Presentation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59YAniteUb0



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erLZ-zW9Ti4

South Asian music had a major influence on Rock and Roll in the sixties starting with the guitar player of the Beatles, George Harrison. When he went to India to retreat from his popularity around the globe, he learned this instrument and it was used in many Beatles songs afterwords such as "Norwegian Wood" and "Tomorrow Never Knows." The Rolling Stones used it in their song "Paint it Black" to provide an outside element to their rock music. Often musicians are looking for a sound to set their music apart, and this instrument provides a way for bands to sound more exotic and cultured. Many bands have done this since the 60's including Metallica who used an electric Sitar in the beginning of their song "Wherever I May Roam" in the 1990's.

Rees accuses these Chinese concerts of not being authentic because they do not follow the ancient tradition from which they were derived. The musicians are playing simplified versions of ritualistic songs from the Han Chinese that are very secularized to fit a tourist audience. The music is not as intricate, and the purpose of the music is entertainment instead of ritual value. She talks about the cultural revolution, where music was stifled for a period of ten years in China, causing tradition to slightly falter. If this music was not played for ten years and then it was picked up again, how can it truly be authentic? The music serves its purpose to impress tourists, but does not give an accurate representation of Chinese tradition.
The Chinese ensemble that we observed in class was probably considered "fake" because of the virtuosic performance of these musicians. They all seemed extremely skilled in their instruments and therefore put their own spin on playing style. The setting in which the orchestra was filmed was a white room, making it seem fake and uninteresting. They are also trained musicians who went to music school, so they have probably been influenced by new techniques in instrumentation that have been developed over the years, making their performance seem extravagant and inauthentic.

These two Gamelan performances are very different. In fact, If I did not know that they were both Gamelans, I would think they were from entirely different cultures.
The "Ratna Ayu" Gamelan starts off loudly, with many metallic instruments and then quiets down to focus on a group of dancers dressed in extravagant cultural costume. The dancers' movements are very fluid and their headdresses are extremely ornate and beautiful. The song eventually picks up again, and so does the movement of the dancers. The instrument players are arranged in two rows on either side of the dancers, and they are also dressed in bright robes. The blues and purples of their dress create a serene, yet intense scene of dancing and music.
In "Bali Nyepi" the song starts out soft with no percussion, only a solo by a metallic gong-like instrument. The players are also arranged facing each other, but there are no dancers and they are all dressed in white with white headbands. It seems more authentic in the way that the players do not seem to be dressed in extravagant costumes. The song seems to be much more percussion based with a less harmonious melody, at times seeming very busy to the ears. Their performance seems to be focused on the instrumentation and not the cultural dancing like "Ratna Ayu." Both of these videos were extremely interesting and I would like to learn more of the background of these performances.

One time I remember feeling like an insider but an outsider at the same time was when I attended a Jewish worship with my girlfriend. I felt honored that she offered to let me in on such an important part of her cultural identity, so I felt like an insider, but when I got to the service I felt like a complete outsider. Everyone was singing in Hebrew that I couldn't understand and had memorized many songs that I had never heard in my life. Jewish services are highly centered around music and I really wanted to participate, but I also didn't want to embarrass myself with phonetic Hebrew.
Music has always been a large part of my identity. I dress in shirts of the bands that I listen to, I try to look like a "rocker" I guess you could say. Whenever I am feeling emotional, I write music. Its my way of getting things off my chest. After I write a song I feel noticeably better about whatever I was upset about, partially because it distracts me from my problems and partially because it allows me to vent my feelings. If I did not have music in my life, I think I would be a terribly unhappy person. It has spiritual value that cannot be underestimated.
Music is always more of an experience than a sound no matter what context you are speaking of. If I started playing my guitar and singing on the side of the road, eventually people would stop and listen, maybe if I'm lucky they will throw money in my guitar case. As soon as people stop to listen, music becomes an event instead of a sound. Perfect example of this is any concert you go to. I like going to metal shows because everyone collectively vents anger. The mosh pit is not simply people beating on each other for fun, its people helping other people vent frustration. People may intensly push one another in the pit, but as soon as someone falls down there will be at least 4 people that jump in immediately to lift him off the ground and back to his feet so that he does not get hurt. Then he gets right back to the action. In a way, the mosh pit is the perfect way to enjoy a concert. The point I am trying to make is that no matter what you listen too, there will always be certian practices or rituals associated with that sound. Metal and punk have the mosh pit. If you listen to reggae, you'll probably light up a joint (not saying I do that kind of thing). The power of music is inspiring.

Drew Burns

Hi, my name is Drew Burns. I have been playing guitar for about six years. I was in a band in middle school and high school, but then quit my sophomore year. I am now in a new band called Corvair. We are in the process of trying out singers, which is going really well. After that we are recording a demo and should have our first show at UCLA in June. The band is a metal/punk fusion with no screaming, and most important to me, we have guitar solos. I also have my own acoustic gig. I have recorded over ten songs on a four track that I own. You can check a few of them out on myspace.com/drewburns. the personal information is a little out of date, but ignore that. I'm taking this class in order to get some outside influences for the music that I write. Hopefully I can incorporate some of the stuff I hear in this class to my own musical ventures. I don't read music very well, but I can read treble clef ok. I do most stuff by ear, so if you ask me what scale i'm playing or what key i'm in, it might take me a couple minutes haha. Anyway, this class seems really interesting and i'm glad i'm taking it.