You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - Rorschach Melodies

Episode Date: February 4, 2021

We dive deep into the musical psyche of Peter on this week's episode as Adam tests out a melodic experiment on him.Make Your Own Rorschach Melodies:Adam's original melodiesAdam's blank melodiesPeter's melodiesRecord your melody performances and upload them to social media with the hashtags #RorschachMelodies #OSSpotlightInterested in more music advice? Go here to browse our catalog of jazz lessons and courses available for purchase. And be sure to check out our All Access Pass - every course from Open Studio on every instrument.Let us know what you think by leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review, or head over to our YouTube channel.Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hey, Peter. Hey. Do you remember that show designing women from a long time ago? No. No, I'm a little younger than that, sir. Great. Do you remember that character on that show? His name was Anthony, and he was played by an actor named Mishak Taylor.

Oh, yeah, Meshach. Meshach Obendigo. Today we're talking about Mishak's cousin, Rorschach melody. Any relation to Horshack on Mr. Cotter? I think so. Okay. I'm Adamannis. And I'm Peter Martin.

And you're listening to the UL Here Podcast. Music advice coming at you Coming at to today We are sponsored by Open Studio Go to Open StudioJadiojazz.com Why? Well, you can check out Well, hold on, I can do the full grand version

If you'd like Whatever you like, but you're like go-toe These aren't just lemmings, our listeners They're just going to jump off a cliff Because you tell them to Well, you could go there for A jazz lesson. No, we make courses over there

All about things like we're talking about today You know, nerdy jazz piano stuff So you can go over there And you can also Who you call a nerd? mostly me, but you too, buddy, you too. You're not too big for that. You too.

I love that band. So what's up with all the Meshak, Worshack stuff? Right. Well, you just put some paper in front of me that is not an inkblot, but it's maybe the musical equivalent. I don't know. That's exactly right. Yeah, yeah. Can I paint a picture for folks?

Please, please. Okay, we're in the pod suite. Here we are. We are here. There is a, as usual, a giant piece of plexiglass because we are still deep in the pandemic. That's right. That's right. COVID-19, even though it's 2021.

This thing is two years old now. This is ridiculous. No, but... No, we're not as deep as we were, but still deep. Yeah, we're still deep. We're not totally drowning, but our head is not above water. Not even close. True.

Big shout out to New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, and Thailand. Must be nice over there. And China, just dancing and partying. Went out to restaurants. Although, there are some places in this country where that's still happening as well. Yeah, big shout out to all the small communities that have their heads buried in the sand. Excellent.

No, okay, so we're in the studio. There's some lights. We're set up for video. I don't know why, because this is audio only. That's okay. But, um, Adam has in front of him some printed music, some score that he's, he's very gingerly touching.

So I have some in front. Wait, can I finish? Yeah, sorry. No, no, go ahead. I have some paper too. Please. Please. Adam has a spin drift.

Um, and I do too. And we have some espresso cups that are finished. And he has, here's a clue because I don't know what's going on here. I like the spring. stuff on you. Yes. Adam has a giant hourglass. Like the Sands of Time on ABC in the 70s. Yeah. He has a big hourglass. So that's, I just painted the picture. Thank you. Yeah. No, it's, it's, it's not a whole hourglass. It's a five-minute egg timer. But it is like an hourglass situation where there's blue sand. And this is what I used on my... This is the egg timer used for my five-minute ear training. So I'm getting some repurpose out of it. That's right.

So what I thought we do today, the name of this episode is called Worshack Melodies. And you're familiar with the Rorschach test, yes. Well, I wasn't until you reminded me. You said inkblot, I said, of course. Yeah, these are the famous inkblot tests where there's sort of this mirrored inkblot image. It's like a serial killer test. Well, it's a psychological test. It's not even a test.

It's just like an exercise. And then you say the first thing that comes to mind. I suppose there's probably things that the psychologist from, I, I, I, I think these are mostly done in psychologists in the early 70s. I don't think it's been done outside of that. That's right. There were some hallucinogens involved as they developed that task. But the idea is that it's like your first glance at some image and what's the first thing to come to mind.

So I thought it would be kind of fun to do with you where what I did was this morning I wrote four melodies with, like I basically wrote four little tune ideas, right? Four eight bar sketches of a tune. And I wrote them fully out with the melody, chord changes. I even have some notations here about maybe the tempo and feel that I would want to have. And then I thought I would give them to you, but without all of the chord changes, just a bare melody. And I want to give you five minutes. You've not seen these before. And you have five minutes to do one.

And I want to see what you come up with in the five minutes with just this melody. Then I thought once the five minutes over and you're finished, you can write it all out, what we could do is you could play what you came up with, and then I'll play you the original, and we can kind of have fun seeing where some of the similarities and where you differed, and maybe one's wildly different from the rest. But I thought it would just be a nice little, like,

what's your first impression of this melody, and what would you do to arrange it? And then here's the cool part, too, Peter, is we're going to put this up for our listeners. So you too can take these Rorschach melody tests. We're going to put a link here in the description. Follow that link. You can download the Blank.

PDF and then you could also see the PDFs of what I had originally and what Peter came up with if you if you dig any of what we're doing here and you can check that out for yourself. But then also everybody wants you if you download the PDF, you write your own arrangements of these little melodies. Go ahead and take a little video posted on social media. You can tag me in it, tag Peter Martin. It's at Adam Manus at all the various outlets at Peter Martin at all the various outlets. Why don't we do the hashtag bring back the OS Spotlight? Oh hashtag. spotlight. Yeah. You could do a hashtag OS spotlight. You could do hashtag Roershack Melody is what we're doing to. So we thought this would be a fun little exercise. So check that out. You can see a link in the description to a page with all the PDFs of the Rorschach melody, the blank one, and then what Peter came up with and my original there. I'm nervous because you're saying what I came up with. I'm afraid to even look at this because it's a test. Well, so in all fairness, I didn't spend more than about five minutes on each of these. I mean, I did this. all this morning. So I didn't, it's not like I crafted these lovingly.

They look lovingly crafted. Well, yeah, I'm a pro, Peter. Come on. But, uh, yeah, I just, I think it'd be kind of interesting. Yeah, no, this is great. So you about ready to try the first one? Now, is this five minutes per? So yeah, so we'll just do one at a time. And then when you're done with one, we'll hear it. And then I'll play you my original. And we could talk about what we each came up with. Okay, so let me just refresh. You have a pencil. You have a pencil. Okay, cool. So my idea is, I'm just kind of writing it around. I'm just going to some chords in basically. Basically, write some chords in.

But, you know, if you want to come up with a feel or a tempo that you think works with this, you don't have to guess what I, like, it's not like you're trying to guess what you think I was doing. Okay. It's just a Rorschach test. Can I phone a friend if needed? If you need to phone a friend for any of these, then I'm going to pull away your professional musician card.

Can I call you? Yeah, I'm right here. I'm right here. Okay. You ready? Yeah. Here's our first one. I'm going to turn over the timer.

He's turning it over. Now. Okay. So for the first four minutes, I'm just going to close my eyes and get a vines. And then I'm going to come in at the end. No, okay. I need five minutes. It's going to happen in two minutes.

Ooh, so that's going to... Now I've got a double... Now I've got a double bar, so that's telling me, okay, that's the first four-bar phrase. A little clue, a little clue. It's a little corny when I'm playing. That's not the melody's fault. That's not Rorschach's fault. That's my fault.

I think this is better than what I came up with originally. That's nice. So should I start writing this stuff? Start writing it out, yeah. And you can kind of kind of play by play. Well, it's funny, because I hear, do, do, da, da, da. You are my sunshine. Oh, there you go.

Yeah, yeah. Written by the... And don't forget, guys, you can download this melody here, the blank version, if you want to read along with what's happening. Or you can just enjoy the music. That's nice. Okay, so I'm going to go. So I'm going to go a little...

What would you call? It's not shoegaze. This is a little... What's the style? This is definitely a little shoe gaze. What I'm playing? The melody is definitely some shoegaze. I'll admit that.

I don't like that. Nice. Just a mistake. I think Peter's outriding me here. Okay, that's the chalk. Yeah, you boxed yourself into a corner here. Ooh, that's nice. Yeah, I mean, you put a dominant altered chord on it. Anything's going to work. G flat all. I won't give you feedback. I'm not going to. I'm not trying to push you in any direction. G sharp. Okay, there we go. So they go back to the beginning.

So it's like a take six arrangement. Okay, I'm gonna change it. Mine is not this him. Mine is not this, him. We're going optimistic. What is that there? That's T minor 11, come on, man. Oh no, what did I do?

I did... You didn't want it. Probably about two minutes left, Peter, less than two minutes even. Okay, I got too many polychords. You've got a lot of polygore. You're leaning hard on the pot. I'm at California Polytech Institute. You're going,

You're going all in on the polychords. Oh, I like that. I'm overharmonizing. If I have any falseness, I over... No. Don't patronize me. Probably about a minute left, Peter. Here's the drag about hourglasses.

There's really no way to tell. Then it's done. Nice. Pencils down. Pencils down, okay. I don't know how cohesive that. Let's hear what you got. Let's hear what you got.

I got more time, though. Okay, so let me try it. Should I sing or no? Whatever you want, whatever you want. I'm going kind of out of time on the vibe. I don't know how... It's some pretty stuff I think I wrote, but it's not super cohesive. Here's the original.

Yeah, yours is better. This is more complicated. I don't know. I'm going to do mine again. I'm going to do mine again. Got it. Here's my original. Melody.

Nice, man. I think between us, we got a tune here. Yeah. We got a tune here. Cool. That's a fun exercise. So Breakdown, What did you do here? So, you know, this is all based on, like, this D minor thing, right?

Like, A over C sharp to D minor. What did you do in the very first chord? So I was thinking, okay, like, okay, it's in F. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I like that beat. That's nice. D minor, whatever. So I got F over A.

So I was like, okay, that's real basic and very much, like, very pretty melody, very much around F. Yeah. So we'll start there, but let's not start. you know, and then instead of like, I don't know that you could do that, but like where else can we go? Yeah. And then, but instead of going to the D minor, so that's A over C sharp or, you know, instead of going to the D minor, just one note different that B flat. That's really cool. And that gives you some flexibility of like.

And we'll put up both Peters and mine, the original, and what Peter came up with here again, just follow the link. and then record yourself. I want to hear what you are coming up with over these melodies. Hashtag OS Spotlight. Hashtag Rorschach melody. You can just look at the title of this episode to learn how to spell Rorschach.

I just wrote on the bottom, copyright, since we're giving them our copyright open studio there. That's right. We are giving them our, I think. You ready for number two? Mm-hmm.

Yep. All right. Here we go. Going to flip it over. Go. Interesting. So this time, I'm going to take a little more, that's a seven bar phrase, my friend.

That's right. I wanted to take a little more time. I want to get the vibe instead of forcing it into, I don't know. That's great, it's great. Because I mean, otherwise it's like it can end up sound like the first one, which is maybe okay. This is a tough one. I don't know what I'm going to do with this one. Yeah, I was trying to throw you on this one.

Interesting. Ooh, I like it. Oh, this is how I'm writing all my tunes from now on. I'm just giving you a melody. Interesting. Not feeling it? Kind of a monk vibe. Yeah, it is kind of a...

But like, like, bastardizing monk instead of honoring him. Yeah, I don't know. You got about four minutes to figure it out. Four minutes is a lifetime. What key are you starting in here? D flat seven. D flat seven. Interesting.

Oh, he's going. Neil's soul on us here. Oh, yeah. Oh, maybe we go kind of... Oh, was that playing that right? Oh, it's F starts on F shot. Yeah, yeah. So I'm going to go A major.

Oh, sharp from the sharp 11th. That's a great choice for that. Wow. Kind of hover on B, A, to B. Oh, I'm so glad I got you a little bit. Oh, no, you ain't got me, but... Well, I don't got you got it, but... Okay.

That's the awkward jumps to be able to hear it, you know? Oh, maybe that G. Oh, how much time? Oh, I got time. Yeah, you got a little. There we go. There we go. There we go.

G major seven plus five. Plus five. He broke out the plus five on us. To start. So you're starting with G major seven plus five. Yeah. This is your arrangement, man. I'll do what you got to do.

A little triad vibe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's only seven bars. You only got about a minute left here. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. We go the same thing there.

Triets over the... I actually know what just gonna go. I think it'll work because we have a little resolution. G flat seven. Less than a minute. Sharp nine. Come on, man. Okay.

Stay there. I'm gonna go A major. Say, hey. And we go to B flat major. Give a little... Lovely. Because I'm running out of time. And then what are we gonna end up on?

That's the choice. I think you, again, you've out done me here on my own too. Sick. Do it again. Do it again. Okay, I want to keep that. Can I add in counter notes? Yeah, good.

Okay. Juicy. That's, you're out of time. Oh. Yeah. Pessle down. That's good, though. So here's the original.

You want to hear the original? Yeah. I got no sustain pedal here, so. I think I like your G major seven. Well, it could kind of go either way. That in core better. Isn't that cool? I love it.

Again, man, it's so great to hear what you're coming up with on this. Now, number three, after number two, I knew it would be, I was trying to trick you intentionally. So I thought I'd throw you a big softball with number three. You ready? Yeah. Here we go. This looks like a blues, but I'm just looking at it for the first time. You're very, very right on it. Go.

It's going to take all the two minutes for him. Okay, so this is just a matter of what we want to do with it, right? Exactly. Let me try not to make this corny. More fair. Good luck. Let me see here. Boop-bo-Bang, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Love it. Yeah. So let's be like G flat seven, b-a-7, bow on two, and then B, like A-7, then B flat seven. That's it. That's it. Woo. Okay, so I just have to decide if I want to do.

Like how into that you want to get, yeah. What else could it be? That's really endless here Oh he's going to it Here it is I love it Okay so that could go So it'll be like

Can I do a little intro on it Then you got loads of time on this one B flat 7 You're writing a whole other intro No no just It's great Yeah it's like a little E flat 7

For two Yeah a little four bars there Okay So we got like Okay Okay wait What's like Poo Boo Bib

Bib Okay, so B flat seven. G flat major seven. Why not? Love it. That's great. There you go. Way better than what I have.

A flat seven. I think that'll kind of work. That'll work. B flat seven. So we got, so the choices on the intro if we want to be like, um, so all right. G flat 7, it should be, but better.

Interesting. Oh, interesting. It's time's up, time's up, bud. Oh, come on, man. I didn't finish. You got it, you got it. We'll extend your time. So I'm just going to do...

You're almost there. You're almost. G-flats. B-bo-Bin-G-7. Been back to G-flat-7 because I went out of time. G-flat-7, G-7, A-flat. Same as big. how

pencil's out oh let's hear it let's hear the whole thing uh he likes it he likes it I like what I did damn but I'm gonna leave it a little fist

Bach would not allow that we almost had the exact same last four so I had that whole G flat you read that perfectly I went to E minor instead of B so that I can go to F minor

nice yeah something else there it seems to go Instead of, you could go B there. That's what I was thinking about it. Yeah. Cool. Oh, actually, if we combined ours, like B major to E minor.

Yeah. Ah, it was great. I was great to watch you do that. Okay. Again, download your PDF of all these Rorschach melodies, and we want to hear your versions, what you come up with. Royshack melodies. You can check out the originals, and you could check out what Peter did.

Horshack melodies. That's crazy. Are you having fun? Yeah. It's crazy to watch you do this. It's really cool. Let's do... Maybe I might get you next week on one of these.

Yeah, think about it. I might Rorschach back at you. Rorschach me. I'd love to give it a shot. Whoa, that's not legal of this state. Yeah, yeah, we're in Missouri here. We're in the Midwest. The Heartland, buddy.

Ready for number four? So I thought we'd end with something kind of sweet here. So here we go. Let me just play the melody. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can't get simpler. That's like B flat and E flat, not A sharp. Well.

Well, oh, oh, okay. His lips are sealed. He's like Cindy Lauper. This is undoubtedly Duke Ellington inspired for sure. Okay, so. So it should be E flat. Right there. Why does it have to go to E flat?

Why do that? Sky gaze. Do I call that? Wait, where do we drop it with our seven levels of Daddy Boy? They're going to be. And number six is going to blow your mind. Actually, it would be really fun to do this Rorschach to just go back and forth with one melody. You know what I mean?

Like, keep going and see how crazy we can get with it. Okay, wait. My time's going. Yeah, you're on the clock, buddy. Okay, so. So I think maybe I did so many crazy chords. Maybe I'll just go a little basic vibe here. So, can I go to?

I like the intros are coming up with, too. It's nice. That's the spirit. Got to write it in, man. Got to write it in. That's not a little bit. What is that? That's an A minor 11.

Yeah, yeah. And then maybe like a little A flat over. That's kind of... That's basic. It's not. Oh, it's not. No, it's not. Less than two minutes, Peter.

Probably about a minute and a half minutes. Can help himself. You can't help himself. Spirit wants what the spirit wants. No, it's all good. It's all good. G minor. 11.

And then we're going to go A7, sharp nine. Okay, how do I get survived. Is that F minus? or seven there on the... Sharp 5. Actually, six, natural, six. 20 seconds left.

Do you wonder? What's that first chord? C major. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What are those three chords? C, A, flat. Hip. When do you have,

what do you have, um, beat four going to that D sharp? What's the note? Yeah, I don't know. I just, F sharp. Okay, okay.

That's hard. Yeah. So I really need to do that. do like. See, it's very specific. This is what's... Because what's the chord you're holding on the C? A7, sharp 9, flat 13. I need one more in there.

Maybe if I went like... Yeah. So I had on that... I had C7 sharp 11 flat 9 so that... Okay. So I could hang it. Oh, may I'll do that. Oh, thanks for that. Yeah, you're welcome. You want to hear the original?

Actually, play yours again. Play yours one more time. C7 something. Okay. Oh, hip. Here's the original. Same feel. All just descending chromatically. Same B, plus, Suss, five, five major, G, flat.

E7, A7. A7. Oh, A7. Yeah. Play yours again? Okay. Let's do one more round. Okay.

Let's go through, let's go back, let's go back to the beginning. I want to go to number one. I'm going to play you the original that I wrote this morning and then play what you came after. Back to number one? Number one.

Take two. It's like some dirty. Pretty loops. That's hip. That is hip. All right, number two. That's right, the G. That's so cool. We got to the same place, but at different times. What's that last chord again? Oh, he's got an intro. That's so great. All right. Last one. Definitely, for sure. That's Shirley Horn. Yeah, what is that? What is that? I think it's Wild is the Wind. It's one of those. she ends on those three not those exact chords but those three intervals at the end it's on here's to life somewhere

that's great man that was super fun Peter yeah thanks for doing that that's great and then again folks you can download the PDFs of the blank melodies and then you can see the originals and you could see what Peter came up with on the blanks and then please record yourself with what show us what you're coming up with here

post it hashtag OS Spotlight hashtag Rorschach melody. You know what I'm saying? Actually, they can't see what I just wrote because check this out. No, no, no! It's all gone. I was just kidding.

That was something else. Cool, everybody. You'll hear it.