make-up cool stuff

So I have to cover a cool stuff blog from the first time when I got a little carried away with the cool.

If you're interested in the Native American story, you should check out the 2006 documentary, Trail of Tears. The movie documents the forced removal of Native American peoples from southeastern territory during the1830s.

The Native American's explanations and ideas concerning music were so beautiful and poetic thatI was curious to read about their spirituality and historical writings. I came across the Navajo creation myth which has one of the most beautiful explanations I've ever heard of.

toodles

Every culture found across the globe has music deeply embeded in its culture. One idea that constantly comes to mind when thinking about all the cultures we studied is that non-western music seems so natural compared to what we're studying here at Converse. The acceptance of more raw, animalistic sounds is what we found in other cultures; some even desire a more rugged, less beautiful sound. This approach is very different from eveything we've been trained to do, but it's what I love most about ethnomusicology. It's almost as if we make a mockery of music. Like our work is just one big satire. Everything we do is exaggerated, overworked, and overstudied. Maybe this isn't exactly the case, but what I've seen of other countries' music helps me to play and interpret western music in a much more relaxed way. Music which is so natural and un-fixed makes my work seem stuffy and somewhat stuck-up, so this january I've taken a much freer approach to my practicing and rehearsals. We get so hung up over a single out of tune note, a honk from a clarinet, or a scratchy bow, but other cultures would welcome our errors as a natural part of the music making process. I think we have to be a little more forgiving in our practice so that we can actually enjoy what we're playing. I've found that studying foreign music is a great way to let one's nerves go.
Although I had this great realization, there's still one question that hasn't quite been answered by this class. Why is western music pretty much the only type of music which has delved so deep into the harmonic aspect of music. So many cultures lack complexity of harmony but have it in their melodies, rhythms or both. Why is it that only western music has explored harmony so heavily?

anna owens is the shit

Since Japan is the culture which we studied the least, I thought it would be appropriate to include some Japanese music. The following is a video of Pink Martini, a band I've mentioned before, singing in Japanese a song called Kikuchiyo to Mohshimasu. It has a pretty provocative and interesting text. You might want to look for it if you've got some free time.

Looking for more Japanese music, I found this video on youtube under the heading, "probably the worst music video ever," and thought it would be wonderful to share with everyone. I must agree with the poster because it was definitely hard to handle.

Lastly and most importantly is the best website known to man, engrish. They post pictures of culturally incorrect signs & objects found in Japan. If you're ever having a bad day, go visit Engrish and you're absolutely guaranteed to laugh.

music+society

When I think of music and society, I automatically think of what is popular among society. And then I start to think, what does society know anyway? Nothing. Trying to pair music and society is difficult for me because it's just another way to categorize music, which I don't really like to do. Society can be divided many different ways, and there are genres of music that we probably don't even know about yet. I'd be here forever if I really tried to write about music+society seriously. So I'm going to talk about it non-seriously. And so begins the classification of the unclassifiable.

American society is often tied to pop and rock music. European society is linked more with classical music. Middle-eastern and eastern society holds with religious and ceremonial music. These are just a few ways that an American would think of music and society; but people from other cultures will most likely have differing thoughts. With more study of cultures other than my own, I'm finding that caste systems within the Western music world are less common in other societies. For example, we have blue-grass and country music which is of the lower class, along with rap which could also be considered on a lower rung of the social ladder. Above that would be folk and rock and roll with a little more poetry and musicality, thus serving somewhat of a more sophisticated audience. Even higher in society we find classical and religious music. Something interesting about our culture, however, is that that religious music is slowly becoming less important to the masses than classical music (or at least I think so). This is not necessarily a bad thing (classical music is on the rise!), but it is unusual compared to most other parts of the world. Most cultures are much more tied to their sacred music than Americans and some Europeans. But, maybe I think religious music is disappearing because I'm not a part of religious society. A churchgoer would probably disagree with me. But backing up a little, within the hierarchy of music, we have even more division regarding who should to play the different types of music. For example, it caused kind of an uproar when Jessica Simpson switched from pop to country. And when Apocalyptica first came onto the scene, there was a good bit of controversy over their music among classical music. How do you think die-hard Metallica fans responded? I'm not saying we're the only society that has these unspoken rules of performance, but I'm realizing more and more that outside of Western culture, people value professional performance much less than we do; societal participation is more important. I really like that concept. It takes music off of the pedistal that we tend to put it on so that it's not seen so much as an art form that you have to be skilled at to do and integrates it as a part of everyday life, a commonality. Some of you might be thinking, "But that's what makes music so cool, the fact that it is an art form." Well, sure, but I'm not of that mindset. I don't like liking things because their special, I like them because of practicality and simplicity. And music that is performed daily from birth would probably seem pretty practical and simple if you were the one playing it. . .our society should try that!

branch out a little

Since we've been talking about Latin America in class, I've been thinking about this "band" that my dad introduced me to when I was about 5. Thinking now, I'm pretty impressed that my dad, a pretty conservative dude who really enjoys cowboy music (real cowboy music), would even own a CD by these guys. The name of the band is Cusco and is comprised of two German guys who explore the musical styles of other cultures in the composition of their own music. They focus very much on the music of Central and Latin America, which is appropriate as their band name is derived from the name capitol of the ancient Incan civilization--Cuzco, literally meaning "navel," considered to be the center of the earth. What these guys have cooked up is musik de über producción. Have a listen.



Flying Condor - Cusco



I'm not really a fan of the music, but I commend their creativity. What I'm really interested in is the following video.


As mentioned in class, the technical perfection of articualtion that Tabla players possess is just totally mindblowing. If I my fingers were that fast, I'd be playing Tchaik faster than Hillary Hahnn. However, if you watched the entire video and have at least some knowledge of music, you'll agree with me that although this clip is pretty cool, he's really only expressing one ability, and that is speed of fingers. The next video is much more impressive. The Chakardar Ensemble is performing in Royal Albert Hall, which alone is pretty impressive, but after glimpsing the technicality involved in playing tabla, the quality of this ensenmble is pretty amazing.


The bass tones are the best.

play it rite

Musical rites are not something most people think of on a daily occurance, but if you think hard enough, you'll probably realize that experienced at least one today. Church is the most common place to hear a musical rite: the organ processional for the entrance of the choir, a hymn for the offertory, etc. Weddings and funerals are two other occasions where one will most likely hear music as part of tradition. Thankfully, I've experienced more in nuptual settings than at wakes, but that has to do more with the fact that I'm a violinist, and people always want violinists at weddings. I can't tell you how many times I've played Canon in D; Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring; Trumpet Voluntary; The Bridal March; and so on. (However, I still manage to find a way to screw up.) You'll also find musical rites at graduations, i.e. the Alma Mater, and Pomp and Circumstance; and if you're Connie, maybe something composed by Dr. Berry! Another occasion where you'll hear a rite is on your birthday (most likely). Even if your friends don't sing to you, just go to an Outback Steakhouse or Applebees and a group of complete strangers will sing a song for you with nearly unidentifiable text along with a slice of apple pie...for free!

There are quite a few overlooked musical rites that happen daily, sometimes repeatedly. One example is bells which mark the change of the hour. For instance, the bells in the tower of Wilson Hall, First Pres., Westminster Abbey. And with modern technology, "music" is becoming even more of a rite through cell phones. I may be stretching it a little bit, but those of us who wake up to a cell phone alarm are experience a musical rite every morning when we roll out of bed, not to mention when we get phone calls and one of our 23 real song ringtones starts blasting. Anyone who has hung out with Wanda Sanders for more than 5 minutes knows which tune indicates whether she's got a text message, voicemail, or if one of her not so favorite people are calling her (joking). Some Verizon phones even have a ringtone which is a pretty accurate (other than key area) reproduction of the pizzicato movement from Ravel's string quartet. Now you're going to be hunting down a Verizon customer tomorrow.

music+religion=$

When I was young, the music I always heard in the car was that of Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, and sometimes even the Gathers, unfortunately. I used to hate the sound of the organ, probably because I associated it with our pastor's endless sermons, and the only reason I liked the church lady solos was because all the boring stuff stopped for a while and I had the chance to make a little noise. Christian music definitely affected my aesthetic view and as I grew up and defied my my mom's wishes for what music I'd listen to, I began to hear more of what made my ears happy.

I try my hardest not to associate music with religion. Spirituality? Yes. Religion? No. The music I find to be the most spiritual are Indian ragas. The drones make me think of the vibrations that are ringing through the universe and the steady drumming steadies my concentration on ideas and questions I have regarding life and existence. I also have spiritual experiences while either listening to or playing classical music, Brahms and Beethoven especially. Oh and Mahler, also. One of the most spiritual experiences I've ever had with music took place during a summer chamber festival I attended a couple years back. A group of the musicians decided to go to a performance of the Royal Philharmonic and it just so happened that they'd be playing Mahler's 3rd symphony. I had never heard any of Mahler's works before, so I had no idea what to expect. One of the professors tried to sing some of the themes for me and explain what I might feel, but the words he used did not even begin to describe the affect the music had on me. It was one of the most beautiful and magnificent things I'd ever heard or seen, and I cried straight through the 4th and 5th movements. This was the only life-changing musical experience I have ever had. The only way I can describe the performance is that the musicality coming from the orchestra was like a purely perfect expression of Mahler's emotions and must have been how he heard the piece playing in his head. I had another spiritual experience while rehearsing the Mendelssohn c-minor trio this summer. After having serious doubts about playing the violin and taking about a month from practicing, I went to work at a music camp and found a pianist and cellist on staff and we decided to read trios. I could tell from the first note that we were going to jive together and we surely did. The read through wasn't performance quality, but we made real music with one another which was the catalyst for one of the most important epiphanies I've ever had. Spiritual experiences with music can depend on one's state of mind, but they can also be totally spontaneous and uncontrolled by the self. Mine tend to be pretty uncontrollable.

the bad plus

These guys, The Bad Plus, are a fairly new group, started in 2000. This is a video of a live performance of their first recorded song, a cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." They're basically a jazz trio, but they're music sounds unlike any other jazz. Leaning more toward rock and roll, they perform their own renditions of works from pop musicians such as Black Sabbath, Aphex Twin, Bjork, and Blondie; but they also claim the influence of classical composers such as Stravinsky. As jazz musicians each member plays a role in composition as they adapt the songs of other musicians and in creating their own individual works. I first heard them after buying their CD, "These are the Vistas," out of curiosity; I was pleasantly surprised. I thought their stuff was pretty innovative, but I did not realize the complexity of the music until I saw this video. They're all musical badasses! It's rare to find musicians who sound better live than in the edited, produced tracks on the CD; these guys are on of the few who fall into that category. Now that you've watched the video of these three, check out the Nirvana version. The two are so different that they're almost incomparable, but it's fun to try. This is an unusually experimental version, but the best video I could find.

If you had fun with that, now compare these two. The first is the original version of "Flim" by Aphex Twin--Richard D. James who is revered as one of today's most influential electronic musicians. The second is a live recording of a performance of the same song as interpreted by the bad plus. I find the comparison between these two even more impressive, especially in the technicality of the drummer's virtuosic playing.

movement+music

I play a fairly movement based instrument. In fact, unless at least one hand moves, no sound can come from the violin. But, every instrument requires some movement in order to produce sound; this is why there is an entire field of therapists and trainers specializing in injury prevention and treatment for musicians. If anyone's going to need therapy for a musically related injury, its these guys--their nervous systems are probably nearly destroyed by now from all that headbanging

When compared to classical music, non-classical where more movement is found. For example, at a Matisyahu concert I attended where the whole crowd was dancing, jumping, waving signs--things you won't find at a "Friends" concert. Just think, one could get a pretty good mosh pit going for Death and the Maiden; although a lot of hips might be broken. My dad told me about this lady, Mairead Nesbitt, who fiddles for Celtic Woman and can perform both the music and dance simultaneously (cool, but a little distracting). Perhaps even a little weirder is the fusion of music and movement that the performers for Cirque du Soleil demonstrate. They don't actually make the music, but one must realize that their shows would not be nearly as successful were they doing acrobatics sans music. And I'd be willing to bet that the music was composed with movement in mind.

Performances are not the only places where you find music and movement. Ever take a spin class? No one would ever be able to make it through one of those things without music, especially not with the hyped up little instructor yelling the whole time. Fitness classes most often require music. You're probably thinking, "well, not yoga", but you're wrong. Bikram yoga and Kundalini yoga often incorporate music with strong steady beats in order to use more energy, form a better connection with breath, and to awaken the sleeping serpent. Why is the iPod industry so successful? Probably because so many people use them when they are excercizing.

These are just a few examples of how I experience the connection between music and movement; I think this is enough weirdness for now.

musical autobiography

I was introduced to music at a very early age due to the fact that I was an extremely colique-y baby. My mom bought a tape of soothing classical music to play so that I could fall asleep, and amazingly it worked. Growing up, my mom was constantly playing Raffi tapes for my sister and me which were basically sing along shows she used to distract us so that we'd leave her alone--she knew we liked them too. Then, in elementary school, like every other kid in the district, I had music class a couple of days per week where we'd bang on little xylophones, shake maracas, and "play" recorders, but the first non-traditional music I was introduced to was la cucaracha in Spanish class starting in kindergarten. We also learned the mexican hat dance. Also, in elementary school we would occasionally have visitors from other cultures come for assemblies, but the only one I remember was a flamenco group who came to the school to dance and who brought live musicians with them. I thought the finger castanets were neat and I wanted a pair.

It wasn't until 7th grade that I started playing non-classical music. In home-room everyday the kids would play intramural sports, but because I was a music nerd, I got out of it so that I could go to the morning string class where we played fiddle music. The guy teaching us was part Irish and had a good amount of fiddle experience, so we were working with a pretty knowledgable source. From that point until college, I didn't really have much exposure to music other than what my mom listened to on the radio and what I played on my violin. So my musical world consisted mostly of contemporary Christian music and classical violin/orchestra music. The one encounter I had with foreign music during that stretch of 4 years was when a friend introduced me to "Pink Martini," a band from Oregon or something who performs a lot of music from foreign film. They sing in about 16 different languages including Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Portugese, French, English, Croatian, Arabic, and Russian--check them out!

As a freshman in college, I started to realize that the classical music standards, though masterpieces, were not what interested me the most. We've all heard them, and it's nice to hear them again, but I became drawn to twentieth century music and music of other cultures--they present messages which most people may not have heard yet! Looking through the CD filing cabinets at random I found Bulgarian village songs--unlike anything I've ever heard before. My guitar-friend turned me on to South-American guitar music, and a borrowed iPod introduced me to indian ragas, which I'm now addicted to. I fell in love with the drones and tried to wrap my mind around the rhythmic syllables, but they're built on a concept which most westerners have a difficult time understanding without fairly extensive practice and research. So I bought a tabla and started watching some youtube videos on how to play it. It's much more complex than you'd think, with over 14 different distinguished contact points on a single drum.

Last year I had an itch to play a non-western piece, so I found Turkish solo violin music online somewhere and printed it out. It was built on a scale system unlike anything I've ever played. Not only did it incorporate 1/4 tones, but also 1/8th tones, and I didn't even know how to read the thing! Luckily it came with instructions.

Then this past summer during a trip to Sonoma, I was lucky enough to be surprised with tickets to see the Kronos Quartet perform all middle-eastern music. They played a few traditional pieces adapted for string quartet and drum, but one contemporary piece written for them was particularly odd. The cellist played an 8 stringed cello-ish thing which he had to stand up to play--all pizz--and another instrument invented for the piece was a neckless stringed instrument designed for droning. It was just a body mounted horizontally on a stand with 4 strings and two bridges. Two strings were strung from one side crossing one bridge while the other two were strung from the opposite side, criss-crossing in the middle. It required two people to be played, standing opposite one another while they bowed, careful not to hit the string the other was bowing as it would stop the vibrations. This instrument was wacky, but inventive. After this concert, I downloaded a lot of middle eastern music and started studying it aurally like I had the indian music. Then, this year when Nawar came, hanging out with him introduced me to egyptian music--not just traditional stuff, but pop-music as well. The instrumentation and design is interesting to think about as we're so used to our own pop-music with synthasizers and fairly simple harmonies.

I don't have an extensive history with world music, but I like to listen to as much of it as possible because I think it's important to venture outside of the familiar. Creativity can't exist among commonalities.