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On music in general
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Ron.M
Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland
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 On music in general
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I just watched the VE Day celebrations from Trafalgar Square, London.
Very emotional show, but on watching the various acts underlined for me what music is about.
A lot of the younger performers put a highly technically trained "bluesy" spin to the voice, which didn't work at all.
A "bluesy" rendition of "Blue Birds over the White Cliffs of Dover" just does not work!
I said to my wife that, even if people are illiterate, and can't count, one thing that we humans have in common and that is when we can tell if we're being sold something or that it is coming from the heart.
Folk can just tell! No matter how you disguise it. IMO anyway...
That's why I and a lot of other people all over the world were totally knocked out at Eva Cassidy's "Somewhere over the Rainbow"...she made the song fresh and real.
It's very seldom that you can equal a Classic let alone top it!
(Incidentally, I had just been listening to a History of the song "Somewhere over the Rainbow" on the radio, while I was having my lunch alone and I was recording the program to let my wife hear Eva, who I thought was great.
The song faded and then there was a sudden announcement that there had been an "accident" of a plane crashing into one of the World Trade Centre buildings....)
So it has become a very poignant song for me...
Different than when I first hear it in The Wizard of Oz.
Back to London....
When the singers did justice to the song and not themselves, then that's when it worked best.
For me, it's the same in Flamenco....
I'm not interested in that age worn argument that because somebody is unable to acquire a good technique, then he puts down his fellow players calling them charlatans for playing so "flowery" and not playing with "the heart".
That's just crap and it's always the players who play like crap that claim so.
But on the other hand, the "technocrats"...ie I can play it faster, louder, cooler, brigade that also leave me in some doubt.
Obviously it's best to have it in equal measure, like Paco, Camaron, Sanlucar etc.
While folk may be amazed at the picado techinique that Gerardo uses on his latest DVD, I'm still listening to how Diego Amaya finishes his phrases.
Not that I'm knocking Gerardo...he's fantastic, and seems a good human being as well.
What impresses me as a foreigner, listening to other foreigners, is little bits...like how a guy finishes a phrase or something....certainly not how fast his picado is!
Tomatito's accompaniment to Camaron on the "Live" CD is extremely basic, but so well done that you think it's a great falseta!
Remember, when you play music then everybody can hear you..maybe not what you are trying to project, but I think that most folk, even at a drunken party can tell if your music is intended for their heads or their hearts.
I think folk can tell if your fakin'.... as I observed with these singers tonight.
Anyway... cheers,
The Aged Crone,
Ron 
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date May 8 2005 21:27:11
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Miguel de Maria
Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
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RE: On music in general (in reply to Ron.M)
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Ron,
you should check out the version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Iz, that is Israel Kawaiianakole (something like that, I actually can't spell his name). Just one very fat man with a sweet voice and a ukelele. It has actually become kind of popular and crops up now and then on commercials and what not.
I had a fun musical experience at a wedding a few days ago. We road tripped up to Sedona, about two hours a way, and played after a string quartet. Everything was messed up because for some reason it started hailing and everything had to be moved inside... so we had to set up while the quartet was still playing. Everyone was supposed to be outside at a cocktail reception, but they were milling about and in our way.
I had a little touchy situation with the other guitarist, because for most of our partnership, it had been his group, his gig, and I was basically just his accompaniast. However lately, I have been getting most of the gigs, and this particular client was very clear that they wanted the music to sound like my demo, not his (I think they had a copy of his, too!). So it was hard, but I had to be diplomatic for him not to turn the volume up too much or make those whalesong sounds with his effects pedal. Even though we were playing pretty quietly, the wedding planner came over and told us to turn it down.
But by the third hour, people had loosened up a little, and I think my partner had been stealthily turning his volume up, but no one cared. A couple people started dancing during one of our songs, and I guess people thought it was time to start dancing, because pretty soon the floor was packed. The DJ was actually waiting for us to stop so he could set up, another consequence of the weather-induced complications. Anyway, soon it became clear that we were going to be a dance band for the rest of the gig!
I have rarely played for people trying to dance, so we kept it simple and rhythmic--Santana, a couple other rock type songs, a cuban Guajira, for example. Rumbas are terrible to dance to, and of course any kind of classical or flamenco were out of the question! After all these were just normal people at a wedding! Anyway, it was getting tiring, but we just kept repeating stuff and messing around wth rasgueados and having our percussionist do solos. It was pertty fun! We got to really improvise and do whatever we wanted, as long as we kept the rhythm good for them to dance.
At the end, they wanted us to stay a couple more hours, but I wanted to go home (had a gig the next morning!) and we didn't want to step on the DJ's toes too much. AFter all, there is the macarena!
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date May 9 2005 5:45:57
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Ryan002
Posts: 173
Joined: Oct. 18 2005
From: Singapore
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RE: On music in general (in reply to Ron.M)
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Many, many years ago before I started playing the guitar I found an essay (I think by Barthes) in the library that relates somewhat to this. If any of you have read it before, please give me the title because I'd really like to read it again now.
I didn't understand it well at the time but the general gist of the argument was that as recording technology advanced, the musical canon would develop a wider "split". One canon for the audience, one canon for the musician. Music becomes increasingly fragmented as people no longer need to learn it to enjoy it (they can just pop in a CD, whereas 200+ years ago you learned to play it or you darn well walked 50 miles to the nearest concert hall). So the musician's understanding of music becomes increasingly distant from the audience. What's popular with the audience (say, boy band music) probably won't impress a musician, who knows it's easy to execute. What's alien and possibly unpleasant to the audience (say, music composed on the Dorian scale) may in fact impress the musician, who grasps the ingenuity or complexity of technique.
So if we use WOW! effects like blindingly fast movements or bizzare alternate tunings (ala Peter Finger) we are catering to musicians mainly. If we intend to communicate with the audience, well...there is such a thing as *too* complex. Only rarely does a musician or an audience actually manage to straddle both canons with any degree of comfort.
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Oct. 28 2005 6:08:12
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But one day I hope to be able to use it to good effect. Whether I put my heart into using it is another matter. Hopefully I will.