College of Liberal Arts School of Arts and Communication

DIFFUSIONS [12] A MUSIC TECHNOLOGY ABOUT DIFFUSIONS

This event is our fourth virtual concert since the pandemic began. The content for many of the previous virtual Diffusions was created by solo artists. This term, I tasked students in MTP program to collaborate with two to three of their classmates to make an original composition. The concert this evening features thirteen collaborative pieces by thirty-seven artists. Diffusions is a end-of-term concert series in the music technology and production area at OSU. The concert is composed, performed, and produced by students and faculty in the program. The Diffusions series began in Fall 2017. - Dr. Jason Fick (Coordinator of Music Technology) MUSIC TECHNOLOGY & PRODUCTION

The OSU Music Technology and Production program focuses on providing students with the multidisciplinary skill set necessary to navigate today’s music industry. Courses are rooted in performance, creation, technical operation and interdisciplinary collaboration involving music technology. Students get hands-on experience with the latest industry standard equipment, collaborate with peers and faculty to create new and innovative music projects, and craft a diverse portfolio with faculty and industry mentors in order to prepare for a career in the music industry.

Faculty include Dr. Jason Fick and Aaron Barnhart. PROGRAM [spring 2021]

Honest Cooper Mitchell and Bobby Harris

Peachy Garrett Bergerson and Lana Carey

Wait Chris Deleon, Zachary “Khord” Mamis and Blake McEwen

Music: A Love Story Aaron “Buddy” Anderson, Joshua Phillips and Tristan MacLean

Cold Demetrius Hunter, Jeremy Haney and Hans Bunyi

Changes Ray De La Torres Bustos, “Luke” Hong Zheng and Jasmine Lumpkin

Trip Around the Void Ibrahim Syed, Matt Gilberts and Parris Buffalochief

Drifting in Space Dylan Schillinger, Dylan Baumer and Wyatt Arnsdorf

Desolation Nicholas Whiteman, Sam Brimhall and Garrett Brown

Clueless Ambrose Calcagno and Josh Hiwatashi

Irrelevant Alissa Liu, Megan Reynolds, Brianna JL Graves and Drew Corrado

School’s Out Caden Buck, Austin Cassanova and Will Havnaer

Memories Liam Hull, Andrew Brandenfels and Mack Castañeda PROGRAM NOTES [from the musicians]

Honest

Often, music is just a collection of ideas.

Written and recorded by Cooper Mitchell, mastered by Bobby Harris. Video by Cooper Mitchell.

Peachy

It’s easy to be peachy if you get the luxury to ignore signs of systemic inequality and violence, if you get to burrow in the positioning you’re afforded.

I feel like an anti-hero when I hide in my luxury and self interest. At times I let placebos bandage bad shit in the world around me and I think it’s unhelpful for the betterment of society. The best time for our country to change was centuries ago, the next best time is now. Taking inspiration from artists speaking on systemic issues rooted in our culture like “Noname,” this track portrays the pendulum-like movement between ignorance and manifestations of these issues. How peachy.

Wait

[no notes provided]

Music: A Love Story

This is a laid back, lo-fi, hip-hop beat track. The music and video work hand in hand to convey our love of music, no matter the genre or style. We hope that our love of music will be contagious and others who listen will feel that as well.

Cold

We took the concept of heartbreak and being cheated on, and took the approach of telling the story through the eyes of a few different people. In order to convey our message, each group member incorporated their own flare and style and brought it into this piece. This allows for multiple voices and perspectives to come together and address the harm of infidelity and emotional distress on the side of victims of betrayal.

CREDITS > Vocals: Hans Bunyi, Demetrius Hunter, Jeremy Haney > Lyrics (chorus): Hans Bunyi > Lyrics (verse 1): Jeremy Haney > Lyrics: (verse 2): Demetrius Hunter > Mixing: Demetrius Hunter

[notes continued]

Changes

This song was written in an effort to acknowledge the vast amount of change that has befallen the world in the last 15 months. The different styles of represent the people all over the world and the way in which they view our world today. The hope to express the common overwhelming feeling of loss and utter disruption that has befallen everyone in an effort to show that none is alone in their feelings of the loss of normalcy in their lives.

Trip Around the Void

This track is a collaboration aiming to blend the styles of house, , and ambient rock. Different parts of the composition were recorded and arranged in Ableton, Logic, and FL Studio, and then each section was combined in a final mix and master.

Drifting in Space

“Drifting in Space” combines the talents of Dylan Schillinger, Dylan Baumer and Wyatt Arnsdorf. Fused together are Schillinger’s knowledge of DAWs, Baumer’s vocal production expertise and Arnsdorf’s skill at guitar and mixing. Part nostalgia and part reverie, we hope that this piece will inspire you and transport you to the Milky Way.

Desolation

“Desolation” was written by Nick, Garrett and Sam after they got together over a shared enjoyment of electronic . They decided to take a stab at writing dubstep together, and combined their sounds into one coherent piece using Ableton Live and FL Studio. The result is this gnarly piece you’ll hear in the key of G minor, with a dark sound, hard basses and even a taste of trap. The piece is aided by cool visual effects made by Nick around his iconic clock, complementing the piece magnificently. Hope you enjoy!

Clueless

Melt into your seat and stare off into the distance as Joshua Hiwatashi (vocals) guides you down a sonic river. Bask in the summer heat, slowly floating past the unknown problems planted on the riverbank. And find solace in the shade, where we take a moment to breathe and reflect on our lives until now. “Clueless” aims to capture the melancholic moment found on a summer’s day. How can we continue feeling negative on a beautiful day like today. How are we supposed to enjoy the sun when we have so many things blocking our view? [notes continued]

Irrelevant

During the early collaborative progress, we found ourselves drawn to a strong, confident vibe and really just ran with it. We knew early on that we wanted to create a song that combined all of our own specific interests in music. This is shown through a mixture of classically orchestrated motifs blended together with the up-front, bold style of rap music today. The group took inspiration from artists such as Megan Thee Stallion, Eminem, Beethoven, Mosley Wotta and more. As for the lyrics, we tried to embody a strong sense of femininity and power. One of the key phrases we used throughout this process was ‘you go hard, we go harder’. As we are living in a pandemic, we have seen instances where people have done crazy things in their own home and one-upped each other over social media. With a mix of the lyrics that connect to the instrumental structure, but each part of the song meaning something different or irrelevant to the theme of ‘you go hard, we go harder’, that was how we came up with our title.

School’s Out

“School’s Out” is a fun, laid-back track meant to embody its own title: school is out and you can finally let loose. We created a track full of bright sounding synths and bells, smooth guitar loops, and mellow bass lines that evoke feelings of a warm summer evening, mixed with hard hitting beats that remind you of the feelings of hanging out with friends, partying, and forgetting about your responsibilities just for a night. These two ideas play back and forth with each other until the end of the track, where it falls into a half time outro section when the night is finally winding down to an end. So kick back, grab a cold drink, and forget about your worries for a few minutes.

Memories

Our main ideas stemmed from writing about how much quarantine has affected us all this past year, and using the pandemic as a metaphor for a toxic past relationship. With the lyrics “I miss the fresh air, I’m sick of sitting inside”, in the first verse as to how we all felt a year ago today stuck inside our houses. In the second verse “You haven’t grown up”, we reminisced on how the paradigm shift of the pandemic had not changed and continued to be a problem in our lives today. However, we have all grown in a year and are working on ourselves. We also wanted to end with a positive message to go find yourself.

CREDITS > Liam Hull: songwriting, vocals, guitar > Mack Castañeda: songwriting, piano, backing vocals > Andrew Brandenfels: songwriting, production, mix & mastering

College of Liberal Arts · School of Arts and Communication Music Technology and Production Program 101 Community Hall · Corvallis, Oregon | Dr. Jason Fick (Coordinator) liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/musictechnology