Introduction
Side Show: The Musical performance I attended took place on a cool evening as I scurried along at 8:01 p.m. arriving at the University Theatre’s doors. I arrived late, wanting to bring a friend again to this performance, but he wasn’t in his apartment. When I was lead in by an usher to my seat, I noticed that the performance room was quite dark and pact, since getting to my seat posed a minor challenge. I was shocked to find the performers all dressed up in strange clothing and one half naked as his costume, which was quite different from the Shakespeare and Song. As I soon settled in I noticed that the music wasn’t coming from a prerecorded speaker, but a small band of instruments in the back, mainly consisting of a synthesizer, brass instruments, guitar, and clarinets. Though all the instruments were in the back, the performers did all the singing, thus a musical.
Music
Western styles, timbres, and keys were used thoroughly throughout the entire performance. Multiple strange electronically layered sounds were most likely produced from the synthesizer adding to the tension and feel of the acting while singers were taking breaths and shifting the stage around. The voices also like the Shakespeare and Song used many thick textures and harmonies. Harmony was at the end and very heavy on the end of every song. Most of the songs contained a duple meter and simple meter. The music contained mainly heterophony textures with the band as support, but occasionally would contain monologues, soliloquies, and dialogues. Some songs would be sung solo also to show the thoughts of one character or two, while the rest of the performers were often off stage or frozen. Timbres mainly consisted between deep diaphragm choir harmonizing sounds and deep diaphragm talking pitched sounds that created a great deal of carol like sounds combined with a the musical aspect. The dialogue was much easier to follow making the plot easy to understand and creating a more engaged audience. Some songs were jolly while others were melancholy, depending on how the characters were feeling and the event the characters were suppose to play a role in. Like most music, the more melodramatic songs had a slow minor tone along with slower smoother dance moves, while the joyful songs were faster rhythmically and the dance moves were more acute and jagged. The music seemed to never stop, though there were occasional pauses for a line in between scenes. The strangest song was Come Look At The Freaks, which had Bryan Thompson playing Jake, a Cannibal King, who was wearing a sacked cloth and jumping on the front row chairs, creating an engaged atmosphere with the audience as if we were part of the musical.
Performers
The performers had many costumes and changed based on the scenery. Unlike the last performance I attended, the people playing the instruments had no costumes.
Audience
The audience contained more of an elderly senior population with fewer students than the previous performances I have attended. I didn’t recognize any students or adults in the audience, although I did recognize Eli the “Geek” who seems to be a performer in every performance I attended.
Time and Space
The space didn’t have much room for many to wiggle around, but sufficient enough for one to enjoy the performance. The spacing on the stage was constantly changing as large props were taken on and off and turned to create a change in environment. Though the instrumentalist didn’t move at all, the stage was quite dynamic.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Blog Post 12
The group I posted is the Talking Heads from the subgenre of the new wave from Rock.
This subgenre developed in the early 1980s.
Music Elements of Rock
The main elements of rock that can be seen from this video are the prominent uses of electric guitar. In the 1940s amps and strings were set up to optimize their sound they could produce, and since the new wave rock was prominent in the 1980s guitars are well adapted for the rock concerts and loud speakers.
Also another element that can be seen from this subgenre is the use of small ensemble which consists of a few performers. In this video there are four performers, one on the drum set, acoustic, one electric, and one base guitar. There is a strong emphasis on singing which is unique to rock music, separating jazz pieces. Another element is the use of strong beats in a four-beat cycle. The rhythm in this piece is not syncopated or complex like jazz and some other styles of music, making it very distinctly rock. Although much is simple in the rock type of music, the use of technology is quite complex in comparison to many other genres of music since this type of music was developed within the last century. Making unique electronic sounds made the new wave subgenre extremely diverse though they only used four instruments, which one would fine much less of in the punk rock music.
The last two elements are the use of simplified harmonic progressions and use of emotion. Although emotion is generally rebellious in rock music, in comparison to the punk rock music, the new wave expression of emotion seemed more mature and robotic. The harmonic progression was relatively the same to many other types of subgenres of rock music.
This subgenre developed in the early 1980s.
Music Elements of Rock
The main elements of rock that can be seen from this video are the prominent uses of electric guitar. In the 1940s amps and strings were set up to optimize their sound they could produce, and since the new wave rock was prominent in the 1980s guitars are well adapted for the rock concerts and loud speakers.
Also another element that can be seen from this subgenre is the use of small ensemble which consists of a few performers. In this video there are four performers, one on the drum set, acoustic, one electric, and one base guitar. There is a strong emphasis on singing which is unique to rock music, separating jazz pieces. Another element is the use of strong beats in a four-beat cycle. The rhythm in this piece is not syncopated or complex like jazz and some other styles of music, making it very distinctly rock. Although much is simple in the rock type of music, the use of technology is quite complex in comparison to many other genres of music since this type of music was developed within the last century. Making unique electronic sounds made the new wave subgenre extremely diverse though they only used four instruments, which one would fine much less of in the punk rock music.
The last two elements are the use of simplified harmonic progressions and use of emotion. Although emotion is generally rebellious in rock music, in comparison to the punk rock music, the new wave expression of emotion seemed more mature and robotic. The harmonic progression was relatively the same to many other types of subgenres of rock music.
Extra Credit Blog Post:- Side Show: The Musical
Side Show: The Musical takes place in the past; it addresses many issues that still go on today. The musical focuses particularly on discrimination against the disabled and odd balls in society. Although college has come along way in America, issues pertaining punishment and rewards based upon outward appearances are just another daily routine everyone runs through. Punishment and rewards in a more indirect subtle way through comments and complements. Though teasing is no longer usually a main source of harassment, the lack of similar treatment that the disabled and “odd people” still poses as a prominent cause for depression and anxiety. Side Show: The Musical demonstrated this in a more literal blatant sense due to the love dilemma themes between the business men and Siamese twins.
Another sad part in society that this musical reveals is that many college students share similar worries about finding a future mate with unknown genetic disabilities. I find many people saying “I don’t know what I would do if my kid ended up genetically impaired”. This issue ironically though it’s bluntly insensitive, it is a realistic concern. The “Freaks” could be described in today’s standards as these people who are oppressed in society. The oppression that the protagonists Daisy and Violet experienced resulted in their anxiety and depression, which in the real world is quite realistic also.
Another sad part in society that this musical reveals is that many college students share similar worries about finding a future mate with unknown genetic disabilities. I find many people saying “I don’t know what I would do if my kid ended up genetically impaired”. This issue ironically though it’s bluntly insensitive, it is a realistic concern. The “Freaks” could be described in today’s standards as these people who are oppressed in society. The oppression that the protagonists Daisy and Violet experienced resulted in their anxiety and depression, which in the real world is quite realistic also.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Blogged Performance Reports 1: Shakespeare in Song
Introduction
The Shakespeare in Song event I attended happened on Friday at 8 p.m. in the Jonsson Performance Hall. The performance room had a stage with a choir stand and a grand piano on the right accompanying the singers. In addition there were four music stands in the front for some of the performers to speak lines from different plays and sometimes sing a solo.
Music
The music texture over all had many western styles of timbres and keys. Multiple layers of voices created a thick texture. Most of the songs contained a duple meter and simple meter. The music also used heterophony textures with the piano as support, sometimes with monologues, soliloquies, or dialogues inserted between pieces. Occasionally on two or three songs there was a monophony, but was usually afterward accompanied by the rest of the choir. Timbres mainly consisted of deep diaphragm choir harmonizing types of sounds that created an over all sense of unity. The old English language used for the Shakespeare in Song along with a play like quality of dialogues put the audience in the time period of 1500-1600’s during the Victorian Era. Some songs ranged from being somber to being jolly. The somber music had a more slow darker tone, while the more joyful songs had a more upbeat with faster rhythms than the sadder ones. The music seemed to never stop other than the intermission, which gave an almost musical like quality to it. The most humorous thing was in Act II, Scene 4: Orsino’s court, Duke Orsino played by Andrew Pham had a role into shouting “FOOL”. Though it went with the script it seemed out of place. Over all the music was generally harmonious and fluent throughout the performance.
Performers
The performers were dressed in what seemed to be Shakespearian clothing, some of them had hats. Even the pianist was dressed in Shakespearian clothing, adding to the atmosphere of Shakespeare’s time. Performers entered the stage with normal choir conduct, with the choir singers in single file with the conductor at the end. People from the choir would then enter the front where they would lead a solo or recite verses from the plays to start off the song, sometimes accompanied with the choir at different moment to add to the soundscape of the performance.
Audience
The audience didn’t seem to be abnormal from any other performance I have attended mainly consisting of senior citizens, parents, and fellow students. Oddly enough I stumbled across one brought a friend who was a previous student at UTD and lived on my street, who also told me that he attended the performance to support a friend. He along with some others and one friend I brought I’ve noticed at this performance. The crowd was relatively smaller than other performances, since it was easy to spot people I knew, and also I find it strange, because I’ve never went to an event at UTD where I know more than three people.
Time and Space
The space was large for plenty of leg room. The space on the stage however was used quite frequently due to the amount of moving and role taking of different speeches and roles throughout the performance. Most of the singers didn’t move other than one to four singers at a time for dialogues and solos, but the cheers over all were quite reluctant in the audience. At the end surprisingly there was a standing applause since the performance ended on a high note.
Conclusion
Leaving the Johnson Performance Hall, dress ups, and music, I felt I was leaving the Victorian Era and back to modern day. Away from rehearsed song and continuous harmonious melodies and back to normal comprehendible English speaking UTD of the 21st century.
The Shakespeare in Song event I attended happened on Friday at 8 p.m. in the Jonsson Performance Hall. The performance room had a stage with a choir stand and a grand piano on the right accompanying the singers. In addition there were four music stands in the front for some of the performers to speak lines from different plays and sometimes sing a solo.
Music
The music texture over all had many western styles of timbres and keys. Multiple layers of voices created a thick texture. Most of the songs contained a duple meter and simple meter. The music also used heterophony textures with the piano as support, sometimes with monologues, soliloquies, or dialogues inserted between pieces. Occasionally on two or three songs there was a monophony, but was usually afterward accompanied by the rest of the choir. Timbres mainly consisted of deep diaphragm choir harmonizing types of sounds that created an over all sense of unity. The old English language used for the Shakespeare in Song along with a play like quality of dialogues put the audience in the time period of 1500-1600’s during the Victorian Era. Some songs ranged from being somber to being jolly. The somber music had a more slow darker tone, while the more joyful songs had a more upbeat with faster rhythms than the sadder ones. The music seemed to never stop other than the intermission, which gave an almost musical like quality to it. The most humorous thing was in Act II, Scene 4: Orsino’s court, Duke Orsino played by Andrew Pham had a role into shouting “FOOL”. Though it went with the script it seemed out of place. Over all the music was generally harmonious and fluent throughout the performance.
Performers
The performers were dressed in what seemed to be Shakespearian clothing, some of them had hats. Even the pianist was dressed in Shakespearian clothing, adding to the atmosphere of Shakespeare’s time. Performers entered the stage with normal choir conduct, with the choir singers in single file with the conductor at the end. People from the choir would then enter the front where they would lead a solo or recite verses from the plays to start off the song, sometimes accompanied with the choir at different moment to add to the soundscape of the performance.
Audience
The audience didn’t seem to be abnormal from any other performance I have attended mainly consisting of senior citizens, parents, and fellow students. Oddly enough I stumbled across one brought a friend who was a previous student at UTD and lived on my street, who also told me that he attended the performance to support a friend. He along with some others and one friend I brought I’ve noticed at this performance. The crowd was relatively smaller than other performances, since it was easy to spot people I knew, and also I find it strange, because I’ve never went to an event at UTD where I know more than three people.
Time and Space
The space was large for plenty of leg room. The space on the stage however was used quite frequently due to the amount of moving and role taking of different speeches and roles throughout the performance. Most of the singers didn’t move other than one to four singers at a time for dialogues and solos, but the cheers over all were quite reluctant in the audience. At the end surprisingly there was a standing applause since the performance ended on a high note.
Conclusion
Leaving the Johnson Performance Hall, dress ups, and music, I felt I was leaving the Victorian Era and back to modern day. Away from rehearsed song and continuous harmonious melodies and back to normal comprehendible English speaking UTD of the 21st century.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Blog Post 11
Aspects of Gullah Culture
The ideas of this culture are mainly to remember the Gullah people’s heritage and their ancestor’s voyage across the Atlantic Ocean from West Africa to Georgia. The fact that they came over as slaves shipped by the tens of thousands, many Gullah people find this part of their heritage very important. The reason that this culture is bringing their . Activities involved speakers, stepping, dance, and music with a polyphonic rhythm with many membranophones. Their repertoires include mainly just different variations of beats and overlapping rhythms. The materials of the Gullah culture are intricate dresses that have repeated striped patterns, flags, sometimes walking sticks, and drums with a djembe kind of structure.
Aspects of Gullah Music Performance
The time and space is located on the coast of Georgia time is in recent years. The audience consists mainly of other Gullah people and sometimes local residents. Performers are decedents from black slaves who some sing, some dance, and some play the drums. The music itself has a talking type of quality sometimes with a broken voice and other sounds. Many times it gives off a gospel like type of singing, but far from it, because it has not melodic forms from instrumentation. All the melody comes from the singers while it over laps typically many drums playing in a polyrhythmic way.
The ideas of this culture are mainly to remember the Gullah people’s heritage and their ancestor’s voyage across the Atlantic Ocean from West Africa to Georgia. The fact that they came over as slaves shipped by the tens of thousands, many Gullah people find this part of their heritage very important. The reason that this culture is bringing their . Activities involved speakers, stepping, dance, and music with a polyphonic rhythm with many membranophones. Their repertoires include mainly just different variations of beats and overlapping rhythms. The materials of the Gullah culture are intricate dresses that have repeated striped patterns, flags, sometimes walking sticks, and drums with a djembe kind of structure.
Aspects of Gullah Music Performance
The time and space is located on the coast of Georgia time is in recent years. The audience consists mainly of other Gullah people and sometimes local residents. Performers are decedents from black slaves who some sing, some dance, and some play the drums. The music itself has a talking type of quality sometimes with a broken voice and other sounds. Many times it gives off a gospel like type of singing, but far from it, because it has not melodic forms from instrumentation. All the melody comes from the singers while it over laps typically many drums playing in a polyrhythmic way.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Blog Post 10
I was asked to analyze an opera piece on youtube, so I chose…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrMN8pJbxT4
This opera piece by Stabat Mater Rossini, took place on a stage with a full orchestra with many western membranophones, chordophones, and brass aerophones. It was conducted by an oriental conductor and the main opera singer was Lella Cuberli, who had support from a large choir in the back. All the performers are well dressed in western dress up clothes with suits and dresses. The choir in choir garments. The opera singer was off to the front and center, obviously making her the center of attention.
The song has a homophony quality, since the musicians accompanied Lella the opera singer. The song has a duple meter with a simple meter. The music started with a big entrance, but then had a drop off and then crescendo-ed over time as Lella Cuberli developed the song. She seemed to have an ornamental quality to most of her singing. Her voice seemed to vibrate and waver in pitch, which is known as vibrato. Her timbre seemed to be in an upper register but using a lot of air from her diaphragm to create the sound. In this particular piece there was no male singer, but also there seemed to be no interaction between the opera singer and the conductor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrMN8pJbxT4
This opera piece by Stabat Mater Rossini, took place on a stage with a full orchestra with many western membranophones, chordophones, and brass aerophones. It was conducted by an oriental conductor and the main opera singer was Lella Cuberli, who had support from a large choir in the back. All the performers are well dressed in western dress up clothes with suits and dresses. The choir in choir garments. The opera singer was off to the front and center, obviously making her the center of attention.
The song has a homophony quality, since the musicians accompanied Lella the opera singer. The song has a duple meter with a simple meter. The music started with a big entrance, but then had a drop off and then crescendo-ed over time as Lella Cuberli developed the song. She seemed to have an ornamental quality to most of her singing. Her voice seemed to vibrate and waver in pitch, which is known as vibrato. Her timbre seemed to be in an upper register but using a lot of air from her diaphragm to create the sound. In this particular piece there was no male singer, but also there seemed to be no interaction between the opera singer and the conductor.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Blog Post 9
After watching the film Avatar, I looked into the film score and Na’vi music types. Although having some similarities, the film score and Na’vi are quite different. Both music types used membranophones, chordophones, vocals, and aerophones. The music in the Na’vi contains European wordless vocals, combined with Asian and African timbers. Also a main difference is that the Na’vi language was chanted and sung in the native language, while the film score was sung in English with only Western timbers.
In the examples the Avatar theme song can be heard with only western female timbers with a more sound from the diaphragm, while the “Gathering all the Na’vi clans for battle” song contained a short segment with multi cultural timbers of shouting, rather than a western singing like quality. The film score also had more of an up beat pop-like rhythm that was fairly simply with a simple melody, while the Na’vi music had a polyrhythmic scheme as the music escalated like some African music cultures. Although the music from the Na’vi has a few African qualities, they also contain many western music styles of instrumentation that reveals a similar quality to that of World of Warcraft music.
The mix of cultures throughout is what most likely what gives this movie the out of world feeling due to the inability of the viewer to point down to the source of the music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsM6iK_OBFU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEFlJKvBc8s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgkPAxiKkiI
In the examples the Avatar theme song can be heard with only western female timbers with a more sound from the diaphragm, while the “Gathering all the Na’vi clans for battle” song contained a short segment with multi cultural timbers of shouting, rather than a western singing like quality. The film score also had more of an up beat pop-like rhythm that was fairly simply with a simple melody, while the Na’vi music had a polyrhythmic scheme as the music escalated like some African music cultures. Although the music from the Na’vi has a few African qualities, they also contain many western music styles of instrumentation that reveals a similar quality to that of World of Warcraft music.
The mix of cultures throughout is what most likely what gives this movie the out of world feeling due to the inability of the viewer to point down to the source of the music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsM6iK_OBFU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEFlJKvBc8s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgkPAxiKkiI
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