Music Final
Varnam
"Color", a central composition in a Bharatanatyam performance (30 minutes to an hour)
Randy Weston
- African American pianist in the early 1970s -Came to Morocco and hit it off with the people, eventually founding a jazz club there and started a jazz festival -At a time when the US civil rights movement was in full swing, Gnawa was treated as the African 'blues': this is because of its African heritage, its displaying of the history of African slavery and displacement, and the guitar-like nature of the gumbri. -After the music gained an international audience, the Moroccan government saw it fit to promote, and the music is accepted as something for tourists to Morocco to see. https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325621
Sitar
- Plucked stringed instrument https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325533
Nomads/Pastoralists
- Traditionally nomadic, the Tuvans live or lived in mobile 'yurts' and changed location depending on the weather and their herding activities. -Involved in herding, raising such animals as yaks, sheep and camels.
Dalit
-"Crushed or broken", a politically correct word for paraiyars. -After giving up drumming, some Dalits are now embracing their drumming as 'culture' and seeking to make money from drumming as entertainment rather than at funerals.
Gnawa
-"Kanawa", referring to residents of Kano, a city in Nigeria. -There are many kinds of gnawa people, and thus many kinds of gnawa music. But basically, this is the version of stambeli in Morocco; all-night gnawa ceremonies are usually called lila. -Gnawa has become popular in the West due to the fact that several jazz and rock musicians took an interest in the music and brought it to Europe and North America. https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325618 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325619
Takht
-"Platform" -a small ensemble (typically featuring a singer) composed of Arabic instruments https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325600
Dhikr
-"Remembrance" -A devotional act, usually involving the recitation of the names of God in Islam, either silently or out loud, and/or the recitation of chapters of the Quran, and/or sayings of the Prophet Mohammed
Umm Kulthum
-"The Voice of Egypt" - one of the most famous singers of all time! -An Egyptian icon -Singer, musician, lyricist, actress, celebrity, of humble origins. -The whole Middle East "stopped to hear her sing" during her monthly radio programs (first Thursday of every month, from June to October). -She was trained in Qur'anic recitation, so she knew proper diction and her singing had a kind of sacred or sanctified nature to it. -Her singing combined "classical" Arabic poetic forms and music with the "popular" music of the day (such as film songs). -She connected with her audience (tarab) https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325603
Tariqa
-"The way" -Also the name for a Sufi order, the path to mystical love, and to achieving stages or situations (maqamat; plural of maqam) of closeness to god.
Saron
-A "beginners" instrument, but crucially important in that it is the only instrument that plays the main melody (the skeleton of the piece, or balungan) written on the sheet music.
Rukmini Devi Arundale
-A Brahmin woman who was instrumental in transforming the devadasi's dance (sadir) into Indian classical dance (Bharata Natyam). -She married a prominent Theosophist (George Arundale); and with the Hindu reformer E. Krishna Iyer, set about to transform the dance into a 'respectable art' for upper caste women. They renamed it Bharata Natyam. -Rukmini felt the dance should not be performed exclusively by devadasis, and that it should be performed by those from "more respectable families" -In 1936, she founded Kalakshetra, an academy for the preservation of Indian art forms, though specializing in Bharata Natyam.
Walter Spies
-A German painter who moved to Java in 1927. -Credited with attracting many foreign (European and North American) painters, writers, musicians, and anthropologists to come to Bali. -He was gay during a time when it was illegal: he was arrested in 1938 for a year. -He was forced out of Bali during WWII, because he was a German national; the boat he was sailing on (headed to Sri Lanka) was hit by a Japanese bomb
Thaipusam
-A Tamil ritual where devotees make penance to the god Murugan.
Arangetram
-A dancer's debut recital
Jingju
-A form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance, and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing dynasty court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China. https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325647
Darbuka
-A goblet-shaped drum common
Mughal Empire
-A group from Central Asia heavily influenced by Persian classical culture
santoor
-A hammered dulcimer from Kashmir and Iran https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325536
Thavil
-A high-pitched, taut drum played with one stick and the fingers on one hand. -Performed by a middle caste group of musicians. https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325544
Parai
-A highly stigmatized frame drum (circular and thin) played traditionally by "outcastes" (paraiyars/Dalits) outside temples (they were not allowed inside) and at funerals in South India. -The traditional jobs of the paraiyars included scavenging dead cattle, getting bodies ready for burial, and drumming to drive away evil spirits and ensure the soul's safe transmission to heaven. -The parai was traditionally a drum that "announced" messages from the king or local village leader. -But with the coming of the caste system, they were relegated to doing low status jobs like playing at funerals - they were considered impure and outside the caste system. https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325548 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325549
Nadaswaram
-A long, tubular reed instrument that is blown into (almost like a trumpet). -Loud and high-pitched https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325544
Oud
-A lute instrument -Drone string at the top: some have this, some don't - -All ouds are double-coursed (two strings closely spaced together, and played together). https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325596 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325599
Firqa
-A much larger orchestra that grew in popularity through Umm Kulthum and others from the 1930s
Hasan Hakmoun
-A musician who learned the tradition from his mother but who grew up in America, has created a kind of Gnawa pop music that has been very popular on world music stages.
Amir Khusro
-A musician, poet, scholar, and mystic. -Supposedly invented the sitar and tabla. Disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi (where Sufi performances continue to this day). -Associated with South India, and mainly with Tamils. -Emerged in the late 18th/early 19th centuries through the music of the Trinity of composers. -Uses the veena (stringed instrument) and mridangam (drum).
Suites
-A number of compositions performed in a row
Urumi melam
-A popular Hindu devotional music and name for a Hindu musical ensemble in Malaysia and Singapore, which is played at annual Hindu festivals, most famously at Thaipusam. -Developed in Malaysia and Singapore only in the 1980s, though it uses old drums from India, including the thavil (see back a few slides) and the urumi (a drum played with a stick and a hand that creates loud, low, pulsating sounds). -Performed mainly by Tamil male youths; the music is fast, brash, and hip; the groups put up performances on YouTube and give albums away for download. -Performed to help people undergoing penance (performing difficult physical feats of endurance as an offering to the gods) and to sustain their trance. Urumi Melams are banned from playing outside at festivals in Singapore, but they are allowed in Malaysian Hindu festivals. -The Singapore government has banned music in street processions since 1973. -This has led to worries about devotees: can they sustain trance without music? -A few times, including 2015, the issue boiled over into violence in Singapore, when urumi melam groups drummed outside and the police tried to shut them down. https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325543
Djemaa el-Fnaa
-A public square and marketplace in Marrakesh, famous for its storytellers, musicians, magicians, and circus-like performances. -It is known as a place where the musical brotherhoods perform all-night ceremonies (as seen in the Sublime Frequencies film you can find in "Modules"). -Now legally protected as a UNESCO "masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity". https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325624
Taqsim
-A solo improvised piece -In Arabic and Turkish classical music, this refers to an improvised solo piece and to a suite in which the first section is improvised, but followed by a composed piece performed by an ensemble.
Stambeli
-A type of music, dance, and possession enacted by "houses" or "brotherhoods" of musicians in Tunisia, Algeria and Libya, mainly of Sub-Saharan African descent. https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325616 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325617
Buddhism
-Actor / framework that has shaped Chinese music history
Confucianism
-Actor / framework that has shaped Chinese music history
Taoism
-Actor / framework that has shaped Chinese music history
READING: Amanda Weidman, "Gender and the Politics of Voice: Colonial Modernity and Classical Music in South India."
-Afghanistan had a lot of internal struggles so music was suppressed as a result -Around 2003, people were allowed to listen to music again -South Indian Devadasi and Carnatic music -M.S.Subbulakshmi...She was very popular because she married into a high caste...talking about the voice becoming politicized through her -The teacher was never married due to her devotion to music -T.S. is M.S's husband helped her career rise -P...great musician that went into poverty...raised issues of women in social class structure...her husband died and she went into mourning and dropped her career instantly -B...played the flute...not normal for women to have taken up... -One instrument plays a steady pitch and the other ones play on top of it...drone -Gender used as a binary...men in position of power -Politics of the voice- once you reach a certain platform there are things that are okay to say and things that are not okay to say -Subjectivity- used to describe her ideas as they are shaped by the culture -Colonial- powers assert authority onto a particular area -Disembodied- M.S.'s voice became disembodied with herself...there is this particular aesthetic for what the voice should sound like and it should be separate, there shouldn't be physicality involved with it...should be this pure natural voice...that is disembodied from physicality and particular persons -Main ideas and arguments- domestication -------------------------------------------------- Who are the main people talked about? MS Sugulakshwi and she was a famous singer and she was the one who was talking about the voice and how the voice became politicized. She was very popular. Distain teacher feels is bc she didn't get married and was devoted to music it limited her ability to rise above and the teacher is devoted to music but feels bitter towards MS. Also have TS and the teacher P- husband died and went into mourning. In this traditional system, women widows go into mourning which doesn't happen with men. Had to give up career bc husband passed away. B- she plays the flute and was one of the first people. Not a typical instrument for women to take up. How are these words being used? Gender- men are the people in position of power and authority and there is other things going on such as caste Politics of the voice- talked about with MS; first you have the platform and then once you have it, only socially acceptable for you to say certain things and some things aren't ok to say. Giving someone agency is giving someone power/platform to speak or represent themselves in a certain way. Subjectivity- aesthetic for how a voice should sound and how it should eb a pure natural voice that is disembodied from particular persons Main Ideas/Arguments • Talked about domestication
Qur'anic recitation
-An ideal vocal style -Leads to a favoring of unmetered, vocal, texted, improvised music
Natyashastra
-An old Indian treatise (circa 200 BC-200 CE) on the performing arts; demarcated different kinds of dance, including nritta ("pure dance"), nitrya ("interpretive dance"), natya ("drama").
Sadir
-An older name for the dancing of the devadasis -Today, the dance is called Bharata Natyam ("Indian Dance").
Alap
-An opening section of a raga with only the melodic instrument or voice and no percussion. In this section, the performer explores the workings of the raag -It's like carving a statue...each raag will have certain notes associated with it, certain styles, ways of playing it
The Vedas
-Ancient set of Hindu scriptures that date back to 1500-1200 BC -4 canonical collections
READING: Josh Pilzer, Hearts of Pine: Songs in the Lives of Three Korean Survivors of the Japanese "Comfort Women"
-Basis: Japanese Comfort Women -Japanese/Koreans took Japanese women to South Korea as "comfort women" (sex slaves) where they worked in "comfort stations" (sex houses) -Women were beaten, starved -Book focuses on 3 women who were survivors -Common theme among survivors: how music helped them cope -The women go in front of the Korean embassy every Wednesday because they want the Koreans to apologize to them (Koreans refuse to acknowledge what they did) -Each woman had different a style of coping -Once they were released, they created music to express their experiences ----------------------------------------------- In Class: • General overview about what the book is about- comfort system, rallys in front of the Japanese embassy, etc. • By actually listening to the people, you may be able to help more • Women really engages in the song • Woman wanted to give themselves distance from the song but they could also make it apart of themselves; songs gave them means to convey meaning and self expression and how they feel through song so they could be apart of the song but the opacity of the song allowed them to remain distant and the audience did not have to know that the song was about them • Music forces listeners to laugh about the topics and this sharing of music is how some of the survivors become at peace with themselves • This is what people do with music and song and manipulate songs for their own purposes for play and humor in a space that is defined by sadness and tragedy My notes: • Book is about 3 Japanese women who are survivors of the Comfort System. It shows how music has been able to help them cope with their struggles, as has been a way for them to speak out. • Background: the comfort women during the war period resided at 'Comfort Stations' and were used to sexually please soldiers. This was a system of sex slavery of Japanese women in South Korea. Some women were only pleasuring one general, etc. But other women saw maybe 20-30 men a day. • When these survivors returned, they kept their experiences secretive because they did not want to be disowned or ostracized. They were able to sing because music can be opaque. Music can be intimate and precise, but can also be very unclear. Women did not claim responsibility for their songs, but attributed to folk songs or other writes. • Through music, the women could forget, remember, express their experiences, form identities without giving themselves away or disclosing what had happened to them. • The 3 women are Mun Pilgi, Pak Duri, and Bae Chunhui. I will just give a blurb about each woman and how music impacted them. Overall, all three are composers and singers. These women sand because song escaped surveillance and allowed them freedom, and to recover. These women live in the House of Sharing and attend protests each Wednesday outside the Japanese Embassy. These women are past wanting money, they just want an apology from Korea. • Pak Duri: was harsh to strangers because she wanted to see how they reacted. Growing up, she did not want to burden her family so she wanted to work. Japanese and Korean soldiers came to her village to recruit young girls in factories, but here she actually became a comfort woman. After she was freed, she married a husband who she was not fond of and had kids. o Some kids and her husband died o Very active in the comfort women movement. Seemed to give up when the Japanese Embassy denied the comfort women system existed. o As a singer, she took lyrics from other folk songs and strung them together to make a new song that is applicable to her life. She could pour her heart out in song without repercussions. o Prioritizes self expression in song. composes and improvises new melodies and lyrics patchworking together different lyrics and songs to create her own personalized music. o For Pak Duri, sexuality comes out in her songs, as she transforms her life of suffering into laughter. She speaks about sex in her music and adds sexual jokes, commenting on power relations between men and women that she has been dealing with her whole life. o Comments that she has lived a double life. To the public sphere, she has felt like she needs to portray herself as a wounded victim. But really, she has had a life of healing and laughter through music. o Her songs would never appear in public culture because her songs show how she really felt, so they would bring confusion to the whole movement. • Mun Pilgi: has a mistrust for people; as a girl she wanted to go to school and her father forbade it. Approached in her village about going to school and this is where she became a comfort woman. Led a life of regret because her father forbade her, and now she feels tarnished; she went back home when it was over and left because she couldn't tell her mom what happened, and her mother told her that her father died because of her. She worked in drinking houses where she made conversations, sang, and danced. o Very lonely; keeps radio and TV on to stop feeling so isolated. When she feels isolated, she thinks about what happened to her. She says that songs are like people and friends. She treats songs like her companions. o She uses music to shield against her traumatic history. Song was her system of self-defense. o She also composed lines-she changed lyrics by filling in sections and also omitted lyrics that didn't suit her. o She typically sang her own versions of popular songs o Her style of music was differnet from Pak Duri. Pak Duri spoke about sexuality to reckon with the experience of sexual violence but Mun Pilgi constantly searches for lost love, and forfeits her body to escape her traumatic memories. She forfeits her body in pursuit of cleanliness of spirit and quest for recovery. o Her singing was a combination of childlike innocence and woundedness, and she found her innocence through song o Found ideal love and purity in her songs • Bae Chunhui: more of a professional singer; no one knows about her experience as a comfort woman; lived in Japan after the war and she learned to sing songs continuously, connecting one after the other; she considered herself more cultured than the other women of the house because she had international music experience; she was more reserved o Spent 30 years in Japan as a professional Cabaret singer and built an identity as a cosmopolitan professional o Kept a professional distance from her songs, and she was able to control what others knew about her as a performer o Learned songs to be with, relate to, and entertain others around her o Strung songs together like beads on a necklace o Intentionally opaque about her identification with the characters in her songs o Distinguished herself from other women as a performer, and she avoided singing songs that were popular amongst the other women in the house o Had a status of a perpetual outsider of the House of Sharing o Through music, she revealed the world as art, she did not escape it into fantasy • Epilogue o These women execute creativity and courage through song which has became possible by their suffering
Gong ageng
-Big gong -Marks the beginning and the end of a cycle -Treated deferentially, it plays the least frequently but orients all musicians.
sarangi
-Bowed string instrument -Often used as an accompaniment
Irama
-Density changes -The colotomic structure allows for certain changes in musical density (not to be confused with tempo). -Say, for instance, one instrument is playing every 8th beat, while another is playing every 4th beat; now imagine they change, so the first instrument plays every 4th beat and the other plays every 2nd beat. -Typically when there is an irama change, some instruments play less frequently, while others fill in the gaps created to play more frequently.
Kavadi
-Devotees carry their 'burden' they wish to vanquish in the form of a physical structure -These may be small, or huge contraptions with glowing lights and icons of the deity.
tambura
-Drone instrument -Often played by a student, or by a singer. Very simple, just pluck the open strings to create a drone
Gata bera
-Drum used in Kandy -"Auspicious drum" -Tapers at the ends -High-pitched
Yak Bera
-Drum used in low country -"Demon drum"; has a straight shape -Low-pitched
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
-Esteemed Pakistani singer of Qawwali (Sufi devotional music). -Born in 1948 in Pakistan shortly after the Partition, in Faisalabad (Northeast Pakistan) -His family's home had been in Jalandhar (East Punjab), before the Partition (present-day India). -First performance at age 16. -Became the head of his family qawwali party at age 23. -Signed to a prominent record deal in his early 30s (Oriental Star Agency, out of Birmingham, Engalnd). -He went out to tour all across the world (40 countries) and release numerous albums, including pop crossover albums on Peter Gabriel's RealWorld label. https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12333353
Hijaz
-Example of Maqam -A common maqam with a characteristically "Middle Eastern" sound. Bayati
Rast
-Example of Maqam -As a tetrachord - that is, four notes -As a full scale; the third note is a "half flat" in both cases, just notated differently
Balinese Gamelan
-Fast, brash, wild sounding, and relatively new https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12576969 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12576949 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12576945 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325579
Devadasi
-Female temple dancers in South India -Wedded to a deity who resides in a temple and performs dances often exclusively for the gods' eyes only -Freed from the possibility of widowhood (a stigmatized state in much of India) https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12540457
Ghazal
-Form of poetry developed by Amir Khusrao -Feature lyrics about "the joys of drinking and the agony of separation from the beloved." (Being drunk means here being drunk with love for god.)
Abhinaya
-Forms of expression; includes physical movements, gestures, jewelry and costumes, music and poetry, etc.
The Thanjavur Quartet
-Four brothers employed by Serfoji II (in Thanjavur) and later by the Sultan of Travancore (in Kerala). -They played a huge role in developing Carnatic music and dance through their compositions and performance of the Trinity's music. They also were nattuvanars (gurus, timekeepers) for devadasis and created new dances -They are credited with turning sadir into a staged dance for a solo dancer. -They are credited with bringing the violin into Carnatic music
Slavery in North Africa
-Goes back to the times of the Roman Empire -The Sahel region provided many of the slaves in North Africa
Mudra
-Hand gestures that help narrate a story in Bharata Natyam
Raag
-Has a set of rules telling the performer what he can or can't do -There is an ascending and descending scale; certain frequently played "tunes" or melodic fragments; certain notes may be emphasized or de-emphasized.
READING: John Baily, "So near, so Far: Kabul's Music in Exile."
-He studied music in Afghanistan in the 70s before the political problems emerged...kept up on that...world's expert on Afghan music -He looked at Afghan refugees who had moved to Pakistan and another group who had moved to California and he found that those in Pakistan kind of maintained the traditional music of Afghanistan and that the people in California had introduced American elements like electronic music to it and that that new Afghan music in turn went back to Afghanistan and influenced the music there -These two different refugee communities...one just went over the border into Pakistan and the other went to Freemont, California -Music can serve as memories of the homeland -Afghanistan described as the Switzerland of the Middle East...ironic now -The main genre of classical music that essentially moved from Kabul to Pashto (in Afghanistan)-descended from musicians in the 19th century who came from India and settled in Kabul -Music amongst Afghans in Freemont...technical aspects have diminished due to separation from Afghanistan
Tuva
-Historically part of a greater region called "Tannu Uriankhai", which was controlled by the Mongols from 1207 to 1757
Tarab
-How one connects with his/her audience -The ability to improvise and to create enough variations that are heartfelt and that slightly alter the meaning and slightly change the richness every time
READING: David Novak, "The Sublime Frequencies of New Old Media,"
-In a way, updating Steven Feld's research from the 90s (Schizophonic mimesis, the growth of world music as a genre, of how certain popular performers from the West borrowed music from the non- West and sampled it etc.) -Updating the story for the digital age -..."In the context of world music, where, as Michael C. Vazquez (2007) points out, "most 'songcatchers' today go to great lengths to demonstrate that they, in [Mickey] Hart's words, 'understand that music belongs to the people who make it,' the Sublime Frequencies crew are equally interested in the idea that music belongs to the people who hear it.""... -Sublime Frequencies...a lot of times it was difficult for this country to get legal approval from all the artists...if not possible to get authorization, they were able to use it as well -Two sides of this debate, similar to the older world music 1.0 (1990s era)...you have these divides then...there's people who believe you should just openly be able to take music....there's people that say "no, that's ethnically problematic...there should be copyright restrictions etc." -Article is about the Sublime Frequencies record label -New-Old Media- the taking of an old recorded item, like a cassette tape or an old vinyl record or an old radio broadcast, and it's making it new by taking it and redistributing it mainly on the internet -This record label, they do not hire musicians to go into a recording studio and record something, by contrast, they'll travel to a place like Bangkok or Java, and find an old cassette tape or something, take it and repackage it, sell it, perhaps as a vinyl record, and put it on the internet -Phrase to describe this "remediation" -Negative aspects-there is a musician who made a recording, there is someone who is taking the recording and putting it online for free, they're not getting paid, that seems ethnically wrong -There are some surprising positives to this...there's so much music out there...rereleasing these musics makes people all of sudden become superstars from their old music -Sublime Frequencies has released a CD called "Cambodia Rocks" ...one of the things that started this trend -Release of music from rock bands that were essentially killed by the Khmer Rouge -There is this kind of relationship between Sublime Frequencies see themselves as doing and what ethnomusicologist see them as doing -Ethnomusicologists view themselves as educators -Sublime frequencies crowd sourcing model (think YouTube comments identifying songs) -Issue of distortion- another case of schizophonic mimesis...a lot of these old recordings, the quality is not good so the music may literally be distorted...easy to distort one's perception of the music by the way it is remediated -In the 80s especially, there was this ethos of cassette circulation where people would make their own sort of mixtapes and just kind of circulate them...anti-capitalist/anti-corporate way of making music...people from Sublime Frequencies come out of this...like the sound of distortion, they don't want the music to sound clean and there is this emphasis on sort of circulating culture -------------------------------------------------- • What is this article about-either music belongs to people to __ or people who care? • Difficult for company to get legal approval from artists to use songs • This company is a good example of how with making one side happy and another side not-if they want to make it legal, it is not possible because you cant get approval from everyone and another side says you shouldn't need permission because it is sound sharing • Sublime frequencies record label • New old media- old media is the taking of an older recorded item like a record or cassette and making it new by taking it and redistributing it mainly on the internet (taking an old media form and making it new again) • This record label do not hire musicians to go into a record studio and record, they travel to a place like Bankok and find an old cassette tape they found and take it and repackage it, sell it perhaps as vinyl, and put in on the internet for people to access- the phrase to describe this is remediation (making old media new) • Negative- putting musicians music online for free • Positive- so much music out there and someone who had a hit in the 70s and may be working now and not a singer, and this record studio re release and they become big stars again • There is good and bad aspects to both • Sublime frequencies and ethnomusicologists- ethonos sees sublime as not really understanding historical concepts; ethnos say sublime is removing the songs from their concepts bc they're not understanding the people or the music o Ethnos are educators and are trying to help people understand the songs, genres, and cultures o Ethos present info for the people up front and process of remediation doesn't do that • Records by sublime and they didn't themselves know where the music was from, the track names, or the artist. But some people from the countries who would know these songs, would comment on these music videos the track name or artist • Issue of distortion- mentioned positives, but also negatives o Indigenous cultures originally from that music was said that their culture was distorted to the words; this is schizophonic mimesis, but it is different where its not a westerner sampling but its recordings that were obscure and now brought back to life o Old recording are not that good and music and voices may actually be distorted o The way the music is encased in the new format gives different representation and perspective to it o Way of presenting it exoticises the music- someone just gets hold of music and make an album out of it • Connection between distortion and underground punk and rock scene o What does underground rock have to do with this? o In the 80s, there was ethos of cassette circulation where people would make their own mixtapes and they would circulate them or they would make experimental music and send it around. Sound qualities were not good and could be distorted and they circulated it. Some people like the sound of distortion and don't want the music to sound clean and culture is circulated.
Gumbri
-Instrument in Stambeli -Plucked lute
Shqashiq
-Instrument in Stambeli -clapper percussion instrument
harmonium
-Keyboard instrument
Nattuvanars
-Male gurus of music and dance who trained devadasis in the art of sadir. -Today, the word refers to dance gurus who play the finger cymbals and instruct dancers (and may be male or female).
Gamelan Belaganjur
-Means "gamelan of walking warriors" -This is a dance-oriented, showy kind of gamelan that supposedly used to accompany soldiers into battle. -The musicians dance with the instruments, and it is performed in a "martial style". -The ensembles are used in Hindu ceremonies: they are thought to appease evil spirits. The ensembles may perform at temple festivals and cremation ceremonies (sometimes alternating with an angklung). https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12576957
Vocal ranges
-Men tend to sing in a high range, women in a low range
Qin
-Mentioned in writings back some 3,000 years. -Played by scholar-officials, associated with Confucious. -Four octaves (goes down two below middle C). -Seven strings (used to have five commonly, can go up to ten). -Qin publications date back to the Han period. -Many techniques (e.g. vibrato, portamento) https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325642
READING: Excerpt from Judith Becker, Deep Listeners: Music, Emotion, and Trancing
-Moving on to the heart of music and religion, the heart of music and ritual -Summary: there isn't one kind of trance...varies by cultural context -Debate between universalism and cultural particularity in trance -Rouge wrote the first most essential influential book on music and trance as a global phenomenon...his main argument (his findings)...based on expectations -There's not necessarily a form of music that when you hear that music you automatically go into trance. -Tarantula in Italy...if a woman fell asleep in the field and she woke up and was bitten by a tarantula (hopelessly depressed=they would say she was bitten by a spider), she would have to dance the venom out...be in a trance...cultural phenomenon...sexually explicit dancing/ripping off their clothes...if a woman who had been bitten and healed saw a bitten woman running in trance, she could replace back into her ailment -Important component=it can be faked -Universal characteristics of trance -Issue of the inner self/inner language that somehow one's inner monologue stops during trance... -Trance is a sort of global phenomenon where people immerse themselves in the music to such an extent that they enter a dissociative state where they lose your inner monologue -Normal sense of time and space goes out the window and the normal rules of society are suspended -------------------------------------------------- • Debate between universalism or cultural trance and the relationship • Talked about the rouge and how he wrote the main first book about trance and how any type of music can be viewed as trance • Rouge wrote the first most essential and influential book on trance as a global phenomena and what is his main argument about his findings of music and trance? Based on expectations in music. 15th -17th century Italy and cultural phenomena where a woman would seem hopelessly depressed and they would find she was bitten by a spider so they would have to call ensemble in and play for her and she would dance it off. The dances were inappropriate and they were touching themselves and sexually explicit and people ripping clothes off; women would run from house to village square and if a woman was already bit and then healed there was a notion that they could have a relapse if they saw this unhealed woman so they ripped off their clothes too and participated o Genre is called tarantella from the tarantula bite. This shows believability and this could be fake you don't know if they are telling the truth or not. Fluency is how recognizable a certain type of music is to you. This is the point. It is not the case that a form of music and you hear it and go into trance. People thought trance is caused by fast drumming. But one person could go into trance and if you are not familiar with the genre you wont go into trance. There is a trance where people are trained to hear the music that will make them go into a trance. o What are some other universal characteristics of trance? Issue of innerself-inner language that has an inner molologue that stops trance. Double consciousness, form biological and psycho standpoint, trance is a global phenomena where people immerse themselves in the music so much they are in a dissociated state where they lose their inner monologue and people aren't thinking about anything and lost in this state that is created by the music. o Certain things that aren't accepted in real like are accepted in tarantella and being not who you are during tarantella and say that things are ok bc they are not really aware of what they are doing. • Have trance in societies throughout the world even in the contemporary united states. And example would be current day at a rave. Another example would be speaking in tongue do we actually know if these Christians are speaking tongue? Important to know that trance still happens in the West.
Sinhala Buddhist Musics of Sri Lanka
-Music and dance was traditionally performed by a caste of musicians, dancers, ritual specialists, healers, and astrologers called the berava (the word means "drummer"). https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12333403 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325553 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325558 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325559
Jiangnan Sizhu: "Silk and Bamboo"
-Music from Jiangnan (area south of Shanghai) -Silk = strings -Bamboo = winds -Traditionally performed in tea houses -Mostly men getting together playing music for fun. Amateur music-making
Maghreb
-North Africa, West of Egypt -comes from the Arabic gharb (meaning "west") and maghrib ("sunset"), as opposed to sharq or mashriq (meaning "east" or "sunrise") and referring to the land east of Libya. -region includes Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania
Ornamentation
-Notes bent and embellished with trills, glissandos (glide from one pitch to another) and secondary notes.
Deva Tovils
-Offerings made on behalf of an entire village to gods for purposes of protection from calamity (drought, crop failure, chickenpox, natural disaster, etc.). -Protects villages from drought, pestilence, chicken pox, village calamities; typically consists of rituals to Pattini (deva = God)...rituals for the gods that protect the whole village
Yak Tovils
-Offerings that combat the malignant glare (distiya) of demons; doing so is thought to heal a sick person suffering from illnesses brought on by demons. -Heals sick individuals, considered to be suffering from afflictions brought on by demonic influence (yakka = 'demon')
Monophony
-One melody line played by all musicians with no harmonic accompaniment
guru
-One must apprentice oneself to this master teacher
Qawwali
-Pakistan and North India share many musical forms, such as this Sufi genre -Qaul means an "utterance (of the prophet)" -A Qawwāl is someone who sings a Qaul -Qawwāli is the genre that a Qawwāl sings. -The ritual context: will begin by announcing the arrival of the saint, who is considered to be looking upon the performance. -Alap (improvised melody by the singers) -The lead singer gives introductory verses - often not part of the actual poetry - that lead into the song (no drums). (response from the secondary singer). -The main song starts when the drums (tabla, dholak) come in. https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12333362 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12333352
tabla
-Percussion https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325533 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325537 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12333364
MS Subbulakshmi
-Perhaps the most famous South Indian singer -She was very popular because she married into a high caste...talking about the voice becoming politicized through her https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12540468
sarod
-Plucked stringed instrument https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325535
Gharana
-Schools of music associated with esteemed performers and regions -One's musical lineage
T. Balasaraswati
-She was from a hereditary (devadasi) family, and kept up dancing to become one of the most famous twentieth-century Bharata Natyam dancers. -She performed in the old way - slower, more emphasis on abhinaya (gestures). -She represented a different kind of dance than that of Rukmini Devi. https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12540452
Kecak
-Spies witnessed Balinese trance rituals (sanghyang), as well as other performances of the Ramayana and Mahabharata (such as shadow puppetry). -He suggested mixing the music from the trance rituals with the story of the Ramayana in a condensed fashion, suggesting it would appeal to tourists. It did. -"Kecak" refers to the fast syllables chanted by the singers. -Kecak, then, is not a "ritual", even though it might look like one; and it's performed today mainly for tourists. https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325576
guru-shishya
-Teacher-student
Batu Caves
-Thaipusam became much more famous in Southeast Asia than in South India (where it originated). The most important celebrations occur at Batu Caves, a cave system located 13 km north of Kuala Lumpur. -The ritual involves a pilgrimage - devotees carry their burden (kavadi) from a Hindu temple to a designated Murugan site, such as the Batu Caves
Maqam
-The Arabic modal system -"place, location, rank" -Similar to raga in India, but with its own logic and rules
Sam'
-The act of audition, and the "ritual dance that may accompany it and the music and cantillation that provides its occasion." -Not a spontaneous and passive receptivity but a particular kind of action itself, a listening that is a doing." -Actively trying to formulate this sense of communion and closeness with God through listening
Throat-singing
-The environment "resonates" -Several centuries ago, a Tuvan heard the resonance of the wind on a lake and imitated its sounds to create it
Kongar-OlOndar
-The first famous tuvan throat singer https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325635
Kotekan
-The interlocking of instruments, usually gendered (male is high-pitched, female low-pitched)
Nuba
-The melodies associated with stambeli spirits and saints -Spirits are called forth in ritual by their melodies
Raga
-The modal or melodic framework for performing Hindustani music -Each raag has a rasa, that is, a "taste", "flavor" or "color" that defines it. ------------------------------- -The drone goes throughout -Includes a scale, up and down -Microtones (notes in between keys on a piano) only happen as ornamentation -A raag in North India is never a suite, but is a single, continuous performance
Bharata Natyam
-The modern name for the devadasi's dance; it is now considered South Indian classical dance. https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12540453 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12540458
Ravi Shankar
-The most famous Hindustani musician in the West during the twentieth century. -Initially trained as a dancer and toured Europe as a child with his brother's dance troupe. -Gave up dancing to train on sitar with Allaudin Khan. -Composed film music for some famous movies (circa 1950s). -1960s: the rock band The Byrds heard Shankar's playing, introduced the sitar to Beatles guitarist George Harrison. -Harrison then studied with Shankar, making Shankar world famous (Shankar played at the Woodstock music festival in 1969). https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325533
Gamelan Gong Kebyar
-The most famous kind of Balinese gamelan, but it's relatively new (early twentieth century, after the destruction of the Balinese courts). -Kebyar means "flowering". -A fast, brash, and complicated music. -Only uses five tones of a pelog (7-tone) scale. -The modern Balinese gamelan -Tends to be fast and wild sounding https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325575
Sufism
-The mystical branch of Islam -Believes that music is a way to achieve communion with God https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12333350 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12333351
Pipa
-The principle instrument of the courts during the Tang Dynasty. -first appears in manuscripts circa 2nd century AD, after its transmission across the Silk Road. https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325644
Tala
-The rhythmic framework for Hindustani music -Each 'taal' consists of a certain amount of beats, with stresses and absences of stress built into it (conceived as a series of 'claps' and 'waves'). -When improvising, performers subdivide beats in pretty complex ways, but they must finish by ending on the sam (the beginning of the beat cycle). -Keeping time in Hindstani music is called theka. The end of a section of music involves a cadence repeated three times; this is called a tihai.
Hindustani music
-The system of music in North India -Refers mainly to classical music, though all folk music from the region could be called "Hindustani" -Emerged through the influence of Central Asian Muslim musicians who started pouring into North India in the 12th century -Music tends to have long performances of instrumental or vocal music, based solely on improvisation -Instruments: sitar, tabla (percussion), sarod( plucked instrument), santoor https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12333399 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12333400 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325539
Berava
-The word means "drummer" -caste of musicians, dancers, ritual specialists, healers, and astrologers -Viewed as healers and essentially village doctors -Pretend to be honoring demons in ritual but then when they "arrive" they recite all these ritual spells and mantras to cut their glance on the sick person -traditions split into up country (Kandyan) and low country versions; the Kandyan version became known as "Kandyan Dance" and is more removed from ritual and is a kind of nationalistic dance tradition; the low country version is practiced much more frequently in its ritual context - we're focusing here on the low country.
Sema
-The word sam' generates "sema", the word for Sufi ritual practices in general. -Sufis meet with the master for formal, spiritual sessions (sema) - often involving music, dance, and trance (ecstatic mental states of communion with God). -A Sema (a "listening") ceremony is a kind of dhikr ("rememberance").
READING: Susan Reed, Introduction and Chapter One
-Trying to move away from this lower caste thing...dance is becoming more cultured -Focusing about the caste community and talking about the relationships between the lower caste and the elites -Idea that the music and dance were originally ritual practices that belonged to a caste called the berava (low caste) -In the beginning of the reading, she talks a bit about the globalization of certain views about dance, and how it is not only Sri Lanka that has done this...you can go virtually anywhere and find a sort of national dance group that is representing the nation as a kind of ambassador -Modern phenomenon that didn't used to happen -Since independence of Britain, there's been a lot of regimes that have acted very dictatorial...state has been very involved with promoted culture -Promoted the Sinhala cultures and left all these other minorities in almost a secondary position -Focus on Kandy...put in a top position -Berava were fairly low in the caste system -All of a sudden around independence the state says, "Hey, we need a traditional culture to represent us on the global stage"... berava had the most developed Sinhala traditions -Higher castes end up learning the tradition and the berava are essentially screwed -There is an indigenous Tamil population in Sri Lanka (close to India) -Northern Sri Lanka is a Tamil majority place -Divided country lead to civil war (division between Sinhala and Tamil cultures) -------------------------------------------------- • Focuses on Kanyan as the dance as part of the reason why the culture starts with the singlea and how its been trying to move away from lower caste and how its becoming more culture • Have lower class and caste thing and upper caste appropriated it and turned it into national thing • Reading has to do with how sulfa dances affect the structure • Talked about how men were usually the ones to do the dances but women are slowly becoming more important- music and dance we are talking about are usually ritual practices that belong to a caste and they are drummers and ritualists and to this day, can only perform in the ritual context if you are a male. • Headdress was very important and originally a dancer could only wear this if they went through rigorous training with a group for like 7 years and would apprentice yourself into a group for 7 years and then could wear this headdress; only men; since this dance was put into universities and open for anyone to learn, anyone can now wear the headdress and school children can wear it and its not associated with rigor anymore like it was in the past • Theme: transformation of ritual music and dance through nationalism o Reading focuses on the gov't and mentions state support o Idea that the state is watching you o State is involved with promoting culture which you would think is a good thing, but there is an ethnonationalist way states are promoting the culture that are racist. By promoting one culture, they are putting the other cultures and minority groups' traditions in a subordinate position. Candy was put in main tradition because when British came, colonized coast and candy was independent till 1815 and then British took over and had whole island. When Sri Lanka became independent, there was an investment in candy traditions bc Sri Lanka assumed most traditions came form candy bc it was the last place to be colonized by the British. Kanyans and drummers put in a top position and other musics putin secondary position. Nationalism led to picking and choosing of things that would represent the nation.
Ney
-Turkish flute
Animists
-Tuvans practice an ancient pastoral animism (called Tengrism) in which parts of the natural environment are inhabited by spirits and must be given offerings. -The spirituality of the environment (such as mountains and rivers) emerges not just through their physical shape but also the sounds they produce or made to produce through humans making sounds with with them.
Heterophony
-Two or more performers playing the same melody with small differences in timing or ornamentation
Parallel polyphony
-Two voices playing in parallel at different pitch levels
KHOMEII (xöömei)
-a generic term for throat singing and also a particular style - a middle-range style with an airy whistle floating above the fundamental pitch, like wind swirling among rocks.
SYGYT
-a high-pitched style with a sharp whistling sound floating above the fundamental pitch, evoking the gentle breezes of summer or the song of birds https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325630
Slendro
-a kind of tuning in Javanese gamelan -a five-note tuning, spelled 12356
Pelog
-a kind of tuning in Javanese gamelan -seven-note tuning, spelled 1234567
KARGYRAA
-a low-pitched style with a growling undertone below the fundamental pitch, as well as higher overtones. Suggests the howling of winter winds or the cries of the mother camel after losing her calf. https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325628
Timbre
-a musical element associated not with pitch or rhythm but with texture, which is a key element of Tuvan music.
Javanese Gamelan
-a musical ensemble featuring gongs and metallophones (tuned metal bars) -tends to be slow and stately; the modern Balinese gamelan (called gong kebyar) tends to be fast and wild sounding. -The music is circular: it consists of repeating patterns over and over, until a cue is given to move to the next section. -The music is colotomic -Each gamelan ensemble contains two sets of instruments!
Dhalang
-name for the puppeteer -not only controls the puppets, but narrates the action, and may have cymbals and assorted percussion he plays while moving the puppets and narrating the performance.
Colotomic structure
-other instruments locate themselves in relation to this -marked off by the gongs and occasionally other instruments -the gong agung plays on every 8th beat (which is also conceived as the beginning of the next cycle); the kenong plays every other beat; the ketuk plays in between each beat; the slentem plays on each beat; and so forth. - These rules can change depending on the piece, but the gong ageng will always mark the beginning and end of a cycle -Musical instruments mark off specific time intervals within a cyclical pattern. -For instance, in Javanese gamelan, the big gong (gong ageng) marks the beginning and the end of a cycle (gongan); within this cycle, other kinds of gongs are hit at certain times
Wayang Golek
-puppetry accompanied by a gamelan -the audience can choose to watch the "front" of the stage or screen, where they see only the puppets or shadows, or the "back" of the screen, where they see the puppeteer at work.
Carnatic music
-refers to South Indian classical music, particularly the music made by Tamil and Telugu speakers in South India -kept more of a 'Hindu' appearance. -even when instrumental and involving some improvisation, is based on actual songs composed by musicians who are known by name, who lived mainly from the 16th through the early 19th centuries. -Instruments: vina (most famous string instrument), mridangam (most famous percussion instrument), violin, ghatam https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325547
Wayang Kulit
-shadow puppetry performed by a gamelan -the audience can choose to watch the "front" of the stage or screen, where they see only the puppets or shadows, or the "back" of the screen, where they see the puppeteer at work. -Indonesian puppet theatre
Ahmad Zahir
-the Afghan 'Elvis' -The most famous Afghan musician; very beloved; blended global popular musics with Afghan music; was the son of a prime minister; died at age 33 in mysterious circumstances during the communist takeover
Sound mimesis
-the imitation of the environment in a way that one interacts with it, much as a jazz soloist might interact with other musicians.
Balungan
-the skeleton of the piece -played by the saron only
Qanun/Kanun
A hammered dulcimer
Rubab
A plucked lute that became the sarod in India (the second most important North Indian instrument after the sitar). https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12333364
Dargah
A shrine of a Sufi saint, run by a representative whose control of the shrine is based on familial descent
Padam
A type of composition in a recital; usually more slow-moving, graceful, emphasis on hand gestures and facial expressions
Urs
Commemoration of a saint's death, often with music and dance
Gongan
End of a cycle
Tanbur
Long-necked string instrument https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12333374
Ustads
Muslim "masters" of North Indian music from hereditary musician families
Hadiths
Reports on the teachings and sayings of the Prophet Muhammed
Sheikh
Spiritual guide
Rasa
The "taste", "flavor" or "color" that defines a raag
Tamil
The main ethnic group of South India
Huun Huur Tu
The most famous tuvan throat singing group https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325627
Klasik
This music develops an Afghan style
China
https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325645 https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1294346/modules/items/12325643
