jane’s blog

I enjoyed the listenings for this week, it was interesting to listen to the Coltraine and The Beatles’ pieces keeping in mind Ravi Shankar’s influence on them. George Harrison’s relationship with Shankar as well as their visits to India both play an important role in the music they were producing at the time. This is especially important for pop culture in America in the 60s. I find it interesting how because of Indian influences in songs like The Beatles’ “Within You, Without You”, American culture was able to miscontrue much of India’s sound as a supplement to drug use and the “hippie” generation. It is interesting how our culture can view another based upon the music made by a rock group from England. I found Coltraine’s track entitled “India” to be enjoyable. I found the fusion of Jazz and the tone/pitch patterns of India to be rather interesting, especially since all of it  seemed to be done with Western instruments. After listening to these songs, I have also come to realize how iconic the sitar is in Indian music. I think that many westerners feel that if they can throw in a sitar than the music automatically becomes Indian in origin. Overall I think it’s kind of neat how Musicians like Ravi Shankar can influence the direction of a generation of music. In the 60s there seem to have been a major interest in Indian culture and I think a lot of that has to do with the artists, like Shankar, who were able to share their sound on a global level.

I really enjoyed the listening selections from this week. It is interesting to compare the Pop world of Andes with the more traditional sound. Like expected, Andean Pop music has a much more upbeat-flashy sound to it whereas I feel that there is a more solemn tone to more traditional music. One can see how globalization has influenced the change in sound. For example in the piece entitled “Technocumbia Joven Sensacion, Tic, Tic, Tac”, we see the reminisce of a flute sound, possibly echoing the panpipes of Andean folkloric music. Yet the sound is rather electronic and the beginning starts off with a beat that resembles early North American hip-hop. While this particular piece seems to be a major change, some pieces are not so far off the traditional sound. The piece “wayno Julio Benavente” seems to share some similarities with the string instrument in a piece we listened to a few weeks ago by the name of “Urubamba, Kachapari folkloric wayno”. There seem to be more than one guitar like instrument playing simultaneously. The focus of the music seems to be primarily about love, much like most pop music, In Rossy War’s “Nunca Pense en Llorar” we hear a woman singing about how “me duele corazon”. This does vary however, the piece “somos estudiantes” by Los Shapis focuses on generational pride in Peru. The music has a dense texture with some interlocking, however it was rather legible in that I felt I could pick out the different sounds.  Overall I enjoyed the bright tones and danceable beat that these pieces offered. I feel that, like the goal of much pop music, these pieces aim for an experience that makes you want to enjoy what you hear. The pieces are vibrant and motivate you to move. 

The selections we listened to this week from definitely begin to have a more cosmopolitan feel for them. The use of a more westernized cordophone is a possible reason for this. The pieces are mostly composed to vocals, percussion and a cordophone. The Lambango piece seems more local. The musicians of this piece seem to be taking a more traditional approach to telling a story of the West Africa Saharan Mande. In most of these pieces, the nonvocal sounds seem to solely have the job of supporting the vocalist, who is telling a story or history of the Mande. This seems prevalent in the piece entitled “A la Lake” which includes the sound of the kora, twenty-one stringed instrument. We also see the presence of Islam in these pieces. This also adds to the more globalized sound. This music, because it is Islamic, deals with a broader more globalized audience. Therefore the sound is not solely local, it is more world beat. I do not think this music is participatory because of the small group that is playing it. It is not a community that is preforming together, rather two or three musicians preforming. This leads me to believe that these songs were typically preformed in front of an audience, possibly at functions. A few, the Pirate recording especially, made me want to dance. 

Unlike most gamelan that we’ve listened to Balinese gamelan beleganjur sounds a little bit harsher in the sense that the gongs are louder and not as soothing as the other sounds we’ve heard in for example Javanese gamelan. The balungan sounds are more similar to the Javanese gamelan that we played, the panerusan sounds in the Balinese are faster and louder than the Javanese. They also vary throughout the cycles. I am having a hard time of deciphering what those cycles are based upon as well (whether it’s Buburan or Ketawang). The Javanese gamelan is not a portable set, the performers have to travel to the instrument while Balinese gamelan beleganjur is used in processions and ceremonies. I feel as though this is a reason for the difference in sound. Balinesegamelan beleganjur is clearly louder because of the setting it’s played in, a procession is something that may need to be played louder in order to reach farther. It is definitely different from the Bubaran ‘Kembang Pacar’ and the Ladrang ‘Wilujeng’ that we listened to. While the two different from loud style to soft style, they both differ from Balinesegamelan beleganjur in similar ways. I felt that those pieces had a more definable cycle as well as a more hypnotizing sound meant more for listening than procession purposes. 

IN RESPONSE TO AMELEA’S BLOG: I agree with your take on the “Sidi” track, while at first I enjoyed it, it did in fact become monotonous. I did however enjoy “Sidi” more than the following track, “Urang Halaban” simply because I felt that this piece was completely homogenous in its melody. The next few pieces sound very similar, they are a serious of drumming pieces, all of which i enjoyed but found to be much alike. I agree with what you said about the “Minangkabau” piece, it had much more variety than the other pieces, it wasnt as continuous as “Sidi”. The continuous repetition of these pieces make you wonder if they are in fact being used for a ritual of some sort, though whatever theyre used for I do agree with it is casual simply because of the informal atmosphere of the recordings.

After listening to this week’s selections for listening journal I found it really hard (thinking back to our discussion in class) to not label these pieces as music. Especially since the last piece included instruments and was labeled as “ring-tone”. To me music is something that is created to captivate and touch the listener, to me music involves changing tones, pitch, quality…to me these pieces are music. However, I can understand how the Islamic world could view my opinions as sacrilegious. This is indeed an important part of their religion and shouldn’t be grouped with such things as The Beatles or Pink Floyd. While these are musicians who have touched people in many ways, they are not the basis for thousands of years of worship and thought. However, I still believe that these call to prayers are an expression through music. Majority of religions use music as a form of expression, whether it be in church or synagogue, music allows people to show their passion for their beliefs. Regarding the third sample, labeled as “ring-tone” it is hard for me to understand why it is sacrilegious to call a call to prayer music, but it isn’t to use it as a ring tone for a mobile phone.