Just as narratives gain new forms of media as technology progresses, musicians encounter more options for their concerts. Venues, props, themes and above all stage lights prove to be important decisions while planning an event. Routinely light shows have been a focal point for many artists, whose addition of dramatic visuals to their music can at times be overwhelming. LCD fixtures, blinding lights, projectors, absurd rigs, strobes and colors all become finely synchronized to both the tempo and feeling of the actual music as well as the story being told.

Read more . . .

Fleischinger's grand experiments in color and music correlated seem to have for the most part been relegated to the wayside in animation in modern days. Based on this idea, it is easy to conclude that his experiment has failed, and perhaps it has in some sense, but at the same time, there are many modern conventions that it is easy to see how they have been derived from his work.

Visualizations are a common component of modern media players, such as Zoom, Windows Media Player, the built-in media player on the PSP system, etc. These computer algorithms convert music (or other sounds) into a visual representation. Notably, sound recording equipment often corresponds sound to a line diagram--trying to represent sound waves in a visual format for technical use.
It isn't a new idea to represent music visually--anyone who knows how to read music in any form understands that. Every type of musical marking is an attempt to translate sound into a visual format. For example, note that the marking for crescendo/decrescendo expands or contracts as the sound is supposed to get bigger or smaller.

Read more . . .

As we all know, theatre is a venue for expression, and more specifically, narrative complexities to unfold in front of us. Theatre has been around since 3300 BC, and whether one realizes it or not, it plays a pivotal role in translating universal human experience into an accessible medium for the audience.

Traditionally we think of a play as being very structured, Act I, Scene I, etc.. etc.. Conventionally, yes, that's the basic format most of us are familiar with. But in the 60s/70s, theatre exploded into an entirely different language. Social issues were the forefront of every play, which in turn skewed the way the play was put on. Subject matter ranged from AIDS to rape to cannibalism, made possible through the lax censorshiplaws now affecting the country.

Read more . . .

The notes of music are fairly limited. This being said, they can compose beautiful works of art. The various keys that exist, usage of scales, techniques relative to different instruments- all of these are combined together when composing a piece of music. When used skillfully, these make most pieces of music tolerable, if not quite enjoyable... unless you're listening to The Jonas Brothers, but I digress.

Music can clearly invoke certain emotions/reactions in people. Take, for example, Krzysztof Penderecki's "Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfBVYhyXU8o

Assuming that I'm doing this right and the video comes up, what you should hear is a very scary piece of music. However, without the title of the music, all there would be are shrilling violins. By themselves, they can certainly invoke shock or fear from their dramatic playing, but there is no story. The language of music, the notes A, B, C, D, E, F, and G (including all the relative sharps and minors) can't spell out a story. Musical notes cannot be a medium or a narrative text, however, they can be an aid or am amplifier.

Read more . . .

Throughout the eras, since the beginning of motion pictures, filmmakers have, for the most part, have always used some aspect of music to aid the story. While some filmmakers are not able to take advantage of this, there are some that absolutely excel in this field: Alfred Hitchcock, George Lucas, and Martin Scorsese. These three filmmakers collaborated brilliantly with their Music Department heads to help the audience get a deeper, more emotional link with the characters and give us insight into characters.

In the case of Hitchcock, this can truly be appreciated in the famous shower scene of the movie Psycho. Here, he not only uses it effectively to capture the intensity and horror of the situation, he successfully connects the audience to the actor. The audience experiences the same fear that the actor is experiencing as soon as we see the shadow. I am sure this scene caused many people to check twice before entering the shower.

Read more . . .

It occured to me in our discussion of new forms of mediums (computers, virtual games, etc) that we are losing some very important ones along the way. While importance is relative, it is important to understand how we used to tell stories. THe best example of this i thought of was Ballads. Most people don't think of this term singularly anymore, but only in context, such as when discussing"the Ballad of John and Yoko" (which is no ballad) or "Rock Ballads" (which Generally aren't ballads either). THe truth is that anymore it is rare to hear a story told thru song.

Read more . . .