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STRATEGY FOR THE DAY: get past this

Well, I took a little hiatus from journal writing without really meaning to. A couple days ago I did a remix of an old song, thinking it would only take a few hours. The remix turned out fine but I ended up with problems when I went to burn a CD. I've never been happy with the quality of audio CDs made on a computer and my Philips dual-well deck started adding clicks and pops to the copies that weren't well... musical, so I spent time researching external CD burners. The Yamaha 3200 has a special setting for Audio Quality mastering. I'd love to get it but am not sure if it's fully compatible with my MAC computer. (Yamaha's web site says it is, Apple's web site says it isn't.) I HATE this! Anyway, I don't know what I'm going to do. I tend to get very focused when I'm trouble-shooting technical problems and everything else, like the diary, just fades away. I look up and it's suddenly three days later!

I did spend some time reading Robin Skelton's book The Poet's Calling last night (while I was running a new CD master at 2X speed - plenty o' time to read). I came across this interesting quote from Ezra Pound: "Rhythm. I believe in 'absolute rhythm', a rhythm, that is, in poetry which corresponds exactly to the emotion or shade of emotion to be expressed."

Now, I think it's interesting that Pound should identify rhythm with emotion. Most composers think primarily of melody in connection with the expression of emotion, and rhythm only in a supportive function. However, Pound was perhaps anticipating rap music. I'm only half joking. Rap is ALL rhythm - both the instrumental and verbal track - and those rhythms are used (or were originally used in the formative years of rap) as an expression of anger and aggression. In gangsta rap, where the rhythm is much slower, 'emptier', and extremely mono-tone-ous, the feelings conveyed are those of alienation and nihilism. Emotions are flatlined, having been destroyed through an excess of violence. Although I have a lot of trouble with some rap lyrics (to say the least), I am fascinated by the use of rhythm in this genre, and am not at all surprised to see the profound effect it has had on all contemporary pop music. By god, even Celine Dion is singing to loops these days! Who'da thunk it!