Quick note

Tags

computer programming, Coursera, data driven composition, music, Python

Sorry I’ve been quiet.  I’ve been swamped at work, and I just started *three* courses at Coursera.  (Yes, I’m insane.  I don’t expect to finish all three).  I am taking Introduction to Improvisation, Introduction to Guitar (I don’t really need it, but I am self-taught, and you never know what tidbits I’ll find that I never learned way back when), and Introduction to Interactive Programming with Python.

This last one was on a lark.  When I was a kid I was a hell of a programmer.  I was writing my own video games at age 12.  However, I stopped doing it, and my programming knowledge dates back to 1987- the stone age.  (I wrote games for VAX computers and for a TI 99/4A.  Yes, I’m that old.)  I have never programmed in a Windows environment.  What stimulated me was hearing a colleague’s data-driven music composition written using Python to program a synthesizer.  It is amazing work, and I was hooked.  I want in.

Last week I had a piece of music I was very happy with that I planned to post here.  It was a collaboration with a Coursera songwriting classmate.  I filled out her bare-bones arrangement of her song with bass and lead guitar, and did significant production and post-production work.  I was very pleased with what we did, but she *hated* it (I think perhaps I hear something in her song that she can’t- it’s too personal), so out of respect to her and her intellectual property rights, I’m afraid that piece won’t see the light of day.

By the way:  since when does WordPress create default titles?

What Is This Thing Called Love?

Tags

bass guitar, Cole Porter, Coursera, improvisation, jazz, music, standard

What Is This Thing Called Love?  

 

Improvisation on a jazz standard by Cole Porter.

 

Bass guitar solo performed by Mark Snyder.  Backing track provided by Gary Burton @ Berklee Music.  Completed for assignment #1 of the Introduction to Improvisation course at Coursera.org.

St. James Infirmary

Tags

"wages of sin", bass guitar, blues, death, jazz, music, New Orleans, St. James Infirmary, traditional, trumpet

St. James Infirmary Blues (traditional).  All parts (vocals, bass guitar, trumpet) performed by Mark Snyder.

I have wanted to record this for a long time.  This song goes back about 400 years and has a fascinating history.

 

I went down to St. James Infirmary
To see my baby there,
She’s laid out on a cold white table,
So cold, so white, so fair.

Let her go, let her go, bless her;
Wherever she may be
She may search this wide world over
She’ll never find a man like me.

Oh, when I die, bury me
In my high top Stetson hat;
Put a twenty-dollar gold piece on my watch chain
So the boys will know I died standing pat.

I want six crap shooters for pall bearers.
Chorus gonna to sing me a song.
Put a jazz band on my hearse wagon.
Raise Hell as I roll along.

Now that I’ve told my story,
I’ll take another shot of booze.
And if anyone should happen to ask you,
I’ve got those St. James Infirmary blues.

After the storm

Tags

blue sky, cirrus radiatus, contrails, photograph, weather

Gust front of a severe thunderstorm

Tags

National Weather Service, Severe thunderstorm, SKYWARN, storm, storm spotter, wind

 

West End, NC.  4/19/13, 5:41 pm EDT.  Estimated wind speed 60 mph by radar per NWS Raleigh.  No damage visible at this location.

 

The area was under a tornado warning at the time, but the cell that prompted the warning had moved on to the northeast.  This  storm was part of a bowed line of very strong thunderstorms.  I’ve been a NWS SKYWARN storm spotter since 1999 and this is almost the strongest winds I’ve personally witnessed.

 

 

Anything But Four

Tags

music, weird chords

Anything But Four

Demo of an original instrumental composition on acoustic guitar, acoustic bass guitar, and harmonica by Mark Snyder.

Spring

Tags

flower, spring, tree

Nightside 4/16/13

Tags

abstract, aleatoric, AM radio, Beatles, Bee Gees, Boston Marathon bombing, Boston Red Sox, death, DX, found poem, Got To Get You Into My Life, Last Dance, poetry, Stayin' Alive, terrorism

the cops are hanging around a lemonade stand

how much does it cost?

these were major bombs with a potential for a lot of damage

the good guys have to prevail every day

they haven’t won the battle but they were successful, sadly

did you see the still photo of the man on the roof on Boylston Street?

the FBI is looking for help from the public

another road, and maybe I suddenly see you

did I tell you I need you?

you can’t lock it down

bundling your auto insurance can save you tons

they recovered black nylon, a circuit board, ball bearings, and nails

dump your old duster, who’s that lady?

how can you say you’re in love with her?

so much for me having grandchildren.

ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin’ alive

now, a special report on the tribal casino

Massachussetts can’t afford to lose thousands

it just doesn’t make sense

since 9/11 we’re on another pattern of crime

I was at the Sox game the day before

this is continuing coverage, we will get to the bottom of this

can government really keep you safe?

we were shocked, but were you surprised?

this was an atrocity, a murderous act

I had to see something beautiful

it’s the last dance, last dance tonight

We’ll be back after this.

Open letter

Tags

Boston Marathon bombing, defiance, terrorism

Who are you? 

What do you want? 

What message are you trying to send? 

Why are you so afraid that you don’t come out and claim responsibility? 

What were you hoping to accomplish? 

Why the Boston Marathon? 

What could possibly be worth killing children over?  

Did you hesitate, even for a moment?

What’s your point? 

Do you even have a point? 

Why spectators, not the elites or the politicians? 

What could possibly be worth it to you for innocent children to suffer amputations? 

For innocent children to die? 

Did your cowardice prevent you from wearing a suicide vest?

Does it make you feel like a man late at night blowing the legs off of helpless children? 

Does it make that scared, weak, rotting core inside you feel strong (for just a moment) to push the button?

Do you think I fear you when you hide behind pressure cookers, ball bearings, and nails?

The Boston Bombing and Butterflies

Culture Monk

By Kenneth Justice

(In light of the heart-wrenching events in Boston yesterday I’m putting on hold my follow-up article to yesterday’s topic of lifetime love).

Whenever a tragedy occurs like yesterday, you are certain to know the headlines the following day;

“Tragedy Strikes —-“, “Shooting in —-“, and “Massacre at —” are all popular taglines that we humans have come to terms with as a sad, but realistic element of the human experience we call living in a society.

Another sad element of society are the people who try to capitalize on tragedy, and no, I’m not talking about the media, there are already enough articles on the media’s obsession with bad news.

I’m talking about the people who take bombings, airplanes flying into buildings, and psychopathic gun shooters and try to turn those stories into a way to push their agenda.

Yesterday the Twitter…

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