Noh

Traditional Noh Theatre is very unique and is characterized by a number of specific elements. The sets are sparse, a few elements meant to remind the audience of the outdoors, where Noh Theatre was originally performed, are all that decorate the stage. In contrast the Noh performers themselves are often dressed in elaborate and often flashy costumes with very vivid masks. Noh performers have traditionally been, and still are all male. Noh performance has been a job that has been handed down from father to son, however that is not always the case now.
The musical aspect of Noh theatre is another very unique element within Noh. “Each Noh performance is accompanied by three or four traditional musical instruments and the chorus of six or eight people.” TokyoJapanGuide The Instruments can vary between performances, in one youtube example that I found, there were no actual instruments, just the chorus.
Noh Performance
The chorus is arguably the most important musical aspect to Noh theatre, and one of its most distinct features. Drums also play a large role in Noh theatre, although I have had a hard time identifying the drums used in this video, there appears to be an o-tsuzumi and a ko-tsuzumi, which are a traditional part of the Noh theatre. The drum beats by various patterns at the same time giving the drums a very layered feel. Lastly, within this video, and traditionally, a nohkan aerophone is used as a main instrumental, playing the melody.

Understanding Hindustani Music

This particular music was performed in Rollins College in Florida, A Liberal Arts college, by and for College students. The Instruments featured in this video include one aerophone, the bansuri, one chordophone, the very famous Sitar, and two membraneophones, the mrdangam and the tabla. All of these instruments are classical Indian instruments used in both Hidustani and Karnatic music cultures.

The structure of the music follows Classical Hindustani traditional music, the raga, closely. Both the sitar and the bansuri have independent solos accompanied by either the mrdangam and/or the tabala. Occasionally the two instruments came together to create a heterophony, but for the most part the music remained in a homophonous state. Much of the music appears to be improvised. Both instruments improvised using characteristic arohana/avarohana scales. The sitar provides a fairly constant drone throughout both its own solos and the bansuri’s as well.

Both drummers provide a beat throughout the performance but the beat varies between very fast to slow. The timing is simple duple. While staying a relatively uncomplicated beat the variations in tone of the drums, enhanced the overall texture of the song as well as tie both parts from the bansuri and the sitar together, creating a consistency, which otherwise might have been lost through improvisation. The drums occasionally worked together, the mrdangam creating a deep (pitch), constant counting beat, while the tabala provided a varying texture to the music.

Music of India

The Music of Googosh: A song analyzed

The music seems uses Aerophones, Membraneophones, Chordophones, and possibly Idiophones. The Aerophones sound fairly western in origin, although with the similar backgrounds of many Western and Middle Eastern Aerophones, these may well be Eastern instruments. These “flutes”, as I will call them, are played mainly during cadences of the singing. The chordophones contain the harmony which accompanies the main melody of Googoosh. Instruments that sound like a violin provide that harmony which also occasionally includes a zither, perhaps the Qanun. There are a variety of Membraneophones and Idiophones, which sound very Eastern in origin, providing a constant beat throughout the song and the occasional ornament, such as a shimmer, to add to the character of the song. The rhythm is a constant pulsatile beat throughout the song. The timing is simple duple meter.

The verses begin each time with a full cadence of the music and are homophonic through most of the song; however, during some of the musical cadences between verses the music takes on a polyphonic nature. The range of the music is not very large and has conjunct motion.

The music video itself seems very western, the hair and makeup are very much Western styles. The set was meant to look Eastern, along with the clothes Googoosh is wearing. The time seems to be during the 80’s but it is hard to pin down, and the video seems as if it were made so that it would be marketable in the west, although it may well have been meant for an Iranian audience, although the lack of head covering would suggest otherwise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8-duSlrJYY

Cultural Exchange with the other side of the World

We were all in the Johnson Performance hall, first we, the Americans showed up at the usual 8:30 A.M. class time and sat down in the first two rows, followed shortly by the Chinese Students sitting on stage. Both groups said very little before prodding from professors from both sides caused the groups of students to start speaking up, asking and answering questions, exchanging cultures.

Aside from the Chinese students sitting on stage, and giving us a few samples of their music, there was very little to distinguish an audience and performers. The main instrument that was used by both sides was the guitar; some traditional Chinese music was played by the UIBE students. On the American side, a little Jazz was played.

The greatest difference between our two groups of students is that, the Chinese students could definitively define their music as Folk, while we, the UTD students, found it hard to find music that we listen to, or really are even aware of that is not considered Pop. There are 56 distinctly different cultures in China, making for a variety of regional Folk music, while in America, easy transport and the lack of restriction of the spread of information has allowed many of the different cultures to mingle, giving people a chance to decide on their own music culture.

One particular Chinese student brought up the fact that much western influence has entered China since the Government became less closed off from the world in 1998. This has lead to a surge of popular western forms entering China. This has brought about many changes in the Chinese music sphere, including the rise of Chui Jian, the Chinese Godfather of Rock.

There is a vast collage of Chinese Music cultures, to vast for us to experience all of them from the UIBE students of the course of an hour, but we were able to hear Peking Opera, Along with several other acapella examples, all of which were very beautiful to listen to, and a few samples of traditional Folk melodies played of the guitar.