D&D and the rising pandemic

[Ryujin]

Interesting that you should mention that. Because that's what I'm talking about.

Sea shanties (note the root word - chant) are originally work songs They are designed to help a group of people who must act in unison do so. The Wellerman isn't exactly a classic chanty, but it is close enough to that root to have similar structure. The song is BUILT to have a group of people able to execute it together with ease. That's its actual purpose, its raison d'être.

The same is true for folk music, which, when combined with the blues, gets us country music. This is music designed for anyone with a fiddle or a banjo or guitar to sit down, and have the entire room signing.

A great deal of pop (and hip-hop) is designed to showcase the skill of the lead vocalist. There's good cultural and business reasons for that, but one result is that, broadly speaking, the genres become difficult for J. Q. Public to follow along with respectably, because they don't have that skill.

And I submit that's why the shared musical phenomenon was a shanty, and not a tune by the big pop stars of today.

... or the skill of the audio tech

And with respect to Sea Shanties, as with Marching Cadence, the chorus is the unifying factor. You don't need to know the other words. Hell, you can make them up on the fly like with a Rap Battle, but the chorus must be known. (Former resident of Nova Scotia, born in New Brunswick )

Soon May the Kittyman Come

 

[Ryujin]

What the flying butt nugget are you talking about?

Iron Maiden is STILL writing songs about stories and stuff, without auto-tune.

Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Empire of the Clouds
Paschendale
Gates of Montsegur
Alexander the Great

to name a few. Every album.

Then there's the steampunks.
The Lisps have a whole album 'Futurity' set in Abe lincoln time with a machine to end all war

The Mechanisms have The Bifrost Incident (and other albums). The Ratatosk Express has arrived 80 years late and everybody on board is dead. Inspector Edda has to solve the case.

I don't know where you buy your radio crack, but you are missing out on the good stuff.

Sure, there are still the outliers, but what you usually hear on the radio isn't that. In the late '60s/early '70s it was wall to wall storytelling.

But yeah, I also listen to other stuff. Thing is that much of it hearkens back to even earlier times.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I think you underestimate the ability of John Q. Public to overestimate his skill.

See any karaoke bar in the world NOT in a major music city.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

And that makes me think of something completely else...

You know what's wrong with pop music today? I mean, aside from how I'm old and therefore it is terrible?

It isn't made for people to sing along to it. And that means that with all these months and months and months of shared covid experience, none of these mega-pop stars that make a bazillion dollars for every release can make a song about it that we can all fully share. And that's a darned shame.

On this particular tangent, let me introduce Rick Beato: musician, producer, educator. The more you know music, the more you get what he‘s talking about.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

As it so happens, my Dad & I have been going to the same barber for 10+ years now. Every year, Dad reminds him of the dangers of the seasonal flu, etc., and of course, he added C19 to the list. Every year, our barber refused to get vaxxed.

2 weeks ago, he cancelled my appointment, citing feeling off after an early AM dental appointment & aborted workout.

Went back in yesterday for my haircut, and he’s in there wearing one of the N95 masks Dad gave him. He said he didn’t merely have a bad reaction to the dental meds, he had been diagnosed with Covid. He got lucky: he wasn’t hospitalized, but he really felt like crap for 10+ days. He told me to tell Dad that- as soon as he was cleared to do so (approx. 90 days), he was getting his Covid shot. AND his flu shot when they become available. AND his Shingrix shot.

Basically, he got juuuuuust sick enough to overcome his lifetime of qualms about vaccinations.

 

[Eltab]

This is music designed for anyone with a fiddle or a banjo or guitar to sit down, and have the entire room signing.

I'm pretty sure Auto-correct got to that last word, but it does bring up the image of a bunch of deaf people at a specialized bar / concert venue using sign language to join in and accompany the band.

 

[Imaculata]

Speaking of which, the other week I saw a concert where the lead vocalist had an interpreter for the deaf standing on stage. And this interpreter was able to keep up with the speed of the song some how, and able to repeat in sign language whatever bad word came out of the lead vocalist's mouth. Maybe more bands should do this.

 

[Deset Gled]

Speaking of which, the other week I saw a concert where the lead vocalist had an interpreter for the deaf standing on stage. And this interpreter was able to keep up with the speed of the song some how, and able to repeat in sign language whatever bad word came out of the lead vocalist's mouth. Maybe more bands should do this.

Peter, Paul, and Mary did this for part of a concert I saw in the 90s.

Of course, SNL were also pioneers with their news for the hearing impaired.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Speaking of which, the other week I saw a concert where the lead vocalist had an interpreter for the deaf standing on stage. And this interpreter was able to keep up with the speed of the song some how, and able to repeat in sign language whatever bad word came out of the lead vocalist's mouth. Maybe more bands should do this.

I’ve seen it happen a few times. I think it’s cool.

 

[Mirtek]

Update:



For those who don’t speak Catholicese: although masses will resume 08/15/21, parishioners in the Diocese of Dallas will NOT be required to attend.

Required? Wow, the churches in Germany would get laughed in the face if they tried that