Tag Archives: analysis

Starting Questions for Thinking About Music and Production.

Posted on September 28, 2016 by Paul Carr

Here are a series of questions aimed at my students, but anyone is free to comment. The exercise is chose a couple of songs and ask yourself the following. 1.Can the recorded songs communicate anything beyond the notes, sounds and textures … Continue reading →

Posted in Musicology | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Starting to Think About Music: Song Arrangement and Track

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Paul Carr

Here is a podcast of an introductory lecture on ways we can think about popular music analysis, and the differences between Song, Arrangement and Track.

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Final Final Thoughts on Melodic Analysis

Posted on January 26, 2015 by Paul Carr

I have been discussing melodic and harmonic analysis with my students over the last few weeks. As a random exercise – we thought it would be useful to consider how some of these techniques are incorporated into the top 10. … Continue reading →

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More Analysis of Social Space: Sting’s Dead Mans Boots

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Paul Carr

Last weeks post commenced with a discussion of the ways in which the background of a musical mix can resonate with the persona in a song – describing it as ‘Inert’,  ‘Active’ or ‘oppositional’ (I still need more examples of … Continue reading →

Posted in Musicology, podcast | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

200 Motels: The Programme Notes that Never Happened!

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Paul Carr

Editor ‘Frank Zappa and the And’ For those that are interested, here are the programme notes that never happened! Guitarist, satirist, political activist, music technologist film maker and composer, Frank Zappa (1940-1993) has to be objectively considered one of the … Continue reading →

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Truth and Method: How Can We Be More Objective When Analysing Music

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Paul Carr

I read a review of Frank Zappa and the And this week – and despite its negativity,  it got me thinking about the ways in which our world views impact the ways in which we interpret meaning in music. Being … Continue reading →

Posted in Frank Zappa, Musicology, philosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Frank Zappa Musicological Analysis

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Paul Carr

Here is a lecture on Frank Zappa I gave to students as part of a musicology class this week. Comments Welcome! <div style=”margin-bottom:5px”> <strong> <a href=”http://www.slideshare.net/carrp/session-7-zappa-final-presentation&#8221; title=”Session 7 zappa final presentation” target=”_blank”>Session 7 zappa final presentation</a> </strong> from <strong><a href=”http://www.slideshare.net/carrp&#8221; … Continue reading →

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Les Paul and Mary Ford: is it still possible to be successful and truly experimental?

Posted on March 3, 2013 by Paul Carr

A year or so ago, I wrote a blog about how the singer Rumer sounded like Karen Carpenter  – and how the music industry could be seen to be using  a proven formula (i.e The Carpenters) to sell the public … Continue reading →

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Zappa And the And – the Final Blog!

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Paul Carr

Well – I finally got my copies of my Zappa book last week – so this will probably be the last time I blog about it (hip – hip……). I would really appreciate anyone helping with the social network side … Continue reading →

Posted in Frank Zappa, Musicology, philosophy | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Zappa and the And: Chapter 10

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Paul Carr

Zappa and Modernism: An Extended Study of ‘Brown Shoes Don’t Make It’ Martin Knakkergaard With only a couple of months to go before the Release of Zappa and the And – I need to get a move on to ensure … Continue reading →

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