Greetings!

 this is the first blog entry of my life...

My name is Kevin and I am a returning student to Cornell (Senior) in CALS (Communication Major). Before returning to Cornell to finish my degree I was a professional musician- writing, recording and touring.

I am very excited to be part of this class. I own and use Protools and the drum programming  software reason, though I never really took any courses to understand how they really work- I just kind of jumped in and started being creative with it- It's easy to get deeply absorbed in the Fun and creativity that is possible with digital recording.

I would like to learn how to use these tools, and other software/devices better by increasing my basic understanding of digital music.

Let the Fun Begin... 

Hi,

Sorry it took me so long to figure this out. My name is Maurice Chammah and I'm a Sophomore in A&S, majoring in Music, College Scholar, and maybe Near Eastern Studies. I grew up playing violin in the classical world and in the last 5 years or so I've slowly veered towards playing a lot more guitar and some piano in rock/pop bands, as well as into ethnomusicology stuff (Arab music, Gamelan) in this department. I write both "pieces" in the classical sense and "songs" in the pop sense.

My interest in digital music stems from recent experiences recording with my band, back in Texas, and having very little clue as to what was going on the whole time. At the same time, I've been looking to learn about music in different directions than the one that traditional music theory takes you in; set theory, etc.

 I'm definetely interested in applications of sound beds/collages to "pop" music, as well as the heady modern classical world, and where these two places meet.  I'm pretty much aesthetically promiscuous, so I'm excited about the variety of this class.

M

 ps. i dont think this upload worked, its on www.myspace.com/mauricech

Hey everyone,

My name is Jarrod and I'm a junior in Arts & Sciences. I have loved music ever since I was very young. I started playing the violin when I was 3 years  old, and I have since studied the clarinet, piano, and saxophone (though some of these very briefly). Right now I am studying voice here at Cornell, and I am a member of the Cornell Glee Club.

I have some limited experience with composing; I took Intro to Music Theory (for non-majors) and I have played around with Finale and Sibelius. I really enjoy classical and choral music, but also a lot of pop and rock songs as well. My favorite modern artists are probably Imogen Heap and Poe, and I'm hoping that this class will help me to understand a lot more about their music (and how to make some of my own!).

I look forward to meeting everyone, and to learning from all of you this semester!

-Jarrod

Hey, I'm bobby miller. I posted a similar introduction last year but I didn't make it into the class. Not much has changed though except for my age and my musical tastes so here it is:

I'm a senior in the arts and science school. My major is computer science and mathematics. I wish I was gutsy enough to pursue music as a major and perhaps a career. I absolutely love music, and have been playing music since I was a child. My main instrument is the piano. I took lessons in classical piano and only now am I trying to broaden my horizons by  attempting to pick up pop piano (billy joel, elton john, etc). While I was studying the piano, I picked up the trombone with my middle school's band program. I also picked up the guitar while in high school for fun. Although I don't compose much, it is pretty much my main goal as an avid music lover to write my own songs. and.....if anyone is interested (or wants to judge my musical tastes), my current top 5 favorite bands/artists are belle and sebastian, the shins, the pixies, midlake, and sufjan stevens.

I'm thrilled to be in this class and I look forward to working with and getting to know all of you at some point this semester.

    Hi I'm Greg.  I'm a Freshman in Arts and Sciences and I have no idea what to study.  While my first love is classical music, I try to listen to a lot of different genres.  I play oboe seriously and have also had a little training in composition and harmony.
    I'm always interested in musical trends, and digital music has had an undeniable growth in the past thirty or so years; I'm here to learn what all the fuss is about!  I want to learn how to incorporate new techniques and styles with the traditional Western aesthetic we all love.
    On a much less nerdy note, I'm more than happy to participate in your projects as an oboist, so contact me!

Hello Everyone. My name is Eric Tobis. Everyone calls me Tobis (it's just so much cooler than Eric). I am currently a senior in the school of Electrical and Computer Engineering. I am also a flute in the Big Red Marching Band.

I first heard about MUSIC 120 in my CIS 300 Game Design class. A few of the people in MUSIC 120 were doing music for our video games, and what they were coming up with was really remarkable. I join the class this year in hopes that I may be able to write music for some games in CIS 400.

A lot of my favorite music comes from the 70s and 80s. My favorite bands are Queen, David Bowie, ABBA, and the Rolling Stones.

Some of my other interest are video games, cult classic sci-fi films, and the Transformers. I'm hoping to including some audio clips from a few of these sources in my projects for the course.

As far as things I'm interested in doing in this course go, some of the work I do as an ECE major is Digital Signal Processing. I'd like to add some cool filters, and create some sounds you maybe haven't heard before.

Hey guys!  I'm Ellen, a senior in ORIE.  I love all genres of music and listen to anything and everything.

I played piano from when I was 6 years old through my senior year in high school.  Although I don't take official lessons anymore,  I still play whenever I get a chance to.  I also started learning to play a traditional Chinese instrument called the er hu during my junior year in high school but it's been a while since I've last picked it up.

I'm really excited about this class and can't wait to get started!

My name is Petko Nikolov (junior, major in CS, minor in ECE). Unlike many others in this class, I don't play any musical instrument. In the past year or two however I've been getting into DJ-ing, using mostly my laptop with software like Traktor DJ Studio together with an external midi controller (M-Audio X-session Pro), and every once in a while a friend's turntable or cd-deck setup. I'm currently saving up to get a cd-deck/mixer setup of my own.

My passion for electronic music started much earlier than my passion for DJ-ing. I've been hooked since my early teenage years. I lived in Europe until the age of 10, and grew up listening to a lot of eurodance/italodance, disco, and other pop dance music. I can't usually describe in one word the genre I like, as I believe there is quality music of all kinds out there, regardless of how it is labeled, but currently I listen to mostly progressive/electro/minimal/deep/funky/soulful house, trance, and some drum 'n' bass, jungle, and chillout/ambient. I am a member of Cornell's EMC (Electronic Music Collective), and invite all of you who have any interest in electronic music or are even just curious to join.

With this class I hope to take it to the next level. I want to learn the theory as well as get the practice with the hardware and software, which would hopefully make me a better DJ as well as open the doors to production, an area that is still very gray to me. I also look forward to collaborating with many of you, who seem very talented and open-minded when it comes to music, which will result in some awesome creations I'm sure.

To anyone interested, here is a link to one of my mixes. This one is mostly prog house with a focus on deep basslines, so it's best to listen to it on a system that you can "feel" literally ;)

Petkonik - Ride My Bassline

Hi everyone!

    (I didn't want to disrupt the flow of the intro, but I wanted to let you know that below all the biographical writing I've inserted a musical opportunity for singers/actors/musicians ... so if you don't want to read all of the prose at first, skip down to the bottom and read about opportunities with the Melodramatics!)

    After reading some of my fellow classmates' blogs, I am really excited to get to know everyone once we match these awesome stories to recognizable persons.  My name is Mike Tedesco, and I am a senior in the School of Arts and Sciences.  I am a Science and Technology major, but if you get to know me, my biggest passions involve music and theatre. 

    I grew up with a family that had many musical experiences and talents, which they passed on to me and my brother Lenny.  My dad was a keyboardist for Chubby Checker, that kooky character who brought you hits such as "The Twist" back in the 1960s.  He toured for a few years with the band and performed concerts all around the world.  My father's knowledge of and love for motown and doo-wop music impressed me as a young kid.

    My mom was a child of the rock and roll era of the 50s and  "Beatlemania"/British Music Invasion during the 60s.  So, as a child, my mom grew me up on some of the most influential music of our time.  My mom tells me a story about how, when I was perhaps 2 or 3 years old, I would hear Ricky Nelson on the radio or TV and I would instantly get up and start dancing and singing to it.  According to her, this was an indication of things to come.

    Although I do not officially play any instrument fluently, I have taught myself a bit of guitar and piano throughout the years.  My main instrument of choice has been my voice- I have sung since I was little and, though I am not trained, I've always loved singing and performing for people.  My singing endeavors varied through my life, from choir in high school to musicals in college. 

    I am so enthused about being in Cornell's digital music course.  I've always been fascinated with recording, though my only experience has consisted of recording on a tape deck with my brother for fun.  My goal for the semester is to learn how to use the digital recording equipment in order to create some original music, possibly an album of some ideas I've had building up inside of me for oh I don't know how long (hehe, Beach Boys reference*).  I will hopefully be using this opportunity to record music in conjunction with some of my theatrical endeavors as well.  I am also interested in collaborating with other students.  If you need a singer or musician, feel free to contact me.. or if you'd like to offer any of your talents or help, I'd love to meet you!

**********

    Currently I am a part of the Melodramatics Theatre Company, Inc. at Cornell University.  It is Cornell's only musical theatre company which produces full-length musicals.  I have been in three shows produced by the company, and it has been one of the most awesome experiences of my life.  We are currently doing "The Wild Party," a jazzy/bluesy musical by Andrew Lippa.  (If anyone is interested in becoming involved as a singer, actor, musician or staff member, come and see me!). 

**********

 

    

Whats up,
My name is Khaliq Gant and I am a second semester junior majoring in Communications and minor in AEM. I am a music fanatic and listen to it 24/7. I am on the Varsity Basketball team here at Cornell and it wasn't until I was seriously injured playing that I began to actually make music seriously. I had to play piano as part of my rehab and took off from there. I played clarinet in the middle school and high school band but stopped playing my senior year of high school.

I enjoy listening to a variety of music, but really love R&B, Hip-hop, and jazz. I also enjoy a lot of other genres such as rock, house, some techno, and some country.