In this episode, we're expanding on the concepts put out in the first episode and applying them to "Love, Love, Love" by the Mountain Goats, talking about forming melodies, putting harmony to work, and creating a soundscape with instruments.

LINKS:

Listen and follow along to the music

Ben's new album, Tramway, is out now on Bandcamp. You can stream the lead single, See You In Harlem, on all your favorite streaming platforms.

For someone not already knee-deep in playing music, it can be challenging to have a framework with which to understand it. In the first episode of this season, Ben gets down to bare-bones and talks about what sound and music actually are, and how to take the basic elements and construct works out of them.

LINKS:

An explanation of the Harmonic Series

Ben's new album, Tramway, is out now on Bandcamp. You can stream the lead single, See You In Harlem, on all your favorite services.

This week, we're doing something a bit different. 

LINKS

You can email requests for tracks to [email protected]

Ben is on Twitter, Youtube, and TikTok as BMACS001

BIBLIOGRAPHY

TikTok's Duet feature has a habit of creating wild collaborations between musicians overlaying their talents on each other, creating art greater than the sum of its parts. Ben is taking a few minutes today to talk about one of these videos, an a capella medley of "The Record Player Song" by Daisy the Great, the whaling song "The Wellerman", and the verse "My Mother Told Me" from Egil's Saga as set in the History Channel series "Vikings", and discusses the basics of why something like this would work, analyzes each melody, and goes on a tangent about why learning music theory in school is soulless and lifeless.

LINKS:

The video in question (and no, you don't need the app to view it, this isn't Snapchat)

You can email requests for tracks to [email protected]

Ben is on Twitter, Youtube, and TikTok as BMACS001

In this episode, Ben takes a look at the 80's nostalgia trip that is Somebody's Baby by Jackson Browne, and looks into how music can both be anthemic and catchy as heck, covering topics like slap bass, crafting a guitar's sound, and how to shape vocal lines around lyrics.

LINKS:

Listen and follow along with the music

You can email requests for tracks to [email protected]

Ben is on Twitter, Youtube, and TikTok as BMACS001

This week, Ben sits down with Ellen Chapman to discuss a song that made the rounds on TikTok last year, where even though the melodies are quickly forgotten, the dreamy vibes only get more intense with each listen.

LINKS:

Listen and follow along with the music

Ellen wished to plug kindness here

You can email requests for tracks to [email protected]

Ben is also on Twitter, Youtube, and TikTok as BMACS001

In which Ben is joined by Cam Narimanian again to discuss an early punk track. Even though the song is quite a simple one (and I may have picked that deliberately), we find that there's always meat to dive into, no matter the track.

LINKS:

Listen and follow along with the music

Cam’s a member of the band Soul From Body

You can email requests for tracks to [email protected]

Ben is also on Twitter, Youtube, and TikTok as BMACS001

In which Ben reminisces about the past, goes on a tangent about Automated Dialogue Replacement, and finishes the episode only halfway through talking about Derek and the Dominoes' "Layla"

LINKS:

Listen and follow along with the music: We talk about Eric Clapton's Unplugged version before the proper Derek and the Dominoes version

You can email requests for tracks to [email protected]

Ben is on Twitter, Youtube, and TikTok as BMACS001

For the first time, Ben's on his own! This week, he's talking Boney M's Rasputin, discussing a melding of folk and 70's Europop, building of suspense, and how EDM is basically just electronic disco

LINKS:

Listen and follow along to the music

Ben is trying to raise funds to make an album

Ben’s on Twitter, Youtube, and TikTok as BMACS001

Finally, an episode where the writer is sufficiently dead that we can use their music without infringing on copyright! This week, Ben is joined by Peter Oselador to talk Gustav Holst, brass bands, non-functional harmony, and ask what the heck a Moorside Suite is.

LINKS:

Listen to the music

I've made a reduced score for you to follow along with. If a full score is more your cup of tea, the full score is on IMSLP

Peter has appeared on Breaking the Third Wall in Music by Tara Allen

Ben’s on Twitter, Youtube, and TikTok as BMACS001