Category: 26 October

This past class we had Dr. Wechsler come in and talk to us about both his personal life in the music business, and also he showed us some musical pieces/creations/ideas from the past. When it came to the old musical pieces he showed us videos of things, such as Betty Boop in her short films. When it comes to videos and music, older creations are not my first choice to listen to; but in this case it was very enjoyable and I actually found myself laughing at some points during the video from the characters actions. It was not only a good learning experience but also was an experience that I really enjoyed.

Then after some of the videos he went on to tell us about his life story and even play us some musical pieces of his own. First, when he was telling us about his career I could really see in him, the joy, and emotion that came to him with the subject. You could see in his body language, and tone, that he had real pride in what he did. He brought us from the beginning of his story up until exactly today; and from listening to his life story it was quite interesting because I have always known people who did music as a hobby, but never as a full time career. So to me it was quite insightful into what the industry was like while listening to him.

Also he played for us some musical pieces that he had recorded before and this too was very enjoyable. The two instruments he used would not be my first two of choice to listen to, but nonetheless, my admiration shows how good he was at making music. When performing he was “elegant” with the instruments and was very good at making different sounds that I never heard of, but were still very interesting and a joy to listen to. This shows the true talent he holds and is why he has lasted for so long on top of what he does in music.

Dr. Wechsler was a very interesting man who had a very interesting lesson planned. It was fun to hear him share his vast knowledge of show biz history in NYC. You could tell he knew so much and information came out of him so fast it was a little hard to take it all in, but it was interesting to hear him tell us all about how things really were back in the day and how they helped shape today’s media world.

When Dr. Wechsler said he was going to show us old Betty Boop cartoons, I was not excited. I’ve said in a blog before that I am not a fan at all of old television, but for the second time in this class I was proven wrong. The cartoons were actually very funny and I’d be lying if i said I didn’t enjoy them.

The most interesting part of the day was when Dr. Wechsler shared his background with us. It was very interesting to hear how he made it as a professional musician. You could hear the excitement in his voice as he talked about he used to run from venue to venue and play shows. I never really thought about how local professional musicians made a living but hearing his stories really opened my eyes and shed light on a profession I didn’t know much about.

To top it off Dr. Wechsler performed a few pieces for us on the flute which were very impressive, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t more intrigued at his electric wind machine. It was something I had never seen before and made noises that I didn’t expect to hear come from a “musical instrument”, but it was a very interesting and I appreciated him showing me something I’d never seen before.

On Wednesday October 26th my classmates, and I had a guest professor name Professor Wechsler. He told us that he is a flute player and is a member of the Brooklyn Philharmonic. He showed us Betty Boop cartoons from the 1930s. They consisted of a cartoon flapper and songs. The songs were very strange, but catchy. He then told us about his career and how he got his start in music.He told us that he got his start in a New York City public school which struck a nerve with me because I am a firm believer in public education. He then said that sometimes in order to succeed sometime you must be in the right place at the right time. After speaking to us about this he played the flute for us. First he played a wooden flute, and then a metal flute to show us how the notes changed a bit. The strangest thing he did was play an electric flute which works almost like a computer. He said that you can change noises and save them on the device. This was really cool to see and hear because I did not think an electric flute actually existed.

Last class, Dr. Wechsler enlightened our class to some of the histories of the arts of New York. He began the class talking about topics that most of us knew very little about such as Tin Pan Alley, which was a popular hang our spot for songwriters. He spoke about Irving Berlin, most famously known for writing “God Bless America” and “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”. We spoke about the evolution of cartoons and the lack of restrictions the cartoons used to have. We watched two Betty Boop cartoons, “Just a Gigalo” and “Old Man of the Mountain”. The most interesting part of the class was when Dr. Wechsler told us his own story of how he achieved a successful music career. His story of how he became successful by “not following protocol” is something I’ll remember and carry with me though life. In addition, he played a few songs on his metal and electronic flutes. Besides the class, I’ve never seen his electronic flute before. I was thankful that he played it for us because from the moment the class started I wanted to know what I sounded like. While it had a very odd sound, it was enjoyable nonetheless.

Dr. Wechsler came in to teach our class instead of Dr. Kahan who was absent. He talked about music back in the day and the told us about the places song writers used to hang out in. (Tin Pan Alley and the Brill Building) Then, he introduced us to a few musicians I never knew about. He also talked about piano companies like Yamaha, Steinway, Baldwin, etc. Later on in the class, he showed us the cartoon Betty Boop, which I have to admit that I enjoyed. The clips were funny and interesting. Towards the end of the class, he played the flute for us. Some of the tunes he played were very interesting. Some sounded nice and there were also a few that were weird. Class with Dr. Wechsler was unique. He was telling us about his life and what he was currently doing for a living. I admire him for being able to do what he wanted to do because not a lot of people have the courage or ability to do that.

This week we had a professional flutist, Dr. Wechsler, as a substitute. He told us how he started a chamber choir that is half electronic and have standard which I think is pretty cool. He also spoke about places where song writers used to hang out in New York City, such as Tin Pan Alley and the Brill Building. Some people who used to hang out at the Brill Building were Barry Manilow, Carol King, and Neil Sedaka.

Organizations we learned about was American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), which was started by Morton Gould. Something I learned that day was that if there are works that have been copyrighted and are being produced, an organization such as American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) or Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) has to be contacted. This is because there is a fee that must be paid based on what is played.

During class, we watched several clips of Betty Boop, which were really funny to watch and Dr. Wechsler himself played the flute for us. First, he played with a metal flute, then he played with an electronic one which is called YAMAHA WX7. He let us here some of the sounds he made himself and I must say that a few of them sounded really weird, but at the same time, they sounded very unique.

This week Dr. Wechsler started class with teaching us about Irving Berlin, the creator of “God Bless America” and “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” as well as other creators such as Elvis and Martin Gould.  He then moved the discussion to iconic cartoons such as Betty Boop.  We watched “Just a Gigalo” and “Old Man of the Mountain.”  The discussion was about the changes in Betty Boop throughout history, such as the way she dressed and her background story.  He then moved on to talk about earning his doctorate through his extensive research on The Flute Club, a place for people to celebrate flute culture and express their passion for playing the flute.  He ended the class with a demonstration of original sounds his instrument could produce.  One of the sounds resembled a drum and he called it “Thump a Hump.”  This class was very interesting because we talked about a range of topics.

This weeks class was very interesting, we had a sub, Dr. Wechsler. What I enjoyed most about this class was that although he was spitting a lot of information at us, it was fairly interesting and he provided examples. At the start of class he talked to us about some of the big hang out spots for musicians back in the day. He said two of the spots were musicians hung out were Tin Pan Alley and later the Brill Building in the 50’s.  One thing that I found very interesting was that music stars used to be ran by piano companies because song writers wrote the songs, and music stores had people playing demonstrations in the piano stores. Some of the major piano companies he talked to us about were Steinway, Baldwin, Steinway, Yamaha, and Aeolian. After talking about music for some time we moved on to talking about the invention of the tv and the era of the singer songwriter in the 1960’s. DR. Weschler then showed us a two clips of “Betty Boop”. I enjoyed the mountain man episode with Cab Calloway because the song played at the beginning was very catchy. I thought both the clips were kind of cute and funny. He then began to talk to us about the haze code and how tv was starting to become censored. Towards the end of the class Dr. Weschler played a few pieces on his flute and then showed us electronic wind instrument, which was very cool.

This week in seminar we had a substitute, Dr. Wechsler, because our professor was unable to make it.  Dr. Wechsler started class by talking a lot about the history of music in New York City.  Dr. Wechsler is a professional musician so he is more than qualified to teach us about music and a lot of what he had to say was very insightful, especially when he talked about his experiences as a musician.  When discussing the history of music in New York City, Dr. Wechsler mentioned popular hot spots of musicians such as Tin Pan Alley and the Brill Building.  We also discussed how music has changed in the way it is both played and listened to as technology continues to become more advanced.  We also discussed organizations such as ASCAP and BMI, which are in charge of collecting royalties.  After our discussion about the history of music in New York City, Dr. Wechsler showed us a few Betty Boop cartoons and also played some older music, which I found enjoyable.  We ended class with Dr. Wechsler performing for us.  He played a few Bach pieces on his flute and then also played a few pieces on his wind synthesizer.  This was my first time hearing a live flutist and my first time hearing a wind synthesizer and I thought Dr. Wechsler showed off his great talent.  Dr. Wechsler also told us about his experiences as a musician and I found him to be very interesting throughout the class.  He discussed how difficult it is to be a musician, and that you really have to love it and work extremely hard to be a successful musician.

Dr. Wechler was teaching us a lot about older arts in NYC. He asked the class if we knew different artists, but a lot of us have never heard of them. The only thing that he had shown us was a Betty Boop cartoon which was weird, but also funny.

He was telling us about his life and how he was able to make a living in the music industry. He told us how he wasn’t the best when he was a kid, and how he improved his skills with his flute. He specifically told us how he was the best in the class, but that meant nothing because there were still so many people better than him. I related to that because in high school I was the best at the violin, but I knew for sure that I wasn’t good enough. So I’d still practice outside of school. The most important thing that he said was even though he doesn’t make the most money, he’s still very happy because he’s making money off of what he loves to do.

He also started playing music for us with his flute from Bach. I love playing music from Bach on my violin, and I can see that he was having fun playing the piece. Unfortunately even though I love playing classical music, I have don’t really enjoy it while i’m just listening to it.

At the end of class, he was playing his electronic flute with different effects. The amplifier was right in front of me, so I was getting the full sound of it vibrating in my body. When it’d screech, I’d just feel it in my body. To be honest the sound that it makes wasn’t really something that I’d like to listen to. Although there were particular sounds that were interesting like some Sci-Fi sounds. Other than that, I liked how he enjoyed playing it. It looks like a cool instrument that I’d want to play with.