...Come To An End. [Entry #5.]

[Point One.]
Assuming you're expecting a little bit more than "I learned Kalimbas (thumb pianos) are AWESOME!" I'd have to say that I learned just how insultingly technically simple my flute is. Next to the constant flipping of knobs and subtleties that change the entire of a timbre on instruments such as in the Lunga, Zheng or Qanun. I imagine that professional Zheng and Qanun players would likely consider the flute very difficult as we have the whole breathing and air thing to worry about, but in the necessary dexterity department- they have me trumped without argument.

[Point Two.]
My musical influences have been heavily influenced by my father and this class made that far more apparent. I didn't interview him, but it was because we'd have too many similar music tastes. Now that's a bit narrow, not really encompassing "our culture" as a whole. So I guess I'd have to broaden that... I always knew that the music I enjoyed the most typically had elements incorporated from around the world, it's one of the reasons why I love indie music... and Paul Simon. I don't think I realized just how much the mainstream, popular music incorporated anything other than African rhythms. Discovering sitar in a Jack's Mannequin song, shakuhachi in a Linkin Park song, and countless others made me at least respect other genres more.

[Point Three.]
Dr. Weeks' presentation specifically got me interested in the Kumari in Nepal. I spent a large portion of that afternoon researching them online, watching footage from documentaries, etcetera.

On another note, this class has gotten me interested in studying abroad- something I never actually considered an option between my picky stomach and just general fear of offending others. It also helps that it relaunched my love for Celtic Thunder and I'm investigating the possible Ireland trip next Jan Term. I also launched back into genealogy research on my family to silence my brother's debate one whether we are completely Irish or just half... Much to my excitement, back as much at least four generations, all signs point to the fact that we are thoroughly Irish, although this means that I had to admit to my brother that he was right and I was wrong- never easy.

One of the bigger things this class changed is that a dream I have for my future settled house is a room that is lined with bookshelves and is home to (at least a baby) grand piano... preferably Steinway. Now instead of just having walls of full bookshelves and a piano... there better be (again, at least) a kalimba, djembe, and probably a shakuhachi and a small didgeridoo. This is quite an addition to a longstanding dream. Guess I should hit up Asheville sometime soon.

To wrap things up completely, why not a little bit more of those attractive Irish men? ...or perhaps just Keith Harkin since this is now the 10th most played song on my iTunes.

Adios, Au Revior, Auf Wiedersehen.

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Cool Stuff #3.

[Stuff One.]
We mentioned in passing George Harrison's intrigue with Indian music in class. Since an overwhelming portion of this campus is familiar with good ol' George as a Beatle, I figured I'd share some of his solo work. I grew up listening to this song with my dad and I loved it. My dad was a little uncomfortable with me listening to it though because of the (somewhat) subliminal message it has. Harrison fell for Indian music, and (up until his later years) was also into Indian religion. ...but "My Sweet Lord" has all these hallelujahs in it... well, that was to appeal to the greater public. Listen carefully to the background singers at 2:55 and realize the what made my trusty Southern Baptist dad so uneasy.

...Hare Krishna. 

And here's Crackerbox Palace, which has been stuck in my head the last few days... I don't believe there's any strong Indian influence, but I wanted to share it anyway.

[Stuff Two.]

I've only seen the majority of The Kite Runner. It's a wonderful movie though and apparently a very heart wrenching book as well. It's been about my only exposure to the middle east outside of Funny in Farsi, general research and our opening piece last fall in Music History. I was looking at the music from the soundtrack the other day and found this piece very interesting. It's by Sami Yusuf, born in Tehran, and it's in English. It piqued my interest because it's English words with simple accompaniment, but the turns he does have the intricacies and microtonality we discussed in class. Enjoy!

[Stuff Three.]

Since I couldn't get the Twelve Girls Band out of my head this morning, here's another healthy dose!

Also, if you thought that this morning's clip reminded you of Celtic Woman, what about when they actually do celtic music? BAM!

[Extra Stuff.]

And speaking of Celtic Woman: For those of you who haven't been exposed to Celtic Thunder and get a kick out of Celtic Woman... here's some eye candy. How about them kilts? ...and what about that kid?!

             

...They even feed my love for Moody Blues! *sigh*

[More Extra Stuff.]

Yes, I've come back and edited this several times, but it's before 11 and it's the last Cool Stuff! I have to get in what I can! We've learned a lot about Zither-like instruments, but how about a little more zither itself? 

Okay, I've assaulted you with enough. I'm content to walk away now.

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Talking 'Bout My Generation. [Entry #4.]

Here's my interview with my grandmother or "Grandmommy" Betty Wolfe from January 9th. You can either watch the video or read the transcription below. I encourage both, as she can be kind of soft spoken sometimes, but you don't get to enjoy her southern draw if you don't watch.
I edited out of the video all time spent thinking and any questions that lead to a dead end. In the video I edited out our last names and where we are, my audience is much larger than this class and I don't feel like being stalked. If you follow the link on the end of the video, you can watch the footage on dances which became a bit of a tangent... Enjoy!

MH: What type of music did you listen to? What genre?
BW: My era? The bands, the wonderful orchestras and bands like Sammy Kaye, and... what were the others?
MH: You were there, I wasn't there...
BW: I know it. At this age I'm forgetting so many of them... Even the concerts I went to at college were so wonderful, but they were all beautiful music. No rock 'n roll.

MH: Do you have any songs that you remember or stuck with you?
BW: I know soloists, like Perry Como and all of this era...
MH: "Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket..." That's him?
BW: Right. Right.
MH: Yay me!

MH: When you listen to music, was there a certain place you listened to it? You said orchestras.
BW: Well mainly radio at first and then we finally had television. Then when I was in college I'd go to concerts I mentioned and enjoy them.

MH: I'm ready to assume off of orchestras being a definition, how did you parents feel about your music? Did they approve of it?
BW: Oh they enjoyed it. In fact, I enjoyed the music that they enjoyed. And this is the same type of music that I still like.

MH: Was there a certain reason you listened to music that you could think of?
BW: We enjoyed music. Our family enjoyed music. Although I only took piano lessons, private lessons.
MH: You're jumping ahead of me. I was going to ask what instruments did you play or did you sing, how long.
BW: Just piano. I took two years, private lessons.
MH: You can still sit down and play one of those.
BW: Not really... I can pick out a lot by ear. But I really, I didn't continue in piano. But we did- I had three sisters, and we'd dance. We took tap dancing and, actually privately, from a man in school, and we did play, dancing, and we did dance a lot.
MH: And what about your brother, what did your brother do about that?
BW: He was very young. He was much younger than the rest of us so...
MH: He doesn't count.
BW: No, he was not included.

MH: Once you became a parent and your kids were growing up, what did you have to say about their music. Did you approve of it?
BW: Oh, I did. A bit more so than the music itself. Sometime's it's too loud- entirely too loud.

MH: You said you listened to it on the radio, did you not have LPs?
BW: Yes.

MH: Anything else you can think of?
BW: No...

My grandmother loathes being in front of a still camera, much less a camcorder, so she isn't very talkative. I found the information I gathered on dancing far more interesting and I think she did too... so feel free to check it out. (Or my other videos too if you would, I am getting close to 1,000 subscribers.)

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Cool Stuff #2.

[Stuff One.]
We are doing Latin America, yes? ...we're including the Caribbean in that, yes? Well then! Just a week or two ago I was babysitting and we got our hands on the game "Just Dance 2." One of the most amusing songs on there? Shake, Shake, Shake Sonora. It's a Caribbean song, and I was able to find a pretty nifty recording of it being played on steel drums... I highly recommend you go find someone with the game, and make them do the dance... just watch, but in the meantime see below::

[Stuff Two.]
A large reason as to why this blog is being posted so closely to the deadline, is because I spent a large amount of time playing an online "thumb piano" here.

[Stuff Three.]
Now back to Latin America. I actually, quite enjoyed the recorder-like or flute instrument today called the "Kena" or "Quena" so without question I therefore enjoyed this video offering it a bit more explanation:

[Extra Stuff.]
I wasn't sure if this alone would count as one of my pieces of "cool stuff" but for those of you with iPhones or iTouch, I encourage you to check out the following thumb piano app. I'm too cheap to pay a dollar for it, but I encourage you to get your hands on it.

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Guys & Dolls. [Entry #3.]

Watch this before reading::

Once you've stopped scolding my father for whispering and your aurally skilled ears have stopped bleeding (even more so if you know what the piece is supposed to sound like) let me ask you something. Notice anything weird? Yes. The flutist to the far right is male. 

When someone's asked to name an instrument that "women" play, if the immediate response isn't flute- be surprised. In society, it's possibly the most stereotyped instrument towards women, yet some of the most recognizable flutists are male: James Galway, Quantz, Taffanel, Gaubert, and of course the Dr. Chris Vaneman. 

My high school never really had any serious issues with gender roles in the music program. We had males playing "feminine" instruments: clarinet, flute, piccolo, horn, oboe... We also had a guy or two in our color guard. We also had a steady number of girls playing "masculine" instruments: double bass, trombone, trumpet, and one of our best percussionists was female. (She's also looking at our school as an option for next year by the way.) Now, the two guys we had in our color guard were gay and the two male flutists were straight, and received a few jabs now and then about their sexuality, but there was never any animosity in their direction. Our school's production of "Little Shop of Horrors" even disregarded gender roles as all three reporters (male and female) were played by a lone (bearded) gentleman... in a dress. Our school did a pretty successful job of not letting instruments or roles be determined by the nature of the instrument or role itself.

I will admit that a large portion of music program drop-outs and instrument changes before high school occurred due to gender stereotypes. Some guys switched from flute or horn to trumpet and trombone, while others just got tired of being labeled gay and quit. Same for girls playing percussion, trombone, etc. getting tired of being labeled... well... slurs for lesbian. But once we reached high school, we were all on a level playing field.

Despite this, I always took a minute or two to adjust when I went to things like USC Band Clinic, Region and All-State band. There was always very heavy gender diversity among the instruments and it always made me do a double-take. I'm used to seeing Markeisha play the marimba, but now there's Markeisha on marimba and that other chick on snare? It also took me a bit to adjust to there being more than one girl in my (then) boyfriend's trombone section. But I think the gender diversity helped make the experiences I had at these clinics far more enjoyable...

In summary it can be said that in my experience no one has been musically or creatively limited directly because of their gender. It's always been middle school bullies, or simply hindering themselves. 

Oh, and here's a musical band-aid for your ears...

Galway playing Clair de Lune as it's supposed to sound on the flute::

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Cool Stuff #1.

[Stuff One.]

The above picture is a link to an article in which Vampire Weekend responds (and confirms) the "Africanisms" in their music. They also answer the Graceland parallels. (Sorry, Dr. Vaneman!) If you're not familiar with their music, stop reading NOW and go. Your life is incomplete.

[Stuff Two.]
In my first blog I mentioned in passing Kanye West's song, "Love Lockdown" on his album 808s & Heartbreak. The first video below is the music video for the song. I encourage you to listen more than watch due to scantily clad tribal women I mentioned in class... I tried to find a good video of the VMA performance which had drummers behind him, but couldn't... The second video is his interview on Conan where he credits takei drums as inspiration.

He begins talking about his career around 5:40, his music around 7:05 and the drums around 8:00 just before he does an awkward segue on how he needs to use the restroom... Oh, Kanye...

[Point Three.]
The other day fellow YouTubers and self-proclaimed "Internetainers" (Internet + Entertainers) uploaded their full documentary they assembled a few years back on their search for their first grade teacher that brought them together. Titled "Looking for Miss Locklear" they abandoned all use of internet and phone, using only people to try to locate her. This leads them to a Lumbee Indian pow wow in North Carolina. I was going to link to the actual film, but YouTube has put a restriction that now you have to pay to rent it. Instead here is a clip from a Lumbee pow wow that I enjoyed:

[Sidenotes.]
"You can make an instrument out of that?" I have two fellow YouTubers who have also stretched the limitations of that statement. This first clip is an attractive British guy our age (Charlie McDonnell) who we can all grow to love. He's not a trained musician per se, but he has become famous worldwide through YouTube and makes a living off of YouTube and his music. He has a series called "Challenge Charlie" and was challenged to make a song using only items around his house that weren't standard instruments. This witty, catchy song is the result:

The next video is from YouTuber, Michael Aranda, who I actually chat with time to time. As a part of the Ford Fiesta Movement he was given a Ford Fiesta for a period of time and in turn had to make videos featuring it. Most likely inspired by the Julian Smith Jeep video that Dr. Vaneman posted last year, here's his video. The horn is autotuned, but beyond that... everything's produced by the car. I LOVE it. & of course the Beethoven salute doesn't hurt either. 

Hope you enjoy! :D

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Religious? 7-Eleven. [Entry #2.]

I’m don’t shy away from the fact that I’ve grown up in a Southern Baptist church. I think it explains a lot about my family and makes my political stances surprising. Growing up I heard a lot of Steven Curtis Chapman, Matthew West, Mark Schultz and the like on 89.3 HISRadio but it took a few years for me to realize that it was Christian music. It was a far cry from what I heard in church.

[Point One.] 

In services, we use music the same as they did in antiquity. We're not chanting, but we use music to humble ourselves before God, pray to Him, cry out to Him, thank Him. In my church, there's not any speaking in tongues, there wasn't even any raising of hands in praise until just recently. "Big Church" was filled with these praise songs with full choir and orchestra. But growing up in the church, there's some gradual steps you go through to get there. Elementary Sunday School and Wednesday night choirs tended to be filled with songs that taught ideas, you start early with "Jesus Loves Me" for the basics, then you progress to stories like in "Rise and Shine" and eventually you'd put on a Christian musical with a few soloists, full choir, backing track and pop culture references. Once you're a youth your Wednesday nights become nights for "Crossfire" a service with more contemporary worship music that is conducted in a "hum & strum" fashion, and sung back ina 7-eleven fashion: Repeating the same seven words eleven times... Also while in youth group you go on tour during the summer to nursing homes and soup kitchens through junior high. Then your high school summers are spent touring and performing in prisons across America.  On both of these tours we perform more modern Christian pop, rock, and rap like I mentioned in my previous blog.  ...All of the above tours are accompanied by lively choreography of course. 

On a separate note, for one week each summer we go to churches across impoverished parts of Southeast Kentucky with my church and conduct Vacation Bible School. But on Sunday morning, we're guests in another Baptist church, who do things far more formally than we do. Every verse of each hymn is sung and their old, feeble pianist accompanies as the one member choir/worship leader sings leads hymns like below... at a much slower tempo with a much thicker accent, which makes things quite amusing. 

[Point Two.]

Since Baptist music is obviously born from Western Art Music and I find it pleasing, I imagine it's effected what I enjoy in music. But I don't believe that it's limited my taste in music. While what I consider right and wrong behaviorally has been heavily influenced by my sheltered Baptist homelife, I don't believe that it's translated to my musical taste. The words of the music hold the most religious weight, but I'm sure that we could dissect several hymns and find numerical symbolism, but the focus isn't on the instrumentation, intervals or anything.

I would have written on the music experience from visiting Richard's Episcopal church, but here's a summary: they sang the Doxology differently and I didn't approve.

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Musical Autobiography. [Entry #1.]

I approached this blog with complete dread. But when I jumped in and started looking at the music I’ve grown up with and been surrounded by, (although occasionally against my will) I have a bit more experience outside the Western Art realm than I anticipated.

[Point One.]

I’ll start off with the music that is my biggest guilty pleasure. American Pop, Rock or Hip Hop music, often just insulting to the trained ear... I can’t shake it. Sure, I’ll drive around belting Ke$ha (that’s actually her stage name). We could trace all of the above to Western Art music (or the Middle East), but… I’m okay with leaving it at this.

[Point Two.]

Now to my territory: Indie Pop or Rock. I don’t care if it’s American, British, or Australian. If I understand it, I probably love it. This was the only music that I discovered without much outside influence. I found it watching the music videos played at 3 in the morning during sleepless nights and explored from there. Tally Hall, Broadcast 2000, Fun. I could go for days, but if there’s a genre that I will proudly label mine, it’s Independent. (I’ll address Vampire Weekend in a moment.)

[Point Three.]

I don’t understand those ashamed of musicals and the show tunes associated therein. I grew up on miniature musicals that you’ve never heard of: Grandpa’s Magical Toys, The Marvelous Musical Mansion, Wee Sing Train. ...Anyone? From there I grew a love for Annie, and The Sound of Music. I didn’t realize what I was falling in love with until the third grade when we watched CATS. From there I found Phantom, Annie Get Your Gun, and even less traditional musicals like The Wiz or Spring Awakening. While the use of harmony and such is straight from Western Art music, and you’re probably thinking I’m not venturing far... I'll get there.

[Point Four.]

Here’s my “wow” factor. While not necessarily exposed to African music per se, I’ve always been fond of music heavily influenced by African music. Below is a lovely example that I considered saving for Cool Stuff Friday… Largely because my father’s name is Al, I was exposed to Paul Simon’s album Graceland: influenced by his trip to South Africa. The music from The Lion King, my favorite Disney movie, (although by Elton John) is African influenced. More recently the drums in Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown” caught my attention: African influence. But most recently, often compared to the Graceland album: Vampire Weekend. Their music is heavily influenced by the rhythms incorporated in African drumming, which helps make their music so praiseworthy and amazing.

I’ve sung La Cucaracha in Spanish class, Feliz Navidad at Christmas, and listened to music in Mexican restaurants. I’ve also heard ancient Asian music through 6-week terms of various language studies in elementary school. I was forced by my brothers to endure both Country and Christian Rock/Rap. My family thrust wholesome Southern Gospel on me. So I’m looking forward to further exposure to any music this semester that isn’t Country… I’ll keep my hopes up.

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