What was that?! Was it a burp?
June 8, 2020 12:08 AM Subscribe
Classical flutist Heline reacts to hearing Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson for the first time. She later listens to Thick as a Brick, Bourée, Elegy, and Griminelli's Lament. [Previously]
Being classically trained is fine and all but I guess they don't teach that stadium-pleasing snort technique
posted by thelonius at 1:15 AM on June 8, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 1:15 AM on June 8, 2020 [7 favorites]
Thick as a Brick "listen to the whole song" Video length: 11:31.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:55 AM on June 8, 2020 [10 favorites]
posted by MartinWisse at 1:55 AM on June 8, 2020 [10 favorites]
My enjoyment of Jethro Tull has doubled simply by learning that the name of that band is pronounced "Yet-ro Tülle".
posted by chavenet at 2:35 AM on June 8, 2020 [22 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 2:35 AM on June 8, 2020 [22 favorites]
MetaFilter: OK, there is something I want to say about the pinky.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:45 AM on June 8, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:45 AM on June 8, 2020 [9 favorites]
>OK, there is something I want to say about the pinky.
But then, don't say it, because, is there a better cliffhanger than that? I'm stumped.
posted by SNACKeR at 4:29 AM on June 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
But then, don't say it, because, is there a better cliffhanger than that? I'm stumped.
posted by SNACKeR at 4:29 AM on June 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
Back in the 40s-60s, kids grew up hearing all kinds of different music—whatever was on the radio, or what their parents played, or were taught in stuffy British schools, etc‚— then grew up and became rock and roll musicians. I read in one interview, for instance, that one of Brian May's (of Queen) favorite vocalists was Doris Day. Kids grew up being taught classical or Gospel or country, or folk or whatever, and then became rock and rollers. It was rebellion against music they knew and liked or disliked. But it was different.
Today, kids are being taught how to play exactly like Led Zeppelin, or Rolling Stones or Fleetwood Mac, etc. Hell, today, some kids might exclusively only listen to one particular subcategory of Dubstep or Ska or Classic Rock. You can do that now easily. You can be as un-diverse in musical listening tastes as you want to be.
I think something is lost by teaching kids this way. People TRAIN to become rock musicians now, to sound and play exactly like some rock band from 40 years ago (or whatever).
Make your own damn music, you damn kids!
posted by SoberHighland at 5:10 AM on June 8, 2020 [7 favorites]
Today, kids are being taught how to play exactly like Led Zeppelin, or Rolling Stones or Fleetwood Mac, etc. Hell, today, some kids might exclusively only listen to one particular subcategory of Dubstep or Ska or Classic Rock. You can do that now easily. You can be as un-diverse in musical listening tastes as you want to be.
I think something is lost by teaching kids this way. People TRAIN to become rock musicians now, to sound and play exactly like some rock band from 40 years ago (or whatever).
Make your own damn music, you damn kids!
posted by SoberHighland at 5:10 AM on June 8, 2020 [7 favorites]
SoberHighland, you've clearly never heard [insert name of relatively popular band here].
posted by XtinaS at 6:07 AM on June 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by XtinaS at 6:07 AM on June 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
SoberHighland: "Today, kids are being taught how to play exactly like Led Zeppelin, or Rolling Stones or Fleetwood Mac, etc. "
You mean they're studying classical music?
posted by chavenet at 6:22 AM on June 8, 2020 [10 favorites]
You mean they're studying classical music?
posted by chavenet at 6:22 AM on June 8, 2020 [10 favorites]
I enjoyed the main link well enough, so I appreciate the post, but I gotta say I still don't get the popularity of reaction videos. Heline said a few really interesting things and sounded like she'd have a lot more to say had she been able to digest and reflect on the video for a while, but instead we mostly get to see her just listening, making a few amusing faces at certain moments, seemingly purposefully over-selling some of the reactions just so they'd better translate to the viewer, as appears to be standard for these kinds of videos, and them saying how she doesn't know quite what to say a lot.
I get the enjoyment in watching someone see something you like as it happens to some extent, as the "reaction shot" is a key element of so many movies and shows, a notable death, for example, isn't sold until we get to see the main characters react to it, but is that really more interesting than having someone watch the video and then break down what they took from it after some thought where there's more than the audience getting spoon fed emotions without explanation? Maybe I'm the odd one for not really having big reactions when I see even really enjoyable things, but these kinds of videos just seem strange to me.
posted by gusottertrout at 6:56 AM on June 8, 2020 [9 favorites]
I get the enjoyment in watching someone see something you like as it happens to some extent, as the "reaction shot" is a key element of so many movies and shows, a notable death, for example, isn't sold until we get to see the main characters react to it, but is that really more interesting than having someone watch the video and then break down what they took from it after some thought where there's more than the audience getting spoon fed emotions without explanation? Maybe I'm the odd one for not really having big reactions when I see even really enjoyable things, but these kinds of videos just seem strange to me.
posted by gusottertrout at 6:56 AM on June 8, 2020 [9 favorites]
My enjoyment of Jethro Tull has doubled simply by learning that the name of that band is pronounced "Yet-ro Tülle".
iirc, this is how they got that name: they were unable to ever get a second gig, after venues got a taste of the room-clearing blues /rock murk that they served up in their early days; so, their manager started making up new band names for every booking. The first time they got called back, he had used "Jethro Tull".
posted by thelonius at 7:20 AM on June 8, 2020 [10 favorites]
iirc, this is how they got that name: they were unable to ever get a second gig, after venues got a taste of the room-clearing blues /rock murk that they served up in their early days; so, their manager started making up new band names for every booking. The first time they got called back, he had used "Jethro Tull".
posted by thelonius at 7:20 AM on June 8, 2020 [10 favorites]
I enjoyed the main link well enough, so I appreciate the post, but I gotta say I still don't get the popularity of reaction videos.
I always took them to be kind of for milking clicks from old rock dudes; at least, many of them seem to be of the genre "these young hip-hop guys affirm that metal/Rush/Eric Johnson/whatever is actually pretty great".
posted by thelonius at 7:32 AM on June 8, 2020 [4 favorites]
I always took them to be kind of for milking clicks from old rock dudes; at least, many of them seem to be of the genre "these young hip-hop guys affirm that metal/Rush/Eric Johnson/whatever is actually pretty great".
posted by thelonius at 7:32 AM on June 8, 2020 [4 favorites]
She gets to the pinkey eventually.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:06 AM on June 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:06 AM on June 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
Do Finns generally pronounce B like P
I admit that "Thick As A Prick" is a much better title
posted by The otter lady at 8:10 AM on June 8, 2020 [6 favorites]
I admit that "Thick As A Prick" is a much better title
posted by The otter lady at 8:10 AM on June 8, 2020 [6 favorites]
I don't get most reaction videos, but I do watch them sometimes, if only to find gems like these two reacting to Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus, especially at minute 6:34 when Cyrus kicks in.
Also, tbh, I do enjoy seeing cultural crossovers, like that same team (Lost in Vegas) doing a reaction to an assessment of, say, Led Zeppelin.
posted by XtinaS at 8:22 AM on June 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Also, tbh, I do enjoy seeing cultural crossovers, like that same team (Lost in Vegas) doing a reaction to an assessment of, say, Led Zeppelin.
posted by XtinaS at 8:22 AM on June 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Make your own damn music, you damn kids!
I mean you know that Zepplin has a history of literally stealing music from older artists? And that close to 25% of The Beatles (for example) early work is cover tunes?
And so by learning how to play like Led Zepplin or The Beatles, they are basically learning how to play like even older artists.
Circle of life man.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:58 AM on June 8, 2020 [9 favorites]
I mean you know that Zepplin has a history of literally stealing music from older artists? And that close to 25% of The Beatles (for example) early work is cover tunes?
And so by learning how to play like Led Zepplin or The Beatles, they are basically learning how to play like even older artists.
Circle of life man.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:58 AM on June 8, 2020 [9 favorites]
I enjoyed the main link well enough, so I appreciate the post, but I gotta say I still don't get the popularity of reaction videos.
I got into them for a while until their ubiquity got rather tiring. For me, the appeal was watching someone hear for the first time something I loved, but over time, had become complacent about. So, in watching them react, it was akin to hearing said song for the first time again -- all the changes and surprises.
I loved it. For a while.
posted by philip-random at 9:09 AM on June 8, 2020 [4 favorites]
I got into them for a while until their ubiquity got rather tiring. For me, the appeal was watching someone hear for the first time something I loved, but over time, had become complacent about. So, in watching them react, it was akin to hearing said song for the first time again -- all the changes and surprises.
I loved it. For a while.
posted by philip-random at 9:09 AM on June 8, 2020 [4 favorites]
Metafilter: She gets to the pinkey eventually.
posted by mule98J at 9:18 AM on June 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by mule98J at 9:18 AM on June 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
I got into them for a while until their ubiquity got rather tiring.
Clearly, what you need is videos of people reacting to reaction videos for the first time.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:26 AM on June 8, 2020 [7 favorites]
Clearly, what you need is videos of people reacting to reaction videos for the first time.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:26 AM on June 8, 2020 [7 favorites]
It was amusing that she could hear and parse a lot of what Anderson was doing, but the addition of reverb (and a little delay?) during his solo just totally confused her ears, because she couldn't quite figure out how he was getting the flute to do that. Which is a hilarious deaf spot (if you will) that so many concert musicians I know have: because they've don't really work with audio equipment, live sound processing is a complete mystery to them.
(I suspect she was thinking that he was playing some pretty sophisticated multi-phonics, which was why she looked confused at one point and said 'I need to go get my flute,' because most multi-phonic techniques/fingerings for the flute weren't yet developed in the mid-1970s, so if it were all acoustic effects from his flute, Anderson would've been a decade or so ahead of the rest of the professional flute-playing community and I'll stop here because this is way too much detail....)
posted by LooseFilter at 9:27 AM on June 8, 2020 [23 favorites]
(I suspect she was thinking that he was playing some pretty sophisticated multi-phonics, which was why she looked confused at one point and said 'I need to go get my flute,' because most multi-phonic techniques/fingerings for the flute weren't yet developed in the mid-1970s, so if it were all acoustic effects from his flute, Anderson would've been a decade or so ahead of the rest of the professional flute-playing community and I'll stop here because this is way too much detail....)
posted by LooseFilter at 9:27 AM on June 8, 2020 [23 favorites]
And so by learning how to play like Led Zepplin or The Beatles, they are basically learning how to play like even older artists.
Reminds me of a Robert Plant interview from a while back in which he voiced his frustration at Led Zeppelin soundalikes. The problem for him was that (as Soberhighland put it already) Led Zeppelin's sound didn't just happen. It evolved out of all the stuff they'd ever listened to (old blues, early rock and roll, soul, doo wop, classical, music hall, various folk musics), not to mention the stuff they were currently (circa 1969) excited about exploring (Middle Eastern stuff, other "world" musics), whereas the people aping them were at best, just using that stuff as adornments, completely missing the depth inherent in doing a prolonged dive into (for instance) Irish folk traditions.
As a counter example, Plant said he preferred what he was currently hearing come out of the hip hop realm, where a Led Zeppelin sample might crash into a James Brown riff, and some background vocal wailing from an old gospel record. That stuff had dimension.
posted by philip-random at 9:47 AM on June 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
Reminds me of a Robert Plant interview from a while back in which he voiced his frustration at Led Zeppelin soundalikes. The problem for him was that (as Soberhighland put it already) Led Zeppelin's sound didn't just happen. It evolved out of all the stuff they'd ever listened to (old blues, early rock and roll, soul, doo wop, classical, music hall, various folk musics), not to mention the stuff they were currently (circa 1969) excited about exploring (Middle Eastern stuff, other "world" musics), whereas the people aping them were at best, just using that stuff as adornments, completely missing the depth inherent in doing a prolonged dive into (for instance) Irish folk traditions.
As a counter example, Plant said he preferred what he was currently hearing come out of the hip hop realm, where a Led Zeppelin sample might crash into a James Brown riff, and some background vocal wailing from an old gospel record. That stuff had dimension.
posted by philip-random at 9:47 AM on June 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
If this lady is so overwhelmed by a little bit of reverb, and her reaction to Jethro Tull is so much "oh what's happening?" well, her music education about jazz, hip-hop, and experimental music is...shamefully lacking.
posted by daisystomper at 10:06 AM on June 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by daisystomper at 10:06 AM on June 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
I was a Tull fan for years until I saw them live. Anderson's posturing, snorting and running around pretending the flute was his dick got old in about 3 minutes. I was surprised because I respected them for making interesting and original music, but I guess the posturing is what sells the group.
posted by sneebler at 10:55 AM on June 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by sneebler at 10:55 AM on June 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
her music education about jazz, hip-hop, and experimental music is...shamefully lacking.
Given that every human being on the planet is ignorant about vast swaths of music, I would only call that lack shameful if she were purporting to be a jazz or hip-hop musician (...and even then...I would not be astonished to discover an entire jazz subculture ignorant of reverb...)
posted by straight at 11:24 AM on June 8, 2020 [5 favorites]
Given that every human being on the planet is ignorant about vast swaths of music, I would only call that lack shameful if she were purporting to be a jazz or hip-hop musician (...and even then...I would not be astonished to discover an entire jazz subculture ignorant of reverb...)
posted by straight at 11:24 AM on June 8, 2020 [5 favorites]
(clutches Rudy Van Gelder LPs in cold, dead hands)
posted by thelonius at 11:29 AM on June 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 11:29 AM on June 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
Back in the 40s-60s, kids grew up hearing all kinds of different music
The claim that kids today don't listen to music as diverse as the kids did in the 1950s does not match my experience at all. Just the YouTube recommendations my kids get are probably more diverse than the entire radio dial from my childhood.
posted by straight at 11:30 AM on June 8, 2020 [13 favorites]
The claim that kids today don't listen to music as diverse as the kids did in the 1950s does not match my experience at all. Just the YouTube recommendations my kids get are probably more diverse than the entire radio dial from my childhood.
posted by straight at 11:30 AM on June 8, 2020 [13 favorites]
It was amusing that she could hear and parse a lot of what Anderson was doing, but the addition of reverb (and a little delay?) during his solo just totally confused her ears
Not sure where you’re getting that. She specifically mentions the delay.
Do Finns generally pronounce B like P
Generally, yes. Finnish doesn’t have a lot of native consonants (even “Finnish” itself is a wacky foreign word, I’m sure invented by Swedes just to mess with them), so the approximations can be really fun! It’s not a problem 99.9% of the time, but that 0.1% can be a real doozy.
posted by Sys Rq at 1:15 PM on June 8, 2020 [4 favorites]
Not sure where you’re getting that. She specifically mentions the delay.
Do Finns generally pronounce B like P
Generally, yes. Finnish doesn’t have a lot of native consonants (even “Finnish” itself is a wacky foreign word, I’m sure invented by Swedes just to mess with them), so the approximations can be really fun! It’s not a problem 99.9% of the time, but that 0.1% can be a real doozy.
posted by Sys Rq at 1:15 PM on June 8, 2020 [4 favorites]
Re: "thick as a prick", /b/ is a marginal component of the Finnish sound system, appearing only in loanwords.
edit: loljinx
posted by Earthtopus at 1:17 PM on June 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
edit: loljinx
posted by Earthtopus at 1:17 PM on June 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
Make your own damn music, you damn kids!
"Why can't they be more like we were,
Perfect in every way,
What's the matter with kids today?"
I mean seriously, metafilter: come for the interesting music video, stay for the hot takes from guys who have no idea what the youth are up to.
posted by happyroach at 1:19 PM on June 8, 2020 [6 favorites]
"Why can't they be more like we were,
Perfect in every way,
What's the matter with kids today?"
I mean seriously, metafilter: come for the interesting music video, stay for the hot takes from guys who have no idea what the youth are up to.
posted by happyroach at 1:19 PM on June 8, 2020 [6 favorites]
I was a Tull fan for years until I saw them live. Anderson's posturing, snorting and running around pretending the flute was his dick got old in about 3 minutes.
He may have toned that down in later years. Anyway, I don't recall much of it from when I saw them, on "The Broadsword And The Beast" tour. What I remember is, the stage set had like the prow of a ship on it, and the show opened with Martin Barre up on the top, fucking shredding, with a spotlight on him!
I was about 15, so it is also possible that I just thought everything Anderson did was just how Rock Gods were supposed to do. I was a big Tull fan in those days. I loved albums like "War Child" and "Too Old To Rock and Roll, Too Young To Die", that even most of the fandom considered to be sub-par.
posted by thelonius at 1:22 PM on June 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
He may have toned that down in later years. Anyway, I don't recall much of it from when I saw them, on "The Broadsword And The Beast" tour. What I remember is, the stage set had like the prow of a ship on it, and the show opened with Martin Barre up on the top, fucking shredding, with a spotlight on him!
I was about 15, so it is also possible that I just thought everything Anderson did was just how Rock Gods were supposed to do. I was a big Tull fan in those days. I loved albums like "War Child" and "Too Old To Rock and Roll, Too Young To Die", that even most of the fandom considered to be sub-par.
posted by thelonius at 1:22 PM on June 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
SoberHighland, you've clearly never heard [insert name of relatively popular band here].
I got into them for a while until their ubiquity got rather tiring
posted by Transylvania Metro Android Castle at 4:45 PM on June 8, 2020 [5 favorites]
I got into them for a while until their ubiquity got rather tiring
posted by Transylvania Metro Android Castle at 4:45 PM on June 8, 2020 [5 favorites]
I'd like to hear what she says about Rahsaan, esp. if she saw him working 3-4 horns at once.
posted by Saxon Kane at 6:41 PM on June 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Saxon Kane at 6:41 PM on June 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
I like how in the "Thick as a Brick" video, she said she was terrified for the flute. I'm also not that into reaction videos except for the Lost in Vegas guys. I'm not sure when reaction videos became a thing but they are entertaining. I love their reactions to classic rocks songs, especially Black Sabbath.
posted by perhapses at 6:56 PM on June 8, 2020
posted by perhapses at 6:56 PM on June 8, 2020
They are only entertaining if the reaction is extreme, and that gets tiring fast.
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:06 PM on June 8, 2020
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:06 PM on June 8, 2020
thelonius: "iirc, this is how they got that name: they were unable to ever get a second gig, after venues got a taste of the room-clearing blues /rock murk that they served up in their early days; so, their manager started making up new band names for every booking. The first time they got called back, he had used "Jethro Tull"."
Jethro Tull was a real guy, fwiw.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:19 PM on June 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
Jethro Tull was a real guy, fwiw.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:19 PM on June 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
Anyway, I don't recall much of it from when I saw them, on "The Broadsword And The Beast" tour. What I remember is, the stage set had like the prow of a ship on it, and the show opened with Martin Barre up on the top, fucking shredding, with a spotlight on him!
I was about 15, so it is also possible that I just thought everything Anderson did was just how Rock Gods were supposed to do.
for me, it was the same basic thing, same age, but some years earlier. 1975. The War Child tour which opened with all manner of stage magic, the band being revealed one at a time via flashpot explosions. Guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and finally Mr. Anderson pursuing all manner of innuendo, rudeness, flute abuse ... but it was the pre-punk 1970s so such male rock fantasies were pretty much expected. At least, Tull seemed to have a sense of playing the court jesters, sneering at the lords and ladies, calling the down "the bloody Church of England in chains of history". They previewed Minstrel in the Gallery that night, which is very much an examination of all that, so it all felt pretty conscious.
But what do I know? I was fifteen.
posted by philip-random at 9:46 PM on June 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
I was about 15, so it is also possible that I just thought everything Anderson did was just how Rock Gods were supposed to do.
for me, it was the same basic thing, same age, but some years earlier. 1975. The War Child tour which opened with all manner of stage magic, the band being revealed one at a time via flashpot explosions. Guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and finally Mr. Anderson pursuing all manner of innuendo, rudeness, flute abuse ... but it was the pre-punk 1970s so such male rock fantasies were pretty much expected. At least, Tull seemed to have a sense of playing the court jesters, sneering at the lords and ladies, calling the down "the bloody Church of England in chains of history". They previewed Minstrel in the Gallery that night, which is very much an examination of all that, so it all felt pretty conscious.
But what do I know? I was fifteen.
posted by philip-random at 9:46 PM on June 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
Jethro Tull was a real guy, fwiw.
Yes he was! But the anecdote about the band name is real too.
posted by thelonius at 10:36 PM on June 8, 2020
Yes he was! But the anecdote about the band name is real too.
posted by thelonius at 10:36 PM on June 8, 2020
They are only entertaining if the reaction is extreme, and that gets tiring fast.
It just occurred to me that reaction videos are basically online language migrating to real life; emojis made flesh. The way communication evolves is weird and fascinating.
posted by gusottertrout at 11:15 PM on June 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
It just occurred to me that reaction videos are basically online language migrating to real life; emojis made flesh. The way communication evolves is weird and fascinating.
posted by gusottertrout at 11:15 PM on June 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
Jethro Tull was a real guy, fwiw.
His story is told here.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:31 AM on June 9, 2020 [2 favorites]
His story is told here.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:31 AM on June 9, 2020 [2 favorites]
thank you.
posted by philip-random at 8:08 AM on June 9, 2020
posted by philip-random at 8:08 AM on June 9, 2020
I enjoyed the main link well enough, so I appreciate the post, but I gotta say I still don't get the popularity of reaction videos.
Yeah, I was a bit unimpressed with these particular ones as well. Ian Anderson has been playing the flute longer than you've been alive, lady, he doesn't need your validation or you to correct him on how he plays it.
What would've been more interesting would be her more going into how he does what he does without the bemused/surprised faces.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:33 AM on June 10, 2020
Yeah, I was a bit unimpressed with these particular ones as well. Ian Anderson has been playing the flute longer than you've been alive, lady, he doesn't need your validation or you to correct him on how he plays it.
What would've been more interesting would be her more going into how he does what he does without the bemused/surprised faces.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:33 AM on June 10, 2020
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posted by nicolin at 12:55 AM on June 8, 2020 [6 favorites]