Auto-Tune the News #9 Note-for-Note on 3-Stringed Fretless Japanese Shamisen.

More shamisen renditions of the Gregory Brothers' ATtN episodes:

#2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LceHg1Don3Q
#4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKwekMFaf40
#5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tJZoq5MDXM
#6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0oAdL02jMk
#7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTHISdlhglI
#8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up7yyGv7YjM

Lately, I've kind of been obsessed with these masterful compositions by the Gregory Brothers because I'm a geek. Not to draw unnecessary parallels, but their music seems strangely Messiaenic to me. Messiaen's music was rhythmically complex largely due to his fascination with birdsong, right? He considered himself to be an ornithologist, and birds to be the greatest musicians on the planet. While there are obvious dissimilarities between Messiaen and the Gregory Brothers, The Gregory Brothers' songs' freaky rhythmic phrasing (amazing and great, of course) derives, at least in part, from the speech patterns and cadences of the various Auto-Tuned characters. They're quantized and sometimes manipulated (I assume, anyway. I actually haven't bothered yet to research Auto-Tune technique or anything like that, so I'm just a scholastic failure!) so as to create rhythms very different from those originally uttered by the agent. However, assuming that the Gregory Brothers use at least some of the organic rhythms spoken, they are, like Messiaen, creating a new music that derives its musical substance straight from the sonic and visual landscapes that surround them. Birds for Messiaen, television politicos for the Gregory Brothers. Though I tend to listen and play mostly folk/classical instrumental music, the Auto-Tune the News series has held my interest by posing to me some serious musical challenges. Trying to replicate them note-for-note, ornaments and all, is so strange and awkward yet so new and crunktastic that I've recently become totally engrossed in learning all of the Auto-Tune episodes! All of the "sung" melodies are always so cleverly composed and interact brilliantly with the underlying harmonic structure. I'm kinda surprised how much I like this stuff! Thanks Gregory Brothers!
Shawty.
www.shamalamacord.com

Category:

Comedy

Tags:

• schmoyoho
• Auto
• Tune
• Chavez
• shamisen

[tripjams]

why?

[mikepenny01]

Consult the sidebar, friend.

[stupidshnyvolvowner]

I sometimes think I have stumbled across the NERDIEST thing ever, usually on fan sites, or at conventions like Comic Con. Then I saw this.

You sir, win +100 internets for this.

[adrade]

this is so amazing - i dont know what to be more impressed by - your incredible skills as a player of this incredibly hard looking instrument that I've never heard of before, or that you're playing it to autotune the news, and totally rocking it out - so fantastic

[00anvil11md]

@mikepenny01 Do three next!

[danielmrussell]

LOveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee­eeeeeeeeeeee it! Fantastic talent. This one had a lot of really good melodies that stood on their own on the Shamisen. If I saw you doing a street performance or something, I would be super stoked.

[88coldsummer]

Wow, I did't know that Chavez play that incredible instrument! (invisible to ordinary eyes). Ah yeah, the shamisen is good too (?) Bad joke, awesome as always Mike:)

[stevnated]

this is seriously cool

[Nightmare1124]

@tripjams ummmmm DIDNT YOU READ THE DISCRIPTION!!!!!!!

[music4all12]

LOL!

[plunderkitten]

LLLOOOOOL :D

[djguapo]

nice post-it notes :-p

[SeanOB188]

I love the part at 1:17 he's just like NO WAY. haha. Still, amazing job dude.

[miromuchotv]

At first I thought that you were some great musician posing as a geek...'till I read this video's description...

Now I know you're the real deal...awesome videos!