Date of Submission

Spring 2012

Academic Program

Music

Project Advisor 1

Thurman Barker

Abstract/Artist's Statement

This project displays an array of musical styles and techniques that I have learned, developed and crafted throughout my evolution as an artist at Bard College. I grew up with a deep love for music, and by the 8th grade I began producing and composing. I chose to attend Bard College specifically for its electronic music department. My focus has not faltered. However, my initially stubborn, resistant attitude towards exploration outside of my immature comfort zone has. Today, as I evaluate myself as a musician, I am eternally grateful for the electronic music department and its well-crafted curriculum based in experimental music. Coming from a background of soul, rock, and hip-hop, the world of creativity that exists outside of rhythmically based sound was foreign to my ears. I was uncomfortable. It seemed impossible to compose without a pulse—my teachers sensed my tentative mentality and pushed me to break boundaries that I had only recently discovered. In my project, I try to exhibit how this lack of comfort is no longer an enemy. The “sound” section of my concert is a testament to the expansion of my vocabulary—my ability to both craft and appreciate abstract, experimental sound, void of any prejudice or forced emotion, is a product of my teachers and peers that I try to express in my compositions.

Nevertheless, I remain infatuated with rhythmically driven music, and chose to communicate this passion and the variety of forms it can take in the “love” and “hits” sections of my project. As a creative individual, I believe that love is one of my greatest sources of inspiration. It leads to profound emotion, both positive and negative, and is often unavoidable when I approach song writing. The selection of compositions in my concert that are products of these feelings incorporate sound geared towards the expression of my state of being as a sentimental, sensual artist. Love can be very physical. It can also be quite ethereal. The pulse and percussion in these songs, combined with delicate instrumentation and vocals, help convey these characteristics of my influence.

The concept of “hits” in this project has roots in my earliest exposure to music. I was only three when my parents would play MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” in the car, causing me to bounce and shake in my car seat along with the catchy tune. I have always been fascinated with popular music and its ability to infiltrate one’s body and mind. I try to capture its gripping, energetic, corporeal elements and make them my own. Any sound that triggers one’s desire to hear it again is a “hit.” The ability to inspire movement and dance is often a factor of a “hit” as well. With this in mind, and the inspiration of my experimental education, I wrote and produced music that I believe has the potential to meet these qualifications creatively, without falling into the stagnant realm of exceedingly formulaic sound.

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