One of the most notable and influential rock and roll musicians in history is Jimi Hendrix. You might even classify him as a progressive rock musician. He definitely set the stage for many musicians to follow and expand on.
He possesses most of the elements that you would use to classify rock and roll music. The elements include the prominent use of electric guitar which you can see in his performance in 1969 Woodstock. You can hear his improvisation in the video for the American national anthem but you begin to see some his actual guitar work about 1:26 into the video.
In some of his other songs, which they are plentiful, he has a major emphasis on singing. Almost any musician would be able to recognize Jimi Hendrix because of his detrimental role in the progressive movement and other rock and roll genres.
Nearly every song by Jimi Hendrix evokes some type of emotional response, because he always put what he felt into the song or improvisation. These powerful styles of music that he performed help set the stage for many more musicians in the future.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Sideshow Performance Report
Post 1942 musicals became more an expression of American society and often have a romantic conflict or love triangle. This past Saturday, April 17, 2010 at 8pm, I attended Side Show the musical at the University of Texas at Dallas University Theatre. It encompassed a story about these Siamese twins, Violet and Daisy, and their quest to become famous and in love. They started however at a low point in the beginning of the musical as the main attraction at a freak show due to their faults. However when two individuals Buddy and Terry come into the mix, they see bright futures for the Siamese twins. From there the story, drama, and romance begin to take place. A love triangle forms between Daisy, Buddy, and Jake the Cannibal.
I would like to begin by describing the scene and setup of the musical and also the audience. The stage was mostly dark and mysterious with boxes and a backdrop which left the orchestra exposed. There seemed to be a lot of technology that went into the making of this musical compared to some of the other performances that I have seen at UTD. The conductor for the orchestra had a small television screen so that he would be able to see the stage even though his back was to it. Some of the performers had an abnormal way of using a microphone which appeared to be attached to their forehead and the wire ran back through their hair. Everyone in the audience was required to turn off all cell phones because the signal could affect their recording of the performance. Regarding the audience, it was nearly completely filled. Later, I found that Side Show had pulled in more audience than any other performance at UTD over the past 2 weeks of their performances.
The music for this musical was comprised of both vocals from the performers and from the orchestra. I would like to begin by describing some of the vocals that were supported by the orchestra. The vocals were very supported of each other. The vocals were very homophonic, both when the group of freaks were singing and when the Siamese twins were singing. Even though the story revolved around the Siamese twins, there were other characters that had an equally large part in the story. Jake the Cannibal was one of the members of the love triangle and went with the twins on the journey for stardom. The music was very conversational. The responsorial singing would go back and forth between characters and was the primary driver for continuing the story along. However, the story did not feel rushed. I felt very involved in the music, and like I was part of the performance. Jake helped include the audience when he would run into the crowd and increase the emotions from the crowd to get them more involved with his character. There was a point at which Buddy and Terry were conversing and the music would change in conjunction with who was singing. Buddy would have a progressive melody performed by the orchestra while Terry had more of a repetition of his melody. During this scene, Terry was more responding verbally instead of vocally singing. This support from the orchestra was demonstrated throughout the musical. Another interesting addition that you might point out about the music is that it was the major factor in building the suspense. I felt that the words from the songs would help me understand the story but the orchestra and music would help me feel the story. In other words, my emotions were brought out through how the music was playing rather than how it was sung.
The Siamese twins throughout the majority of the play were very supportive of each other. A case in point is whenever they would introduce themselves, one would sing, then the other, and then they would sing together. This is how the majority of their parts would go. Either they would be conversing with each other separately or together whenever they would perform. I thought it was very helpful in moving along the story and supporting each other.
The performers would be required to play multiple roles except for Daisy, Violet, Terry, Buddy, and Jake. All the others would play the freaks, and go off stage but then would play in the next scene as businessmen, reporters, or couples at a party. All of the vocals were memorized by the cast while the orchestra was mainly in the back. Most of the performance, the orchestra was hidden behind the curtains but they still played a crucial part in the performance of this musical.
In conclusion, the musical can be characterized as a combination of vocal and orchestral music that converse and support each other throughout the performance. The combination of the different textures of music come together to help support and balance the performance.
I would like to begin by describing the scene and setup of the musical and also the audience. The stage was mostly dark and mysterious with boxes and a backdrop which left the orchestra exposed. There seemed to be a lot of technology that went into the making of this musical compared to some of the other performances that I have seen at UTD. The conductor for the orchestra had a small television screen so that he would be able to see the stage even though his back was to it. Some of the performers had an abnormal way of using a microphone which appeared to be attached to their forehead and the wire ran back through their hair. Everyone in the audience was required to turn off all cell phones because the signal could affect their recording of the performance. Regarding the audience, it was nearly completely filled. Later, I found that Side Show had pulled in more audience than any other performance at UTD over the past 2 weeks of their performances.
The music for this musical was comprised of both vocals from the performers and from the orchestra. I would like to begin by describing some of the vocals that were supported by the orchestra. The vocals were very supported of each other. The vocals were very homophonic, both when the group of freaks were singing and when the Siamese twins were singing. Even though the story revolved around the Siamese twins, there were other characters that had an equally large part in the story. Jake the Cannibal was one of the members of the love triangle and went with the twins on the journey for stardom. The music was very conversational. The responsorial singing would go back and forth between characters and was the primary driver for continuing the story along. However, the story did not feel rushed. I felt very involved in the music, and like I was part of the performance. Jake helped include the audience when he would run into the crowd and increase the emotions from the crowd to get them more involved with his character. There was a point at which Buddy and Terry were conversing and the music would change in conjunction with who was singing. Buddy would have a progressive melody performed by the orchestra while Terry had more of a repetition of his melody. During this scene, Terry was more responding verbally instead of vocally singing. This support from the orchestra was demonstrated throughout the musical. Another interesting addition that you might point out about the music is that it was the major factor in building the suspense. I felt that the words from the songs would help me understand the story but the orchestra and music would help me feel the story. In other words, my emotions were brought out through how the music was playing rather than how it was sung.
The Siamese twins throughout the majority of the play were very supportive of each other. A case in point is whenever they would introduce themselves, one would sing, then the other, and then they would sing together. This is how the majority of their parts would go. Either they would be conversing with each other separately or together whenever they would perform. I thought it was very helpful in moving along the story and supporting each other.
The performers would be required to play multiple roles except for Daisy, Violet, Terry, Buddy, and Jake. All the others would play the freaks, and go off stage but then would play in the next scene as businessmen, reporters, or couples at a party. All of the vocals were memorized by the cast while the orchestra was mainly in the back. Most of the performance, the orchestra was hidden behind the curtains but they still played a crucial part in the performance of this musical.
In conclusion, the musical can be characterized as a combination of vocal and orchestral music that converse and support each other throughout the performance. The combination of the different textures of music come together to help support and balance the performance.
Sideshow College Society
Recently, I have attended Side Show the musical written in 1997 at the University Theater at the University of Texas at Dallas. Even though the musical takes place in the 1930’s, you can see how it relates to today college society. I believe the major relation to today’s society is the tempo and non-stop performance. We are so intertwined to be constantly stimulated that it is hard to stay in a theater or watch a movie that is longer than an hour and a half. Side Show lasted nearly 3 hours including intermission and during this time, rarely had a point where either the orchestra wasn’t playing or the performers weren’t singing. Another relation to today’s college society is the drama. Dreams from the Siamese twins, Daisy wanted fame and Violet yearned for love in a nice quite place. This separation of interest, in my opinion describes the two different goals of college students today. However, seeing as they were connected, it would be hard for one to achieve what she wanted without the other losing her dream. A love triangle and mixed emotions shower the scene, which make me thing of a lot of shows that you might watch on MTV such as Taking the Stage.
Monday, April 12, 2010
The Gullah Culture
Although the Gullah does not have any one tie to a certain African nation, you can generalize their location and cultural background to that of West Africa and Western Sudan. Like many other cultures throughout history, the Gullah was influenced by those who watched over them, in this case the whites. Christianity was probably one of the major influences from the whites. However, the Gullah people went a different way about praising; they did it in the form of ring shouts. Gullah culture is vibrantly similar to that of Western African, language, arts, crafts, and the way that ceremonies are conducted. I can also notice some similarities between song and dance with other African countries that we have studied before. There is a strong influence of drums in the Gullah music culture. I also notice from one of the video posts that there are sometimes individuals that are “taken away” into a kind of trance. Repetition of rhythm help those who are dancing or singing stay on beat. I could not tell entirely but it appears that some of the instruments the Gullah use are indeed the same instruments that their roots in Africa use.
Monday, April 5, 2010
UT Dallas - Shakespeare in Song
I attended Shakespeare in Song on March 27, 2010 at 8pm in the Jonsson Performance Hall at the University of Texas at Dallas. The stage was setup in a way which I find very typically for most of the performances that I see either at UTD, or Dallas Symphony and that is the piano is located at right stage. The bleachers at which the choir were stationed was at middle stage (men were on the left and women on the right when facing the crowd), the scenes were played out on left stage and soloists were closer to the piano at right stage.
The audience didn’t seem to be crowded as I heard some of the other shows were. When I attended, most of the audience seemed to consist of parents or grandparents, and students. Several of the students I recognized were in my Understanding Music class and others I assume were there to see their friends perform. An interesting tidbit that I learned from this performance is that you clap after each of the scenes and not to wait until the end because it helps keep the audience involved. The performance consists of sixteen scenes from various Shakespeare plays.
The music for this play was performed by the UT Dallas Chamber Singers and pianist Michael McVay. The music ranged from various different forms, it would be controlled and syllabic in some of the begging scenes of the play but there would be points where it was hoppy and melismatic. The asciendo would mostly be located towards throughout the songs as the tempo of the music would increase. The piano moved with the flow of the performers and would constantly be looking at the performers and the director for queues on when to begin the next part of the song.
Mix between solo performers which helped express the individuality of the music and choir which helped characterize the movements in speed, volume, and texture of the song. The choir was separated into sections of soprano, and alto for the women and tenure and bass for the men. This helped create the distinction of lyrics when the entire choir was singing at once because once you would listen and be able to tune out everything except for a certain pitch, it was much easier to understand the lyrical flow of the song. Also at some points, a main characteristic of the play was that there was a repetition of lyrics that when sung by different levels would create different intensities that seemed to increase with speed and repetition.
Another interesting point I noticed throughout the play, was that I saw there was a strong emphasis on the emotions of the singers and when they played their lyrical parts, it was easier to observe some of the emotions involved because it was easier to understand what they were saying.
Performers were dressed in Renaissance style clothing which was the setting in which each of the acts were written. The performance was conducted by Kathryn Evans who played a tremendous part. She was crucial in controlling the speed and timing of the performance. She would be the lead person to help people get back on queue if they got lost at any point within the performance. Also she was able to queue the pianist when to start playing and I noticed that throughout the piece he would look for queues on when to continue. I think that this allowed the performers to be able to carry out notes a little longer if they felt like it, especially during the solo parts.
While members of the choir were performing their scene that didn’t involve song, other members of the choir were quite as to not take away from those performing the scenes. Performers had the song sheet and play sheet in front of them while they were performing so that memorization was less of a key point in the play.
The audience didn’t seem to be crowded as I heard some of the other shows were. When I attended, most of the audience seemed to consist of parents or grandparents, and students. Several of the students I recognized were in my Understanding Music class and others I assume were there to see their friends perform. An interesting tidbit that I learned from this performance is that you clap after each of the scenes and not to wait until the end because it helps keep the audience involved. The performance consists of sixteen scenes from various Shakespeare plays.
The music for this play was performed by the UT Dallas Chamber Singers and pianist Michael McVay. The music ranged from various different forms, it would be controlled and syllabic in some of the begging scenes of the play but there would be points where it was hoppy and melismatic. The asciendo would mostly be located towards throughout the songs as the tempo of the music would increase. The piano moved with the flow of the performers and would constantly be looking at the performers and the director for queues on when to begin the next part of the song.
Mix between solo performers which helped express the individuality of the music and choir which helped characterize the movements in speed, volume, and texture of the song. The choir was separated into sections of soprano, and alto for the women and tenure and bass for the men. This helped create the distinction of lyrics when the entire choir was singing at once because once you would listen and be able to tune out everything except for a certain pitch, it was much easier to understand the lyrical flow of the song. Also at some points, a main characteristic of the play was that there was a repetition of lyrics that when sung by different levels would create different intensities that seemed to increase with speed and repetition.
Another interesting point I noticed throughout the play, was that I saw there was a strong emphasis on the emotions of the singers and when they played their lyrical parts, it was easier to observe some of the emotions involved because it was easier to understand what they were saying.
Performers were dressed in Renaissance style clothing which was the setting in which each of the acts were written. The performance was conducted by Kathryn Evans who played a tremendous part. She was crucial in controlling the speed and timing of the performance. She would be the lead person to help people get back on queue if they got lost at any point within the performance. Also she was able to queue the pianist when to start playing and I noticed that throughout the piece he would look for queues on when to continue. I think that this allowed the performers to be able to carry out notes a little longer if they felt like it, especially during the solo parts.
While members of the choir were performing their scene that didn’t involve song, other members of the choir were quite as to not take away from those performing the scenes. Performers had the song sheet and play sheet in front of them while they were performing so that memorization was less of a key point in the play.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Opera - Verdi's Falstaff
One of Verdi’s last opera that he wrote was the Falstaff. I decided to watch a shortened version of this opera that sums up the performance in 10 minutes. Unlike some of Verdi’s other operas, this one seems to be more continuous at points; there seems to be constant action in the performance, rarely do you have a part that is without sound except in between Acts. The melodic range of this piece seems somewhat to range between high and low periods depending on how the scene is. This helps to create a very dramatic story. The melody in parts is very skippy but other parts are more continuous movement from note to note. At the end of the piece, they realize that the world is meant for fun as they all come together in an accelerando. During this accelerando, there is the addition of individuals in the choir and not to have the entire choir singing at the beginning and all the way through. The music of this opera is very complementary to the singers. If you pay attention closely, there is the accompaniment that is somewhat lagged to the performance of the singers and often intertwined with their performance. It also helps build the mood and direction for which the act is going. However, often you will find that it speeds up till a climax and then slows again. Approximately 1:55 into the video, you can see the use of a Rossini crescendo to help build excitement. This helps show the influence that Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti has on Verdi’s work.
The performer’s seemed to have done an excellent job of dressing the time period at which the piece was written. They also do a good job of movement and using the entire stage that they are performing on.
The performer’s seemed to have done an excellent job of dressing the time period at which the piece was written. They also do a good job of movement and using the entire stage that they are performing on.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Avatar - Na'vi and Film Score
After watching the movie Avatar, and actively listening to the music during different scenes, you can decipher the two different styles of music. One would be the typical music score of the orchestra that was played outside the Na’vi scenes and the other is the Na’vi music that consisted of drums and some monotone sounds and background drones.
The Na’vi music, I felt was best described by associating it with certain African style music cultures but after further review and speaking with my peers, I began to realize that it was more complex. There seems to be a Native American theme to the movie and it is only reasonable to consider this style of music as well. A friend of mine stated that Avatar seemed to depict the Pocahontas story in that the primarily white English came to the “New World” and took it over. There is a strong association with the Na’vi treated their world and the way the Native Americans treated theirs. As I was watching the movie, I felt the struggle and the cultural connection that the scene was portraying through the music that was being played.
The orchestral film score that was played was completely different to that of the Na’vi. It was the sound of music that you would typically hear in an epic type movie like Avatar. This score had a sort of battle of survival or uplifting tone that would require you to be inspired or emit some sort of emotion. Because of the struggle between the Na’vi and the marines, you also saw the battle between their two different types of music which made them very distinct.
The Na’vi music, I felt was best described by associating it with certain African style music cultures but after further review and speaking with my peers, I began to realize that it was more complex. There seems to be a Native American theme to the movie and it is only reasonable to consider this style of music as well. A friend of mine stated that Avatar seemed to depict the Pocahontas story in that the primarily white English came to the “New World” and took it over. There is a strong association with the Na’vi treated their world and the way the Native Americans treated theirs. As I was watching the movie, I felt the struggle and the cultural connection that the scene was portraying through the music that was being played.
The orchestral film score that was played was completely different to that of the Na’vi. It was the sound of music that you would typically hear in an epic type movie like Avatar. This score had a sort of battle of survival or uplifting tone that would require you to be inspired or emit some sort of emotion. Because of the struggle between the Na’vi and the marines, you also saw the battle between their two different types of music which made them very distinct.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)