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?

Fieldnotes

Some notes taken during rehearsal on Thursday, March 8th

In basic dance room - mirros on two walls
10 members present
First part of practice consists of stretching in a circle; variety of full body stretching, count to 10 in Japanese for each different stretch
Beginning of playing, play 3 "kiodotay" (?); 3 slow, 3 fast
2 people to a drum, 3 drums total. On the middle drum, partners are facing same direction, on the two side drums, players are playing in opposite direction
One member sitting in the middle, playing a smaller drum by himself, the drum rests on wooden supports that angle the drum facing towards him
3 members are not playing an instrument, practice on the side without the drum itself
One main leader of the group not playing, male, giving directions on order of pieces, when people get solos, the tempo, etc., standing facing the members
Everyone starts off sitting, except the 3 members practicing on the side without instruments, then rise as the piece begins
Everyone dressed in athletic wear: shorts, leggings, sweatpants, t-shirts

The one person sitting with the small drum in the center starts off with one main beat, others come in with movement of rising and raising theirs arms/sticks up in the air before playing
Only 2 distinct tambres; the small drum in the middle and the 3 larger drums. The smaller drum is higher and less dense in pitch
Mallets are large wooden, solid cylinders
The member on the smaller drum is responsible for setting the tempo; speeding up and/or slowing down during the piece
People give different chants or shouts during the piece
Players play in spread leg standing position. They often switch leaning towards and away from the instrument as they play, and I noticed they lean in the direction that indicates the arm they will use to strike the drum
They were playing barefoot - I don't know if this was because it was rehearsal and it was meant to help them not slip on the dance hardwood floor, or if they generally play barefoot.

I must say I was surprised that so many of the members were not Japanese. I had made the stereotypical assumption that because Taiko originated in Japan, the Taiko club here would consist of Japanese students - and I was absolutely wrong. There were people of all different races involved, and I really appreciated the fact that students didn't shy away from joining the group because of not being Japanese themselves.
 I was also very impressed by the discipline of rehearsals. When the leader is speaking, everyone listens to what he has to say. People were very focused during rehearsal and asked questions and even continued to practice on their own during breaks, even though they had already been working so hard and were out of breath. Taiko is a surprisingly taxing activity and requires a lot of strength and conditioning. It is also very serious and structured - but I think that ads a lot to the performance and strong beat of the drums. They reminded me of warriors, going into battle.

Critical Review 5

Nettl discusses the ethnomusicological background in West, referring to a social structure he terms "The Pantheon". The describes the relationship between the great composers of society and the Music Building, and how they influence each other. He focuses mainly on Mozart and Beethoven as the chief great composers of the 18th/early 19th century.

I like the questions Nettl raises regarding whether or not the same piece of work would mean or sound the same if it were created/thought up of by two different people. It is impossible to ignore the impact experience has on how one views what an artist produces, both from the perspective of the audience and the producer. The producer may have different intentions as to how they want their music to be perceived in society, and therefore may introduce it through a different light that alters how society receives the music. The listener also likely has predetermined feelings about a particular artist, and will automatically compare new works to old works. So whether or not someone likes or dislikes an artist, or feels that their new work is true to that artists form, will also determine how he/she receives the piece.

I also appreciated Nettl's comparison of the engraved composers names at the Indiana University in Bloomington versus at Harvard University. I thought it provided an appropriate example showing several crucial aspects of the ethnomusicology of Western music. One important point is that there really is no universal agreement as to what composers were the greatest. Yes, some are more well known than others, but who determines who is "better" than another? We can arrange names in any order we want and provide a logical explanation as to why, just as how Harvard shows a sequence of history, but this too includes a matter of opinion. In addition, the ranking is severely limited by the constraints of what defines Western music. Those who fit the mold more precisely are often considered the more talented composers. But this is only in terms of how well it applies to one specific circle of music. And, as Nettl addresses, wasn't this circle created, defined, and established through these composers themselves? It's not fair to say Beethoven and Mozart were the best composers when in fact they were two of the leading pioneers in the foundation of Western classical music - of course they fit the mold, they shaped it!