Fieldwork Presentation Material

Excerpt from Yarmulkazi's website:

Yarmulkazi is Brown University's premier Klezmer band. We play traditional Klezmer (Eastern European Jewish folk music) as well as modern interpretations including klezmer-jazz and klezmer-rock fusion.
We enjoy performing in Providence, RI and the surrounding community. Yarmulkazi is available to play for festivals, fundraisers, bar/bat mitzvahs, and other private and University events.

Odessa Bulgar - a more traditional piece in Yarmulkazi's repertoire:

Sam on Klezmer Improvisations:

Mashiner Tants - a non traditional piece in Yarmulkazi's repertoire (written by a former member):

Concert Setting Example:

Sam on less formal (student dance parties):

Challenge Question: Response to Jared's Response

Jared's Response

The manufactured Mozart-Beethoven continuum has persisted (and most likely exaggerated) over time. Still though, I cannot think of an example of this spectrum as it applies to jazz. The myth surrounding Charlie Parker has him removing himself from society for months at a time, practicing for 15-16 hours a day, working on his new sound. Armstrong, on the other hand, seemed to have a natural knack for creating new sounds. After creating the jazz solo as we know it today, he turned to jazz vocals, which made him an incredibly popular celebrity. His voice wasn't pure, or refined, but people were attracted to his gravelly voice. Although I'm sure he worked and studied hard, Armstrong's reputation is that of a prodigy virtuoso. However, this continuum isn't seen as strongly as the Mozart-Beethoven example that Nettl examines.

The other spectrum you mention is the composition vs. improvisation. This one would strongly correlate to Ellington-Parker. Duke Ellington is renowned for his compositions, whereas Parker is remembered as a soloist and performer. Ellington-Parker would also seem to encapsulate up the clean cut image vs. drug user. Certainly Parker is the poster boy for drugged up jazz musicians. This lifestyle contributes greatly to his legend, in fact the two are inseparable.

Other dualities in the jazz world include traditional music versus 'new' music. For example, Wynton Marsalis is a big promoter of traditional jazz. He mostly plays in the style of dixieland, and emulates (to a certain degree) Armstrong's sound (both are trumpeters). Chick Corea, however, is a promoter of new ideas. He is more willing to blend jazz, rock, electronic music, ambience, and other instrumentations into the music he writes - which is classified as jazz. There is a large spectrum here, outlined by these two artists. Some are in favor of remaining traditional (a point of view that I believe to be contradictory to the idea of jazz), while some are for abandoning the tradition to follow new paths. The center of that spectrum would contain a lot of musicians that wish to build off of the traditional music of the '20s, adding elements of contemporary styles.

Despite the direction of jazz music today, these three artists will undoubtedly be at the top of the jazz pantheon in 100 years, just as Bach, Beethoven and Mozart will.

Critical Review #10: Titon 1992

In Representation and Authority in Ethnographic Film/Video: Production, Titon presents the paradox of translation to the reader. "How can an ethnographer make the strange familiar, yet keep it strange?" The ethnographer, Titon argues, assumes the authority to represent people, and there are inevitable consequences of translated language and point of view. He then moves on to video, and discusses how film and video present a different arena of ethnographic authority. Although far more 'realistic' than text could ever be, Titon argues that the filmmaker assumes quite a bit of authority, unbeknownst to the viewer. Narrating (which is basically text), compressing time, and cutting from scene to scene are all authoritative tools used by the filmmaker. Titon concludes that film and video create larger issues with representation and authority than text. Leaving little to the viewer's imagination, a film captures more than just the words of a person.

Apart from viewing the camera crew and documentary setup on film, how else could Titon have shown the viewer that there was a large camera setup present in the church, which may or may not have affected the subjects of the documentary?

Though the presentation of professors in front of book shelves, speaking about a subject seems cliche, does Titon mean to say that no person should be presented as an authority on a subject? Or does he believe that this 'naked and obvious' display of authority should be avoided for aesthetic purposes?

Challenge Question: Response

Response to Bryan's post.

I agree that assuming both the roles of an insider and outsider is completely outside the realm of a polyphonic discourse. It also lies outside the spectrum of experiential and interpretive ethnographies - as it is clearly a different method of study. However I disagree that Nettl's technique is an improvement on an experiential discourse. I believe it is somewhat deceptive to fabricate the "alien" musicologist in order to create this outsider's perspective. The fact of the matter is that Nettl is an insider to the heartland music tradition, and creating an entirely different persona does not allow him to jettison his point of view. However, an alternative point of view doesn't need to be fabricated. Nettl could have used real experiences that are separate from his teaching at American universities for comparison. Nettl was born in Czechoslovakia, which he could leverage as the point of view as an 'outsider'. In my opinion an internal dialogue between existing personalities with different points of view is preferable to an attempt to assume the role of a blank slate.

This insider's ethnography is no more informative, and no less informative, it is merely a different flavor. There are valuable elements of this ethnography that could have only come from an insider, however an outsider's experiential discourse may reveal much more that an insider takes for granted or never considered. It wouldn't necessarily be better if a member of an East African Kwaya wrote a about their experience. In fact, this point of view may be more difficult to interpret as an outsider, as there may be some cultural practices or even vocabulary that an outsider is not familiar with. An outsider's discourse would be more appropriate for an outsider to read.

Critical Review #9: Pacini

In Dancing with the Enemy Deborah Pacini Hernandez discusses Cuban music and its role in global markets. She discusses the African diaspora, and its affect on world music. A particularly dominant influence on popular music is Afro-Cuban music. She continues by discussing the marketability of African music, especially with respect to its "authenticity". She talks about the evolution of salsa and its cousin salsa romantica as an example of the success of Cuban music on a world stage. The Cuban government steals the focus of her paper, as she begins a discussion of Postrevolutionary Cuban music, after institutionalized racism is removed from Cuba. The embargo of Cuba (and therefore its culture) affected the exchange of musical ideas between American and Cuban musicians, especially after Ronald Reagan "slammed the door". She then discusses the business of making music to be sold in foreign markets - how different countries prefer different variations on the Cuban style of music.


How does isolation play into the authenticity of Cuban music? Like the Lee family's isolation from Sacred Harp music, does isolation equate to a greater degree of authenticity in Afro-Cuban music? Has the cultural embargo of Cuba been a driving factor in Cuban music retaining its 'purity' or 'authenticity'?

Challenge Question Answer: Jared's Second Question

In the same chapter, Nettl examines the myths surrounding Beethoven and Mozart, and what they suggest about the values of Western classical music. Do the same with a specific musical tradition of your choosing - consider the mythology surrounding one or more of its prominent members, and what this mythology suggests about the values inherent in the tradition.

If I were to choose a "Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven" of Jazz music, three names come to mind. Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis are three innovative, creative, and virtuosic players that have shaped the way jazz musicians compose and perform. These three musicians were creative in their improvisation, innovative in their methods, and virtuosic in their playing. Each of these big players brought something new to the way jazz musicians write tunes and improvise. Armstrong began embellishing prewritten melodies, playing within the confines of the scale. Charlie Parker played around the chord changes of a tune - he created his own melody based off of the chord changes of the written melody. Miles Davis began playing like Charlie Parker, but soon established a style of his own - one that is most commonly described as 'cool'. His low-register, sparse, dramatic and reflective improvisations contrast greatly with the fast runs and stream of eighth notes in bop solos from Parker and Coltrane. The mythology, bordering on legend, of these three players suggests that jazz musicians and listeners tend to value creativity, innovation, and technical virtuosity while improvising.

Louis Armstrong’s improvisations began as embellishments. His added notes accentuated chord tones with arpeggios and melodic runs and leaps, but his improvisations were always variations of the prewritten melody. He is also described as a virtuoso, able to play technically demanding passages. To jazz musicians who followed, he is the first great improviser and will always be considered a ‘father’ of jazz music.

Charlie Parker redefined jazz by creating a new improvisation technique - he considered extensions a part of the chord he was soloing over, and would incorporate these notes (as well as many chromaticisms). His drug addiction also contributed to his mythology. Because of it, he died young - he was only 34 years old (but the coroner thought he was 60 because of the abuse he put himself through). Because his full potential was not reached, listeners believed he could have continued his innovation and virtuosity. Dying in his prime greatly contributes to his standing as a jazz legend.

Miles Davis took a step back from Bebop. Not back in the sense that he returned to dixieland or a previous sound, but in the sense that he played fewer notes and sparser solos than the beboppers of his day. His mid-career solos were introspective, melodic, boisterous yet reserved. The range of emotion with which he played is remarkable. He was also willing to experiment in different genres. In the 80’s his playing gravitated towards electronic music. His persistent creativity in style and innovation in composition is well respected. Moreover, his attitude - turning his back to the audience while soloing, for instance - also contributes to his jazz legend.

The popular players today tend to be either extremely creative in performance, or quite virtuosic. For instance, the group Medeski, Martin and Wood combine sounds and techniques that draw from multiple genres - a lot of free jazz, classic jazz, rock, neo-classical, minimalist, etc. They are, however, considered a 'jazz' group by most. Their creativity spans multiple genres (and their virtuosic technique, although not as lauded as most, is of incredible quality). Yet this group is wildly popular among jazz fans and musicians, due to their creative mixing of genres. Other popular players, such as Wynton Marsalis, play in a more traditional style, but are held to a high esteem by performers and fans alike because of their virtuosity.

Players and listeners of jazz music show great deference to Armstrong, Parker and Davis because of inherent values of the tradition. Improvisational creativity, compositional innovation and technical virtuosity are just three of these values.

Critical Review 8: Miller 2004

Questions for Kiri:

Have you ever been singing with a group when a newly composed tune was distributed and sung? Was this met with any sort of hostility by the group? Did only a certain demographic of the group show a dislike for singing non-traditional tunes? Do most Sacred Harp singers strive to be as 'traditional' as possible?

If most tunes are not sung as written, then why are key signatures written at the beginning of each tune? Would you consider this an artifact of the written tradition?

Discussion Question:

Why has the Lee Family's isolation 'become the measure of their authenticity'? Why are they considered to be the ultimate traditional Sacred Harp singers? What does this say about the goals of Sacred Harp singers (as it applies to the current generation, and future generations)?

Challenge Questions

After having read the introduction and first chapter of Nettl's "Heartland Excursions", what can you say about the ability of an ethnographer to assume the role of both the 'insider' and 'outsider'? Write two to three pages weighing the pros and cons of writing an ethnography as both the 'insider' and 'outsider'. Can this ever truly be a polyphonic discourse, or is this type of self-dialogue inherently limited?


In Titon's "Knowing Fieldwork" (Chapter 2 in Barz and Cooley), he asks the question, "What is the future of fieldwork?" on page 36. He then outlines three charges against the field of ethnomusicology:
1) an asymmetry of power and authority between the researcher and researched
2) the fieldworkers' enactment of a 'heroic quest' to conquer cultural boundaries
3) the poststructuralist notion that denies the existence of an autonomous self, and that an encounter between self and other is though to be a delusion.

Reread this paragraph and attempt to answer his initial question - "what is the future of fieldwork?"

Critical Review 7: Miller intro and Chap 1

Questions for the author:

Have you ever been a part of a Sacred Harp singing group as described by Timothy Miller - where a group of friends celebrate the music as secular art? Have you ever been in a group of singers who celebrate Sacred Harp music as a liturgical experience?  Have you noticed if these two types of group differ with location (southern vs. midwestern or northern groups)? 

 

Question for the class:

In spite of the different 'goals' of these two types of groups, do you believe that both are authentic?  What 'goals' lend themselves to be more authentic?  What defines an 'outsider' to this musical tradition?  Are boundaries merely religious, or are they geographic as well?  

Critical Review #6: Shelemay 2001

In her study of 'early music', Shelemay attempts to aim ethnographic study toward music of Medieval and Renaissance Europe.  She does so by discussing the Boston Early Music Festival, "a gathering where thousands of practitioners and aficionados of early music world swarm[ed] over the Boston landscape" (page 6).  She attempts to lay down boundaries about what early music is, and then delves into defining the early music movement.  As she compares and contrasts 'early music' to 'western music', she quotes Joel Cohen, saying that "Chinese music is early music, Arabic music is...".  She begins her postscript by saying, "I therefore offer two related proposals...", mentioning that musicologists should be trained in ethnographic experience with living traditions, and that these studies should include some "Western repertories", which aren't studied as much (at the time).  

Why is it the job of musicologists to study living tradition?  Shouldn't historians of early music be concerned with 'dead' tradition?  

Interview with Sam Potasznik

Here's my interview with Sam Potasznik, the trumpet player in Brown's klezmer band, "Yarmulkazi".  

part one

part two

-Andy

Interview Part 2

Part Two.

A: So i guess we were talking about the shows. What is your typical show like?

S: So the difference between an off campus and on campus show: off campus will be more likely brought on by an [off campus] group, often times a Jewish group around Providence will just have us play for them - more of a concert setting or event where we will be the music. That will be just us playing for about an hour, hour and a half, where people are sitting and listening or walking around and listening. (Played RISD museum). Whereas on campus is more of like a dance show, which are way more fun to play because we'll play somewhere like in Leung. Or we’ll play at the tech house's “Java Spook Party” every year, which is sweet, cause you get all your friends to come to the tech house and just go nuts on the dance floor. So playing for people that get into it and dance is like the ultimate.

A: Do you consider klezmer a dance music?

S: Definitely, Even the songs, a lot of them are about dancing. "Keep playing klezmer band, so I can keep dancing".

A: What do you mean by “keep playing”?

S: Some of the vocal songs we have is from the perspective of [the dancers]. One of the songs is from the perspective of a homeless guy, which amounts to "these rich people can’t dance cause their bellies are so full, but I can dance all night, so keep playing, klezmer band, ‘cause I'm poor.

A: Is a vocalist typical in a klezmer band?

S: There are klezmer vocalists, I'm not sure how typical it is. All of the songs we do, though, are in yiddish, so we need someone who can speak or fake-speak yiddish. Our singer Anna is actually fluent in yiddish, among other languages. So it's awesome to have that oral tradition continue with the musical tradition.

A: So, who leads the rehearsals?

S: We had a lot of the band graduate last year, we graduated four seniors. They were kind of the leaders of the band. There's no like, politics, it just makes sense that they graduated, so now Sara Mann, clarinetist - it was just assumed that she would lead the band. She's really organized.

A: I saw that she was teaching. Is everything taught aurally?

S: Yeah, everything is by ear.

A: Even complicated melodic lines?

S: Yep. I'm always amazed because I'm not so great at picking runs and lines up by ear. But most of the band, you can just play something once, and they can just play it right back. It's uncanny. I find that it's so much easier to remember this stuff since it's learned by ear, as opposed to sheet music. I feel like I always had a terrible time memorizing things when i played with sheet music, cause I would think of the sheet music and not the actual sounds. But here it gets in your fingers, like instantly. I'm amazed that when I came back after my freshman summer, at the beginning of sophomore year, picking up the songs was just instant.

A: One of your band members commented "Yarmulkazi is always studied every ethnomusicology semester by someone, and maybe it’s because it's the next best thing than going to Russia and seeking out an authentic klezmer band to study". How do you compare your group really culturally?

S: I would have a hard time doing it. It's weird cause there's this klezmer revival that has taken place recently, which is a lot of bands popping up in America recently, in the past 20 or so years. We're more along in that tradition, and with that goes composing new songs, playing old songs, but also [adding] a little more jazz, rock influences - more fiddling around with it. We don't try to replicate what original klezmer music was. We don't try to be old time Europe. I don't imagine that we would be similar to them in that respect, but some of the music is still the same, but I'd say we are more of this new wave.

A: So the “study of klezmer music” is really only a shared title, because you're sort of renewing the tradition?

S: Yeah, I'd say that's true.

A: Cool, well thanks.

S: Thanks for having me.

Interview Part 1

Interview Transcription with Sam Potasznik (Trumpet player for Yarmulkazi)

Monday, October 20th, 2:15 pm. CIT

Andy: Let's get started with how you joined Yarmulkazi. Did you have any history playing klezmer music?

Sam: I had never played klezmer before, I had really liked playing [trumpet] in high school, in jazz groups the most. And it seemed like a pretty improv [based] group, you know, not learning from sheet music, and just learning everything by ear was completely new to me. How I joined - they had posters up for auditions, which didn't have a time or date on them; they were just advertising for auditions. I ended up running into a friend of a friend from Jewish summer camp, and she was in the klezmer band. So I basically went to a rehearsal, didn't really have a formal audition, and they were like, Yeah, you're in.

A: So you said you played in jazz bands in high schools. Do you still see parallels between klezmer music and your jazz band? Specifically is Yarmulkazi's interpretation more like jazz?

S: The improvisation is pretty much in klezmer music throughout. There will be people playing melody, and all the texturing and fooling and fiddling around on top of that is prevalent throughout every song. Very rarely is everyone playing the melody. Usually someone is doing some little trill, above and beyond. As far as jazz, it's definitely less structured. We'll have some solo sections, but it's not written out like "ok, in this place you're gonna trade fours with the drummer". It's just, whenever the melody is going on, someone can just go off and start soloing.

A: So in these solo sections, are they predetermined solos or are they improvised on the spot?

S: Yeah, it's definitely improvised. At least with respect to jazz, it's a little more. In what we play, and in the traditional songs, there aren't as many changes, you're not playing over a lot of chords. You can almost just vamp on a section. There's actually long form improv, called a doina, which is an intro to a song, and it's usually that someone will start off, and there will be one or two bass instruments, and maybe a melody playing on one chord for a long time. And they only change chords after a signal from the melody instrument. So it's a long drawn out solo, building and fall and building and falling.

A: So it's pretty much based around the melody itself, and that's what determines the harmony that supports it?

S: Yeah.

A: So I read on your website that Yarmulkazi does modern interpretations of traditional klezmer music as well as traditional klezmer music. What would you say are the differences between these?

S: So the modern interpretations, what we play, some of our repertoire is taken from more modern klezmer bands, and these will have more jazz infusion - little more 'rocky', and less traditional. More major [key songs] will be modern. But the traditional stuff is still modernized in the way that the improvisations are happening. The solos over them can be whatever the soloist wants. If someone plays a lot of jazz, they will solo sort of like a jazz artist. But I guess the more modern stuff, things like playing around with crazy time signatures, will be in more modern pieces. Also, just not sticking strictly to the klezmer scale [is more modern].

A: What is the klezmer scale?

S: There's like the Freygish mode. I'm not super clear, behind this. It's kind of minor, it's based on... I don't even know. It's almost a minor scale. It's pretty much what most of the songs are in. Any variations from that is where you get the cool texture.  

(The "Freygish" mode is also called the Phrygian dominant scale, or the fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale. It is like the Phrygian mode, but with a major 3.)

Critical Review 5: Barz (Chap 13)

In this chapter, Barz discusses the value of the notes taken while doing fieldwork. Barz discusses the impact of field notes, their interpretation, and their value as they lead to understanding of the situation observed. He begins by placing a high value on the notes themselves, as they are in the position of bridging the "field research action and [the] ethnographic production", which is to say they are the strongest link between the cultural performance and the concrete writing that aids understanding in the reader. He presents his own field notes, with his three voices in different fonts. His three voices are the present, reflective, and analytical.

One of his excerpts that struck me was on page 212-213. He discusses his influence on the community he is observing. He describes the missed-messages as 'elitism', where he discovered that his community was just trying to include him - as a courtesy. This example made me wonder how he has affected his own subject of study. Is this 'good practice', to allow your own musical background to influence the culture you are studying?

Fieldwork Notes: Yarmulkazi

Oct 5, 2008, 12:16 pm
2nd Floor Music Room, Hillel House

(These are my notes, taken on my computer during the rehearsal)

Warming up - tuning. Present there is a violinist (Andrew), trumpeter (Sam), clarinetist (Sara), electric bassist, flutist, bassoonist

I’m given a CD they made last spring.

Sara calls rehearsal to order - I am then introduced to the group.

Group explains how they are used to this - ethnomusicological study. Nat Seelen did it as his thesis, another student had done it last year. Bassoonist notes that it’s funny a bunch of “white, american students” come together to play Jewish music, and all of a sudden it’s a subject of ethnomusicological study. The vocalist, a pragmatist, says it’s not really possible to go to Russia to hear Jews there.

The group splits into the melody section and other (I’m assuming rhythm). The melody section goes outside (including trumpet, violin and flute).

The rhythm section starts to play some lines from a piece. The two chord progression vamps between two chords a whole step in distance with an unusually rhythmic transition (making it a bit difficult).

The music seems to be very melodically driven. The melody is in a harmonic minor key, with a fair amount of augmented 2nd steps. The rhythm section is teaching the bass players the changes - he appears to be new to the group.

Their music doesn’t seem to be written - they are teaching the bassist from a recording made last spring as well as orally.

The section of music that both the melody and rhythm sections are playing involves a lot of fast runs. It sounds more traditional (in the sense that it is attempting to be more of a replication of the past than a reinterpretation).

This snippet of an entire piece makes me curious of the scope of the piece - as well as the absent parts. Does the drummer or vocalist alter the interpretation of tradition? The two are not presently playing.

The rhythm section continues playing different sections of the same piece. “AABBCCDAABBCCD” is described as the form of the whole piece. They’re taking the whole tune at tempo, and it has come together. Instead of teaching, the clarinetist has assumed the role of player.

The bassoonist is relearning the D section, completely by ear, from the clarinetist.

Another tune is started. It’s a faster, and the clarinet and bassoon are in harmony. They just play a phrase from it. Stylistically it seems pretty similar, a little faster.

The rhythm group is now waiting for the melody group to finish up and join them. Meanwhile a new bass-line is being created for a different tune.

Briefly they talk about inviting new members. They are hesitant to take on a pianist for the tunes a piano doesn’t work with.

My only questions really arise on how the band views themselves. Are they a traditional klezmer band, trying to respect and preserve tradition? Do they think of themselves as ‘newer’ and more ‘progressive’ in their reinterpretation of traditional music?  

My observations for the day lean more towards the first; they are more traditional than re-interpretative.  

Critical Review: The Ethics of Representation

Agawu's chapter on ethics spans an array of topics. He begins with a generic definition of 'ethics', which he applies to different aspects of music - performance and interpretation, re-appropriation, copyright infringement, etc. But above all, he uses ethnomusicology as an example because it 'is the subdiscipline that has dealt most directly with ethical questions'. He discusses a few examples of fieldwork - his stay in the village of Akpafu-Odomi, Ghana, as well as the village of Avenui-Awudome. His anecdote about photographing the war-drum is quite interesting; the consequences of revealing the true identity of the man from Peki certainly absolve the group's lie.

Agawu discusses deception on page 204. He then provides examples of his deception in the field, as an ethnomusicologist. Was it morally wrong to deceive the chief of the Avenui-Awudome village? Is it 'good enough' to have the intention of full disclosure, while employing deception in only life and death situations? Is Herbie Hancock 'deceiving' his listeners and his 'brothers' by re-appropriating the pygmy music?

Third Critical Review: Knowing Fieldwork (Titon)

Jeff Titon's chapter, Knowing Fieldwork, addresses a few contrasting ideologies - some related to ethnomusicology and fieldwork, others more related to the idea of understanding, perception and knowledge. He begins by, and addresses throughout, the difference between explanation and understanding. His brief statement concludes that explanation 'drives toward law', and understanding 'drives toward agreement ... through lived experience'. He discusses a few examples of his own experiences with fieldwork - listening to Son House tell stories about the 1920's and seeking experience with an old time string band. One of his concluding statements is "In this chapter I have maintained that we have usually sought to explain musical sounds, concepts, and behavior rather than to understand musical experience."

I'm not sure if one can reduce the spectrum of human perception to two (ambiguous) titles. Is it not experience when a young physics student measures the acceleration due to the gravity of the Earth? Are performing musicians not exploiting known 'laws' or musical 'facts' when they play within a certain paradigm? Is explanation really sufficient when trying to wrap your mind around difficult concepts in any discipline? Obviously the scholar strives for understanding in every part of his or her education, not just the humanities.

I think that Titon is over simplifying 'knowledge' and the rest of his article suffers because of weak foundation he established.

Second Critical Review: Virtual Fieldwork

This chapter in Shadows in the Field is a set of case studies done by Timothy Cooley, Katherine Meizel and Nasir Syed. The three authors discuss the advantages and disadvantages of virtual fieldwork, which is to say fieldwork done via new media (also described as 'hypermedia') as well as more traditional modes of communication, such as the telephone or letter writing. All three come to the conclusion that while this new media helps bring people together, it is by no means a replacement for fieldwork done in a face to face setting. Cooley concludes that "fieldwork should happen wherem usic happens" (page 106). This seems to be the underlying theme of the case study.

At one point in the conclusion, Cooley states "we must consider to what degree the World Wide Web actually brings people closer together, and to what degree distance learning means that we are learning distance." This made me wonder if we are, in fact, distancing ourselves from other cultures by using new technologies to study and learn. How do you define this "distance"? Because two different cultures adopt different technologies, does create more distance (as opposed to the situation where the two are on the same technological level, but just separated by practices, traditions and values)?

Also, will this new availability of virtual fieldwork will entice ethnomusicologists back into a sort of "armchair musicology"?

SEM History Post

In Volume 1, No. 2 (Aug 1954) of Ethnomusicology, various readers contribute to a section of the periodical called “Notes and News”. In this section, a reader and ethnomusicologist named F.A. Kuttner wrote a short blurb voicing his concern about the direction of this young field of study. He states:

Again, I am concerned about ... the question of methods and methodology of ethno-musicology ... I have come to believe that the whole system of comparative methods is obsolete and inadequate, and that something else and much better will have to replace it if we are going to expect any significant progress in the near future.

In this second publication, F.A. Kuttner plainly states that he feels ‘comparative musicology’ is an inadequate form of study. He doesn’t offer an alternative and it seems to me (after some Google-ing), that his name and works are lost but for perhaps a small group of ethnomusicologists.

On the other hand, the ethnomusicologist Bruno Nettl has written volumes about the subject. His name lights up the Internet when Google’d. Soon after reading the first volume of Ethnomusicology, I stumbled upon the article Transposition as a Composition Technique in Folk and Primitive Music (Volume 2, No. 2, May, 1958). On page 56 Bruno Nettl begins his paper with the sentence, “Among the various composition devices found in folk and primitive music, transposing a section to various pitch levels is one of the most widespread.” I’m not as interested in the note about transposition as I am in his rhetoric. As we read in Helen Myers’ first chapter on ethnomusicology, a lot of these terms were commonplace and slowly died out. However, upon continuing, I discovered that one of his most used devices is comparison to Western music. His third paragraph starts with,

The use of a section, theme, or motif at different pitch levels is part and parcel of Western art music and has been so for centuries... But in folk and primitive music we rarely, if ever, find development of themes and motifs, and thus transposition does not function, as it does in most art music, as a development device.

The blanket statement that no ‘primitive (in reference to ‘other’) music’ develops themes or motifs (or in other words, does not develop ideas) is a clearly an employment of comparative methodology. Another example can be found on page 62. “Music with a small range must of necessity make use of small transposing intervals; here are included those very simple cultures whose scales and melodies are restricted to a small number of tones.” His use of the word ‘simple’ astounds me, as he isn’t even referring to the music of the culture, but the culture itself. While I’m not surprised at the content and comparative musicology presented in this early issue, I am surprised at Bruno Nettl’s prevalence as an ethnomusicologist, even today. His tune and technique must have gone through some changes in his papers dating from the 1970’s through today.

Despite F.A. Kuttner’s lack of alternative to comparative musicology, his forsight has garnered my respect. I would imagine that upon reading Nettl’s article in this later issue, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disgust. This backward step in the discipline surprised me.

Fieldwork Topic - Klezmer Band

I've decided to study the klezmer band at Brown, Yarmulkazi.  Part of my interest is that I've never studied (or really listened to) any music of this genre.  Perhaps a more traditional background would be best before I listen to Yarmulkazi, including listening to some recordings and reading about klezmer music.  

The klezmer band at Brown, Yarmulkazi, describes itself as playing "traditional klezmer (Eastern European Jewish folk music) as well as modern interpretations including klezmer-jazz and klezmer-rock fusion."   This description immediately reminded me of the Mauvais Sort YouTube video.  Yarmulkazi raises questions associated with 'tradition'.  What exactly is there tradition?  Is this music secular?  Is it founded upon liturgical roots?  Is the music, as interpreted by Brown's Klezmer band, in the same style as 'traditional' klezmer music, or is there a discontinuity?  

I hope to be able to answer those questions as well as come up with new ones.  

Shelemay Critical Review (Barz and Cooley, ch 9)

Shelemay discusses the active role of the ethnomusicologist in the field.  She approaches this subject through the dichotomy of the ethnomusicologist and the anthropologist-musicologist.  She clearly falls in the former group, as she has become an active member in the communities she has studied.  In the ethnomusicologist's role of transmission, she sums up three common ways a fieldworker is implicated - preserving tradition, memorializing tradition and mediating tradition.  After discussing these three points, she concludes that all three are important roles for a fieldworker, and then lays out a set of guidelines for anyone studying in the field.  Ultimately she concludes that people aren't studying some "culture" or "field", but instead establishing relations with a "stream of individuals to whom we are subsequently linked in new ways" (page 153).  

One question I have is why does an outside observer have to infiltrate a culture to extract information?  I know Kiri mentioned the professor at Harvard who felt that instead of educating ethnomusicologists here, they should be educating ethnomusicologists in other cultures.  This would make it easier to establish a relationship built on a foundation of sharing knowledge.  

24 Hour Music Log

Sunday, September 14th, 2008

9:54 am - I wake up to silence and try to fall back asleep
10:20 am - I give up and turn on the TV. 'Live Free or Die Hard' is on. I hear lots of sound effects and Marco Beltrami's pretty standard action score. This is all heard through monitors attached to my computer.
11:45 am - A friend and I drive to a nike outlet store. We listen to my ipod through the tape deck in the car stereo.
- We listen to a muffled Miles Davis (My Funny Valentine Concert) underneath some conversation
- We switch to the Secret Machines, 'Now Here is Nowhere' 
12:30 pm - In the store rap and hip-hop is playing over the store's PA system. I don't recognize any artists.
1:25 pm - We drive back to campus. We listen to my ipod again. I'm driving this leg and my friend turns up the speakers louder than I had before.
- Smashing Pumpkins - first few songs of 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness'
- Radiohead - 'Hail to the Thief'
2:00 pm - I meet with other Comp Sci TAs. I hear no music.
4:00 pm - I work on a CS project for a few hours in the CIT with only sounds of typing and chair swivels.
4:30 pm - A friend's ringtone emits some techno music
8:00 pm - I walk to Wickenden St. I hear a car drive by with a loud bassline thumping, but I cannot hear the higher frequencies.
12:00 am - Back in my room I turn on Johnny Greenwood's score for 'There Will Be Blood' and listen to it while I work. I listen through monitors in my room.
1:55 am - I fall asleep to sounds of the movie 'Waiting'. It's soundtrack consists of some rock songs, and I don't really notice the score.