Kubla Khan set to chords:

This post explains what I did with the Kubla Khan poem to turn it into a song.  I figure I have about five hours wrapped up in it right now.  This process has been interesting for me because I usually come up with a few lyrics, then figure out the pacing and chords, and then organize the parts (verse, chorus, etc.).  But, for this project I had to work in an unfamiliar order to my process.  I started with all the words (which had to be verbatum- usually my words change from the beginning to the end in accordance with what will fit), then I had to organize all the lines into something resembling a structure of the parts, and then I could finally come up with the chords.

So, I started by writing out all the lines by the rhyme scheme while organizing them as best as I could by what might work as parts. This is the first of three pages I wrote out:

(Sorry I couldn't figure out how to rotate the image)

I annoted down the left margin the parts with either a (, [, <, or { to differentiate the different song sections.  So, ( became equivalent to a line of introduction, [ became the verse, < became a pre-chorus, and { became the chorus. Then I chose the chords to correspond to the parts while trying to construct a flow so the song would tell a story not just with the words but also with the musical changes.  I picked out the first 12 lines to preform because of the practice time constraints, and they are also a good representation of all four parts.

Then I wrote out the 12 lines with the corresponding chords and practiced it.

This process was really tricky for several reasons. First, these aren't my words so the story is hard to remember. Although, in these twelve lines you get the character Kubla Khan (line of intro), then the first verse describing what and where he wants to build (first verse), next he starts building (pre-chorus- builds up the song as well as turns the fertile ground into an enclosed space), and finally the majesty of the kingdom created is revealed (the chorus). 

All in all, I think it came out ok.  The rhyme scheme was probably the toughest thing to figure out.  The whole poem can be broken down to follow the parts I came up with, but the organization of the parts does not itself compose an orderly pattern in my estimation.  Still, I am optimistic that it will make sense as I work through the rest of the song. There is one particular section toward the end of the song where the rhyme scheme seems to break down which could be a really sweet bridge... I think.

I have been playing with a couple guys for about a year now, and I think that where I am getting caught-up right now in trying make the whole song interesting would probably be best sorted out by orchestration between the three of us. I am probably going to try and introduce it to the other guys over spring break, so I can let everyone know when we will perform it live if your interested.



The Muses:

To start off, I got that mneumonic CCUTETEMP stuck in my brain. "I see cuteness only temporarily."  I got the names down that way, but I have two issues: first I need to place them in a memory palace, and secondly I can't remember how to spell them. So, here is what I have so far...

I am using the Haufbrau as my palace-  I walk in the door and move right.  In the first booth Calliope (my friends are standing in for the visual images of the muses' faces; this is Carly) is sitting in the first booth with a thick, blue phone-book open to a page that says HOPE on it.  Sitting with her, is Clio (Chelsey) is carving date 1-10 into the table with a knife.  Looking left, Urania (Kaila) is laying on her back on the high-top staring at the ceiling telling me about the astrological signs. Then Terpsichore (Jill) is dancing with a bunch of turtles (choir of terps) while Euterpe (Meg) plays the flute on stage for the turles; she is the Pied Piper of turtles. Everyone laughs, but I have been here a while and am thirsty so I got to the register and by the pole I see Thalia (Tia) holdin on to the blue post by the register.  She looks funny because the floor is slanted.  I get a drink, take a big gulp (its good and I can feel it cooling my throat) and when I look back at the music I see the poster of Erato (actual picture of Venus/ Aphrodite goddess of love) behind Euterpe. But Euterpe's song has gotten sad and I hear someone crying over by the bathroom.  I go to see who it is since I have to pee from the beer anyway, and I see Melpomene ('Poor Mel with Pomme' or 'Potatoe') has lost a game of pool.  The pool-table is covered with potatoes instead of pool-balls and Polyhymnia (Amy) is making crosses out of the pool-cues in the glow of the cigarette machine.

I think that'll work.
  

To whom it may concern:

    I am changing my epithet.  I am not satisfied with Ski Captain because I don't think it really suits me. I haven't been much of a skiier for years now and I don't think it really represents my goals or intentions for this semester, so I have decided to go with Kyle the "Taut Bard".  This is a reference to tautology, the goal of structure I have for myself, that I wish to be a storyteller, and it works off the "bard" suggestion Rio had the other day.

So, I have been doing some thinking about these first memory excercises and here is what I have come up with.

For the list of items from "Moonwalking" I decided to take a cue from Foer and put them in my parent's house. I started as he suggests with the Pickled Garlic in the driveway and the move to the front door where there is a kiddie pool full of Cottage Cheese.  Then I walk in the house.
-enter living room-
Peat Smoked Salmon: on a cherry table a Salmon smoking a peat cigar
Six Bottles of White Wine: on the white couch opposite (singing drunkenly)
Socks (3x): hanging on the lamp wet and smelling as they warm
-move to the next room-
Three Hula-Hoops (spare?): being tossed at a...
Snorkel: the first two hoops shatter like glass so the third is a spare
-next room-
Dry Ice Machine: There is an old, wood icebox in the corner already
E-mail Sophia: this one is tough but as long as I see the soap bubbles coming out of the ice machine and look right (there is a picture of my hometowns street layout on the wall) I think I got it.
Skin-tonned cat suit: on top of the ice box is a stereo playing 'Cat Scratch fever' while a girl in costume dances on the pool table (left)
-look past the pool table-
Find Paul Newman film- Somebody Up There Likes Me: the tv on a shelf above the bar has the Movie 'Hud' playing on it.
Elk Sausages??: on the wall next to the tv is a hanging elk antler which reminds me that I am hungry so I walk around the pool table but before I can go behind the bar to check in the fridge my nephew...
Megaphone and Director's Chair: is yelling at me incoherently into his empty cup while...
Harness and Ropes: my other nephew gets drug through the kitchen behind my parents dog who bar-ks and the temperature drops
Barometer.

I will post my muses when I get out of class today.

Memory

What exactly is a memory?  I find it interesting that what we are talking about in class is the process of how to remember and specifically what a memory is.  I guess this might lead discussion toward a more philosophical and rhetorical end, but I still find the subject note-worthy. 

Is a memory simple a stored image of items and events one has experienced in the past? An echo of what has happened to the individual retained in the inner space of conscious thought?  That works I suppose, but what about the excercises we are working with in this class?

Here, we are being asked to remember lists of words and not actual events or entities.  In this case, I think Ferdinand de Saussure comes in handy to explain my issue.  Saussure would argue that a word (a symbol) in print is not and can never be the same as the thing it represents.  The word 'apple' for instance does not indicate a specific apple, but as Professor Agruss has explained, "Represents the essence of appleness."  What happens is that the word 'apple' causes a reaction in the mind where all the images stored in the brain which are associated with the printed word are recalled so the thinker can mentally project an image of 'appleness'.

With this process, one can thereby train their mind to associatively recall other visual images when presented with words/symbols. For instance, if someone said 'golf club' the visualization of a pitching-wedge might pop in your head, or maybe a broken golf club from a frustrating round, or perhaps well maicured grass surrounding a stately building.  For me I see an image of my grandfather right-off because he taught me how to play the game.  Still, having not read 'Moonwalking' yet, I get the idea that what we are looking at when we learn memory stragegy is simply the recategorization of the symbols for items and the associated mental projections they incite.