udanax

Good choice. I've been through a hard break up before. I think that with time, you'll realize you never wasted anything. These break ups help us to understand ourselves better. It just takes a lot of pain first.

I'm 22, and just got engaged (No Treeduck you cannot be my bridesmaid :P) Anywho, I guess your engagement story just kind of made me laugh. My fiance and I had one of our biggest fights on the night he proposed. I wouldn't take the proposal back for the world though. I guess I just recommend giving it time (Not that a recommendation from someone you don't know, with less experience than you, really means anything). Find a marriage counselor. If he won't go with you, go alone. Pray, God answers prayers. Take your time with this one.

*Begin Rant* The fact that the one journalist was comparing Rush's music to Bebop jazz was cracking me up big time. Bebop and Rush are apples and oranges for the most part, even though you do see a bebop inspiration in Rush music. To summarize my feelings, taste in music is subjective, and I really don't think their arguments for disliking Rush are really that good. A lot of the things they dislike about the band are precisely why certain people like them. That being said, what's neat about Rush is that they take elements of complicated music (like bebop) and and elements pop music and put them together in a really masterful way so that people who like complicated music can also get a taste of very well constructed pop melodic themes. I don't see why this is a problem... I also don't see why having multiple varying themes in a piece of music is a problem. Since catchy themes are simplistic it's easy for a listener to "get the point" so I think the theme change ups in Rush music are really refreshing, not a sign of impatience. The band does a great job of telling stories with the way they match the music to their lyrics. Who wants to hear 5 chords repeated 20 times? Not this girl. Bebop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOmA8LOw258 *End Rant* Edited for shortening reasons....

I never exactly liked it to begin with so I dunno if I can say I'm tired of it. If anything I'm warming up to it very very slowly. I just think that melodically Rush has pulled off better. Oh back in the days when over distortion didn't matter so much to them.... It will be a nice song to see live I think...

QUOTE (Nuts&Bolts @ Apr 24 2012, 09:13 PM) Have a cousin, was and still is a long time Rush fan, that has defected to DT as his favourite band, messaged me sayin he heard that DT might tour with Rush. Anyone heard this??? I personally dont believe it. Now let's don't be silly

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Apr 25 2012, 03:21 AM) QUOTE (Tick @ Apr 24 2012, 08:18 PM) QUOTE (rushgoober @ Apr 24 2012, 06:42 PM) QUOTE (udanax @ Apr 24 2012, 01:28 PM) Cant judge the book too harshly though because it's a children's book... It's not meant for my age group, so whatevs... Also, maybe I have a strong case of cynicism right now. It's a kids book as much as Harry Potter is a kids book. Actually, it's far less of a kids book. For some reason it's marketed as a teen book, but it's one of those books that captures the imagination of adults as well (although obviously not you specifically ). The books are pretty dark, and they only get darker - by the time they get to the third movie, I don't know how on earth they're going to keep it to PG-13 - it's pretty dark stuff and definitely NOT for kids - questionable for teenagers. I agree its dark, but I personally think its fine for teens. Try to remember what it was like to be a teen. They're not babies. They are quite mature, and can handle the storyline, imo. My daughter is 11 and she saw the movie and is reading the first book now. Not a big deal. The real life that encounter in school everyday is worse than anything these books can dish out. Once again, just my opinion. I hear what you're saying, and maybe it's just fine, but the subject matter gets darker in the 2nd book, and then REALLY dark by book 3. It makes the first story seem very innocent by comparison. Whether I'm de-sensitized to dark content in a book or not really depends on how emotionally invested I am with the characters..... That might just be a personal thing, but I've read books where hundreds of people have died and I didn't care at all, and books where only one person dies and I react like that character could be a close friend or relative to me.

Still havent watched season two... I'm itching to see it after school ends though

I didn't bother to go see the movie. I didn't enjoy the first book too much. It's hard for me to pinpoint exactly why I didn't like the book, but Katniss just was not a character I very much liked and I think she had a lot of inconsistencies mentally as far as her characterization went that were not really fully explained. There were also characters that I very much enjoyed that I wish would have gotten more time to be truly fleshed out. It just wasn't my cup of tea, so I didn't read the other two books. At the same time I thought the movie might have some potential, but nonetheless, I am waiting for it on dvd. If it's anything like this clip I found by a very talented independent director, then I might enjoy it, since the relationship between Katniss and Rue was by far the best part of the book for me. Now I do realize that there are some definite mistakes with this clip, but I certainly thought it was well done for the fact that there was no big Hollywood budget behind it. Cant judge the book too harshly though because it's a children's book... It's not meant for my age group, so whatevs... Also, maybe I have a strong case of cynicism right now.

Well, after a few more listens, I'm beginning to enjoy it more, but I still do not think its melodic enough lol.

QUOTE (trenken @ Apr 18 2012, 03:48 PM) QUOTE (udanax @ Apr 18 2012, 03:10 PM) QUOTE (trenken @ Apr 18 2012, 01:25 PM) QUOTE (CrossedSignals @ Apr 18 2012, 01:18 PM) I get the impression that the vocal part was worked into the music after the fact, because the two don't mesh incredibly well, but I could be wrong. Thats usually how songs are written though. You have to write the vocals later. You cant write vocals first, then the music. Doesnt work too well that day. The issue is anyone who writes songs here knows it really does take serious effort to write an entire song, then fit some vocals perfect over it. Anyones capable of doing this really well, it just depends on how much time you put into it. If its rushed then you get something that sounds awkward and forgettable which is what Im hearing here. Good music, shit vocal melodies. They could be MUCH better. The dude from Mars Volta is fantastic at writing really great vocal melodies over odd music, but he's said it takes him a long time. Listen to this music, its strange, but the vocals are completely awesome. Takes time to come up with this stuff. Well, how you approach song writing really just depends on what kind of composer you are. You're right, Rush in this case most likely were just messing with a chord progression before slapping a vocal melody on top of it. In theory class, I've had to get used to building up songs from bass to melody and from melody to bass, so it is possible to do both although building a melody first is usually more difficult. I think that Rush has also built songs from the melodic line as well. The difference between a good melody and a bad one however, is the amount of thought put into it. Also, the vocal line doesn't always have to be the line of melody. Rush in the past has given melody lines to the guitar that mingle and expand on the main melodic theme. That is a difficult task, but when executed right it can sound REALLY good, and can offer an interesting development of the piece as a whole. In this song however, it sounds like a very traditional and predictable melody line was given to Ged, while Alex just slammed on a bunch of chords. I would like to hear him do some counter melody work in this song (as well as arpeggiation). Add in some interesting cadences and a few more progressions and you've got yourself (in what would be my opinion) a really strong piece of music. I'm also wondering if some of the indistinguishable parts of the song that people are attributing to bad mixing, are just coming from voice leading mistakes. I'd have to look at the sheet music to say for sure because my ear isn't that well tuned yet, but I wouldn't be surprised.... This song sounds like a few jam sessions thrown together to me, and not something that the band thought about for a significant period of time. They are a very talented improvisational band, but doing that and then calling it a piece doesn't work unless you're playing jazz, and this isn't jazz (except for maybe, the guitar solo part). I love a huge amount of Rush, but I definitely don't think that everything they touch is gold. Does anyone else on this forum with some tonal theory knowledge have any answers? Well they've talked about this, that's how they've always written songs. Jam parts out, record them, listen back later and try to put the parts together, look through pages of lyrics and try to fit them in, it's like a big puzzle. But doing it this way you sometimes get those awkward transitions. This song goes from pretty heavy to like a 50's rock n roll bridge section. It doesnt seem like it should be there and in the past maybe they had the energy to step back and say, "wait, this doesnt work as well as it possibly could", so they would put the time into fixing it. Well now they're old so they just leave it. This gets down to my issue with the vocal melodies. Damn near everything from 2112-HYF has excellent melodies, but they started dropping off after that. There was next to nothing memorable on VT, some stuff here and there vocally but not much, and S&A was just really bad in terms of vocal melodies. I like the melodies on BU2B, although they arent stellar, and dont like them at all on caravan or this one. Dont know what the deal is. Only thing I can possibly pin it to is laziness, not willing to keep working on 1 song for many days to make sure the melodies are all kinds of kick ass. I think you nailed it on the head. And yes, I do think composition is like a puzzle, it's why I enjoy it so much. Now that I have a background in theory though, I can pinpoint these things a lot more easily. Ignorance was bliss.

QUOTE (trenken @ Apr 18 2012, 01:25 PM) QUOTE (CrossedSignals @ Apr 18 2012, 01:18 PM) I get the impression that the vocal part was worked into the music after the fact, because the two don't mesh incredibly well, but I could be wrong. Thats usually how songs are written though. You have to write the vocals later. You cant write vocals first, then the music. Doesnt work too well that day. The issue is anyone who writes songs here knows it really does take serious effort to write an entire song, then fit some vocals perfect over it. Anyones capable of doing this really well, it just depends on how much time you put into it. If its rushed then you get something that sounds awkward and forgettable which is what Im hearing here. Good music, shit vocal melodies. They could be MUCH better. The dude from Mars Volta is fantastic at writing really great vocal melodies over odd music, but he's said it takes him a long time. Listen to this music, its strange, but the vocals are completely awesome. Takes time to come up with this stuff. Well, how you approach song writing really just depends on what kind of composer you are. You're right, Rush in this case most likely were just messing with a chord progression before slapping a vocal melody on top of it. In theory class, I've had to get used to building up songs from bass to melody and from melody to bass, so it is possible to do both although building a melody first is usually more difficult. I think that Rush has also built songs from the melodic line as well. The difference between a good melody and a bad one however, is the amount of thought put into it. Also, the vocal line doesn't always have to be the line of melody. Rush in the past has given melody lines to the guitar that mingle and expand on the main melodic theme. That is a difficult task, but when executed right it can sound REALLY good, and can offer an interesting development of the piece as a whole. In this song however, it sounds like a very traditional and predictable melody line was given to Ged, while Alex just slammed on a bunch of chords. I would like to hear him do some counter melody work in this song (as well as arpeggiation). Add in some interesting cadences and a few more progressions and you've got yourself (in what would be my opinion) a really strong piece of music. I'm also wondering if some of the indistinguishable parts of the song that people are attributing to bad mixing, are just coming from voice leading mistakes. I'd have to look at the sheet music to say for sure because my ear isn't that well tuned yet, but I wouldn't be surprised.... This song sounds like a few jam sessions thrown together to me, and not something that the band thought about for a significant period of time. They are a very talented improvisational band, but doing that and then calling it a piece doesn't work unless you're playing jazz, and this isn't jazz (except for maybe, the guitar solo part). I love a huge amount of Rush, but I definitely don't think that everything they touch is gold. Does anyone else on this forum with some tonal theory knowledge have any answers?

Okay, well, I've gotta agree with Goobs on this one.... Not melodic, not progressive, no interesting use of cadence... The timbre and guitar solo are nice and it's technically challenging to play to an extent. I might be turning into a nit picky music snob now, but I'm a tonal music theory stickler and I'm going to start composing soon. I definitely know what I would personally make changes with here. It's not bad, but it's not strongly memorable either. Maybe a few more listens will change my mind.

I have a friend who is a DJ who idolizes guys like Skrillex and also second chair violin at our school and practices his violin 4 hours a day so go figure. I feel like there is definitely a generational gap as far as who likes dubstep and who doesnt. I'm personally fascinated by it, especially Skrillex, who really was the one who turned the genre on it's head. In defense of those who think it's just "noise" all music is just noise. It's the sequences in which it is organized that makes it music. The way the noises are mixed together to create this chaotic environment is rather interesting and worth a listen. It can be a bit repetitive at times, but I find it to be quite a revolution the thinking of old techno music. To be a DJ also takes extreme skill and just as much competence as any other composer/musician would need to have. with a more laid back atmosphere I think the impossibility of the sounds in a natural environment make it really cool. Also, you ACTUALLY can dance to it (it's almost like watching people do the robot), it just takes skill to dance to... I personally think it's a vast improvement to bumping and grinding...

Tchaikovsky's "Winter Journey" and his "Variations on a Roccoco Theme".

Neil would be a happier person if he were JS Bach. Bach lived in obscurity and died in obscurity. It wasn't until the middle of the Romantic Period when his music was re-discovered. Unfortunately Neil's style of music isn't considered to be "Art music-y refined" enough to get himself ignored by the generic fan community. I've met some musicians and composers at this point (That I would actually argue are better than Neil), including one who has won a Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy. I had the opportunity to pick his brain a little bit too which was awesome. It was David Lang, but that was a completely different situation. Unfortunately Neil does not give percussionist (I don't play any percussion instruments except for clapping in Musicianship skills) or lyrical writing master classes lol, but I am thankful for his books.

Is it blasphemous that I'm actually more excited to see Coheed than Maiden on this tour...???? Okay, I like Maiden, but I love Coheed... Mom's taking me along for her birthday.

QUOTE (PariahDog @ Oct 6 2010, 06:39 PM) QUOTE (udanax @ Oct 6 2010, 06:33 PM)I think I've posted this before, but in Subdivisions I always thought that "Unlike moths we drift into the city" was "Unlike mobs we drift into the city"... I also don't know half of the lyrics to Freewill... Isn't that supposed to be "drawn like moths?" My favorite is probably still "A Monday warrior, mean mean stride." (Not mine, posted by someone here on TRF.) Eh... something like that... I'm terrible with song lyrics lol... Most of my singing to Freewill is just "ehhhhh lalala ...You can choose a ready guide..." you get the idea

I think I've posted this before, but in Subdivisions I always thought that "Unlike moths we drift into the city" was "Unlike mobs we drift into the city"... I also don't know half of the lyrics to Freewill...

QUOTE (Storm Shadow @ Sep 28 2010, 02:54 PM) The slow build up on a lot of their songs is one of my favorite things about Tool. I love the contrast of the quieter sections that explode into heaviness. Truly one of the greatest bands on earth. Listening to my favorite Tool song right now.....The Grudge. Listen to Maynard roar! Ok, I can see that... maybe I'm just very impatient...

Ok, so I'm not trying to troll, but I'm not exactly sure why everyone loves Tool. I'd like to know what it is about the musicianship of the band that gets people really excited because I honestly don't get it. My mom bought Aenima, and I listened to the whole album. It was just sooo... slow. I think on one track they spent about 2 minutes building up the song starting with one beat, then slowly adding each instrument until it sounded like something cohesive. This annoyed me to death because I can already pick out the individual parts of a song when all of the instruments are already playing together. All of their songs also have the exact same feeling to them... Sort of a subdued passive aggression. I have trouble trying not to fall asleep while listening. I dunno, maybe it's just not to my tastes. I could listen to people talk about how great the musicianship is of the band all day, but WHAT is it about their musicianship that makes them so great? Sure, Tool has a unique sound to their music, but to me It feel like it needs more variety and less repetitiveness. Can somebody explain what I'm not getting, or not hearing, that I should look out for next time I play a Tool album??? Should I just listen over and over again until I "get it"? Please don't get angry at me for my opinions, this is just what I happen to hear when I listen...

Sorry to hear that, you should definitely press charges and demand the money you paid for your ticket to be paid back. Otherwise,

I became a fan on my own accord. I heard The Spirit of Radio on the radio when I was twelve and I told my mom that I really liked it. She said she could get me one of their albums, especially since she also really liked them back in the 80's. She bought me the TSOR compilation album and I really fell in love with The Trees. I also liked Ged's voice a lot. After that I got Hemispheres and CoS. I didn't realize that the band was still together and touring, and not just a 70s-80s band, until I went to my aunt's house and she told me she had the Rio dvd and we watched it. I slowly collected all of the rest of the albums after that, and I saw them from the 5th row on my 16th birthday. I still can't imagine a better way I could've spent my birthday that year. I'm 19 and have seen them twice since then, but never from as close of a view as I did on my 16th birthday. I've also been a member on this forum for almost 5 years now. Rush also influenced me to pick up a guitar, and I take private lessons through my university. I've always been teased a lot for knowing little to nothing about current pop music, but my Rush fandom has turned me on to better music than I could've ever imagined, and I'm proud of that.

I just hope that Ron Howard doesn't ruin it... His track record for the sci fi genre of films isn't particularly amazing. By the way, having read all 7 books I can say that I don't think they could've used a better story to try out this new method of making movies/TV shows.

"It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool." "Always bring a banana to a party." I love Doctor Who. It's my guilty pleasure. I caught some good cosplayers at Comic Con and I will post pics of them soon.