How do I get my friends to like DIFFICULT MUSIC?

Рет қаралды 9,383

Күн бұрын

In this video, I answer questions submitted by viewers.
[00:00] Introduction
[00:49] I noticed you became more provocative with your opinions in your latest videos. Is there a reason for your sharpening views?
[05:01] How do you think compositional techniques should be taught? What techniques do you think a composer should know nowadays?
[07:36] Could you listen only to contemporary music (let’s say classical music written after WWII) for the rest of your life? Everything else would be forbidden! Please talk about the kind of museum-accumulation of music we are currently experiencing.
[11:19] What is expected from a composition student's portfolio, and, in preparing it, what are the most important things to maximize one’s chances of acceptance into the desired institution?
[17:05] Do you have any plans to do any more analysis videos soon?
[20:17] Can a working class composer rise to social prominence?
[20:56] I saw an interview with you from a couple of years ago where you mentioned you were working on a piece for solo sopranino saxophone. What happened with that?
[22:32] In your video about your album Swollows you mentioned you recorded about 10 of these ‘weird pop music’ albums before you left for France. Do you plan on ever making them available online? If not, why is Swollows the only one you were willing to share with the public?
[24:49] How does the contemporary classical community view scores and pieces written for film and videogames? Are they studied and respected, derided and declared unserious, or just kind of politely ignored?
[28:06] Any thoughts on how to introduce people to more challenging music? I’m trying to show a friend Beefheart and I do think things can be a bit dense and dissonant for a casual listener. Any thoughts on how to get people up for that challenge of a tough listen?
==
HELP KEEP THIS CHANNEL GOING!
One-time donations:
www.samuelandreyev.com/donate
Patreon:
/ samuelandreyev
PRIVATE LESSONS IN COMPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Contact me via samuel.andreyev (at) gmail (dot) com
NEW DOUBLE VINYL ALBUM JUST RELEASED!!
Order yours today: divineartrecords.com/recordin...
LINKS
Website: www.samuelandreyev.com
Twitter: / samuelandreyev
THE SAMUEL ANDREYEV PODCAST
On Buzzsprout: www.buzzsprout.com/266909
On Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/0MYQHsG...
On iTunes: podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast...

Пікірлер: 113

@GreenManalishiUSA Ай бұрын

Years ago I had a roommate whom I tried to turn on to the no wave band DNA, specifically their EP, A Taste of DNA. Never before or since have I seen someone react so angrily to an album. He screamed and insisted that I take it off, and when I asked him to just give it a chance, he stormed out of the apartment. A week later, he went down to the record store and bought his own copy. Go figure.

@ajames283 Ай бұрын

Sounds like bipolar or cluster b personality disorder

@samuel_andreyev Ай бұрын

I love that!

@Juan-wo7zu 2 күн бұрын

My favourite no wave band! Arto Lindsay is a beast on skronky guitar.

@xboxgamer474246 Ай бұрын

If anyone says “I won’t need counterpoint” I’d snap back “not with that attitude!” You can put counterpoint anywhere.

@zapazap Ай бұрын

Able to put a thing in any place does not entail needing that thing.

@garretkaplan Ай бұрын

I can put deez nuts anywhere on your face

@gerhardprasent3358 11 күн бұрын

@@zapazap Without counterpoint you won't be able to write music above a certain ( quite low) level.

@zapazap 10 күн бұрын

@@gerhardprasent3358 I am not well versed, but I don't think classical Raga relies much on counterpoint, at least not in the western sense.

@goatuscrow4135 Ай бұрын

I am a devoted “Trout Mask Replica” fan since I first heard it in the early 1990’s in my late 20’s. Your “Frownland” video made me an instant subscriber and follower. Keep up the good work!

@samuel_andreyev Ай бұрын

Thanks!

@FreakieFan Ай бұрын

I'm sure these Q&A videos are easier and less time-and-money intensive to make than the analysis videos (which is a point I totally understand), so I hope you will make more of these. The Q&A's are some of my favorite videos on your channel.

@samuel_andreyev Ай бұрын

Thanks - I enjoy making them as they foster a true sense of engagement with the community - and the questions are always so excellent. I should add that the next video will be an analysis though (at last!)

@DeflatingAtheism Ай бұрын

I read “social prominence” as something that’s been afforded to very, very few composers of concert music in the 20th Century- namely, the “crossover appeal” of a Samuel Barber or a Henryk Górecki.

@FreakieFan Ай бұрын

You're spot on with the answer to the second question. People who claim that "oh, I don't need to know how to write counterpoint because I compose only in style X" have no idea what they're missing out on. I'm a classically trained composer, but I mostly work in the field of film/tv/games music (though I still write concert music occasionally) and I often participate in events where composers and media creators come together to meet, pitch and demonstrate their work to each other for possible future collaborations. And I can always instantly tell when a fellow composer has studied their technique or not, or if they are coming from a music production or instrumentalist background (often pop/jazz, which is very common these days). If these differences in quality are noticeable to the filmmakers and creators, I don't know, but for me, yes, even in the world of film composition, this matters hugely!

@zapazap Ай бұрын

I suspect those who say the same thing about serial row music also do not know what they are missing.

@quatricise Ай бұрын

@@zapazap I believe that in order to appreciate any art, you need to bridge the gap between you and the piece of work. That can be via understanding and appreciating it on a technical level, or on more emotional like via repeated exposure or relating it to something else in your life. I have definitely began appreciating a more diverse set of genres after having learned music theory, even though a lot of the things I appreciate today used to be a technical curiosity, like contemporary classical or jazz fusion.

@zapazap Ай бұрын

@@quatricise I've long appreciated classical. In my teens I discovered Frank Zappa. A friend introduced be to jazz in my thirties. Right now I am exploring classical Indian Raga.

@freedomfilms974 Ай бұрын

That new studio space looks legit. Love the framing of the shots too. I recently got my girlfriend into Henry Cow which is a major success because she’s not big into avant-garde music.

@Palefury018 Ай бұрын

Henry Cow… that is an impressive feat. Just Leg End or the others as well? I think that Leg End is their most accessible

@freedomfilms974 Ай бұрын

@@Palefury018 Oddly enough, she found Unrest more appealing. Fine by me. One of my favorite albums ever.

@RainGod356 Ай бұрын

A mate admitted later that when I first played him Montana by Zappa, he thought I was mentally ill. He went on to become the biggest Zappa fan I know and even had Montana as his ring tone at one point. I had Trout Mask in my collection for years believing it to be self indulgent crap, it wasn't until I read a book about Beefheart that said to leave it on in the background and ignore it that it 'emerged', I still think it's one of the best albums ever.

@JimmyHeight Ай бұрын

I'd love to hear more podcasts with important composers and scholars!

@olivermelo333 Ай бұрын

Just saw this. Happy birthday, Samuel! Thanks for your classes and teachings!

@guest_informant Ай бұрын

It seems to me that music is, for most people, extremely difficult to talk about, to articulate. I was talking with a friend about this the other day and we wondered if it's because music pre-dates language. Music is able to communicate in a way that language can't, so no wonder it is hard (or for some of us, impossible) to talk about. Growing up with a very strong interest in a) music and b) understanding I obviously wanted to understand music :-) but everywhere I looked I could only find discussions of, say, lyrics and personalities, and not the actual music. For me your analysis of music is crystal clear, passionate, and articulate. It's also democratic (if that's the word I am looking for). This is an extremely rare combination in any area, but especially for music, and music is so profoundly important for so many people. It's taken a while, but it seems like through the bush telegraph the word is getting out. The Mighty Algorithm brought me here many years ago. I am very grateful it did - I still don't get Frownland, but I'll keep trying. Thank You 🙂

@ajames283 Ай бұрын

Lack of music vocabulary. Usually not learned in public school.

@okayfine6342 Ай бұрын

love the response on getting friends into hard music! as i've gotten to be a stronger player on my instrument (sax), I know it's out of genuine best interest that I want a friend to be as deeply excited as i am with the infinite number of little details i know and hear that make me happy it's kind to share and be excited, but it's nobody's obligation to put in a ton of effort trying to find the same meaning that you do :)

@mattia.a_p Ай бұрын

I think you mentioned the sopranino saxophone piece in the interview we did :) looking forward to hear it! Belated happy birthday Samuel

@jonzaremba Ай бұрын

Thanks for answering these questions. Although we likely have very different artistic ideals, I watch your videos to learn effective ways to articulate a point and how to communicate an idea succinctly. I truly appreciate what you do and hope you can find the time to produce more analysis videos in the future. Until then, I will enjoy all your other content.

@rafaelfernandeslopesdeoliv1700 Ай бұрын

Hey man, happy birthday and thank you very much for answering my very specific questions. Yes i am familiar with The Tubular West and i love it very much, in fact Winter in Århus is one of my favourite things i've heard from you, i was asking specifically about the pre-France albums. Guess i'll go do some googling now for the other available stuff. And i am looking forward to the sopranino piece, hopefully the video on your channel is that version and not the clarinet one. Again, thanks a lot for answering me.

@FelipeTellez Ай бұрын

Loved this video and how you are sharing your thoughts

@FreakieFan Ай бұрын

Congrats on the new studio! Looks fantastic. Perhaps consider doing a studio tour? I'd also love to see the space where you compose/work?

@samuel_andreyev Ай бұрын

Sure, good idea! Maybe I’ll do that.

@robinjones6999 Ай бұрын

I love all your video content - Ive been following you for about 2 years

@samuel_andreyev Ай бұрын

Thanks, Robin

@johnpcomposer 14 күн бұрын

Sam, Brilliant video. These are such great questions with thoughtful answers.

@rubenmolino1480 Ай бұрын

The situation is simple: ..If someone has nothing to say,...the healthiest thing is to abandon ship,...and applaud the originality of others,...and that ethics does have value.

@nicoladisvevia Ай бұрын

Apropos nothing in particular, I've come to enjoy your videos!

@drrendezvous1014 Ай бұрын

Good to hear, man! Right on!

@taylorflowers4598 Ай бұрын

First time I've heard "lacunae" like that... 🎉🎉

@qualiatranscript Ай бұрын

I was about to post my own timestamps, but I was pleasantly surprised to see you have made your own this time around. I will still post the timestamps for the mentions of figures and works, because it's something I tend to do for all youtube "podcasts-like" videos I watch and enjoy, out of personal entertainment and in case anyone is equally interested or motivated by seeing names of artists they appreciate being mentioned in a video. Anyway, I enjoyed this Q&A! Thank you for sharing it with us, Samuel.

@qualiatranscript Ай бұрын

● People: [ 9:37 ] Ludwig Van Beethoven [ 9:39 ] Johannes Brahms [ 9:41 ] Richard Wagner [ 9:43 ] Gustav Mahler [ 9:45 ] Claude Debussy [ 20:38 ] Harrison Birtwhistle [ 20:40 ] Brian Ferneyhough

@qualiatranscript Ай бұрын

● Works: [ 22:32 ] "Swollows", by Samuel Andreyev [ 23:07 ] "The Tubular West", by Samuel Andreyev

@samuel_andreyev Ай бұрын

That’s super helpful! Thanks!!

@alexanderkennedy4851 Ай бұрын

Congratulations and happy birthday!

@skylarlimex Ай бұрын

Great video as always Samuel and happy birthday!

@samuel_andreyev Ай бұрын

Nice to hear from you, Skylar. Send me an update some time.

@skylarlimex Ай бұрын

@@samuel_andreyev I will!

@jamesgorman7846 8 күн бұрын

Rayyyyyyyyyyy H.B.D !!!!!!! Love you.one of the smartest peeps on You Tube.

@guille____ Ай бұрын

great video Samuel. I recently subscribed, you're content is very interesting!

@johannesbowman2194 28 күн бұрын

I am so glad you talked about composition portfolios. I tried, unsuccessfully, to apply to several composition programs at the graduate level. I got past the interview stage but it did not end up working out for me. Your advice has been extremely beneficial. Had I known some of your advice earlier I might have had a better shot at making it to composition school. But now, it's not too late, I will take your advice starting now. Thank you for your remarkable insights!

@samuel_andreyev 28 күн бұрын

Keep going!! And good luck

@StefaanHimpe Ай бұрын

Happy (late) Birthday to you :D

@spacerockwizard Ай бұрын

Great advice here. I've figured out some of these questions on my own and have arrived at similar conclusions.

@jacksonelmore6227 Ай бұрын

If I was gonna be blunt or egotistical I’d say I don’t consider someone a real composer without a willingness for counterpoint and voice leading And artistic personality 🖼️ HBD 🎊 🎉 hope to see your continued artistic and public expansion 😎🙏

@samuel_andreyev Ай бұрын

Thanks!

@TeemuOnteroComposer Ай бұрын

One might have a genuine artistic vision to just do polyphonic musical/sound voices that don't have anything to do with each other. But I suppose even in that case one might want to know something about how it was done previously, perhaps just to avoid "harmonious"/"fitting" voices by accident. 😉

@jacksonelmore6227 Ай бұрын

@@TeemuOnteroComposer I mean, THAT is ultimately valid Maybe that’s just my taste I respect a lot of composers who don’t use such strict counterpoint or voice leading, I like free jazz and Indian music, caveman rock songs, but these are more Dionysian than composed Jazz is like the middle ground They can skin the cat their own way, but for many composers it’s as if I see them holding themselves back by just pissing into midi (I’ve been guilty of it) I just know that when I integrated voice leading and counterpoint I start listening to my own music and I’m thinking to myself damn I’m Mozart Like, you can go from being good or even great, to making divine music ❤️‍🔥🙏

@TeemuOnteroComposer Ай бұрын

@@jacksonelmore6227 I am more in the position that I think it's actually pretty cool to have voices that don't blend well together. Nature and the Universe are not about blending things smoothly together, it's all pretty chaotic. Anyway, we all have our own tastes in things and it's great too!

@jacksonelmore6227 Ай бұрын

@@TeemuOnteroComposer hey I feel that! I’ll check out your channel 🙏

@fstover5208 Ай бұрын

Happy Birthday to Samuel. Live long and prosper. I come here because I have some things in common with Samuel, a serious composer. I appreciate his depth of understanding but find myself disagreeing with him half the time. That said, it's good for personal growth to hear differing opinions. The question, How Do I Get My Friends to like Difficult Music? I was concerned about this in my youth. Being 70, I could care less if the people around me understand what I'm doing. I'm used to being surrounded by dummies so I have no expectations.

@falst573 29 күн бұрын

I have a suggestion for monetizing analysis videos: Make a digital product for every analysis, lets say a pdf of commentary + audio files, and see if it sells well. You can use the video to promote it. Wishing you all the best, Samuel !

@bf0189 Ай бұрын

I'm mostly in the jazz world (albeit as a listener) and the same problem exists of the museumification. It's important to learn and enjoy the roots but there must be space for new styles to emerge from. I love Ellington as much as I love contemporary stuff. There needs to be a holistic approach of old and new.

@okayfine6342 Ай бұрын

with that i find a HUGE issue with figures like wynton marsalis that pretty much pretend like any vaguely recent jazz just didn't happen and is a waste of time... there's so so many beautiful and creative and unique new sounds that have come later and we have a hugely popular figure in jazz actively going against it. not to mention the many other problems with him... :)

@quatricise Ай бұрын

I feel like there actually needs to be (and thankfully is) a greater importance placed on filtering the past, otherwise it will encompass an ever-greater volume of our collective attention, as time goes on and there is more art from the past. If you paid and equal amount of attention to every decade since "art" has existed, you'd probably experience, like, 1 contemporary piece of art per year.

@apchsiri1156 2 күн бұрын

"What we call museums -mausoleums, rather, in which a dead art heaps up its remains- are those the places where the Muses intended to dwell? We do not keep in show-cases the coins current in the world. A living art does not produce curiosities to be collected but spiritual necessaries to be diffused." (George Santayana)

@f.botello Ай бұрын

happy birthday! 🎉

@DavidCarltonAdams Ай бұрын

Congrats on the new digs!

@DavidCarltonAdams Ай бұрын

Thanks also for all your work - and happy belated!

@msjoanofthearc Ай бұрын

I love and have DVV albums on vinyl, along with his artwork, and promotional venue posters, CB rocks! Also enjoy Jane, Sun Ra, SRC, Master's Apprentices, and of course the Dictators!

@RD-zj6vc 23 күн бұрын

Bribes. Kidding, it's really hypnosis.

@stevealleman9206 Ай бұрын

The photo of Rimbaud on the shelf behind you is a nice touch.

@samuel_andreyev Ай бұрын

It’s an oil painting made by a friend and given to me over 20 years ago. Thanks for noticing!

@ChristianMechem Ай бұрын

Happy (Belated) Birthday Samuel!

@samuel_andreyev Ай бұрын

Thank you, Christian

@Arnoldiepin Ай бұрын

it's fascinating that you should come across increasing number of students who aren't familiar either standard rep, when it's in a practical sense at it's most accessible ever, here with score videos on KZfaq. having access in the abstract to the whole universe doesn't grant you the motivation or guidance to make the necessary inquiries I suppose

@PabloGambaccini Ай бұрын

I completelly agree with the balance issue. I apply it to myself. I study 20% of repertoire from the great pieces of the past in order to challenge and inspire me and 80% of repertoire from my own compositions. 💪 (it's just a pareto propportion, for those who know 😂, but I think institutions should do the same with proframs, 80% from living composers... so they can also make a living a 20%, from dead ones)

@michaelketley1252 7 күн бұрын

Thanks

@remingtongagnard4442 Ай бұрын

My question seems dumb in retrospect but thank you so much for answering! It's like trying to make someone like black licorice, totally out there acquired taste! Best I can do is let them know it exists and not be too obnoxious about it 🎉

@samuel_andreyev Ай бұрын

Not dumb at all. Thanks for the question 🙏

@zarg05 Ай бұрын

You can't really. And does it matter? Music is a personal journey. I love difficult music. I also like simple music. I just enjoy exploring new sounds be it in any genre. Schoenberg, Ligeti, Cecil Taylor, Allan Holdsworth, Derek Bailey . I tend to listen to the musical outsiders, the challengers. Its amazing they survive in anty cultural climate where being normal and obedience in sanctioned gate keeping.Just enjoy it.

@micpoc4597 Ай бұрын

From my experience, it’s much easier to get new friends.

@samuel_andreyev Ай бұрын

Yeah that works too ;)

@rubenmolino1480 Ай бұрын

It would be nice, if you could do a report and if it would be to your liking, Alan Belkin!

@oldboarbrain Ай бұрын

Would you be able to help me learn composition of organum for gregorian chant? It's relatively simple, but also niche.

@lippi2171 Ай бұрын

It's difficult. My music project (me) debuted with an experimental concept EP that I promoted on my personal Facebook page 😬 I kinda cringe about that eversince. Most people want pop music, regardless of style it has to be accessible.

@StephenGrew Ай бұрын

Then all the music that has elapsed, would progress as it did, but would start from now...day 1

@p-__ Ай бұрын

My farts are better than Samuel's farts.

@ordinarryalien Ай бұрын

@@p-__You know what? You're probably right.

@ordinarryalien Ай бұрын

Nice profile picture, Stephen.

@notator Ай бұрын

26'23" to 28'03": Yes indeed! :-) That advice is probably true for _any_ career choice at the moment, but its _especially_ true for composition students!

@jasonmillion5970 Ай бұрын

Henry Cows a great band Fred Frith. Do you have any of Magma's albums ? I do

@SuonoReale Ай бұрын

14:25 This can also be incredibly stimulating/inspirational from a compositional perspective, in and of itself, apart from trying to get into a comp program. 28:58 I lent 2 albums to my Japanese neighbour back in 2003. One was a video game album 'Masashi Hamauzu Rhapsody on a Theme of Saga Frontier 2' ,and the other was a CD of Takemitsu's "From Me Flow What You Call Time" and some other works by him. When he gave them back to me he commented on how good the Takemitsu album was, but he didn't say anything about the other album.

@ManiacalForeigner Ай бұрын

Hamauzu is a phenomenal composer. A very distinct voice in the world in video game music. Criminally underrated.

@truBador2 Ай бұрын

Both technically and psychologically speaking, all there is any more is difficult music. I.e., Noise.

@zkreso Ай бұрын

I'd love to hear your thoughts on improvisational avant-garde music

@samuel_andreyev Ай бұрын

Such as?

@zkreso Ай бұрын

@@samuel_andreyev Anything within free jazz and/or free improv really. Is it something you enjoy, and if so, are there any particular recordings? Personally I'm fond of recordings by AMM and their individual members' other projects, when it comes to free improv at least.

@royaebrahim2449 Ай бұрын

❤❤🎉❤❤

@jojoestoy 10 күн бұрын

I think you have not quite answered the question with regards to your (contemporary Western art music composers) attitudes towards contemporary film music (say that of John Williams)? Do you respect, despise or ignore them?

@quatricise Ай бұрын

24:10 If you were Jacob Collier, you'd just release these 'laboratory' albums anyways.

@Freddy-Da-Freeloadah Ай бұрын

Q: "How do I get my friends to like DIFFICULT MUSIC?" A: you don't. Just find friends that like crazy stuff... IMHO

@TJHANEY Ай бұрын

I think you should always share your interests with your friends. people change their minds and grow all the time! But-- without expectation to keep you from being let down. Finding people who love the weird stuff to fill that desire is definitely necessary, I agree, but share important things to you with those OOTL friends when it's relevant. I always leave it at that. And I love receiving that from friends and finding the importance in that suggestion that I never would have bothered with otherwise.

@greggcoppolo8430 Ай бұрын

Captain Beefheart is a Legend!

@scottbubb2946 Ай бұрын

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him listen to Frownland.

@glenngould7299 Ай бұрын

I did listen to stuff like Einstein On The Beach and the Trout Mask Replica. I do not think it is really music. It is more like musical art. You like it or you do not like..there is no wrong there..just do not try to force such stuff upon peope..

@Superphilipp Ай бұрын

Oh come on, these clickbait titles are getting ridiculous. This is a birthday FAQ video, just call it that.

@Sophia-le3px Ай бұрын

he actually does answer the question it’s just not the whole video. the level of clickbait could be orders of magnitude worse stop complaining.

@Superphilipp Ай бұрын

@@Sophia-le3px It could also be better.

@Sophia-le3px Ай бұрын

@@Superphilipp i’d rather this content get views than to have more honest titles. this channel is how i discovered the new music world it’s changed the course of my life and it could do the same for others