Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with music

Apocalyptic Music?

frwagon — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:50:01 -0800

Fallout 3 (trailers) and BioShock both have a strangely appealing music they play for mood in places. I'd like to hear more of it. Any idea what I'd call it, or how I'd find more of it? Sample of the music style Here.

What's the best way to include album art?

yeahyeahyeahwhoo — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:42:26 -0800

If I'm making an album available on the web, whats the best album art file names and dimensions to include with the download? Is it worth it to include a playlist file?

Plucking strings?

Korou — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:05:13 -0800

What songs feature the pizzicato technique? I've always liked pizzicato music (as in Benjamin Britten's Simple Symphony, Op. 4: II and Andrew Bird's Skin is, My). What classical and non-classical songs feature the pizzicato technique?

Help a mid 20's guy find some new punk music.

highfidelity — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:19:26 -0800

Help me discover some great new punk music that isn't for 16 years olds. I've loved punk music since I was old enough to pay my own money for music. The thing is, the older I get (26 now) I've grown weary of the 3 chord, my girlfriend dumped me, Drive Thru Records, type punk music. I also prefer recent bands/releases, so please don't recommend me obscure bands from the 80's.

Basically, I'd like to find some new bands that have intelligent lyrics, with the more musical skill the better.

Just to give you an example, I like The Lawrence Arms, Alkaline Trio, (really any of the bands from the Slapstick family tree), Sparta, No Use for a Name, etc.

Thirty-three and a third books.

OmieWise — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:08:16 -0800

Which are the best books in Continuum's Thirty-Three and a Third series? I just read Daydream Nation and ended up frustrated and and a bit disappointed. I've been wanting to read into this series for a while, and finally picked up the Daydream Nation book. Daydream Nation is a favorite album of mine, although I don't feel as if it's a particularly personal album for me, but the book did not satisfy me. The book isn't horrible, but it wasn't great, and I expected it to be. The author wrote quite a bit about how "scary" and "mind-blowing" the record is, something that isn't at all true for me. He also admitted things best kept to oneself when writing a semi-critical exegesis like this. (He had, for instance, apparently never considered that "Hey Joni" might have some relationship to Joni Mitchell.)

I do like personal music writing, and I like behind the scenes stories of album creation, and I also like the kind of rank speculation that Greil Marcus engages in (although his pomposity can get a bit grating). I can certainly imagine reading the volumes written by people I'm already interested in (Joe Pernice, John Darnielle). Since the books aren't available at my local library I would appreciate suggestions for which people have enjoyed the most.

Help me get my music out there!

theholotrope — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:33:16 -0800

How would you go about getting your music heard and known on the internet? I've always wanted to release an album of sorts but have always been afraid to. Afraid of people stealing my stuff or just not getting credit. But I'm finally over that and I plan on completing an album of about 10 tracks to give to my friends and release online. Very possibly give it away as a torrent.

I'm not trying to make a living off of this but it would be interesting to see if I can get some fans going and develop a fanbase that likes my stuff.

How would YOU go about this?

I'm thinking of having a website, getting a myspace, facebook, putting my music somewhere that's RSS friendly. I don't know, I'm just talking out loud. I don't know how to go about it. I need some help here.

Thanks for all the tips.

Where can I spread the word about my project to musicians who might be interested?

racecar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 06:53:20 -0800

How can I reach independent musicians? My friends and I have built a great service for artists who promote their music online. The people who use it rave about it. But we'd like to grow to serve a lot more people in a more eclectic range of music. Right now, we're running AdWords, messaging similar artists on MySpace, and organically spreading the word through musicians and fans that already love our service.

I know musicians are busy people, but I'd like to somehow show more people what we've built. The service gets cooler for everyone as there are network effects involved.

How to best handle my iTunes library?

arniec — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:47:29 -0800

What is the easiest and best way for me to share my large iTunes multimedia library amongst 4 Macs? I have a multimedia library (mostly MP3 files ripped from my personal collection, a few purchased iTunes songs some with DRM somewithout, and one or two movies/TV shows purchased from iTunes) that is approaching 100GB. This is stored currently on a 100GB external hard drive.

My wife and I have 4 computers; we each have a desktop and a laptop. All 4 are authorized on our shared iTunes account for our content.

Currently the library is hooked into my Airport Extreme's USB port. As the router uses little power and is always on, it seemed the best way to share the files across the network. However we have 2 problems:

1) To add this library to a computer takes overnight. It must process all the files on the drive, then cover index, etc. This isn't a problem if it were a one time thing or even once per computer but...

2) When one of us purchases more music, etc. it only appears on one computer at most (if, for example, we make a DRM free purchase at Amazon it shows up on no computers).

As we like to keep our media organized by Artist, Album, Song, we end up having to purge our entire iTunes library and re-add it (taking, again, overnight) to find the few tracks added.

What I want is a simple way to have the library on all 4 computers and when any computer adds a file all computers see it.

Bonus points: 1) If one of us accidentally opens a file like an MP3 sent by e-mail in iTunes and then deletes it, it does not cause a dead link on all computers.

2) Uber bonus points if there is also a way to share these files with my X-Box/PS3/multimedia receiver to play my music in our living room.

Thank you hive mind! Help me see the links I can't see for myself in this conundrum.

Looking for sultry sounding music

tobtoh — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:13:34 -0800

Looking for suggestions for music that you might imagine you could hear in a 30s style (I think) club ... one with gangsters in tuxes sitting around the tables, some broad up on stage singing into those old style mics and with a 4-piece band backing her up. As an example, 'Les Yeux Ouverts (Dream A Little Dream)' sung by The Beautiful South is a perfect example of the type of music I am after. Smooth, dreamy and sultry sounding. A more modern sounding example would be Dido's 'Who Makes You Feel'.

That's about the best I can describe what I'm after - hopefully someone can make sense of it :) Thanks!

Let's hear it for the Joy!

My Bloody Pony — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:17:12 -0800

Looking for Music Videos that can't help but make you smile. Inspired by This Post, and This Post, and This Post, and This Post, I'm looking for more music video which will make me simply giddy with glee. Here are some good examples.

I realize that all of these videos essentially involve kids or else people acting like kids, but that's not necessary to the transcendent experience. I guess it's just where my mind is right now.

What should I use (besides Audacity) to create a simple music show?

rollbiz — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:03:44 -0800

I am looking for the easiest program (Mac OS X, Intel compatible) that will allow me to import MP3s, record from a mic, and sequence it all into a show I can export as an MP3. Here's the deal: I used to put together a very simple weekly downloadable music podcast a few years back, using a no-frills Windows compatible software that I have unfortunately forgotten the name of. I'm sort of the "music guy" amongst my group of friends, so it was a great way for me to put together a barebones show (music and brief commentary) so that my far flung acquaintances could follow what I was listening to.

A few months back, I decided to resurrect this project. A few people recommended I try Audacity, but I have had a bunch of problems with it. They're all solvable, I'm sure, but I don't really want to spend time learning it if there's a simpler solution.

I don't need effects or laser shows or other fancy things. Things that don't cost money are preferential. Thoughts?

It's like a weevil in my brain!

Navelgazer — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:58:34 -0800

Does anybody know what the song used in this video from this post on the blue is? It sounds like something that would be the last track on a Coldplay album, but apparently isn't. Is it Radiohead maybe? Has Radiohead gone beaut-emo? I'm not nearly up to date on my 00's indie artists (I'd never heard of Feist until the Sesame Street vid from last week.) Who is this!? I need this song right now!

What's the music video?

pooya — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:37:48 -0800

What's the music video? My google-fu has failed me. Saw a video in London on the weekend: MTV Dance > Top 40 Beach Bodies. Female singer in a (blue?) full-length hoodie....sexy people making out with headphones on.....at one point the singer pours a bunch of gasoline(?) on a stack of amps and other music equipment. I think it was around video 10. Unfortunately, I didn't hear any of the words as I was in a pub.

The singer wasn't dancing but was very energetic....shouting alot of the words. Had a dark feel to the video.

I think there might have been a shot of a baby at the very beginning of the video....but that could have been the end of the prior song.

Bonus for the entire playlist of the Top 40 Beach Bodies program.

Orange you gonna find a rhyme for that?

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:31:05 -0800

Help me find songs that use THE SAME WORD to make a "rhyme". Songwriters do it from time to time... either they're just too lazy to find a rhyme, or the word they need to rhyme has no rhyme (see: orange) or they lost their rhyming dictionary and are too cheap to spring for a new one. Or, on the brighter side, maybe rhyming the word with itself just, well, worked, somehow. Or maybe it was the only way out, once the songwriter had painted himself into that corner. No matter the reason, I'm interested in this phenomenon, and I hope that if such an example of same-word rhyming in a song comes to mind, you'll kindly post it here. With links, if possible!

To all you folks who'll grace me with an answer,
I'd like to say here: "thank you", in advance
I'll say it once again, so you'll remember,
flapjax at midnite thanks you, in advance.

Similar song to Christina Aguilera's Candyman

artifarce — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:51:50 -0800

Similar-in-style songs to Christina Aguilera's Candyman? I'm helping plan a wedding dance list, and this modern boogie is a lot of fun, but I don't want to be the one that drops "he makes my cherry pop" into this particular dance hall. In other words, it should be clean too. I've searched the "neoboogie" tag a bit on last.fm, but there's a lot of boring songs there to wade through. I want something hip, fast, and that would make both the old and young generations stand up for a little swing dancing. I'm not explicitly looking through music from the last 10 years, but it'd be preferable. Good covers are great too.

What's the (non-music-theory) significance of "Eight To The Bar"?

AmbroseChapel — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:10:03 -0800

What's the (non-music-theory) significance of "Eight To The Bar"? I've been listening to some forties/big band music, and hearing the phrase "Eight To The Bar" come up a lot. There's the song, "Beat Me, Daddy, Eight To The Bar", the Chattanooga Choo-Choo will play its whistle eight to the bar when nearing Tennessee, and the Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy plays eight to the bar.

I'm well aware what it means in terms of music, (I'm sure someone will skp the More Inside and post an explanation of this anyway) -- what I want to know is, how did the phrase come to be in common usage, to symbolise, what, hipness, coolness, maybe blackness?

It's as if words like "shredding" for fast guitar playing, or "cross-fading" for what DJs do with their decks became commonplace terms. It's a reasonable obscure technical term. How did it make it into broader cultural usage -- and did it extend further? Did people say "I love your hat, it's so eight-to-the-bar"?

When the chimes finish, begin.

Dreamcast — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:16:43 -0800

Looking for songs by bands that are in the style of Ennio Morricone's Spaghetti Western soundtracks. I'm quite the fan of songs that have an Ennio Morricone/Spaghetti Western vibe to them (here's an example of an Ennio Morricone Spaghetti Western song, if you've never heard one), but I only know of a few. Anyone have any suggestions? They can be songs by bands/artists that don't usually play that style, or songs by bands that do usually play that style. It doesn't matter to me, as long as it has a Spaghetti Western sound.

I'm a fan of songs like Cast a Long Shadow by the Monochrome Set, Call of the West by Wall of Voodoo, and Los Rancheros by Adam and the Ants, so any recommended songs don't have to be extremely "thick" with a Spaghetti Western sound, it just has to be there.

What's this pop song ripping off Kraftwerk's Computer Love?

lupus_yonderboy — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:44:19 -0800

I heard a piece of Muzak while shopping in Staples; the verse was forgettable, but the chorus was the verse from Kraftwerk's Computer Love (0:31 to 0:47 is the first full statement of it). It wasn't just similar; I know about soundalikes; it was note-for-note identical in melody and rhythm. I heard two more verse/choruses. It didn't seem to be a cover; the lyrics were not about computers; and of course, the actual "verse" was completely different. Searching and asking got no results, anyone know it? If you don't know what a "soundalike" is, it's when you take a song that you can't get the rights to, make a few changes to it to distinguish it from the original, and use it in place of the original. You can get pretty close to the original but you have to change the original tune in some significant way.

The typical strategy used is to change only one or two minor notes up until the last (climax) bar of the tune, but invert that last bar entirely (if the original goes up, you go down and vice versa).

Sort of contemptible but sort of musically funny when you hear one for the first time.

But this wasn't a soundalike.

how to design a band logo?

the schizophrenic mouse — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:35:15 -0800

Hello me and my father are planning on starting a band anyone know any good free programmes for a band logo or something like that?

Chick Mix

zoomorphic — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:56:51 -0800

I love me some girly music. Recommend me your favorite unabashedly girly musicians. More detailed description inside. "Girly" very very loosely refers to girliness-enhancing rather than genre or the artist's gender. While there is a time and a place for Patti Smith, I'm not looking for just any talented female artist: sometimes I'm in the mood for fey, unusual music. I want a soundtrack for baking cupcakes, reading Djuna Barnes, and drowning out uppity music snobs who quote Steve Albini's rants against Cocorosie.

I want music that can slay a Norwegian death metal band with the might of estrogen and buttercups.

Currently On Repeat
*Jolie Holland
*Kate Bush
*Antony & The Johnsons
*Cocorosie (Steve Albini can eat my teflon-poisoned cupcakes)
*Camera Obscura
*Julie Doiron
*Edith Piaf
*Yelle
*Alela Diane
*Neko Case

Shelved
*Joanna Newsom (only in very specific moods)
*Rilo Kiley (they bore me for some reason, I can't put my finger on it)
*riot grrls (love them, but not what I'm looking for at the moment, unless you count "Bedroom Dancing" by Le Tigre)

Who picks the music they play at concerts when the band isn't playing?

cptspalding — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:59:12 -0800

Who picks the music played at a concert when a band is not on stage and why do they pick the songs they do? I've always wondered who picks the music played at concerts when a band is not on stage, such as the period between opening act(s) and headliners and while people are filing in/out.

Are the choices made by the headliner (or someone associated with the headlining band/performer), the record label, the house, or the person running the soundboard? Is there any rhyme or reason behind the selections such as a label wanting to promote a certain artist, or the band trying to give exposure to artists they like, respect, etc.? For those who have gotten to do this, are there any "rules" you've followed to help manage the crowd's energy level, enthusiasm, etc. ?

I've been to some shows where it seems that a lot of care has been given to the music played during these interstitial periods and it really enhances the experience by either acting as a "pallet cleanser" between acts or continuing to build a certain energy level or vibe.

While at some shows it seems like someone just plugged in an iPod, set it to shuffle and walked away.

What song lyrics define wordless emotions?

Tlogmer — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:35:52 -0800

Where the streets have no name. A horse with no name. What I really want to say, I can't define. What other songs try to evoke the wordless and undefinable?

What's your favorite happy summertime high energy tune?

dpx.mfx — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:17:36 -0800

I'm looking for unabashedly happy, feel good music. Do you have any favorites to recommend? Any genre is fine. I'm really looking for happy, high energy songs that'll sound good on the car radio with the windows down and sunroof open on a long road trip. Summertime music, I guess. New, old, popular, obscure.

Music from Kubrick documentary.

rokabiri — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:56:57 -0800

What music played during the Stanley Kubrick's Boxes documentary? Asking for a friend that recently saw Stanley Kubrick's Boxes documentary. This choral-sounding bit played during one of the scenes. Does it sound familiar to anyone? Apparently much of the music played during the documentary has been featured in Kubrick's films. I suggested 2001 but that seems to be incorrect. Any other ideas?

I need a perfect way to make the girls go crazy.

matkline — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:52:28 -0800

I'm looking for music that has "pop" mass appeal and lyrics that are ironic/post-modern. In other words, intelligent, but not intelligent at first glance. Some acts that I've found which fit this criteria are: Steely Dan, Scritti Politti, and Beck. Any other recommendations?