#biomuses

[ludwigslovebug]

Well-Taken Care Of 🫧

Good morning everybuggy!! i just finished this yayay .. i started this piece when i was having a real bad joint day and it hurt to move . which was like 2 days ago >.<

i like that he takes care of me. i dont like asking for it but he just knows sometimes that i need help .. i love him very much. i hope he doesnt see me as a burden :•⌇

today i am watching the newest season of this show i like with my mumma . i am very excited ... and then after i will pass out (〃´𓎟`〃)

[ludwigslovebug]

WAAAHHHH HEHHEEE..... HII... JMMSNND UM UM

this is gonna be so scattered ,.., probably ,.,. yeah

AHHHH

i love him so.much . im gonna throw up. my stupid boyfrirnd i need you

i love his little attitude hes so sassy. like ok drag queen!!!! you should drag your lips across my faceWOAHHH@!!@♡!*#^ Who said that ... id never wanna kiss him haha ....oh noooo. .... . chat hes kissing me ou nouAGGEGTHE GSHRHRV

he gives me lover aggression. like cuteness aggression but doubled. i wannabite him and stuff. hngrgr... GRAHHH!!!!

but like also hes gentle with me. and he isnt gentle with anyone else. like hes kind of a dick. like hes really mean and arrogant and always on his high horse but when hes around me i basically Kill The Horse and he talks to me all sweet and he always makes this face when he sees me and its cute and sshhrvd hdhhdvb GRRRR!!!!!@ BOYFRIEND!!!! ARAGGGHGHH

GUSH ABOUT YOUR F/O IN THE REBLOGS TO ME AND I WILL ACTUALLY LISTEN AND RESPOND TO THEM ACCORDINGLY BECAUSE YOU 🫵 DEAR READER DESERVE TO HAVE YOUR INTERESTS TREATED WITH RESPECT AND NOT JUST GET A "wow that's neat"

doubles and proshippers dni! Doubles you also deserve respect I'm just not very good at sharing I'm so sorry!

[hybridispiritualsystems]

Via José Urriola "El músico de los hongos".

[jgroffdaily]

We still have two months to wait before Jonathan Groff takes on singer Bobby Darin in the new jukebox biomusical Just In Time on Broadway, but his surrounding cast of characters has filled out!

Gracie Lawrence, of the band Lawrence and the television show The Sex Lives of College Girls, will make her Broadway musical debut as Connie Francis, one of the great loves of Darin's life. Additionally, Drama Desk nominee Emily Bergl (Good Night, Oscar) will play Nina Cassotto, Darin's mother, and Mary Douvon, Darin's mother in law.

Photo posted by Emily Bergl on Instagram.

[popblank]

New musical Lempicka has set a release date for its original Broadway cast recording. Matt Gould and Carson Kreitzer's biomusical following the life of the titular artist began performances at the Longacre Theatre March 19 ahead of an April 14 opening night at the Longacre Theatre. The cast recording will be available for purchase and streaming July 5; click here to pre-order.

[ludwigslovebug]

autisming out again Also i want steak .

Cicada be normal challenge (IMPOSSIBLE!!!) oh my Stars CICADA stop being gay and doodling challenge (EQUALLY IMPOSSIBLE!!!) crossover of 2024 chat im tweaking chat im tweakimh cjat sdim sttwaking

feeling Motivated!!! WOO YEAH!!! maybe ill draw an actual THING today!!!

Not much of an ask, but I wanted to say I absolutely LOVE how you draw Ludwig! Along with the others but Ludwig is ❤️

I wanted to also know if you're ok with anyone drawing him for fanart stuffs?

Thank you sm!! Ludwig is one of my favorites personally :] (heavy tie between him and Roy for my number one)

I’m perfectly fine with people drawing fanart of my designs!! In fact I’m honored that anyone would want to do that lmfao 😭 I love the Koopalings, and that love should be spread further, darn it!!

[fandomrelatedshowerthoughts]

Rhetorically asking what is it about narrative and media stereotypes or whatever that causes a lot of biomusical leads to read as autistic even when the real people weren’t-by-modern-standards as Alexander Hamilton from Hamilton, PT Barnum from The Greatest Showman, Maria from The Sound Of Music and Jonathan Larson from Tick Tick Boom all read that way

[ludwigslovebug]

EHEEHHEEEE YAYYYY!!!!♡♡♡♡

COMM FOR @grubcakes who was interested in their sona with human!Luddy from @asktgekoopalings

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR THE COMM! You were truly a delight to chat with, and I'm excited to draw for you again!!

REMINDER THAT COMMS ARE OPEN!

[ludwigslovebug]

𖦹 you aren’t a flower, you’re every blossom in the wood blooming at once. you are a tidal wave. you’re a stampede. you are overwhelming. there is no one i want more ; there is nothing i want more than to be overwhelmed by you. ⊹₊ ⋆

Ohhhhgggh....he is So handsome .... my beautiful husband of mine. I need to hold him... Look at how pretty he looks!!!

also flower symbolism. YAY!!!! hello everybuggy :3 i locked in!!! Today Ludwig and I are going out to eat ... im so excited . mngggh.... steak................ starts foaming at mouth

sigh ,., i wish i could kiss him forever. ... ouihhh... wah...

I LOVE HIM SO MUCYCHHH

[supercantaloupe]

sleepover saturday: unpopular theatre/art opinion of your choice, whatever you'd like to talk about :)

enough biomusicals enough jukebox musicals enough jukebox biomusicals. society has moved past the need for jukebox biomusicals. if there ever was a need to begin with

more classic broadway shows in revival and in schools already. orchestral players deserve the work and modern theater kids need to be humbled. you'll listen to annie get your gun and sit with the outdated and hokey and #problematic elements and you'll LIKE IT. it develops character.

and anna garcia was 100% right in her smartypants society presentation about how no we should not forgive theater kids and how we should punish specifically annoying modern musical theater kids by forcing them to sit down and listen to parade and company. she's so right about everything.

[ask meme]

[almenvs3000w25]

Interpreting through Music - Unit 7

Music is a quintessential human way of expression, and has existed in many forms for millenia. And yet, music is not only mankind’s to claim - we can find music as part of nature itself. This can be seen more literally in the sweet notes of songbirds, and the sounds of whales through the ocean. Or, in the more intangible ways like shifting wind through the trees and water over rocks, which creates its own ambience and soundtrack to life in nature. It is very rare for there to be absolute silence when outside in the world, something we perhaps take for granted. One of my favourite examples of capturing the sounds of nature is the opening to Pink Floyd’s “One of These Days”, which has a strong, gusting wind. It invokes a sense of isolation, picturing being somewhere out in the open where you’d have the feeling of being windswept in the dark.

From a scientific perspective, questions are posed as to what purpose music serves us as a species, and how this adaptation occurred at a cognitive level (Fitch, 2015). This is explored in the branch of “biomusicality”, which has many connections with our understanding of communication and cognition pathways (Fitch, 2015). Even without in-depth scientific studies though, it is intuitive to many of us that music offers a way of communicating. Music represents thoughts, memories, and helps us commit experiences to memory better. Sounds, specific messages in lyrics, and emotions through the feeling of music can all be shared. This allows meaning to be essentially recorded through history and perpetuated onwards.

I wanted to focus on something more personal to myself, that of indigenous music. In this manner, incorporating nature into human music is seen on many levels. From a basic, physical level, the instruments themselves are built from pieces nature created. The drum, for example, is typically constructed of a birch bark frame, with a deer hide skin to form the drum surface. Rawhide is used to twine the pieces together. A drum is often a very personal item, typically made entirely or at least partly by the owner. It is of therefore special significance to be a drummer, especially in certain ceremonies or drum songs of cultural importance.

Beyond the physical instrument itself, nature can be seen in the way language is shared. One fascinating thing I was intrigued to learn is that in the Ojibwe language, the word “Waawaashkeshi” for white-tailed deer, sounds similar to the sound the deer would make running through the grass. Language (and therefore lyrics), can be inspired by the world around us. The songs sung, often together as a group, help reinforce community and a shared message. We can use this commonness to help bring people into our interpretation in a more meaningful way.

Admittedly, I personally prefer to enjoy nature without music, and listen to the naturally occurring sounds which cannot be truly replicated by us. However, music certainly does have a place for sharing cultural knowledge, connection, and giving special significance to places or events. As Beck et al. (2018) correctly notes, songs “evoke strong emotions, which makes them memorable.” It is our hope to make our interpretations memorable and impactful to those partaking.

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For a better world (Rev. ed.). Sagamore-Venture Publishing.

Fitch W. T. (2015). Four principles of bio-musicology. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 370(1664), 20140091. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0091 

[clbenvs3000f24]

Unit 07

It’s no doubt that both nature and music have strikingly comparable effects on the human mind, body, and soul. It has become evident through centuries of personal stories, cultural practices, and scientific data that these two are eternally intertwined.

When I think of finding music in nature, my mind immediately goes to my days spent in the UoG Arboretum, laying on a beach on Fire Island, and one specific moment during a school trip to France. Beyond these personal experiences, I can hear the sound of raindrops landing on the roof of my porch, leaves swaying back and forth with the wind, and the ambiance of buzzing of cicadas and chirping grasshoppers. My grandparents and I used to sit on the patio and listen to the calls of Chickadees and Blue Jays. I have a vivid memory of taking a dreadful 3-hour bus ride from Paris to Normandy in April of my senior year. My high school French class was visiting the American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer and I was sitting on the stone wall separating the memorial from the ocean. I remember closing my eyes and listening to the chorus of bird calls and the steady crashing waves. It sounded like a song, with a melody and beat dancing together harmoniously. It will be an experience and feeling I will never forget. I felt grounded in my natural element and enlightened by the impact this natural ballad had on my psyche. It was truly the most serene and content I’ve ever felt.

My view during this transcendental moment.

Similar to the stress-relieving and therapeutic effects the music of nature has on humans, music has been proven to boost creativity and eliminate stress (Mao, 2022). Throughout history, elements of nature have always been extremely popular and relevant in music. There are numerous classical pieces inspired by the sounds of nature among Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, the Pastoral Symphony (1808). There are also studies comparing similarities between the rhythmic melodies, intervals, and tones of humpback whale calls and those of modern music (Stewart, 2014). The oldest known form of musical instrument is a Neanderthal Flute made out of the left thigh bone of a cave bear and dates back to 60,000 years ago (The National Museum of Slovenia).

Nature plays a substantial role in music created for relaxation, focus, and meditation. There are countless genres of music that are inspired by or utilize elements of nature, especially genres created with the intention of having a calming and soothing effect on listeners. Biomusic is a genre of music specifically curated from natural, non-human noises. Ambient music and lo-fi also commonly incorporate noises from the natural world, like ocean waves or rain. I am currently listening to lo-fi with Nightlight by Chill4st with melodies of kalimba, rain, and grasshoppers as I write this blog post.

One particular song that takes me back to a favourite memory of mine is Technicolour Beat by Oh Wonder. When I listen to this song, I hear the waves of the Atlantic Ocean washing up against this beach pictured above and seagulls harassing other beachgoers for food. The ocean has recently become my happy place. Growing up, I used to get overstimulated by how sticky and invasive the sand felt and how the sweat made my hair feel. Now I crave it. I love interacting with the crows, practicing tarot and journalling with my friends, and smelling the salt air. I can feel the hot July sun beating on my skin and hear the rustling of brush in the refreshing breeze. It sounded like the waves synced with the rhythm of the song. Despite the debilitating sunburn, that is one of my fondest memories of feeling immersed in the natural landscape around me.

My Crow friend.

References:

The National Museum of Slovenia. Neanderthal flute: The oldest musical instrument in the world. Collection Highlights - NMS. (n.d.). Www.nms.si. https://www.nms.si/en/collections/highlights/343-Neanderthal-flute

Mao, N. The Role of Music Therapy in the Emotional Regulation and Psychological Stress Relief of Employees in the Workplace. Journal of Healthcare Engineering. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/4260904

Stewart, K. D. F., "The Essentialism of Music in Human Life and Its Roots in Nature" (2014). Senior Theses. 6. https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/muscstud_theses/6

[lgenvs3000w23]

NATURE AND MUSIC (unit 7)

There is a genre of music called Biomusic which is music with sounds created by animals and plants, instead of humans. There are two types of biomusic: music entirely made by non-humans and music that is composed of non-human sounds but arranged by a human. This sounds like a very out-there and foreign concept but you have absolutely heard biomusic before, the most common example is birds. Maybe it was just one bird chirping away or a duet of two birds chirping together and seemingly playing off of each other almost like they are taking turns singing or even multiple birds like a symphony, but you have heard the natural phenomenon of bird songs. Additionally, many songs sample nature sounds like Blackbird by The Beatles and Radiohead by Morning Mr. Magpie. 

My favourite example of nature in music is study, ambient, and sleep music. Most sleep music and white noise machines play nature sounds like babbling brooks, drizzly rain, or crashing waves. But why does the human brain find this so relaxing? For the majority of human existence, we have been immersed in nature and have only recently (since the industrial revolution) most people live disconnected from nature. It has been found that exposure to forest noises causes physiological and psychological relaxation, including lowering heart rates, and increasing feelings of comfort and improved mood. Evolutionarily, humans have only had a short time to adapt to the new sounds that surround us (Jo et al., 2019). We went from being surrounded by the peaceful “silence” of birds chirping, wooshing leaves, and streams running to the constant buzz of an air conditioner, honking and auditory stimulation 24/7. 

I have always found it really interesting how many people cannot stand to sit in silence; needing to listen to music or at least have some background noise. I wonder if there is a correlation between people who enjoy silence and love being in nature, as well as the opposite, people who want constant stimulation prefer indoors. I have a small sample size so I do not want to make any definitive conclusions but out of my immediate family, the people who enjoy silence and white-noise nature sounds also really enjoy the outdoors, the others find the outdoors “boring” because they have grown up with constant visual and auditory stimulation. I really resonated with a quote from the textbook by Eduardo Arango: “When technology has nothing more for man, then nature will go on showing him her wonders” (Beck et al., 2018). I hope that my younger siblings grow to love and appreciate nature as much as I do someday, but currently, they are only interested in Tiktoks and watching movies, even while up at our cottage surrounded by nature. Have you observed a similar trend in your life? Or do you think there is no correlation? 

The song that immediately takes me back to a natural landscape is Mountain Sound by Of Monsters And Men. This song reminds me of being up at my cottage and the very long drive up to the top of Lake Huron. It's amazing how powerful music can be, just listening to this sound reminds me of summer and gives me the feeling of warmth and freedom from school. 

References: 

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage : for a better world. Sagamore Venture.

Jo, H., Song, C., Ikei, H., Enomoto, S., Kobayashi, H., & Miyazaki, Y. (2019). Physiological and Psychological Effects of Forest and Urban Sounds Using High-Resolution Sound Sources. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(15), 2649-. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16152649

[jgroffdaily]

In the late 1950s, a wave of handsome, heavily Brylcreemed white men named Bobby became teen idols: Bobby Denton, Bobby Vee, Bobby Vinton. The most talented, by far, was Bobby Darin. Darin first burst onto the scene with “Splish Splash,” a teen-pop ode to bathtime, but soon, with his wryly smooth crooning style, he was rivaling Sinatra as the swingingest of swingin’ lovers. Later he reinvented himself as a folk singer, renaming himself Bob Darin in homage to Dylan.

It was a career marked by an overwhelming creative restlessness and success in diverse fields. He "could move with magical agility, he could do great impressions, he could rock, he was a swift and brilliant comedian, he could play seven instruments, he could write songs—167 of them," wrote biographer David Evanier. “He wanted to be a songwriter, actor, singer, and musician, and he became all of these.”

Tony winner Jonathan Groff first fell for Darin’s artistry while preparing to play him in the Lyrics & Lyricists series at the 92nd Street Y in 2018. “[Those performances were] so thrilling and so exciting,” he told Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek. An obsession was sparked. “I'm so grateful for YouTube. I started watching clips of him, and it's a hole I just keep going deeper and deeper into.”

Groff was speaking in a well-appointed ninth-floor room in the Brill Building—Darin’s former office—during a break from rehearsals for Just in Time, the Bobby Darin Broadway biomusical that evolved from the Lyrics & Lyricists show. From March 31 at the Circle in the Square Theatre, Groff will be channeling Darin in a show that’s part concert, part theater, setting out to capture Darin’s genre-spanning, shape-shifting brilliance

“I really connected with his ambition—pushing himself into different genres and styles, finding a connection to all of them musically,” Groff continued. “But most of all, I connect with his passion, his love for the audience, and his need to perform.”

Determined to push himself in his preparations for the role, Groff is taking drum and piano lessons and being put through his paces for what he says will be the most dance-heavy role of his career. All this less than a year after winning a Tony Award for his lead performance in Merrily We Roll Along: the very definition of not resting on laurels. "To feel those pathways in the brain grow and to feel that kind of expansion is so thrilling."

In fact, Groff will be in tech rehearsals for Just in Time during the week of his 40th birthday. “I'm such a specific person in that, if I could have anything for my 40th birthday, it would be teching a Broadway musical," he said. "I remember during Merrily, when we were doing the holiday Thanksgiving schedule—multiple shows, the whole schedule packed—I remember coming off stage, getting water from Hayley, who was dressing me, and saying, ‘I would so much rather be in the theater all day today than sitting on the couch.’ And she was like, ‘You're f**king crazy.’ But that's just who I am. I think I connect with Bobby Darin in that way. There’s a real, primal need to perform.”

Darin’s own momentum was fueled by a sense of urgency that likely stemmed from a weak heart, the result of a childhood illness. After a bout of rheumatic fever at eight, he overheard a doctor telling his mother he wouldn’t live past 16. “He was living on borrowed time,” Groff said. “And so he had this ambition to make it as fast as he possibly could and do as much as he possibly could before the clock ran out. It was constantly at the front of his brain.”

The show will cover the major beats of Darin’s life—his marriage to Sandra Dee, his relationship with Connie Francis, and a major family revelation (which won’t be spoiled here) that triggered a nervous breakdown and, later, what Groff calls a “truly spiritual awakening.”

That arc is reflected in the show’s musical journey—including Darin’s electrifying rendition of the Brecht-Weill classic “Mack the Knife”—all performed with a live band on stage. “It feels kind of like the Copacabana, but another essential purpose for having the band there is you feel the thrust of his life expressed through his musical journey. You really get the breadth of who he was as a person and an artist. Even just from listening to the music alone, that arc and that story are there.”

During the conversation, Groff also opened up about the late Gavin Creel, who passed away in 2024. “He changed my life,” said Groff. It was Creel, Groff shared, who inspired him to come out publicly. “We were dating, and he was so out. It was 2009. Coming out… it was sort of an unspoken or sometimes spoken thing that you were sacrificing something in your career if you did it. And I remember looking at him and thinking, I would rather feel this feeling than ever be on a TV show or in a movie. This is so much more meaningful to me. And so I owe him that.”

Ultimately, Groff said, there’s inspiration to be found in a life like Darin’s—or Creel’s—fully lived. “We're all here on borrowed time. This body is ours while we're here. And then it's not when we're gone. And so what I hope, and what I feel when I am inside of the material, is this deep, profound passion for life,” he said. “It makes me feel alive and makes me feel grateful to be alive.”