Fangirling. ANALYSIS. and Fangirling. Lots of rambling, but mostly fangirling.
I was thinking about lots of things. Mostly music though, and I've been just thinking about what it means to be well, tone-deaf, the way vibrato is used as a crutch, and musicality. Also wondering about microphones, and who does their sound at venues.
Is there a sound technician for each venue? Or is it the same one? I would assume it be the same one for familiarity's sake. Additionally, when they perform with a live band, oh sheesh, if it takes us 30 minutes to get our mikes right when we only use like, 3, and we still have shitty balance, then I wonder how long their tune-ups and sound-checks take. They probably have a really good sound technician. I know ours sucked since well, we just kinda played and we had to keep running around testing balance. (I can't even remember how often I was told to: "Go out into the audience" and how often I had to stand there listening and going, "WE HAVE NO PIANO, why do we have no piano AGAIN?" and: "Tell the brass to play softer," or "Trombones do not exist right now." There's bound to be balancing issues for them as well, especially when they perform with a live band. Sound-checks take forever anyways.
Also fascinating, I wonder how their seats are, and what the acoustics of each venue are. Do they ever have to adjust for the venue? I figure A-nation is very different from an arena tour, simply due to the acoustics of the venue. I wish I knew more about how they perform and what their arena tour was like. Outdoor venues are also so touch-and-go, and the balance is so hard to work out. Not to mention lightening, the sun, the placement of each amplifier. I wonder how much time goes into working out how to adapt to the venue.
Each person has a microphone, and they're probably numbered on the ends, I'm guessing, for the sound technicians to work with them properly, and there's bound to be microphone errors. There was one, once, if I remember correctly. It's fascinating. Microphone errors are entirely the tech team's fault. (Unless you know, you're part of Heberer's band, in which case you are not only expected to play your instrument well, but you are also expected to sing, set up, tear down, load buses, teach kids, study other artists and write up reports with information entirely taken from wikipedia, and be a sound technician. Of course, the sound technician is only if you're part of the rhythm section. Who knew that playing piano was such a detriment to life?). It makes me wonder if they simply set each microphone to the same volume? Probably, which means that all dynamics are from each person. Which means their dynamics suck. LOL.
Balance is key to a successful performance, which is why I love live bands and singing. * sighs * I need to watch more T concert tour videos, and study their balance (but from what I've watched, the balance is really good. But it's not their first performance, which means they've got balancing practice). I wonder if tohoshinki was actually expected to balance with the band, or if that was entirely the band's work. Probably entirely the band's work. Whenever we played with a singer, balance was all: "less piano. Less bass. Less brass. Less drums. Less. Less. Less." Might as well turn the amps off, with the way it was always: "less less less" (Somehow, nobody thought to turn up the singer's mike. Fascinating.)
Of course, when talking about balance the ability to mesh well with the others is important. I'm guessing that Jaejoong is the: "can blend with anybody" person in the group, because his voice is, probably, the most generic out of all of them. (and he also gets more lines usually, which is another factor). All of them should blend decently with each other. I'll have to conduct a study on who stands next to who most often (their formation probably says tons about who blends well with who, such a pity I don't actually sing [or have good hearing] to work it out entirely by sound). Their ability to mesh (not blend) is also probably the reason they lived together before. I mean, it's clearly important to be able to anticipate your teammates well. (Was just remembering how J and I always manage to play together. We may suck, but we're always together. Playing a song together without any practice together at all is just a little frightening.) The way they turn to look at each other helps, of course. Eye contact does wonders for getting a performance to stay together. (Listening to each other also helps. Probably a reason why they pull out ear plugs quickly. It's better to hear your surroundings).
Well, that was a lot of rambling on microphones and balance. Onto topic of rambles no. 2. Tone-deafness.
Oh, Jaejoong always fascinates me. I will admit that this fascination comes entirely from the fact that he says he used to be tone deaf. Ahh. So fascinating.
The idea of being tone-deaf is fascinating because I don't think he is. I think he has really really really shitty relative pitch. (There is a difference. One day I will successfully work out what this difference is.) Listening to him, however, it seems that Jaejoong spends the most time off-tune. Actually, all of them have points of pitchy-ness, but the fact that Jaejoong sings so many lines makes it a little more obvious that he's pitchy. Hm.
From carefully collected notes (no, not really carefully collected, but from notes), I have concluded that the emphasis when creating music becomes: notes over rhythm, which is bad. Really. Rhythms are important. Additionally, self-doubt occurs.
Which means if Jaejoong is a typical tone-deaf person (really, this data is rather iffy, as I've only asked two people. And perfect pitch people tend to not talk to me about their experiences, and they lie a lot), then he doubts himself, he cares more about notes then rhythms, he hears notes in his head that aren't the same as the note outside of his head, his mental hearing overwhelms his physical hearing, and he prefers music without notes. Clearly, not the last, since he can't rap to save his life. lol
These notes should be taken with a grain of salt. More than one grain actually. But it's interesting, yes, to hear what people who also claim to be tone-deaf say about tone-deafness. I wonder how it applies to Jaejoong.
Of course, when talking about tone-deafness, vibrato should be mentioned. Why? Because vibrato is the life-saver of every single pitchy person in the existence of the world, I swear. Vibrato properly applied can waver an off-pitch note onto the correct pitch. Lovely, I assure you.
Vibrato saved my life. Which means that I need to listen to vibrato more carefully now to try to ascertain pitchyness. Vibrato also, at least according to C who is learning opera O_o, used when you're out of breath? Which means that whoever vibratos more has really bad breath support? Fascinating.
Musicality is of course, the last topic to talk about. This is because, one: musicality is probably the most important, but also the most tricky. This is coming from twelve years of music, which means that the vast majority of this rambling should not be taken too seriously. However, this is also coming from twelve years of music, which means that this should be taken moderately seriously. This is also because two: this is the topic that will inevitably lead to screaming matches on how I'm wrong. Which I may be, but I have research (as sucky as my reserach is) on my side.
Sad to say, but dbsk is not very good at musicality. This is because they sing into microphones, which will inevitably change the musicality thanks to technical errors or just the existence of the technology. It is also because they have really really really horrible dynamics. I will refer to Love in the Ice. Please stop saying that song made you cry. It's not that tear inducing.
The entire song makes use of repetition. The ENTIRE SONG. Essentially. Repeats. The Same Rhythm Or Sequence. That is a perfect chance to crescendo or decrescendo. It's beautiful, and the thought of building upon the repeated sequence makes me so happy. Except for the fact that y'know, they don't build on the repetition and they sing the entire song in mezzo-forte really. Maybe a forte or a mezzo-piano here or there, but really. Where are the dynamics? It's such a beautiful song, especially is you use rubato to stretch out the last phrase of each sequence, and if you crescendo and decrescendo as the song progresses. The fact that they don't says their musicality is actually rather sucky. Therefore, please stop citing Love in the Ice as: "Song Made Me Cry" The only thing tear-jerking about it is the fact that Jaejoong always goes off tune at the exact same spot. What the hell is with that note anyways? It's so random. It's just floating there in the middle of nowhere.
So there, I have just stated that the song everybody cites as: "best song ever" actually sucks musically. I don't think I should get started on other songs, especially since this rant is getting rather long. But I would like to say that the chord rhythms for kiss shita mama sayonara suck, and whoever says that Yoochun's a brilliant composer should stop fangirling and start thinking. That song is... eh... I don't know what to say. I should pull out the old composition notes from composition class and y'know, analyze that song, except that this ramble is long. Maybe I'll edit it one day. And since I'm feeling nice, I'll public this just so anybody who wants to read a long ramble can read a long ramble.
Is there a sound technician for each venue? Or is it the same one? I would assume it be the same one for familiarity's sake. Additionally, when they perform with a live band, oh sheesh, if it takes us 30 minutes to get our mikes right when we only use like, 3, and we still have shitty balance, then I wonder how long their tune-ups and sound-checks take. They probably have a really good sound technician. I know ours sucked since well, we just kinda played and we had to keep running around testing balance. (I can't even remember how often I was told to: "Go out into the audience" and how often I had to stand there listening and going, "WE HAVE NO PIANO, why do we have no piano AGAIN?" and: "Tell the brass to play softer," or "Trombones do not exist right now." There's bound to be balancing issues for them as well, especially when they perform with a live band. Sound-checks take forever anyways.
Also fascinating, I wonder how their seats are, and what the acoustics of each venue are. Do they ever have to adjust for the venue? I figure A-nation is very different from an arena tour, simply due to the acoustics of the venue. I wish I knew more about how they perform and what their arena tour was like. Outdoor venues are also so touch-and-go, and the balance is so hard to work out. Not to mention lightening, the sun, the placement of each amplifier. I wonder how much time goes into working out how to adapt to the venue.
Each person has a microphone, and they're probably numbered on the ends, I'm guessing, for the sound technicians to work with them properly, and there's bound to be microphone errors. There was one, once, if I remember correctly. It's fascinating. Microphone errors are entirely the tech team's fault. (Unless you know, you're part of Heberer's band, in which case you are not only expected to play your instrument well, but you are also expected to sing, set up, tear down, load buses, teach kids, study other artists and write up reports with information entirely taken from wikipedia, and be a sound technician. Of course, the sound technician is only if you're part of the rhythm section. Who knew that playing piano was such a detriment to life?). It makes me wonder if they simply set each microphone to the same volume? Probably, which means that all dynamics are from each person. Which means their dynamics suck. LOL.
Balance is key to a successful performance, which is why I love live bands and singing. * sighs * I need to watch more T concert tour videos, and study their balance (but from what I've watched, the balance is really good. But it's not their first performance, which means they've got balancing practice). I wonder if tohoshinki was actually expected to balance with the band, or if that was entirely the band's work. Probably entirely the band's work. Whenever we played with a singer, balance was all: "less piano. Less bass. Less brass. Less drums. Less. Less. Less." Might as well turn the amps off, with the way it was always: "less less less" (Somehow, nobody thought to turn up the singer's mike. Fascinating.)
Of course, when talking about balance the ability to mesh well with the others is important. I'm guessing that Jaejoong is the: "can blend with anybody" person in the group, because his voice is, probably, the most generic out of all of them. (and he also gets more lines usually, which is another factor). All of them should blend decently with each other. I'll have to conduct a study on who stands next to who most often (their formation probably says tons about who blends well with who, such a pity I don't actually sing [or have good hearing] to work it out entirely by sound). Their ability to mesh (not blend) is also probably the reason they lived together before. I mean, it's clearly important to be able to anticipate your teammates well. (Was just remembering how J and I always manage to play together. We may suck, but we're always together. Playing a song together without any practice together at all is just a little frightening.) The way they turn to look at each other helps, of course. Eye contact does wonders for getting a performance to stay together. (Listening to each other also helps. Probably a reason why they pull out ear plugs quickly. It's better to hear your surroundings).
Well, that was a lot of rambling on microphones and balance. Onto topic of rambles no. 2. Tone-deafness.
Oh, Jaejoong always fascinates me. I will admit that this fascination comes entirely from the fact that he says he used to be tone deaf. Ahh. So fascinating.
The idea of being tone-deaf is fascinating because I don't think he is. I think he has really really really shitty relative pitch. (There is a difference. One day I will successfully work out what this difference is.) Listening to him, however, it seems that Jaejoong spends the most time off-tune. Actually, all of them have points of pitchy-ness, but the fact that Jaejoong sings so many lines makes it a little more obvious that he's pitchy. Hm.
From carefully collected notes (no, not really carefully collected, but from notes), I have concluded that the emphasis when creating music becomes: notes over rhythm, which is bad. Really. Rhythms are important. Additionally, self-doubt occurs.
Which means if Jaejoong is a typical tone-deaf person (really, this data is rather iffy, as I've only asked two people. And perfect pitch people tend to not talk to me about their experiences, and they lie a lot), then he doubts himself, he cares more about notes then rhythms, he hears notes in his head that aren't the same as the note outside of his head, his mental hearing overwhelms his physical hearing, and he prefers music without notes. Clearly, not the last, since he can't rap to save his life. lol
These notes should be taken with a grain of salt. More than one grain actually. But it's interesting, yes, to hear what people who also claim to be tone-deaf say about tone-deafness. I wonder how it applies to Jaejoong.
Of course, when talking about tone-deafness, vibrato should be mentioned. Why? Because vibrato is the life-saver of every single pitchy person in the existence of the world, I swear. Vibrato properly applied can waver an off-pitch note onto the correct pitch. Lovely, I assure you.
Vibrato saved my life. Which means that I need to listen to vibrato more carefully now to try to ascertain pitchyness. Vibrato also, at least according to C who is learning opera O_o, used when you're out of breath? Which means that whoever vibratos more has really bad breath support? Fascinating.
Musicality is of course, the last topic to talk about. This is because, one: musicality is probably the most important, but also the most tricky. This is coming from twelve years of music, which means that the vast majority of this rambling should not be taken too seriously. However, this is also coming from twelve years of music, which means that this should be taken moderately seriously. This is also because two: this is the topic that will inevitably lead to screaming matches on how I'm wrong. Which I may be, but I have research (as sucky as my reserach is) on my side.
Sad to say, but dbsk is not very good at musicality. This is because they sing into microphones, which will inevitably change the musicality thanks to technical errors or just the existence of the technology. It is also because they have really really really horrible dynamics. I will refer to Love in the Ice. Please stop saying that song made you cry. It's not that tear inducing.
The entire song makes use of repetition. The ENTIRE SONG. Essentially. Repeats. The Same Rhythm Or Sequence. That is a perfect chance to crescendo or decrescendo. It's beautiful, and the thought of building upon the repeated sequence makes me so happy. Except for the fact that y'know, they don't build on the repetition and they sing the entire song in mezzo-forte really. Maybe a forte or a mezzo-piano here or there, but really. Where are the dynamics? It's such a beautiful song, especially is you use rubato to stretch out the last phrase of each sequence, and if you crescendo and decrescendo as the song progresses. The fact that they don't says their musicality is actually rather sucky. Therefore, please stop citing Love in the Ice as: "Song Made Me Cry" The only thing tear-jerking about it is the fact that Jaejoong always goes off tune at the exact same spot. What the hell is with that note anyways? It's so random. It's just floating there in the middle of nowhere.
So there, I have just stated that the song everybody cites as: "best song ever" actually sucks musically. I don't think I should get started on other songs, especially since this rant is getting rather long. But I would like to say that the chord rhythms for kiss shita mama sayonara suck, and whoever says that Yoochun's a brilliant composer should stop fangirling and start thinking. That song is... eh... I don't know what to say. I should pull out the old composition notes from composition class and y'know, analyze that song, except that this ramble is long. Maybe I'll edit it one day. And since I'm feeling nice, I'll public this just so anybody who wants to read a long ramble can read a long ramble.