Noh Theater

Key elements of Japanese Noh theater seem to be the following:

Emotion: Each piece has some sore of motive attached to each melody and very specific moods for specific sounds and movements.

Vocal Chanting: As seen in this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUTG6N0KFj4 , one can hear the chanting in the background. This is closely related to shomyo, which is Buddhist chanting.

Instrumentation: There is a musical ensemble that accompanies the Noh performance called the Hayashi. It consists of four instruments: the nohkan and three small drums. Of the small drums, the ko-tsuzumi is the most important because its pitch can be changed throughout the performance.

Nohkan: The bamboo flute used in Noh theater plays nonpulsatile melodies to contrast the pulse of the drums and movement of the Noh actors.

Drumming patterns: as seen in the video earlier, the drums are played in multiple patterns. each drum playing a different one. The drums are still nonpulsatile though.

Symbolism: Eveything in Noh theater is standardized to the point that every sound, instrument, movement, element, has some sort of symbolic meaning.

Hindustani music

From listening to this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIM6eQthg_E it is clear that there is heavy inflluence in hHindustani music from vocal ornamentation. It sounds like there could also be a drone featured in this song which is also a classic feature of Hindustani music. The string instruments also play a large role in creating classic Hindustani sound. By listening to this piece you can hear the raga, which is the ascent and descent in pitches in Indian classical music. Its like a scale. The tabla in this piece creates the rhythm for the piece and allows the traditional Hindustani elements to come forth in the song. This style of Hindustani music is called tarana which creates a good mood and typically features strong vocal ornamentation.

Googoosh

The performance I chose to blog about it is this one, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lspH0xvULoY. The song is typical of the traditional Middle Eastern style with heavy emphasis on chordophones and long drawn out vocals with lots of ornamentation by use of vibrato. This music has an influence from western pop music because pop music at the time this was produced in Iran was unheard of, especially by female singers. The progression of the song deviates greatly from typical instrumental music of the Middle East. Inclusion of female vocals before Umm Kulthum and Googoosh was unheard of. Based on the timeframe, I think another heavy influence on this music is from Umm Kulthum, who has been one of the most influential singers in the Arab Music world. Their solo styles are very simillar and it seems like these two female singers have created the path for more female Middle Eastern singers to breakthrough. Googoosh is an Iranian pop idol and as a result this song is a huge hit. Googoosh's solo singing with heavy ornamentation is the definitive style of the Middle Eastern pop music movement. Both Kulthum and Googosh have redefined the world of Middle Eastern music.

Arabic Music

I know we are starting the chapter on Middle Eastern music soon and I just thought i would share some songs with you. I am Arab-American so a lot of my family that still lives in the Middle East tends to share this kind of music with me. I focus more on the popular music like Amr Diab. This guy is pretty big over there as in pretty much everyone knows his music. It's not something I listen to everyday but I do enjoy his music. Also i enjoy Algerian Rai music. It is a youthful upbeat type of music as opposed to more traditional middle easter music. Rai is more of a fusion of French and Arab cultures. I used to listen to this rai song by 1 2 3 Soleil all the time growing up, its called Abdel Kader. One member of the group, Rachid Taha is another one of my favorites. As you can see in this song "Ya Rayah" there is heavy influence by chordophones in Middle Eastern and Arabic music. I do not normally listen to the traditional Middle Eastern music but I have heard of Umm Kulthum and her music is really good. It is very apparent that she has made a huge difference as you can see here between these two songs. The original "Enta Omry" by Umm Kulthum and then as remixed by Wyclef Jean for his intro in a song he released last year, "Hollywood Meets Bollywood". Well I just thought I would share this with you guys. Thanks for reading.

mo

Concert.

I cannot recall the specific song title I will discuss in this blog post but i do remember that it was at a point in the performance when the entire mood of the concert shifted. It sounded almost like a smooth jazz piece, there was a bass, like a string bass, a drum set, a piano, and a violin. It was definitely a homophonic texture to the piece; the melody was carried out by the violin. The music was upbeat, yet had a very calming factor to it. It was like being in a Starbucks. The audience seemed to enjoy the shift in tone of the piece because you could see everyone sit up in their seats to get a closer look at what was being played. This was the penultimate song before intermission. So the audience was kind of anxious for a break, however the shift in mood from this one song helped carry over the audience's attention until intermission. During the song, the conference center was almost packed, so there was a good vibe going on. But most people left after intermission, and that kind of killed the mood of the concert. You could tell in the audience that everyone was there for student requirements. There was a huge difference in the feel of the audience before and after intermission. The performers were really into the music. You could tell from the bobbing of their heads and smooth jazz feel that they really enjoyed what they were doing. The soloists played on cue, and were very talented. Their passion for their music was evident through their performance. I'm glad I attended this concert. That one piece stuck in my head, and I really wish I could recall its title. Thanks for reading.

mo