Song of Fire

Internet killed the analog star

Jon O — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:48:10 +0000

Independent music source CD Baby recently posted a blog article, "Has the Internet Really Destroyed the Music Business?", citing negative comments from John Mellencamp and Stevie Nicks as the latest salvos about the current state of music in the digital age. After pointing out that these stars made a lot of money under the old music business model (which were never golden days, to be sure), CD Baby does some cheerleading for the new, egalitarian model where "there's at least a spot on the couch" for everybody.

Music in architecture

Jon O — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:43:26 +0000

Following up on my previous post, I've tried to find examples of music as a direct influence on architecture. Apart from concert hall design (which is concerned primarily with acoustic properties), there are surprisingly few examples.

A house in the shape of a piano

Jon O — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 02:59:17 +0000

It's a commonplace that architecture and music share certain organizational elements: patterns, motifs, rhythm and repetition as structure. What's less common is the presence of music in architecture. As a challenge, I designed floorplans for houses in the shape of a grand piano, guitar and French horn.

CD sales continue their decline

Jon O — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 03:12:34 +0000

More dramatic evidence of the decline of the music industry. The amount of sales needed to qualify an album as a top-seller has dropped by two-thirds since 2000. The number one CD in 2009 sold less than the number ten CD a decade earlier, despite population growth.

The world’s first rock band

Jon O — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:03:49 +0000

Ringing Rocks Park in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, contains a field of boulders that produce a metallic ringing sound when struck, as if they were hollow. The boulders consist of a volcanic basalt called diabase, and thus have a high content of iron and aluminum. In 1890, Dr. J. J. Ott collected a number of these rocks with different pitches and performed with a brass band. He was not the first person to give such a performance.

We like to beat on things

Jon O — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:29:50 +0000

More than anything else, we like to beat on things. Our most ancient musical instruments are percussion. Paleolithic excavations have revealed a child's rattle made of clay, generally considered to be one of the first instruments known to prehistoric man.

A mobile recording studio for students

Jon O — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 23:46:30 +0000

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is a non-profit mobile recording studio dedicated to providing students of all ages with hands-on opportunities to make music and produce video projects.

Shostakovich and artistic compromise

Jon O — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 01:24:39 +0000

One of the best known Russian composers of the 20th century, Dimitri Shostakovich achieved fame in the Soviet Union under the patronage of Leon Trotsky’s chief of staff. As he explored the more dissonant style of his international peers, however, his music came under attack by the Stalinist bureaucracy. His music was denounced twice — [...]

Da Vinci and music

Jon O — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 00:24:54 +0000

Although better known for his artistry and mechanical engineering inventions, Leonardo was a skilled poet, singer and musician. He designed or improved several instruments, including a silver lyre in the shape of a horse's head that contemporaries described as having a more resonant and beautiful tone than traditional lyres made of wood.

Froggy love songs

Jon O — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:28:39 +0000

Recently as I was approaching a pond while walking in DC's National Arboretum, I was startled by a prominent, lone "boing" emanating from the bushes. It sounded almost mechanical, and at first I thought there was some device that was triggered by approaching hikers — to what purpose I couldn't imagine. As I passed the pond, I heard the sound again and stopped. After a few moments, the boings started coming in more frequent succession, almost like an orchestra very slowly warming up.