Noh Japanese Theater

The Japanese Noh style of music (and theater) is very different from a Western perspective of music. To the untrained ear it would seem like random chaos and chanting (which I might add is what it initially sounded like to me). With further analysis, though, the style is very refined and precise. The act that I chose was as follows:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdk1pi0BSug

It contains the classical instruments used in the NOH style: A taiko (drum), an o-tsuzumi (drum), a small ko-tsuzume, and a nohkan (flute). It is an interesting mix of monophony and polyphony since the instruments take turns playing as well as join together and play simultaneously. The timing although seemingly random at first must be impeccable as can be seen at how they join up perfectly with each other. Not only is this, but the tempo constantly changes so the musicians must follow along with this to match up with each other throughout the act. Since Noh does have a theatrical side to it, this play contained (initially at least) a story about a fisherman who obtains a beautiful robe from a divine maiden. (I am unsure about the rest of the play because there is no translation.) Lastly, the disciple of positioning in the play is extremely precise. The musicians, and chanters all have very specific positions that do not change through the entire play while the actor/actress have very specific and graceful movements. The Noh musical theater is seemingly very simple, but once analyzed very intricate.

Blog 5 Hindustani

The song I chose from the Northern Indian Music (also known as Hindustani) was the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puqqTPCmnKU

The band name is Tihai, and it is a group of three men. They play the saxophone (which is slightly more westernized), the Sarod, and of course the Tabla. They begin with doing solos for the saxophone and then the Sarod; they then begin to all play together in polyphony. The first two solos I would originally assume were improvised but after reading the chapter, improvisation isn't really a good term for it. Therefore, the solos I would assume were carefully planned out based on a raga, which are melodic guidelines. All three instruments, especially the Sarod, use ornamentations such as vibratos and glissandos on a regular basis, giving it the “Indian feel”. The music seems to be on a joyful Rasa (the feelings that a music brings) as well. The music, from what I can tell is a conjunct piece with random solos and the previously mentioned ornamentations. Lastly, it is amazing at how the tempo changes throughout the song, this is definitely something that you don’t see in Westernized music near as much and I would assume it takes quite a bit more talent. But at various points in the song the tempo speeds up, then slows down, then speeds up again even more. The time and space seem to be a relaxed environment where the artists truly enjoy and appreciate the music.

Man Hamoon By Googoosh

The song of Googoosh I chose was Man Hamoon. My roommate is Persian and he said it has a lot to do with what is going on currently in Iran, and is a very heartfelt song. The song contains a great mix of Persian culture with what seems to be a bit of western synthesizing in it as well. The song also holds an interesting mix of instruments, starting off with a homophony of voice and piano and progressing to another homophony of Googoosh’s voice and synthesized beats. Man Hamoon definitely has a long story behind it and has many hidden pictures and meanings in it as one can find in the video. For example, one of the lines in the song is “A cage looking like a cat has covered all of me”. This line is sung with an image of fire burning in the background. If one looks closely, the fire is in the exact shape of Iran, which some say looks like a cat; the cage around the cat is the current government which is impoverishing Iran. The symbolism behind this and the hidden words of the song give it much more meaning than what I first though. Googoosh also does quite a bit of ornamentation with her voice, such as some vibratos, accentuating the Persian language in order to bring more feeling. This song definitely shows how much emotion can go into music without us even noticing it.

The following is the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuBSrYEwN44

Post 3-Faculty Performance

The song from the performance I chose was how insensitive and Lamento, and I chose this for several reasons. Going from the outside in, I'll start with the time and space. The UTD auditorium, although fairly small, has excellent acoustic which brings the music to you louder and with greater ‘life’. The stage is completely surrounded with wood which reflects sound very well and helps project the sound waves. The lighting is also very bright so it is easy to see the musicians without the distraction of flashes and strobes. Moving to the audience, the majority of the audience in this performance consisted of students who were at the show not by choice but were there mandatorily. This brought many people into the audience who did not care for the show and clearly did not have any respect for it either. People were talking constantly and showed no respect for the other people in the auditorium or the musicians. This song also came right before the intermission, and, after the intermission, approximately half of the auditorium had emptied. It is very hard for anyone to actually pay attention to the music when so much is going on in the audience. That said, the song was still a loud, vibrant one. With piano, electric guitar, bass, and drums, it was a fast paced cycle of a mix of jazz and Latin music cultures. One could tell that the musicians playing the song had very different personalities: the guitarist and drummer were very enthusiastic and moved about during the song (even though they were seated) while the pianist and the bass player were more silent with their body movements.