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!
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!
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.
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.
Oh what bundles of joy we were this past week! Maybe joy is thinking too positively, but bundles yes we were. COLD!! With a capital C-O-L-D is all I, and the rest of Ann Arbor, felt all day every day. Some glimpses of the sun poked through here and there, thankfully, but I almost gave into excavating my winter jacket from the depths of storage. No dice, however! I couldn’t do it in fear of manifesting even MORE snow than we already had.
This week, I was all ears! A fun fact about me is that I way too often listen to YouTube video essays on my commutes across campus. This is due to falling in and out of listening to music hardcore and thoroughly, mostly because I suffer intensely from favorite song burnout. This week, though, I’ve felt a huge draw back to my tune-bumping roots. Because of this, I came to realize how 3 of my favorite artists (as above) all have bird-related names. As an angsty tweenager, I felt extremely drawn to birds, all colors and kinds, as a symbol in my artwork. Visual symbolism is my JAM (no pun intended). They represented the worldly freedom of mind and body so I longed to have as a kid cooped up with her younger sisters much of the time. In my musical realizations this week, I’ve been able to reconnect with that version of myself and reflect on where I was then and where I am now. I have so much freedom to explore, learn, and create now while here in college and I am so thankful for that everyday. I wish I could show my younger self this adventure we’re on and to tell her to slow down her internal rebellion and enjoy the world as it was back then. Although I can’t time-travel and break all laws of science, I hope the pieces of her that are still in me have been able to appreciate all of the craziness and joy we’re experiencing in our new freedom together.
TL;DR: Listen to music, indulge your inner child, and appreciate the birds in our lives. We all need love for ourselves in all versions, forms, and ages we exist in.
To take us into our next week:
Ins: Choppy layers, the Hex Girls (always!), tasteful caricature drawings, wolf t-shirts, gossiping in UMMA, the color amber, a healthy ratio of normal socks to crazy socks.
Outs: Ice cream when Mojo is freezing, not cleaning your water bottle (do it!), a rigid 5 year plan, letting your jealousy fester, a bedtime of 2am.
A very cold, but happy Spring Equinox and here’s to all the birds frolicking amongst the snow and playing wonderful songs across our eternal pathways.
Hello, and welcome back to Captured Moments! This week, I found a very interesting and eye-opening article on the worsening conditions of the music industry. As a pianist, I am always looking for the newest updates on AI in the music industry. One specific part of this article caught my attention as it states, “there’s a new, horrifying AI tool called Sun.ai that lets anyone create a full-length song with AI generated lyrics in the style they want.” Personally, I think this is amazing in terms of how far technology has come. It can be fun for anyone to play with and experiment. Additionally, I enjoy playing and producing music, and AI can definitely be a helpful tool for me. On the other hand, I am scared of the lack of acceptance towards emerging artists. The article links this idea with Taylor Swift. If the next Taylor Swift enters the music industry, will the industry reject the singer due to AI’s advanced music making? If anyone can create music simply using AI and without inputting creativity, the music industry ends up pushing away talented artists. I am worried for the future of the music industry as AI continues to have a prevalent role. There are so many pros and cons to AI’s role in the music industry, which is why I enjoy talking about it. See you next week!
