Friday, November 26, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Music Performance Report 2
Welcome back fellow follower. What an amazing semester this has been. I am very sad to report that this will be my last blog post and I hope that I don’t disappoint you. I am writing the Performance Report of my music class over a recent musical that the University of Texas At Dallas was hosting. This musical was Side show. The storyline starts off introducing these two Siamese twins who are part of the circus. Upon meeting these two men who promised to train them and their voices to make them a wonder of the world. They leave with these men to hopes of one being famous and two finding love. After trials and tribulations, in the end the twins end up with each other.
The Performance was quite a show starting off with a song. Everybody in the cast was dressed in costumes even the people that didn’t participate actively, meaning the manual labor people were even dressed. They dressed to give a sense of being a circus ambiance. The costumes and personals that were displayed consisted of a bearded lady, a cannibal King dressed in a loin cloth, normal city people, belly dancers, snake charmers, chicken eater, fortune teller, reptile man, and the head of the circus. At first it seemed like all the dialogue was sung but there actually were some parts that the dialogue was just speech. It was pretty interesting to see that the crew of Side Show amplified their voices by have a square microphone on the middle of their forehead. Sometimes in monologues, while one person was speaking all the other people were frozen lead the audience to focus their attention on the speaker. I believe the one two was and alto and the other was a soprano.
The Music of Side Show, the first song, Come Look At the Freaks was very loud and had a very fast tempo which caught the attention of the audience immediately as if the light didn’t give that clue. All the lyrics sung were memorized which gives the audience a sense of how much time and effort the cast put into to making Side Show very professional. From, what I heard each phrase of the songs all rhymed. I believe the rhyming scheme for most song was A:B:A:B. Many times I heard one twin sing the melody while the other sang the harmony. Buddy and Terry, the two male leads of the show sang with much emotion as displayed on their facial expressions. Buddy was definitely a tenor while Terry was a baritone.
The Audience of this show on Thursday night especially because it was free, I saw a wide variety of people in seats. It funny to see that even though the ages of the audience ranged from 18 to seventy seven, the back was mostly filled with students while the front were filled with the elderly people. The audience clapped after every song and every act. There was comic relief during the musical which did illicit laughter among the audience members.
The time and space of the Side Show consisted of being held at University Theatre. This particular production had many props. They had a freak sign, stairs on wheels, signs that told the audience which scene that cast was performing, and the heart-shaped chair which was used during the song the Tunnel of Love. The floor was decorated with the colors red, yellow, and blue with five circles and the red circle was in the middle. The lights always dimmed when the show about to start. Dr. Stone had his own TV screen to see what the audience saw because his back was facing the crew members’ back so in order to cue the orchestra correctly he need to know what was going on. There were moments when the different light would shine on the performers creating a shadowing effect on the curtains as well as the stage. Side Show indeed proved to show all the elements of a music performance.
Words Cited
Side Show. Bill Russell. Director Kathryn Evans. UTD. University Theater, Richardson, 16 April, 2010.
Evans, Kathryn. Program notes. Side Show.16 April, 2010. Richardson. UT Dallas University Theater.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Rock Post
Welcome back fellow follower, the blog post that I am going to write about today is about a subgenre of rock music. This subgenre is call psychedelic rock. The perfect example would have to the beach boys. They created many songs in which replicated the feelings of the high of using drugs. In many of their songs used rock elements which were the reason why they are considered to be in the genre of rock music. Often, they used electric guitars and they had small ensembles. This group of guys also had an emphasis on singing. One great example would be of their song “Wouldn’t it be Nice”. Although this song isn’t specifically psychedelic rock it also fits into another genre of rock and that subgenre of rock would be soft rock. In, this song you could hear electric guitars being played as well as seeing that they were really creative in using the technology of the time by creative an album. One psychedelic rock song the screams to me when psychedelic rock comes to mind would have to be that song “Somebody to Love” by Jefferson Airplane. Both of these songs employ certain techniques in the lyrics to get a certain emotional response from the audience and that is one of the many elements of rock.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Post 11
Welcome back fellow follower, today is all about the music culture of the Gullah People. This is an island in which all the historical aspect is a struggle to preserve. This island was one of the many original islands that was a port for slaves to be shipped to. The culture here is distinctive in that it is slowly deteriorating because many developers have come to develop the land and make it a home for others. More than half the land is developed with country clubs and rich high costly areas. The Gullah music culture uses the membranophones in their dances. They say that there always needs to be rhythm. In their performances there are many people dancing and screaming or screeching. They have cultural garbs that wear and they always want for their culture to be restored. In some examples of this culture their song starts in with a person harmonizing then they switch to dialogue. I don’t quite know if it is all in English or maybe in a different language but English is definitely spoken and sung. Then, they start to sing again. Also, they sometimes have bells to keep an beat as well as use their feet to stomp the floor. The Youtube video gives different examples of the Gullah music culture. One example consist of a women singing but at the end of every phrase that she sings she slurs up her words raises the note along with the words.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Music Performance Report 1
Welcome back fellow followers, for this music performance report I went to this concert called Shakespeare in Song. This concert was composed of the chamber singers choir, under the direction of director Dr. Kathryn Evans, and the accompanist Michael McVay. Throughout this whole concert the choir sang different songs related to Shakespeare’s different plays. They sang songs from Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, The Tempest, Hamlet, Cymbeline, As you like it, The Merchant of Venice, A Winter’s Tale, Othello, Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Twelfth Night.
The time and space of the performance was at night, beginning at eight o’clock lasting for about an hour and a half. It was performed at the Johnnson Performance auditorium at the University of Texas at Dallas. The Stage consisted of four layers of stair stepping risers. From the audience member’s point of view, the order of the choir from left to right started with the sopranos furthest to the left standing next to the altos. In the middle standing next to the altos would be the tenors and standing next to them are the basses or baritones. In front of all of them was Dr. Kathryn Evans herself with her back facing the audience so that she could direct the choir. There were ushers at the door greeting the members in the audience while handing out programs. On stage there were six different podiums. Five of the podiums were for the soloists to come in from to the stage and give their solo. The last podium was hidden in the back for the person who worked all the technical issues out if they were to occur. In the background of the stage was a power point that followed along as the singers sang their songs for the purpose of keeping the audience members updated.
I went on a Friday night so the audience members were mostly students, but I did see both young and old people. I would guess that the age range would be that of seventeen to seventy-one year olds. Some of the students there didn’t really have proper concert etiquette and clapped at inappropriate times. There was an intermission and then most people just talked to each other. The music was all played on the piano. This concert was a constant shuffle of music, then dialogue, then music. Sometimes the choir members were singing in unison, and sometimes they were singing in different octaves of one another. They all had their sheet music available.
The Concert Performance consisted of both acting, singing, and just reading straight from their music scores. They were all in costumes acting with props such as a beer bottle. They also moved their hands to convey messages in the music score. In some parts of the performance some of the soloists that were girls moved to the very right of the stage and when they sang as a choir it became apparent to me that the men had been sandwiched by the women on the stage. They sound was immensely amplified at that moment. Many of them had practiced singing because it had become clear to me that they had tall vowels. Their music was not at all memorized but many singers would start moving to the beat of the song and it looked as if they were doing chest and head pumps. With a wave of her hand Dr. Kathryn Evans controlled the volume as well as the musical techniques that she wanted them to employ such as a decrescendo, crescendo, or a staccato. Her hand also kept the beat for the singers. Sometimes, she would wave her hand in make a tilde shape in the air and the singers would hold their note. It was mostly noted that her right hand directed the men while her left hand directed the women.
The time and space of the performance was at night, beginning at eight o’clock lasting for about an hour and a half. It was performed at the Johnnson Performance auditorium at the University of Texas at Dallas. The Stage consisted of four layers of stair stepping risers. From the audience member’s point of view, the order of the choir from left to right started with the sopranos furthest to the left standing next to the altos. In the middle standing next to the altos would be the tenors and standing next to them are the basses or baritones. In front of all of them was Dr. Kathryn Evans herself with her back facing the audience so that she could direct the choir. There were ushers at the door greeting the members in the audience while handing out programs. On stage there were six different podiums. Five of the podiums were for the soloists to come in from to the stage and give their solo. The last podium was hidden in the back for the person who worked all the technical issues out if they were to occur. In the background of the stage was a power point that followed along as the singers sang their songs for the purpose of keeping the audience members updated.
I went on a Friday night so the audience members were mostly students, but I did see both young and old people. I would guess that the age range would be that of seventeen to seventy-one year olds. Some of the students there didn’t really have proper concert etiquette and clapped at inappropriate times. There was an intermission and then most people just talked to each other. The music was all played on the piano. This concert was a constant shuffle of music, then dialogue, then music. Sometimes the choir members were singing in unison, and sometimes they were singing in different octaves of one another. They all had their sheet music available.
The Concert Performance consisted of both acting, singing, and just reading straight from their music scores. They were all in costumes acting with props such as a beer bottle. They also moved their hands to convey messages in the music score. In some parts of the performance some of the soloists that were girls moved to the very right of the stage and when they sang as a choir it became apparent to me that the men had been sandwiched by the women on the stage. They sound was immensely amplified at that moment. Many of them had practiced singing because it had become clear to me that they had tall vowels. Their music was not at all memorized but many singers would start moving to the beat of the song and it looked as if they were doing chest and head pumps. With a wave of her hand Dr. Kathryn Evans controlled the volume as well as the musical techniques that she wanted them to employ such as a decrescendo, crescendo, or a staccato. Her hand also kept the beat for the singers. Sometimes, she would wave her hand in make a tilde shape in the air and the singers would hold their note. It was mostly noted that her right hand directed the men while her left hand directed the women.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Post 10
Welcome back follower, the embedded video this is a clip from the opera Anna Bolana from Geatano Donizetti. The language is Italian and this is a duet sung by Judith Forst and Joan Sutherland. Throughout this performance the two opera singer sing with such passion and with very tall vowels. Both women exhibit such great vibratos throughout the song; one such instance would have to be that of 2:22. The scene is in a very large auditorium. This duet is taking place right in front of a large orchestra. Everyone is dressed in very formal attire. At approximately 6:10 the sound of the video became impaired. The women move to the rhythm of the music. There are many instruments present. There are many instances where the tempo of the song rapidly changes from a calm placid rhythm to a fast and furious sound for example at 2:11. At around 1:49 the two women start switching off and through this whole duet it is more like a conversation between the two women. The music seems to memorized although the singer in the green dress seems to have the music score in here hand. At 6:13 it is very clear that the singer in green nods to the every high note that she needs to reach. When the music ends quickly and fiercely her head nods quickly and fiercely while the higher the note that they play the higher her head lifts. Also, she is singing in a higher octave than what the instruments are playing.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Avatar
I guess I would have to say that the music from the movie Avatar certainly has many types of music such as the soundscape of the movie and the music of the Na’vi. Wanda Bryant has really done an incredible job in incorporating the two together. While the music is changes giving sometimes a feeling of hope, change, or transformation the vocals are added to exemplify the nature of the Na’vi or the situation. From what I hear loyal followers are aerophones being used to express excitement and danger or distress. Many of the songs seem like they came from many different countries carrying with it the culture of that country. I associate many of the songs the I hear with that of undeveloped countries or cultures just because I have seen the movie and I have seen watch Pandora looks like and it basically is a jungle. I think that the main difference between the music of the film score and the music of the Na’vi is that the music of the Na’vi come with its own tune while the film score accompanies the music of the Na’vi and also I think that the music of the Na’vi are harmony while the film score is the melody.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Music Ethnography
The Music Culture that I pursued, fellow followers, would have to be that of Musicals. The reason from this sudden spark of interest is that I recently saw the Phantom of the Opera at Music Hall at Fair Park and I felt that this was one music culture that I did not know anything about so what I share with you, fellow followers, is completely new to me and what I had just learned by researching and taking notes during the performance. In order to do this musical ethnography for you guys with such a short time limit, I will have to focus on just the music culture of the Phantom of the Opera as a case study for the whole culture of musicals. The culture of Musicals, though very broad but through the observation of a musical, I will try my best to provide better insight by explaining the components of this music culture, presenting elements of music in which I observed, and explaining my methodology in collecting my research on this music culture in which I originally knew nothing about.
When talking about the components of music for this specific music culture, this was done prior to the actual observation of the event. I will first be talking about the ideas of music for this music culture. The beliefs of this culture are to creatively communicate stories through the medium of dialogue, dance, and song. The music culture was believed to have first started with the Greeks and then from them moved all over the world. They capture a specific time and moment and epitomize the culture for the audience. They define music as a medium to communicate the drama that they try to display on stage. The aesthetic qualities valued at this culture would have to be that the dancing, acting, and singing have to fit eloquently in a time frame with sets and displays working properly. (Arnold) Apparently the way the Music Hall at Fair Park sequesters each musical is through different seasons because this is a traveling act it will stay is one city for a certain season, then move on to a different city for a another season. (Tickets) Others have said that it originates from operas while some have argued that it is actually an operetta which comes from the same ancestral roots as operas but from burlesque and vaudeville.(Kenrick)
These are the activities. This music is definitely found at live performances, on itunes through the music soundtrack, and sometimes on youtube when people personally record the live performance, otherwise it cannot be found anywhere else. The performers of this specific culture only perform professionally and live. It really depends on which musical is played for race, ethnicity, gender, region, age, or religion to play a role in who participates because if it is a musical on the Little Mermaid than definitely the audience would be more of younger girls than guys, whereas in Phantom of the Opera you can expect the audience to be more adults and very few kids. (Nghe) The music making is accredited to the live orchestra and live singing of the performers. No one in the audience really participates in the Phantom of the Opera but if the musical was Peter Pan participation of the audience would be welcome. For example when Peter needs people to believe in Tinkerbell, he may initiate a clap among the audience to have active participation. (Fields)
The repertoire of this specific case study does fit a specific genre of music. All music in this music culture has text and the composer for this specific case Study of the Phantom of the Opera is Andrew Lloyd Webber. The role of text is for the creative communication of the story to the audience. There are always new musicals composed of to fit the current times and situations and often today new musicals are made in regional theatres and then go to Broadway. (Arnold) The music is transmitted from one person to another by the performers singing to the audience and sometimes dance accompanying the music is a major part is a successful execution of songs.
The Material Culture of this Music includes many purchases of uniforms, set materials for set designs, and sheet music for the performers to learn the songs. Playbills are also ordered for the audience to follow along as the program proceeds. Musical instruments are a big part in the live performances of musicals. In Phantom of the Opera they had special effects which made some impossible things to do on stage seem extremely realistic such as when the Phantom was rowing Christine to his lair. The water looked as if there was actually water. There were candles levitating in the air with intricate gold carvings on the walls of the stage. (Ching)
The Elements of music in this case study on the Phantom of the Opera are that the Performers executed each act to the expected time. Almost always, performers would sing, act, and dance simultaneously. They had on costumes that collaborated with the time that the story took place with different sets designs. The Music of the Phantom of the Opera was consisted of very strong vocals and the timbre of both male and female voices were very consistent with a mix of both western music and Opera. The seats were packed and the audience laughed every time there was a joke to be made or a funny event. There was not much participation among the audience but there was applause after every song and every act. The time and space of the musical was at 8:00 pm on a cold windy day but the theatre was quite cold but very big and great for sound projection from the performers. The sound was great but having nosebleed seats I couldn’t really see the faces of the performers, just their figures, only able to delineate male from females by hearing who was talking or singing.
The methods that I used for the research was very much interviewing the audience members around me. I ask questions like “How do you think the audience turn out would have been if it wasn’t Phantom of the Opera, Do you like the performance so far, How are the performer’s performances?, and etc. I ask many questions relating to material culture of the musicals such as any problems they had or anything they liked that they heard.
This case study of Phantom of the Opera has opened my eyes to many interesting facts about this music culture, fellow followers. I have learned so much and it has been my pleasure sharing with you the components of music, elements of music, and my methods for researching this musical theatre culture. I have gained much insight and now much appreciation for this music culture.
Works Cited
1) Nghe, Carolyn; Personal Interview 3/9/10.
2) Ching, Renee; Personal Interview 3/9/10.
3) Fields, Thomas; Personal Interview 3/8/10.
4) Arnold, Stephanie. "The Musical Theatre". The Creative Spirit : an Introduction to Theatre. New York, NY: Lisa Moore, 2008.
5) "Tickets Now". TNOW Entertainment Group. 3/10/10.
6) Kenrick, John. "What is a Musical?". 3/10/10.
When talking about the components of music for this specific music culture, this was done prior to the actual observation of the event. I will first be talking about the ideas of music for this music culture. The beliefs of this culture are to creatively communicate stories through the medium of dialogue, dance, and song. The music culture was believed to have first started with the Greeks and then from them moved all over the world. They capture a specific time and moment and epitomize the culture for the audience. They define music as a medium to communicate the drama that they try to display on stage. The aesthetic qualities valued at this culture would have to be that the dancing, acting, and singing have to fit eloquently in a time frame with sets and displays working properly. (Arnold) Apparently the way the Music Hall at Fair Park sequesters each musical is through different seasons because this is a traveling act it will stay is one city for a certain season, then move on to a different city for a another season. (Tickets) Others have said that it originates from operas while some have argued that it is actually an operetta which comes from the same ancestral roots as operas but from burlesque and vaudeville.(Kenrick)
These are the activities. This music is definitely found at live performances, on itunes through the music soundtrack, and sometimes on youtube when people personally record the live performance, otherwise it cannot be found anywhere else. The performers of this specific culture only perform professionally and live. It really depends on which musical is played for race, ethnicity, gender, region, age, or religion to play a role in who participates because if it is a musical on the Little Mermaid than definitely the audience would be more of younger girls than guys, whereas in Phantom of the Opera you can expect the audience to be more adults and very few kids. (Nghe) The music making is accredited to the live orchestra and live singing of the performers. No one in the audience really participates in the Phantom of the Opera but if the musical was Peter Pan participation of the audience would be welcome. For example when Peter needs people to believe in Tinkerbell, he may initiate a clap among the audience to have active participation. (Fields)
The repertoire of this specific case study does fit a specific genre of music. All music in this music culture has text and the composer for this specific case Study of the Phantom of the Opera is Andrew Lloyd Webber. The role of text is for the creative communication of the story to the audience. There are always new musicals composed of to fit the current times and situations and often today new musicals are made in regional theatres and then go to Broadway. (Arnold) The music is transmitted from one person to another by the performers singing to the audience and sometimes dance accompanying the music is a major part is a successful execution of songs.
The Material Culture of this Music includes many purchases of uniforms, set materials for set designs, and sheet music for the performers to learn the songs. Playbills are also ordered for the audience to follow along as the program proceeds. Musical instruments are a big part in the live performances of musicals. In Phantom of the Opera they had special effects which made some impossible things to do on stage seem extremely realistic such as when the Phantom was rowing Christine to his lair. The water looked as if there was actually water. There were candles levitating in the air with intricate gold carvings on the walls of the stage. (Ching)
The Elements of music in this case study on the Phantom of the Opera are that the Performers executed each act to the expected time. Almost always, performers would sing, act, and dance simultaneously. They had on costumes that collaborated with the time that the story took place with different sets designs. The Music of the Phantom of the Opera was consisted of very strong vocals and the timbre of both male and female voices were very consistent with a mix of both western music and Opera. The seats were packed and the audience laughed every time there was a joke to be made or a funny event. There was not much participation among the audience but there was applause after every song and every act. The time and space of the musical was at 8:00 pm on a cold windy day but the theatre was quite cold but very big and great for sound projection from the performers. The sound was great but having nosebleed seats I couldn’t really see the faces of the performers, just their figures, only able to delineate male from females by hearing who was talking or singing.
The methods that I used for the research was very much interviewing the audience members around me. I ask questions like “How do you think the audience turn out would have been if it wasn’t Phantom of the Opera, Do you like the performance so far, How are the performer’s performances?, and etc. I ask many questions relating to material culture of the musicals such as any problems they had or anything they liked that they heard.
This case study of Phantom of the Opera has opened my eyes to many interesting facts about this music culture, fellow followers. I have learned so much and it has been my pleasure sharing with you the components of music, elements of music, and my methods for researching this musical theatre culture. I have gained much insight and now much appreciation for this music culture.
Works Cited
1) Nghe, Carolyn; Personal Interview 3/9/10.
2) Ching, Renee; Personal Interview 3/9/10.
3) Fields, Thomas; Personal Interview 3/8/10.
4) Arnold, Stephanie. "The Musical Theatre". The Creative Spirit : an Introduction to Theatre. New York, NY: Lisa Moore, 2008.
5) "Tickets Now". TNOW Entertainment Group. 3/10/10
6) Kenrick, John. "What is a Musical?". 3/10/10
Monday, March 8, 2010
Post
This Music Culture was particularly hard to analyze and study for one, because I am only doing a case study on it and this one case study, may or may not provide the adequate and essential information to give a general sense of the music culture for all musicals as well as that this case study was really close to the time of this ethnography being due so preparation and questions and answers for the interview was quite brief and to the point. In addition, it was quite intimidating to go up to strangers and ask them to share their experiences with me, especially when the intermission came most people wanted to run to the restroom to pay the water bill. I can only hope that I got the sufficient amount of information to write my musical ethnography. Other difficulties that I came across was the fact that the seats that I had acquired were nosebleed seats and that I couldn’t see much from my point of view except the general outline of the characters. Besides being only able to delineate between who was male and who was female on stage, it was just my luck to have to sit right behind a tall person, who kept moving to talk to their neighbors making me constantly move just to see the Phantom of the Opera.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Post 7
The Music Culture that I decided to research would have to be that of Musicals. For this project because I don’t really go to a lot of musicals and that they are quite expensive I have decided to do a case study on this particular music culture and this case study would have to be that of Phantom of the Opera. This case study will hopefully give many insights to many different types of musicals as well. When this culture comes to mind, I have to think of people randomly bursting out into song. This culture reminds me a lot of the bollywood movies besides the fact that these performers are actual singing their own songs whereas Bollywood actors are just lip-syncing, both break out into song. Musicals tell us a story with the use of normal dialogue as well as dialogue that is sung which sometimes makes it hard to understand the plot but while taking away from the comprehension; it adds a little musical theatricality. The Musicals are live performances which create an atmosphere for the audience to feel the creation of the drama while being involved and apart of the story. In addition with Musicals, one can hear the live voice of the singer and feel a part of the music making process.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Noh Perfomance
I really think that one of the many elements of Noh theatre is that of the openness of the stage and how it should not allow any separation of the actors and the audience unlike western stages which take advantage of the use of a curtain. The Noh play should last long as well as frees the surrounding emotions of the actors with the mask while freeing the sense of time of the audience through its nonpulsatile music. It should also consist of a group of musicians at all times playing along as the actors use their art of walking to guide the storyline. The instruments definetly should include the taiko, the o-tsuzumi drum, the ko-tsuzumi drum and the nohkan transverse bamboo flute. I think these instruments truly define the Noh performance. The mask is a crucial element in Noh theatre as well because skilled actors can use one expression that is imprinted on the mask to create a copious amount of more expressions and emotions to communicate with the audience and tell the storyline. The Noh chanting during these plays is also one of the most pivotal elements. One is called kotoba which is free speech and fushi which is song like. I think this Noh performance has both and the vocals are rather heavy, loud, and quite passionate.
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