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.

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.

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 .

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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.

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.