Theoretical Content of Musical Concepts - Assignment Example

Observation Report on a Musical Event Theoretical content of musical concepts plays a significant role in facilitating individual’s understanding on society and entertainment. However, theories learned in class can further be reinforced by engaging in practical events within a real world situation. Attending actual musical events becomes instrumental especially in the context of ethnomusicology. This essay covers a report on an actual musical event from a new ethnic background. It extrapolates on components like the event’s venue, performers, audience, interview and the general success or failure of the event from an objective perspective. Introduction Over the weekend, I decided to attend a musical event hosted the Samba Reggae School of Michigan. The event was held on November 17, 2013 along the famous Grand Haven beach of Lake Michigan. It was organized by the Samba Reggae School in collaboration with local fans. It was a daytime event taking place between 12pm to 7pm in the evening. Since I had no opportunity of purchasing advanced tickets, I decided to get rush tickets at the beach, which were retailing at a price of $11.50. This event was a Samba Reggae concert meant for ceremonial and entertainment purposes. The guest artist was Luis Vieira, one of the most popular Samba Reggae artists in South America. The ceremonial event started with a rehearsal by a local percussion team followed by dances and major performance by the guest artist. The entire program for the concert was available at the gate free of charge. Samba Reggae Music At this juncture, we will evaluate integral aspects of Samba Reggae music as used within the context of Brazilian traditional practices. First, it is worth acknowledging the fact that Samba Reggae derives its roots from a combination of Brazilian Samba genre and the Jamaican Reggae music (Pessanha and McGowan 23). A proportional blend between these two distinct genres gave birth to Samba Reggae, a music characterized by moderate tempo instrumentals with frequency ranging from 90-120 beats per minute. Samba Reggae is known for its close association with Carnival ceremony in Brazil, which involves dancers parading through residential villages while dressed in artifacts representing society’s values. It was originally an African ceremony brought into South America by slaves from West Africa. Currently, Samba Reggae is one of the most popular musical genres in Brazil and other Southern nations like Colombia. Personal Experience on the Event Prior to attending the music concert, I was not thoroughly conversant with events taking place in a Samba Reggae concert. I was used to seeing street dancers in television dressed in colorful attire and making magnificent patterns in their dancing formations. Therefore, this concert was my perfect opportunity to experience a Brazilian ceremonial event marked by musical performances. Chronological happenings in the beach were initiated by entrance by the two hosts carrying Samba Reggae flags followed by a short rehearsal performance by two local Samba bands. After the rehearsal, the drum session started preparing for the eagerly awaited Samba parade. The colorful parade which featured approximately 100 dancers of both genders lasted for about 2 hours. Finally, the guest artist, Luis Vieira, was invited to give his 1-hour energetic performance featuring top ten of his best tunes. After experiencing a Samba Reggae concert in person, I developed a high-spirited attitude towards involvement in such colorful events. In the past, I was used to experience Samba Reggae music in recorded videos or audio versions. However, attending an actual concert inspired me to start learning detailed concepts about Brazilian traditional ceremonies, especially the role of music in those ceremonies. In conventional context, I used to lose interest after listening to tunes from this genre for a consecutive 20 minutes. However, the concert was not only fun but also thrilling. Watching real people performing dancing moves which normally appear fantastic in video recordings enhanced the fun aspect of the event. In addition, the Samba Reggae concert left me feeling excited and fun-filled for a substantial period as compared to my previous experience after listening to these performances in recorded versions. At this point, I can say that the actual event not only met but also exceeded my expectations of a Samba Reggae music event. Success of the Event From a personal point of view, I am of the opinion that the concert was not perfect but ended as a success. All the events were arranged in a chronological manner, which created an organized sense of performance throughout the event. In addition, incorporation of colorful dancers and performance by Luis Vieira towards the end of the list facilitated optimization of the event. With respect to musical features, all performances adopted a medium tempo comprising of high and low-pitched instrumentals from drums and cymbals. Synchronization of both the low and high-pitched instruments led to development of a sustainable rumbling sound across the theatre. Success of the instrumental band was attributed to expertise coordination by the lead drum leader, whose role involved initiating and retrenching improvisation fills depending on the performer’s vocal frequencies. Therefore, general arrangement and instrumental coordination enhanced success of the Samba Reggae concert. Evaluation on Performers and Audience Performers in the concert, especially the Samba dancers were dressed in colorful clothing and artifacts with specific cultural messages. Green featured as the most dominant color in clothes worn by all the dancers. In addition, the event was filled with greenish and yellowish placards and posters. In this case, the ceremonial event in subject was supposed to celebrate economic or political aspects associated with the yellow and green colors of Brazilian context. Apparently, these colors meant something worth celebrating by the Brazilian people. Mostly, the green colors could be a representation of Brazil’s fertile lands commonly known for being the most suitable for growing cash crops. The bright colors of yellow and orange represents the earthly pleasures associated with productivity of Brazilian lands. It means that such events were staged whenever the participants were engaged in indulging in earthly pleasures as a result of succeeding in their economic and social activities. Prior to commencement of the performance, both the audience and performers were seated in their respective aisles. They appeared low-spirited, reserved and mild. However, entrance of Luis Vieira as the guest artist was marked by joyful wails and physical agitation across the beach venue. The audience started jumping and shouting as soon as the host introduced the entrance of Luis Vieira together with his back-up dancers. As soon as the event stated, one could easily perceive an elevated mood across the entire audience population. Almost all the audience started wearing a smile and appeared excited through the conspicuous facial expressions across the venue. As the concert proceeded, all audiences could be seen joyfully singing along the performers and dancing along with the dancers. These incidences were signs of enthusiasm and attention to momentary events within the theatre. Interview During the event, I managed to get in contact with one Luis Vieira’s assistant coordinator. Technically, the assistant was involved in arranging for the event, especially in scheduling dances. After the concert, I had an opportunity to ask the interviewee a few questions about Samba Reggae and Samba concerts. The dialogue below is what transpired through the interview process. Question 1: As a Samba Reggae technical assistant, what can you say are the most essential musical features of this genre? Answer: As you know, Samba Reggae is a blend between the rumbling Jamaican reggae and the energetic Brazilian Samba. Therefore, Samba Reggae music should possess both features of rhythmic energy and medium tempo beats. In addition, Samba Reggae should be fast as opposed to the slow features of pure reggae music. Question 2: Are the musical features of Samba Reggae tunes appropriate for celebrating ceremonial events like carnival? Answer: Actually yes. Carnival celebration is a social event celebrated for both cultural and entertainment purposes. The quick beats allow dancers to make swift motions with their body parts, thus enhancing physical recreation. Since carnival is a festive event, then I believe that the medium tempo and fast rhythm characterizing Samba Reggae makes it appropriate as the main music genre for such events. Question 3: What is your opinion on the colorfulness of costumes associated with Samba Reggae events? Answer: I believe colorful objects are associated with qualities of liveliness and joyfulness as opposed to dark and dull colored objects. In this case, colorfully dressed dancers common in Samba Reggae events are meant to portray aspects of joy and liveliness. It is a means of enhancing the festive picture by appreciating the good pleasures associated with festive celebrations in Brazilian societies. Question 4: Supposedly there are three versions of Samba reggae, which version do you perform? Answer: versions of samba reggae include Olodum, modern samba reggae and the Ile Aiye version. We play it the Olodum style. Question 5: What is the difference between these three styles? Answer: Ile Aiye was the first version popularly played by blacks in the 1950. Olodum was introduced after influence of Bahia Carnival Organization, and is associated with Carnival festivals. Finally, modern samba reggae is high pitched and involves use of modern electronic instrumentation as opposed to drums and cymbals. Question 6: What specific musical features can assist a new listened to distinguish Olodum from the other styles? Answer: Olodum usually use three basic instruments; the drums, repiniques and the clave cymbals. These instruments are not commonly used in the other genres, especially modern versions. In addition, Olodum does not use whistles, an instrument usually associated with the older version of Samba reggae. Question 7: Does the drummers follow a certain directional force when playing their beats? Answer: Yes. All drummers follow their drum leader when either increasing or decreasing the pitches and intensity of drum sounds. Question 8: Why are drummers in Samba Reggae many compared to other musical genres like rock and roll? Answer: Playing and dancing of samba reggae is meant to depict collective celebration. The large number of drummers shows solidarity in celebration as well as uniformity in expressing joyful moments of Carnival. Question 9: Does dancers also have a leader? Answer: Apparently yes. Just like the drummers, dancers will follow skilled leaders. These leaders are responsible for training and guiding samba reggae dancers in preparation for samba parades. Question 10: As you mentioned the drummers, can they, the drummers, also participate in dancing while still playing their instruments? Answer: Positive. Samba reggae encourages participation of all performers in doing collective moves at the ground. It works as an advantage to the performance whenever drummers can dance while at the same time playing their instruments. Question 11: How many leaders are supposed to lead the entire dance crew during a samba parade? Answer: There is no restriction regarding the number of leaders. Basically, few skilled dancers are normally asked to appear at the front line of the parade in order to set the pace for the entire dance crew to follow. Question 12: As I could see from the concert, most drummers and dancers were men. Is there restrictions regarding gender inclusion during these festivals? Answer: No. South American cultures, especially in urban Bahia appreciate women in their social contexts. Celebrations are normally marked by colorfully dressed women and girls. In this beach concert, the local performers could not raise as high the number of female performers as to that of men. That is the reason for the apparent disparity. Question 13: Apart from being a festive-oriented genre, is Samba Reggae also used for religious purposes? Answer: No. Most Brazilians and other South Americans have a definite boundary between religious music and festival music. Therefore, Samba reggae is used exclusively for ceremonial purposes relating to festive seasons. Question 14: What is your opinion on the success in terms of performance and audience population in this beach event? Answer: As compared to other Samba Reggae events, I can say today’s concert has been a success both with respect to number of audience and performers. Hosting a foreign musical genre is usually challenging, but this one has been conducted successfully. Question 15: What could you tell other people who have never attended samba reggae music? Answer: I would urge them to consider taking part in such an event once in their lives. Samba reggae is an energetic and thrilling genre which can capture everyone’s attention. It is participatory in nature and leaves both performers and audience impressed. Conclusion In conclusion, I tried to connect between observations within the musical event and responses from the interview. One concept that stood out is that Samba Reggae music is more of a ceremonial or ritual genre as opposed to being entertainment music. Dancers within the event were making structured ceremonial moves as a means of portraying traditional ways of living that led to development of the genre. Apart from dancing moves, it emerged that the musical features responsible for making the concert a success are inherent features of Samba Reggae. The rhythm is instrumental in enhancing the genre’s applicability as a ceremonial music for festive events like carnival. Work Cited Pessanha, Ricardo and McGowan, Chris. The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova and the Popular Music of Brazil. New York: Temple University Press, 2012. Print. Read More