Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2016 April 8

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April 8

Locate TV has closed down. Looking for Substitute

I had a database with Locate TV with all my favourite shows and the episodes watched. This database is obviously gone. Is there - apart from Radio Times which I know - a similar service for the UK?--80.129.154.233 (talk) 06:34, 8 April 2016 (UTC) Thank you.

If you're looking for a TV guide, I use http://www.freesat.co.uk/tvguide - obviously you have to work out where on Freeview the corresponding Freesat station is. FYI the reason LocateTV appears to be closed, is because the parent company (NDS) has been aquired by Cisco. It will be sadly missed. Alternatively, have a look at http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/tellyguides/ for other options. --TrogWoolley (talk) 09:32, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

Thank you for your answer. I am a (n overseas) subscriber of Radio Times, so I am more interested in the feature to mark my favourite shows and be reminded of them. There seems to be no site listed in tellyguides to do that apart from RT, which is rather clumsy to use (far too much graphics, I'm all for text ...). I'm not quite sure whether one of the Listings Software will do.--80.129.154.233 (talk) 13:01, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

Covers vs Parodies

What is the difference between a cover and a parody? Is a cover a recording or playing of a musical piece by someone other than the artist? Does it involve improvisation, or is it made to be exactly as or very similar to the original? Do parodies just change the lyrics while keeping the basic melody? 140.254.70.33 (talk) 11:58, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

Wikipedia has articles on cover song and parody. You're allowed to read both articles, no one here will try to stop you. If there is something in either of those articles that don't make sense, feel free to ask for further help. --Jayron32 12:19, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

So, based on the articles, a cover is a re-recording, while a parody is a re-working? Does re-working implies improvisation or just the lyrical change? 140.254.70.33 (talk) 12:30, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

Not just that; the parody article notes "A parody (/ˈpærədi/; also called spoof, send-up, take-off or lampoon), in use, is a work created to imitate, make fun of, or comment on an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of satiric or ironic imitation." I've bolded the key terms necessary to understand a parody. If those words need any further explanation, please ask. --Jayron32 12:35, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

And not all covers are simple re-recordings. Many swap out instrumentation, rearrange the parts, change tempo, etc. Consider Kylie Minogue's Can't Get You Out Of My Head [1], compared to the The Flaming Lips' version [2]. This should give the OP an idea that "very similar to the original" is not something all artists go for. My WP:OR is that the Flaming Lips also improvised a bit when they performed the song live, it had some parts that were different than the recording I linked on Youtube. If OP is interested, I'm sure we can come up with many examples of other "distant covers" that show significant re-working and improvisation. Also many, many, covers are never recorded, they are simply performed one-off. SemanticMantis (talk) 14:19, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

Indeed, on the reinterpretations present in cover songs. The one that came to mind for me was "With A Little Help From My Friends": The Beatles version is a very British dance hall, bouncy and lilting. The Joe Cocker version is straight blues rock; he accomplished the change by both changing the tempo (singing slower) and altering the rhythm. The Beatles version is very much straight rhythm on the downbeats, a "1-2-1-2..." type song. Cocker takes it to a more blues-swing rhthym, stretching the first part of each phrase and shortening the second; "Whaaaaat wouldja doooooo if I saaaaang outta tuuuuuune". The Beatles is straight "WHAT would you DO if I SANG out of TUNE". Same source material, very different versions. --Jayron32 14:53, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

Cocker's cover of the Box Tops' "The Letter" is also quite radical in the way he delays and extends the lines, making the song sound very different. Another good example is Otis Redding's version of "Try a Little Tenderness", which transforms the original by Ray Noble and his Orchestra mostly by varying the timing, as well as the extra energy of his singing and the more open instrumental arrangement.

Parodies, as pointed out, have a humorous or mocking intent. I've often thought that Blur's "Song 2" is a musical parody of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", although I'd need to be much better versed in music theory to explain why and how. --Nicknack009 (talk) 16:29, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

Song 2 is a great song, but Allmusic.com confirms it was intended as a Nirvana parody. The lyrics mock the aloofness of Grunge bands, "I lie and I'm easy/All the time but I'm never sure/Why I need you/Pleased to meet you", i.e. mocking the Grunge disdain for commercial success (and thus their disdain for their own fans). It's somewhat ironic that as huge as Blur was in the U.K., this was their only major U.S. hit; when Americans bought Blur's albums expecting more like this, they got Britpop like "Girls & Boys", and were confused and confounded by it, not realizing that "Song 2" was a one-off parody. --Jayron32 16:40, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

If you record a cover version of a hit or "standard", you won't sell many copies unless it's distinctive. But if you play it live, faithful imitation may well be your goal. —Tamfang (talk) 09:14, 10 April 2016 (UTC)

Music theory symbolism and graphics

Hi, I'm looking for various graphs, images, diagrams, etc. that can be used as reference or learning material for music theory. Things like the circle of fifths or pitch constellations. I'm sure there must be many more. Can you point me toward other things in this very open category? Must be largely graphical, must be relevant to music theory, that's it. Thanks! SemanticMantis (talk) 14:55, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

For me, oddly enough, the book that best helped me pick up music theory on guitar was my trusty Mel Bay chord book. The way the book is organized, especially the section on barre chords and other movable chords, helped me figure out the connection between guitar fingerings and chord theory; how raising and lowering pitches in the standard 1-3-5-7 chord changed the chord to the various types (minor chords, suspended chords, maj7 vs 7 vs m7) and so on. For me, it was making each chord with my fingers; seeing the relationship between my fingers and the chord type; and most importantly hearing the way moving a finger one fret up or down changed the sound and feel of specific chord types. --Jayron32 15:24, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

Would something like shape note or solfège be along the lines you're looking for? --Jayron32 15:37, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

Shape notes are interesting, didn't know about that. Solfege is not really graphical, or not enough for my desires here. I appreciate the mel bay rec., but I'm mostly interested in things that are instrument agnostic (because I play a wide variety of instruments, all poorly ;) SemanticMantis (talk) 15:53, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

What about something simple like a capo chart, like [3]. It can be used to transpose music for any instrument really, even though it is written for stringed instrument capos. --Jayron32 15:57, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

Yep, thanks, keep 'em coming. Another way of putting it: I'm looking for anything any musician might tape to the wall to help them learn/remember anything about their music. I won't be disappointed if anyone lists things that are not perfect for my needs :) (I realize now fingering charts fit my new phrasing, but I do already know how to find all those I need) SemanticMantis (talk) 16:09, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

Trying to find the name of a fugue composer

Some years back, I ran across a Wikipedia article (as well as YouTube videos) about a Professor of Music in a university somewhere in the US (maybe Canada) who is recognized as a master of composition. In stage performances, the audience would give him a random sequence of notes and he would sit down at the piano and invent a fugue around that sequence on the spot.

I'm trying to find that again, and my searches for seemingly obvious terms yield no fruit (or if the fruit is there, it's hidden by a lot of chaff in the search results). I recall one time he performed an on-the-spot composition of a cellphone ringone. My searches for that turned up results like Marc-André Hamelin and Vincent Lo, both of whom have composed fugues based on the infamous Nokia ringtone but those aren't on-the-spot compositions, and not the same person I'm thinking of.

I recall he was a caucasian, gray-haired guy, perhaps with a short beard. I wanted to find the videos to show my son's piano instructor, who was interested. ~Amatulić (talk) 23:23, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

The names Wayne Marshall and Keith Jarrett keep popping up in my searches, but neither is Caucasian (Marshall's an African-Englishman, and Jarrett an African-American). -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 00:00, 9 April 2016 (UTC)

(Just a minor note, but Keith Jarrett is not and does not self-identify as African-American, though a lot of people think he is, see for example this Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross). ---Sluzzelin talk 13:59, 9 April 2016 (UTC)

Seems I'm not the first to make that erroneous assumption. Thanks. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 14:08, 9 April 2016 (UTC)

As for the question: Richard Grayson? ---Sluzzelin talk 13:59, 9 April 2016 (UTC)

@Sluzzelin: YES! Thank you. One would think "Richard Grayson" would be an easy name to remember. I'm enjoying his fugue based on the theme from The Muppet Show as I write this. I can't find one based on the Nokia ringtone, so my memory must have been faulty there. He did do a piece based on another ringtone though. ~Amatulić (talk) 21:07, 9 April 2016 (UTC)