kizolk
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Post by kizolk on Feb 26, 2024 19:43:55 GMT
My little brother is more into music theory and history than I am me; he pointed me to something interesting: youtube.com/clip/UgkxbA77Q4og4uZmzCtI2ktV0OMnZ_SiXxbr?si=thgZaCuHRGxYg2i5It is a little mean. {Spoiler}This is a clip from this video:
After his rendition of the first page of a Schoenberg piece, Karol Beffa (perhaps best known as a movie music composer) explains that starting from bar 8, he transposed the left hand part one semitone down, then on bar 15, the right hand part up, etc.
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kizolk
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Posts: 5,454
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Post by kizolk on Feb 26, 2024 20:05:20 GMT
Ir reminds me of that time when he and I were camping in the same tent, years ago; both of us had our guitars and at one point we decided to indulge in an improvised dodecaphonic duet. We barely managed to survive the (s)laughter.
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kizolk
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Posts: 5,454
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Post by kizolk on Mar 29, 2024 15:51:34 GMT
Where would you have said the singer was from, judging by his accent?
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kizolk
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Post by kizolk on Mar 29, 2024 15:53:31 GMT
I'm kind of obsessed with that song, too.
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kizolk
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Posts: 5,454
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Post by kizolk on Mar 29, 2024 15:54:12 GMT
In other words, I suffer from Lisztomaniamania.
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Post by Etaoin Shrdlu on Mar 29, 2024 16:35:21 GMT
Where would you have said the singer was from, judging by his accent? Just in case others want to show that they have better ears than mine, I'll put it in a spoiler. I don't really feel as though I have much chance of getting closer than 'non-native speaker of English', and I wouldn't put much money on even that. But if it's right, I'd incline more to a native speaker of a Romance language than a German or Slavic one. I was going to say 'Germanic', but then I realised that I hadn't thought about the possibility of somewhere Scandinavian when I was listening to it, and maybe that's possible. I might listen to it again.
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kizolk
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Post by kizolk on Mar 29, 2024 16:47:39 GMT
{Spoiler}See that's where my non-nativeness shows: I thought he was a native Anglophone. Not sure from what country, but I think I leaned towards English. Maybe because of the clearly sounded intervocalic T.
But when I learned his dirty secret, I did feel some non-nativeness. Now that you say it, Scandinavian would have been a good guess. {This one contains the answer}French. Maybe I'm just too used to French singers' terrible English, but man, congrats to him!
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kizolk
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Post by kizolk on Mar 29, 2024 16:48:15 GMT
There are two spoilers in the above post. The lack of color coding might be confusing.
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Post by Etaoin Shrdlu on Mar 29, 2024 16:53:02 GMT
French was what I was leaning towards most strongly. But I couldn't tell how much if the feeling was accent and how much appearance.
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kizolk
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Post by kizolk on Mar 29, 2024 16:56:37 GMT
I thought the latter might give it off.
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kizolk
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Post by kizolk on Mar 29, 2024 21:01:28 GMT
Well, if other people wanted to take a guess but have read so far, they deserve to be spoiled: Let me amend a previous statement: Maybe because of the clearly sounded intervocalic T. A fine observation on my part considering his first intervocalic T is actually not "clearly sounded" (by which I meant "neither a tap or /d/"). His second one is, though, and I don't think it's for emphasis, like an American speaker might do. In addition to that his English seems to be non-rhotic. The style of the song itself is also more reminiscent of the UK than of the US, which might help giving the whole a more British feel. I suspect that the fact that he's going for British English, and that I'm not familiar enough with those dialects, may help explain which I found his English so good when you seem to be less impressed.
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Post by Etaoin Shrdlu on Mar 30, 2024 5:26:48 GMT
Is he going for British English? It's the indecisiveness of what he is actually aiming for that gives it away as non-native speaker.
But there were other factors for thinking that. Why were asking where people would think he's from? Presumably because you were wondering if people would think X if the answer was actually Y. It seemed more likely that this would be a native/non-native speaker question than a British singer sounding like an American one, or vice-versa, say.
But also, the lyrics. I mean, really. No native speaker would be responsible for that word salad. Sure, there are completely nonsensical songs, probably written under the influence of something or other, like 'I Am the Walrus', but this is sub-AI standard.
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Post by Etaoin Shrdlu on Mar 30, 2024 5:56:40 GMT
I'm also unsure as to why you're obsessed with it. If you hadn't drawn attention to it, and I were to hear it on the radio or in a pub, I probably wouldn't actively notice it. For all I know, I might well have had it pass me by. If I heard it repeatedly, I would notice it, and would gradually get irritated by it.
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kizolk
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Post by kizolk on Mar 30, 2024 7:58:12 GMT
Is he going for British English? It's the indecisiveness of what he is actually aiming for that gives it away as non-native speaker. My first thought when I started trying to find out where he was from was that his English was inconsistent. Maybe you're right and he's not actually aiming for something in particular, but I tend to consider non-rhoticity a major clue... bearing in mind the fact that some French speakers' English is non-rhotic simply because they find it easier to pronounce, or so is my impression. No native speaker would be responsible for that word salad. Fair enough. Nonsensicality, oftentimes dressed up as "those lyrics are personal, see", is common enough in songs that this is a strong claim to make, but I guess his lyrics are nonsensical in a peculiar way. I'm also unsure as to why you're obsessed with it. Do you often find yourself wondering why people prefer chocolate over vanilla, or do you make an exception for music? Not that I'd take issue with it, but more often than not I would think this is a fruitless hobby. I have a thing for indie rock. Also, I don't know what I would think of the singer over the course of an entire album, but I think he's perfect for that song. I'm also quite sensitive to production/audio engineering, and I love how this song sounds. It has that quiet, "muffled" (in French I'd use the word "feutré") quality I like. The vocals have a slightly distant, ethereal feel to them that I like too. I like how nostalgic the synth solo sounds, and the atmosphere reminded me of bands I listened to when I was a teen.
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kizolk
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Post by kizolk on Mar 30, 2024 8:07:38 GMT
My favorite indie song might be this one:
Maybe this statement will produce an equal amount of bafflement, if not greater, but that's how it is.
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