Danny Elfman Podcast - Week 4

Peer Comment - Week 4

I made a comment on my fellow classmate's blog. His name is  Ben Zuiderweg. This is what I posted:

Hey Ben!  I am glad to have read your blog on Richard Devine.  I actually never heard of him prior to your blog.  As I am a fan of sound design, electronic music, and scoring, he seems like someone I should research more about. I have looked him up on Spotify and am currently listening to him as I am writing this post.

One thing I love about electronic music is all of the work that goes into modifying each individual sound. It is so interesting learning how to do it. Coming from a classical background, I have had a very tough time grasping my mind around how electronic music is made. It takes a ton of skill to produce these works, and Devine really seems to know his stuff. He designs patches, creates software, and teaches the public how to do what he does. Your post has inspired me to continue looking out for Devine and what he's going to bring to the table next. Thank you for the knowledge!  

~Angela R

Independent Research - Danny Elfman

This week, I have chosen to write about Danny Elfman. I feel that he has contributed a great deal to popular music of today. From the band Oingo Boing to working as a film composer for many popular movies and television shows, Danny Elfman has inspired many musicians and composers, including myself, to reach beyond the norm and not fear the dark and quirky.

Born on May 29, 1953 in Amarillo, Texas, Danny Elfman was the son of children's novelist Blossom Elfman. He and his brother, Richard, grew up in Los Angeles. Danny then moved to France at 18 to learn about orchestration and theater (Marx). He often played his violin in the streets, and joined an avant-garde musical theater group called La Gran Magic Circus. Danny then moved to Africa for a year, learning Highlife, which is African pop that combined raggae and salsa with horns. With all this musical knowledge, Danny returned to Los Angeles to reunite with Richard and start the band Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, which was later shortened to just Oingo Boingo (Yahoo).

Oingo Boingo was originally put together for a movie Richard was writing called "Forbidden Zone." With Danny as the vocalist and front man, this quirky punk/new wave band began playing in the L.A. area, and when the "Forbidden Zone" was finally released in 1980, they instantly got noticed. A&M Records sought them out and they signed a recording contract, producing singles such as "Only a Lad," "Nothing to Fear," and "Dead Man's Party." (Prato)

In the mid 1980's, a fan of Oingo Boingo by the name of Tim Burton made Elfman's acquaintance. Burton asked Elfman to write the score for his work, "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure." From here, the relationship and friendship became solid, and the two continued to work together on numerous other films, such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Batman, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. This solidified Elfman's career as a film composer, and he continues to this day working with directors, including Tim Burton, on scores (Marx).

Elfman has won numerous awards for his work. He earned a Grammy nomination for Best Original Instrumental Background Score for Batman. He earned an Emmy nomination for the main title theme music of the Fox animated series, The Simpsons. He earned Golden Globe and Grammy nominations for Best Original Score for The Nightmare Before Christmas. He received his first Oscar nomination in 1997 for Best Original Score for Good Will Hunting, and a Grammy nomination for Men in Black. In 2001 he earned a Grammy nomination for Best Score Soundtrack for Planet of the Apes. He received a Golden Globe, an Academy Award, and a Grammy nomination for Best Original Score of Big Fish. He earned a Grammy nomination for Best Song in Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He earned in 2010 a Grammy nomination for Best Score Soundtrack for Alice In Wonderland, and was nominated for the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score - Motion Picture for the same film (Yahoo).

Danny Elfman is an inspiration because he went from having no classical training to becoming one of the most prolific and respected film composers of our generation. He used influences from his travels to help him build from a small, quirky band, into this film composer with scores full of passion and emotion. Bits of Africa can be heard in his large use of percussion and brass instruments. As a listener, I love hearing his unique sound. It is very dark and intense, and can be very intricate and fun. 

As an industry professional, I love hearing how an adult can go from having little musical knowledge to becoming a huge deal in the industry (Yahoo). There isn't a person in the business who doesn't know Danny Elfman and his works. He is one of the the biggest film composers of our time, along with John Williams and Hans Zimmer. My biggest dream is becoming a film composer, so I look up to these people as my idols and inspirations. I want to continue my research on these film, tv, and video game composers to hopefully learn how they got to where they are, and set myself on a similar path. My goal is to finish my degree at Full Sail University, and while still working on music and producing, I want to apply at Berklee University into their film scoring program. One can never have enough education in a field they love. I want to experience multiple different learning environments like Danny Elfman, so I can grow as a person and a professional, and be able to reflect my experiences in my music.

Peer Comment - Week 3

I made a comment on my fellow classmate's blog. His name is Shannon McDowell. This is what I posted:

Hey Shannon! What an interesting topic to choose for this blog! I hadn't even correlated MIDI with this week's assignment. MIDI is so useful in the creation of electronic music, especially now. It started as a simple concept - data registering note on and off and volume control. Then it became this huge idea with datasets that can be used to create any audible sound.

In our profession as music producers, it's absolutely important we use MIDI. It allows us to create and produce music cheaply and without having to pick up an instrument. I usually use a keyboard MIDI controller to impute my music, as I feel it is the easiest form of inputting data into a DAW. Once in a DAW, I use the MIDI information and I'm able to transform sounds by changing parameters and with the use of plug-ins. 

I absolutely love your blog entry. I think it was a great idea to write about MIDI. You are right - it is a very important electronic music innovation. I am eager to read more from you in the future!

~Angela Russell

Electronic Music - David Bowie.

There were many artists who were a part of the electronic music world. One that I am choosing to write about today would be one of my favorite artists of all-time, David Bowie. He is a huge influential artist, who has been able to perceive musical trends and reinvent himself over and over since the late 60's. He has been responsible for creating of furthering several major trends in rock and roll (Rock and Roll). 

Born David Jones, Bowie began performing music when he was 13 on the saxophone. Upon graduation, he played the sax as a commercial artist for multiple bands. After years of performing, he joined a Buddihst monastery, formed a mime company, and formed an experimental art group (Erlewine). To finance the project, Bowie signed with Mercury, and released multiple albums, including Space Oddity (Kemp). At this point, David Bowie was fully submerged in the recording world, and was very popular. He was also lost in drug addiction. After a controversial drug-fueled moment involving a Nazi salute, Bowie left England and went to Berlin, where he lived and worked with a big name in electronic music: Brian Eno.

In Berlin, Bowie became sober and studied art. He also grew in fascination with German electronic music (Erlewine). Along with Brian Eno,  Bowie created the "Berlin trilogy," which included the three largely experimental, atmospheric albums Low, Heroes, and Lodger. Bowie reinvented himself creating these albums (Rock and Roll). Low was a mixture of electronics, pop, and avant-garde techniques. They used AKS synthesizers and it's use of creating drum sounds with an Eventide Harmonizer. Low and Heroes became influential albums of the 1970's. Heroes used synthesizers, keyboards, and guitar treatments. Lodger created several innovative videos, which became staples on early MTV (Erlewine). 

After his reinvention, Bowie went off to create more albums, star in films, and become an even bigger star. In the 1990's, David Bowie moved back into the electronic world in the way of electronica. He reunited with Brian Eno to create Outside- The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle, which was a concept album that wasn't very successful. However, he began to tour with Nine Inch Nails, who were a big name in modern electronic music at the time (Kemp). 

David Bowie has always been an inspiration of  mine. As a listener, I loved how he could effortlessly hop from genre to genre, and master everything as he went along. He helped define experimental rock, glam rock, art rock, pop, Krautrock, electronic music, avant-garde, and indie rock. He was able to reinvent himself multiple times, and become one of the hugest names of the 20th century. As a professional, I loved seeing one musician branch out so much and remain successful. His work with Brain Eno aided him into the height of his career. With how influential of a musician and artist Bowie was, I feel he made a huge contribution to electronic music. 

Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk is an electronic band that came from Germany. They helped pave the way for a new electronic way of music creation, with their self-described "robot pop." They were influential in creating hypnotic and rhythmic music performed solely electronically (Ankeny). Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider created Kraftwerk in the early 1970's. Both were classically educated musicians who had just come out oof the same improvisation class. Florian experimented with echo-units and amps on his flutes and violins, whereas Ralf did the same with his electronic keyboard. With their music vision in mind, they created their own studio,  which was called Kling Klang Studio. It was in this studio that they developed the audiovisual concept and music for Kraftwerk's albums (Matten).

In 1974, Kraftwerk matured in sound with the release of Autobahn. With the increasing success of the band, they were able to afford newer technology and studio upgrades. They could afford even more after the release of Radio-Activity, and Kling Klang Studio became a full working recording studio. It was here that Kraftwerk stopped its avant-garde experimentations and moved forward into the electronic pop genre (Bussy). 

Kraftwerk went on to write Trans-Europe Express in 1977. This album helped inspire hip-hop and DJ's in America. They then wrote The Man Machine in 1978, which was characterized by automated electronic music and sequenced rhythm tracks. Then between 1978-1981, Kraftwerk created the album Computer World. This album reached a new level that few have reached since. This album was completely a product of Kling Klang Studio, and illustrated the art of complexity and visionary music for today and tomorrow. Now, Kraftwerk was touring the world for the first time (Matten).

Kraftwerk is well known for their album concepts. Their albums were, in order, about highways, radioactivity, trains, science fiction and robots, and the futuristic computer world (Matten). Their production qualities were also unique. Autobahn was made largely with a Moog synthesizer (AllMusic.) Electronic voices and speech synthesis were used in Radio-Activity. Sequencers and vocoder voices were used in Trans-Europe Express. Automated electronic music and sequenced rhythm tracks created The Man Machine. Multichannel analog-sequencing that was synchronized to a multichannel tape-recorder was used in the recording process of Computer World. (Matten). 

Many musicians have been influenced by Kraftwerk. To name a few, they are Joy Division, New Order, Franz Ferdinand, and Duran Duran. Some musicians even used samples of their music, such as Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, Coldplay, U2, and Soft Cell. Some musicians did covers of their work, such as Jay-Z (Kraftwerk). 

As a listener, I thoroughly enjoy Kraftwerk. These men are so talented and helped broaden the spectrum of electronic music. I also am a huge fan of concept albums, which is basically what they continuously were putting out. As a professional, it is so interesting to learn of all the ways they would modify sounds to create the sounds they desired, and did everything almost completely electronically. They ended up using so much equipment to achieve their unique music. They are truly an inspiration to the audio world.

Pet Sound's Podcast - Week 2