Songwriting Workshop # 1

Songwriting Workshop # 1 On Friday, we had our first songwriting workshop with Phil. The workshop went really smoothly and I ended up learning so many small facts about songwriting and music production in such a short period of time. Throughout the workshop, I played two of my original songs for Phil, so that he could get a taste of the genre I write and critique what I have done. He gave me a lot of positive feedback and told me that the songs I write are consistantly good; however, they need to be more catchy for the listener. What he means is that the listener should hear it once, and be able to sing along with it the next time it's played. In Phil's opinion, there are too many lyrics in the songs I write and they would be even better if they were short and sweet. I hope to complete atleast two songs with Phil and ultimately slip out of my comfort zone when improving them. I also want to learn more about Music Production and music merchandising, so that I'm well prepared for my major next year.

Freddie Reiter: Workshop # 5

Freddie Reiter: Workshop # 5

We started working on a classic song tuesday: "Baba O' Riley" by The Who. I was surprised at how well we matched the record in our playing. The song had a lot of energy and it was pretty simplistic, yet keeping the tempo took a lot of concentration. Playing these songs, that I've listened to my whole life, with Freddie really changes my perception of the song itself. I'm starting to notice the brilliant bass part in "Baba O' Riley" now, more then ever. I'm also keeping track of every single part around me, knowing when and where each instrument should come in. In my opinion, learning how to listen to the surrounding band members is key to playing LIVE. It's devastating that this workshop has to end soon; however, I have learned a lot about performing, jamming, and technique. We must perform soon!

Freddie Reiter: Workshop # 4

Freddie Reiter: Workshop # 4

The group worked on more blues with Freddie this time. It was interesting how Freddie took a simple blues lick and transformed it into a full band song with such a smooth structure. He taught each of us the phrase and the bridge, then the chords, and we were each given a chance to solo over the phrase. I'm not usually surrounded by a lot of Blues, so getting the chance to solo and improve on this particular style of music is very helpful. Freddie gives each of us a chance to really blend with the rest of the group and rock out when it's our time to shine/show off. "Don't Stop Believing" was finally given an ending and it is ready to be performed for a crowd. I'd love to somehow perform it live with either a singer or saxophonist, playing the melody. In the past three workshops, our band has learned to listen to one another, blend our sound, and take turns rocking out. The best way to show off what we did in this workshop is to perform our jam sessions or "Don't Stop Believing" in front of a live audience! Next week, I'm bringing in a couple of songs that I've been writing, getting critique from Freddie, and possibly adding a solo section within individual songs.

Freddie Reiter: Workshop # 3

Freddie Reiter: Workshop # 3

We did something different today, which was jamming on an E blues chord progression and taking turns soloing. This was my first time soloing on the blues with a whole band backing me up, and it went pretty well. I have to say, it's a bit nerve racking to hold the rhythm on guitar and solo on the pentatonic when its my turn. It takes a lot of concentration and listening to blend with the band, keep time, and use my guitar technique efficiently. After every workshop with Freddie, I seem to learn something new about music and Ska. Today, I practiced blending with the rest of the band and actually listening to each instrument. I learned that each musician's ability to listen and blend with the other member will create cohesion between the band as a whole. After today, I can hear bass much more in songs because I chose to really tune into Zach's part alone in the jam session, while sustaining my guitar part. We practiced "Don't Stop Believing" and our brand new goal is to create an ending to the song, so that we can eventually perform the piece. I'd love to write a song with Freddie, make the Ska version, and ultimately perform it for a large group.

Freddie Reiter: Workshop # 2

Freddie Reiter: Workshop # 2

On Friday, we worked on our Ska version of "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. At first, we learned the main lick that's repeated throughout the entire song and then we split the song into a few parts. so that it would be easier to combine them all in the end. The group had trouble keeping tempo when we first ran the song through, but by the end, the finished product sounded amazing. I had trouble creating a solid strumming pattern to blend with the Ska feel of an "upbeat gallop." Freddie has a lot of patience when he works with us. He will take time to work with each of us individually and make sure we can keep up with the rest of the band. I'm really having a good time in this workshop because everyone works well with each other. In other words, we all progress on the same track and no one puts the other person down for not getting a part of the song. Freddie's workshop is specifically helping me with tempo and staying on rhythm during a song, which is one of my weak points. Having a good sense of rhythm helps me record better on a click track, when I'm in the studio.

Freddie Reiter: Workshop # 1

Freddie Reiter: Workshop # 1

Today was awesome! Freddie gave us a simple chord progression and we turned it into a full band tune. Each of us had a seperate part to play, and the overall sound was really unique. The ska sound is upbeat and it gives off a real bouncy feel, but at the same time, it sustains a jazzy sound. Freddie is extremely kind and laid back, and he really knows a lot about music. His sax playing is phenomenal, and he's really open to answer any questions we have about music. My main goal in this workshop is to understand more music theory. More specifically, be able to recognize a specific chord progression and solo over it. This workshop will expand my musical knowledge and possibly give me the ability to transform certain songs into ska originals. Next week, we're doing a Ska cover of "Don't Stop Believing".... this should be fun!

Freddie Reiter!

Freddie Reiter, or Fred "Rock Steady Freddie" Reiter, was a past member of the The Toasters, a New York Ska-Jazz ensemble, which started in 1981 and still continues today. The Toasters were one of the first American ska bands and may be the longest active ska band in the United States. Freddie Reiter played lead saxophone for The Toasters. All in all, the band has released nine studio albums and their songs were featured on various TV Commercials (including Coca-Cola), Nickelodeon, and the pilot episode of a hit animated series. Freddie now tours the US, playing concerts with past members of the New York Ska- Jazz ensemble. Can't wait to meet this guy!

My 365: Picture a Day blog

Here's a link to my daily practice blog: http://dougs365.blogspot.com/

FOLLOW ME

My New Art Project: Metropolis based

Luke and I came up with a great idea for my portfolio art project. I am working on a piece that features several pictures of Freder from Metropolis, making distinct facial expressions. Freder's mannerisms stood out to me the most in Metropolis because they are one of the aspects that made this movie so unique and unusual. I started to relate Freder's strong facial expressions and the underlying emotions to my own self. This movie has brought me to the conclusion that I'm not expressive enough outside of my home environment. I've found that keeping anything inside, whether it'd be a secret, a goal, or an emotion, isn't beneficial. In fact, it could ultimately lead to the act of pursuing a fictitious persona that no one knows is fake. Almost everything that goes on inside must be heard by at least someone else on the outside.

In my project, I have six pictures of Freder's face, each with a different emotion. I have picked the pictures that are most distinct and relatable to emotions I have felt. Under each picture, I am including a caption where I speak about myself in the third person. For example, "Doug feels manipulated" or "Doug is enthusiastic." Although this may not seem like a masterpiece to the viewer, it's meaningful to who I am as a person.

Book Workshop # 1

This workshop is fascinating! The process of making these books involves so much focus, patience, and persistence. One wrong move, and you may have to start from scratch. This week in Carl's workshop, we worked on cutting the pages and sewing them together. When Carl was demonstrating, the process of ripping the brown paper seemed so simple. However, this ended up being extremely difficult. We had to rely on the ruler to make a clean cut down the middle of our brown sheets. I'm proud of the way my pages turned out and I'm sure next week's project is going to involve even more focus.

Carl's a really nice guy and seems to be really confident with his book making skill. He told us a story of how he had to do what we were doing almost every day in his old job. Carl's directions were very clear and easy to follow. I can't wait to see the finished product!

15 HOUR STAC TRIP!!!

In my opinion, friday's field trip went really well. When we were first assigned our new groups, I was scared to see how my day would play out. Not only was I hanging out with these STACies for the first time, I was also spending a whole day surrounded by them. I was afraid our personalities would clash or not mesh well, but I was wrong. From the beginning of the day to the end, I was entertained by a whole new group of intelligent STACies.

Luckily, I knew a couple of people in the group before the trip, so I wasn't completely alone in the crowd. The group did not separate at all because we were dedicated to the photography project and we were having a great time visiting the NYC landmarks together. Our main objective was to get lost in the city on purpose and photograph our reaction to being lost. Unfortunately, the subway took us on the wrong route and we missed Eataly, but the adventurous quests helped to strengthen the group's bond. I'm sure that if we combined all of our pictures from the beginning of our day to the end, our closeness will clearly be portrayed through the photographs.

Alphabet City and Bleeker street truly fascinated me because the stores were quaint and unadvertised. These stores and cafes were not well known and not overpopulated like other parts of the city. I find that in other parts of NYC, it's frustrating and confusing to be lost; however, this wasn't the case in Alphabet City or Bleeker Street. In fact, being lost became more soothing; it gave the group a sense of dependence and freedom. All in all, the trip was something new and extraordinary.

New Song, New Genre

So, I wrote a song the other day, and it took me one night to finish. I'm proud of this song because it's one of the first songs I've ever written that falls under the alternative/rock genre: mostly what I listen to. The song has more of a dissonant tone, rather than a happy tone, which is what I usually write. I will post the lyrics now, but I rather you critique the song as a whole after I post my recording later on. Enjoy!

(UNTITLED)- let me know if you think of a good title for the tune :)

Verse:

We're risking everything we want

Edge of destruction, we are in a rut

so take a chance on me

and let the pleasure seep deep into your black heart

Chorus:

I need you, you need me

let loose and I know that we'll get there soon

It's frightening to live like a stranger

trapped in the same old news

Verse:

Now I'm sleepin' on your stoop

you're trapped inside, my head is in a loop

It's time to let him go

Let the past be past I know

You still act the part

Chorus 1x

Bridge:

And now the world is catchin' up to you

you can't turn back,

I was the one that you used to get him back

The "Who is that Guy?" Experiment

Title: The "Who is that Guy?" Experiment

Location: New York City

Time: 5:00 PM

Day: October 1, 2010

So, on Friday night, me and a couple of STACies decided to play with the minds of the New York City walkers. Our goal was to get a group of people to follow me around the city trying to get my autograph even though I am not a real movie star. I have to say, we came really close to accomplishing this goal.

First, we would choose a crowded area of the city in which clumps of people could spot the event. Next, I would start to walk slowly down the street, along with Jill, covering my hair with my sweatshirt hood. Then, five other STACies would approach us with pens, paper, and cameras, desperately asking me for my autograph and a picture. Keep in mind, the experiment only works with a large group of "fake fans" who are not afraid to scream. At first, random people started to follow the "fake fans," asking them who I am and what movies I am from. Of course, the answer would always be, "he was in EVERYTHING!" What really attracted most followers were the moments when Jill and I would move fast through the crowds as the fans chased after us.

We tried this experiment five times in different parts of NYC, including the overpopulated Time Square. The funniest part was that people would follow the "fake fans" almost everywhere, trying to obtain an autograph from a movie star that they have never heard of; one that didn't even exist! We had one man following us for two blocks, along with two other girls who mistook me for Justin Bieber. I was amazed at how easy it is to manipulate the people of New York City into believing something this ridiculous. I really encourage some of you to try this next time you are bored in the city and I'm in the process of sending the experiment idea to the people of Improv Everywhere.

Psychogeography 2

For my second psychogeography, I decided to capture "action" and "movement." I've noticed that individuals are constantly surrounded by action and activity, but they don't get a chance to fully examine it. Sometimes, when we witness a quick motion, our eyes cannot travel fast enough to fully see what is moving; all we see is the start and end of this particular activity. This is why I chose to freeze every moving structure, vehicle, or object and examine it as it moves. Some of the pictures I took feature a variety of colors that can almost take the place of a smudged painting. Most of the colors blend together perfectly and develop a beautiful texture. Usually when I take pictures, I ignore the blurry ones; however, this time I decided to examine this mesh of colors and feature it on this page. As I photographed my surroundings, I would either move the camera and capture the still life or keep the camera still and capture the moving life. Either way, I came out with some pretty fascinating photos. I hope you enjoy!

Doug's Psychogeography

For my Psychogeography, I chose to capture "things that hold other things." I ended up shooting various bowls/containers filled with objects and I shot platforms that were holding up something or someone in particular. I often find support and stability very intriguing because a lot of trust is involved. For example, if a platform or container breaks, the object(s) it holds will be demolished. In my photos, I decided to focus more on the structure holding the objects rather then the objects alone. In other words, I decided to give the object doing the "holding" more credit then usual.

Usually, when we look at an object, we tend to ignore the structure that holds it in place and focus on the object itself. This is similar to recognizing the outline of an object. Outlining fascinates me because it's always there, but our eye is constantly focused on what goes inside the outline. For example, if one looks inside an empty glass, he or she usually considers the absence of fluid from the glass before considering the outline of the empty space inside this object. Perhaps, this symbolizes the fact that most individuals take too many things for granted or the fact that individuals don't know how to appreciate what they have in front of them. Who knew so much meaning could be concealed behind structure and outlines?

Songwriting update

Over the summer, I've written four new songs that I'm really proud of. I'm in the process of recording these originals, so I can post them here on my blog. I've written a variety of songs with different genres (rock, acoustic, and pop). I seem to have fallen into a good writing habit and these songs are flowing much more easier then previous tunes. I find that good songwriting takes inspiration, passion, and self-awareness. There must be some kind of meaning behind the lyrics and melody. I used to interpret my songs after they were written, but now I base them off of situations I've experienced. This has been my greatest creative endeavor and I'm hoping I will have an album recorded by the end of senior year.

The Prisoner (my first senior blog post woah)

AHH this show consists of cliff hanger after cliff hanger after cliff hanger, and I'm enjoying every second of it. The plot is really clever. It reminds me of the Truman Show in the same sense that both protagonists can't escape this mysterious town. I can also relate this miniseries to The Giver by Lois Lowry because both stories consist of totalitarian-like societies. However, this particular society in The Prisoner is really interesting. In the Truman Show and The Giver, I was aware of what was going on behind closed curtains within the town; however, I can't seem to gather that information from this show. This frustrates me and it's obviously a product of good writing. I can predict that some medicine is given to these citizens daily, in order to erase their past memory and prevent them from asking questions. I needed a show like this, thank you!

Lyrics to a new song

Decided to document my songwriting on this blog now...

working on a new song right now with more complex chords then the last...

The verse incorporates Emaj7, C#m, B, A

I'll wait for you inside the hill

this world we made is quite unreal

time will never be enough for this so let's just run

and face the other way for fun

Workshops # 3

Jim Bonny: I'm really happy Jim is trying brand new techniques with us this year. Yesterday, we were each given a short scene in which the situation and circumstances were very unclear. We would read the two person scene aloud with a partner and somehow put the subtext in as we went along. Jim would help us create situations that would set the emotion for each scene. I was fascinated by the scene between Jill and I because Jim would constantly make us say a line and repeat it, and each time we repeated this line, our intensity grew and the emotion varied. Jim was always repeating how important it is for an actor to "stay out of his/her head" and this exercise helped a lot. The scene work and the repetition technique allowed my mind to enter a subconscious state in which I cared less about the acting, and more about feeding off of Jill's external emotions. With the subconscious mindset, there is no pressure to "act well," so the emotion lacks any unnecessary fabrication.

Week #2: The Big Project

Last week: we put the final touches on our script by adding dialogue, taking away unneeded action, and changing the ending to something more anticipated

This week: we're going to learn how to use the "large camera" and shoot as many classroom/hallway scenes as we can. We will need about 10 kids