Opera

The song in this opera by Rosinni, has a quasi verse refrain portion to the song. The song enters into what I believe to be the chorus shortly right after it starts. Within the chorus (when it says “Quiet, hush not a sound” in the lyrics), among other places, the lead singer, Richards, will sing and then the chorus of players will enter in with him. This indicates a sense of call and response that is in the opera, although this is mostly evident in the beginning. However, the call and response is also evident in the performers. The chorus may not respond necessarily through the song, but could also respond through their actions as well.

There are also evident transition points, most notably a while after the Lord enters when the music most notably changes from the main focusing on Richards (the main singer at the beginning) of the first portion to focusing on the Lord. These transition points are called tempo di mezzo. In the main transition between Richards and the Lord, there is also a transition between the active involvement of the chorus. The chorus is not nearly as involved in the song sung by the Lord. Also, the music does not sound as jovial after the Lord begins his portion as before, which is also displayed through not as much dancing by the chorus ensemble.

Despite the fact that I have focused mostly on the singers and the performers, the orchestra also plays a vital role in the development of this play. The orchestra is what helps to lead the play forward and allow development of the play. In fact, the orchestra sets up the mood of this portion of the play, since the orchestra is all that is playing at the beginning.

Avatar Music

The music culture of the Na’vi is a distinct music culture of the indigenous people of Pandora. However, it is important to note that there is still a difference between the film score and the music of the Na’vi. At times the music is one and the same, whereas other times the music is more distinct.

The music culture of the Na’vi represents their very way of life. The music is peaceful; the music incorporates many sounds of the wildlife of Pandora. The culture of the Na’vi is one of unity with both each other and with nature. The entire world of Pandora, both the people and the wildlife, act as one community. Different aspects of the music culture represent the different aspects of their life. Wildlife sounds are often incorporated to represent the close connection with nature in their life; Chanting is often incorporated into the music to represent the communal religion of the Na’vi; Drumbeats are often incorporated to represent heartbeat of the entire world of Pandora acting as one.

On the other hand, the film score is more of a representation of the journey of Jake Sulley, the protagonist. The film score embodies his trip from encountering this new world, becoming part of the people, and then fighting the other humans trying to destroy Pandora. While at times, the film score embodies the music culture of the Na’vi, because Jake indeed did become one of the indigenous people, it also incorporates more. One of the distinct differences between the film score and the indigenous music culture is the music describing the war between the humans and the Na’vi in the latter half of the film. While this is part of the film score, it would not be considered part of the music culture of the Na’vi.

Musical Ethnography

Introduction

In this paper I seek to discuss the local music culture of jazz music in the Dallas metroplex. Since the jazz music culture, even just in Dallas, can vary so much, I sought out a very specific music culture to examine. Within the confines of the larger jazz music culture in Dallas, I sought to examine the larger jazz ensembles (usually containing anywhere from 10 – 20 people). These larger jazz ensembles are typically found in schools and universities due to the sheer size of them, yet still embody most of the ideological principles of the larger jazz music culture.

Methodology

To begin my research I first had to understand the history of the larger jazz music culture, and how the Dallas music culture evolved from the larger history of jazz. I searched through both the library’s books and online resources in order to try to understand how this particular music-culture came to be. Once I had a basic grasp on the background of the music-culture I was studying, I could then hone in on the elements that make this music-culture distinct.

After I had obtained all I could about this music culture from the library and on the web, I began to examine the music culture firsthand. In order to get a taste of this music-culture, I went to a performance of a jazz ensemble in Dallas, Lyle Mays and the UNT one o’clock lab band. After the concert, I wrapped up my research through a telephone interview with one of my friends who participates in this music culture, and was able to ask any questions I had left.

Ideas about Music

The localized Dallas jazz music culture is unique in the way that it defines music to be very individualistic and almost something that can be only truly captured live in a live performance (Although CD’s are indeed sold, most followers of this music culture would agree a CD is nothing compared to a live performance) (Katz). This inherent belief of individuality allows the bands a great amount of flexibility to make the music their own. Utilizing one of the most fundamental aspects of jazz music, improvisation, each band makes not only their music uniquely their own, but also each performance.

Many of the ideals of this present day music culture are rooted in its rich history. Most scholars trace the fundamentals of jazz all the way back to the traditions of African music (Gioia, 9). Then, to make a long history short, the melodic history of the African jazz music made its way to black Creole musicians in New Orleans, the place that has been considered the place that really drove jazz as a prominent music culture (Gioia, 36). Through the 1900s, this jazz music eventually evolved into a big band form that gave a very similar instrumentation to the music-culture I am examining (Meeder, 62). However, although the instrumentation is the same as the swing era, the ideals of this current localized music-culture have evolved much from the original ideals that mark its past.

For instance, although the actual value that this music culture places on the music itself has not changed from the past (where the music always played a prominent role within the music culture), the time and energy that the players are able to invest in their music is not nearly as much as their predecessors. This doesn’t mean they view what they do as any less important; it merely means that the ideals have changed. For example, this music culture’s ideal concerning the amount of expected performances has dwindled from having a performance every weekend, to having a performance every couple of months (Katz).

Activities Involving Music

Although each ensemble typically makes their music distinctly unique from one another, the activities of the music culture typically remain the same throughout. As mentioned before, live performances are highly valued within this music culture. The performances of this particular music culture typically occur in large performance halls, usually at the school where the ensemble is from. Although this differs from other sects of the larger music culture, many aspects of the performance remain the same. For example, The lighting is usually still dim and mood colored, which is meant to put the audience in a relaxed mood (Katz). However, in contrast to some of the predecessor jazz cultures, audience dancing is usually not involved in the performance. For the most part, the audience stays put in their chairs and shows their participation by clapping after well performed solos, or slightly moving their heads to the beat of the song (Lyle Mays Performance).

Unlike some other music cultures in the world, there is virtually no boundary or limitation on who can participate in the local jazz culture. People from nearly every race, ethnicity, and religion participate in this music culture both in the audience and the ensemble. Although, in terms of gender, the local music culture mostly contains male performers (with the exception of female vocalists), the music-culture is still open and inviting to female performers as well.

Repertoires of Music

The diversity of this music culture enables the culture to embody a wide variety of music within their repertoire. Although the repertoire of this music culture is similar enough to all fit under the general jazz musical genre, it is still vast enough to not be able fit into a specific style of jazz. Both in the concert I went to in order to observe this music-culture and my interview, I discovered that these jazz ensembles play a variety of music including latin jazz music, smooth jazz music, jazz ballads, and even swing tunes.

Despite the wide repertoire, nearly all of the pieces played by these jazz ensembles are entirely instrumental. However, occasionally a piece may ask for a vocalist, in which case a vocalist (typically female) is brought into the ensemble. Even when a vocalist is called for in the piece, it is interesting to note that more times than not she is singing in a method called scat singing, in which she imitates the sound of the instruments through nonsensical syllables, and the improvisation often associated with the music.

As mentioned before, most bands in this local music culture do not have the same time and energy as their predecessors. This change in ideology is typically reflected within the repertoire in which the difficulty of the repertoire generally reflects the amount of time an ensemble has to put into the music. Another factor contributing to the difficulty of the repertoire concerns the length of time the players have played their instruments and the talent within the group (This is why often times college jazz repertoires contain more difficult music than high school jazz ensembles).

Material Culture of Music

This local music culture also has a material culture associated with it. The material culture of this music culture begins with the actual instruments. As mentioned before, the instrumentation of this music culture is almost exactly that of ensembles during the swing era, that is “a rhythm section with bass, drums, piano or guitar, multiple trumpets, trombones, reeds, and a vocalist” (Meeder, 62). However, the material culture of this music culture embodies so much more than just the instruments.

Most of the material culture associated with this music culture is associated with the performances in some shape or form. For example, nearly every ensemble I explored within the local music culture adheres to formal or at least semi-formal dress during a performance. This material aspect of this music culture is more seen in the performers, as opposed to the audience. According to Alex Katz, the formal dress allows the performances (or at least the performers) to maintain the idea that this music culture is a classy music culture.

Secondly, although as mentioned before, live performances are valued so much within this music culture, CD’s are still sold of the ensembles. The CD’s allow people who are big fans of the music use the CD’s as a way to hear their favorite ensembles between performances, as well as give people who can’t make a live performance the opportunity to get a taste of this music culture. However, it is important to note, that other merchandise that may be associated with popular bands, such as t-shirts, posters, etc., is not apparent within this music culture (Lyle Mays Perfomance).

Conclusion

The local jazz music culture I studied in Dallas uniquely creates a localized music culture that is similar, yet distinct from the larger jazz music culture in the world. This music culture is open and inviting to people from every type of background to participate as both a performer and an audience member, and this allows the repertoire to be quite diverse. Most importantly, the heart of this music culture lies in their performances and the production as a whole, from the lighting, to the improvisation, each performance for this music culture is a unique and different experience from the performance before.

Works Cited

Gioia, Ted. The History of Jazz. New York: Oxford Press, 1998. Print.

Katz, Alex. Telephone interview. 7 Mar. 2010.

Lyle Mays and the One O'Clock Lab Band. Murchison Performing Arts Center, Denton. 25 Feb. 2010. Performance.

Meeder, Christopher. The Basics: Jazz. New York: Routledge, 2008. Print.

Difficulties with the Ethnography

In analyzing the local jazz music culture for my musical ethnography, it was difficult to find material concerning this music culture that treated the local music culture as a separate entity from the larger jazz music culture, and even the history that led up to this current music culture. Therefore, what I had to do was to look through published material that gave me a general idea of the music culture as a whole, and then use the information I obtained from my interview and performance to assess how close my research was to the actual music culture.

When I finally got to the interview, the most difficult part about it was to get the person I was interviewing to really understand that I was seeking information about the music culture and not just the music itself. Even though I tried to guide the questions in such a way as to obtain information concerning the music-culture, I found the concept of a music culture is foreign to many people.

Overall, the most difficult part was not so much in the research phase of this project, but rather in the stage in which I had to put all of the information together in my report. In my report I had two aspects that were particularly difficult. First, it was difficult condense all of the information to only a 1,200 word report. After all of my research, I had so much information I wanted to talk about, that I felt like I wasn’t doing the music culture justice through my short paper. Second, I had difficulty in refraining from treating the paper as a history of the music culture, because the history of jazz influenced the current music culture so much. However, overall, I was able to work through all of these difficulties and will have my ethnography published soon for all of my followers to see :)

Jazz Music Culture

For my musical ethnography I am studying the music culture surrounding relatively large jazz ensembles. These larger jazz ensembles are typically found in high schools and universities and mostly perform in performance halls (as opposed to the smaller ensembles that typically play in cafés). UNT has a strong university jazz band, while my high school has a strong high school jazz band. The only main difference between a high school and university is the difference in the difficulty of their repertoire of music.

This music culture has its history rooted in a much wider and much older musical genre. This website provides a good brief summary of jazz history. The foundation of jazz goes all the way back to the time of slavery in Africa where the slaves sung many work songs and spiritual songs that became the foundation of jazz music. Then as America became a mixing pot of cultures, so did music, and so jazz became a mixture of many of the European compositional styles with melodies from the black community. Then, the jazz music culture began to rise throughout the US especially in cities such as New Orleans, Chicago, and New York, and artists such as Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis.

Through the long evolution of jazz, we eventually come to see the music culture I am studying. In the larger jazz bands we typically see an ensemble consisting of trombones, trumpets, saxophones, percussion, and possibly a guitar or piano, depending on the piece. The jazz style of music is mostly noted for the syncopated rhythms, solos, call and response, blues scales, and improvisation. Although jazz was founded on the melodic styles of the black community, nowadays it is open to everyone and you will see people of very different cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds participate in this very exciting music culture.