Critical Review #3 Miller 2007 and Berger 2008

I thought it was interesting when Prof. Miller was discussing the types of music used in the GTA game and how realistic it was- that there wasn’t any non-diegetic soundtrack music, but only where you would logically hear it in stores, cars radio stations, etc. That’s clever and innovative of the game to make it realistic, and also points to an instance where the 24-hour music log exercise becomes very useful to realize a usual soundscape and the typical places you might hear music.

I also find the concept of video games as performance interesting. Many of my friends are theater majors and take classes on performance theories so I’ve been subjected to a lot of experimental performance ideas. This now makes me wish that I had maybe listened a little closer to the endless mealtime discussions of their readings and class discussions rather than roll my eyes along with my non theater-concentrating friends. I hadn’t previously considered this particular medium of video games as an example of performance, but now thinking about it I find that notion to be very credible and an interesting perspective. The control the player has over music selection there also then plays a crucial element in being a performer.

I find the study of phenomenology to be logically thought provoking and perhaps unexpectedly a stimulating topic for academic discussion. Many people may dismiss it as arbitrary or unfit for formal analysis, yet it is some of the subject matter that proves most relevant to our daily lives. Because so many people are more familiar with popular games like Grand Theft Auto or music genres like rock and pop than the native folk music of other cultures, there is actually a wealth of ideas and themes to discuss. Perhaps this is also why it might be more important to study other cultures and try and understand them, and why this is the focus of much of ethnomusicology.

Wherein then lies the objective of ethnomusicological study? Is it just as worthwhile to study phenomenology and how it interacts with the cultures of our own and other societies, or to simply try and understand and preserve the more traditional and folk music that may be more overlooked? Are they of equal importance? I think so. Do they both fall under the same umbrella of ethnomusicological study or should there be more of a separation and distinction in the field between types of music making studied? Does it even matter to classify these elements of ethnomusicology or is music all just music and should it all be treated the same?

Critical Review #2: Titon 2002

I feel like a lot of what this article is commenting on is basic common sense. Maybe this is because I’m already experiencing some of what he’s discussing in the article. Perhaps I’m becoming too immersed in and familiar with the pitfalls and intricacies of studying ethnomusicology and think what is obvious to me would be obvious to everyone. There’s clearly a lot more to learn about the process, but many of Titon’s points seem like things we already know, or that people could easily infer. For example, it’s clear that your perspective will change as you become more immersed in a culture and you should keep a conscious record as it changes. Many of the difficulties described make a lot of sense, though. In another class I learned about the process of skill learning, such as learning to play an instrument. While the brain is encoding this ability, the process is conscious and must be thought through step by step. Once the skill is learned, however, the steps become fluid and it becomes significantly more difficult to break the steps down and explain the process of the action to others. This undoubtedly must contribute to an ethnomusicologist’s difficulty in trying to convey the musical practices of a culture or at least their experiences learning said musical practices. Titon also did a good job of demonstrating many of his points. For example, it’s remarkable how much more detail you can obtain from a consultant by asking open-ended questions rather than leading ones. This way they can take the lead and recount their experiences and perhaps provide valuable information the interviewer hadn’t even considered to ask about.

I hadn’t previously considered the idea of paying a community to study them. I understand that some compensation such as advocacy and publicity of the music being studied would be a logical mutual understanding, but doesn’t payment change the relationship of the interviewer and community much more significantly? Whenever money is involved it generally complicates matters. When the interviewer more or less becomes the employer of a community, does that create an expectation or pressure for the people to act in a certain way? Or if the community is portrayed in a light they’re unhappy with, even if it is accurate, might they then expect more money from an interviewer, creating an awkward situation?

SEM History Post

Immediately what strikes me upon reading the first issue of Ethnomusicology is the rapid growth of the recipients of the journal. After the first small meeting in spring of 1953 the initial general letter mailed to interested parties was only sent out to around seventy people. The first publication was then sent out in Dec. 1953, a few short months later, targeting around 300 recipients. This instant strong response proved to be very promising for the instatement of a regular newsletter. At the same time, I wonder how close the journal came to not surviving. According to the first issue, the journal was given funding for no more than three issues, and then had to garner financial contributions from new members to sustain itself. Despite the strong interest, ethnomusicology does not appear to be the most profitable occupation, so it seems feasible that the publication might have died off quickly had it not received enough financial support. Yet nearly 60 years later it is still going strong, which seems promising to the field of ethnomusicology in general.

From reading the first few issues at first I also thought I was maybe missing part of the journal because there didn’t seem to be any sort of real ethnographic material. There was a discussion of planned ventures, yet not as much academic material presented for examination. The focus of the journal seemed to veer more towards serving as a support system and exchange of ideas for ethnomusicologists of all levels of experience. It almost felts as though these were pioneers of a new country breaking off from their motherland of the American Society of Comparative Musicology. There was an exciting feel to the tone of the initial issues of a spark of a new beginning as the members transitioned from the field of comparative musicology more into the sect of ethnomusicology. There was a clear effort and focus towards fleshing out the new discipline and establishing exchanges and basic guidelines. For example, what appears to me to be the first real article or essay that appears in the journal wasn’t printed until the seventh issue. This article is then entitled “On The Subject of Ethno-Musicology” by Willard Rhodes, further discussing the new discipline itself rather than presenting a specific case study of work being done. There was clear excitement over this new branch of study and thus much discussion resulting from it.

I also find it interesting the emphasis placed on the gathering of bibliographies, both from various sources as well as bibliographies of the work done by individuals in their entirety. This practice of honoring individual ethnomusicologists and their lifework serves an educational purpose as well as an inspirational model for the readers to aspire to. Clearly it is essential to the field to have a record of past sources and studies to learn from and refer to. However, it also helps validate and highlight the importance of exemplary work done by dedicated ethnomusicologists, further supporting the efforts being made to forge this new branch of study.

Fieldwork Topic: Badmaash

For my fieldwork assignment, I plan to study The Brown Badmaash Dance Company. Badmaash is a South Asian fusion dance group, an area of which I know very little about. I don't really have much dance experience or exposure to a lot of the music they use, so I'm excited to learn about the process in which they select and edit their music and its relationship to the dancing and performance. Through this study I intend to gain a better understanding of the different types of dance utilized in performances and how this is interweaves with the chosen music. I also aim to study the fusion aspect of the dance group and how each type of music and dance functions together to form a cohesive whole. I will explore these and more ideas through the attendance of several rehearsals, performances, and interviews with members of the group.

Critical Review: Clifford 1988 and Seeger 1992

Clifford's article essentially describes the impossibility to satisfactorily complete an ethnographic study. While he ultimately concedes and acknowledges that ethnographic writing is alive in some manner, he remarks that it is not without great struggle. I found his pessimism to contrast greatly with Seeger's article. Seeger does also acknowledges the importance of considering elements of musical performance beyond the obvious, such as producers, managers and contractors. He uses a well-known metaphor of blind men feeling parts of an elephant and each perceiving the animal to have wildly different characteristics. While he does point out that all aspects of music making must be examined to gain a coherent whole, he does so with an encouraging and optimistic tone. His article aims to equip the reader with knowledge of how to approach an ethnographic study rather than criticize the discipline and role of authority in the process. This makes me wonder how the personal experiences of the two authors have affected their feelings towards ethnographic studies, and why they seem to present such different feelings.

To what extent would an ethnographic study need to meet Clifford's ideal conditions to be considered accurate or of value? Also, despite holding obvious bias, in some way, wouldn't an ethnographic study done on a community by a member of the community be the most in depth and accurate since the member would be fully immersed and fully understand its intricacies?

24 Hour Log

Sunday 2/7

1:50pm- Brady's (My suitemate's) iTunes

Diamonds are a girl's best friend- Carol Channing

Lola- Damn Yankees

Goodbye/Boom Boom- Elegies, A Song Cycle (William Finn)

Anytime- Elegies

2:30pm- When I told my friend I had just started my 24 hour log he decided to be annoying and started singing everything he said.

3:00pm- Brady's iTunes

Don't Rain on My Parade- Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl)

3:15pmish-4pmish- iPod shuffle at the Gym

Wrapped up in Books- Belle & Sebastian

Rockin the suburbs- Ben Folds

Sound of settling- Death Cab for Cutie

July, July!- The Decemberists

Change the Water- Dirtie Blonde

Walk Over Me- Dirtie Blonde

I'd Rather Dance With You- Kings of Convenience

5pmish- My iTunes on shuffle

Let's Get Lost- Elliott Smith

Tahquamenon Falls- Sufjan Stevens

Take a Chance On Me- ABBA

Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games- Of Montreal

Take, O Take Those Lips Away- Public Theatre Twelfth Night Soundtrack (Anne Hathaway)

Penny On the Train Track- Ben Kweller

Gospel With No Lord- Camille

Maybe This Time- Glee (Kristin Chenowith and Lea Michele)

White Boys- Hair Revival Cast Recording

7:30ish-9pmish- Steinert

Practiced Chord Progressions,

Various Songs for Voice lessons that I probably won't sing

9pm- Jo's

Bad Romance- Lady Gaga

9:15- My itunes

Valerie- Amy Winehouse

10-11- Keys Rehearsal

Gershwin Medley- But Not for Me, They can't take that away from me, Summertime, I got rhythm

Think- Aretha Franklin

11-12- MF Meeting

Friends singing: Into the Woods, Merrily we roll along

12:15amish-3:45amish Tunes on shuffle:

Worn Me Down- Rachel Yamagata

Keep it There- The Weepies

Better-Regina Spektor

Your Ex-Lover is Dead- Stars

Fast Car- Tracy Chapman

Paganini Caprices

That's Really Super, Supergirl- XTC

Best for Last- Adele

My Girl Back Home- South Pacific

All Alright- Sigur Ros

From the Morning- Nick Drake

The Kids Don't Stand a Chance- Vampire Weekend

Why Don't We Do it in the Road- The Beatles

Oh! Darling- The Beatles

Come Away Death (Orchestral)- Twelfth Night Soundtrack

Las de la intuicion- Shakira

Father to Son- King's Singers

Magic- Ben Folds Five

I Don't Know Where I Stand- Joni Mitchell

Full Phathom Five- Twelfth Night Soundtrack (Audra McDonald, Anne Hathaway)

Give Me One Reason- Tracy Chapman

Mon petit vieux- Camille

Fingerprint File- Rolling Stones

It's Too Late- Carole King

Steer- Missy Higgins

Glad Tidings- Van Morrison

Happiness- The Weepies

Every Night When the Sun Goes Down- GHS Chamber Singers Choir

All That I Want- The Weepies

Painting By Chagall- The Weepies

Mary Jo- Belle & Sebastian

So Far Away- Carole King

Mom Song-Passing Strange

Is it Wicked Not to Care?

Love is Innocent- Colin Hay

Opera Singer- Cake

If You Find Yourself Caught in Love- Belle & Sebastian

I'll Fly Away- Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch?

Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da- The Beatles

Red Right Ankle- The Decemberists

11:45am- iTunes

I Got Life- Hair Revival Cast Recording

I'm a Cuckoo- Belle & Sebastian

Catch My Disease- Ben Lee

1pm- Voice lesson

Random arpeggios/scales for warming up

Perfect- Tom Kitt (Cut from High Fidelity)

The Song is You- Music in the Air (Hammerstein and Kern)

2pm- Music 1011

Various keyboard chord progressions

Harmonic Dictation