Thanksgiving

Hey! It’s me again. As many of you may know, today is Thanksgiving. As such, I’m going to tell you some of the things I am thankful for. This is by no means a comprehensive list; it’s just the things I’m feeling especially grateful for this Thanksgiving.
(In no particular order:)

My Family
Ask anyone what they’re most thankful for and this will probably be the first answer you get from most people. But really, I am grateful for my family.
Dad: Dad is great. He always knows exactly what to say when I am having troubles. He knows a lot of things, and is always willing to lend a hand to anyone, whether he knows them or not. He has a very strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and is a great example to me.
Mom: Mom is great too. She has always been there to help me fulfill my dreams, and it seems she’s done a pretty good job of it. I shudder to think where my life would be without my mother. She’s a great cook too, and I always enjoy coming home for dinner.
I could not have asked for better parents. While I know they aren’t perfect, they’re pretty darn close.
Kristen: Kristen is my older sister. We are pretty close in age, and we have a lot of similar views. I feel like I can talk to Kristen about anything. She has had many of the same experiences I am having, and is always willing to give good advice. She really is one of my best friends.
Marissa: Marissa is my oldest younger sister. She’s pretty cool. She always has funny stories, and is overall very entertaining. She gets weird at night, and goes into random laughing fits. She is kind to everyone, and is very uplifting to me, and to many others, I’m sure.
Brielle: Brielle is my youngest sister. She is so sweet. She loves to make me cards and draw me pictures, and she likes to do puzzles and play games with me. It’s fun to watch her grow up and learn things.



Monica
There is so much I could say about Monica, but in the interest of keeping this post from turning into a novel, I’ll try to keep it short. Monica is an amazing young lady who I’m privileged to have as part of my life. I am grateful for all the experiences and good times we’ve shared. Monica has helped me to learn so much about love, about life, and about myself. This Thanksgiving, I’m especially thankful for my beautiful Monica.


The Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Atonement
I’m thankful I know the truth about why we are here on this earth, and how we can return to our Heavenly Father. I’m thankful for the chance I have every day to repent of my sins and be clean through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I’m thankful for personal revelation and the chance I have to pray for guidance in my life.

Education
I’m thankful for the education I have, and for the education I’m continuing to get at Brigham Young University. I learn many new things every day, and I’m very thankful for that.

Music
I love music. I love listening to music. I love making music. I love learning about music. I’m thankful for all the music I love and the influence it has had on my life. I'm also very grateful for my music teachers.

That's all for now. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Why do people dislike metal?

The other day, on the bus, I heard two people talking about music. For whatever reason, the subject of metal came up in their conversation. (Keep in mind; I’m not a part of this conversation. I’m just listening.) They both quickly agreed that “screamo”¹ is terrible to listen to, and “isn’t even music.” As a musician, this statement hurts me. It hurts somewhere deep inside. Anything can be considered music. Even silence, in its own way, can be musical at times. If you don’t believe me, look up John Cage and his musical philosophies.²

My mission today is to explore the different reasons people give of why they don’t like metal, hopefully dispel some myths, and open some peoples’ minds, eyes, and ears.

I’ll start off by introducing some good American Metalcore, so we all know what I’m talking about. This song (When Darkness Falls, by Killswitch Engage) was the first real metalcore song I ever heard. I looked it up at the request of a friend, and it caught my attention. The style has grown on me ever since that day.




There ya go. Hopefully you listened to it all the way through.

Screamed Vocals
The first response I get whenever I share any bit of metal with any of my friends (with a few notable exceptions) is, “I don’t like all the screaming.”
Why does this seem to be such a big and immediate turn-off for most people?
The vocals of a song are usually the most noticeable part, especially for non-musicians. People without experience playing an instrument may not be able to appreciate complicated instrumental work in any kind of music as fully as someone with more background and experience in that area. On the other hand, everyone has vocal chords. Everyone can appreciate speech and singing on some level.
So, what is it about the screaming that people don’t like? If you ask them, you’ll get an answer, but I don’t think it’s a correct one.
“I can’t understand the words.”
It’s true. Sometimes the lyrics can be a bit tricky to decipher without a written copy, especially if you’re not used to listening closely. However, I don’t think this is the real reason. Take this example:




Unless you speak Italian, which I assume most of you do not, then the lyrical meaning of this song will be completely lost on you. Nevertheless, I am confident that for all of you, even if this is not your music of choice, can agree that this was enjoyable to listen to, even if just for 30 seconds.
So the lyrics aren’t it… what else could it be?

I know if I was to ask my dad (and maybe he’ll read this), he would say, “It doesn’t sound musical.” What he is referring to, I believe, is the lack of melody in the vocal part. Howard (the vocalist for Killswitch Engage) does a great job of mixing high and low screams. Hopefully you noticed that. However, it’s usually not something you end up singing for the rest of the day. To my dad, if you can’t hum along, then it isn’t musical.³ Check this out.





I think we can all agree that this still falls under the category of “music”. Try humming along to it though. You can’t.
Also, I think it’s important to note that metal does have melodic and harmonic content. The truth of the matter is that it’s just not present in the vocal part, which is where people usually look for it. Try looking elsewhere:





You can’t deny that has melodic content. It’s just in the guitar part instead of the vocal part. (This excerpt has no vocal part in it, for the benefit of those who have a hard time hearing the underlying parts when vocals are present.)

Timbre
Timbre (pronounced tam-ber) usually refers to the quality of a musical sound. It’s what makes a D on a piano sound different from a D on a cello, even though it’s the same pitch. Metal bands each have their own timbre, but they’re all related. That’s what makes them into a genre. A screaming vocalist is an extremely distinct element of this that isn’t really found anywhere else. Metal tends to have a harsh timbre compared to other genres of music. Perhaps the answer to “why do people dislike metal?” is that they simply don’t enjoy the timbre, just as some people don’t enjoy clarinets or trumpets.

Lack of Musical Background
As I mentioned earlier, everybody has vocal chords. Everyone can relate to singing. However, very few people can (or want to) relate to screaming. Screaming is something we generally only do when we’re angry or threatened, which hopefully isn’t too often. Plus, it’s screaming the way these guys do is very difficult to do well. If you don’t believe me, try it.
So once the vocalist is screaming, people that don’t normally listen to metal no longer have the element they’re most used to focusing on.
What’s left? If you can’t understand the words, the voice becomes another instrument instead of something “special.” Many people simply haven’t ever tried listening to and appreciating purely instrumental music and so they lose interest.


I’m sure I haven’t completely nailed down the reasons why people don’t like metal. It’s most likely a combination of several factors. I have so much more I would like to say, about the good points of metal, and about why people shouldn’t judge other people based on their musical preferences, no matter what they may be. But for the sake of you, my readers, I’ll leave those subjects alone for now.
Hopefully your viewpoint will be broadened and you will see this music in a new light. Hopefully you will realize that metal is music, and a very valid form of music at that.
Please leave your comments.

-Trevor




Footnotes:
1 Screamo, in reality, is a completely different thing. The wide majority of people don’t know the difference between screamo and metal, so they label anything that includes a screaming vocalist “screamo.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screamo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_metal

2 http://leesean.net/2009/04/04/a-brief-overview-of-john-cages-musical-philosophy/

3 Sorry for picking on you, Dad. Please don’t take it personally. It’s just for the sake of relevant example. :)

This song hit me today. I've included an mp3 for those who wish to listen to the song. However, most of you will probably prefer to just read the lyrics.



"Crusades"

I used to be so young and invincible.
The mistakes of my youth are finally catching up to me.
The face that stares back in the mirror
Should carry nothing but pride.
As the days go by, it's getting harder to hold my head up high.
I've never been so tired, I've never felt so weak,
But I swear to you, I swear to you that I'm not giving up.
Never been so tired, never felt so weak
My storied life is coming to a graceful descent.
Descend.

I see peace end and battles begin.
I won't forget the lives I touched.
I won't forget the life I know.

As the days go by, it's getting harder to hold my head up high.

I used to think I'd last forever.

Forever.

I'm praying for the light to just carry me away.

Say goodnight. Say goodbye.

This is my time to be with my Lord.

High Uintas

This past week, I had the opportunity to go backpacking/hiking in the Uintas with my dad, my uncle Ken, my uncle Mike, and my cousin Robbie. The original plan was to leave Wednesday, but Ken and Mike thought we were going to leave Thursday. Dad and I decided we wanted to leave Wednesday, even without the rest of the crew. Unfortunately, we left a lot later than we had hoped, and even with my speedy driving skills, it was about 7:00 before we hit the trail. We hoped to get to Everman Lake before setting up camp (about 6 miles in), but after the sun went down, it became very difficult to make good time. My flashlight didn't really work, and I couldn't find the extra batteries in my pack. We decided to stop and make camp for the night. Dad found a place about 10 feet from the trail, and we set up there, even though we were supposed to camp at least 200 feet from the trail. We had our dinner (which was actually quite tasty), set up the tent, hung our food in a tree, and went to sleep. The plan was to wake up early and do some fishing before meeting Ken and the rest of the gang at "The Junction"--the place where the trail split and you decide whether you want to go to Everman Lake or Pigeon Milk Spring.

As it turns out, we slept instead of fishing, and got a late start going back to meet Ken, but we contacted him on the short-range radio and we decided to camp at Everman instead of Pigeon Milk. So, instead of hiking all the way down, Dad and I just waited for everyone else to catch up to us. We hiked the rest of the way to Everman (Dad and I hadn't quite made it the night before), set up camp, and slept. Who knew carrying a 45-pound pack up and down rugged terrain could be so tiring?

Anyway, we woke up and went fishing at some lake nearby. Apparently Everman lake has no good fishing. Friday was the fun day. We saw a freshwater spring on the map, and it appeared to be near to where we were camped, so we went searching for it. After a bit of hiking and scaling a couple of rock cliffs, we finally found it. It was so good. Those of you who have never been backpacking probably don't understand how much of a pain it is to filter water, and how great it is to just dip your bottle into the flowing water and fill it within seconds. After sitting there for a while, we went on our way to Pigeon Milk Spring. Friday was full of "bushwhacking": going places without taking a trail--a shortcut of sorts. We probably hiked about 8 miles total on Friday, and only about one of those miles was on an official trail. Anyway, after bushwhacking over to Pigeon Milk and eating lunch, we went on our way to Four Lakes Basin. We fished at one of the lakes, and left when it started pouring rain.

The rest of the trip was very wet. It rained for probably 4-5 hours that night, and got our shoes and socks all wet. Hiking out the next day was a joy...

Overall, it was a very great and fun trip, although the "Giles Curse" continues... neither my dad nor I caught a single fish during the whole week. We returned home, tired, blistered, dirty, and very sore. Thank goodness for Monica, who is willing to rub some of the soreness out of my shoulders.

It's good to be home.

Good lyrics

Here are some lyrics I've been compiling as I listen to music. These are lyrics that have struck me in one way or another. Love the song or hate it, you have to admit the lyrics are good.
I've left the artist and song name too, in case you want to listen to it in context.

It’s hard to see the future if the past is in the way.
    -Pillar (Will You Be There)

Note the past, spare the pain.
    -All That Remains (This Calling)

And now I wanna do Everything for you that I can Even though it won't erase
The foolish things that I've done.
    -12 Stones (It Was You)

Live life with no restrictions. No one can hold you down.
    -Pillar (Dangerous)

Oh, how I adore you. Oh, how I thirst for you. Oh, how I need you.
    -Skillet (Comatose)

Sittin’ in the stands ain't the same as playin’ the game.
    -Pillar (Bring Me Down)

No one really seems to care. Maybe I should care less, 'Cause I will
die too.
    -In Flames (Dead End)

Prepare for the struggle. Prepare to engage.
    -August Burns Red (Marianas Trench)

How does it feel to be alive?
    -In Flames (Leeches)

I want to fight. I want to prove I’m right.
    -Chevelle (Forfeit)

First impressions are over in an instant.
    -Trapt (Skin Deep)

Rise against the oppression. Resist and question.
    -Killswitch Engage (Bonus Track)

Oh they say the sky the limit, but I say there is so much more, Because
your love takes me higher than I’ve ever been before.
    -Rascall Flatts (The Way)

This day is mine.
    -Killswitch Engage (This Fire)

So don't forget before you start bringing me down: What goes around
always comes back around.
    -Pillar (Bring Me Down)

You can't bring me down! Do you hear what I'm trying to say?! You can't
bring me down!
    -Pillar (Bring Me Down)

Panic setting in, I can no longer fight. When will this end?
    -Dream Theater (Constant Motion)

We have all heard what we wanted to hear: “Truth” that sounds right
to our ears.
    -As I Lay Dying (The Sound of Truth)

We all choke ourselves with our own ignorance.
    -August Burns Red (Barbarian)

Nothing is everything, and everything is something.
    -August Burns Red (Barbarian)

Faith or Stupidity?

I've found something out about myself, and I'm not sure what to think about it. Here's what I've found: I've found that I have a habit of not exactly planning everything out, but instead just trusting that everything will work itself out in the end. Now, these "things" I mentioned are not just everyday things like what I'm going to eat for breakfast or what I'm going to do with my spare time; they are big decisions that are a little way down the road of life: things such as "what am I going to do with my degree after I graduate?" and other such decisions.
I think maybe it's because of my desire not to overreact to things that are beyond my control, because many things in life are beyond my control. I like to think that not worrying about these things reduces my stress level and (hopefully) makes me a better person to be around. But my question is, am I acting on faith by trusting everything will be okay, or am I just an idiot for not planning a specific course of action?

Sibling-ly love

Hello! This is my blog! I won't waste time introducing myself, because I assume that most, if not all of you who care to read my blog are people who already know me and are just interested to know more about my thoughts. Also, keep in mind that I've never done this blogging thing before, and don't judge me too harshly.
This, my first-ever blog post, is dedicated to my wonderful older sister, Kristen. A few weeks ago, Kristen moved out of the house to be "on her own" in an apartment she is sharing with her friend Laura. I have not been able to spend very much time with her at all, because we both work, and we don't live together anymore. In fact, besides one phone call, two games of StarCraft, and a couple of text messages, we've really lost touch with each other. This saddens me, because Kristen has always been that one person I can turn to for anything. She has always been the person who can offer advice on any situation, and who doesn't laugh at my stupid questions.
I guess for the past couple of weeks I've been able to get by without her, mostly by dumping my random rants on Monica; but tonight, Kristen came over for dinner, and we had the opportunity to take a brief ride in the car and 'catch up'. I guess I hadn't realized how much I missed her until this moment. It's nice to have someone you can turn to at the drop of a hat, who you know won't judge you no matter what. It's what keeps me (somewhat) sane.
So here's to you, my beautiful, brilliant sister, Kristen. I love you, and I hope we keep in touch.