Miguel de Maria -> on aire (Apr. 28 2004 20:05:21)
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One of Ron's constant themes and one that recurs constantly in any discussion of flamenco is "aire." But what is aire? The quality of "flamenco" that occurs when the musician conjures the proper mood by his playing. It seems closely related to musical phrasing, but they cannot be the same thing. If you listen to flamenco, it generally is recorded with a lot of reverb. This reverb is part of the "aire", for it colors any emotional response. The fact that flamencos are so enamored of this particular effect is odd, but has certainly created a "flamenco sound" to so many of our records. So the reverb, part of the recording environment, is one component of aire. Now, phrasing must be very much a part of this too. Phrasing, the way the music is interpreted by a musician, must contribute aire--well, this is the very thesis of music itself. Equipment must also, be a part, because flamenco cannot be played on a distorted electric guitar. The sound of the guitar must also be a component of aire--an old Conde better, in some degree, than a new Yamaha. Now, as far as phrasing goes, phrasing is how the notes are moved, pulled, and pushed. We like to say that there are notes on the page, but most of music is really what is not on the page. I like the analogy of a transcription of a lively conversation in a foreign language. We look on the paper and can determine much of what's going on, but when we try to read it out loud, it certainly doesn't sound like it did originally. This leaves out entirely body language, where most of true human communication is supposed to occur. Phrasing, like language accent, is supposed to be nigh impossible for the musical foreigner to acquire. Unless you are raised in Andalucia, you will never play a bulerias with the proper sound, the proper feel--nor will you speak the Andalucian dialect with the same level of proficiency as a native. One of the ways I have worked on my Spanish accent is to listen to gringos speak it. There are certain things they do wrong, which I can hear is wrong, and which helps me eliminate these errors in my "intrepretation" of Spanish. By the same token, I like to listen to an amateur play a piece, and then a pro. Because the errors an amateur will commit are thus highlighted...and the solution presented. Everyone on this website can listen to good playing and think "Now that's aire!" But how many of us can execute and conjure good aire? It seems to me that if we can recognize good aire, good musical accent, there must be a template within our subconscious of this aire. If we can tell what good music is, that means somewhere there is a set of rules in our minds of what good music is. To me the encouraging conclusion is that we do have, to some extent, the template of "good aire" within us. The next step is to somehow match it to our playing. If our technical abilities are good, then we must simply match up what we know to be good with what we do. Once we accomplish that, what we have done will be good!
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