Fandom High School

Lucas was flopped down in his chair as usual, his hands folded in front of his chest. The backroom of Empire looked about as it usually did, only . . . cleaner. The television on top of the stereo system had microphone on top of it, and Lucas patiently waited for all the students to arrive.

"So, this is our last workshop together. And my last workshop in Fandom, period. I'm afraid I'm relocating on Wednesday. I'm doing my best to try to keep Empire open for you all, though.

"Right, as I said last week, for our last workshop, we're going to focus on what the future of music might be. But to help me explain some of the things that might be coming, I've brought in two ( guest lecturers )

[ooc: links are to YouTube and are generally safe for public locations.]

Lucas leaned against the store's stereo system today, instead of taking his customary spot in the arm chair.

"Congratulations, class, we've made it to the 20th century. Now, during this time on Earth, especially in the western cultures, things began changing at an incredibly rapid pace, and that included music. And one of the primary things that changed music at the turn of the 20th century was the invention of certain devices which could be used to record and play back sound. The gramophone, the record player, the radio, all of these things had an immense impact on music. Now music wasn't just for those who could travel to see performers, pay for performers to come to them, or play it themselves on an instrument. Music became much easier to distribute, making it easier for more people to encounter more different types of music. Music became something that could very easily be shared with a large population. This lead to the advent of popular music and record companies and record companies suing people for sharing popular music, but we'll forgive the inventors for that."

Lucas patted the stereo equipment. "Last week I asked all of you to bring in recordings of your favorite music and your least favorite music. This week, I'd like to play some of those recordings. Listen to what everyone brought in. You don't have to like it, but I'd like you to listen with an open mind. You might discover you enjoy music you didn't expect to enjoy. After each piece, we'll talk about it: what genre is it, what are the good and bad qualities, in your opinion, that sort of thing. I've got capabilities here to play vinyl, cassettes, Cds, and 8-tracks mostly, but there are a few functions on this thing that I haven't tried out yet, so I can hopefully play anything you've got. Thank you, Orlin."

[ooc: wait for ze OCD OCD is le up. I will put up a thread for each student, please respond to the appropriate thread with what your character brought in, and if possible, a link to a snippet of the music (legal links here, please) so someone who doesn't know it can listen and have their character respond appropriately. Please do not ping in to anyone else's thread until they've posted what their character brought in.]

Lucas sat in his chair again when the students arrived. This time, there were harps, mandolins, lutes, and small electronic keyboards with organ sounds programmed in along with the flutes, though the drums and digeridoos were missing. He smiled at the class once they'd gathered and signed in.

( Read more... )

"So, let's see what you can do with some of the more complex instruments. Like last time, I have earplugs and aspirin if anyone decides they want it. Then let's talk. What, if anything, strikes you about this kind of music? Are there any other ideas that you think would be easier to express musically rather than verbally?"

[ooc: ocd is a comin'. As with last time, links are to Amazon for folks who want to listen. I will ping in where I can and it's warranted, but will probably have to SP for much of tomorrow while at work. Any errors in info are probably entirely mine]