Take A Musical Trip - Music of Africa

    

African music is typically easily distinguishable. You hear a lot of drums, some stomping and clapping, and amazing ranges of vocals. It is the type of music that makes you want to "dance to the beat of your own drum". 

    Music is very important to African religion. It was used to pass down stories in both rituals and religious ceremonies, and of course to simply sing and dance to. African music has influenced many other styles of including blues, jazz, old-time, Caribbean genres, and Latin American music. It can also be organized into numerous genres such as jùjú, fuji, highlife, makossa, kizomba, afrobeat, and more. Sub-Sahara African music can be divided into four regions:

        - The eastern region consists of the music of Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Seychelles, Mauritius, and Comoros. 
        - The southern region includes music from South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola. 
        - The central region has music from Chad, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.
        - The western region consists of music from Senegal, the inland plains, coastal nations, and the islands Sao Tome and Principe. 

Though African music slightly differs depending on which region it came from, there are common aspects of the music that the regions share.

    A lot of parts of African music are improvised, but there is a core rhythm pattern that is played while new patterns are being improvised over the static ones. This is a polyrhythm, and the most common found in African music plays three beats on top of two. Harmonization of the melody can be sung in parallel thirds, fourths, or fifths. There is also a call-and-response nature where one voice or instrument plays a short phrase and then that phrase is echoed by another voice(s) or instrument(s). 

    Speaking of instruments, there are many interesting kinds found in African music. There are five groups of Sub-Saharan African musical instruments:

        - Membranophones include drums, kettles, clay pots, and barrels.

        - Chordophones are stringed instruments like harps and fiddles.

        - Aerophones are wind instruments and can include flutes and trumpets.

        - Idiophones are instruments such as rattles and shakers.

        - Percussion consists of instruments like xylophones, djembes, and other drums but can also include clapping and foot-stomping.

    I was personally drawn to research music of Africa because at my dance studio we compete our own afrobeat and stepping routines. The music is truly something that can get people up and out of their seats. Live African drumming is amazing! The energy is unmatched. I also enjoy listening to African music when doing homework as it gets me motivated without getting distracted by lyrics. 

Here are a few different links to awesome African music:

Afrobeats is also common in pop songs nowadays. For example:

Sources:

Mitchell, Barry, et al. “Foundations of African Music.” Theory of Music, 13 Sept. 2008, https://theoryofmusic.wordpress.com/2008/02/14/foundations-of-african-music/#:~:text=African%20music%20is%20mostly%20polyrhythmic%2C%20composed%20of%20multiple,to%20acquire%20the%20discipline%20of%20the%20separate%20beats.

“Music of Africa.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Oct. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Africa.

“Musical Structure.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/art/African-music/Musical-structure.

Music Videos - Innovations and Evolutions

When listening to music, we all have our own interpretations and visuals that we create that are personal to us and the song we are listening to. Music videos have given the public a peek at what the artist of the song was envisioning for their own work. However, music videos were not always as popular and accessible as they are today.

The start of putting music and pictures together was an early innovation. In the 1930s and 1940s, the cartoons created by Max Fleisher were cut to sings by Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong. Then in 1943, Panoram Soundies were placed in nightclubs and diners, These were jukeboxes where people could listen to music and watch performers on the miniscreen of the jukebox. From then on, music and pictures were used for commercial and marketing purposes. They were seen in commercials, theaters, shopping malls, department stores, and more. It wasn't until cable TV became an accessible option for Americans that the success of music videos truly began.

Big television companies weren't sure about how music videos would receive feedback. Warner took a gamble on the format in 1980 by dedicating a whole day to rock videos, and to their surprise, it received positive feedback. In 1981, MTV (Music Television) was created and quickly became popular and successful. Record companies reported a rise in sales following its premiere. Music videos then fueled the current boom in the recording industry so much that awards for music videos have been made and they have become part of the song's marketing strategy.

Aside from the growing popularity of music videos, there were always those who weren't fans of them. Some people have argued that music videos can be detrimental to a song because of the listener's own interpretations and personal images that they have created for the song being hindered or forced to associate the song to the video. People have also not been fond of the creation of false realities that some music videos may give, but then again, isn't that the fun part?

Music videos can be anything the artist and director want them to be. The sky is the limit. Although, there tends to be a repeated series of creative choices. This includes emphasized gestures which are often shown with dancing, exaggerated colors that may be shown with the use of filters, nonlinear editing, abstraction and surrealism, and pure spotlight showcasing the "star" or artist of the song. Music videos can tell a story, create a new reality, or even bring a live performance of the artist on stage into the viewer's living room. 

"Bohemian Rhapsody" is widely credited as the first global hit song with a music video that has been part of its marketing strategy. The budget was extremely low, so special effects were minimal. Lighting changes and differences played a huge role in this video, as it transforms the mood of the visuals the director had planned. You can really tell that this was one of the first popular music videos given its production quality. The production was simple yet had hidden metaphors in the imagery. And although music videos now have a bigger budget and more technology, "Bohemian Rhapsody" is still a legendary music video that has millions of views today.

                    Click here to view the music video for "Bohemian Rhapsody".

"Call Me By Your Name" by Lil Nas X and its music video have caused a lot of controversy since its release in 2021. Because of the development of technology and special effects, artists now have much more freedom to truly create whatever they can imagine. In this music video, the imagery goes from religious to nudity throughout the song. Lil Nas X received a lot of negative feedback, but it ultimately gave him a lot of views and buzz that helped his popularity grow. This shows that music videos still are used as a marketing strategy. 

                    Click here to view the music video for "Call Me By Your Name".

I love the ability to create false realities through the new developments in technology. Though the video created by Lil Nas X was an extreme reality, I do believe that those types of videos receive way more feedback than simple music videos. With special effects, CGI, and more, I think music videos now are more appealing to the eye.

Nowadays, music videos are much more accessible to the public. We can view them or even create them on our phones. Music videos today are still evolving as new technologies are trends are being created.  

Sources

Changing the Business: Music Videos in Society. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=backstage-pass.

Shaffer, Claire Elizabeth. “Emotion Pictures: The Art and Evolution of Music Videos.” Emotion Pictures: The Art and Evolution of Music Videos, 1 Jan. 1970, https://digitalcollections.wesleyan.edu/object/ir-965.

"Brutal" - Musical analysis #2

As the first track of her debut album, "Sour", Olivia Rodrigo chose "Brutal": a song about her teenage inner thoughts and view of the world. 

"Brutal" by Olivia Rodrigo

Tempo

Before her first album came out, Rodrigo was known for her slow, sad love songs that make her fans have all the feels. However, "Brutal" showcased a different side of her songwriting. It starts out slow, just as anyone would anticipate given the history of her previous songs. After about 12 seconds of soft violins, she says 

            "I want it to be like...messy"

and the beat drops to reveal a faster-paced tempo for the song. This tempo takes over until the end where it gradually slows down to go back to her well-known, slower-paced singing. 

The changes in tempo add another layer to this song. If she sang about how brutal the world was in a mellow and romantic tempo, as most of her songs are, the song would not have the same impact as it does with the loud, rock tempo that it currently has. 

Rhythm 

Rodrigo utilizes many accents and silence throughout this song. After the beat drops, the guitar playing puts an accent at the beginning of every four-count. This is used for the whole song, not including the slower violin parts at the beginning and end. Silent beats can be heard in this song as well. Specifically, in the chorus before one of her most iconic lines, the instruments and her singing is loud, until all of a sudden everything is silent and she says, 

            "God, it's brutal out here". 

Timbre and Dynamics

The beginning and end of this song hold a very mellow and warm tone quality. The verses and chorus have a heavy and harsh (yet controlled) tone quality. The differences in the tone qualities enhance the lyrics.

The tone color in this song is very interesting. During the chorus, you can tell that Rodrigo's tone is much stronger, almost as if she's yelling. This is a very cool dynamic given that after she is "yelling" the silent beat comes in and it sounds as if she is tired of yelling. 

Lyrics

The lyrics in this song are very relatable. It is interesting to hear how a celebrity can still feel insecure and have self-esteem issues, as sometimes the public can forget that famous people experience those feelings too. She also makes this song relatable by using well-known phrases in her lyrics such as "teenage dream", "golden years", and "enjoy your youth". 

A specific group of lyrics in this song stuck out to me when I first listened to it. 

            "And I'm so tired that I might

            Quit my job start a new life

            And they'd all be so disappointed

            'Cause who am I if not exploited?"

These lyrics are interesting to me because I believe it is a comment she is making about Disney. Before her music career took off, she was known as an actress on two Disney shows. Given that her job was being a "Disney kid", there is a certain stereotype that is given to child actresses who become singers. It is as if she is implying that Disney has exploited her and that they fully intended to do so. 

Form

The form of this song is simple. It begins with an instrumental intro, followed by the first verse. Next comes the chorus and second verse. As the music slows down, the song ends with an outro. I find it interesting that as "Brutal" is the first track of her album, the last lyric of this song is

            "God, I don't even know where to start."

It shows that she planned the song to have this form as some kind of prologue to her album. She ends the song that is at the start of her album with that line, then proceeds to have songs related to her teenage years that she was referencing in "Brutal". I find the form of this song so clever that it gives me chills!