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Blog 8, Du

The political protest music I picked is “Fuck tha Police” by N.W.A. I think that the artist created this piece of music because during the time they lived in there were a lot of racial tensions between law enforcement and minorities. This song’s purpose was to expose law enforcement for police brutality and racial profiling. The music genre that this piece is associated with is Hip-Hop. I think that Hip-Hop has always been political, rap was invented to highlight injustices that happen in communities in which people have felt neglected. From what I have noticed there are many political campaigns that have famous hip-hop artists involved so they can increase the fan base and the relationship between hip-hop and politics.

In the first verse Ice Cube said, “A young nigga got it bad ’cause I’m brown..And not the other color, so police think..They have the authority to kill a minority.” Racial profiling and discrimination reached a high in the late 80’s after the appearance of crack in 1986. By Straight Out of Compton’s release in 1988, there were 762,718 yearly arrests for drug possession, almost twice as many as the 400,000 in 1981. The 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, supposedly targeted the African American community because the percentage of crack cocaine users were African American. I think the musical characteristic that is useful for a political protest would be the song’s chorus, “Fuck tha police!”. The chorus highlights the purpose of this song and it isolates who they artists want the music to influence.

Blog 7, Du

Music plays an important role in the Sema ceremony, I feel like that the music that plays within the Sema ceremony creates a different atmosphere for the listeners and watchers. Without the music, the ceremony won’t be as intriguing and less meaningful in my opinion. After watching the video “The Mevlei Sema Ceremony” music created a different vibe to the ceremony, the dancing with the music goes perfectly together and I feel like all religious ceremonies should have music. In other worship ceremonies, such as church. Church music is about worshiping their religious god, the message is important because the message should be remembered and one of the ways to remember words is by singing. The more you sing a song, the more you remember the lyrics. The lyrics stay attached to the listeners ears and makes them think about what the music is trying to tell them. The differences between both these religions is the music, from what I know most church music nowadays contain only vocals meanwhile Mevlevi music only contains instrumentation.

Blog 6, Du

My parents were both born in China, the genre of music associated with my ethnicity is Chinese opera. Chinese Opera is an art-form that includes many elements such as music, dancing, acting, comedy, and martial arts. What appeals to most people might be the different styles of facial make-up and costumes. Exaggerated designs are painted on each performer’s face to symbolize a character’s personality, role, and fate. Performances were watched in tearooms, restaurants, and even around makeshift stages. Musical accompaniment is provided by a band of musicians often in the view to the right hand side of the stage. Traditional instruments are used with heavy use of percussion. 

Du, Blog 5

After reviewing each video, I personally think I would be most comfortable as an audience member at a Jazz performance. The reason being is Jazz music gives me positive vibes. I feel like Jazz brings people from everywhere together. As I was growing up, my father loved playing a lot of Duke Ellington’s music in the car rides, Duke’s music makes me feel at peace whenever I get too worked up. Personally, I would like to see the performers have fun and enjoy their music as much as the audience does. I would be expected to act appropriately. Such as, talking at a low level, applauding when necessary, treating the people around you with respect, and most importantly having a fun time.

I think the least comfortable performance for me is at a chamber music recital. One reason is the distance between the audience and the performer is very important to hearing the music being played. As a performer you want to ensure that your audience can clearly hear the music, if you sit at the front of the stage you may not be able to hear all the sounds at the same time.

Blog 3, Du

There are a lot of musical technology used during a concert. The most critical would be loudspeakers. Loudspeakers are defined as stereo equipment, that create sound through the conversion of electrical impulses. There are many different variations of loudspeakers that serve different purposes. I do not believe this technology can be used in a way that it is not designed for. I do have experience with loudspeakers, I own a pair for my computer at home. The loudspeakers are used mainly when I want to listen to music while doing work. Loudspeakers are also important for speakers that have to make a speech. If the speaker is making a speech, it is important for all people of the audience to fully receive the message, loudspeakers will serve their purpose 100 percent of the time.

Loudspeakers are used for many songs when the artists perform. The example I picked was NGHTMRE at the Electric Daisy Carnival 2019. Loudspeakers are a must-have equipment for edm artists at venues. If edm artists did not have speakers, It would decrease the entertainment tragically for people at the venue. I believe that a performer would prefer loudspeakers at any venue, no matter what size.

Blog 2, Du

The pieces I have chosen to listen to are Kyrie (monophonic) and Kyrie from the Pope Marcellus Mass. In the musical piece Kyrie (monophonic) the musical elements I find most prevalent are melody and rhythm. Melody is a unit of tones sounded in succession-one after another. Rhythm is defined as a pattern of beats determined by the strength of beats. I’ve noticed that the melody in this piece contain conjunct and disjunct pitches. The rhythm of the music goes from a loud to soft pitch repetition. This piece does not have harmony for several reasons. This example is monophonic, which means that there will not be any accompaniment throughout the piece. Also, I have come to believe that this piece would not sound as beautiful if there were to be accompaniment.

In Kyrie from Pope Marcellus Mass, the musical elements that stood out to me the most are melody, rhythm and harmony. The melody in this piece is conjunct and disjunct. I believe the harmony is very consonant, this piece reminds me of holy music, or church music. The harmony of the male and female vocals sounded perfect when combined.

Blog 1 Du

The Medieval Period started around 470 AD and ended around the beginning of the renaissance. The Medieval Period excites me the most because it started the development of Western musical notation, which are sheets containing symbols that represent the pitch and duration of the sound. Musical notations are really important to music because it formed a way to communicate in the music world and was preserved throughout generations. The historical event within the Medieval I know the most is the Declaration of Magna Carta, which restricted the power of kings and showcased the importance of the constitution. The textbook defines the Medieval Period as a period that developed the ability to create musical notation and start of early church music.

The musical piece that interested me the most is “Je vivroie liement/Liement me deport” written by Guillaume de Machaut. This piece of music met my expectations of what the medieval and stood out to me the most because the use of different instruments and the vocals takes the edge off my mind. This style of music brings positive vibes to my ears.