Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Gimme Shelter

I've been thinking about the 1960's lately, specifically music from the era. I am interested in the roll that technology played in music production of the time. The 60's are disputably regarded as the golden age of recorded music. The sounds achieved by acts such as The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, etc. are still being pursued by musicians today.

The history of amplified rock & roll instrumentation (Guitar, Vocal, Bass Etc) stretches back well before this era. But, in the late 60's the technology was beginning to be mastered in new ways. Amplification, which was previously simply a way for acoustic music to be heard by larger and larger audiences, starts to take on a larger role in the composition of the music. And, a new cock-sureness and swagger is the result.

Through my next piece I hope to investigate 60's music / culture a bit. The technological aspect to this piece will be an important one. But also, I am interested in nostalgia for the era. Although the 1960's predates me by a couple of decades, I find myself drawn to the style and design of "implements" of the era. I'm using The Rolling Stones song "Gimme Shelter" (1969) as my jumping off point. Stay tuned, more to come shortly.....

3 comments:

  1. I see the potential for merging two passions (music and art) together rather than keeping them separated. I liked your little piece o'history here.

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  2. Like we were talking about the other day, the sound aspects of your current directions are no accident. Embrace them. Your interest in similar eras of machines and music could be something too.

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  3. I think this will be a fun project for you, but I'm still curious how this really fits into the assigned project of shelter. I guess I would just like to see it pushed beyond the obvious song title relationship.

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