Performance Report 2

Introduction
For my second performance report, I attended the Thursday, April 15th showing of Side Show: The Musical. It featured a full cast of actors and musicians pulled from UTD arts program. All of these students and the faculty who aided them put forth a couple of years to make the production as successful as it is.

Music
With a full repertoire of at least 25 songs, the intermission was the quietest moment in the show. The small pit orchestra played for almost 2 hours strait. Almost every moment was built upon the emotions from the music that continually flowed. Most songs were put to a slow tempo with somber and quiet moods or slightly uplifting melodic contours. Although there were many times the music rised in tension with the play, none of the songs expressed discordant anger. At most a swelling of passion was expressed during emphasized events.

Performers
All the students who performed did well and were well versed in their practicing roles. The orchestra was composed of 5 woodwinds, 6 brass, 2 guitarist, 2 percussion and a synthesizer. The stage design broke visual contact of the them most of the time, but the amount of feeling in their composure was easy to hear. The actors sold their parts well and the emotions were easy to believe. Accessory to the visual representation, the musicians filled any doubt to the emotional composition of the story.

Audience
I expected to see mostly students cramming in to take notes for report writing, but was suprised when that was not necessarily the case. I observed a number of older audience members and several faculty as well. Several times the audience was asked to fill in middle seats in order to fit in more. By the time the performance began, the theatre was quite packed. Despite the lack of a heavy young influence among the audience, participants were still quick to begin chatting and gosipping during intermission and after the show. Almost no empty seats became available after intermission finished and the performance resumed.

Time and Space
The performance took place in a medium sized theatre on campus. This allowed for the small orchestra to still be heard clearly throughout without having to enhance their volume or loudly distort them. It was very packed performance. I think this was enough to cause a good case of stage fright, but the applause would have been loud enough to still inspire the performers. Being that I attend the free admission for everyone Thursday performance, even the people who came but wouldn't otherwise pay to see it would have been glad they came. Performances always seem to be better when they are a pleasant surprise, and this performance seemed to have that sort of air about it.

Conclusion
The performance of the actors and the musicians seemed more well put together and refined than I have previously witnessed from UTD theatre performance. The event received a standing ovation and well deserved it. The story, musicians and the visual representation of it all supported each other very nicely.

Post 12 - Rock (Death Metal)

1)
Death Metal is a subgenre of Heavy Metal which derives from Rock. Attributes of Death Metal include blast beat drumming(rapid and dynamic beats that are more akin to sonic violence than music), low and rough guttural vocals, minor key signatures, and multiple tempo and key changes. Although, some of its own subgenres break from these constraints. Bands of this genre usually include two electric guitars, one bass, a vocalist and a drummer. Song vocals are usually focused around extreme acts of stylized violence. Though, this may not be where the genre gets its name. "Death" was one of the pioneer bands to play this style of music and claimed to play their own version of Metal "Death's Metal". Live performances often encourage heavy crowd interaction and can easily get out of control.

2)

Deathbox by Mnemic


Lyrics
"I'm in a state of despair
Nothing seems to fit my mind
And although I can't be there
but I don't know that there's a place for someone just like me
Will I ever wake up
Wake up to see the box I'm in
Will I ever stand up
I'm standing on the edge of inability
And though I'm trying it still penetrates my body
All these demons that I carry deep inside
The changing faces forces me to leave the traces
Of the stranger things that are growing in my mind
Oh I know that I have
Done this once or twice before
The names are still a blur
I'm arrogantly close to falling off the edge
I know I'm not insane
Though my head hurts on the inside
The images disturb me
I know I'm not insane, I'm not what they call me
They're no good - still surrounding me
Forcing my actions upon me
The blood just paints my world
They're no good - still surrounding me
Forcing my actions upon me
They're forcing my actions upon my deathbox
And though I'm trying it still penetrates my body
All these demons that I carry deep inside
The changing faces forces me to leave the traces
Of the stranger things that are growing in my mind
Now will I ever wake up
Wake up to see the box I'm in
Will I ever stand up
I'm standing on the edge of inability
Now is this a failure
My project kill is right awake
I'm all burned out from pressure
My thoughts have brought me to my knees
Awake in pain
They're no good - still surrounding me
Forcing my actions upon me
The blood just paints my world
They're no good - still surrounding me
Forcing my actions upon me
They're forcing my actions upon my deathbox"

0:00 Almost silent intro. Ominous electric flutters dance in the air.

0:08 Song quickly fades in over the next three seconds, starting with a death growl and simultaneous rhythms form all instruments.

0:21 Vocals begin and drums begin to break away from uniformity as the song begins to pick up.

0:42 Vocals change in contour. Harmony is added and pitch is raised for some time while the drums cut back to accentuate it even more so.

1:00 Lyrical and Melodic break for a few seconds before being brought back with another drawn out death growl.

1:07 Begins syncopated and alternating guitar from left and right.

1:12 Vocals resume

1:24 Echo effect used on vocals

1:34 Repeat of vocal pitch and contour change at 0:42 but without harmony and distinct guitar melody difference.

2:00 Musical interlude.

2:07 Add vocal harmony.

2:25 Phrase Break. Begin last repeat of vocal and musical changes until end.

3:20 End vocals, trailing music till end.

Post 11 - Gullah

The Gullah are a group of people of strong African culture that reside in South Carolina and Georgia. They have preserved their culture and some third generation Gullah still speak their language. Though their culture is still strong, they fight to keep their original lands gained in emancipation. Resorts from the coastal islands contend for the choice land that many Gullah own.

The music of the Gullah culture focuses heavily on the spoken words. Drums are added sometimes, but often someone seems to just be speaking or yelling to a group of people. In co-ordinance with their fight against slavery, they express the self and promote others to do the same. Performers dance and sing what they want. They stick to many traditions but self expression is highly valued. Audience members are encouraged to do the same, to get up and dance and physically express themselves. Time and Space seem to shape the music as much as it does the individuals performing at the time.

Unrelated to their music, I don't understand why they follow a "Queen" Quet.

Performance Report 1

China Invasion Tour


Introduction
For my first performance report, I attended the Chinese punk concert at the Double Wide, south of downtown Dallas, on March 28th. It featured the three Chinese punk bands AV Okubo, Carsick Cars and P.K. 14. All of these bands have made a strong impact in Beijing and have come to demonstrate their potential, and possibly that of the entire genre as it exists in China, to us here in the USA.

Music
All of the music played that night was, as far a I could tell, original songs of almost entirely Chinese vocals. As with punk music in our own country, It can only be described as original because there isn't much about it that is musical other than the usually constant beat. The texture was course throughout and most likely offensive to anyone not used to it. The Carsick Cars were the smoothest and best performed of the three bands. The timbre is metallic in nature. Short songs filled with harsh and well defined notes mingled with the entourage of electrical modulations of sound. There was an ample supply of feedback in much of the performance.

Performers
Overall they were skilled technically. AV Okubo kind of reminded me of The Romones with their lead vocals, Yu Lan, commanding some stage presence by belting out some serious yells. The lead guitarist of Carsick Cars was also impressive. P.K. 14, despite being the headlined band, seems lackluster compared to the other two bands. In general, they performed on a individual basis. They all do their own thing and when they can, they show off what they can do with their instruments. To add to their individuality, each member dressed flashy. The total stage presence was reminiscent of early rock and roll performances.

Audience
The amount of energy from the audience that I experienced was only second to that of some Japanese punk rock bands at the annual A-kon convention, and that was probably only because of the increased size. If you pieced together scenes from grunge, indie and early rock, and US punk concerts you might have and accurate visual of the crowd that attended. It was hard to estimate the size of the crowd because it was so packed, but everyone looked to be mid twenties or older. Everyone was allowed to enjoy themselves, and I think everyone did. The show and audience, however dispersed as quickly as they showed up for the start of it.

Time and Space
The concert took place a small stage. The largest significance of this being that it allowed greater interaction between the performers and audience. Each of them were able to feed of each others energy. The loud cheers from the audience drove the bands to be more energetic. It was very packed and crowded at the performance. I almost thought that I wouldn't be allowed to enter when the place went from nearly empty to a line a few blocks to get in. People were definitely excited to see what these new bands had to offer and all of that excitement changed the overall experience of the night. Despite the amazing impact of the performance, the musical elements employed would have been better suited for a larger and better equipped stage. I think the loud speaker to the hand held microphone was unintelligible even for those who spoke Mandarin. Less tenuation between electrical cords would have yielded clearer magnification of complex guitar rhythms.

Conclusion
The performance and the elements of this performance were very similar to those in our current punk and early rock and roll bands. The methods of performance and the energetic stage presence incited the crowd and vice versa. The venue and stage setup provided a medium for the excitement, but a larger stage would have increased the quality of the music. All and all it was a life changing experience.

Post 10 - Opera

At a hotel in West Layfayette, IN today. Youtube, nor any other videos will load from the internet here, so I'll be making my post upon my return on Wednesday evening.

Post 9 - Avatar Music

The music score of the movie and the music of the na'vi both seem to be ripped from pages in the same book, so to speak. They seem to have the same sort of western influence in the instrumentation and general rhythmic feel. Both sides seem to dawn the same orchestral interludes and movements.

What distinctly sets the music of the na'vi apart from the rest of the movie's music score is the lyrics. The general music score of the movie contains a lot of harmonic, English vocals. The music of the na'vi replaces them with chanting and strong drum beats. They also tend to add a taste of African or Asian music to that of the na'vi with the occasional flute or drum far different than those found in western music.

I find that the music of the na'vi is made different enough from that of the movie's music score to stand out. However, the the general feeling from the movie received in part from its music, never strays far from and empathizes with that of the na'vi.

Music Ethnography

Every weekend, popular nightclubs are host to DJs that supply music for a group of inebriated and incoherent fans. This is the common scene of the music culture that I have spent the past couple of months observing. The rave culture in Dallas is a very active one and can be witnessed at a number of location across the city. Deep rooted in rebelling attitude and experimental drugs, rave culture provides an intense but not hostile environment. People are accepted easily and encouraged but not often forced to partake of often illegal forms of entertainment.

Before I started to actually see what rave culture was like in Dallas, I had to find out what kind of penetration it had across the city. Once I started looking, I found it easy to track down the venues where this culture congregated. From the same source, I was able to gauge the relative popularity and frequency of these congregations. I have participated in this music culture before analyzing it in this ethnography. I have attended events at The Palladium Ballroom and The Lizard Lounge. Most recently I attended, for the purpose of this project, the event at the Palladium on February 26 that headlined Killswitch Engage. The best part about the Palladium is that, for your ticket price, hours before the main show other popular and local artists play music. Killswitch Engage is not the type of music that normally promotes rave culture, but by the time they came on stage there was plenty of electronic music introduction to be had. Personally, when going to rave events, I don't get involved with any of the available drugs being passed around. However, I stayed away from even having a drink that night to keep a clear view of my surroundings in order to analyze the culture I was submerging myself into. I am familiar with the music and activities that are a part of raves, but because I don't participate in any drugs, this has always been a weaker area of understanding for me. In researching drug use at raves, I found catalogs and safety guides. The TRIP website was very informative in the possibilities and precautions that should be adhered to drug use. In the interviews I conducted, I focused on drug use. I wanted to know why it seems to be popular, why people decide to try it in the first place. I was able to talk to some of my friends who do partake in drug use at raves, all of which want to remain nameless.

People enjoy the rave culture for different reasons, but most will agree that it involves being with like minded people and having a good time. This is the role that music plays in all rave culture and especially here in Dallas. Dallas rave culture is almost completely restricted to clubs, which means everyone involved is surrounded by the same music. Regardless of whether someone is sober, high or wasted, they feel the same loud music coursing through their bodies and it unites everyone in that fashion. All music at raves is loud, usually to point of being dangerous to the ear drums. In a way, the music is the rave itself. It gives the party life. The music always continues on through the night until there is no one to listen to it anymore. All rave culture, including here in Dallas, is a descendant of illegal London warehouse parties during the mid 80s.

Being that the music is what unites people, the music can be found at live concerts. In Dallas you will find a large variety of amateur and professional performers at these concerts, but certainly none of them could be said to be doing it as nothing more than a hobby. As such, most artists found in the Dallas area produce CDs through labels or by personnel means. Like the diversity in performance artists, the same holds true for the audience. If you go raving at any of the dance clubs in Dallas you will find mostly young people from every ethnicity and social background banded together to enjoy the music and other activities. In accompaniment to the music, drugs, alcohol, and strobing neon lights serve to unite people in this culture. Alcohol and other downers are common because they lessen brain activity and take away the desire to focus on anything but the music playing at that moment. A variety of other drugs are used at the rave scene, most common among them is ecstasy for its cheap accessibility and effectiveness. All of these substances combined with the type of loud music at raves, according to friends, provides a sense of total well-being both in mind and body. In that sense of well-being with your mind slowed down or overloaded, some simple things can cause extreme euphoric sensation. Tactile and visual sensations are multiplied under the effects of drugs like X. Strobing lights, both from stage set-ups and audience performers, serve doubly in this music culture. They are a form of art, and shown off as a skill and they provide less sober participants with a vivid light show that won't soon be forgotten.

There are many genres of music that fit into the rave culture, some being Techno, Trance, and Jungle. The largest unifying quality is a repetitious pattern of beats. Some of the music has lyrics. Whenever they are present, lyrics fit in with the experience of most drug users in the audience. They play with themes of death and rebirth or transcending the mortal coil in some sort of spiritual experience. Since it shares a common lyrical theme, death metal has been known to be mixed into Dallas raves. It doesn't seem ideal, but in the end it works as long as its loud.

There isn't so much of a unifying material culture in Dallas rave culture. Individuals often by CDs from artists they enjoy in attempts to support them and keep them in business. The culture being a hodgepodge of social and economical backgrounds means the same variety in dress. Anything goes, even niche garb shows up, i.e. Lolita/Victorian and Bondage wear. From my associate that do drugs like X, it appears commonplace to grind your teeth while under its effects. My friends often complain the next morning of their jaw hurting. It can usually be noted that a few people will carry pacifiers on their person for this purpose, which are bought from baby supply stores.

Despite the Dallas rave culture, like most rave culture in general, being focused on the use of illegal substances, it can easily accept those not willing to partake. The people that are using aren't doing it to prove something. They just want to have a good time and share it with others. In having taken a deeper look at this culture, I have learned more about the people around me and a bit about myself as well.

Post 8 - Ethnography Progress

I am not finding my culture difficult to analyze at all. Events are plenty and well accessible. They aren't usually ever canceled to my knowledge. The biggest problem with doing my music ethnography is the interview part. I have found it almost impossible to interview a DJ or performer from the rave culture, but myself and some friends participate in it. In getting my friend to participate in the interview, he was worried about using his real name. He is a user of drugs at these events and so I agreed report his interview under an alias. This allows me to get an accurate report of one of the more dodgy parts of the culture without causing anyone any harm.

Post 7 - Ethnography Intro

Dallas Rave Music Culture

Music played includes Electronic Dance, such as House, Trance, Techno, Jungle, Neo-Gothic, and Industrial. Raves are usually held indoors at dance halls and clubs with a DJ to mix up the Music. Places in Dallas that hold raves.
The Lizard Lounge
Paladium Ballroom

Image from www.thelizardlounge.com

Events Involved at Raves

Colorful lights. These range from solid glow sticks to strobing LEDs or lasers. They are often used as part of the environment on stage or at the walls focusing in towards the audience. Personal light shows are very popular at raves. People will wear a variety of neon light emitting devices, often near or at the finger tips, and move them in rapid patterns with their hands or at the length of a string.











Drug Use. Some people have branded ravers as specifically a drug-centric culture because they are popular among some participants. Ecstasy is common because it makes fast moving light and physical touch more vivid and is easily obtained. Many other drugs can be found at raves and there are groups like the Toronto Raver Info Project that promote caution when choosing to use them.
TRIP
Among the people that do partake are the coined "Candy Kids". They appear happy and comfortable with everyone around them. They enjoy the tactile enhancement of psychedelics like X and they tend to go around hugging complete strangers.

Post 6 - Noh Theatre

Noh Theatre 『復活の日』

Most people watching noh theatre, especially for the first time, would find it boring. It is quite hard to realize just what you are looking at without an explanation. Noh theatre is classified by slow and often exaggerated movement, lack of facial expressions, and what few words exist are over-enunciated and drawn out.

Characters within the performance are often designated by specific masks, though it is not a mandatory characteristic. The unifying requirement is no change in facial expression. The art and story should be shown in the subtle hand, feet and body movements of the actors. A professional performer can represent several characters within a single play by simply changing their stoic expression depending on who they are playing at the moment.

The conveyance of meaning in noh is in the minute changes in body posture and gestures. Words may be added for additional explanation, but are extremely low, drawn out and traditionally in strict honorific Japanese (most modern Japanese would have a hard time understanding them). The music is of simple beats on drums and other percussion instruments tied with some spiritual yelling. Some modernized noh use more upbeat music, but that is more characteristic of kubuki theatre, also known as "doll theatre".

Post 5 - Hindustani Music Vid

Hindustani Classical Raga Lalat

This video includes several instruments and mainly focuses on two women doing vocals. Like much of this religious prayer music, it focuses on a monophony and a fixed tonic. Despite switching back and forth, these two do not use chords and are able to switch when one doesn't know the words or whatever the reason may be. Every instrument is playing a repetitive rhythm but they accent each other. It adds a certain monotonous quality to match the tonal center of the whole song.

Extra 3 - Kremlin Performance

After Kremlin's rehearsal, they returned to the stage 45min later, dressed up, ready for their performance.

Music: String only orchestral, most pieces moving at a quick pace and featuring solos, especially those featuring Mr. Borok.

Performers: Uniformally dressed but not black tux's and dresses. Not all of them seem to enjoy playing the music in this feature, but a few smiled continuously after successful phrases. Guest soloist untouched in tone quality and finger dexterity

Time-Space: Someone behind me had obviously been sipping the whiskey pre-concert. The solo performance of Dallas Symphony Orchestra's concertmaster seemed to make time drag out longer simply to hear him play just a little more.

Audience: About a fifth students, the rest older music appreciators, half of which make the monetary sacrifice to support the arts.

Before the concert, people who had donated to an arts cause recently were asked to stand. At the reception, the few faces I recognized from the audience belonged to this group. I did not notice any students at the reception or any of the performers. The guest concertmaster stayed to talk in the concert hall, but never made it to hoblitzer. I can't say much about the reception, but the concert brought together a few people with the music of Slavic roots. Emanuel Borok of the DSO joined Kremlin and conversed in Russian with the other performers. It was apparent that they all enjoyed the music and the culture responsible for its creation.

Extra 2 - Kremlin Rehearsal

It was really interesting to see the effectiveness of a professional rehearsal. Much more organized and with quicker corrections than high school would have it happen. As for any discards, shaping, repeats and public readifications I would say it is a close recount of verbal comments from the conductor.

However, I don't understand Russian so here is what I gathered from the rehearsal. The 1st chair violin didn't have a pencil (which is a big no no for rehearsals), and violins were immediately asked to repeat a series of rapid, sticcato plucking movements a few times.

Near the end of the first featured piece, a long and drawn out high chord was repeated and shaped as it didn't stay in tune the whole time. The second piece had some tempo issues and the cellos had some rhythms to brush up on.

When they added the concertmaster from the Dallas Symphony Ochestra, Emanuel Borok, the piece was repeated from the beginning twice and the tempo for some decrescendos and rollantandos was made better. Last of all, due to some aggravated English, measure 111 needs more feeling!

Extra 1 - In class discussion

I thought the discussion to be quite short for the variety of things that could have been discussed. However, we were able to see first hand a few of the skills the troupe came to display. We didn't have anything as prepared to share in return, but we were able to impart some of our interests and cultural knowledge to our friends.

I found the discussion interests of our visitors very similar to those of young college students that I met on a trip to Japan. They seemed interested in what's popular. "Who do you listen to?" "Is very popular?", these are questions that both groups had in common.

Throughout recorded history, China and Japan have shared and copied many things from each other. If the young generations of both countries have the same inquisitive interests in Americans, is it because media from both report generally the same things about us? or is it because of what information we give them?

post 4 - Googoosh

GooGoosh, Hamseda Medly

This video of Googoosh features music in duple meter starting somewhere around an allegretto tempo and before the end of the piece jumping to the high end of vivace. The melody is one mostly of sticcato flute and drums. Cadences are marked with a ritardando and extra accent to the syncopated upbeats on drums. Harmony is introduced in the flute and sometimes trumpet for extra accent. The texture is one of homophony between her voice and the repetitive rhythms and chords of the various instruments. Multiple melodies may be present at very short time frames, but throughout most of this piece a single melody is passed on between instruments.

Post 3 - 40th anniversary concert

This concert focused on Latin music, with composition from both inside and outside of the culture itself. The most interesting piece in my opinion is that of the Semi-suite from the American composer using Latin music themes.

Music: Consisted of violin, clarinet, piano, and various percussion(Marimba, triangle, feather beat snare). Of the five parts, one and five flowed with a distinct common theme, two and four heavily guided by piano melody, and three very short and using the violin as a comical interlude. Part two made use of heavy dissonance in the Marimba and Clarinet for an eerie feeling.

Performers: All dressed professionally. No visual queues made during performance. Piano seemed to set the tempo while the others listened. Clarinet remained stoic while the violin got into the music via swaying.

Audience: Mostly note takers. Before intermission, during this semi-suite it was almost a full house. Distinct smell in the air, someone peeled an orange sometime shortly before this piece was played.

Time/Place: Late evening, conference hall. The large area of wooden surfaces creates reverberation for easy tuning. Though the room was much colder than the hall outside, which can have a great effect on woodwinds and strings.

Post 2 - Dallas culture music ethnography

Featuring music genres such as Neo Gothic, Industrial and Electronic, Rave culture attracts a variety of underground attention. Dallas has no deserts and a sand buggie would most likely be pulled over within the hour. Instead, raves take place at indoor clubs such as the Lizard Lounge.

http://www.thelizardlounge.com/

Cops don't appreciate parties that are taken to the street, but inside loud music, alternative dress styles and promiscuous behavior bring raves alive in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.