May 14, 2007
You Tonight
This song originated as a 2AM brainstorm that took maybe 30 minutes to write. It then had a life as a song recorded by Mark and Christina, and I modified it for Michael and Zoe's wedding (where I was, unfortunately, too drunk to sing it well).
Then, the tv show American Idol had a songwriting contest, and I overhauled the song as an entry, making the structure more of a standard AABAB pop structure.
Anyway, it didn't get picked, but it's the nicest version yet.
http://matchstick.com/mp3/You_Tonight.mp3
C e d F C e d F
Talking over coffee at the end of the show, yesterday's perfume still smells in our clothes,
G a b d C
Looking back at times that never were but maybe might have been
F e d C d a G C
If I remember only one thing from my life, I want it to be sitting here with you tonight
C e d F C e d F
Tell each other stories of the day that we met, paint each other pictures that we thought we'd forget
G a b d C
Side-by-side tomorrow's coming faster so I'm glad you're here.
F e d C d a G C
If I remember only one thing from my life, I want it to be sitting here with you tonight
G C F G C d
Remember all the times we walked out alone Standing shoulder-deep and chilled to the bone
C a G C a G C a G C a G
That's the way we were, That's the way we were close my eyes and I see, I see the way we were
C e d F C e d F
But yesterday is far away, at least so it seems. The hour is getting early, nearly quarter to three
G a b d C
One-by-one we're left alone again, just you and me.
F e d C d a G C
If I remember only one thing from my life, I want it to be sitting here with you tonight
G C F G C d
Remember all the dreams that seemed far away, but now look at us together today
C a G C a G C a G C a G
Now I say good-night, it's time to say good-night, morning's come, tomorrow's here, it's time to say good-night
F e d C d a G C
If I remember only one thing from my life, I want it to be sitting here with you tonight
G C F G C d
Remember all the dreams that seemed far away, but now look at us together today
C a G C a G C a G C a7 F
Now I say good-night, it's time to say good-night, morning's come, tomorrow's here, it's time to say good-night
Posted by mslaybau at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)
June 17, 2006
You Tonight
I've done some research on what aspects of music make a song popular. I've become convinced that one aspect is the structure of the melodic line, specifically that it needs to advance stepwise as in a scale. Jumps greater than whole steps make the song more complicated, while repeating the same notes make a song more simple.
I intended to compose a number of songs based on this idea, and the one that embodies the theory best is the one called 'You Tonight'
Posted by mslaybau at 02:53 AM | Comments (0)
March 07, 2006
The Road to Mandalay
Rudyard Kipling as an interesting poet to study these days. His notions of the White Man's Burden seem so outdated, yet his experiences in Colonial India have echoes in the actions of the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I had some music snippets and thought it would be a good exercise to fill them out using an existing poem as the basis for rhythm and structure.
I chose Kipling's "Mandalay" because it had a structure that would work with what I already had melodically, and the verses are very visual.
The Road to Mandalay (mp3 2.32MB) is the simple demo.
It could use a bridge; it only has an A and B part now which gets repetitive after a few verses.
I heard a Sinatra version of a song also based on this poem, and I definitely think mine is better.
The lyrics I originally wrote are in this song Dr K. which I kind of like, but Kipling's are good too.
a F a d a A d aa7 C G D C E E G
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' eastward to the sea, There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me;
For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say: "Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!"a G F a a E F a
Come you back to Mandalay, Where the old Flotilla lay: Can't you 'ear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay?
On the road to Mandalay, Where the flyin'-fishes play, An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!a7 C G D C E E G
'Er petticoat was yaller an' 'er little cap was green, An' 'er name was Supi-yaw-lat -- jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen,
An' I seed her first a-smokin' of a whackin' white cheroot, An' a-wastin' Christian kisses on an 'eathen idol's foot:a G F a a E F a
Bloomin' idol made o'mud -- Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd -- Plucky lot she cared for idols when I kissed 'er where she stud!a7 C G D C E E G
When the mist was on the rice-fields an' the sun was droppin' slow, She'd git 'er little banjo an' she'd sing "~Kulla-lo-lo!~"
With 'er arm upon my shoulder an' 'er cheek agin' my cheek We USEter watch the steamers an' the ~hathis~ pilin' teak.a G F a a E F a
Elephints a-pilin' teak In the sludgy, squdgy creek, Where the silence 'ung that 'eavy you was 'arf afraid to speak!
a7 C G D C E E G
But that's all shove be'ind me -- long ago an' fur away, An' there ain't no 'busses runnin' from the Bank to Mandalay;
An' I'm learnin' 'ere in London what the ten-year soldier tells: "If you've 'eard the East a-callin', you won't never 'eed naught else."a G F a a E F a
No! you won't 'eed nothin' else But them spicy garlic smells, An' the sunshine an' the palm-trees an' the tinkly temple-bells;a7 C G D C E E G
I am sick o' wastin' leather on these gritty pavin'-stones, An' the blasted Henglish drizzle wakes the fever in my bones;
Tho' I walks with fifty 'ousemaids outer Chelsea to the Strand, An' they talks a lot o' lovin', but wot do they understand?a G F a a E F a
Beefy face an' grubby 'and -- Law! wot do they understand? I've a neater, sweeter maiden in a cleaner, greener land!a7 C G D C E E G
Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst, Where there aren't no Ten Commandments an' a man can raise a thirst;
For the temple-bells are callin', an' it's there that I would be -- By the old Moulmein Pagoda, looking lazy at the sea;a G F a a E F a
On the road to Mandalay, Where the old Flotilla lay, With our sick beneath the awnings when we went to Mandalay!
On the road to Mandalay, Where the flyin'-fishes play, An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!
Posted by mslaybau at 05:19 PM | Comments (0)
February 15, 2006
Synesthesia
For eons, people have enjoyed mapping the musical scale to the color spectrum.
Despite knowing that music is waves in air and light is waves in electromagnetic fields, I decided to do a little research and math.
The color spectrum ranges from 384 to 769THz (terahertz)
By repeatedly doubling a note (say A, at 440Hz) we can find where it would actually fall in the electromagnetic spectrum.
In the case of A, we can find its relevant note many octaves (40 octaves, 240, or 1,099,511,627,776) up at 483,785,116,221,440 (~484THz) which puts it at the redder side of orange.
You can get comparable results by multiplying the original frequency by 1.1 to get it in terahertz.
| note | midi note | frequency in center of audible, euphonious range | frequency in visible section of electromagnetic spectrum | color |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | 65 | 349.23Hz | 384THz | infra-red/red |
| Gb | 66 | 369.99Hz | 407THz | red |
| G | 67 | 392.00Hz | 431THz | red |
| Ab | 68 | 415.30Hz | 457THz | red |
| A | 69 | 440.00Hz | 484THz | red/orange |
| Bb | 70 | 466.16Hz | 512THz | yellow |
| B | 71 | 493.88Hz | 543THz | green |
| C | 72 | 523.25Hz | 575THz | green |
| Db | 73 | 554.37Hz | 610THz | green/blue |
| D | 74 | 587.33Hz | 646THz | blue |
| Eb | 75 | 622.25Hz | 684THz | violet |
| E | 76 | 659.26Hz | 725THz | deeper violet |
| F | 77 | 698.46Hz | 768THz | violet/ultra-violet |
The abundance of red and green in the chart has to do with the fact that our eyes are most sensitive to those two colors, not because of any bias on the part of the spectrum. Color is, of course, entirely subjective.
These are the numbers that, when multiplied by 240 (ie are transposed up by 40 octaves) map onto the spectrum of visible light. Other notes, such as middle C would need a different multiplier, in this case, 2^41. Douglas Adams' number, 42, would be the exponent of the multiplier for the octave below middle C. Maybe that's what he meant by saying that 42 was the answer to the question of the universe.
The above is based on standard tuning. Other tunings wouldn't make much difference. When multiplying by 1.1 trillion, small differences get magnified, but not enough to matter here.
F is an interesting note in that it happens to match exactly with the upper and lower ranges of frequencies of visible light.
That could be a coincidence, but I wouldn't be surprised if our brains use some sort of hardwired math that results in the spectrum of sound and color having the same bounds, albeit separated by many orders of magnitude.
Either way, F really should be the start and end of the scale, not C. And I suppose D is the bluest note of them all.
Frankly, I'm amazed that the color spectrum maps onto the music scale so perfectly. I was expecting all the notes to map out between yellow and green, or perhaps all the colors to map out to the range between F and A#.
Posted by mslaybau at 10:22 PM | Comments (1)
November 09, 2005
Louis Armstrong Cover of Britney Spears
I'm tired of most of the "mashups" that cross my desk (though a few are okay) but this is not really one of those.
superMasterpiece has a recording of "Oops, I Did it Again" as if played and sung by Louis Armstrong and his band.
It's quite good, and demonstrates that the song can stand on its own even without the production normally associated with it.
Posted by mslaybau at 01:34 AM
May 02, 2005
Frameworks for Interactive Sound
An 'audio sketchbook' - a non-book containing non-sketches, more of a 'samplesite'
Frameworks for Interactive Sound
Spring, 2004
Jeff Feddersen
|
Obvert box, shake, return, select orientation, make sketch.
Initial Sketch
Select aural metaphor for each visual detail.
The hand claps are pitched enough that you can hear the difference.
Rather than make 19x11 separate phrases, I chose to make 20 phrases, each representing a column in the grid, with the y axis (looking down) representing pitch.
Kick drum and high hat in left channel, hand clap, snare, and TS404 in right channel. Here I chose to represent my imagined process of how the box was constructed, first just the lens, then the walls, then the other walls and screws, then the sugar, then the marbles - then taking it apart again. The Piece - "Why, it's a piece of... art!" |
Matt Slaybaugh
ms171 at nyu.edu
Posted by mslaybau at 04:13 PM | Comments (0)
April 20, 2004
A Music Box
m-Box — Electronic Music Box
The child's version of the m-Box will be smaller, plastic, and as stated eariler, will rely on markings on paper rather than holes.
The range of notes will be greater, as will the number of possible notes per composition.
This version will be battery-operated.
m-Box — Electronic Music Box
Toy Design Final Project
© 2004, Mike Chiaramonte and Matt Slaybaugh
|
Posted by mslaybau at 03:53 PM | Comments (0)
January 14, 2004
Glass (not Philip) Music
Initial Sound idea - hearing the components of a sound rather than just its 'meaning'.
Listen to these sounds. When really slow they sound musical.
Glass Breaking - normal speed
Glass Breaking - half speed
Glass Breaking - quarter speed
Glass Breaking - eighth speed
--------
Posted by mslaybau at 06:34 AM | Comments (0)
November 30, 2003
The Pooping Song
Despite any of my efforts to be serious, the song I've written that has received the most positive reviews is The Pooping Song
...go tell one of the Iron Chefs...
Posted by mslaybau at 04:42 PM | Comments (0)