its story against the background of Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity?
     Artists have always been inspired by the art of others. Musicians and writers have traded inspiration for centuries. Science Fiction and Fantasy are no different. But these genres are unique in how fans are touched by the music.
     In this post, we’ll explore the unique connections your favorite movies and TV shows have with classical and jazz music. In Part II, we’ll move on to Rock and Pop.
      Sci-Fi At The Movies – A Classical Gas

courtesy of YouTube

    When I started researching for this article, I thought I would spend most of my time discussing the various classical pieces that have found their way into science fiction and fantasy movies, beginning with “Also Sprach Zarathustra” in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
     Turns out, it’s pretty much Zarathustra and… well, not a lot else. Most of the music we know and love from our favorite movies are original compositions, which we’ll cover in the next section.
     Now, cartoons are another matter. If not for Bugs Bunny, I would know nothing about classical music. I can’t ever hear “The Barber of Seville” without seeing that wascally wabbit wielding a shaving brush and razor. But that’s another article.
     If there is another classical piece that has been so totally intertwined with any movie, let alone a sci-Fi movie, as much as Strauss’s meditation on Friedrich Nietzsche, I don’t know what it would be. No other “pre-composed” movie theme even comes close.
     But Stanley Kubrick is not the only director to mine the archives of classical music for inspiration.

courtesy of YouTube

     A good example is Franz Schubert’s String Quartet No. 13, used to excellent effect in The Avengers. Other fairly recent examples include Prometheus (Chopin), and Elysium (Bach).

courtesy of YouTube

     Carl Orff’s “O Fortuna” has been called “the most overused piece of music in film history,” and shows up in dozens of movies, movie trailers, commercials, and TV.
     For me, its most memorable usage is when King Arthur and his knights charge into battle with the choral epic in the background in Excalibur.It also pops up in 2007’s Beowulf: Prince of the Geats, not to mention The Doors, Speed, Last of the Mohicans and even Jackass.
      Putting The Original into Original Soundtrack
     Where original movies scores are concerned, let’s start at the top of the mountain, John Williams and Star Wars.

courtesy of YouTube

     The Star Wars Soundtrack was the first non-rock and roll record I ever bought, and I listened to it over and over again after seeing the movie. Remember, this was in the days when if you wanted to see a movie, you had to go to a theater. So in between viewings, listening to the soundtrack was a great way to re-live the movie. If you’ve never sat down and listened to the full 5:51 of the Main Title, do it now.
     Leitmotif is a musical term that means a phrase or melody that is associated with a particular character, place, or emotion. Common in symphonic music and opera, It was not used much in film until Williams revived it for Star Wars.
It’s really a very simple device, but it is now impossible to imagine the Star Wars movies without the unique musical signatures associated with particular characters and scenes.
     The re-stated melody of the Main Title which plays under Luke’s first appearance, answering Uncle Owen’s bellow, will come to represent him throughout the films. The same for Princess Leia, the Jawas, even The Force, whose theme first appears in the Binary Sunset scene, and returns in each of the films.
The Star Wars soundtrack remains the highest grossing non-pop recording of all time. But it was just the beginning for John Williams. He would go on to compose the five-note figure the aliens implant in Richard Dreyfus in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, not to mention the music to Superman, the Indiana Jones films, and the entire Star Wars saga.
     As far as other original music composed for sci-fi movies goes, the music from Lord of the Rings comes very close to achieving Williams-esque status. Howard Shore used over ninety leitmotifs, the most identifiable of which would probably be “History of The Ring,” which plays during the title sequence of all three films, and “Pippin’s Song,” with the hobbit sings to Denethor at the same time the Steward’s son Faramir makes his suicidal charge into battle in “Return of the King.”
     The lyrics to “Pippin’s Song” are not from Tolkien at all, but were composed by Billy Boyd, who played the character. He wrote the song on just twenty-four hours notice, the day before the scene was filmed.
Jerry Goldsmith’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture theme introduced us to the “new” Star Trek theme. A decade of Star Trek: The Next Generation on TV would burn it into our minds.
     Honorable mention to Queen, because there are very few themes that captured the essence of their films (that is to say, ridiculous camp) better than Flash. (More about Queen later)

courtesy of YouTube

     The Jazz of Star Trek
     At first listen, the original Star Trek Theme seems to be a pretty conventional orchestral piece. But Alexander Courage’s composition has its roots in jazz.
     In a 2000 interview, Courage explained that his inspiration for the main part of the theme is from “Beyond The Blue Horizon,” a pop tune from the 1930s. Courage said it gave him the idea for a song which was a “long thing that…keeps going out into space…over a fast moving accompaniment.”
     But the most interesting musical parallel is coincidental. The Star Trektheme shares a harmonic progression with the jazz standard, “Out of Nowhere.” That is to say, the two songs share the same several notes, played in the same order, to form each tune’s main melody (“The Hook” in music parlance).
     “Out of Nowhere” was Bing Crosby’s first Number One hit. You can definitely hear the melodic similarity in Bing’s original version, but when Charlie Parker and Miles Davis slowed it down and made a ballad out of the tune in 1947, the resemblance is downright eerie:

courtesy of YouTube

     It’s difficult to believe that Courage wasn’t familiar with “Out of Nowhere,” but he never mentioned it as an influence. Absent an “unconscious plagiarism” ruling of the sort that led George Harrison to pay a bunch of money to the composer of “He’s So Fine,” we are left with the resemblance as a coincidence.
But a coincidence that the show has had some fun with.
     In the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gene Roddenberry suggested doing a detective story based on the holodeck, and writer Tracy Tormé got the job of writing “The Big Goodbye.” In the process, Tormé created the character of 1940s literary detective Dixon Hill, one of the most memorable additions to the Star Trek canon.
     As Captain Picard enters Dixon Hill’s office for the first time near the beginning of the episode, a radio is playing “Out of Nowhere.” It was producer Robert Justman who suggested the Easter Egg. A jazzer would say he was “hip” to the connection.
     (It’s interesting to note that Tracy Tormé is the son of legendary jazz singer Mel Tormé. The younger Tormé would go on to co-create “Sliders,” and cast his famous father in the show.)
    Jazz plays a small but significant role in almost every Star Trek series:
    • Jonathon Frakes happened to play the trombone, which led the Next Generation writers to send Commander Ryker to a holodeck jazz club to unwind. Ryker complained he could never master a fictional standard called “Nightbird.”
    • The Deep Space Nine crew also liked to hang out in holodeck bars. Their favorite hologram was lounge singer Vic Fontaine, played by former teen heartthrob James Darren. Eventually, Fontaine would come to serve as a father confessor of sorts to various members of the crew.
    • Lieutenant Harry Kim led a jazz quartet on Voyager called the Kimtones, with Kim on clarinet. Unlike Frakes, Garrett Wang did not play the instrument, but memorized the correct fingerings, no small task.
    • And on Star Trek: Enterprise, we learn that free jazz has an interesting effect on the Vulcan psyche. When T’Pol hits a San Francisco club in the episode “Fusion,” she describes what she hears as “…unusual, chaotic, but I was drawn to it. I felt… invigorated.”
    • This idea popped up in Voyager as well. In “Riddles,” Tuvok loses his intellect and quits repressing his emotions. During this time, he develops a fondness for jazz.

A word of advice: Don’t tell a jazz musician you have to be illogical to enjoy the form.