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Post by bleatoid on Sept 23, 2019 22:42:50 GMT
I’ve also tried sitting down for hours trying to force it. That didn’t work. Didn't work for Elvis either. But more seriously, what improvements or insights are you looking to get from a songwriting course bellyshere ? I think your songs are some of the most innovative, distinctive and enjoyable I've heard recently - structure / story / lyrics / melody / vocals / composition / whatever else there is to a song....all top notch. Where is the problem - is it just inspiration?
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Post by bleatoid on Sept 23, 2019 20:29:41 GMT
The good news is that I am very proud to announce that I have achieved the milestone of 2000 SoundCloud plays.
The bad news is that I suspect about 1996 of these were my baby sister.
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Post by bleatoid on Sept 23, 2019 15:39:09 GMT
I'm finding this thread more than a little disturbing. A song's origins have little to do with the context in which they are used, after all time and standards move on. Basically, I ask myself why do something that you sense might — and then discover — might offend people in this way? It might be worth reflecting on how such views can narrow horizons. A year ago I gave a spot to a guy who is a pretty good performer and songwriter. He played a set on a lovely Sunday afternoon when the audience was enjoying the sunshine and eating. This musician seemed to have had a few beers. He started making comments about his friend who was accompanying him. He kept referring to his mate as an 'Iti'. This was no doubt mentioned in jest but I had five complaints from the audience who found his comments offensive. In other circumstances I might have had a word with him about it but I'd been uncomfortable at comments I'd heard him make at another venue. We have simply never invited him back. What I find bemusing about this thread is that it started with a question as to whether the song should be sung. People gave their honest responses and somehow they were then accused of being politically correct. I'll be blunt. At best this would be in poor taste and at worst racist. Andy, you need to help me out here with some supporting rationale to your comments - - what is it, precisely, about the thread that you find disturbing? (personally I've found some of the points very enlightening and debate has to be better than silent assumed concensus?) - why, exactly, would performing the song be racist? I'm really struggling with the last point in particular - ie the original OP post question. We have a calypso folk song with origins in the carribean being sung by workers in a strong local vernacular. It can't be sung any other way. The song is not derogatory or offensive of itself, it is not "about" black people "by" white people and the lyrics are simple and inoffensive. It has no slavery connotations - these are paid workers. Why, exactly, is singing the song racially offensive? I respectfully suggest that an answer of "it has no merit so why not choose another song" is an irrelevant subjective distraction to the debate - it had merit to the original singers, it has perceived merit to the group considering performing it and they believe that their audience would enjoy it. I further suggest that the suggested guideline of "if there is any risk that something might offend, then don't perform it" - is really not very helpful - any folk song sung by someone not of the original people from whence it came could be considered dangerous - as a specific example, I'd suggest any Englishman might do well to avoid any celtic or gaelic folk songs. If the core issue here is that it is disrespectful or comedic in some way for a person from one culture to mimic the presentation of a song in its original culture, then the earlier discussion about the blues neeeds to be revisited. Presumably early artists such as Leadbelly et al are completely off the agenda with call and holler plantation based music - but where would you draw the line after that? We can certainly add in reggae and soul to the mix. It's easy to get self gratification by beating our breasts and offering generic statements of horror and revulsion at racism. My personal view is that the best way to defeat racism is by cross cultural understanding - putting stuff in a pandora's box marked "potentially offensive do not open" is building walls not breaking them down.
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Post by bleatoid on Sept 22, 2019 21:19:50 GMT
I'd be much less suspicious of someone singing (say) a sea shanty with (say) a Geordie accent - I'd assume they thought the dialect of the lyrics needed it, because they liked the accent, or even because they thought the accent is funny - because there is no comparable cultural baggage, the political relationship is not between an oppressor and oppressed. Careful.... In this case, the extent of offence caused would depend entirely on whether the faux geordie accent was coming from a Sunderland supporter.
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Post by bleatoid on Sept 22, 2019 19:49:45 GMT
Yes - I understand and acknowledge the racism inherent in the question, my conundrum is around the offence - and I truly don’t know the answer.
But I felt that knowing someone was an accomplished stringed instrumentalist, and having some information that can imply a cultural background, (goodness, this is difficult!) it is then reasonable (I presumed) to ask the sitar question.
But I fully acknowledge that I am sinking here.
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Post by bleatoid on Sept 22, 2019 19:00:52 GMT
I see Amit’s point - it is racism in that the question is being asked purely on the basis of the colour of his skin, with the prior knowledge that he is an accomplished acoustic stringed instrumentalist.
I can understand his deep frustration, but can’t fathom out if there is an “offence” there - as it is a reasonable question.
If anyone ever saw me playing the guitar I’d be asked if I could play the guitar.
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Post by bleatoid on Sept 22, 2019 11:18:29 GMT
"If the 'mods' now wish to close the thread that's OK with me." I'd find that very sad - on a personal level, at least before someone has answered early question - where is the offence? I certainly agree that the passion of the subject inevitably leads to unhelpful and inflammatory vitriol from some quarters - often from the impassioned who have no direct experience of the pain of discrimination; moreover we can easily be drawn into non-sequiturs - there have been a few here - but that shouldn't stifle relevant constructive debate on a subject where the boundaries of acceptability are, dare I say it, not black and white. Facts and calm rationale are good though. I don't believe skipellis was advocating war and death as a solution to anything. When it comes to Geordies and oppression, racism, exploitation, massacre, rape, slavery and forced labour well I don't think the Vikings, Scots and Romans went there for a nice cup of tea. And yes - the motive was racist. Personally, I think you can't legislate for morals and proscribe evil - if you try, you are doomed - ask the founding fathers of socialism like Mr Rousseau - you might be alarmed to find that, on cultures, peoples, tribalism and societies, he sounds astonishingly like Mr (Enoch) Powell. But celebrating and understanding differences is the only way to break down prejudice and that, because we are human, will entail poking fun and making caricatures - never moreso than in arts and music - thst's what gives it richness, in my humble opinion. To try and draw something musical from this thread (for which I thank the OP) I have set myself the silly challenge of ending my contribution with a song - which I will try and complete and post today to cheer myself up. God knows, I need something to! Where's me pen....
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Post by bleatoid on Sept 21, 2019 8:22:24 GMT
“What about if an old Etonian stood up and mocked Geordies or Yorkshire people of which I’m one “ee by gum” “ferret down your trousers” “short arms deep pockets”? Although we laugh it is insulting.”
...but is it insulting? - and is it insulting to the degree that to prevent the risk of anyone ever being insulted, it should be banned - morally or legally?
I think we’re heading for a cultural desert if we deprive thinking human beings of the right to interpret and judge - the law is there when it is required but if we aren’t careful we can say goodbye large swathes of Shakespeare, the Life of Brian, and pretty much all newspaper cartoons - we’re back in Stalinist Russia with our Shostakovics on the edge of imprisonment depending upon how the latest piece is viewed by “them”.
Mr Kafka is never far away, is he?
I’ll shut up now.
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Post by bleatoid on Sept 20, 2019 22:54:01 GMT
Yep - there's whole swathes of 70's Tv that would be deeply offensive today (though the B&W minstrels is more in the realms of bizarre, I think) - and yep - we all have our own comfort zones. Quite right. I'm not trying to suggest where anyone else's opinion should lie, I'm just baffled.
Turning things around, why might I, as a caucasian geordie born and raised in the Byker slum, take offence at, say, a dark skinned chap from Asia dressing (with white make-up) as a nineteenth century North east labourer or miner standing by his pigeon cree, stotty cake in hand and singing Bladon Races in the best "gan canny bonnie lad" accent he could muster?
Hey ho.
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Post by bleatoid on Sept 20, 2019 22:05:14 GMT
The (potential) offence lies in the perception of the listener. As I don’t have any control over that, I wouldn’t risk it. I am aware that a number of my songs could be considered/are offensive to certain audiences. It’s why I don’t sing them in church But where is the scope for perceived offence Leo? Is it racially offensive to "impersonate" a race through a character or even a caricature? If I were to dress in North African / Saharan costume and sing Desert Rose, or dress as a "mandarin chinaman" and sing the Ying Tong song, or dress in lederhosen....etc ...etc....where lies the offence, however much it is an effect of the perceptive lens? This is important because is not the entire convoluted history of musical theatre one of masquerade to project a story? Obviously if that masquerade is insulting, derogatory, inflammatory, then that is unacceptable - but we risk consigning large swathes of art to the censor's dustbin if we have no margin of tolerance, interpretation, and common sense. I do understand that we must, almost more than ever, be alert and sensitive to offence, but I worry about the consequences for music and art generally if we build moral and legislative walls in places they do not belong.
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Post by bleatoid on Sept 20, 2019 20:44:43 GMT
Apologies in advance if I'm being thick or insensitive here; I don't want to start a political debate or cause any discomfort - but could someone please explain to me where, exactly, the offence lies:
a) in singing the song at all b) in singing the song in a Caribbean accent c) in singing the song dressed and "made up" in faux Carribean outfit / make-up
Peter
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Post by bleatoid on Sept 11, 2019 17:28:07 GMT
Hi Jimbo
I was in a similar situation to yourself a while back. Some good advice above - the best is probably to try as many as you can and don’t rush. I took a long time to realise what I was actually after / what worked best for me in terms of size, scale length, nut width, string spacing etc. It was very different to my “old faithful”. Gradually zero’d in on the brand and model I wanted and finally travelled around to try out four before choosing the one I liked best. Very glad I did. I actually bought new at that point but since then have been lucky enough to acquire some additional lovely instruments - two pre-owned from members on this forum and I’m also a proud owner of one of Francis’ lovely guitars. I think that new, there are so many options these days, often far east made, perhaps Uk assembled and setup, that we’re spoilt for choice and there’s great value to be had with a number of manufacturers moving into the space Eastman filled for a while, and Furch kind of followed - both those brands seem to have upped their pricing to match their quality now. Second hand is a great route into a higher end instrument - Especially from the trusted folk on this forum - you’ll probably get something in mint condition for probably around 50-70% of the price new.
By the way, the new guitar I bought from Anderton’s who you mention - I thought their service was great and the guy who looks after their acoustic section (Paul?) was really helpful. Their range is a tad limited though.
Not sure where you are but if you want to drop by and try a couple of my guitars, you’re very welcome. I’m near Banbury.
Good luck in your search - and do let us know where you get to.
Peter
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Stools
Sept 7, 2019 8:34:43 GMT
Post by bleatoid on Sept 7, 2019 8:34:43 GMT
I use an armless padded swivel office chair on castors with a small back.
Works well for me and you can get them for under £50 - try Ikea etc..
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Post by bleatoid on Aug 31, 2019 19:56:08 GMT
We need to know.
Have you given the soundhole a good sniffing yet?
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Post by bleatoid on Aug 31, 2019 18:25:52 GMT
Oooooh!
Is it lovely, dark, rich, powerful and earthy?
Look forward to hearing it - enjoy!
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