End of the Line!!

     Ah, my last bittersweet blog entry. While i somewhat guiltily look forward to days of no homework ahead, I would be ungrateful not to use this post to appreciate what I just experienced. Interestingly, I surprised myself in this class. I began expecting to do only what I needed to pass, but as I submerged deeper into the curriculum I found myself caught up in it despite of myself. It allowed me to try on different personas. Instead of being someone who devotes herself entirely to the study of the violin, I realized I could be several someones at once. Now I am someone with a renewed appreciation of other arts, of math and science, of new media. I never thought of myself as a blogger, or someone technologically literate, but now I am those things too.

     In terms of technical skills, the increased amount of confidence I have in those areas is impressive. I feel so grateful to have been able to acquire these skills and now am much less intimidated to use them. Particularly, I feel my eyes were opened to the amount of cool things online I can take advantage of. I have no idea of the extent of material out there, but it is no longer a weird foreign world I will never discover. 

     Which brings me to my anticipated future. Although it would come as a surprise to me five weeks ago, I plan to continue exploring and enriching. Contemporary art, including new media is something that I always said I liked but didn't really know much about it. However, now with my renewed appreciation, I plan to use the rest of my summer to dive into exploration of new composers, musicians, visual artists, dancers and film makers. 

     I embedded my last video below, If anyone actually reads this blog, I hope you enjoy it and find as much inspiration as I have. 

framing/talking

Framing:

     For this project I explored a few options. I considered interviews with other artists, creating websites, making longer and more complex video mashups, etc. One thing I really wanted to play with was the idea of self discovery. For me, especially in the online class format, I'm really working with the concept of independence. The ability to figure things out on my own. I eventually decided that I most wanted to do something in the spirit of the class combining the academic and artistic, work and play. I wanted something that I could use professionally, not just academically, so I decided to create a website marketing my professional and musical skills. 

Talking:

     One of the most helpful things about today's work was the facebook discussion going on. It really allowed me to tune into what other people were saying/thought about the projects, become inspired by their ideas, and really solidify my own thoughts and ideas. Even though I didn't have any comments, being able to see what other people in the class were thinking and planning was really inspiring. 
Gathering:
     I began by gathering working professionals I know, and checking our their websites. One person I found was Brooks Whitehouse, professor of cello at UNCSA. His website, http://www.brookswhitehouse.com/, is a very good example. I found it artistic, professional, and easy to follow. Another person I discovered was Dmitri Shteinberg, http://dmitrishteinberg.com/schedule.php. Finally, I contacted my old violin teacher Matthew Chicurel by email to ask for tips on building a successful website. http://web.me.com/matthewchicurel/Matthew_Chicurel/About_Me.html
However, I'm still waiting to hear back from him. 
     Next, I googled some sites about creating a successful website, which I included in the links below. 
http://www.startupnation.com/steps/66/create-successful-website.htm
http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/pdf/MarketingTool.pdf

Finally, I searched for some free website building sites, included below. 
http://www.wix.com/
http://www.ucoz.com/
http://www.moonfruit.com/
https://sites.google.com/

Creating:
     I began today thinking I would just get started on my website. I ended up choosing wix.com as my host site because I had heard good things and I thought that a less known site (than google) might be a good thing. Basically how wix works is you choose the kind of site you plan to make, e.g. accounting firm, law firm, catering company, etc. and they present you with a bunch of templates to choose from. I of course selected "musician" but none of them looked professional or very original to me. After scrolling through literally pages and pages of templates (I eventually had to branch out into other occupations) I finally found one for models (insert joke about my vanity here). The thing about wix is that it's very straightforward and user friendly. It's easy to sit there and work and work and work and figure you may as well get another page done. Thus, 3 hours later, I had a headache, backache, and a nearly finished site. I left some tweaking and editing for tomorrow, and I may need to take some better pictures for it, but I seem to be in good shape on this assignment. And the website? while I wouldn't use it for all of my professional life, I think while I'm in school it's a pretty darn adequate site. I'm pretty happy with it, and I probably will use it for a few years at least. 
Creating, Part II
Today was an interesting day. Apart from a few tweaks and changes, My website was finished. However because of the nature of the project, it's never really finished. I will likely always be working on it as I update my bio, photos, etc. to reflect the changes and advances in my life. I would love to put in more photos, and I could take some this morning on my crappy digital camera, but I'd like to wait and include some professional headshots later down the road. I'd also like to have a good recording on the site, but that stuff can't be rushed and I really have all the time in the world to work on it. Interestingly, my project ended up exactly following my interview about my compositional process. I'm really never done with it. I will keep updating and improving, and eventually, create one that is even better. But the nice thing is that it's not a frustrating process, I even look forward to it. 
Reflecting


http://www.wix.com/mhirschf/miehirschfieldviolin


included here is the final product. I'm not sure how I feel about the pink (it is very pink) so I may change that if I feel inclined later on. In reflection, I feel very satisfied with it. I achieved everything I set out to do. I picked a useful and applicable project, learned several new skills, figured out several new tools on my own without getting frustrated, and produced something I'm proud of and can use practically. And actually, I had a lot of fun doing it. However, I'm looking forward to working on something more creative and less useful for the next project. I feel as though this was fun in the way educational documentaries are fun. And sometimes, you just want to watch cartoons. :)

Write reflectively about your video compositions. What was it like for you to create the first video remix composition? What was the process of making the second composition like for you? What is your own take on the importance (or not) of remix to new-media composition? If not remix, what would you think might qualify as a "signature genre" of the new-media era? What was this week in general like for you? Did you enjoy the work/play? Do you feel ready to frame and launch your own new-media projects starting next week? Also write prospectively about the kinds of projects we've touched on in the first three weeks of the course that you might like to expand on in weeks four and five. Write about prospective projects in three different categories: 1) projects related to learning how to do something with new-media that you think may have practical value to you in your profession, 2) projects that reflect topics or themes, related to new-media composition or composition in general or its variants in art areas, that you are simply curious about or interested in and would like to know more about, and 3) projects that involve creating new-media genres via combining/recombining/re-arranging new-media principles, and then composing artistic pieces in the genres you create. Embed both of your video compositions in your blog post, and refer to them in your text.


     Making the video compositions was an interesting experience. First of all, It was a lot easier technically than I expected. I originally imagined myself as mostly, if not completely technology inept, but with the easy-to-use (read: idiot-proof) macbook technology and some trial and error, I actually managed to figure stuff out out and make something I was at least mostly proud of. While I don't know if I can really call them remixes, in good conscience, it's at least a tribute to remixing. Remixes are undoubtedly an extremely important part of new media, and the most modern artistic expression. In the first video, I wanted to address the idea of fantasy and imagination, so I interspersed scenes of "reefer madness" (government-propogated fantasy), with an early version of Alice in Wonderland. My second video was what I imagined as snippets of my life and mind, or even the ways I was attracted to my environment. 
     I thought this week was a lot of fun. I'm a big fan of the longer projects, which allow me a couple of days to plan and contemplate them. They also give me more time to expand on ideas, or think better of them and come up with something else. I'd love to do more of those.I also love working in useful computer training. I'd be interested to do more remix-themed projects, working with both audio and moving image media. Some ideas for the future are taking video and audio mashups a step further. I would be interested in taking real songs and remixing them, as well as practicing video remixes. This could include creating videos addressing other themes besides a self portrait, such as ideas or topics that interest us. Other ideas include an interview with another person about their compositional/inspirational process and edit it into a video, as well as creating mashups mixing different medias. For example, to choose a poem, music, and videos and combine them into a composition. Finally, I'd like to create something that can be used as a working professional, such as a website.
     Both my videos are embedded below. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them. 

review of RIP: a Remix Manifesto

     We are definitely entering a new era of copyright and creative liberties. Gone are the days when what constitutes copyright are defined in black and white. Today, the rules are less defined and much more convoluted. However, the reasons behind the copyright controversy are still the same, and as timeless as ever. The question is whether the material in question is a respectful tribute to the original artist's work, or a pirating of their ideas for profit. As Jonathan Lethem says in The Ecstasy of Influence, artists have been quoting and borrowing unoriginal ideas for centuries. For example, Bob Dylan frequently quotes other artists, including Shakespeare and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Other examples include remixes, which wikipedia defines as "an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. Sometimes this term is also used for alterations of media or recreation other than song" Although they may not technically use original material, most would argue that the artist invested equal creativity and effort. The laws definitely need to change to accommodate new media and technology. 

Worst messages ever

as promised, here is part 2 of friday's assignment

What do you think is happening to creativity in the current/new-media era? Are there forms or genres that you think people 100 or so years from now will look back on and identify as "art of the 21st century," much as we might look back on and recognize art of the 16th, 19th, or even 20th century? If so, what ARE those forms or genres? What century would you place yourself and/or your conservatory training in, in terms of the work you most identify with, or the work that your training identifies as important? Do you feel there is anything original about current/new-media art? 

     I don't think there's any question that creativity and art exists in new media. However I feel we are as of yet unable to judge what will be lasting, fine art, and what will be labeled insignificant. Just as in past centuries, artists today are people living their lives, trying to fulfill their passions and support themselves and their families. And just like past centuries, contemporary artists face both criticism and acclaim. There will certainly be great art from the 21st century, and it's very likely that much of it will be some form of new media, but just as Van Gogh struggled to support himself amongst overwhelming criticism, we may not recognize it for what it is when we see it. I think one possibility is that people of the future will appreciate our most commonplace household objects. Just as we exhibit old bibles, dishes, and costumes in museums, future generations might display our computers, ipods, blogs, social media, and tv programs as great works of art. Basically, however, if we are creating fine art, it may go unappreciated in our time, so I suppose the point is not to create art to last for generations, but to fulfill its current day purpose and message. 

a flaw in the plan.

     I ran into some technical difficulties today. Because my apartment in Winston-Salem doesn't have internet, I generally take my computer to Camino coffee. This becomes problematic recording due to the people talking, coffee grinder, and various other loud noises. Furthermore, since I assumed we would use today to listen and reflect on yesterday's recordings, I wasn't able to record ahead of time like we did with the previous assignment, and because I rode my bike over, I can't go back to record and come back (without dying of exhaustion). In a way, however, I did still have to do some composition. I needed to find a way to do the assignment, or rather, some sort of compromise that my surroundings allowed. I ended up composing the messages, which you can find below if you are so inclined. Also included below is a convenient link to the AT&T voice generator, which if one is motivated to, all one needs to do is copy and paste the text into the generator. Sorry for the extra effort, if you feel you'd get the idea by just reading the messages, I definitely won't hold it against you. The actual audacity recording will be available monday in a secondary blog post. 

1) "........hello? is someone there? hi sweetie it's your grandma, I called because I just don't understand this new-fangled phone and was wondering if you knew how to leave messages, I keep waiting for the beep but I never heard it. I was also wondering if you'd seen grandpa, and if you did, if he knows where I put my hearing aid. love you sweetie, I guess you're not there so I'll call you back later...."
 *beep*
2)" omg did u see what meghan was wearing today she looks like she harpooned a bear and wiggled into its hide also i have news guess who likes youuuuu call me backkkkkkkkkkk"
 *beep*
3) hi honey it's mom, I was just wondering if you should stop and pick some things up on your way home call me back. you need some underwear from the mall, the extra elastic kind because I swear you stretch them out every time. and some groceries, but nothing with white flour because I know it makes you constipated. thanks honey, bye
 *beep*
4) hi it's mom again, I hope my message didn't  embarrass you in front of your friends, or your date. you do have dates right? and friends, do you have friends?  I was watching the view and they said that this can be a time of difficult transition in your life, so its ok if you don't have dates or friends, you don't need to be embarrassed about it if you don't. feel free to call me back if you'd like to talk. ok bye!
 *beep*

Dma "john cage" recording 2

1. What was your initial reaction to this compositional prompt?
2. What approach did you take to tackling this composition? 
3. Can you find quotes in your self-interview text to help explain your process?
4. In what ways was your process consistent with or different from the process you outlined in your self-interview?
5. What was your inspiration?
6. What did you learn about your environment by taking a 'sonic' approach to capturing the experience of it?
7. Did you enjoy working with audio (gathering samples, assembling them, etc.) enough to want to continue or expand on it?
8. What in particular did you enjoy or discover about working with audio as a compositional medium?
9. Describe one place in your composition where you feel you captured something beautiful or aesthetically interesting?

     Initially, I decided to create a composition recording my "two lives" if you will, or rather, the discrepancy between my home life and my life at school. I'm currently in the process of moving into a new apartment in Winston-Salem, so my main idea is to combine sounds from my home in Chapel Hill with the sounds of my Winston-Salem life. The composition includes some of the most familiar sounds I hear daily. My ticking kitchen clock, my parakeet spazzing out. In my apartment, I recorded the the fan blowing my posters on my wall, my roommate "practicing" guitar (really just making noises) the kettle boiling water for tea, pouring water into a glass, and the creaking floors as we walk around. Some tracks are panned, so if you can listen with headphones that would be ideal. Some are quiet almost to the point that you don't notice them, and some are obnoxiously loud. This symbolizes the sounds we notice, don't notice, tune out, or stop hearing. I played around with this idea, for example, the ticking of the clock is in the forefront of the recording. The fact that it's impossible to ignore symbolizes the little noises we usually don't think about. This composition was fairly consistent with my self-interview, especially in that I drew most of my inspiration from experiences in my life. The idea came from my move to a new city. Originally I planned to just record noises in my home, since that's where I spend most of my summers. I eventually realized that a more interesting approach would be to combine my two lives and explore the ways they overlap and affect me. I had a lot of fun working with audio. Apart from some technical difficulties installing audacity, it went pretty smoothly, and my roommate and I got really into identifying sounds from our lives that would sound good in a recording. True to its John Cage inspiration, nothing in the recording is very "beautiful" in the classical sense. Interestingly, it's mostly composed of sounds considered to be soothing and relaxing (ticking clock, water pouring into a glass, classical guitar, birds chirping, etc..), yet together, it's anything but. I hope it speaks to our common misconceptions, and the differences and abnormalities we find in everyday life. 

--How would you describe what you do? 
What I aspire to do as a performance musician is first and foremost to master the technical aspects of a piece. I then try to determine what emotions and feelings the composer felt while writing and performing a piece. Finally, I figure out what the piece says to me, how it makes me feel, and how it relates to my life, and try to infuse some aspects of that into the performance as well.
--Is this different than what other people think you do?
I think most performers do some variation of this process, adding these personal and maybe historical touches are what makes performance interesting.
--How do you know if you’re on the right track with a project?
I personally am lucky to have a very knowledgable and talented teacher to coach me in the process. but when practicing or performing on my own, when the music really moves me, I feel the tension of the harmonies in my body, which is how I know I'm on track.
--How do you go about making choices?
I've been so lucky to have so many good teachers and coaches in my life that I am able to consult with my experience with them. I can ask myself how they would handle difficult decisions. On my own, I try to keep decisions as true to the composer and the composition as I can.
--How do you know when you’re done?
I rarely feel like I'm done. I could practice something forever and always be improving and becoming more comfortable with the work. I don't think I've ever given a performance and thought nothing could be better.
--What’s your workspace like?
At school my workspace is the practice rooms, which were built in an architectural dark age. tiny, poorly soundproofed cells with questionable stains on the carpet. However, despite being uncomfortable,  I actually prefer them to practicing at home, because they allow me  to work with less distractions. At home I like to practice in my bathroom, which has the best resonances.
--What are your essential tools?
My instrument and my music. and the various accessories that come with it. Occasionally i use a piano but apart from that I can play anywhere under many different circumstances. --What’s the most surprising tool you use? 
I think one of the coolest and most surprising thing about instruments are all the different techniques that can be used to create a diverse range of sounds.                                               
--What was your biggest mistake or the one you learned the most from?
My biggest mistake actually happens occasionally, when I don't adequately prepare for a performance. I think a lot of the time there is a discrepancy between an ideal of a performance and the reality.
--An example of your work:
Here is a video of myself playing first violin on Mozart's string quartet no. 19 in C major, fourth movement. This was at the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, VT 2011.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWLb5JyTb58&feature=relmfu

memorial day queries

     who am I? I am an artist, a musician, a violinist, composed of concertos, etudes, partitas and gigues. I am who I am because of many people. My parents are responsible for my musical identity. It is because of their dedication in paying for music lessons, in making me practice, in driving me to countless all-state competitions. My teachers provided inspiration, instruction and guidance, as well as my friends and peers. 
     But in my composition, I am made of more than music. I'm composed of countless recipes, saucepans, mixing bowls. It is because of my mother that I love cooking. 
    My family used to live in Hawaii. I'm composed of beaches and ocean winds and tropical fruits. All of these places and people influenced and helped me to become this person.

success!

     Today's achievement: Computer Literacy!! in my past technological experience, I have a tendency to be a quitter. Generally when I can't figure out some computer program or another (which is often) I give up without really sitting with it or putting in much effort. However today marks a change in that pattern. Instead of trying, failing, and quitting while attempting to edit my photos and create gifs, I actually was able to sit down, go through the programs, figure out what everything does, and actually learn to use them. Even though the sites are pretty easy, designed for the laziest of american idiots (woah, green day reference), I still felt a sense of accomplishment when I beheld my finished product. (If you want to see it, check out the links posted below) 
     But how does this actually relate to composition? interesting question, one that I don't really have an answer to. Obviously I was composing in some sense, making artistic decisions about which filters and effects to put on my photos. And honestly, I felt pretty tongue-in-cheek witty and post-modern making those choices. One could argue that as I was using building materials in a specific medium (gif-making) putting something together, I was composing. And I think that's what I'll do.

http://gifninja.com/animated-gifs/55862/everyday-me-the-real-me

http://gifninja.com/animated-gifs/55844/many-faces

Image/Representation

     it's weird. how do we present ourselves to other people? I can't count the number of times I've worn outfits or said something thinking I was coming off in a certain way, only to be taken otherwise. In particular, how do we present ourselves physically? instagram springs to mind, specifically edited facebook pics. So many people put such effort into editing their own photos, changing the color contrasts, gradation, adding poetic/angsty captions to better explain how they feel. Only to have their efforts nullified by someone else's tag in an unflattering picture (also. Although I feel bad ripping on these people, I feel a little better because I did the same thing for my dma homework). Why do we put so much effort into disguising who we are when the truth is already out there? While pixlr-ing my photos today, I had to wonder. Do these effects really express who I am? is it so important whether I add an overexposed or burned effect? Without those sparkles in the upper right hand corner, there must be no way the photo can reveal my innermost truths. What does making my face into Warhol-inspired pop art say about my identity? nothing. Surely the image itself is more important than the ways its doctored into something tumblr-worthy. 

     Not to say that the assignment wasn't fun, it was. and wasn't interesting and thought provoking. I thought it was all of those things. But I urge everyone to focus on what's truly meaningful about their identity, not just the extra gradation. 

     

text-writing

     I think one of the hardest things about text-writing in blogs, tumblr, twitter, facebook, etc. is the challenge of confronting the question "who gives a f*ck?" It's certainly something to be so confident in your opinion that you don't care who reads it. It's probably the same bravado that's inspired the religious fanatics and streakers of years past. Clive Thompson was right when he said that today's students always write for an audience. Indeed, it's a pretty scary thought that literally anyone in the world could be reading the myspace survey I filled out in middle school detailing the color of my underwear, my first pet's name, and the age of my first kiss. I suppose blogging is sort of a release valve for our daily stress. Journaling 2.0. Yet our culture has completely normalized sharing our personal thoughts with literally everyone in the world. We live in an era of oversharing. Any personal details of our lives are up for grabs online. Everything is fair game. And if someone wants to read it, well, I feel bad for them.

5/22/12

 give a narrative account of your hunting + gathering travels today. Where you started, what you gathered, what you learned, what you would like to learn more about, etc.



     I began my day by taking advantage of media without really considering all of what I had access to. In my search for composition articles, I didn't realize I was enjoying the use of "numerical representation" as I google searched the vast stores of data and numerical algorithms available in the internet. I gave no thought to artistic designs and layouts in the websites I found, or the pixels in the images. In my use of stumble upon and delicious, it didn't even occur to me to consider the complex series of codes and algorithms needed to bring sites like that to life. However after reading Manovich's history of new media, and his principles of new media, I gained a greater understanding and appreciation for the significance of modern technology.  
     One of the things that struck me about Manovich's writing was the long history of new media. For one, I never imagined that computer technology was as old as it was. Additionally, I never considered the ways that computational devices and media images evolved individually, before intertwining, their histories merging and interacting. Today, digital mathematics and images are one and the same. all of our new media and much of our art and design combines both without a second thought. I thought it was fascinating the way both were created without a thought of combining them, and as technology and civilization advanced and grew they naturally merged and influenced each other. 
     Another interesting idea is Manovich's concept of modularity. It can easily be applied to almost any medium of art. For example in a painting or photograph. Each color, each idea, each brushstroke or image exists individually as its own separate entity.But combined with other entities it creates something that is so much more. Or consider music. Each note in a symphony or choral piece exists on its own, independent of what's around it. Groups of notes together make up melodic lines, and combined, these lines create complex harmonies, rhythms and counter-rhythms, and interplaying motives and ideas. Together, much like a digital image made up of pixels,they create music so complex and beautiful one is often unaware of the notes its made of. 

What is composition in general, what are the differences and common features of various types of composition?

     What is composition? Composition is making creative choices. It is a responsibility to infuse your life experience, and who you are as a person into your work. It is not a responsibility to be taken lightly. For example, in the best musical compositions, one can hear the composer's personal history, their struggles, and their angst in their musical phrasing. Often personal history can help categorize certain periods of history or certain geographical regions. 

   Composition is also taking advantage of yourself and your surroundings. To produce your best work, one must know how and when they do their best thinking. One must manipulate your world to be most conducive to your creative process. Composition also requires technical mastery. You can't just slap some paint on a canvas, notes on a page, or random shots in a movie without any technical knowhow or skill. It takes dedication and practice to be able to create work you can be proud of. 

   there are many different mediums to use for composition, as well as different techniques and skills required for each. A symphony is different from a painting, which is different from a poem. Each work needs different abilities and talents. However a lot of the creative processes and necessities are the same. Many parallels run between the mediums. 

   I included a few of my favorite compositions. The first is the second movement of Prokofiev's Symphony no 5. Performed by the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Young Chil Lee. The second is Touch of Grey, written and performed by the Grateful Dead. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfLYNw_XgMU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TVqMMeq74c