After watching the great show today in Du Pont, it struck me how amazing live music is. I don’t play the harp, the electric bass, the upright bass, or the flute, but listening to everyone do their thing made me want to get up there and rock out. I couldn’t tell you what instrument I would play, but I could hear the melody in my head. I had such an itch to pick up a guitar, and as soon as the class ended that was what I did. Live music inspires me more than anything, because I can see myself up there. Off a CD, it seems so far away, so hard to do, because you can’t see it. But when the people are right there in front of you, even doing complex things, there is a sense of a possibility. “Well hey, I can see it happening, so it obviously can be done. There are no recording tricks. I can see the fingers moving. Why can’t I do that?” I think to myself.
And I don’t necessarily think it has to be live. I just think that it has to be seen. A great part of Hugh’s class was that he showed us things. It is amazing to see Bukka White slap his guitar up and down the fret board, or gypsy singers pack so much emotion into a body, or Janis Joplin tossing her head around on stage while screaming, or an old Japanese flutist exhausting his body of breath to get his sound, and so many other things that I can’t even think of right now. Something is lost when you can’t see what is happening. If I have had an epiphany, then it has been that music is not just sound, which is something I definitely would not have said before taking this class. It really is an experience, pardon the cliché, and it is unfortunate that most of us, surely most people that I know well, don’t look at music in this way. I’ve heard that some people believe a photograph steals part of your soul. For music, maybe recording it steals some of its fire, or power, I don’t really know how to explain it.
Another thought that has leapt into my head is that making music may not always be an end, or a goal. Before this class, when I imagined people writing or composing music, I pictured them trying to write a song for the purpose of making music, and calling on an emotion to do so. But after seeing and hearing things from around the world, things that I could never have imagined, it seems that people want to convey a certain emotion, feeling, or story, and just use sound as a means to do so. We then put the label of “music” on it. The hundreds of men in circles yelling and grunting, depicting the flying monkey army, definitely did not come about because they were looking to make a dance. They wanted to tell the story, and decided to do it that way, I think. I can’t really say for sure though.
What I do know is that there is so much music out there, and I have learned a lot of tools to get at it. There is also a lot of information out there, and cool websites on the internet, which I never would have discovered. Then again, the more weird and cool stuff you find, the more you realize you will never find it all. Is that disconcerting or reassuring? I haven’t decided yet.
Finally, in terms of concrete projects, I would really like to see what happens when new instruments enter a society, like a guitar spreading. We saw some of it, but I think it would be really interesting to look at other instruments and see what sort of uses other people, with a completely new perspective, have come up for them.
One more thing. Hugh, you said that the log would not be there forever. I did not get a chance to look through it with as much detail as I would have liked, and this summer, I know I will have time, and would like to look through it. You said we could save it somehow. I don’t really know how, but if you could help me I would appreciate it.
Oh man - you hit so much on what I was feeling when I was up there singing! Even as a performer, I am constantly inspired by the artists around me. Especially when the other performers are my age, a big "WOW. I CAN DO THAT TOO!" hits me and I want to go find out how it's done and try too. Obviously, as is the case with talented performers - they always make it look easier than it is.
When I was working with Brooke on the song float on and trying to sing the lyrics at the same time, it was a true challenge for me. Moving the pedals at the right time to the correct place, and then singing on top of that - man, it was just too much. I can't imagine having to worry about strings with my hands. It all comes with practice, I know, but I was so impressed at the talent of the musicians up there with me.
I also have to respond to the part about making music as being part of telling a story. That is a gut feeling I have been trying to put into words/art/music for about a year now. It is what my art thesis is about. I am realizing that all art, music, performance is about telling a story - about a feeling, event, or just a stirring. I hope that everyone can find that voice or movement that releases the essence of that spirit we all have inside. It gets to the core of who we all are and what we are all doing here. We all have so many stories to tell, and regardless of whether it is what we expect or want, fear or enjoy - it is our story. That same thing is reflected in the creation of music and art. We don't always produce the sounds or shapes we imagine, the chords or lyrics we have written down, or the feeling we intend to produce. Sometimes, though - what comes out is better than what we expected. It is more true that what we plan or desire - becuase it comes from that core of the unexpected and unknown. Maybe you will all read this and think I'm crazy, but if you perform, I think you'll know what I'm saying.
About live performance..
Same here..
I know how to play piano, so when I saw that the piano was sitting there all alone while, I felt the "itch" to go up there and play. By the way.. I was impressed with our talented classmates on the stage.. they did a great job!
i really liked the comparison of the photograph stealing your soul to that of recording stealing the fire of the music... i was thinking about this the other night as i bought tickets to go see a concert down in norfolk. although i've listened to the cds of the gruop i'm going to go hear so many times that i know every breath. every inflection, i still find myself compelled to go see the real thing, reproduced in front of me. i'm not exactly sure why, but i definitely know what you're saying man.
Posted by: Beth at April 3, 2005 07:51 PMThat is a really cool point about some of music's power being lost in the recording. You are certainly right; the immediacy, the excitement of seeing the performers in action is lost. I think there is something more to it though. The Japanese have an interesting concept of artistic beauty. The find the beauty of something in its ephemerality, its fleetingness. They have this dual concept of beauty and sadness. The beauty of flowering cherry blossoms is not so much in the flowers themselves; it is in is the fact that the flowers will be gone in a brief time. It is the transitory nature of things that makes them appealing. Perhaps some of the appeal of listening to live music is witnessing the simultaneous creation---and extinction---of musical sound in each note. Recorded music can defy time and be played and replayed. However, live music is here one instant and gone the next. The effect is to center us perfectly in the present, as past and future are meaningless in the presence of live music.
Posted by: Mike at April 8, 2005 01:31 AM