Week 8: Aesthetic Qualities

I listen to a lot of pop music and it's often difficult to see the unique culture and identity in each artist/group. It seems that to gain popularity all music had to have the same mass appeal. And yet to maintain popularity pop music needs to always have that something new, that hip and different. In order to bring a fresh sound to pop music, artists often turn to other music cultures for inspiration. In class, student presentations continue show different ways how traditional music from all other the world are incorporated into contemporary music.

One pop artist I enjoy is Shakira, except I prefer her Spanish albums to her English ones. Shakira gained widespread fame in the Latin world and manage to break into the American music seen. This is a remarkable accomplishment for any foreign artist, but it takes some sacrifice. Even though Shakira uses her Latin background to set herself apart from the typical pop females, she had to modify her original style to appeal to the greater American audience. Her English songs include a bit of Latin beats with minimal Spanish phrases to give the songs a more exotic flavor. Her music videos also usually show some Latin dance moves. This difference definitely helps Shakira win over fans in the States. Even though I find her English songs less appealing due to their simplicity, this could just be due to a language barrier. Since her native language is Spanish, singing in Spanish allows her to fully express her thoughts and feelings. Still, I admire Shakira's insistence on keeping traditional Latin influences in her pop songs. She incorporates Latin instruments and uses the fast, up-beat sounds of Latin dance music. Her love songs are very sensual and express deep emotions. These qualities help Shakira retain her Latin heritage while spreading her music to a worldwide audience.

Week 7: Latcho Drom 2

Many of the instruments used in one scene later reappear in a later scene. But as the scenes go on, the instruments change more. For instance, the instruments used in Romania were nothing like the original instruments used by the nomadic groups in Northern India. As the Romas moved into Europe, they also seemed to have a more difficult time assimilating with the rest of society. Even though the Roma pick up many of the instruments and music styles of the Europeans, they were not very much accepted into the society.

The first scene during the second part of the film opens with a young boy approaching 2 elderly men playing the violin and santour. Later these same musicians appear in the village scene where all the musicians of the village gathered. Each musician exited from their homes and met in the center. Villagers gathered around for the performance. There were flutes, violins, accordions, bass, and santours. This village gathering gave the same sort of community feeling as many previous scenes, such as the one in northern India and Egypt. The leader starts while the rest of the group follows, improvising their own parts to harmonize with the overall melody. I thought it was especially interesting when one of the santour players flipped his instrument upside down and tapped on the body of the santour to create a percussive beat for the song.

In the train scene, the young girl sang a sad song, but the group waiting at the train station were in a completely different mode. Even though the Roma people were rejected by the main society, the scene implied that as long as they had each other and their music, life was fine. At the train station, the richer, white woman and her son were sitting alone waiting for the train and were very cold. The group of Roma people appeared less well-off but were warm and in a happier mode. The musician refused the young white boy's money and played music for their own enjoyment. Aside from the violin, the group used random objects to create the musical sound. For example, one person blew into a jub, another clapped spoons together, and the rest of the group snapped their fingers and sang along. This shows the Romas's ability to turn everyday objects into musical instrument and to adapt their surroundings to their lifestyle.

Week 6: Latcho Drom

It is rare to see a film not driven by dialogue. The film was presented in a different perspective where images and music led the storyline. At first it was difficult to follow the story, but soon the recurring symbols helped explain the links between each of the different scenes. Along with the idea of music being passed down through generations between adults and children, I also noticed a continuous gender pattern in the different musical traditions.

In all the scenes, men played the major instruments and sang the leads of the pieces. In the opening scene, a small boy walks in the desert singing and playing wooden clappers. He also sings and plays while a young girl dances. In later scenes, the same wooden clappers were used by older men in the ceremony. Along with a rebab-like string instrument and a clay jug, the ensemble played with a man leading the group. The women of the group were seen with smaller metal clappers and made dance-movements along with the music.

In the second scene, the atmosphere was more informal and jubilant. Everyone in the audience joined the singing, clapping, and dancing. The instruments were similar to the first scene and again the male took the lead. In the third scene in the restaurant, again the children watched and learned from the adults. In the teahouse, all the musicians and the teahouse patrons were all men. As discussed in Tuesday's lecture, the ensemble was known as the takht ensemble. This included a ud, qanun, riqq, a clarinet, a violin, and a small drum. The incorporation of the Western instruments show how traditional music has adopted instruments of other cultures over time. As the population moves from India towards Europe, though some traditions are kept, their music culture becomes somewhat changed as they encounter each new culture.

Week 5: Music and Society

As a cultural expression, music develops as a reflect of social experiences. Looking at the history of American popular music, it is a story of the rebellious against the norm until the rebellious is absorbed into the mainstream. The rise of the hip hop culture in the United States is very representative of this process. Although hip hop had various influences from African and other forms of American music, like funk and disco, its rise was heavily associated with the social consciousness that developed among many blacks in urban centers. This music and dance culture was an art form unique to American urban blacks and contributed to the growing sense of the black community within the ghettos. Hip hop spread as a grassroots movement that stood as a form of counter culture against the mainstream American music. But as hip hop gained popularity, it was more and more accepted into the mainstream. Hip hop is now even considered a part of the pop music in America.

Hip hop began as an expression of the experiences of blacks in the urban centers, and has now developed to a distinct culture and lifestyle on its own. The urban lifestyle became glorified through the music and now youth across the States, even the world, model their dress, speech, attitude, and overall daily life after the ones described in the music. Whether this has been a positive or negative influence on society remains a hot topic of contention, but the extent of hip hop's influence on American popular culture is indeed profound. Though the hip hop culture of today has significantly changed since its inception, there are some key components that have remained constant over time. Whether hip hop appropriately portrays the realities of life found in modern inner cities does not matter. It has grown to become a lifestyle all on its own and is now a culture that is practice both in and out of urban centers. Also, though hip hop began as an American black movement, it now has patrons of all races in and out of the United States.