Sunday, April 25, 2010
Report 2
As the Musical stated there was an introduction of each of the characters in the freak show. The background music consisted of a fast tempo to provide the effect of anxiety to the audience as the performers entered the stage. All the numbers that were performed by the play were either of one of the following themes: Love, Life of the twins, or acceptance of the freaks in a whole. The dialogues amongst the performers were mainly phrases from songs rather than them talking. The music during the play used to accompany the dialogue of the actors to add more expression and feeling to the play. If the part was something intense in acting and dialogue the band would play a fast tempo song in the high octave. Another interesting thing I noticed was the pitch at which the notes were being played was matched by the volume of the actor. Suppose the actor had a very low voice the band used to play the same octave but in a softer volume and wise versa. I feel this was done such that the dialogue between does not get over shadowed by the music in the background. When the mood was meant to be a sad / dark atmosphere to the stage the rhythm and volume were slow and soft respectively. At times the music from the band was in time with the dialogue to provide emphases on the phrases; hence the band would not play anything when the performer is not saying anything. The pit band was directed by a director who used to instruct the performers whether they should play louder, softer, or stops.
The performers in this event consisted of the actors and the pit band. Unlike other Musical theatre the pit band was not hidden from the view of the audience rather they were set at the back of the stage where the audience could see some parts of the band. The performers at times interacted with the audience to provide a live feeling of what would have really happened in the past. The main focus of the play was around the twins and there love life. Even if the characters in the side were not the focus they still would provide the facial and body expression to help the main characters set the mood and tone of the scene. Throughout the play actors would change their customs to match the setting of the scene. This helped the audience understand the change in place and location.
The audience at the play mainly consisted of students, families, and friends of the performers. When the performance started the director informed us that this play was the biggest success they have ever had in their history with respect to the number of audience present. Since this was the last performance most of the audience was anxious to see the performance of the twins since they had heard great things about it from friends who had come to the play previously. Some of the audience members started to clap hands in between songs when someone did an extraordinary job. The audience had a very positive and energetic appearance. At the end of the show I was surprise by the number of people whistling to show their likeness of the show. All the audience at the end gave a standing ovation to the performers to acknowledge that they had done a great job. The loudest claps came in when the twins bowed down to show their thanks.
Since this was the last show of their two week of shows the audience had knowledge about the show prior to the start of the show. Since the seats were filled with audience I feel that if was an engorgement for the performers to show their best. Since the audiences were so supportive of the show, people at times would cheer the performers at the end of each scene such that they are motivated to perform.
In conclusion, the Side Show was a great success in terms of talent and audience. It was a show with multiple moods such as: humor, sadness, joy, and fear. This was a great platform of the Arts major to show their families and friends that they are able to provide us the audience with great shows to watch.
Source:
Side Show. By Bill Russell and Henry Krieger. Dir. Kathryn Evans. Perf. UTD Cast. Con. Winston Stone. University Theatre, Richardson. April 17 2010.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Rock Music
Some of the distinctive characterizes that usually defines this genre is the use if electric guitars. The use of electric guitars where prominent since artists found it easier to create variations in the tone, pitch, and distortion which added to the performance by the artist. Another characteristic of this genre is the existence of small ensembles that play the entire song unlike in Jazz where there are a large number of players playing the song. Usually a rock and roll band consisted of around 3 – 6 players. Thirdly, rock and rock music tends to have a special emphasis on the lyrics that is being sung by the sing. The singer tends to dress in fashionable clothes such that people would be appealed by the clothes they were. There is also a strong presents of a four-beat cycle in all songs. This is usually kept by the drums using the snare and the bass.
As you can see from the start of the song there is a constant presents of electric guitar throughout entire song. Secondly, there are a very limit number of people in the band; there are only 6 in total band players in the entire group. Throughout the song you can notice an equal importance for both the lyrics and the music by providing them at almost equal volume to the listeners. When the drums joins the groups the for- beat cycle can be noticed if you listen to the drummer. The second and forth beat are louder than the first and second beat.
This is the video I have been using to talk about Rock and Roll:
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Gullah Music
The Videos I used are:
Sunday, April 4, 2010
UT Dallas: Shakespeare in Song
The performers for the UTD Chamber Singers performed the event, Shakespeare in Song on the Saturday, March 27th at 8 pm at the Jonsson Performance Hall. Shakespeare in Song is a concept where different plays of Shakespeare are performed with a combination of Opera and Dialogue. These plays do not contain complete stories rather parts of various stories by Shakespeare. The group used to rehearse on campus at UT Dallas’s Arts and Humanities Building where they have their own room.
Music
According to the director of the event she mentions that the plays that where performed during that day originated from three different sources. One of them being the authentic songs by Shakespeare, the solo songs had been composed by a British composer Roger Quilter, and the choral arrangements for the plays were composed by Julliard graduate Matthew Harris. Even though the various songs had different composer they all had a Shakespearean flavor and element of 17th century music. The lyrics of the songs where sung in Old English, which was mainly used during the time period of Shakespeare. All the songs in the play either had a very happy mood or a dull mood to it. When the music wanted to express a happy mood the rhythm of the song was faster whilst for a sad song the piano had a very slow and melodic rhythm. The choral arrangements during the play were done in a way that two different groups would sing the same phrase but at different timings. The melody in the two groups would start of initially and then would be joined by another group and together they would finish the phrase together. This difference in timing of the two groups provided an echo effect and made each line stand out more due to the repetition. These groups were divided into four main categories: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass. Each of these divisions would sing in response to another group in a different pitch level to distinguish the groups. Some of the songs consist of solo performances with the accompaniment of the piano. The piano gave different ready marks during the performance to indicate that he was ready, if it was a group song he would play one note and for a solo performance would play the introduction without any indication he is ready. The solo performers used a lot of vibrato to provide expressions to the song by varying the hand gestures and facial expressions. Usually all the songs in the performance ended on a very low pitch and long note.
Performers
On the stage, there were the UT Dallas Chamber Singers, the pianist and the director. The singers on the stage were a bunch of UT Dallas students that had signed up for this class. The names of the pianist and the director are Michael Mc Vay and Kathryn Evans respectively. To bring forward the time frame during which it is set, all the personal on stage were dressed in costumes that fit that time period. The singers followed the director to guide them through the song, since she can indicate changes that needs to be done during the songs by hand gestures such as pitch changes, tempo, and keeps beat for the singers. The pianist also follows the director since she has the freedom to such the tempo at her discretion. Since piano is the only instrument on stage it often starts the song before the singers join in. In between the various songs there were dialogues between different characters such that the audience gets background knowledge of the performance. This technique used by the cast helped them transition from one story to another.
Audience
Since the play I attended took place during a Saturday night the audience was very limited, at most there would have been about 30 people in the hall at any given point. From the present audience consists mostly of students from various music classed taking notes, families of the performers, and a few Shakespeare in song listeners. Surprisingly no one tried to clap in between the various songs until the director bowed down to thank you for listening. One thing I noticed was that entire audience was surprised to find out that one of the singers was actually blind. Once she had finished her solo performance people started to cheer and clap loudly to show their appreciation for what a beautiful performance she had done.
Time and Space
Due to the lack of audience the mood was very dull. Most of the students were just there such that they can take notes and the families were just there to provide support. Since there were no real music lover there was absence of energy from the audience. Due to the size of the hall the audiences were able to visually see the singer from a near distance. To help the audience keep track of the song currently being played there were power point slide shows that showed the title of the song and a picture related to the song.
Conclusion
The Shakespeare in Song event helped spread the works of Shakespeare. To provide the audience with a realistic feeling of what would have been present during Shakespeare’s time they used a combination of Old English and costumes to showcase a 17th century play in today’s world.
Works Cited:
• Shakespeare in Song. Dir. Director Kathryn Evans. Perf.
UTD Chamber Singers. University of Texas atDallas,
Jonsson Performance Hall, Richardson, 27 Mar. 2010.
• Program notes. Shakespeare in Song. Mar. 27. Richardson,
University of Texas at Dallas Jonsson Performance Hall.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Comment blog 10
Monday, March 29, 2010
Blog 10 Opera
Monday, March 22, 2010
blog 9 : Avatar Music
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Music Ethnography
Indian music has various types of music ranging from classical music to film music. Even through both of these music forms are very popular the back-bone for any variation originated from Indian Classical Music. When you start to analyze the Indian Classical Music you come across another diversion in type of Music, one being Hindustani Music and the other Carnatic Music. The main difference being Carnatic Music originates from South India whilst Hindustani Music originates from North India. Since Dallas area has an enormous number of Indian families, Indian Classical Music has been incorporated into the society. Within the Dallas region, Carnatic Music is more popular due to the geographical origins of these Indians. Due to my growing interests to learn the basic structure of Indian Classical Music, I therefore choose one of the divisions namely: Carnatic Music as my music ethnography research within the Dallas area to compare it with India from where its origins can be found.
Methodology:
One of the most useful places that came across for this research paper would be recourses that I found on the internet. Even though at times clarification was required due to my lack of knowledge about Carnatic Music, I was able to approach people here whom are being taught Carnatic Music and/or my mom who is a professional singer to clarify these doubts. The event which I attended was conducted by a young artist who had just finished her requirements to be classified as a professional singer. This event took place at the McKinney Performance Art Center on a Saturday. The setup of the stage was very basic. In the center of the stage was where the singer sat and around her there where various instrument players. They had a few statues of Indian Gods to show respect to the Indian God of Music (Ramachandran). I was able to interview one of my own cousins who is about to finish her training to become a classical singer. I went down to her house during one of the weekends to be able to approach and talk to her freely about Carnatic Music.
Ideas about Music:
Carnatic Music had been originated from various Hindu manuscripts but was developed by Purandara Dasa, who is noted as the god father of Carnatic Music. It all started back in 16th century back in India but has slowly spread due to the migration of Indians from India whom at times carry the culture along with them. As mention by Ms. Ramachandran, “Since Carnatic Music has a very strict structure about how to do things, there are not too many difference on the structure and belief in the Dallas area” (Ramachandran). The beliefs still remains that the guru (teacher) is like god to you. The trainee must listen to all orders that are been proposed, it is thought be disrespectful to not order commands and at times can lead to the guru discontinuing their teaching. Since Indian Classical Music in general had originated from Hindu traditions people still try to maintain this by not change any of the themes and objects being sung about. To list a few subjects the songs are based on: 1). Hindu Gods, 2). Nature and its beauty and rarely 3). Human feelings. As mentioned before due to the standard structure Carnatic Music world wide, defines music as one that contains of śruti (the musical pitch), swara (the musical sound of a single note), rāga (the mode), and tala (the rhythm). Especially in the Dallas, the type of dress is valued more due to the different class of Indians found here then back in India (Ramachandran). But they still value the artist’s talents without any sort biased feelings. Carnatic Music is not performed often in the Dallas area due to lack of performance halls. To overcome this requirement people perform during general parties / gatherings. The performers are always allowed to perform when and where they wise to perform.
Activities Involving Music
With today’s media growth everything is almost available everywhere. Due to the genre of Carnatic Music namely: Classical, there are only limited ways a Carnatic fan can get hold of one. Places where you can find things concerning Carnatic Music are limited to few Indian Shops, concerts, or family gatherings. Some people on the other hand bring a hand full of C.D. when they visit Indian and distribute copies amongst known people. Since the number of listeners is limited, popular download places such as iTunes do not offer a wide variety of songs to pick from. Within the Dallas area there are a very few professional singers, this lack of professional singers is mainly due to the lack of mass audiences and opportunities to future their knowledge of Carnatic Music (Ramachandran). Due to this very reason many trainees are trained via phone by professionals in India. Since this music culture is based on Hindu traditions, one is taught not to look down at people from various other cultures. This culture is an open for all, if you interested to listen or even want to learn this culture there is no one that will stop you from doing so. From the event I attend I noticed that majority of the audiences were mainly elderly people with a very small number of youngsters. When I mean elderly people this would consist of people of ages 40+, even the youngster consisted mainly of people who are already learning Carnatic Music. Due to the lack of sufficient exposure to this Culture around Dallas area young people only are exposed due to parental interest (Ramachandran). The event I attended consisted of only of three performers mainly the singing herself, one the left of her was the mrdangam player, and to the right of her was the violin player. The existence of the violin player is mainly due to the influence of modernization on this Music Culture. As expected there was a consistent drone in the background even when the artists was not performing, this task was done by a modern drone box called sruti box. The only other person involved with the production of this concert was the sound system professionals.
Repertoires of Music
Due to limited number of listeners, this music culture can be right fully classified in the Classical genre. Since Classical Music is defined as “One that is performed by professionals but not a large audience” (Alves). The music sung by the artist mainly consists of the notes Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa but at times contains of lyrics. When the music composed contains only of the seven notes mentioned above the performer has the option to sing or play the notes on any instrument. One of the focuses of Carnatic Music is on the singing part, which can be considered the lyrics for this music culture. As mentioned by Ms. Ramachandran “The lyrics of the song try to express the mood and message to the listeners” (Ramachandran). Like all Carnatic singers the performers are given full freedom to either to sing a song sung by another professional or else make alteration to various pieces to their wish. Composition of Music in Carnatic Music is a never ending process since each artist is allowed to make continuous variations to the song. A song performed by an artist might never be the same song when he or she performs it again. Carnatic Music is passed on from generation to generation by the use of gurus; these are professional singers who teach youngsters. But now days within the Dallas area people have started buying C.D.s and trying to learn to sing by themselves (Ramachandran). According to my observations from the event, I noticed that concert have a very calm and peaceful environment where everyone sits and enjoys.
Material Culture
Since Carnatic Music has current requirements, every performance would include: instruments, Indian Gods, and a book with music score. The performers are expected to have their own Music Books and Instruments. Due to the lack of Indian Music Stores in Dallas area, people either buy books from India and ship them or get them personally by making a trip to India. The culture of sharing music scores is the principal method people within the Dallas area get music.
Conclusion
As you all may have noticed by now there are only a limited number of differences between the same Music-Culture in India compared to this Music-Culture in Dallas. One of the major differences can be found in the form of audience age group and the interest level amongst youngsters. Carnatic Music is only half of what is called Indian Classical Music, Indian Classical Music is huge ocean to research and analyze since the music composition are never kept standard.
To show examples of professional concerts conducted in Dallas I have added a few links to Youtube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2jiVG6TAo8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDZj6EPFVg0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilGdCGUn_Ho
Bibliography:
• Alves, William. Music of the Peoples of the World. Boston, Mass.: Schirmer Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
• Janani Ramesh, McKinney Performance Arts Center, Dallas. Feb 27 2010.
• Ramachandran, Janani. Personal interview. 02 Mar. 2010.
• Carnatic Music - Soul of Soth Indian Music. Rep. Aug. & Sept. 2009. Web. 4 Mar. 2010.
• "Music Of India - College Essay - Cheezles." Free Term Papers, Research Papers, Custom Essays, and Book Reports OPPapers.com. Web. 11 Mar. 2010.
• "Overview of Indian Classical Music." David and Chandrakantha Courtney's Homepage-Indian Musicians. Web. 11 Mar. 2010.
• "Carnatic Music - An Overview." South Asian Women's Forum (SAWF) Home Page. Web. 11 Mar. 2010.
• "Carnatic Music: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article." AbsoluteAstronomy.com. Web. 10 Mar. 2010.
Monday, March 8, 2010
blog 8
Friday, March 5, 2010
Blog 7
Monday, February 22, 2010
Blog 6
The dance does seem to have been influenced by Chinese opera. Since both the types of drama utilizes headgear to express the emotions and mood of the space. The dance does not contain any complicated movements, rather contains simple movements such as walking and swinging of the Japanese fan. The drummers seem to have a certain pattern they play but each drummer uses a different pattern. The fact that surprised me the most was that the pattern played by the drummer is not coordinated since they have full freedom to play what they feel. The song talks about a mystery in someone’s life since all Japanese Noh songs are derived from myth or ancient narratives.
The video can be found here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUhtCLKFMx0
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Indian Music
The song can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L11m8jiun1o
The entire concert is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohZSRHavsCE
Monday, February 8, 2010
Arabic Music
The translation of the song can be found here:
http://iraniansongstranslations.blogspot.com/2007/09/man-amade-am-ive-come-by-googoosh.html
The video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78ZxtnQCyhQ&feature=related
Monday, February 1, 2010
Blog 3
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Blog 2
Blog 2
Coming for an Indian family which is actively involved in Indian Classical Music has invoked a desire to learn the fundamentals of such an ancient form of music. As we all know that Indians are everywhere in today’s world Dallas is no exception. Dallas also does consist of a considerable amount of Indian families. Due to the interest of parents to maintain the tradition of having the girls learn Indian Classical Music there are a tremendous number of Indian Music Schools around the Dallas/Fort Worth area. From my stay in Dallas I have noticed that if the family contains any young girl as a member of the family they are in some way or other required learning Carnatic Music, which is the largest form of Indian Classical Music. Some of the families go to extremes of hiring teachers in India to teach their kid or kids over the telephone line. It is not only the influence of parents but also professionals that constantly hold concerts to attract more and more teenagers to that field. From my research I would like to learn how the different environment affects the learning process of kids around Dallas/Fort Worth area. To give an example of professionals singing in the Dallas/Fort Worth area I have a youtube link below this:
Monday, January 18, 2010
Blog 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsCI4c95J0I&feature=related
Typically Indian music tends to be pleasing and soothing to hear. Due to the soothing melody of the music it tends to claim people at given times in life, even when they are extremely angry or upset. Studies have shown that Indian Classical music has prevented people from suicide. Even today’s modern Indian music tends to have the same effect. I would agree that the origin of Indian music has started to disappear into the dark due to the western influence in India. Indian music has made me the claim and chill person I am today. An example of Modern Indian music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obRD4ayCvwc&feature=related
This example of music based on the theme of friendship. Indian music concentrates on various aspects of a person’s everyday life, therefore being able to directly influence a person’s life.