Sounds Good

December 2015

Sounds Good

For musicians, by musicians

Find out what new artist you should be listening to!

Page 7

Learn more about Austin’s classical music scene Page 15

Behind the scenes of music video production Page 27

Letter from the

Editor This issue of “Sounds Good” has been a lot of work... but in the best of ways.

I

am exhausted, but not as exhausted as one ought to be after being the Editor in Chief for an entire magazine. After you work on a magazine for a while, you sort of just fall into the routine. Of course, my routine was bossing around my poor team and encouraging them to get their work done.

No step of this issue has been easy, but no step has been boring in the slightest.

This issue was mostly about the different types of music and the types of people that listen to them. I know that seems like a broad topic, but it’s really not. As it turns out, those who listen to rock know nothing of classical, and visa versa. I’d never really gotten the chance to learn about the different types of music, so this whole issue was a very interesting adventure.

As for the most memorable moments, there were a whole lot. “Charkles” sitting next to me and

“No step of this issue has been easy, but no step has been boring in the slightest.”

testing me on the different types of rock music.

Maya quickly writing an entire quiz within the span of a day. Natalie getting all excited about going to ACL. Kinza never turning down her Alternative music, and Emily not being able to tell me what her favorite memory is because it’s going to be when we get this done.

Finished or not, this magazine has been our masterpiece the whole ride through. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know all of the strange and wonderful people I got to work with. And though there have been times when I’m sure we all wanted to cry, we got through it together and created every piece to perfection. We’re really happy with how it turned out, and we hope you are too.

So if there’s one thing you can learn from this issue of Sounds Good, it’s that you should never, ever, under any circumstances, judge somebody by type of music they listen to, because even if you hate it, they may turn out to be somebody you really enjoy.

Yours Truly,

Sarah Jackson “Sounds Good” Editor in Chief Sounds Good

3

Biographies Maya Martinez

Our in-house memeologist, Maya is a fan of pop punk and German death reggae. Maya plays a wide array of instruments: guitar, bass, drums, piano, and ukulele. Maya’s life has revolved around music for more than 10 years. Maya dislikes K-pop, Fifth Harmony, country, and dubstep.

Sarah Jackson

Natalie Dezso

Our chief editor, Sarah Jackson, has been invaluable to this team.

Without her, this issue never would have been finished. Sarah is a cellist, and has a love-hate relationship with the cello. She listens to classical music, and ÷composes her own songs for string quartets and orchestras.

A veteran of Austin City Limits shows and festivals, Natalie is a fan of rock and indie music.

Natalie plays guitar, piano, and the french horn. Like most of the other writers for Sounds Good, she dislikes country music.

Kinza Pasha

Kinza is the quiet one in our team of writers. She listens to alternative music and doesn’t like country. Kinza likes her music loud, and when sitting next to her, one can hear her music through her headphones.

Emily Carr

Emily is a guitar player, pianist, and cellist. She listens to indie music and dislikes heavy metal.

Emily is the weird one in our team (in a good way), and making this issue of Sounds Good would have been a lot more boring without her around.

All Photos by Charles Balester

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Charles Balester

Charles is a guitar player, bass player, and vocalist, and is quite the showman. He loves punk rock and most rock in general; it is his entire world. Charles is very distressed by the fact that none of his co-writers know who Pete Townshend is.

Charles also strongly dislikes 80’s stadium rock (namely Van Halen, Bon Jovi, and Journey).

Contents 6 8 12 14 18 20

What Artist Should You Listen To? A quiz that will tell you what artist you should listen to.

By Maya Martinez

Real Bands Save Fans, Real Fans Save Bands

The truth about how musicians affect their listeners.

By Maya Martinez

Which Guitar is Right for You?

A comparison of three different guitars

By Charles Balester

To Stream or Not To Stream?

A comparison of the pros and cons of online music streaming.

By Natale Dezso

What Classical Instrument Should You Play?

A quiz that will tell you what insturment is right for you.

By Sarah Jackson

Keep Austin Classical

An investigation of why classical musicians are struggling to find work in the live music capital of the world.

By Sarah Jackson

24 26 30 32 36 38

Top 10 Festival Tips

Some helpfull tips for festival goers this year

By Natalie Dezso

4 Minutes 13 Seconds

A behind the scenes look at the production and directing of music videos.

By Emily Carr

A Breakdown of the Most Successful Bands of All Time

The statistics of the most sucsessful bands of all time

By Kinza Pasha

Mentally Musical

A study on how music actually affects your mind.

By Kinza Pasha

Austin City Limits

A collection of pictures from the biggest acts at ACL 2015

By Sarah Jackson and Natalie Dezso

Live Life To the Loudest

A behind the scenes look at life as a musician.

By Charles Balester

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5

I’m not huge on it.

How do you feel about drum beats?

Dashboard Confessional

I live for them.

Attila

Start

Guitar!

Are you more empathetic, systematic or neither?

Credit: businessinsider.com, theguardian.com, personalitygrowth. com

Finding new music is pretty hard sometimes, so take our quiz to find out whose music is right for you!

Pretty cool.

ar or Guit ? o pian Scr eam o?

c

p Em Piano!

Web music stars?

...Neither? r yo e n t Bri a? g Ga

Pretty cool.

Good beat or hard lyrics?

Sam Smith Sounds Good

Sys tem atic

What Artist Should You Listen To?

I prefer homegrown.

6

eti h at

Lyric s

!

Britney, the queen of pop!

Gag hea a has my rt.

Danc balla Beats.

Troye Sivan

Ruth B

Old but gold.

60’s.

New or old artists?

Rolling Stones

60’s old or early 00’s old?

No, USA.

New!

Early 00’s . r ck o o r ?

Pop punk pop

Brits?

Bring Me The Horizon

Oi, yeah.

Halsey

Pop rock, definitely.

Pop punk for life.

5 Seconds of Summer Not really.

Are you down for synths?

Not really.

All Time Low

Always!

Vinyl Theatre

I’m not an alt. person.

Do you have an alt. side?

Hailee Steinfeld

Definitely.

ce or ads?

Fall Out Boy

Dance.

Ballads.

Alessia Cara

Borns

Bleachers

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The true effect of music on teenagers

By Maya Martinez

8

Sounds Good

Photo Credit: Pasanlosdias

Real Bands Save Fans, Real Fans Save Bands

Credit: Wikipedia

L

Twenty One Pilots performing at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio in 2012. Twenty One Pilots are a widely known band by teenagers.

at the Disco. The effects that bands have on their fans is unmeasurable.

Their music not only affects the records they break, but the brain psychology of the listeners. Psychologist Amanda Hathorne-Wilkens said that music stimulates the release of neurotransmitters that affect mood.

“Music is generally considered an expression of emotion, and can easily either connect with and intensify a

Panic! at the Disco performs on stage during their Honda Civic Tour in 2008.

person’s existing emotional state or create a new state.” HathorneWilkens said.

One consequence of liking bands is the ‘fangirl’ stigma. This is just one of the major stereotypes that music tastes can affect. There’s tons, such as emo kids, scene kids, rednecks, so on and so forth.

The most common of those examples is the ‘Emo Kid’ stereotype. We’ve all heard of it or seen it somewhere; some kid who listens to bands like Pierce the Veil or My Chemical Romance who is really sad and hates everyone and everything. Stereotypes have a negative effect on people, especially teenagers at this age.

“People being stereotyped are being invalidated as individuals, essentially being told that the things that make them who they are do not matter. Whether the stereotyping manifests as aggression, insensitivity, or indifference, the message that you are bad or unimportant conflicts with your efforts to be a good person.

When your perceptions appear to conflict with external reality,

Credit: Flicker

et’s set the scene. Backstage meet and greet with some band and some fan. The fan is completely freaking out. Crying while hugging the people that they look up to. The fan is wearing a shirt with their faces or logos on it, and opens a cell phone to take a selfie with a band member as the wallpaper. This is the true definition of a fan.

Fans group together to make fandoms, which are the backbone of the music industry.

You mostly see them with bands, but they occupy TV shows, books, YouTubers, etc. Classic examples are Beliebers, fans of Justin Bieber, and Directioners, who are dedicated to One Direction. These fans spend hours upon hours watching livestreams, selling out massive stadiums, and sending albums and singles to number one.

But why?

“I like bands because they each help me with different emotions. When I want to be happy, they have songs that I can dance to and just put me in a good mood. When I just need some times to be sad, they have songs for that, too.” Lucinda Pierce, 9th grade student and listener of bands like Fall Out Boy and Panic!

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you may experience feelings of helplessness, increasing susceptibility to depression, anxiety, and relationship conflicts,” Hathorne-Wilkens said.

Wellness Counselor Marissa Rivera works at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy with teenagers and helps them with all problems big or small.

“If somebody wore a My Chemical Romance shirt or something, they’d be like “Wow, totally emo kid,” it’s just their way of very lazily labelling someone instead of asking “Hey what other bands do you like?”

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“Once someone places a stereotype on another person, they don’t get that experience of getting to know the person they really are.”

-Marissa Rivera

or “What’s something else you’re into?” Because it may be that that is the one band that they like in that genre that person likes,” Rivera said. “Stereotypes are just a lazy way to describe someone.”

She said.

Students themselves also experience stereotypes, musically

Photo credit: Wikimedia

One Direction fans, nicknamed ‘Directioners,’ wait outside for a concert.

based or not musically based.

“People stereotype because they don’t understand the people or the music genre, I think.” Mallory Conely, 9th grader said.

Obviously, nobody enjoys having stereotypes placed on them or being picked on for who they are.

Sam Smith performing on stage in 2014.

Fans crowd together to watch a band perform.

concert when I was ten. It was Taylor Swift, whom I had looked up to. The feeling I got when the show started was one I’ll never forget. It happened again some three years later, when I saw Panic! at the Disco at some rodeo Halsey performing on stage in 2014.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Fans hold up hand hearts to show their love for the artists.

Credit: Pixabay

But still, fans prosper through thick and thin. Through rumors and Twitter fights, they stand behind these people who they might never meet.

I’m lucky to be one of those people. I started liking One Direction in 2012. I was only in elementary school when I knew this band would have a huge effect on my life.

And they still do. I’m a high schooler who has outgrown the old “little girl who likes a boyband” stigma that my mom and dad brought up while putting all my stickers and posters on my walls. They’re still there to this day. I doubt that I’ll ever take them down.

It’s been like that since I was small. I would sit in the back of my mom’s car singing at the top of my lungs for as long as I could remember. I went to my first

with my dad, who had bought the tickets two days before.

And six months later, when Ed Sheeran, someone who inspired me to play the guitar, walked out on stage singing a song that I would listen to when I was sad.

Anyone who has been to a concert knows that feeling.

The feeling you get when the artist sings a song you listen to in your darkest moments, or your proudest. The feeling when their new single is played on the radio, or when they win an award on some award show that you wouldn’t watch otherwise. It’s an unconditional love that fans share with these artists. It’s love that never dies.

Maybe it will be just a band.

Maybe it will be a phase I’ll grow out of when I’m 18 or 19.

Maybe I will take down that “I heart Niall” sticker on my door eventually, or put my 5 Seconds of Summer tank top in a box.

But for now I’m sticking to these guys.

Credit: Pixabay

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Which Guitar is Right For You?

Guitars come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and styles. Guitars come with different hardware, electrics, and are made of different materials. All of these variations lead to different sound and tone qualities, and notable differences in playing styles. Every guitar model has a different sound, and some people shouldn’t use some guitar models. There’s a reason punk musicians don’t use Fender Jazz Basses.

The Fender Stratocaster has been around since 1974, and is an older line than the RG and Les Paul.

The Stratocaster is the most iconic guitar in rock ‘n’ roll, and has been used by many celebrities, including Pete Townshend, John Lennon, and Dick Dale.

Stratocasters give a warm and bright tone.

By Charles Balester

Fender Stratocaster

The Ibanez RG is a lightweight, earburstingly loud icon of metal. The guitar packs more distortion and growl than an overdriven Les Paul, and has a sharp, punchy tone.The RG has been used by several wellknownguitar players, namely Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction.

Sources: www.fender. com ibanez. wikia.com/wiki/ List_of_RG_players

www.gibson.com hubpages. com › ... › Performing Arts › Guitars & String Instruments

www. ibanez.com www.gibson. com/.../15-iconic-lespaul-player...

Ibanez RG The Les Paul is a favorite among guitar players of every shade of rock: Paul McCartney, Slash, Ace Frehley, and Billie Joe Armstrong. The guitar has a round, bass heavy tone, and has a soft, clean sound.

12

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Gibson Les Paul

Comparison Number of frets Tuning peg placement Whammy Bar? Fine Tuners?

Number of pickups Bridge pickup Middle pickup Neck pickup Pickup Positions Output jack position Tone/Volume Knobs List price Price as tested Is it worth your money?

Fender Standard Ibanez RG6005 Gibson Stratocaster Les Paul 21

24

22

6 top; 0 bottom

6 top; 0 bottom

3 top; 3 bottom

Yes

No

No

No

Yes

No

3

2

2

Single-coil

Double-coil

Double-coil

Single-coil

N/A

N/A

Single-coil

Double-coil

Double-coil

5

3

3

Front

Side

Side

3

2

4

$599.99

$799.99

$865.00

$599.90

$599.99

$519.00

Yes

Not quite. Get it on sale.

Yes

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13

To Stream or Not To

Stream

What you need to know about the affects Spotify and Pandora are having on the music industry

By Natalie Dezso

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Photo credit kaboom pics

D

“There was a time in music where a record cost usually around 12.99 and you could get anywhere from 6 to 8 songs on a record, and there was artwork the you could see, it was something that you held in your hands you had to have a record player to play it. When CDs came out the artwork shrank” - Elias Haslager living because the artists are not getting paid enough money from these services. Despite the negative effects online streaming is having on the music industry, it makes it easier for artist to get noticed and reach more people by using it as a marketing tool for their music.

When Pandora plays a song from an artist’s album, the listener only hears one of the artist songs.

This is causing the artist to be more geared towards creating a famous single than a meaningful

album because this is what the record companies are looking for in an artist.

“The album is the experience, and there are very few artists today where I feel like this is the case,” said Haslanger in reference to his jazz music, “It’s mostly about the single.”

Multiple artists declare listening to one song by an artist does not allow a listener to get an idea of the emotions they’re trying to convey through an album. They

Photo by Spotify

id you know every time an artist has their song played on Spotify or Pandora they only get 0.007 cents? This is shockingly low, considering the amount of time and money it takes to make an album. Numerous artists seem to agree because recently a great deal of artists, including Taylor Swift, have taken their music off of Spotify and Pandora.

“Spotify negotiated a very advantageous deal under a very antiquated law,” said Elias Haslanger, a famous jazz musician from Austin, “There is no clause in that contract for streaming in the contract. Zero.

So, all these streaming services go together and said, ‘You know what? We’ll just set our own rates.’”

Countless people think streaming services like Spotify and Pandora as a good thing for the music industry, but there are proclamations these streaming services are hurting it more than helping it. A few souls state streaming is having a negative effect on the creative aspect of music because it is causing the artist to be more focused on creating a ‘major hit’ instead of creating a experience through their album. Others explain streaming is making it harder for musicians to make a

The logo of the multi-million dollar streaming company, Spotify. Millions of usesrs have chosen this streaming service for all their music.

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Photo by Tonya Dezso

Natalie Dezso interviews Elias Haslager at the continental club, a popular music club in Ausin where Haslager plays often.

also state only hearing one song by an artist does not allow the listener to get an idea of the artist’s musical style and influences.

Despite the steaming services making music more accessible, there are several aspects of online streaming that are making it harder for musicians to make a living off of their music.

“I think right now it’s definitely hard for musicians sort of at a middle level,” said Joe Drennan, a guitar teacher in Austin, “Musicians who wouldn’t be selling like millions of albums, but for those people who would have sold a decent amount of albums and had a comfortable living now are having a much harder time.”

Because of this, “middle level” musicians are having to get day jobs to pay the bills and consequently have less time to focus on their music. Even Elias Haslanger, who holds the title of best horn player as declared by The Austin Chronicle, works at Dell full time to support his music addiction.

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Musicians have not been making as much money recently because it has become a great deal easier for artists to get their songs out to the world, without the requirement of record labels and licensing deals.

“Record deals really don’t exist anymore, licensing deals really don’t exist anymore, publishing deals really don’t exist any more,” said Elias Haslanger, “All the traditional revenue streams musicians had in the past are all drying up.”

The decrease in record deals and licensing deals are making it harder for artist to find ways to make a living.

The fact music is becoming easier to access has also caused music to become very easy to download and therefore plummet in value.

“Music is very disposable and very portable, so people started having the mind-set [that] music is very easy to get,” said Haslanger. He sees the thoughts of most consumers as such: “I shouldn’t have to pay for it, so why should I value it?”

This mind-set makes it harder for musicians to make money because people are willing to pay less for music when they can download it for free off the internet or burn it from a CD. Despite these challenges, several good things have been coming from the music industry. The improved portability and accessibility of music allows it to reach and be shared with more people.

“I like that somebody can post a link to a sound cloud file and I can go and listen to it...right away. That’s cool,” said Ponder East, Band Director at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy.

With the use of sound cloud and similar programs music is spreading around faster than ever.

Before the invention of internet streaming, people did not have a great deal of exposure to different types of music. Music from different areas was not very accessible.

Streaming services allow the listeners to have exposure to music from all over the world, and include musical influences from different areas into the music they

“I think there is a lot of Competition, a lot of people want to do music because it is a lot of fun” - Elias Haslanger

Photo by Joe Drennan

create.

“I think people who are learning to play music, can be influenced by so many different things,” said Joe Drennan, in regard to his music. “They can check out music from anywhere in the world, so I think this is stimulating some creativity.”

The incorporation of a variety of musical styles lets the artist feel more comfortable with experimenting with different sounds because they can also get immediate feedback from people on the internet and they have seen other artist doing the same.

The experimentation with new sounds and styles stimulates creativity and allows there to be even more variety in musical styles than before.

The most obvious advantage of online streaming is that it is a very good way for artist to get their music heard and for listeners to discover artist who are similar to ones they like.

“I’ll frequently have people come to my gigs and say, ‘Oh, I saw you’re playing at the Elephant Room tonight or the Continental Club tonight,’” said Elias Haslanger, describing some experiences he has had with his fans, “‘I looked you up on Spotify and I liked it so I came

Joe Drennan is a guitar teacher in Austin, who teaches at Red Leaf Music School. He has taught numerous students how to play the guitar and piano.

out.’” If a listener likes an artist’s music enough, then they will spend money to go to their concert. “The hope is when they get to the live show they’ll purchase the CD and so that will actually lead to a sale,” added Haslanger.

Most artists these days are making a majority of their money off of live shows: Whether it’s from ticket sales, the venue, of merchandise sales. Live shows are stable, so the money artist gets per live show hasn’t changed in a

long time.

“I can tell you the wages for playing live music have not changed in 25 years,” said Haslanger, “I still make the same amount of money I made when I was 21 back in 1990” This means there are a few ways for artist to make money which will never change so artist have at least one stable form of income.

There are advantages and disadvantages brought along by streaming services like Spotify and Pandora. Most artists believe the idea behind streaming is good but it will take time to work out a business model which meets the needs of the company, the listener, and the artist. With the introduction of more streaming services such as Apple Music,there will be more and more effects that steaming will have on the music industry. These new services will make it difficult to predict the future of the music industry and whether or not streaming will have a good or bad effect on it in the long term.

“They solved this old problem of like “Let’s get more music out to people” which was solving that problem, but now the technology created this new problem called “Well now, how are we really valuing a specific song?”’-Ponder East Sounds Good

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Which Classical Instrument Y our personality can be used to tell a lot of things, usually your strengths and weaknesses or what people you would probably go best with. But what you probably didn’t realize was that your personality is also linked to the instrument you play. If you’re curious or just bored, take this quiz to find out what clsasical instrument you were destined to play!

Violin

Spring or Fall?

Get it Done

Start

Spring

Harp

Both Put it off or Get it Done?

Put it off

Viola

Fall

Cats

Cats or Dogs?

Sources A Musical Instrument for Every Personality: Jesse Scheinin How to choose the right music instrument for your child: Martie Coetser

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Emotion

Indoors

Oboe Ice Cream

Ice Cream or Snow Cone?

Piano Bassoon Logic

Dogs Blue

Piccolo

Indoors or Outdoors?

Snow Cone

Emotion or Logic?

French Horn

Red

Red or Blue?

Should You Play?

Birds or Bunnies or Butterflies?

Outdoors

Birds

Vanilla or Chocolate?

Trumpet

Movies

By Sarah Jackson

Vanilla

Flute Clarinet

Chocolate

Butterflies

Bunnies Coach

Percussion Books or Movies?

Beach or City?

Team Member or Coach?

City

Bass

Purple

Beach

Books

Classical Guitar

Team Member

Trombone Tuba Savory

Sweet or Savory?

Sweet

Cello Sounds Good

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Keep Austin

Classical

Austin has been dubbed the Live Music Capital of the World- so where have all the classical composers gone?

By Sarah Jackson

“Everything started with churches, and one voice melody.” the 21st century.

“Everything started with churches, and one voice melody,” Luzvic Backstrom, orchestra director at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy, explained.

When she says voices, she is referring to the fact that the orchestra instruments harmonize like the voices of a choir, with

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different instruments playing higher and lower parts that come together as one.“All the voices just started incorporating and the instruments started adding to it, and all the changes have been significant.” The changes in classical music have proven amazing, but the composers themselves have changed even more. All around the world, hundreds of people compose classical music

Unable to overcome the

popularity of other types of music, the composers of Austin Texas still compose classical music, hoping it will reach the music community. Many of them have to work other jobs, like professors at the University of Texas. Despite these obstacles, composers produce beautiful music for orchestras at the Live Music Capital of the World.

The classical music era started in the 1750s. Early classical instruments looked

Photo Credit:Wikiart

C

lassical music.

When you hear those two words, you probably picture a bunch of old guys with powdered wigs writing music with ink pens on parchment.

What most people don’t realize is that composers still produce beautiful classical music today, in

“Flute Concert with Frederick the Great in Sanssouci” by Adolph Menzel depicts an early chamber music group playing for Frederick the Great. The masterpiece was painted in the 1840s and hangs in the Staatliche Museum in Berlin.

very different than instruments today, but the idea of mixing melodies and harmonies together with string instruments has been shared throughout time. Classical composers originally wrote for the church, with a multitude of pieces from choir songs to musical prayers. Classical music became popular because of its beauty, and finding other music proved to be difficult.

Classical music began receding around the 1890s.

Forced to back away from the spotlight, classical composers made room for ragtime music, a lighter, more energetic take on classical piano music. Ragtime music became popular not only because of its happier sound, but because classical music had held the top position for more than a hundred years, People had been eagerly awaiting a change in tempo and in instrumentation.

The invention of the Record Player also happened around the 1890s, and recording a single ragtime pianist took less time than recording an entire orchestra. Classical composers could still be found, but their audience began slowly shrinking, until almost nobody listened to classical music anymore. That’s

Photo Credit: Derek Gleeson

The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra performs Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in Charlotte, North Carloina as conducted by Derek Gleeson.

where we find ourselves today, in a world where people who listen to classical music are found strange.

Today’s classical music listening audience mostly consists of people who are trying to study and the elderly. It has been documented that most people who are listening to classical music are over age 60, because it is peaceful and good to work to. Classical music is also often played in waiting rooms for doctor’s offices to calm the patients and in offices to keep the workers entertained. The serene melodies and happy instrumentation enhance the mind. Classical concerts are

popular, but they are expensive and usually accompanied with ballet or other dancing. There were no classical groups that played at Austin City Limits in any year since the start of the festival.

To this day, there passionate classical composers still live in Austin, composers who love writing music not because of the money it makes but because of the beauty and majesty of it. Rick Dejonge composed for a variety of groups around Austin.

“I always knew I wanted to do something with music,” said Dejonge. “I was just never sure what that would be.” During his time in Austin, Dejonge composed loads of music for orchestras and marching bands.

“Austin is a great place to live to be a composer,” he said when asked about his experience. “ The music scene in Austin is tremendous with many different styles and genres of music being performed.”

Most musicians in Austin call themselves “Work for Hire” musicians. As put by Dejonge, “All of my musical pieces are written for other people... I write for clients for what they need.”

“Austin is a great place to live and be a composer. The music scene in Austin is tremendous, with many different styles and generes of music being performed.”

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“Having my work performed is usually a terrifying experience. There’s a huge amount of vulnerability and trust involved. Sometimes it’s awful, if your piece is played badly or without love.”

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the complexity of the piece and the level of the composer. Samuel Lipman composes advanced and complicated music in Austin Texas.

Samuel Lipman mostly composes for classical pieces and piano pieces. “I compose many different types of music,” said Lipman. “Jazz music for

Photo Credit: Pharos Arts Foundation

Musicians work by writing music for individuals or groups, and usually, an audience hears these beautiful compositions.

Widespread throughout the ages, this type of work allows composers to write music for everything from weddings to funerals to TV commercials. It makes it easy for composers to find work, and for those in need of music to find composers. “I have many repeat clients I write for such as the Air Force Band, Bright Shining City Productions, Boston Brass, Alfred Publishing, and American Greeting Cards,” said Dejonge when asked about his clients. “I also get many new clients each year that commission me for their projects.” It’s not always easy to find work as a musician, but there are ways for composers to make money.

As mentioned, classical music can be written for a variety of reasons. The music usually starts with either a melody or a chord progression, with different parts added in.

Composing classical music can take anywhere from a matter of hours to months, depending on

the AIME Ensemble at UT. Classical music - I’m currently writing a 15-minute clarinet and piano piece.” Classical music has proven horribly difficult to compose, but it’s exciting to hear the outcome- live. Like Dejonge, Lipman finds his music frequently played live.

“Having my work performed is usually a terrifying experience,” explained Lipman. “There’s a huge amount of vulnerability and trust involved. Not only are you entrusting individuals to bring their A game to your work, you are also suddenly responsible for a sometimes massive piece of music. It’s exhilarating.

Sometimes it’s awful, when your piece is played badly or without love.” The outcome of classical music sometimes turns out bad, but most of the time it sounds magical.

Arranging music and composing music are one in the same. Composers take music written for one ensemble and

A string quartet finishes performing at the Pharos Chamber Music Festival in The Gothic Hall of The Royal Manor House at Kouklia, Cyprus. The Festival attracted many chamber groups from around the world.

Photo Credit: Sarah Jackson

arrange it for another, usually from pop to classical or another less popular genre. Lipman finds himself arranging music quite frequently. “Arranging music is fun. It’s like macro composing instead of micro. Moving chunks of sound around, trying to get it in the most satisfying order,” said Lipman. “Composing and arranging are kind of the same thing. It’s best to think of them as different levels - macro vs micro.

Even when you’re arranging someone else’s music, you are ultimately ‘composing’ the final product.” Lipman enjoys both composing and arranging, and he can make a living using both to support his family. “ I have two kids and I am in school full time, as well as working a full time job,” said Lipman. Finding time to compose sometimes seems tough, but it’s what he loves to do.

Classical music has become listened to less and less since it’s popular era, but the music has changed drastically.

With the addition of the internet into the equation, it’s easier to create and share music using software, even online. Music has become more advanced, with composers discovering new key signatures and playing techniques every day.

Luzvic Backstrom possesses a vast understanding of this change through music.

Luzvic Backstrom conducts the Liberal Arts and Science Academy’s Concert Orchestra during their performance on October 22nd at the school’s concert hall. This year was her second as the orchestra director at the prestigious high school.

Backstrom works as the orchestra director at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy. She has a Bachelors and Masters degree in Music Education, and has seen the changes occur in the music she picks out for her orchestras.

She directs four different orchestras of varying skill levels, so it’s usually a challenge trying to find proper music for each one. “I choose music so that the orchestra can grow,” said Backstrom. “I choose music that is suitable, like, I try to choose key signatures that are familiar to the ensemble, as well as I try to challenge each section.”

Backstrom knows a variety of information about the history and changes in music, and as she put it, “I think the changes are pretty amazing. It has transformed in an amazing

way from having a music staff, to having two songs, two melodies, going and moving parallel, it has changed so much since the beginning. It’s too wild how much it has changed.”

Music has changed a lot throughout history, and more changes are in the making.

Composers will continue writing classical music in Austin, Texas and across the world, despite the lack of listeners. The technology behind classical music will grow more and more advanced, allowing for even further exploration of the limits of these instruments. Perhaps classical music will make a comeback someday. But for the meantime, classical composers will continue writing lovely music, even if it’s rarely heard.

“I think the changes are pretty amazing. It has transformed in an amazing way, and it has changed so much since the beginning.

It’s too wild how much it has changed.”

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Top

By Natalie Dezso

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Festival Tips

Music festivals are great places to hang out with friends and hear some great music. Before you go to your first festival there are some tips that you should know. There are obvious ones such as, drinking lots of water, and wearing comfortable shoes. This list will have tips that festival veterans themselves often forget. So, without further ado, here is a list of the top 10 festival tips that will make your first festival experience more enjoyable for you, and the people around you.

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Designate meeting spots and times with friends before you arrive at the festival because cell reception at festivals is usually very congested.

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Before you go, pick out the bands you absolutely need to see and don’t try to fit too many bands into your schedule. This will give you more time to relax and explore other bands at the festival. You never know, you may find your new favorite band!

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Eat something before you leave for the festival, and have something ready for when you come home. Eat at different times than the crowds during the festival to prevent having to wait in long lines, and eat light so you don’t feel bad later.

Pack a couple of extra trash bags. These can be used as a poncho if it rains, something to sit on if the ground gets muddy, or something to put your dirty shoes or clothes in.

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Take an extra shirt to change into if your shirt gets dirty or sweaty.

Bring extra hand wipes and hand sanitizer for if you have to use a dirty bathroom or the hand sanitizer in the restrooms runs out.

Don’t be afraid to make friends with people you are standing next to at a concert. It will make your first concert experience more enjoyable and you can make new friends.

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If you are up close for a concert and you are carrying a backpack with you, put the backpack at your feet. It gives people more room to move around, and prevents people from stealing your things.

Schedule some chill time to sit around with friends and people watch or explore the festival.

Don’t be afraid to bust out your dance moves!

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Sources Tonya Dezso Top 10 Festival Tips By Guy Stagg 10 Festival Survival Tips By Amy Sciarretto

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A map of the biggest music festivals around the U.S. 1. Sasquatch! Music Festival, George, WA 2. Outside Lands Music and Arts Fesival, San Francisco, CA 3. EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival), Las Vegas, NV 4. Coachella Vally Music and arts festival, Indio, CA 5. Fun Fun Fun Fest, Ausitin, TX 6. South by Southwest music, film, and interactive, Austin, TX 7. Austin City Limmits Music festival, Austin, TX 8. New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, New Orleans, LA

9. Voodoo Music + Arts Experience, New Orleans, LA 10. Hangout Muisic Festival, Gulf Shores, AL 11. Ultra Music Festival, Miami, FL 12. Bonnaroo Music and Arts festival, Manchester, TN 13. Firefly Music Festival, Dover, DE 14. Newport Folk Festival, Newport, RI 15. Governors Ball Music Festival, New York City, NY 16. Lollapaloza music festival, Chicago, IL 17. Summerfest (the worlds largest music festival), Milwaukee, WI

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4 minutes 13 seconds

by Emily Carr

The process of creation of our generation’s gateway drug

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is shot in post production,” said Colton. For comparison, Gangnam Style was filmed in a mere 48 hours.

Music videos are no more than glorified interpretive dance, yet somehow, a plethora of flashing images, pumping bass, and whining vocals creates an excitement in today’s youth like no other. Just 12 hours after the hit song “Anaconda” was released, the video had already gained over 3.5 millions views on YouTube.

But music videos are something much easier sang than done.

Filmmaker Eliza Wren Anderson originates from Utah and loves her 2 (going on 3) children

produce. “This completely depends on what you are doing for the video.

If it’s a straightforward idea like the band performing in a cool location, there is very little prep involved.

But if you want to do something that is highly stylized, there is a lot more to do both up front in preproduction and when the footage

Dillon Davies

Eliza Wren Anderson

ey sexy lady. Got your attention? PSY. K-Pop hip hop idol. 37 years old, 5 feet 7 inches. Korean native, originating from Queens. His first music video came out three years ago. It only took ten years for him to go from an unknown government banned album, to his most recent music video (Father) to gain over 1.5 million views in one month. But what goes into a 2 minute 54 second video that makes it so popular?

The music video for the K-Pop artist PSY’s hit single, “Gangnam Style”, has 2,441,818,521 views as of October 31, 2015, with “Blank Space”

by Taylor Swift trailing by a shocking 1,196,572,464 views. According to “The Hidden Cost of Gangnam Style” ,an article released by The Economist in early June of 2014, the amount of time spent watching the 4 minute 13 second “Gangnam Style” is the same amount of time that could be used to build 20 Empire State Buildings.

This Korean love ballad swept the world with a force that has dwindled come over the past 3 years, but certainly hasn’t been forgotten. In fact, to this day, if a person is to type “Translated lyrics to” into a search engine, “Gangnam Style” will be the very first result.

According to Dianna Colton, owner and lead director for the video production company Hack, a music video can take any amount of time to

Filmmaker Dillon Davies

Hack Studios

According to Dillon Davies, another Director at Hack Studios, “I’ve made music videos that have been shot and edited in less than 24 hours and I’ve made videos that have taken 5-6 months.”

But Colton said, “There are three main factors in determining how much something is going to cost: Good, Fast, and Cheap. You can only have two of these factors at any time.”

And who wants to watch a music video that’s no good?

The music video for Taylor Swift’s single “Blank Space” cost a little over $240,000, with just one prop (a Vintage AC Cobra) amounting to nearly 75 percent of the total cost.

Davies said, “The hard cost of music videos depends greatly on the style you’re going for. If you have a solid enough concept, you can create an amazing music video for free using your phone. However, with the accessibility of producer cameras and editing software these days, it’s more possible

“GOOD + FAST = NOT CHEAP; GOOD + CHEAP = NOT FAST; FAST + CHEAP = NOT GOOD.” than ever to make an extremely professional looking video on a relatively small budget. A video can cost $50 or 5 million, it just a matter of your ambition, creativity and how well you’re able to solve problems.”

Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson’s 1995 music video for the lead single “Scream” cost a whopping $7 million, with only a measly 47 million views on YouTube. That’s well over $10 million today. This goes to show, just because you spend extravagant amounts doesn’t

A video can cost $50 or $5 million, it’s just a matter of your ambition, creativity and how well you’re able to solve problems. guarantee instantaneous hit status.

Out of the top five most viewed music videos of all time, the songs are either by pre-established artists, features sexualized women, or shows

crazed ‘villains’ (usually the artist).

When college student/ aspiring artist Emily Beka spoke about the qualities of a good music video she said the following, “A music Sounds Good

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video is good if you like it or it’s interesting. Some people like plots, some like psychedelic colors. I like interesting videos.”

Beka went on to mention that her favorite music video of all time was “This is Gospel” by hit alternate band Panic! at the Disco. She said, “It’s a great video, and also how I fell in love with a band.” (Beka also runs several YouTube channels herself featuring covers of songs and one music video.)

The video for “This is Gospel” features the lead singer (Brendon Urie) struggling in a hospital bed to avoid a group of doctors with various medical tools after an ‘examination’ and a non-verbal consensus of heart removal. As of November 2015, the video is verging on 41 million views.

According the Davies, there are four basic steps to music video production.

According to local artist Eliza Wren Anderson, her favorite part of production is “...the idea stage- this is the funnest in lying there without limits thinking and comparing ideas - but my actual favorite may also be my least favorite which is editing. This stage is extremely frustrating as computers always are and can take forever (weeks, months of every day & night working) but this is the moment of most creation and when I actually get to experience what was in my head. Ah this is tough though because you work alone here- it’s a really fun energy when everyone is together in the filming... but I still have to go with editing.”

The most popular video on her channel has nearly 28 Dianna Colton

thousand views, and is a cover of “Lovesong” by The Cure.

Anderson runs her band with her husband Nord Derek, and her two sons Django North and Roosevelt Night are featured in a music video on her YouTube channel as the ‘directors’.

Lead director Hack Studios. Dianna Colton

“1) finding the right band/song 2) creating a concept you can execute 3) actually shooting or animating the thing 4) editing.”

Music videos are indeed just pictures synced to a song, but at the same time, they are so much more. It is a multimillion dollar business that entertains people everyday, and gives artists yet another medium to work their magic through. After all, a picture’s worth a thousand words.

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The MTV Music Video awards have been around since 1984, celebrating music videos.

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Rank #8 150,000,000 in record sales Top Hit: Hotel California Genre: Rock Time Running: 1971-Present

Rank #7 200,000,000 in record sales Top Hit: Dancing Queen Genre: Disco Time Running: 1972-1982

The Rolling Stones

By Kinza Pasha For this list the rank is based on the amount of sales for each band, represented by the graph, and along with that there are each band’s most popular song which helped them to get where they are now, as well as their particluar style of music and their time as a band if you wish to check them out.

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• • • • •

150,000,000 in record sales Top Hit: Bad Genre: Rock Time Running: 1976-Present

Photo Credit: Danny West

ABBA

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Rank #6 200,000,000 in record sales Top Hit: Gimme Shelter Genre: Rock Time Running: 1962- Present

Queen

• • • • •

Photo Credit: Zachary Gilman

Photo Credit: Steve Alexander

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• Rank #9

Photo Credit: Ken Kingmgman

• • • • •

Eagles

Photo Credit: Andrea Satouri

A Breakdown of the Most Successful Bands of All Time

U2

Rank #5 200,000,000 in record sales Top Hit: Bohemian Rhapsody Genre: Classic Rock Time Running: 1971-Present

Rank #10 150,000,000 in record sales Top Hit: Dream On Genre: Hard Rock Time Running: 1970-Present

The Beatles Photo Credit: Nadine Anderson

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Photo Credit: Julio Aprea

Aerosmith

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Rank #1 600,000,000 in record sales Top Hit: Hey Jude Genre: Rock Time Running: 1960-1970

Photo Credit: Heinrich Klaffs

Led Zeppelin

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Photo Credit: Phil Johnson

Rank #4 200,000,000 in record sales Top Hit: Back In Black Genre: Classic Rock Time Running: 1973-Present

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Rank #3 250,000,000 in record sales Top Hit: Wish You were Here Genre: Progressive Rock Time Running: 1965-1996

Photo Credit: Vincent Mun

Pink Floyd

AC/DC

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Rank #2 300,000,000 in record sales Top Hit: Whole Lotta Love Genre: Hard Rock Time Running: 1968-1980

Sources: En.wikipedia.org Rollingstone.com Britannica.com

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Mentally Musical

All over the world music is sounding off in the minds of many

By Kinza Pasha

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Photo Credit: Chris Holmes

“Usually when the kids play music they won’t pay attention.”

a tool during class. “Usually when the kids play music they won’t pay attention, usually most of my classes I give stimulus and look for a response from the kids and if they’re listening to music they usually just tune me out and focus on the visual not the audio version.” says Austin high school geometry teacher Coach Mcneil.

In this experiment we will see if these claims are proven to be true.

I created a test to see if these claims can be proven right or wrong.In this an assortment of five random students in ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade were asked to solve 30 addition problems while listening to preselected songs representing nine genres of music. As a control, they also solved the problems without any music. The songs and genres were pop rock with “Come Together” by The Beatles, pop/top40 with “Cheerleader”

by Omi, alternative rock with “Everlong” by Foo Fighters,

Music is common indulgement to the senses

Photo Credit: Chris Holmes

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ince the beginning of time, music has been used for many different reasons.

From things like to celebrate an occasion up or to simply move to but now music is linked to how it affects the mind.

Music is linked to things like how it affects mood to how it affects concentration or more specifically concentration on work. Today people listen to music for help during their work especially students. Students say music is a great tool in helping them learn and focus on their work, however there have been multiple controversies on this subject.

For example some teachers say music is a distraction rather than

The band used for classic rock: Queen

baroque with “The Four Seasons”

by Vivaldi, country pop with “Wanted” by Hunter Hayes, 8 bit with “Do it for her” from Steven Universe, disco with “Boogie Wonderland” by Earth, Wind, and Fire, and finally classic rock with “We are the Champions”

by Queen. Each test was timed to see how long it took to complete it rather than having a set time to complete it under to make sure there wasn’t an extreme pressure in having this done. .

The goal was to record an increase or decrease in tester’s time and score. They’re preference in which song they liked the most and least was also recorded as well to see if a student’s personal taste in music was the best for them and if a person’s least favorite music was by far the worst for them.

9th Grade Results:

For the 9th grade, classic rock was the most effective music with an average time of 57 seconds with a perfect score of 30/30, as well as being the preferred type of music. The least effective was the control test with 69 seconds with a perfect score of 30/30.

Genre

Control

Pop Rock

Pop/Top40 Alternative Rock

Baroque

Country Pop

8 Bit

Disco

Classic Rock

Time (in seconds)

69

65

63

60

62

61

58

63

57

Number Correct (Out of 30)

30/30

30/30 30/30

30/30

29/30

30/30

30/30

29/30

30/30

Preference (Out of 5)

N/A

N/A

+1/5

N/A

­1/5

­1/5

N/A

+3/5

­2/5

10th Grade Results:

For the 10th grade, alternative rock was the most effective music with an average time of 51 seconds with a score of 29/30, as well as being the preferred type of music. The least effective was the country pop with 62 seconds with a score of 29/30.

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11th Grade Results

For the 11th grade, classic rock was the most effective music with an average time of 52 seconds with a perfect score of 30/30, as well as being the preferred type of music. The least effective was 8 bit with 57 seconds with a score of 28/30.

12th Grade Results

For the 12th grade, classic rock was the most effective music with an average time of 48 seconds with a perfect score of 30/30, as well as being the preferred type of music. The slowest time was the control test with 62 seconds with a perfect score of 30/30.

Genre

Control

Pop Rock

Pop/Top40 Alternative Baroque Rock

Country Pop

8 Bit

Disco

Classic Rock

Time (in seconds)

62

54

59

Number Correct (Out of 30)

30/30

Preference (Out of 5)

N/A

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53

53

54

51

52

48

29/30 30/30

29/30

30/30

30/30

29/30

29/30

30/30

N/A

+1/5

N/A

+1/5

­1/5

N/A

+1/5

N/A

Photo Credit:John Hain

The many different components of the ever changing mind

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s shown by the results, classic rock and alternative rock music helped the students most with their concentration. Theses genres were also the student’s overall personal preference in music. The question is why? Why did their favorite music end up helping them the most?

Well numerous tests have shown music therapy is actually a fast growing new technique to help not only students in school but also hospital subjects, cancer center patients, alcohol and drug recovery programs, psychiatric hospitals, and correctional facilities. Music therapy is geared towards helping a person improve their current quality of life and building self-esteem, a sense self-worth, and confidence and many agree it does.

“It also inspires me to play music myself.” Not only did the students I tested have this to say, but also the teachers as well. “I have to have music on when I

“If a teacher says, ‘I’ll stop playing One Direction once you get your work done’ then I’ll get my work done faster.”

However this is not effective method for several reasons.

Firstly, this didn’t work for

Photo Credit: Christopher Simon

“Music puts me in a good mindset and it definitely can make me feel better and also make me feel worse.”

am working.” says Austin high school Ezine teacher Yasemin Florey. “I honestly don’t know why I have to have music or the TV on when I work. I think the void of not having any noise is a distraction”. “In order to work efficiently a person need control of their frontal lobe ,the big front side of the brain, and if you have anxiety or stress that affects it in a negative way, but music has been shown to relieve stress and makes the frontal lobe functional again.” says Austin high school wellness counsellor Meagan Butler. “I use music to help many of the students in my office as well”.

A peculiar trend in my testing was with some students involving their least favorite type of music.

It showed that some students were motivated with music that they extremely disliked and finished the problems far faster to get the music to stop playing and this may be efficient.

everyone and did the obvious thing of making them grind their teeth which slowed down their work efficiency. Secondly for the students it did work for, it won’t work forever and it’s not a healthy work method. “As a counsellor I can not advocate the use of anything that hurts a student’s mental well being.” says Austin high school wellness counsellor Meagan Butler.

“In older times the use of a person’s most hated music was used as a torture method” So in short a person’s least favorite music is not an effective method for work efficiency.

Throughout history music has been used to calm the mind and relieve any stress or anxiety.

In the new century, music is being used to relieve pressure in heavy workloads by people everywhere. A Stanford study shows that music engages areas of the brain which are involved with paying attention, making predictions and updating events in our memory. In this experiment, a student’s preferred music was shown to be beneficial in helping a them with their concentration and is shown to be an exceptional tool for school work and much more.

The band used for alternative rock: Foo Fighters Sounds Good

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Austin City Limits

By Sarah Jackson and Natalie Dezso

Austin City Limits is by far and away one of the largest and most well known music festivals in the world, drawing in fans of popular artists from across the nations. One of our team members was lucky enough to get the chance to go, and she was happy to provide us with some pictures from her experience.

Photo Credit: Natalie Dezso

Vance Joy

Photo Credit: Lauren Mangold

Twenty One Pilots

Photo Credit: Natalie Dezso

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Walk the Moon

Photo Credit: Natalie Dezso

Photo Credit: Natalie Dezso

Photo Credit: Natalie Dezso

Photo Credit: Natalie Dezso

George Ezra

Sheppard

Hozier

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Live Life to the

Loudest!

Everyone wants to become a rock star and sell out a massive arena, but not everyone has the chance to.

By Charles Balester

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Photo credit: Charles Balester

Local musician Tom Flowers holding his guitar

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usic has no equal. It can make people feel things that the spoken word usually can’t. Therefore, the ability to play a musical instrument grants respect, and musicians are often sought after.

You probably have listened to a song before, but you might not know how to play an instrument or read music. Most non musicians in the world do not know what a professional musician goes through for their entertainment. These people don’t know about the hours and hours of practicing and refining techniques that musicians go through for the enjoyment of their fans.

Some people envision being a musician as a life of money, sports cars, and TV interviews, but in reality, most people who go into music as a profession won’t make it to the big leagues. For every Stevie Wonder, Kurt Cobain, and Ice Cube, thousands of musicians, in a single genre alone, won’t get to those extreme levels of popularity.

Many consider Austin

the “live music capital of the world.” Austin hosts several major music festivals annually (including Austin City Limits and South by Southwest), and people travel internationally to see the artists performing. Some of these musicians hail from Austin, and thousands more every year don’t get spots in festivals.

Many successful musicians start playing from a young age. All three of the musicians featured in this article

player. According to Leverage, the bagpipes take a lot of time and difficulty to learn. “You don’t even start out on the bagpipes, you learn the fingering on a practice chanter for quite a few years before you even get onto the bagpipes,” Leverage says, “from the time you start, it can be anywhere around five to seven years before you become proficient on the bagpipes.”

Philip describes the bagpipes as a very unique

“You don’t even start out on the bagpipes, you learn the fingering on a practice chanter for quite a few years it can be anywhere around five to seven years before you become proficient on the bagpipes.” started playing an instrument before they were ten years old.

Tom Flowers, who took his first guitar lesson at the age of eight, started off his musical career almost fifty years ago. He has recorded on dozens of albums for several bands, playing rhythm guitar, lead guitar, and singing lead vocals.

Flowers describes being a musician as highly rewarding on the spiritual level. “I’ve never been happier with any work that I’ve done in my life,” he said.

Philip Leverage has a rare experience. He’s a bagpipe

instrument to play. Bagpipes produce an incredibly loud noise, but when a full group of bagpipe players (known as a pipe band) get together, the sound and feeling just can’t be described.

The competitions for the bagpipes do not resemble any other musical competitions.

The judges even go through a rigorous training process just to learn how to judge the bagpipes.

An important part of being a musician entails getting word out about yourself or whatever music group that you currently play as part of. The Sounds Good

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“The best thing I did...was writing my own songs. If I hadn’t done that, I would’ve been a guitar player of mediocre ability.

I would’ve regretted it if I had never done that.”

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difficult, and some a bit easier.

A lot of musicians play with bands that they are not regular members of. These people are known as “session musicians.” Session musicians are hired by bands to record a track on a song or play a song at a concert. Bands hire session musicians when they need an instrument that no one in the band plays.

When session musicians record a track for a song, they usually do not get credited for their work. However, if

Photo credit: Pipeband77

music business leans towards the competitive side, and the artists who make it big won’t be necessarily what anyone would call “the best” artist. Sometimes these people just have the best connections, social skills, and experience in public relations.

When an artist has more popularity and a better reputation, they will get calls for shows more often. In the modern age, having a YouTube channel and a page on what social media site currently trends gives an artist a large advantage in getting themselves known.

Writing your own music is very important when you are a musician. Flowers said, “the best thing I did...was writing my own songs. If I hadn’t done that, I would’ve been a guitar player of mediocre ability. I would’ve regretted it if I had never done that.” If you only play other people’s music, you won’t help your own popularity much.

Musicians can learn patience by learning an instrument, for it takes a while to learn how to play instruments.

For some people, certain instruments turn out as incredibly

the session musician helps to compose the piece in question, the artist recording the song must credit them.

Session musicians need a wide variety of techniques, styles and- in the case of guitar playerseffects. There are companies that make effect pedals for guitars to generate different sounds. Most pedals focus on reverberation and distortion/overdrive, but there are many other kinds of effect pedals available.

Distortion and overdrive pedals are very common amongst rock, alternative, and punk guitarists. This is because the crunchy, static-infused tone given by distortion and overdrive pedals makes guitars sound more energetic, and sometimes much louder, without putting significantly more energy into strumming.

Even though effect pedals are important for guitars to vary their sound, guitars can also use different pickups, tones, and effects that come directly from the amp a guitar may be coming from. A lot of musicians use different effects to make a song sound better or more unique.

When people learn a

Fredericton Society of Saint AndrewPipe Band from New Brunswick, Canada performs at the Festival Interceltique in Lorient, France

Photo credit: Guitarpop

Having a wide variety of effects is an important part of being a guitar player.

new instrument, learning to play an instrument in the same family (bowed strings, pitched percussion, etc.) as one they currently play can make the learning process faster. The similarities between instruments like violin or viola means skills can transfer between them. For instance, a “hammer-on”, a guitar technique, can be applicable for a bass guitar.

Successful musicians practice for hours on end to ensure that every performance is a great one. It takes time and dedication to go through a piece of music section by section,

fixing every mistake one by one, making sure a song has no flaws when played. Ponder East, the jazz band director at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy, likes to tell his students a story about a drummer he saw practicing a bossa groove continuously for four hours.

Some people own and operate practice studios for people that have nowhere else to practice their instrument or with a music group they play with. Practice studios will charge musicians to rent out their space for a few hours.

There are people who

find success in music by passing on the skills for the instrument that he or she plays to another person. Music teachers sometimes enjoy this career more than they enjoy a career of playing and writing music. “It’s really rewarding to pass on that gift that someone gave to you to another person,” says Brady Lilliard, a local musician.

There are several organizations that are devoted to providing music teachers, like the School of Rock. Some schools also provide lessons for guitar, piano, and music theory in addition to the normal jazz, orchestra and band classes.

Without these men and women who pass on the gift of playing an instrument to new people, some of the most famous and popular bands of our generation wouldn’t even exist. Some of people can teach themselves how to play an instrument, but teaching yourself takes up more time, and will be much more difficult.

So next time you say “those who can’t do, teach”, keep this in mind: without teachers, your favorite musical artist probably wouldn’t exist.

“It’s really rewarding to pass on that gift that someone gave to you to another person.”

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December 2015