About 10 years ago biochemistry professor Albert Courey put on sunglasses and a backwards hat and rapped “The Rhyme of the Ribozyme,” a verse written by Dennis Kuo, an alumnus who took Courey’s class on DNA and RNA biochemistry. Read more...
Photo: UCLA biochemistry professor Albert Courey’s passion for poetry stems from his childhood fascination with music and the arts. (Kathy Chen/Daily Bruin)
Rihanna, Jay Z’s million-dollar pop product, turned trite demos into golden radio hits. The recipe required no lyrical profundity or vocal artistry. She hummed repetitive phrases like “umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh,” sang over EDM-based melodies like Calvin Harris’ “We Found Love,” and profitable radio hits were born. Read more...
Photo: (Courtesy of Westbury Road Entertainment)
UCLA ethnomusicology graduate student Ryan Koons plays the nyckelharpa, which is a traditional Swedish string instrument. He performs “Harppolska,” a song composed by Olov Johansson. Read more...
Ryan Koons removes the nyckelharpa from its case leaning against the wooden wall of his family’s cabin in Maryland. As his fingers climb the small keys along the side of the instrument, his parents join in on the folksy tune and music fills the small, dimly lit room. Read more...
Photo: Ethnomusicology graduate student Ryan Koons plays string instruments like the violin and the Swedish nyckelharpa (above), a cross between a viola and a piano with 16 different strings and around 37 wooden keys. (Aubrey Yeo/Daily Bruin senior staff)
An unfamiliar and haunting melody snuck up on Chris Pree the same way it always did. He would be walking to class, talking to friends or trying to do his homework when a tune would tangle itself around his thoughts. Read more...
Photo: With the help of his grandmother and church choir, second-year theater student Chris Pree honed his singing and performing skills at his church in Washington, D.C. Pree released his mixtape, “Here&Now,” a compilation of poetry set to R&B tunes composed on his keyboard, on New Year’s Day. (Efren Piñon/Daily Bruin)
The Swingers looked up to jazz artists like Freddie Hubbard and Charlie Parker, yet never replicated their performances exactly. The members of this seven-piece student jazz band used their love for classic jazz music to reinvent it in their own unique way. Read more...
Photo: Student-run jazz band Swingers will perform Thursday as part of Fowler Out Loud. Second-year ethnomusicology student Joseph Kwon organized the event as a way for the band members to get together amid their busy schedules. (Courtesy of Vanessa Chung)
Samantha Stewart returns to her dorm room at the end of the day, picks out one of the four blankets laying on her bed, then proceeds to her desk. Read more...
Photo: Student Samantha Stewart turned her dorm room into a makeshift studio to record her 24/7 radio station. (Zoe Hessler/Daily Bruin)
