Amelea’s CMUS blog

It has been a long time since I actually looked at my past blog entries, and as I was rereading them, I could definitely tell that my understanding of music had progressed from where it was at the beginning of the semester.

Of the three posts that we had to choose, I was most pleased with my “Shona Mbira Music” post, mostly because I remember how confused I was when I first listened to the music.  I felt like I did a really good job at analyzing all the different layers and how they worked together, especially since I was so overwhelmed at first.  I broke the song down very methodically, and explained what I thought about each part; I was very clear with how the song developed and was put together.

My next post, “Bulgarian Vocal,” was my favorite listening sample of all the ones we’ve been given.  I still go back and listen to the women’s choir every so often!  I enjoyed writing this one the most and using the blog to really listen closely and observe what I could about timbre, rhythm, harmony and all those musical terms we talked about in class.  So many of those concepts applied to these music samples, and I felt it was a really good way for me to use them and understand them.

My last post, which does not have a title, is from September 21st (it’s my second post, so it’s at the end of the blog) and I think this was one of my most complete, self-contained blogs.  With my other blogs, I noticed that I tended to just analyze the piece and end abruptly.  However, with this blog, I actually wrote some conclusions and made some speculations, which made the writing seem more fleshed out and thought out.  It also gave it a more finished sound to it, as opposed to my other blogs where I didn’t really make any closing remarks.  I also feel like I made some valid points and observations about the music, although I commented on the more obvious characterstics of the piece, like rhythms and percussion, rather than really analyze tone color and harmony as I did later on in the course.

This past summer, I had the opportunity to travel to Peru for two weeks; of the two weeks, one was spent in the mountains in Cuzco, and in many of the restaurants and shops that we frequented, this style of music was played.  Although most of the ensembles that I saw in Peru had only two people playing, a guitarist and a wind player, they had very similar melodies and chord progressions to these listening samples.  The first listening sample in particular had the most similarities.  It has an upbeat tempo driven by the drum, broken chords in the guitar and the charango, and a very prominent flute melody.  The melody can be played in three or four long breaths, and it is repeated three or four times, with variations, such as playing it an octave higher, adding a few extra grace notes, or adding a harmonizing part.   The second piece was different in that it had a slower tempo, and was very plaintive sounding, resulting from the breathy, unfocused sound of some of the pipes.  There was also an interesting use of overlap in this piece, as one flute would play the melody, and a drone would interrupt and sustain itself in the background, and then the two flutes would trade off.  It created some interesting dissonances and textures as the melody moved over the drone.  There were stringed instruments as well playing a repetitious background phrase.  Unlike the first one, however, there was no drum part in the background to drive the beat.

What an interesting mix of listening samples in this group!  Though they were all vocal samples, the pieces had very very different styles from each other.  I really liked the first two pieces the best out of all of them.  The choirs in these pieces had a very distinctive sound; unlike other choirs that I have heard or participated in, the singers in this group didn’t try to blend their voices together to create a very contained, direct, and focused sound.  Their sound tended to be a little nasal, but it didn’t sound harsh or ugly.  With the layered harmony, this choir sang their piece beautifully.  The second piece was much the same, although it had a different atmosphere to the notes.  While the first song was gentle and undulating, this song was much more driving and dramatic.  The harmonies were more dissonant, and the tempo was faster.  More drones were used on different pitches to create tension between parts, and there was interlocking, whereas the first piece had a unified rhythm.    The Xena Warrior theme was very dramatic, obviously to fit with the feeling of the show, and they had some of the characteristics of the second vocal piece, where dissonant harmonies were used and a very flat, nasal sound projected above the instrumentals.  The singers in this piece were also accompanied by a variety of instruments, which helped to create this dramatic feeling. The Rocket’s Tail piece had a main singer singing in English over a group of singers who used the same techniques that the women in the previous songs used.  Though it had these same features, it was employed in a more poppish style, especially once the rest of the instruments came in.   

When listening to the first listening sample, the Mbira Dzavadzimu, I was quite lost.  The constant percussion gives rhythmic direction, of course, but I couldn’t distinguish the rest of the parts and understand how the singing and the clapping and the thumb piano sounding instrument fit into the beats.  Fortunately, after listening to the other two samples and having someone break down the four individual phrases really helped me when I went back and listened to the first piece.  I liked it a lot more the second time around, because I could hear the distinct groupings underneath the percussion.  At first, the percussion overwhelmed me, and I felt like that was the only thing I could hear.  But after listening to the thumb piano part by itself, I could hear it and follow along in the piece (although it is crazy fast, compared to the other samples!).  When I combined the thumb piano part with the singing part, the whole piece fit together much better; previously, I thought that the singing was just random bursts of notes, with people just doing whatever they wanted.  But the singing actually harmonizes and complements the melody that is found in the cyclical phrases, although they have different rhythms, often pitting two against three to create an uneven feeling.  I also noticed a lot of clapping throughout the piece, which added an interesting layer to the existing percussion.  One person would start clapping, and then another would start clapping on the off beats, and these two claps would interlock in another two against three pattern.  All these aspects combine to make a piece that is very active and invites the listener to move with the rhythm.  It seems structured, due to the constant rhythmic backbone, but also spontaneous, as the vocalists seem to be improvising and elaborating on a theme.

Though many gong ensembles in Indonesia may appear similar with just a cursory glance, further investigation reveals that there are decided differences between the characteristics of the Balinese, Javanese, and West Sumatran styles of playing gamelan. The Balinese style of playing is mainly for processional purposes, namely for temple anniversaries and funerals. During cremations, gamelan beleganjur is meant to drive away all harmful spirits and to prevent them from wreaking havoc upon the living and those recently departed. Unlike the Minangkabau and the Javanese, the Balinese style of playing is strongly placed in a Hindu context, instead of the Islamic culture. All of the instruments are portable, even the massive gongs that are very heavy, as opposed to the more sedentary options of Javanese and West Sumatran playing, and these instruments are a smaller subset of the bigger ensemble in gamelan angklung.

The Javanese gamelan ensembles seem to especially focus around the royal courts found at Yogyakarta and Surakarta. These courts are seen as cultural centers for the development and preservation of gamelan, and many gamelan sets can be found within these walls. Gamelan instruments are viewed as sacred and imbued with spiritual power, and they are treated with the utmost respect. In some cases, offerings are made to the instruments by the players, and it is considered grievously offensive if one were to show the sole of one’s foot to the instrument. In Javanese gamelan sets, two systems of instruments are made so that one can play music in the two different scale systems, pelog and slendro. These scale systems do not mix, however, and are rarely played together. Often, shadow puppet shows accompany the gamelan performances, providing entertainment for large amounts of people.

Minangkabau talempong has both a sitting and a processional style, duduak and pacik. Talempong duduak is exclusively for women, although reasons for this gender specification are unknown, and occasionally, talempong pacik can be played by women as well. Like Javanese gamelan, talempong sometimes accompanies a plate dance, danced by young women who imitate the motions of harvesting rice as they dance with these plates.  Randai is also another popular form of entertainment in which talempong is involved.  As this dance drama unfolds, the talempong ensemble provides music and singing to emphasize the performance.

Bubaran “Kembang Pacar,” starts off with muted gongs and layered sounds at a steady, slow, sauntering pace.  Eventually, a melody line enters with a harsh sounding gong, which sticks out compared to the rest of the gongs.  I also noticed some “elephant roars” in the background; not very loud, and more tinny sounding, but it definitely sounded like an elephant.  The song proceeds at this andante pace until the later half, when it suddenly speeds up to a fast clip.  In the very end, it slows down to dragging speed and tapers off rather uncertainly.  Ladrang “Wilujeng” is very different from that piece, the most notable difference being the use of vocals with the gongs.  At first, a reed instrument of some sort is playing the melody, but then it is taken over by the vocalist, whose voice carries the same nasal quality of the reed instrument; the transition is very fluidly done, and I actually didn’t realize that a person was singing for a few seconds.  Underneath, you have a busier gong accompaniment, with the same sedate speed as “Kembang Pacar,” but just more notes in between the main beats, which gives it an impression of being faster.  The vocalist sings for a while, and then a whole choir joins her (I think the singers are all female) and they all have tons of vibrato and that nasal quality to their voices.  I didn’t really care for these pieces very much.  They weren’t very exciting; “Kembang Pacar” didn’t seem to be put together very well as they weren’t quite together on the beat all the time, and “Wilujeng’s” melody and accompaniment didn’t sound quite right to my ears.  They seemed to clash more than harmonize in the piece.  

The “Sidi” track starts off with a small four beat pattern, and is soon joined by other, more complex patterns.  In total, these four instruments, with their four different patterns, repeat over and over again for a very long time in the beginning of this piece.  Quite honestly, it became a little monotonous after the first minute or so.  There doesn’t seem to be very much direction in the arrangement of the music, and it’s rather mechanical sounding.  Eventually, a very…UNIQUE, shall we say, sounding instrument comes in and gives the listener something to focus on over this repetitive, layered wash of patterned notes.  This goes on for a a few more minutes, and then at the end, the melody instrument drops out, and the song tapers off as each instrument drops out, mirroring their staggered entrances in the beginning.The second recording, “Urang Halaban”, has the same characteristics as “Sidi” in that it has four separate instruments, each with their own unique pattern, that are layered on top of the other.  Their entrances are staggered as well, and they repeat these patterns over and over again during the piece.  However, where “Sidi” had a melody line (or a very distinctive sounding instrument that stuck out from the other four) added as well, “Urang Halaban” only has these four instruments, and nothing else ever jumps in.   The “Minangkabau” recording was the most distinctive.  It was slower paced, and it had actual chord progressions and modulations that followed the melody.  The melody was rather buried under the other instruments, but when the harmony changed, you could hear it quite clearly.  These recordings seem to be of very casual, everyday performances.  I could hear coughing and voices in the background, and it seemed like a rather spontaneous performance from the way the instruments jumped in and out of the piece.   The pieces themselves are very simple and easy to pick up, with all the voices, and it would not be too difficult for anybody to learn and play.  It’s music that people can enjoy and play to enjoy as well.  

When I listen to these excerpts, I like to close my eyes and imagine things according to how the music develops.  The Adhan (Call to Prayer) recording immediately flooded my brain with the color orange.  I don’t mean the obnoxiously uniform color of the fruit, but the really deep, interesting oranges that turn up in the hearts of flowers, the last throes of a fiery sunset, and the flickering edges of candles and fires.  All these different shades of orange were all over the insides of my eyelids, and I could hear all the echoes inside the singer’s voice reverberate inside this orange room in my head.  His voice just draws you into the warm, rich sound, and you can’t help but follow the lilts and runs as he continues his prayer.  Also, the wind was blowing through the leaves of the trees outside my window, which made me feel like I was in a wide open plain, listening to this melody.  I enjoyed it thoroughly.   

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