"Dingildai" by Igor Koshkendey

The music sample presented this time around titled “Dingildai” by Igor Koshkendey comes from Tuva. Also known as the Tyva Republic, Tuva is a federal subject of Russia that lies in the center of Asia in southern Siberia. Most people who live in Tuva are Tuvans, however they mostly speak Russian. This song is sung in a voice quite different from what is prevalent in Western music. I am not totally sure of whether or not the performers are using a Western scale, but considering they are not Westerners, I’m assuming they are not. The sound is too different, I feel, for it to be a Western scale. I do not think is a tonic, the tone seems to stay the same, except when the singers do an odd throat noise every so often. I believe the is a harmony and I feel like it would be dissonant, because the song sounds complicated, even though the voices are fairly even throughout. The harmony then switches to consonant when the drawn out throat noise happens specifically. The instruments’ sounds actually seem to match the singers’ voices well, both being harsh, throaty, and “off pitch” to what we are used to in the Western world. The man and woman’s voices are sung in rounds, never matching up quite at the same time when they sing together. There seems to be interlocking among the musicians and singers. It is hard to tell if it is heterophony, homophony, monophony, or polyphony, but I think it is heterophony. The long throat sound might be a drone effect.

From my research I discovered that Igor Koshkendey is a Tuvan musician. Before I researched him I assumed the music and the musician was Russian and I was not far off. When I looked him up he did not appear as an individual, but as a band established in 1996. This band is called Chirgilchin which translates to “dance of the air in the heat of the day” or “miracle” in Tuvan. It consists of, of course, Igor Koshkendey, and then Mongun-ool Ondar, Aldar Tamdyn, and Aidysmaa Koshkendey. I learned that he is an expert at the Oidupaa style which is a type of kargyraa, otherwise known as Tuvan throat singing. He has mastered six different throat-singing styles as well as is working on his very own. Tuvan throat singing is a type of singing where one of more pitches sound at the same time over a fundamental pitch which produces a unique, interesting sound. Tuvan throat singing originated from male herders who would throat sing. These days women are starting to practice Tuvan throat singing as well (as we heard in this music sample.) It seems that throat singing was a result of geographic location and culture. This is due to the open landscape of Tuva which allows for a the sounds to carry a wide distance. Many throat singers practice near rivers and mountain sides.

I did not particularly like the song or how throat singing sounds, but it was entertaining. It’s fascinating to hear new types of techniques of making music that I have never been presented with before.

"Yundum Nko" by Jali Nyama Suso

“Yundum Nko” by Jali Nyama Suso is quite different the African music we have been presented with in class. Rather than the frenzied, wild, deep, but quick beats of drums this music sample is soft, relaxed, and dreamy. The melody seems to be carried with a string instrument rather than drums, in fact.

    In this piece I heard two different beats going on. The main one, more frantic, and then the background beat, simple. To my judgement, the music sample might have sounded like free rhythm, but I see it as organized rhythm. To test this out I used the units of rhythm such as taka and takadimi, etc. The rhythm of the music seemed to match up with these units to me. One of the instruments plays a more complicated rhythm, spinning around in different direction that could be measured in a mix of numbers. Meanwhile, the background rhythm can be measured more like 1...1...1...1...and so on. The song is majority played at a slow pace yet at certain parts it will accelerate and then decelerate again. The acceleration seems to match the voice of the singer. His voice goes from loud and quick to quiet and soft. As it goes loud the music decelerates and after he finishes singing the music accelerates. Therefore, it seems the chorus is for deceleration. This repeats over and over throughout the song.

    Upon doing research I found out about the musician/singer, Jali Nyama Suso. He is from Gambia and the instrument he plays is called a kora. So maybe the kora is what we hear in the song. He worked in radio and taught as a professor as well as worked on a soundtrack for a TV miniseries. The culture of his type of music is known for wandering, however Suso did not do so because he lost a leg at sixteen, rather he was more known from the radio and was arranged to do Gambia’s national anthem.

    While I could not find the lyrics of “Yundum Nko”, I found out about the jali culture. Jalis are West Africans who are historians, storytellers, praise singers, poets, and/or musicians. It stems from the oral tradition of storytelling and considered of high status. Jalis are expected to know many traditional songs without mistake and must be knowledgeable in other areas such as current events, history, gossip, satire, politics, and the world as it passes around him. This knowledge is called jeliya which can be translated to mean musicianhood. The term jali itself means blood which could reflect on how the culture is taken seriously and thought of as almost royalty. Jalis can be traced back to the 14th century--an example being a jali named Balla Fasseke who was given to a prince to advise him. Jalis would accompany aristocratic families such as warriors or emperors. A jali without a higher ranked pairing is untraditional--the bond is inseparable and they are worthless without each other. Villages also have their own jalis who tell tales of births, deaths, marriages, battles, hunts, affairs, and many more topics.

    Given this interesting history, I could assume that the music sample, “Yundum Nko”, must hit close to home with one of the topics mentioned above. It must tell a story. Perhaps a sad one of death or a happy one of birth. I can not tell from listening to another language but the meaning could be anything, happy or sad, despite the seemingly kind tune. We can not tell on tune alone. It can be assumed that the song carries great knowledge to be shared and a story to be told.

    As for myself, I really enjoyed this peace. It was certainly relaxing, and easy to listen to melody. Whatever the subject matter was, the tune made me have a positive mood.

Reflective Essay on Musical Background

Music is not something that was ever prominent in my family background. All in all, I found that when it comes to musicking my family took place as the listener and I myself followed this role. However, I believe that I have taken the role more seriously and used music as a tool for mood, an inspiration, and a connection.

As I recall, my grandma took piano, however, now just as her knowledge of french has faded I believe her skill for piano playing has too. My own piano experience lasted up to around four weeks before I quit. I struggled, I was impatient, and I suppose those are things even the best musicians go through, but it was time to quit. I knew I was no musician. Even earlier from my failed attempt at pianoing I began dancing from age four--ballet and tap, tap and ballet. One after the other, many misguided steps, many better than me, and every dance teacher, particularly the ballet instructors, with a strict attitude and noses pointed high with pride (not to mention, russian accents seemed to be the usual with ballet instructors and those did not add to my fear of them.) One year, during my journey to become a sugar plum in our city’s annual production of The Nutcracker I missed two practices--both for funeral. I came back, excited, ready to get to work, and there was my ballet instructor of the year, standing with her tall height, her pointed features pulled back angrily. With her hint of an accent she simply said, “You’ve missed too many practices. You’re out.” And I quit, there and then, never to step into dance again. I never missed it.

Rather than musicking, I had always been dedicated to visual art. From my early childhood I would draw nonstop and throughout my life I collected and went through dozens and dozens of sketchbooks. This is where my life was headed, I thought. I would be a visual artist like my aunt. Yet in sixth grade I had my first artistic shift. After seeing the movie The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, after then devouring all the books in The Chronicles of Narnia series I found a burst of new artistic energy take over me. Like C.S. Lewis, I wanted to create my own world, with my own characters, and stories--but with visual art there struck a problem. Visual art, while expressive, was not expressive enough for me to really get at getting detailed and broad on my world and its citizens and tales. So what was there to do but try writing out--and I did. I did not think to slowly creep in, dip my toe into the pool, I barged right in with a pen, scraping away at paper. My story could have been considered original for my age though taking a closer look it was merely a cheap knockoff version of C.S. Lewis’ own. Regardless, here I was, a writer or at least on my way to becoming one. And so I traded in sketchbooks for notebooks.

With writing comes a mood. The method of getting a mood involves finding yourself a calming environment, finding yourself secluded from others, it depends, but what I like to use is, yes, music. There are all kinds of music--calm, erratic, melancholy. To write the scene, you must find the track that would be able to fall into the backdrop of a movie scene. Which brings me to the detail that when I write I use a screenwriter’s and director’s mindset. Though I mostly write prose, screenwriting is another type of writing I love to do. With this approach you must think of the scene visually, map out the characters positions, their outfits, their mannerisms, their speech patterns, etc. To make a scene impactful, if it fits, you could use silence, but when that does not fit, and more than not, it does not, you must use a score. Therefore, I think of the music I select for writing as my own story’s score. Often, with songs with words I will pin point them to certain characters. These songs will draw out the passion and drive I have for my characters and will push me to get to work. Other times instrumental is key, as most scores are instrumental. This will create a mood for the characters to act upon, speak upon, and will evoke emotion with the audience as they view and listen.

As I pay attention to scores in movies--for example, listening to them after the movie to get a better sense of them, being able to focus only on listening rather than also watching--I have come to see the differences in scores depending on the setting. This is crucial, because the audience must be aware of the setting, be influenced by the setting, get a feel of the setting, and if an audience member is a part of that setting, they need to feel a connection. While I was not exposed to much culture in music within my family, I could learn it from movies and television series. The clearest example I could give is The Lion King. When I was young, this movie exposed me to a type of music and culture I was not at all used to. As I recall, The Lion King took place in Kenya. The score was incredibly rooted in that culture, every song having the sound of Kenyan beat, tune, rhythm, and instruments. Another example, as well as my favorite Disney movie, would be Mulan, which takes place in China and incorporates classic Chinese sound and instruments into the music, blended with a modern day twist. There was also, Pocahontas (Native American), The Jungle Book (Indian), Aladdin (Arabic), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (French and Romani), and so on. Even with the problematics within the errors of certain aspects of different cultures portrayed in their movies, Disney is actually a great example of being introduced to different cultures as a child through music. Therefore, I believe this background surely readied me to be curious and open-minded about the music of other cultures.

In conclusion, while my roles as musician and a dancer were cut short, I believe I connect strongly to the role of listener in musicking. My intense love for the soundtracks of music set me a path for being involved with music. My childhood passion for Disney  geared me towards be engaged with the music of different cultures around the world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TerKgrAFQ5k

"El Caballito" by Los Camperos de Valles

            The music that comes to my ears is cheerful, confident, and quick. The singers sing in Spanish and various instruments start to play a fast melody. With a bit of a research I find the instruments most likely consist of the guitarra quinta, but also possible a Jarana Huasteca, violin, etc. It seems the song is of the Son Huasteco style which is one of the original Mexican musical styles where the singer uses a falsetto register, the music is flamboyant, and the violin solos drawn out. This is also a huapango so with it comes dancing on top of a wooden platform. It is led by a trio of singers/players.

“El Caballito”/”The Pony” by Los Camperos de Valles would be used to occupancy a folk dance. This would mean it is performed at social events, maybe by common people, anyone who wants to perform. It is not necessarily designed for a public performance, rather more personal and social. It is routed in Mexican tradition and most likely has stayed the same for centuries. Younger people can learn from these events and this is how the tradition lives on. Therefore, the musicking involves everyone. The trio who plays the instruments, the singers, the dancers, the on lookers, the listeners. Traditional folk events include a community all together in celebration and musicking in harmony whether you play, dance, or just listen.

The meaning of the song “El Caballito”/”The Pony” is a bit more difficult to distinguish as I could not find any translation of the lyrics beyond the title. However, judging by the title it is a happy song. A pony does not strike a depressing image or feeling, does it? Usually, ponies are equated with happiness. Not only the title, but the upbeat melody of the song gears me towards believing the meaning is a celebratory one. I did some research on the song itself and while I didn’t find the lyrics I found other interesting material. Generally, huapangos are noted to have melancholy themes such as longing, love, and nature. This is despite the playful melodies. This makes me question my analysis above. Perhaps, the lyrics could be melancholy after all, I suppose I won’t ever know unless I read the lyrics in English.

But why melancholy? I read that huapangos were used during times of colonialism for the Mexicans to perhaps find strength in themselves and stick proudly to their own culture. What does this mean? Of course—they used huapangos as an assertion of their identity. When faced with oppression, with obstacles trying to disrupt your life, the natural instinct is to stick to your ownself, your identity, and that’s what this music could be about. That’s why it’s important. That’s why Mexican people have chosen to transmit this music, to pass it on for generations and generations to celebrate heritage and nationalism and identity.

As for personal views, I enjoyed the song. I liked the cheerful mood of it, because it keep me in a positive, get-to-work mood. The voice of a falsetto was nice as I always think higher voices are more pleasant, whether with female or male. I could see how this song could be used for Mexican culture and celebration easily.

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