2 Examples of Sampling

The introductory examples of sampling demonstrated a very director approach to gathering audio information from the world, audio sampling in its purest form. When introduced to DAVID BRYNE/BRIAN ENO: MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTS ALBUM
AMERICA IS WAITING, 1986 the listener is immediately aware that the piece is a mixture between rhythmic audio sampling of talk radio broadcasts and what sounds like springs of some sort, along with instrumental supplement to fill in the musical gaps. A base line of funky rhythm and simple musical theme is established within the first fifteen seconds, then follows the humorously rhythmic radio announcer voice. Is it Rush Limbaugh? The phrases are cut, pasted, and repeated as icing overtop the springy funk foundation. It is interesting that humans, and most especially, radio announcers speak in an almost musical manner. This piece uses the harmony is his speech patterns to not only make a catchy song, but also communicate his theme “America is waiting for an event of some sort or another”, “again, again” in a social and political parody. The recognition of the musical and rhythmic aspect of speech is a profound underline to this piece. We as humans live according to time and rhythm that is always felt and rarely expressed. By making voice and sound into musical elements, we see how time’s meter often escapes our notice. In a country that values time as money’s equal it was appropriate to measure a political fear and speculation in a form that is ever-present, music.

Continuing the tradition of finding musical elements in our daily soundtrack is EMERGENCY BROADCAST NETWORK, 1995
FROM THE ALBUM, TELECOMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN. The artist found Rhythm and themes in both pop culture and current event broadcasts and clipped and pasted them like a musical and visual collage humorously resembling the song “Get Down Tonight” by KC & The Sunshine Band. The social codes that both pop culture and the mass media dictate are as cemented in our consciousness as is the passing of time. It is, whether we want it to be or not, a part of who we are and how we think about things in our society. The pop culture clips include Harrison Ford and Mariah Carry interspersed with real life events and broadcasts. Ironically, both worlds, superficial entertainment and global crisis are equally ingested by the American public. The piece is essentially brings about the great paradox of modern American culture: it’s reality is it’s art and it’s art reflects it’s reality. This is a music video using music videos and films about global crisis, while also featuring global crisis. It is real world versus culture—art imitates life, life imitates art. Everything influences itself and is ever-present within our society as shared knowledge. In both pieces lies the truth that everyone lives according to motion, and music is the manifestation of that innate sense.