For this assignment we were to find a video of Japanese Noh theater and discuss the elements of music that exist within this art form. After a bit of searching I decided to go with a small clip of a performance from Tokyo.
This performance included a nohkan, ko-tsuzumi, and an o-tsuzumi along with the male vocalist which was performed by the o-tsuzumi and possibly the ko-tsuzumi (I did not have a good view of his mouth) as accordance with kakegoe.
During this performance the o-tsuzumi and ko-tsuzumi seemed to be the maintaining a beat for the first part (which relied on a repeating pattern) however around 1:30 they changed their pattern and became less noticeably pulsatile. The nohkan flute on the otherhand seems to remain nonpulstile for the entire performance. Also it should be noted that when I found beat for the first part (1:30) the kakegoe also aligned itself with this beat.
The actor acted at slow rate to further emphasize the feeling of dreamlike meditation instilled by these performances. Also while likely not relevant I found it interesting that he began wielding his fan about the same time the drumming became nonpulsatile for me.
So while there are pulsatile parts it seems the majority of Noh theater is nonpulsatile (considering that only the drums were at a noticeable beat for part of the performance). Also slow movements are emphasized as to promote a sense of meditation which the performance is to promote. Also to note is that the atmosphere and likely the audience also reinforced this by the silence and attentiveness.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Blog 5: A look at Hindustani
For this assignment we were to search youtube for a song featuring one Hindustani (North Indian Classical Music) and comment on the musical elements of the song. The only other restriction other than this was that the song could not have been featuring Ravi Shankar. So after a good bit of searching (mainly due to the lack of info supplied by the uploaders) I finally decided to blog about a song by the band Tihai.
The three instruments used throughout the different sections of this Hindustani are the sarod, the tablas, and the alto saxophone. Also it should be stated that this song has been cut up into three sections.
The first section of the Hindustani has the saxophone acting as a soloist followed by a sarod solo (not counting the drones being produced by the sarod during this time). While I’m unable to state whether or not the saxophone and the sarod were using melodic improvisation (as I’m unfamiliar with the genre) based on the atmosphere I would lean toward the existence of improvisation.
The second section once again has the sarod producing drones however this section of the Hindustani has relies much more on a drumming accompaniment provided by the tablas to supplement the music by the saxophone and the sarod instead of the solos in the first section. Also as with custom the tablas player took advantage of the different sounds that could be produced from the different parts of one’s hand along with the different parts of the drum.
The final section maintains much of the same instrumental line up (including drones) as the second but showcases a much quicker bpm than the second.
The three instruments used throughout the different sections of this Hindustani are the sarod, the tablas, and the alto saxophone. Also it should be stated that this song has been cut up into three sections.
The first section of the Hindustani has the saxophone acting as a soloist followed by a sarod solo (not counting the drones being produced by the sarod during this time). While I’m unable to state whether or not the saxophone and the sarod were using melodic improvisation (as I’m unfamiliar with the genre) based on the atmosphere I would lean toward the existence of improvisation.
The second section once again has the sarod producing drones however this section of the Hindustani has relies much more on a drumming accompaniment provided by the tablas to supplement the music by the saxophone and the sarod instead of the solos in the first section. Also as with custom the tablas player took advantage of the different sounds that could be produced from the different parts of one’s hand along with the different parts of the drum.
The final section maintains much of the same instrumental line up (including drones) as the second but showcases a much quicker bpm than the second.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Thoughts on the Chinese Cultural Exchange
For me going into a discussion on popular music is nothing short of terrifying. The reason for that is simply put I have no experience in what is popular music. I don’t listen to the radio and the majority of the music I listen too is what I randomly find on internet sites like youtube, my old high school website (yay to Scottish pipe bands), and imeem (which no longer exists) or from an online game I play (well school kind of stops that) called osu!.
So after going into this discussion my worries were further spurred by questions like ‘what is current popular music’ and ‘what is the folk music of this area like’. However the class’s responses made me realize that America has no real definition for this since we all come from different cultures. After getting over my initial disappointment that I’m not as much of a nut that I think I am I began to think why we lack such a regional culture. China is just as big as the USA if not larger and has a much larger population. So why would they have set cultural songs for their different areas while the United States does not.
So after some thinking I came to the decision that it really relates to our family structure. Coming from a family in which I am literally the only child (I have no cousins on my mother’s side and well we don’t know what happened to my relatives on my father’s side) I tend to value the extend family less than the immediate family and am willing to explore opportunities far off. However from what I’ve heard about more Eastern oriented families there is a very high value placed on the family and such members are less likely to leave their place of birth as much as us Westerns.
This concentration of families in turn leads to concentration of cultures not seen in Western cultures. Thus I believe this is the reason why we have much less of a set cultural identity for each of our regions.
So after going into this discussion my worries were further spurred by questions like ‘what is current popular music’ and ‘what is the folk music of this area like’. However the class’s responses made me realize that America has no real definition for this since we all come from different cultures. After getting over my initial disappointment that I’m not as much of a nut that I think I am I began to think why we lack such a regional culture. China is just as big as the USA if not larger and has a much larger population. So why would they have set cultural songs for their different areas while the United States does not.
So after some thinking I came to the decision that it really relates to our family structure. Coming from a family in which I am literally the only child (I have no cousins on my mother’s side and well we don’t know what happened to my relatives on my father’s side) I tend to value the extend family less than the immediate family and am willing to explore opportunities far off. However from what I’ve heard about more Eastern oriented families there is a very high value placed on the family and such members are less likely to leave their place of birth as much as us Westerns.
This concentration of families in turn leads to concentration of cultures not seen in Western cultures. Thus I believe this is the reason why we have much less of a set cultural identity for each of our regions.
Blog 4: GooGoosh
For our fourth blog assignment we have been requested to find one of GooGoosh’s songs on youtube and comment on the musical elements present within the song. After a bit of searching I decided to do my commentary on Hamseda Medley. Also while I am on the topic of the selection of songs on youtube I must mention that I was surprised at the number of less than standard quality sound recordings there. This has made me wonder if that sound quality is standard for other areas or if that culture obtains its music from places other than the internet.
Anyways after listening to this song I found myself reminded of a jazz and dance mix. This feeling leads to think that this song could possible be a reng however as I just recently began studying this culture there is a very possible that I am wrong in this assumption. What I can say is that the majority of this was sung by a solo singer with an accompaniment of instruments.
The instruments included seem to be drums, a flute, some kind of horned instrument, and some key instrument (like an electric keyboard or piano). Out of all the instruments the drums play the main part for holding the beat while the rest act as accompaniment for most of the song (there are parts where the singer takes a break and the instruments take over).
Anyways after listening to this song I found myself reminded of a jazz and dance mix. This feeling leads to think that this song could possible be a reng however as I just recently began studying this culture there is a very possible that I am wrong in this assumption. What I can say is that the majority of this was sung by a solo singer with an accompaniment of instruments.
The instruments included seem to be drums, a flute, some kind of horned instrument, and some key instrument (like an electric keyboard or piano). Out of all the instruments the drums play the main part for holding the beat while the rest act as accompaniment for most of the song (there are parts where the singer takes a break and the instruments take over).
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Blog 3 – Elements of Music Performance
As requested by our assignment I attended the UT Dallas Music Faculty Concert last Friday and was actually quite surprised to find it to be a performance of Latin music. Now while I did enjoy the entire concert this blog post is restricted to one song so after a bit a thought I’ve decided to discuss the Elements of Music Performance that took place during the Lamento.
Now these Elements of Music Performance consist of four parts (Music, Performers, Audience, and Time/Space) and so like any person attempting to appear sane I shall explain these in reverse order. As this performance took place in Conference Center during the evening the Time/Space of this event was a lot quieter as the audience didn’t have to deal with students needing to use the building or having to watch out for their next class.
Since the event was a passive performance the audience was much less active in the music’s creation than audiences in some other performances however I did notice some head bobbing during some of songs (Lamento included). However over for all the songs the audience maintained a passive roll during the song and gave appropriate applauds at the end (there might have been a few interactions with the audience members in the first row however due to my position and my lack of height compared to the people in front of me I was unable to get a good view of that).
Now while I would guess I would be wrong calling teachers who get paid to teach music folk performers since this concert was created for the community without any inclination of profit the performers would be folk instead professional (unless UTD is plotting to do something again with their subterranean forces of evil housed in the maintenance tunnels). Other than that one could tell these performers had experience with their parts and most of them handled themselves as if they had performed before.
Finally the music during Lamento had a jazzy feel and seemed to me to maintain a duple meter. It also consisted of multiple ornamentations such as syncopation and crescendos.
Now these Elements of Music Performance consist of four parts (Music, Performers, Audience, and Time/Space) and so like any person attempting to appear sane I shall explain these in reverse order. As this performance took place in Conference Center during the evening the Time/Space of this event was a lot quieter as the audience didn’t have to deal with students needing to use the building or having to watch out for their next class.
Since the event was a passive performance the audience was much less active in the music’s creation than audiences in some other performances however I did notice some head bobbing during some of songs (Lamento included). However over for all the songs the audience maintained a passive roll during the song and gave appropriate applauds at the end (there might have been a few interactions with the audience members in the first row however due to my position and my lack of height compared to the people in front of me I was unable to get a good view of that).
Now while I would guess I would be wrong calling teachers who get paid to teach music folk performers since this concert was created for the community without any inclination of profit the performers would be folk instead professional (unless UTD is plotting to do something again with their subterranean forces of evil housed in the maintenance tunnels). Other than that one could tell these performers had experience with their parts and most of them handled themselves as if they had performed before.
Finally the music during Lamento had a jazzy feel and seemed to me to maintain a duple meter. It also consisted of multiple ornamentations such as syncopation and crescendos.
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