In the pandemic era that threatens the fate and future of humans, it seems that all skills that are unnecessary for survival have lost their value. I have always believed that music is necessary for anyone. Everyone has different tastes in music, but almost no one dislikes music. In any part of the world, there are still a large number of people who see music as a source of comfort and sustenance for their spirit or soul. However, after the epidemic hit and all the paid gigs were canceled, I realized that there was also a large number of people who did not want to pay for music. The epidemic made the already networked world even more dependent on the Internet. More people are using the Internet, and more people have become pro about it. While the Internet has made it easier to promote music, it has also made it less valuable. Live concerts are now being videotaped and put online for all to see, mostly for free. Also because the performances are videotaped online, many audiences refuse to pay for this form of a concert. Audiences believe that this kind of music should be free of charge and not on a par with “sitting in a concert hall”. Is the value of the music not in the music itself, but in the fact that you are paying to rent the venue for a period of time? This was certainly a blow and a challenge to musicians during the epidemic, at least to me, and I was shocked and upset to find this out.

However, as much as we all think of music as spiritual sustenance, musicians not only see music as the same way but also depend on it for survival and work hard for it. I was very impressed with Cyber PR Artist family member Rich G. Aveo and his wife Cat London’s efforts to get paid music recognized and, arguably, to pave the way for future musicians like us. What a fun and engaging way to make music online! I would totally pay to have them play. It reminds me of when a man wants to propose to a woman, and they will gladly pay a musician or filmmaker to produce their own music or film for their fiancée. Although very old-fashioned, I can well imagine making money with music in a similar way during an epidemic. For example, making exclusive music. “I’m sure the epidemic left a lot of people very bored and unable to find a better way to be entertained. But I’ve always thought that making other people happy would also bring me happiness. So why not try to find a way to make your loved ones happy? Surprise them with exclusive music and be happy for as little as your money for a video game.” Well, I had even written an ad for it! I think musicians need to be connected to people’s most true and basic lives to be successful. While making a lot of money with music is only one type of success for musicians, having money to survive is definitely a necessary prerequisite for success.

Citation

Cyberpr. (2020, July 09). Musician’s Guide to Monetizing Music Live Streams. Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://www.cyberprmusic.com/monetizing-music-livstreams/

1. Dr. Munarriz considers the label “Latin American Music” problematic because there are so many varieties of music in Latin America. The diversity of music genres and music expressions makes the term “Latin American Music” not quite accurate. He also mentioned that using this term should be really careful. How to express what you really mean by saying these terms. The arrangement of words is really important here, which I agree with. I think it is definitely not wrong to use the term “Latin American Music”, but that is just a general name. What I really learn from his opinion is that as we discover more about Latin American music, we will be more precise in choosing words to describe them.
2. Latin American music is music comes from any region, such as Spanish and French. Latin music is produced by the Latin community who comes of Latin American descent but is a citizen or resident of the US.
3. In Western music, Ostinato is a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in the same musical voice. However, in Latin American music, the Ostinato is more like a unique composition technique that formed by many pattern formulas.  Also, the ostinatos are played by many instruments to create combinations. Every instrument plays its own pattern of ostinato to form a wonderful mix of these parts. The patterns contrast and support each other as well.
4. Habanera Pattern could be performed in many different shapes, articulations, and forms to express different attitudes. The Havanera Pattern is a repeated rhythm pattern(dotted eighth note, a sixteenth, and two eighth note. ) You could hear the Havanera Pattern both in the bass line and the soprano line. Sometimes it could be shifted. The order of these four particular notes in the pattern determined the feel when you hear it. For example, when the sixteenth starts first, the pattern could be described as “Ma-ni tos-tao” or “Ca-fe con-pan” which to give you the feeling of the pattern flows using words. The accents are changing with it too. The original accent is on the first while now it is on the second.

Both the “Polacca” and “Agua Que Va A Caer” show the participatory discrepancy on voice. In Polacca, although we can clearly hear that the vocals are made up of many neutral or female voices singing in unison, the overall sound texture exhibits an amazing consistency and coordination. While it’s clear to hear that the vocals are made up of many neutral or female voices singing in unison, the overall sound texture exhibits a surprising consistency and coordination. Based on the female solo later, it also contrasts the more powerful and incendiary nature of the unison vocals. Interestingly, when I first listened to the song, I didn’t hear a single track where the drums were in sync with the vocals. The ability of the drum timbre to merge with the vocals unnoticed but playing its role there is an interesting and important aspect of the participatory discrepancy, I think. In another piece, this is embedded in the more common way that solo and group voices form question-and-answer phrases. Because of this format, I heard the song and immediately thought of African-Americans singing and dancing and playing the drums at their local festival. In this song, however, what I find more emblematic of the participatory discrepancy is the drumbeat that is used to accompany the song. In fact, I think the drums are not an accompaniment, but an equally important part of the song as the vocals. African folk music has always been known for its complex and interesting drumming. It gives me the feeling that these drums are never written in a score, but are improvised by each musician based on their own interpretation of the piece, their own mood, and listening to the drums of others. So what I can hear are harmonious but disparate drumbeats that form a complicated and perfectly appropriate ensemble. The “Spaced Cowboy” kind of has a similar idea, but the drum pattern is much more weighty than the vocals. Although the drums are much neater than “Agua Que Va A Caer”, the addition of bass and other elements make for an improvisational and rhythmic performance that you can’t help but dance to.

I believe that in the next five years music schools should develop a pre-requisite course on why students should study music and music theory. For example, based on your family background and life experiences, how you relate to music specifically. Before embarking on any system of music theory, students need some time to really think about the direction of their musical path, rather than being forced to accept the theories of German composers from the 18th century in Europe. This course could have some lectures that introduce different music styles and composition methods in various countries or regions by professors. Or it could be better that every student needs to prepare and do some research for a class-wide presentation of music theory and style based on their ethnic background.

As Adam Neely says in his video, if the language is not universal, why music theory should be? Most of today’s music students have fallen into the misconception that they need current old fashion music theory to explain all music in a unified way. In recent decades, however, music schools have been teaching more than just classical music and vocal technique. Music theory, however, is still not innovative. Therefore, in the next three to five years, music theory should be brought up to date, and music theory should be developed in line with the relevant specializations, for example, students who study music and computer science in uvic should not be taught music theory together with the students in composition major, but should have a special course on modern and contemporary music theory from various countries.

To change entrenched white European music theory, both the professors and the students would have to actively explore new and uncharted musical territories, rather than sticking to the well-known male German composers’ pieces of the 18th century. I believe that good pieces of music are always stylistically different but emotionally connected. Music theory courses should be using more examples of comparing and contrasting music, rather than listing the European masterpieces. However, instead of telling students how our contemporary music theory includes many racist elements, let the student naturally assume that there are too many different branches and directions of music theory and that the present theory is only one of them is the better way to remove this deep-seated prejudice. That is, making the idea that 18th-century European music theory is part of the new music theory a common-sense intuition for all.

The excerpt I choose is “Shake the cloud from off your brow (Belinda/Chorus)” from Dido & Aeneas by Henry Purcell.

The more intuitive change in repeatedly listening to this excerpt is the reflection of my attention to it. The first time I listened to this excerpt I only found it pleasant to hear because I would first evaluate an unfamiliar piece of music in general terms with my own preferences. After repeatedly listening to this music, I began to notice details such as instrumentation, phrasing, and dynamics. Since this is an opera piece, the first thing I noticed was the vocals. I would use the vocals to get a feel for the piece, and even the emotional changes in each line. This music went from softly leaning to a firm statement. After repeated listens, I began to try to analyze the emotions from the combined vocals of the harpsichord and cello parts. Interestingly, I initially thought the instruments were just accompanying, but then I realized that the instruments and the female soloist were more like question-and-answer progressions, though they performed in sync. Or that they tell the story as separate and distinct characters. I began to imagine the lute and cello’s characters along with the music. The lute could be a wise servant, while the cello is more like the master of a castle. The lute is very talkative, constantly telling the story with the soloist, while the cello sits in the center and holds the rhythm of the conversation, with a solemn quality.

When I think of western classical music, I immediately come up with many pieces composed by male composers. In earlier periods of western classical music history, music was basically for the church or royalty and nobility.  This phenomenon reflects the fact that most of the people in authority or wealth at that time were men.  An ancient culture that I am more familiar with is the Chinese culture, which has similar feudalism that women are inferior to men, or women need to be dependent on men through marriage, etc. in order to gain higher status and the respect they deserve. A really famous Chinese ancient idiom is “a woman is virtuous without talent”. There is another quote from American history that “slaves were only injured by being educated”. Even music, a spiritual, relaxing form of entertainment, can reflect the discrimination against women in ancient times, showing that women’s status was not valued in all respects.

The music I would perform is “Sun Will Set”, a piece that uses a sampler to play multiple parts simultaneously with a single instrument. As I mentioned above, we usually ignore many contributions from female composers. However, somehow females bring us a new view of music. The piece composed by Zoe Keating uses both the cello, a classical instrument, and modern techniques. This is a piece of learning from the past and expressing in the present. When listening to this music, you feel the texture of the cello, and the harmony that forms through the overlay of each track is very soothing. This music written by a female composer expresses the peace and inclusiveness of age with not a few dynamics, which I think it’s rare to see in male composers’ pieces.

I think what is valuable about Nietzsche’s quote here is to motivate people to put effort step by step on their own. Knowing the past well does not mean performing well. However, when you start to make your own progress after learning from the past, you will reach your goal easier in a unique way. To explore the past, to like other’s contributions, and to understand the process is way more important than the result (the music we hear, the artwork we see, intuitively). For example, when you learn a new piece, you don’t play the piece perfectly right after you hear others’ interpretations. You practice and explore the technique, then you could refine the piece, maybe in your own style.

Comparing Gould’s two versions of the Goldberg Variations by Bach, I found that Variation 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 26, 28 are pretty much the same in tempo and dynamics. In general, in his 1955 version of the Goldberg Variations, the tone color and phrasing are more unified like a stream flowing. While in his 1981 version, Gould emphasizes phrasing and rhythmic relations between variations. The tempo is overall slower so that he could add more ornamentation and expression. In Variation 1, the 1981 version obviously has more tension on the left hand, which makes it more appropriate to hear instead of showing off the techniques of playing. I found it very interesting that even though the tempo is faster in the 1955 version, Gould still uses more legato on the left hand. It gives more contracts and depth of both melody lines, especially in Variation 24In the 1981 version, his skipping and flexible playing on the left hand makes the Variation 24 sound like raindrops. This technique change in his left hand gives these two versions of different textures. When comparing the Variation 25 of each performance, I was surprised that the 1981 version is holding the expression and phrasing more than 1955. The 1981 version sounds way more peaceful and unified while the other one has more sadness and singing. Gould seems to give me the explanation for that because when I get to the Variation 26, I think he tries to maintain the consistency of the tone color, and mood in the 1981 version instead of making the Variation 25 the only maverick of the entire composition, which is not quite “Bach”.

1.SOUND FROM PLANETS

Description: The first sound I would put into the Golden Record is all planet sounds from our solar system. In this recording, the radio waves that come from planets were captured by the specially designed instrument known as an ‘astronomical interferometer’. This device can convert the radio waves into the frequency within the range of human hearing (20 – 20,000 Hz).

Explanation: The reason why I choose the planet sounds in the solar system is that I want to show whoever is hearing this that the golden record came from the solar system by not telling them which planet exactly we are. When we don’t know what kind of development of technology and science and attitude that we are facing, it is better to protect our location. It also shows what frequency that humans could hear so that they could compare.

2.MUSIC REACTED BY ANIMALS

Description: The second sound that I would put in the golden record is a recording that people playing music attract animals. In the video, Cows, birds, elephants, etc. reacted differently to the music that people are playing.

Explanation: According to this video, the music that people are playing obviously could be understood or appreciated by animals that we, as human beings, could hardly understand them. That situation, I think, is somewhat similar to our relationship to aliens. In the video, all the animals showed their friendly attitudes. By putting these music pieces in the golden record, the lives in outer space are more likely to understand our friendly communication and greetings.

3.MUSIC CREATED BY AI

Description: This piece is a soundtrack created by the AIVA (Artificial Intelligence virtual artist). AIVA is the world’s first virtual composer to be recognized by a music society (SACEM). The piece contains many elements of classical and symphony music etc.

Explanation: I choose this piece because not only it shows how developed humans’ technology is, but also this is a piece you could literally see the music by a graphic of tracks.  The duration and rhythm of the notes are very precise, which could be considered as a new type of language that human beings and outer-space lives may use, I think. For example, a different arrangement of different parts of this piece might be a good way to respond to humans after other lives received the golden record.