Critical Review #10: Feld 1994

Steven Feld's "Notes on 'World Beat'" examines the interplay between American and African popular musics and the dynamics of the relationship. He highlights the dual nature of musical appropriation; that of both respectful admiration and homage and that of domination and asymmetry of ownership and power. As an example he uses Mick Jagger's recording of music by Muddy Waters. Jagger has great respect for Waters and said that he "wanted to record great songs associated with [Waters] to draw attention to rock's debt to blues" (Feld 238). However, the relationship is fundamentally unbalanced: Jagger benefits vastly more than Waters, and there is a certain cultural arrogance to the idea that a recording by a global pop star is necessary to draw attention to the music of a lesser-known artist.

Feld goes on to discuss how African American music went back to Africa and influenced African pop music, leading to the familiar sound that Paul Simon found when he went there in the 80s. He also emphasizes the idea of ownership as it relates to music. All of the songs on Graceland are "Copyright...Paul Simon", and some of the artists did not even receive writing credit for their songs (in a further example of ownership dynamics, Simon gave writing credit to the African groups for the songs on which they collaborated, but not to the American groups). Feld concludes by suggesting that the issues of power and control in the global recording business have created a situation such that African and African-American artists and musical styles are kept "at the levels of labor, talent, or 'influences'" which are used for profit by the white record company executives and their global pop stars.

Who has the power to alter the system as it currently stands? Could and would the African and African American artists mentioned by Feld bring change to the system by refusing to play a backing role? Could and would the pop stars change the system by refusing to take advantage of others' music? Or can change only occur if the record company executives decide to reform the system to eliminate the dynamics of control and domination?

Critical Review #9: Hamm 1989

Charles Hamm's article is a strong critique of Paul Simon's Graceland album. Hamm first summarizes the defenses of Graceland from "Simon and his apologists" (Hamm 1), namely that Graceland brought attention to South African musicians who benefited economically from the album and the exposure, that any political commentary on the album would have put the musicians in danger back in their home, and that the mixed-racial nature of the album was in itself a commentary. Hamm attacks each of these points in turn before turning his argument against other Western artists who released similar "African-influenced" albums in the aftermath, such as Makeba, Baez, and Belafonte. He attacks their politics and motivations, eventually building up to a condemnation of the entire 1950s and 1960s American folk revival, stating that it took advantage of indigenous musics from around the world without providing any benefit or credit to the authentic practitioners of the music. He sees the new Graceland-influenced albums as a continuation of that unjust relationship.

Music is constantly changing; the nature of music is that new forms arise as different existing forms interact, mix, and influence each other. Often, popular new forms emerge due to tragic social circumstances: jazz, blues, rock, and countless other forms essentially emerged because of the musical influences from Africa that came on account of the slave trade. Where is the moral dividing line between musical interactions that arise from unfortunate circumstances but are accepted and those that are viewed as objectionable, as Hamm viewed Graceland?

Challenge Question Feedback Response

Mike's Original Question

My Answer

Mike's Feedback

Feedback Response:

Hi Mike!

I originally wrote a comment on your actual post last week, because I forgot that we were doing another round of feedback, so I've taken my original comment and revised it somewhat.

I definitely agree with you that currently there is an over-representation of outsider ethnographies. I think the solution is an attempt to equalize the status of ethnographies. Neither insider nor outsider ethnographies should be seen as better than the other, merely different, and there should not be an overabundance of either one. Ideally, readers would be able to discern the qualities and advantages of each view, and they would be able to glean useful information from both. Whether such a state of equality is achievable is another question! One problem with this is establishing standards of quality. What are the characteristics of a good, thorough ethnography? If we base them off of what we're familiar with, then we would be forcing people from other cultures to write ethnographies in the Western academic tradition. What if their concept of an ethnography is completely different from our own? How do we evaluate the quality of their ethnographies, and how do we compare/combine insider and outsider ethnographies when they are written by people from different cultures who are going about the observation and writing processes from completely different points of view? There are a lot of issues to discuss here, and I think that in principle you are right that outsider ethnographies are over-represented, but I believe that this observation merely raises a whole host of new issues if we want to “fix” the problem. This is definitely a conversation that could continue for some time.

I also agree that the dominance of outsider ethnographies from the West is unfortunate. I would definitely like to see more outsider ethnographies done by non-Westerners, but as long as ethnomusicology remains a Western-dominated field, this seems unlikely. I'm not sure what a good solution to this would be. Any ideas?

Best,
Joe

Critical Review #8: Titon 1992

Titon's article deals with ethnographic film and the issues of representation and authority that an ethnographer must deal with when producing such films. He discusses the dangers in film, including the fact that viewers are more likely to accept film representations as "reality" than written representations. According to Titon, modern viewers have come to mistrust representations of authority on the behalf of the filmmakers, so it can be advantageous for filmmakers to diffuse their own authority through techniques such as allowing subjects to interpret their own actions on film. He argues that by diffusing or undercutting the symbols of their own traditional authority, filmmakers can create a document that viewers will accept as more authentic and accurately representative of the subjects. Titon concludes that there is substantial potential for positive, powerful results when ethnographic filmmaking is done carefully and thoughtfully.

In his article, Titon suggests that there are different considerations to take into account when creating a documentary about humans as opposed to, for example, a nature documentary. Do you think that there are also additional issues that an ethnomusicologist filmmaker must consider as opposed to someone documenting another aspect of human life? For example, is there a greater burden to provide good sound quality, since music will be the focus of the work? Are there any other additional responsibilities or considerations for ethnomusicological filmmaking?

Critical Review #7: Neustadt 2002

Neustadt's article is a comparison between two albums of "Cuban" music: "The Buena Vista Social Club" and Charanga Habenera's "Tremendo". Both albums came out around the same time, but BVSC, which consisted of traditional son music from the 40s and 50s (which is no longer the popular music of Cuba) was a tremendous commercial success in the Western world, selling better than any other Cuban music album in history. Tremendo, which consisted of timba music, a more modern electric style, was the #1 hit in Cuba at the same time. Neustadt compares the albums and styles, drawing comparisons between the two in terms of lyrical content and showing how some elements of timba are descended from son. In the end Neustadt brings the issue around to how the reception of BVSC has affected Cuban music. Because Westerners believe that son is the music of Cuba, that is what they expect from Cuban artists. Modern Cuban musicians are forced to conform to a 70-year-old tradition if they hope to have any international success.

This article raises important questions about the power dynamics of the global music industry. Did BVSC become popular because it had Western marketing forces behind it, or because son is just more appealing to non-Cuban audiences? A similar situation is the way in which many people around the world find American jazz from the same time period as son to be much more appealing than modern American popular music. The son issue is definitely clouded by the way in which BVSC came to non-Cuban audiences. Discussion Question: Musical styles are constantly evolving and changing due to countless exterior influences from other styles, cultures, and time periods. The popularization of son around the world has influenced timba players to go back and explore their musical roots to an extent. Do you think that this can be seen as a positive influence, or does the way in which son reemerged (through Western marketing) mark the re-exploration of son by modern Cuban musicians as inauthentic?

Feedback to Hope's Response

Hope's Challenge Question Response: http://hayforfour.blogspot.com/2008/11/response-to-challenge-question.html

Hi Hope,

Nice response, I enjoyed your thoughtfulness and depth of detail!

I was interested by what I perceived as your overall attitude that you had to be in “research mode” in order to get information that you could use for your project. This came out in comments such as the ones concerning your car rides to the sessions, where you noted that what was said was “conversation among friends and not research”, and the potlucks where you do not ask “research questions”. In some of Titon's articles, I got the idea that he had a very loose view of the boundary between friend and researcher. His friends knew that he was an ethnomusicologist, so in many respects he felt free to include any observations from his musical interactions with them (though I'm sure that he asked permission where relevant). Anyway, do you think that you've been approaching the field work as a dichotomy between the “fun” part and the “serious” part? You noted that in the beginning you didn't talk about your project all that much and that in the future you would like to keep playing with the group. There must be unique difficulties involved when you are starting to get involved in a group from two points of view at the same time: both as an academic observer and a future participant. This situation seems to be somewhat unique to you in this class; as far as I can remember no one else is intending to continue participating in their group after the project is over (though I may have forgotten someone, I apologize if I have). Do you think that your desire to continue playing with the group has caused you to act differently than if you felt that you would never see any of the people again after the completion of your project?

I like you comments about the difficulty of taking fieldnotes—I believe we've all been wrestling with this issue, and Barz's article on the different kinds of fieldnotes, headnotes, and the such was definitely helpful in thinking about it.

It sounds like you're learning a lot and that your subjects are also enjoying the project, which is awesome! Keep up the good work.

Best,
Joe

Materials for Presentation

Gavin


Moira 1


Moira Closing

Challenge Question!

The ability to learn about a culture’s music and the role of that music within culture is easier because of technology. Information can “come from the source;” people from around the world can publish their work for a wider audience. If insider ethnographies exist with more frequency, what is place of outsider ethnographies? Do we need an outsider’s ethnography on a culture when we can readily get an insider’s? (Mike Sokolovsky)


This is a very interesting question which is quite relevant both to the field of ethnomusicology and to this class—this year Kiri made the decision to not allow insider ethnographies as fieldwork projects from the students of MUSC1900. Does this indicate that Kiri believes it necessary for us to learn the skills of outsider ethnography over those of insider ethnography? There are definite advantages and disadvantages to each technique, but I believe that outsider ethnographies serve to explicate certain aspects of tradition that insider ethnographies might overlook. No matter how careful, detached, or professional an insider ethnographer is, I believe that there will always be subtle observations and details that only an outsider will think to record because the insider takes them for granted. In some ways, the best kind of ethnography is that of someone who begins as an outsider and makes the transition to insider, inasmuch as they can. We can only see the full picture, however, by combining the perspectives and learning what we can from each.
A convenient example of this is the Sacred Harp unit that we just studied. The documentary was an instance of insider ethnography. We saw and heard how the filmmakers crafted the work in a way that explained Sacred Harp in the way that they understood it. This included a focus on historical perspectives (“how it used to be”), and an occasional lack of context or explication of such details as the identities of the interviewees or the modern perspectives of people who came to the tradition quite recently. Certainly an element of this omission was due to time and topic constraints, but I believe that part of it was, as we discussed in class, the fact that there were just some pieces of information that seemed so common-place from their insider perspective that they didn't feel the need to explain them. An alternative view comes from Kiri's writing, which is that of an outsider who, over a long period of time, achieved a fair amount of insider status, or at least a strong familiarity with and knowledge of the culture. Because of this, she was able to provide the sort of detailed observations of an insider, but she retained the ability to put herself in the shoes of an outsider and remember to explain every detail.
Neither of the ethnographies was perfect on its own. The documentary had the flaws and omissions that I mentioned, and Kiri's writing is of course limited by the fact that she simply cannot offer the perspective of someone who grew up from birth in the tradition. There are intricacies and subtleties to any tradition that even the most experienced members might not notice if they were not raised in the tradition. My point is that you can never rely on one perspective, be it insider, outsider, or a mix (the outsider who gains elements of insider status). Even as insider ethnographies proliferate, outsider ethnographies continue to contain interesting observations. I remember being impressed at the relatively objective, detached account of Western art music that we read, but I would still love to read an ethnography of this culture from an African drummer or a Tuvan throat-singing ethnomusicologist, as I'm sure that there would be countless insights that I've taken for granted and never thought about.
Ethnomusicologists have gone through a great deal of debate in terms of the ethics of outsider ethnographies, and there is no doubt that such studies have the potential to be very exploitative and inaccurate. I believe, however, that ethnographers should continue to write outsider perspectives, while bearing in mind the hazards and pitfalls that we have been learning about all semester. Through a combination of insider ethnographies and thoughtful, respectful outsider ethnographies we can come to a greater insight into many musical cultures.

Critical Review #6: Miller 2004

Questions for Kiri:
I've noticed that several times the issue of "minor does not mean sad" has been mentioned in the Sacred Harp context. I find this refreshing, as I often have trouble explaining to my friends that major keys are not inherently happy and minor ones are not inherently sad. Is this deeper understanding of the joyful potential of minor keys and the tragic potential of major keys common among Sacred Harp singers, or do you still encounter many members of the community who carry over the preconceived notions of major and minor keys from the world of popular music?

Have you heard of any modern Sacred Harp communities starting out purposefully ignoring the traditions of the music? For example, have you heard of any Northern groups that learned about the tradition and tried to start their own group, like the people in Chicago, but successfully did so without any help from people experienced with the Southern convention tradition? I'm not sure what motivation such a group might have, but it could provide an interesting (and perhaps bizarre) interpretation if they merely followed the directions in The Sacred Harp without learning the additional details from experienced singers.


Discussion Question for class:
What do you think about the modern composers who specify the raised or lowered sixth in minor key songs? Do you think that they have the right to make such specifications, or should they merely let different communities go on singing the sixth in whichever form is traditional for them?

Challenge Questions

1. Write 2-3 pages about the ethical challenges, questions, and problems that you have faced in your fieldwork thus far. What decisions did you make, and why did you make them? Feel free to reference Agawu 2003 (Ch. 9). Also consider what ramifications your decisions may have and whether you would have made different decisions had this been a full-scale academic fieldwork project in an unfamiliar country or community, rather than a "first experience" fieldwork project for a class.

2. Do you think it is vital for musical traditions to be preserved at all costs, or is it better in some cases to let a tradition die out rather than to go into their culture and conduct fieldwork which they may not understand and which may be considered taking advantage of them? (See the Agawu quote in Kiri's sample challenge question for an argument that might support the idea of ethnomusicologists taking advantage of their subjects.) Consider Shelemay's work with the Syrian Jews, who were happy to have their music recorded and preserved. Compare this to recordings of isolated communities anywhere in the world who might not understand how the recordings work or what will happen to them. What sort of burden is there on the ethnomusicologist to fully explain what might happen to the recordings in the future, and do you think that fieldworkers always fully explain this to their subjects? Write 2-3 pages.

Interview Transcript

The following are selected excerpts from my interview with Moira Kyweluk, a member of AWKappella.

J = Joseph Maurer

M = Moira Kyweluk

J: How long have you been a member of AWKappella?

M: I've been a member of AWKappella for...a month.

J: What prompted you to join?

I was really tired of not doing anything artistic on campus and, um, I'd always heard about it and had a lot of friends who were involved in it, and for a long long time they discouraged me from doing it because I did “serious business a cappella” [laughs] and then finally I was just like “can I please be a part of awkward a cappella, that's all I want to do,” and they said “absolutely, come to practice.”

LATER

J: Do you have any previous experience singing?

M: I have a lot of previous experience singing, I did, um, church choir for like 10 years, I did chorale in high school for two years? A year? And, um, I auditioned for two Brown a cappella groups, all-female a cappella groups and was called back and was almost in one of them, and then tried out again the next semester, and was almost in that, so I've been involved in a cappella for a long time. Or singing in general, in one way or another.

J: So, have you done much singing at Brown?

M: Other than in my auditions for a cappella, no. Regular a cappella, not AWKappella.

J: Is there a pronunciation difference?

M: [first syllable emphasized] AWKapella vs. a cappella.

J: So you emphasize the...

M: The AWK.

J: And how has your experience in AWKappella compared to other singing experiences?

M: Ummm, it's much more laid-back, it's much more fun; people really encourage each other to sing, rather than competing over solos or, um, being uptight about arrangements. It's much more casual, much more laid back, it's sort of a group effort, rather than something is already arranged and you're learning it from a “head” director, or someone who arranges, or someone who does the arrangement, sort of we all do the arrangement because it's not very structured. And, you know, I've only been doing it a month and already we're doing a song that was my suggestion so I felt pretty good about that, and yeah, it's really just much more laid back, much more fun, much more time for singing. We don't really warm up or anything.

LATER

J: How do you think other people, not in the group, view AWKappella?

M: I think there's sort of two...minds, there's one that think it's just, I mean, who have sort of an attitude about it and think that it's really stupid, and just think it's a bunch of dorks doing, like...dorky things. And then there's other people who just...sort of self-consciously are like “yeah, that's so cool!” um...but I don't know if they genuinely actually think it's cool or not. But I guess the people who are in it just do it for fun, they don't take it very seriously. And there's no, I mean there's literally zero rivalry between regular a cappella groups, you know, the ten or twelve a cappella groups on campus, and AWKappella. I think they're very separate. 

LATER

J: Where do you see the future of AWKappella going?

 M: I would love for AWKappella to be...not the way the “classic” a cappella groups are, but um, sort of along the lines of the pirate a cappella group, sort of a recognized “fun” thing, that people want to go to the performances of, and aren't just going 'cause their friends are in it. Like, it'd be fun if incoming freshmen, you know, when they're going out to the archsings and things, if AWKappella had archsings that they actually wanted to attend, cause it was funny, and fun. And if people realized that this isn't really...it's called awkward a cappella because it's a bunch of kids who just wanted to sing, and it's not really self-consciously like “oh, we're awkward, but we're really not,” it's people just singing because they like it, and sort of singing their hearts out. So, the future I'd love to see is...a fan following, or people who, you know, whether they themselves sing or not, um, wanting to be a part of our performances. We generally have pretty good turnout, but it's also because we force our friends to go [laughs].

/End Interview

This interview was quite illuminating, as it shows a crucial moment in the growth of the group: Moira is a member of the first group of "outsiders" to join AWKappella, people who were not closely tied to the original founders of the group. This semester will be interesting, as it will determine what sort of effect the new members have on the direction of the group, whether it thrives, or whether it's unable to be sustained when the members lack the additional bonds that the founding members already had with each other.

Moira is also an interesting interview subject because she has experience singing in "serious" groups, but she still embraces the AWKappella ethos. I have transcribed some of the more interesting parts of the interview (which was over fifteen minutes in length), and I will transcribe more as time allows. I'm also in the process of interviewing several other members of the group, but I thought that this particular interview would be a good one to post for the transcription assignment. Overall, I'm happy with how the interview went. I planned out some rough questions that intrigued me, but I mostly just let the interview flow naturally, and I tried to segue naturally between topics.

Moira also noted that AWKappella has a performance coming up in a few weeks, so that will be exciting! It will be their fist performance with the new members, so I'm sure it will be quite interesting to observe.

Critical Review #5: Barz

In "Confronting the Field(note) In and Out of the Field," Gregory Barz addresses the issue of fieldnotes, quite apropos at this stage in the course. Barz's overall goal is to reject the linear approach to ethnography that flows from Field Research to Fieldnote to Ethnography (Experience->Reflection->Interpretation). He proposes a second model, imagining the fieldnote as a fulcrum on which experience and interpretation balance, and he emphasizes that interpretation is "part of an ongoing process rather than a final product" (216). In the article he includes various passages from his own fieldnotes, highlighting different discoveries he made or realizations that he came to in the process of writing, reviewing, and working with his fieldnotes. One aspect that I found particularly interesting was in his review of personal photographs taken of him with some of his research subjects. He saw in the photographs that he had been holding a notepad and pencil at the ready for the entire time, but in his memory of the events, he had not realized that the recording utensils were so prominent. He concludes that in that specific instance, his written documentation did not remove him from the group, as self-documentation was "not outside the experience of the kwaya itself" (221).

Even when self-documentation is normative for a group that we choose to study, can the constant presence of pencil and paper in the hands of the ethnographer ever truly be unremarkable to the extent that there is no seperation between the ethnographer and the group? If the answer is no, then is the experience of seamless inclusion in a group worth the price of forgetting details that one is unable to write down?

Fieldwork Observations 10/5

Ethnomusicology fieldwork project notes

10/5/08
I have made arrangements to attend rehearsals of Awkappella. Awkappella is, according to the group’s Facebook page, “An a cappella group for people you [sic] LOVE to sing, but aren't really that good. But they're always willing to give it a wail and see what happens.” I have never seen Awkappella perform live; I know of them by reputation only, and I have watched videos of their performances on YouTube. Early in the fall I saw flyers for Awkappella around campus, and on the flyers was a contact e-mail address. I got in touch with Gavin Crynes, who seems to be one of the leaders of the group. I made arrangements with him to attend their rehearsal on Sunday, Oct 5 from 5-6 pm.

I arrived at Caswell House at around 4:50. The group rehearses in a lounge in the basement of Caswell House. I met up with Gavin outside, and he let me into the building. I wanted to avoid any formal interviews for my first experience with group, so that I could get an overall idea of how the group worked, but I thought that it would be a good idea to get a basic history of the group from Gavin. Following are my notes from my brief conversation with Gavin and from the rehearsal.

Gavin Crynes ‘10
Started idea with brother, Christian, and friend, Hannah
Walking along singing “It’s My Life” by Bon Jovi
- singing different parts (beat box, lyrics, “wah wah”)
- thought “this would be great w/more people”
- called some friends, put together arrangement: “surprisingly easy,” just assigned different parts to people
Feb 2007-ish. That year they had 12 people max, attendance sketchy.
Two concerts that year, one at a study break and one at Wayland.

Group had about 8 people last year, only one performance during spring reading period.
Tried to do more, but sort of degenerated.
This year got about 6 new people.

Group started based largely around crew (rowing) — 3 originals, most of initial members were friends in men or women’s crew, but new people who showed up this year are random group. No auditions, anyone who wanted to join could.

So far this year, they had an initial meeting for new members who wanted to join, and they’ve had two rehearsals since. At the first they taught “It’s My Life,” their signature piece. At second they taught “Everybody Dance Now”

Initially they just rehearsed in peoples’ rooms, as the original members were all friends, but now that there are new people they’re rehearsing in a more “neutral space,” the lounge.

For first concert, they sang
- “It’s My Life” – Bon Jovi
- “Build Me Up Buttercup” – The Foundations
- “Man, I Feel Like a Woman” – Shania Twain
- “We like to Party” – Vengaboys
- “Don’t Stop Believing” – Journey

At this point, my discussion with Gavin stops as the other members of the group start to arrive.

People begin to arrive. When there are 9 people (6 men, 3 women), they begin rehearsal. Warm-ups are led by Moira Kyveluk. I am surprised to find that Moira is a member of the group, as she is a friend of mine from freshman year, and I didn’t know she was involved with Awkappella. I don’t know any of the other members who show up.
Gavin asks her to lead warm-ups.
“Are we doing a cappella warm-ups?”
“Do we divide by soprano/alto?...by men and women?”
“Am I leading this”
She seems surprised by the fact that she is being asked to lead warm-ups. She also does not seem entirely clear on normal procedure for the group.
They run through some arpeggio warm-ups on various vowel sounds, though they disorganized, and many members of the group seem unfamiliar with this method of warm-ups. They do their best to copy Moira as she demonstrates.
Two more women arrive.

At this point, the seem to be trying to decide on a new song to learn.
“Is anyone a fan of John Lennon?” – Gavin
Gavin explains to me that they are at a loss for some of their main members/soloists right now, so they’re picking new songs.
They play several songs on a laptop to gauge the other members’ opinions.
Christian plays a slow gospel number. The group seems to generally like it.
One girl requests “Earl” by the Dixie Chicks
- Gavin suggests that it wouldn’t suit the group – it’s mostly just vocals, not enough parts for people to sing
Moira suggests “I’m a Bitch” by Meredith Brooks
- People seem to generally like this idea, they decide to try the song.

Working on a song: “I’m A Bitch”
Next they try to decide who will sing the solo for “I’m a Bitch.”
Gender dynamics – women suggest that men sing solos in “I’m a Bitch,” they seem to be suggesting that this would achieve good comedic effect.
Gavin asks if Moira will do solo. She would like to do it w/someone else.
They play first 20 secs of song on laptop, start working out parts.
Christian and Moira seem to be leading this part of rehearsal, though it is only moderately structured. At first, many people are making noise at once, working out percussion/background/chorus parts.
They decide to try singing the first bit of the song w/the recording:
- One woman seems pre-assigned to do beat-boxing for the song. She bounces in place, hands partially over her mouth as she makes percussive sounds.
- Moira sings the solo. The rest do a soft “bum bum-bum” imitation of the guitar part.
- Christian takes over the solo partway through at Moira’s insistence.
- Several people sing along when they get to the chorus.
“Who wants the guitar solo?”
“How are we going to do it [the backing guitar part]?” – Christian
Someone suggests “waw, waw-waw”
“Yeah, more twang.” – Hoops (woman in the group)
Gavin joins the girl who is on percussion. He does a “shoop, shoop” sound.
“How many people should do the chorus?”
- They settle on 3 (Moira plus two other women)
Gavin gets into the music, mimes playing a drum set.
Some soloists red the lyrics off of a laptop.
They all listen to it again to hear the background parts.
“It goes down a little, then up a little, then back to the middle” [in reference to the guitar]
Beatboxing woman: “I might pass out during the performance”
They try to get someone to do the guitar solo. Hoops volunteers.
They listen to it. Solo is relatively straightforward, but ends with an intricate line.
“Awww shit”
Hoops tries to copy it.
Gavin says “you can basically do whatever you want [for the guitar solo]

Moira makes sure that everyone has a part to sing.
Most of them seem to have a decent sense of pitch.

Moira tells me several times throughout this process that “this is just about having fun,” not meant to be too intense. She asks if I’m going to observe the Chattertocks, Higher Keys, etc. I reply that I am only observing Awkappella.

They run through it again w/o the recording.
Beatboxer is rocking out.
All of them moving to the beat to greater or lesser extent.
When guitar solo starts Moira encourages Hoops: “more power!”

At this point the parts are not perfected, but the assignment is mostly settled. It breaks down to:
One woman + Gavin: percussion, beatboxing
Moira: solo
+ 2 women on chorus
Christian: Background guitar + solo leading into chorus
Hoops: background guitar + guitar solo
3 other women and 1 other man: background guitar

They have been rehearsing more or less in a semi-circle around the laptop, with soloists in the front and percussion in the back.
It is all very informal. Some people lean against furniture. Very laid-back.

At this point they decide that they are done with “I’m a Bitch” for they day.
They want to show my “It’s My Life,” their signature number.
They arrange themselves for the start of the song. They all have assigned places and seem to know their positions. It’s has an air of rehearsal and organization, more than I expected given the way some were downplaying their seriousness.

4 women sitting on floor in front. Rest are in semi-circle behind them
“someone want to take over for beatbox?”
- they listen to a recording to hear the drumbeat, one man volunteers to do it
They start song, go for 20 seconds, but decide that something’s not right. They restart.
Solo: Christian (standing in center of semi-circle)
“Wah wah”: 4 people standing on either side of Christian
Perc: guy on the end
“Ma ma ma ma”: background part, woman on other end of semi-circle
4 women of the ground do high “ooooo” part

The performance also has choreography!
4 women sitting on ground have faces down, raise them on “ooooo”
Christian starts w/back to audience, turns and comes forward for solo
4 on either side star facing him, turn upper torso out for “wah wah”
Christian + 4 on either side of him sing chorus together, do dance with hands waving

All in all, I am quite impressed by their performance. It is quite planned out, and they have at least 4-5 different parts going on. It is definitely much more sophisticated than I expected given the way they emphasize that they’re “just about having fun”.
There are definitely pitch problems and most of them seem to not have much singing training, they generally have a decent sense of pitch. I am very intrigued.

I will be returning for their next rehearsal. Next Monday, 5-6 pm.

Critical Review #4: Agawu

Agawu's article is a fascinating yet sometimes frustrating analysis of ethics in ethnomusicology and ethnography. I say frustrating because every time that he seems to touch upon some sort of conclusion or judgment, he adds a qualification, or says that the issue is up to the reader, or he moves on to a different issue. Not that conclusions or judgment are necessary, but I digress.

Agawu starts with discussion of whether ethics are even necessary for scholars: "Does a code of ethics inhibit or promote intellectual freedom?" (Agawu 200). He then moves to ethnomusicology, asking whether it is ethical for the field to exist, or for the music of the world to be seperated into "Western" and "World Music". Moving into the subtleties of ethics, he points out that fieldworkers commonly decieve their subjects, and that "deception, including the whithholding of information, may be regarded as a condition for successful fieldwork in Africa" (204). The most interesting and illuminating section of his article for me was his discussion of personal experience with applied ethics. The story of his Peki coworker whose identity they had to lie about in order to protect his life brought up the issue of conflicting ethics. Inevitably, different ethical considerations collide and people must make comparitive judgments about which ethics are the most important. Agawu conclues that perfect ethics are impossible, and the best way forward is for ethnographers and ethnomusicologists to recognize the discontinuities between different cultures and just do their best to pursue as ethical an attitude as is possible.

QUESTION:
As students of ethnomusicology, how are we to take this discussion of ethics, and how are we to apply them in our fieldwork projects? Many of us are new to this field and this philosophical discussion of ethics—how are we to know if we are violating ethical principles that we haven't even thought of? Where do we draw the line between getting wrapped up in trying to avoid every possible ethical problem and just using our best judgment as we go about our first fieldwork experiences?

Critical Review #3: Titon

Titon's article gives some useful background on the epistemology of ethnomusicology and goes into Titon's theories and beliefs regarding the best way to go about doing fieldwork. He talks about the different paradigms that ethnomusicology as a field has gone through in its progression from historical musicology to its current form, and he deals with such concepts as the difference between explanation and understanding and the relationship of phenomenology to ethnomusicology. Titon makes an interesting point that a great deal of ethnographic writing follows the model of the hero's quest myth, even if the ethnographer does so entirely unintentionally. In the end, Titon brings the article around to a discussion of fieldwork, and his belief that an ethnographer must develop friendship with his or her "subjects", based on "musical being-in-the-world."

QUESTION:
Standards of friendship, courtesy, and mutual gain vary greatly between cultures. If an ethnographer is setting out to follow Titon's fieldwork model of friendship and mutual gain and caring for one another, how can he or she determine if Titon's standards have truly been achieved with a given subject or if it only seems that way from the ethnographer's point of view?

Critical Review #2: Wong

Deborah Wong's article is an interesting analysis of how an ethnomusicologist can create performance ethnographies about his or her own participatory research, and how one can handle autoethnography. Because Wong's article was so self-referential, as she struggled with reconciling her deep personal involvement with taiko to her writing about it, at times I got a little lost as to what point she was trying to make. In the end, however, I felt that one of the main ideas of her article was that autoethnography of her own group allowed her to access a deeper current of social meaning in the performative practices of taiko. Additionally, it seems that she is trying to use the ethnographic writing as a method of self-discovery, to allow her "to learn how performative ethnography creates engaged encounters that offer strategies for social change" (Wong 88).

QUESTION:
Wong hopes that her ethnography will be "a study of what taiko might become in some of its possible futures". Do you think that, in reality, her ethnography will be what she hopes taiko will become in the future? She is very invested in the idea of taiko as an element of social, racial, and even gender identity and assertion (88), and she admits that she has "a stake in what taiko becomes" (88). Can she possible write about this in an unbiased fashion, does that even matter, and will her conclusions still be as relevant as (or possibly more relevant than) those of an unbiased ethnographer?

SEM History

Ethno-musicology

Several items of interest strike me in the first few issues of Ethnomusicology. The first is simply the title of the publication, which, on the first issue, is “Ethno-musicology”. The hyphen may not seem like a big deal, but that simple separation really drove home the meaning of the word for me, raising thoughts of the debates over the validity of that word as a name for the field that we have read about elsewhere.

The first issue of Ethnomusicology is notable for it’s tone, which is very positive, hopeful., and informal. This publication, and the associated society, are just trying to get off the ground, and the people organizing it are trying to get everyone involved. It has more of the feel of a social publication than an academic one in the early issues—it reports ethnomusicologists’ current status, projects, and goals more in the “where are they now?” style of an alumni magazine than in a detailed, detached academic matter. This is understandable, of course, as at this point they were just trying to establish some sort of scholarly community where there was none.

The first “notes and news” anecdote of the first issue shows the status of fieldwork technology of the time: a recently returned scholar who spent a year doing research in Africa has all of eight hours of music recorded. With today’s technology, a fieldworker could easily amass that much in a handful of days!

The friendly, social atmosphere present in the early issues of the magazine does not last into the present, as the journal achieved a more standard academic format, in which a handful of lengthy articles are published each issue along with some book reviews. This is not very surprising—the chummy attitude of the early issues was the logical approach at the time, when it was more like a newsletter than a journal, but that format was able to change as the society grew.

Another interesting facet of the journal is how its editors take an international focus from early on. They emphasize that the journal will exist “on an international basis”. This is interesting, as the society arose (to an extent) from the ashes of the American Society for Comparitive Musicology, the treasury of which funded the first few issues of this new journal. This journal, however, drops the word “American” from its title, seeking an international status from the start. Although many of the organizers seem to be American, it is clear that they want to form a legitimate international community so that scholars from different nations can share ideas and research. This is evident even from the first few issues, in which a German scholar writes to inform the readers of the state of ethnomusicological education in German universities, and the editors publish several letters in untranslated French. A certain international attitude and level of understanding is expected of the readers of this journal.

Fieldwork Topic

I will be doing my fieldwork on "Awkappella", one of Brown's a cappella groups. Awkapella was founded in the spring of 2008. They are self-described as " An a cappella group for people you LOVE to sing, but aren't really that good." It's a very interesting group, as the members perform the standard college a cappella fare of classic rock and other popular songs from the past few decades, however they show no regard for the standard measures of "good" singing; i.e. melodic accuracy, pitch, harmony, etc. Despite performing in a highly untraditional fashion, they have attracted audiences, as one can see in their YouTube clips, many of which can be found on this YouTube profile: http://www.youtube.com/user/luuuuucious.

Is this group's performance practice indicative of some cultural trend? They invest their performances with a great deal of enthusiasm and deadpan choreography—is this "camp" style entertaining to audiences? Is the audience more interested in the unselfconscious performance of this group of people who "LOVE to sing, but aren't really that good" than the performance of a more traditional a cappella group? Do the members of the audience, many of whom are probably not accomplished singers, take pleasure in the success of people with whom they may identify (in terms of singing ability) in the seemingly-exclusive field of a cappella?

There are many interesting questions that the existence and popularity of this group raise, and I hope to delve into some of them over the course of this semester.

Critical Review #1: Clifford

Clifford's extremely dense article covers a good deal of the history of anthropology and ethnography as fields, dealing especially with the evolving practices of anthropologists and ethnographers (and the conflation of the two) and how they went about chronicling their experiences and observations. One aspect that I found particularly interested was the account of the emergence of ethnography, "a powerful new scientific and literary genre" (Clifford 30). It was quite interesting how the new "scientific" approach simultaneously improved some practices while making others drastically worse. The new practice involved a more detached, culturally relativistic outlook that was probably more accurate than the previous observations of missionaries and colonial administrators. However, along with this detachment came the belief that an ethnographer need not stay with a group for an extended period of time to fully understand the implications of their practices, as well as the belief that the ethnographer could sufficiently converse with the people and make conclusions based on those conversations after a mere handful of years' experience with the language. This contrasted sharply with the anthropologists of the past who, biased as some may have been, spent years or decades gradually learning about a group's culture and language.

QUESTION:
Which is more valuable (in terms of leading to more accurate information about a culture): a strong sense of detachment and cultural relativism (at the cost of familiarity and long-term observation) or a deep familiarity with a culture, perhaps including fluency in its language and comprehensive knowledge of its cultural practices, at the cost of impartiality and scientific neutrality?

24-hour musicpalooza

24-hour music log
starting at 12:00 pm Friday, September 5, 2008

The following were heard between 12:00 and 1:00 pm from my computer, in my room:
“Handlebars” – the Flobots
“Us” – Regina Spektor
“Après Moi” – Regina Spektor
“The Call” – Regina Spektor
“Little Boxes” – Regina Spektor
“Samson” – Regina Spektor

The following was heard in my head at approximately 1:30 pm
“Don’t Stop Me Now” – Queen

The following was heard at approximately 2:45 pm
Various unidentifiable snippits of music wafting from the restaurants on Thayer

The following were heard between 3:00 and 5:00 pm, at a rehearsal for the a capirate group “ARRR!!!”
“The Bullgine” – Traditional (performed by ARRR!!!)
“Bully in the Alley” – Traditional (performed by ARRR!!!)
“The Grey Funnel Line” – Cyril Tawney (performed by ARRR!!!)
“The Fields of Athenry” – Pete St. John (performed by ARRR!!!)
“Bell Bottom Trousers” – Traditional (performed by ARRR!!!)
“Roll Your Leg Over” – Traditional (performed by ARRR!!!)
“Let it Be” – The Beatles (performed by Ryan Mott)
“Cape Cod Girls” – Traditional (performed by ARRR!!!)
“South Australia” – Traditional (performed by ARRR!!!)
“Low” – Flo-Rida (performed by Danny Musher)
“Whiskey” – Traditional (performed by ARRR!!!)
“The Mermaid” – Traditional (performed by ARRR!!!)

The following were heard between 5:00 and 5:30 pm, played on the piano and sung
“Tiny Dancer” – Elton John (performed by Eric Bair)
“Don’t Stop Believing” – Journey (performed by Eric Bair)

The following were heard between 5:30 and 6:00 pm
Generic Ringtone – “Nuance” – my friend Lynsey’s phone
“Don’t Stop Believing” – Journey (performed by Lynsey Ford)
“I Will Survive” – Gloria Gaynor (performed by Lynsey Ford)
“Mary Had a Little Lamb” – Traditional (performed by Lynsey Ford)
“The ABC Song” – Traditional (performed by Lynsey Ford)
“I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts” – Fred Heatherton (performed by Lynsey Ford)
(I should note that the preceding half dozen songs were only sung in excerpt. My friend Lynsey discovered that I was keeping a record of all of the music that I heard, and so she began singing random snippets of songs. I debated whether to include them, as they weren’t representative of what I would have heard had I not been keeping this log. I decided that they should be included, as they were pieces of music that I heard.)

At 8:00 pm I heard Ravel’s “Bolero” playing from my friend’s speakers.

Between 10:00 pm and 1:00 am, I heard an assortment of modern dance music (which I could not identify) coming from a set of speakers in the kitchen of Zeta Delta Xi.

I did not hear any more music until the log ended at 12:00 pm on Saturday, September 6

Welcome to the Jungle

This shall be the blog chronicling my adventures through the land of Ethnomusicology, or at least through the course MUSC1900. It shall be a quest for truth, beauty, freedom, but above all love.

Music is pretty sweet. I highly recommend it.

Love,
Joe