Josh's Music Blog

 Introduction: Back when I was around 6 years old, my 4 year old sister used to make me sit down and watch all of her Disney Princess movies with her. She had stacks of VHS tapes that my mom would buy and then my sister and I would watch. At first I thought it was boring and embarrassing, but after some time I began to enjoy watching them. I know it's not a very "masculine" or "manly" thing to like the movie Cinderella, but it brings back a lot of good childhood memories with my sister, so I don't care. I even watched the remake of it back in 2015 with my family and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If it wasn't for my sister making me watch all of those Disney movies back then, I probably wouldn't have as much of an appreciation for them as I do right now. "Cinderella" (1950) Movie Poster Walt Disney Productions, USA  Background of the Movie: Cinderella was released on March 4th, 1950 by Walt Disney Productions. The movie was based off of the origi

Introduction: Vienna Clarinet Connection is a clarinet choir that I have been listening to for years. They are an incredibly talented group based in Vienna, Austria. The group consists of two clarinets (Helmut Hodl and Rupert Frankhauser), one basset horn (Hubert Salmhofer), and one bass clarinet (Wolfgang Kornberger). I originally started listening to Vienna Clarinet Connection, because I was searching for some pieces for an All State Clarinet Choir I was in during my junior year of high school. As someone who had played the bass clarinet in band and clarinet choirs for years, I was shocked when I heard the beautiful tones and low notes of the bass clarinetist in Vienna Clarinet Connection's rendition of "Stompin' at the Savoy". Ever since then, they have been my favorite musical group and I still enjoy listening to their pieces four years later. Background of the Musicians: According to viennaclarinetconnection.org, Helmut Hodl is the principal clarinetist in the Vi

  Background of the Music: I chose to research the wonderful world of Traditional African Music. I have always enjoyed this kind of music, because of it's amazing beats and instruments. There is a variety of music in Africa and the music has changed over time due to colonization. However, Traditional African music at its core is used to tell oral stories, talk about life and death, and pay respects to others. It's also a way of celebrating weddings, birth, successful hunts, and many other things ( Music of Africa ). The music of Africa is, overall, a way of expressing every aspect of life. Traditional African Music is a big part of a beautiful culture that has spanned many centuries. The drum is a very important instrument in Traditional African Music: Percussion instruments are very important to creating the intense rhythms and beats that keep the music of Africa together. From the larger Signal Drums to the smaller Djembe (made for warrior rituals, healing ceremonies and

"Freudian" by Daniel Caesar Freudian Album Cover   Introduction: I was recommended this song by a friend a while ago. I had never really listened to Daniel Caesar before, but I had probably heard him singing on the radio once or twice. Anyways, I was recommended this song back when I was in a rough spot. This song was the some of the most calming music I had heard in a long time. Considering the fact that my library of music is mainly R&B/ Pop, this is surprising. "Freudian" was released on August 25th, 2017 and is a two part piece with a silent interlude putting the song up to 10 minutes. Trust me, it is worth every second. From the mix of piano and electronic music in the beginning to the beautiful Organ in the second part of the song, "Freudian" is a master piece. The album even won the Juno Award for R&B/Soul recording of the year! According to cherwell.org: "Caesar called the album Freudian after learning of Sigmund Freud’s Oedipus comp

  Introduction: I remember the first time going to piano lessons. I was just eight years old and more excited than ever. As I walked in, I saw this wooden instrument with ivory keys gleaming under the lights. Every key with its respective string ready to be struck by the hammers and create a beautiful sound. As soon as I started playing, I immediately fell in love with the piano. The thought of infinite creativity and infinite combinations of notes to create any music that I wanted sparked my enjoyment every time I played the piano. That feeling still resides within myself today, nearly eleven years later. After many years of playing this instrument, I became fascinated with its history. I've seen a lot of instruments' history and timelines, but none really undergo the amount of change that the piano does. The piano didn't start as the wonderful electrical keyboards that we see today. In fact, the piano didn't even start out as the piano, but as a basic instrument that

It seems like every time I look around me people are on their electronics. This is something that I used to do a lot as well and still struggle with to this day. In high school I was a pretty anxious person and liked keeping to myself. If I was nervous or didn't find a conversation going as planned, I would always resort to my phone as a way to cope with the stress and social anxiety. However, as I went into my junior year, I was recommended this song by a friend. It's a simple song with some happy lyrics, but it's those lyrics that made me think about what I had been doing and the experiences I was missing out on just by indulging in by electronics/possessions. After listening to this song for about a month, I decided I was going to start enjoying life more. When someone began talking to me, it didn't matter what I was doing on my phone, I would put it down and listen. When I went on sports trips, I would talk to people that I didn't know and pull the air pods out