1st Response to Matthew's Question

I think developing theory around music that does not already have a formal theory could be of great use to ethnomusicologists because it allows them to observe patterns within the music they are studying. It gives ethnomusicologists a certain set of parameters within which they can observe one specific type of music while also allowing them to have specific means of comparing different styles of music. It also allows them to compare musical styles to general cultural practices and how the two maybe be interrelated and how they influence each other. As we've discussed in class, peoples' environments have a great impact on the music they produce because of individual soundscapes. Because there are infinitely many things that go into the music people produce, developing theory that can be applied to any genre of music allows ethnomusicologists to compare styles of music in a less bias way and a more methodical, objective way. I do also believe that theory can only tell us so much, however. We can observe patterns within music that may have not been created intentionally, or look for patterns that would confirm our preconceived notions of what a specific type of music should look like.

One other point I would like to touch upon is that the general population knows nothing about music theory yet is able to enjoy music just as much as someone who has spent years studying theory. In fact, I believe knowing all of the technicalities of the music greatly influences how we listen to music. People don't love a popular song for its 1-4-5-1 progression, but for its sound. Yes, the progression is the sound in and of itself, but no one needs to know that for it to be pleasant to the ear (at least in Western culture, that is). I also believe that as overly curious human beings, we are prone to over analyzing. We have no way of knowing what the original composer was thinking when he/she wrote the music, or what his/her intentions were. Obviously we can observe patterns among individual composers and musical styles, but what about coincidences? Music is math, and rearranging patterns of notes and chords. By probability alone, composers are going to write music that sounds similarly to someone else's. So again, while theory can help us gain insight to styles of tendencies of musical eras and genres, studying music requires so much more beyond theory.

Critical Review 9

A Sweet Lullaby for World Music - Steven Feld

In A Sweet Lullaby for World Music, Steven Feld discusses the origination of the term "world music", and how it was initially established as a more friendly, relatable term in the 1960s after the academic term ethnomusicology became widely used in the 1950s. The study of world music aimed to examine and support non-Western music practices and performances. While Feld acknowledges how world music had hopeful aims as a study, he discusses the divide that both the terms world music and ethnomusicology have caused, and the difference between world music and music. World music assumes an uncolonized, inferior state to the powerful, domineering Western music. World music became synonymous with third world music. In the 1990s with the rise of popular music, artists began using world music styles in a more aesthetically pleasing way, for the western marketplace, that is. But what really propagated the success of world music was the "rapid product expansion and the promotional support of both the recording and aligned entertainment industries". Throughout the 90s world music gained great fan support and began to penetrate of whole myriad of different venues. The term world music is now more of a musical genre than an academic property.

Feld goes on to a specific case study, discussing how "Rorogwela", a Beagu lullaby from Northern Malatia, only became popular once it became a hit in the 1990s in the world music marketplace. It was renamed "Sweet Lullaby" and includes the original female vocalist with a drum machine and synthesier accompaniments and digital insertions of sounds from Central Africa, such as vocal yodels and forest water-splashing games. Hugo Zemp examined the album Deep Forests, and UNESCO wanted Zemp to credit the American production industry over the artists themselves. Zemp also discovered the lack of consent given in the popularization of "Sweet Lullaby".

This to me provides a shameful example of how industry and business care about making money more than anything. They essentially authorized themselves to use "Sweet Lullaby" whenever and wherever they wanted, be it as a track on the radio or background music for a variety of commercial products. This money and success was never brought back to the roots though - the creators of the original tune that allowed this success to flourish never received any credit, monetary or verbal. Beyond this, the music itself took on an entirely different meaning when it became popular music - it was no longer world music. Even though world music has become a style in and of itself, why is it that it needed to take on the popular music style to gain accreditation? If world music is its own entity and a respected style, why then wasn't the original track used? What is it that truly makes music "popular"?

Critical Review 8

Notes on "World Beat" - Steven Feld

In the article "Notes on "World Beat", Steven Feld discusses the Americanization of African music and vice versa, and what is appropriate for an artist using music originating in other cultures in their own songs. He specifically addresses Paul Simon's album Graceland, which is described as a mix of world pop and African folk music. The album was an enormous success and Paul Simon received much acclaim for the music, but Feld points out the means by which Paul Simon gained this success. Even though Paul Simon worked with and paid South African groups and gave credit to his cowriters, the album is "produced by Paul Simon". This points to questions of ownership and power over the music, as Paul Simon seems to place himself above all of the people he worked with and makes himself seem like the overall composer and creator. Feld also points out that Simon does not properly credit coworkers in the United States, and questions why Simon may feel the need to credit those he collaborated with in South Africa and not those he collaborate with in the United States.

To me, this article shows how separate Simon views musical culture. Because he originates from America and traditionally has written American folk music, he feels entitled to the genre and the acclaim for anything he participates in. But when it came to utilizing African folk styles, he was suddenly much more concerned with citing everyone he worked with. As Feld almost implies, this seems derogatory in a way when compared to how he treats American artists/styles, because it seems as though the South African artists are beneath him and he wants to credit them to make himself seem like a legitimate, considerate artist. I was somewhat bothered by this because I have always loved Paul Simon, especially his album Graceland. But I can admit that I was unaware of all of the collaboration Paul Simon has done, because he does not make a point of emphasizing his collaboration. In the end, he wants the credit.

This made me think about where the line is between other musical styles influencing your own and flat out ignoring the rights of artists' composition. We are all influenced by styles we hear, consciously and subconsciously, so when do we need to credit other artists/styles? How we determine how much of any composition can be attributed to the artist him/herself versus major stylistic influences?

Critical Review 7

In the article Representation and Intracultural Dynamics, Adriana Helbig addresses the difficulty and responsibility ethnomusicologists face when studying/observing a people who have a strong, almost degrading reputation. She specifically talks about her studies and experiences with the Roma, known as the "Gypsies" and how at ethnographic conventions some of her colleagues even said that the poorer  groups of Roma people lacked culture and were not worth studying. I found this to be incredibly surprising, seeing as the field of ethnomusicology and ethnography prides itself on studying culture in an observational, removed manner. Helbig discusses how people tend to group the Roma together as one distinct group of peoples, while there is a broad spectrum of wealth and country within those who identify as Roma. In the West, however, all Roma are simply Gypsies. Studying and living with one group of Roma will not be representative of the entirety of Roma culture, especially because the Roma historically have been a traveling people and are spread out throughout a variety of different countries. It is only natural that culture will develop and begin to shape in different ways in different areas, just as various places within a single country have unique characteristics and traditions.

She also explains the difficulty in unequal representation of different Roma based on class and wealth. Only Roma who are of a certain class have the privilege to practice their cultural traditions freely and openly. But at the same time, she found that high class Roma often called the poor Roma dirty and uncivilized. This to me seems like an enormous abuse of power. Because they are given the opportunity to practice as they wish, they seem to view themselves as "real" Roma. Accusing the poor of being assimilated shows their completely lack of appreciation of their freedom - the poor Roma aren't assimilated by choice.

This article made me question how we tend to divide groups of people, and by what means. People practice tradition uniquely from individual to individual, and there will always be both similarities and differences in practices between each individual. So how "prominent" or distinctive does a practice need to be in order for it to be deemed a cultural tradition? How many people have to practice in this way for it to be deemed worthy of study? So when people initially began studying Roma culture, a group of people who became so widespread through their traveling, how did one group's practices become the dominant, stereotypical practices of all Roma people? Is there an aspect of chance that comes into play, such that the group that happens to be studied first become the norm? I think it is also easy for ethnographers to notice a certain tradition in one group, and look for affirmations of this traditions when studying other groups to support their theories of what all Roma people must be like.

Interview

I have been having trouble reaching my interviewee, so I only have a few questions so far but he promises me he will have time to do an actual interview soon, so more to come! These few questions were done through email, and I kept everything exactly the same as he typed them. I am planning on interviewing him in person soon, in which case transposing will be an entirely different experience than using his written responses.

When did you start Taiko drumming?
last semester.
What influenced your decision to start?
Interested in combing musics and martial arts together.
What influenced your decision to keep playing?
* i enjoyed the strong and deep sound it makes
* the various body movement i have to do in playing. (the movement and form are called "kata") Form is really imporant in taiko (performing art)
* it can not be play alone. I like how taiko is a cooperating instrument.

Have you participated in other musical groups or have you played other musical instruments? If so, how would you compare Taiko drumming to those other experiences?
sorry, i actually have never participate in any other musical groups. However I did played piano before. Totally different experience. Taiko is "stronger" than piano.

What does Taiko drumming mean to you? (You can get as specific as you want)
It means dicipline, strength, endorance, and colaboration.

How would you describe the community involved in Taiko drumming? In the US? In Japan?
I actually haven't meet any taiko group outside of brown. However, i think taiko groups in the US are less tradition than the ones in Japan. Japan still has the best best taiko group "kodo" in my opinion.

NEW DOCUMENTATION
This interview was held with Luke Tedesco, co-director of Brown Gendo

First, what’s your history with taiko drumming? How did you start? How did you become interested?

Um, I had no idea what it was before I came to Brown. But once we were at the activities fair my freshman year, uh, there was just a group of taiko with the drums set up and they were asking random people, ‘hey do you want to try hitting a giant drum?’ and I was just like, yeah, that sounds like fun. And so I was looking for something musical to do in my extracurriculars, um, because I play guitar, and drums back home, uuum, and I was also looking for something athletic. And taiko in my mind was sort of the best of both worlds because it blended them together.

Nice. Are you involved in any other musical groups on campus other than Taiko?

No

And how long had you been drumming before then?

Um I had a teacher in fourth grade for about three months. And then I quit. But it overlapped with Christmas so I had convinced my parents that I loved drumming and was going to do it for the rest of my life so they got me a drum kit for Christmas.  Like a dinky little starter kit. Um but then my senior year rock band came out and I liked playing the drums and I was good and it and I realized, hey I have a drum kit in my attic. So I played for about a year, um, in high school, but no lessons, just dabbling over songs, so I wouldn’t exactly call that an extensive year of playing.

How did you feel it (Taiko) was different or similar to some of your previous drumming?

Absolutely different. It’s not even close to similar. Um, drum kit is all about keeping rhythm for the rest of the song and really not part of the melody at all. Whereas Taiko, you’re not only keeping rhythm but also the melody. So the beats have to be different than just the standard four beat 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 . so everything was changed. The skills translate, like it’s useful to have drumming experience because then you can keep time.

Did you find that it was difficult to learn?

Um personally not really. It can be pretty difficult for some people. But I have pretty good body awareness because of my sports in high school. And then I have rhythm awareness from drumming and guitar and stuff. But people learn at different speeds. So personally I didn’t find it too hard, it’s just, the hardest part is just memorizing the beats and what sort of goes together.

How long have you been a director of the group?

Um, I’ve been a director for a year now. And I’m going to be a director again next year as well.

How did you get picked to be the director?

We had elections. So at the end of last year, we, three people ran and typically we have 2 directors per year. So we each gave a little spiel, I would be a good director because… and then we had a little Q and A, where you see the group going, what are you goals for next year, stuff like that. So, after that we all vote and then Jen and I were elected.

So how has it been different for you as an experience since you became director of the group?

Um, it’s, you… you don’t spend your time learning anything. I know the entire repertoire so it’s my job to teach it to the next generation of Taiko players. Um so because of that you don’t get to play as much. So this year I haven’t gotten to play, maybe, except…really 10 or so practices I’ve really gotten to play. Most of the time you’re just demonstrating stuff. So that’s different.  But most of the time, you, you sort of, you can go in outside of  practice time to play on your own. So I’ve done that a couple times to keep it.

Do you miss the actual playing?

I do, I do. But it’s nice to teach. And it’s sort of responsibility I have now as the director. But I like teaching, it’s fun.

So do you have the same repertoire every year or do you introduce new pieces in?

So we basically have…do you want me to use actual song names and stuff?

Sure go for it!

Ok so when gendo was  started, the only three songs we had in our repertoire were miyake, which is the one where  we’re really low and playing on a horizontal drum. We had yatay, which is the one where we’re sitting down  and it’s all ab workout. And we had a song achido, which is a song where the drums are elevated up on bigger stands, sort of at shoulder height, and you play on horizontal, again. Um, and then, so that was all we played for four years, and we got really good at those 3 songs.  And then john, who was a director my freshman year, he was a senior, he has since graduated brown 2 years ago. He had friends in California who played, and they introduced him to this whole other style of Taiko playing which is naname, which is the slant style which we have a few songs on. And they introduced us to benta style, which is when the drum is flat on the ground and you’re standing up hitting like this.  After he learned a couple songs called open pieces, which means they are open to the entire community, he brought those back and that became part of our Taiko style.

So what does that mean? Open to the community?

Open to the community so that means…so when you write a taiko song, it’s either, you can choose to give it to the entire community which means that any taiko player anywhere in any country can learn your song and perform it. Whereas if you don’t choose to do that, there is a lot of um, politics behind taiko songs. So there is a famous group called Kodo that played a song called itadori. One of our members had permission to perform that piece so when he was in gendo, they performed it. But once he graduated we couldn’t perform it anymore. It’s not inherently a copyright violation or anything like that, but it’s disrespectful to the artists who wrote the piece, to the people who performed it. So once we learned those styles, a few of our members, John wrote a song, JD wrote a song, and Larry has finished writing a song. So now, for the most part, those are integrated into our repertoire. Then the only way we really learn songs is if, we don’t really take any more open source songs, because we have a pretty full repertoire, but if I were to write a song over the summer, say, which I’m planning on doing, I would want that to be integrated into the repertoire.

Have you ever written a piece before?

I’ve dabbled. I’ve come up with beats, I’ve come up with themes, but I’ve never actually pulled it all together.

How would you go about writing a song for taiko?

It depends. A lot of people get a lot of different inspiration from a lot of different places. Um, John, his song, he’s very involved in martial arts, so he wanted his song to be reflective of martial arts things. So his piece is very heavy on what we call kata, which is the movements that we do. Whereas Larry’s song, Larry is a music major, um, or music minor or double…whatever. His song was written in 5 times.

Was it hard for people to learn?

It was really hard for people to learn. Really hard. I can’t tell you, I can’t count on the beats while I play it. I have to rely on muscle memory to play it. But it’s a very musically complex song, and less heavy on things like kata. So people get inspiration from a lot of different places. Me, when I write my song over the summer, I’m gonna plan on doing it unlike anything gendo has ever done before. So there’s something called kuy daiko, which all of our songs are, which is when most of the people are playing the same thing. And you have the shime, which is the higher pitched one, that’s just playing one thing the entire song. And so I, I play shime a lot since I’m the director and I have to keep time while I teach, I want my song to be less of that and more of like a professional group might have a song be arranged.

Which would be how…

Which would be, for example, many songs by kodo, which is one of the most famous taiko groups, or Tao, they have like, drum kits assembled. So ike four different drums that one guy might play like a drum kit. That plus somebody on nodaiko which is the really big one in the back. Plus one of our members is trying to learn the Fuye, which is the Japanese flute, this summer, so I want a piece to be like, musical, in terms of have a melody. 

Challenge Question

In Bruno Nettle's Piece Heartland Excursions; Ethnomusicological Reflections on Schools of Music, Nettle says, "Ethnomusicologists have contributed to the understanding of the classical music culture of our century in several ways: They try to comprehend the musical culture through a microcosm, to provide an even-handed appraisal without judgment, to look was well as possible at the familiar as if one were an outsider, to see the world of music as a component of culture in the anthropological sense of that word, and to view their own music from a world perspective."

My question is, is it ever possible to comprehend musical culture through a microcosm without judgment? People often tell you to 'go with your gut', meaning go with your instinct. Do we not all have instinctive reactions to the music we hear? If so, would this necessarily mean you are listening to music judgmentally because our instincts arise from our own past experiences and exposure to specific kinds of music? While ethnomusicologist aim to look at the familiar as if they were an outsider, is that truly possible? We can't just suddenly forget what we know - our knowledge and experience is always with us. So while you may be trying to look at something subjectively, wouldn't you objectively be trying to ignore certain things you already know?

Critical Review 6

Jacking the Dial: Radio, Race, and Place in Grand Theft Auto
Kiri Miller

Miller’s piece discusses the role of music in a popular video game, Grand Theft Auto, and how music effects the player’s experience. Music plays a much larger role in the game than one might consciously notice, as theme songs go along will all different aspects of the game such as radio stations in the cars, and driving in different areas of the city. He notes that the scene is meant to mimic Compton in LA, and producers attempt to give players the experience that they are fully emerged in the video game environment through stereotypical aspects of black and thug culture, such as playing popular R&B, hip-hop, and Latina music. 

He also discusses the nostalgic aspect of music, and how it brings players back to a different time era, specifically the 80s. Players seem to enjoy being in a world outside of their own, navigating a world that is completely unfamiliar to them. In this way, video games seem like an escape from the life they are living. But the specific 80s music presented in the game only represents a very small sliver of 80s music on the whole, and produces are selective in choosing which music to play.

Even though many of the aspects of the game seem to go overboard and utilize stereotypes to a maximum, players responded to Miller saying that it makes the game more fun because it brings game life further away from serious issues revolving around racism and black culture and thug life. Players do not want to be thinking about political and social issues while playing the game – they want to be exploring a new world and having fun while doing so.

Miller also discusses other aspects of the game beyond music that contribute towards the stereotypes of black culture, such as graffiti that ties in with hip hop, choosing specific types of clothes to wear, and women walking around in bikinis. While I appreciate that video games are meant to be fun and allow players to immerse themselves in a new life, I don’t believe that argument that the game is so over stereotyped that people don’t take some aspects of it seriously. I’m sure only a fraction of game consumers are aware of what stereotypes the game portrays, and consciously realize that it is not an accurate representation of LA’s Compton, or black culture. I think it romanticizes what thug life actually entails, since you get to design your own character and go around killing people and stealing cars with no real consequence or application. Miller talks about European consumers who have only a small idea of what this type of American culture entails, so it seems pretty accurate to them.

I also think that music plays a particularly influential role in the perpetuation of stereotypes because players may not necessarily be aware of what is playing and the associations they make between certain types of music and the scenarios they are in. Outside of video games, where else does this occur? How often do we hear music and make unconscious associations? I believe it happens all the time, but not necessarily to perpetuate stereotypes. When/where is music tied to these preconceived notions versus representing a specific event or time in your life? Is there a connection between the two?