Author: Hannah Park

Hannah Park is a sophomore piano performance major at the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. Captured Moments is a series in which she shares the intersection between photography and music, where each photo evokes a fresh perspective on the importance of the arts.

Quiet Corners

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Hello, and welcome back to Captured Moments! While my previous blogs captured my life as a piano performance major, this year, I am shifting the perspective of “captured” in my blogs. I love to take pictures of everything I see—literally. So, I want to incorporate my love for photography into my musical life. 

I captured this photo while walking back to my house, because of the stillness and peaceful simplicity. The empty streets, sun going down, and quiet houses are translated to the gentle and nostalgic melodies of a certain song that I correlate this image to; “Gymnopédie No. 1”

Satie’s musical composition evokes the mood of this photo, as the slow tempo and harmonies blend to form a beautifully nostalgic piece. Much like the straightforward and clean singing lines of Gymnopédie, this picture has simple lines and minimalist texture. It is straightforward, yet full of complex musicality. 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL0xzp4zzBE) Performed by Khatia Buniatishvili.

Emotionally speaking, I felt a wave of nostalgic happiness as it reminded me of my childhood. I also felt a bit of sadness when I realized that time was moving fast. As sophomore year is finished, I will only have two years left at the University of Michigan. Being in the moment while I took this picture, I came at peace, standing alone and reflecting on the quiet corners of the street. 

Chapter 11

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Hello, and welcome back to Captured Moments! In this post, I include pictures from my last day in Ann Arbor until next semester!

I captured this image, and immediately loved how it turned out. Connecting to music, I reflect back on my time when I went inside the Michigan Theater and watched a performance from the Pops Orchestra. Music will always be an integral part of my life, whether I listen, play, or share.

I always think of sunsets when I play music, as they are very beautiful. Just looking at a sunset will help me feel relaxed and calm, just like when I play music. The pink hues from the sunset and the streetlights starting to light up, is such a wonderful view. When I captured this image, it serves as a reflection image to my freshman year of college.

My flight back home was the next day, and I captured this image to capture the clouds. It was a very beautiful view back home!

I hope you enjoyed reading my posts, and have a great Summer!

Chapter 10

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Hello, and welcome back to Captured Moments! I decided to document the last day of classes, April 23.

9:30-10:30

I started off my day with a final in my Theory 140 Aural Skills Class. The final consisted of material such as the seven diminished chords and two diminished chords. It also included half diminished chords which only appears in a minor mode. I found these chords very interesting to learn about and when I combine all of them together, it produces a compelling sound.

12:30-1:30

I then went to my final sight-reading class. I learned a lot throughout the semester, and I passed the class! The hardest part of this class, for me, was learning how to read four voice Bach pieces. It might look easy at first, but I have to strategize on which hand takes which voice, adding on to the complexity.

3-4

I went to my last French class on central campus, in which I reviewed for my final.

4:30

Finally, I went back to the Music Building to practice for my final performance. As I walked by the pond, I saw baby ducklings! I incorporated this image onto my playing by producing beautiful sounds.

See you next week!

Chapter 9

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Hello, and welcome back to Captured Moments! This week, I found a very interesting article that reflects on AI and Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department. Before the release of her new album, there was a leak of a snippet of one of her songs. Fans, of course, wondering if it was AI generated or real, began spreading word about this. Even prior to this incident, there have been many instances of AI generated T-Swift songs circulating the internet. Fans generally can’t tell if it is AI. That is how scary and frightening AI is, as it presents how highly advanced the technology is.

Another artist that has also been affected by AI is Drake. A leak of a snippet of Drake’s diss track against Kendrick Lamar led fans to be confused of whether Drake himself had made it. Yet, the recording was grainy and not clear, in terms of audio, leading many fans to believe this was AI. However, Drake officially released the song in which fans now believe he wrote it. AI has caused a mess in the music industry, as more on more people become unsure of whether a song is genuinely from the artist.

I have attached the article for further reading. See you next week!

https://time.com/6968769/taylor-swift-drake-ai-vocal-deepfakes/

Chapter 8

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Hello, and welcome back to Captured Moments! This week, I am showing a day (April 9th) in my life.

9:30-10:30

I went to my aural theory class. Today, I learned about sentences and periods and how to identify the difference between the two in a piece. I listened to many examples, ranging from Beethoven to the movie “Frozen”, and identified if the song was a sentence or period. A sentence in musical terms has one cadence in the end and begins with a basic idea. This basic idea is then repeated and fragmented. On the other hand, a period has two cadence. The first cadence is weaker than the final cadence. The picture I provide is a catchy song I learned that is an example of a sentence!

12:30-1:30

I then went to my sight-reading class. Today, I sight read a movement from a Beethoven piece. This class is very helpful for pianists as it helps us sight read faster and accurately!

3-4

I went to central campus for my French class. I had a journal-like test in class today in which I wrote about my daily routine.

4

The last thing I did today was practice. Juries (final for piano performance major) are coming up, so I practice as much as I can.

That’s it for this week. See you next week!

Chapter 7

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Recently, I was scrolling through Instagram when I found that I was on Billie Eilish’s “close friends” story. I was immediately shocked as I opened the story to see a possible upcoming album?! I bring this up because I came across a news article with Billie Eilish and Nicki Minaj wanting the stop of AI in the music industry. A sentence that stood out to me was how AI will “devalue the rights of human artists”. Ultimately, AI replaces human creativity and musicality. Reflecting on this, I am concerned for the future of the music industry as I fear music produced will become robotic and formulaic.  

For Eilish’s music, it is very dark and contains elements of pop and electronic music. Listening to each of her songs, us listeners can experience the emotions she conveys. For example, her hit song “Happier Than Ever” is very popular because you can feel with her as she belts out the words towards the end. Her creativity will never be replaced, even with AI in the music industry, but the advancement and technological development of AI is a growing concern. I agree with Eilish and Minaj that AI should not be used in the music industry, as musicians’ creativity should not be replaced. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-68717863