I guess there was never a time when I didn't know music. From even before I was born, I am told, that I was hearing my mom sing opera. My family, aside from my dad, are all very musical people. Most of, if not all of, the relatives on my mom's side are musicians. I grew up in a world full of music and sounds. I began my own journey in the children choir directed by my mom in Hong Kong. After moving to America, I had many more opportunities to know music. Like every Asian child, I had to learn how to play piano. I started in the 2nd grade which is considered to be very old to start. In LA, kids in 4th grade are required to attend music class and learn either a stringed instrument learn vocals. But the high school band director came and gave us the option of learning a wind instrument. That's when I started playing trumpet. When choosing instruments, I didn't even know what a trumpet was. I simply chose something out of a list of instruments. I don't remember how bad I sounded but now that I go and sit in beginners trumpet classes at the middle schools...it must have sounded horrendous... One of the first things the director told us was the philosophy behind learning an instrument. No one is good at anything at the beginning so we would have to put a lot of effort into learning how to use this piece of metal to express what we wanted to express. He said that it's like a stair case. There are times when you're going straight up and you're improving greatly, then there are the time when you're going horizontal and it seems like you'll never get better at all. But, he warns us, a room full of elementary school kids, if you decide to stop and give up at this horizontal point you will plummet straight down. It's not about talent, although that does help, it's about hard work. He is the greatest director I have ever had in my many years of trumpet playing.
Since I was surrounded with music from the start, it's a little different for me to figure out what, exactly, music is to me. This didn't occur to me until I was in high school. I had moved to Texas. It was a bad move and I was really hating it here. I had always been in the band so when high school came around I didn't see the difference. However, marching band was something completely different. It was the toughest thing I had ever encountered in the music world. My new director called said, "You guys are the hardest working people in the entire school because not everyone can do what you are doing". How right he was. Not only was it hard to tough out the weather outside for the countless hours but the world of marching band music and high school band was brutal. If anything was wrong everyone would stab you for it. It was for the good of the band, of course, since everyone got the same treatment. In this institution, I have formulated many of the principles that I apply to life today. Hard work, responsibility, time management, a good work ethic, fix your own problems..NOW!, and that drive to be perfect and be excellent because anything else was unacceptable. Most of all I learned what music meant to me. When you were in a place like that, you didn't stay there unless you had very good reason to do so.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
rant on modern day popular music
There is a song that 3 guys from the band "Axis of Awesome" have created called "4 Chords 36 Songs".
This song shows just how sad the music world has become in recent days. Of all the chords in all of the music world, why is it that people are not creative enough to use anything but these 4 and in this exact arrangement as well. If you look down Music History Lane, music was so sophisticated back in the day. Composers actually took classes for a large part of their life before writing anything noteworthy because they knew all the other stuff wasn't good enough. They studied under the great masters of that time and devoted their life to creating great music not to becoming famous on something done halfway.
Of course, the goal nowadays is different from back then but it shouldn't change the quality of the music to be something this ridiculous. I once heard that a certain modern day pop composer started the process of composing his new songs by playing a "a" major chord and went from there. How repetitive the songs must sound if they all start with "a". In this day and age, everyone thinks they can compose and everyone thinks they can sing either with very little or no training at all. Sure, people say that the simpler it is the more the layman is able to understand it but why can't the layman become more educated. How does it make anyone feel accomplished if they understand something so simple and trivial and the other side of the world would be laughing at you?
Another thing is the text (words for a melody). For some reason, no one can write text for anything other than love. Love lost, love found, love is stupid, the guy is stupid, they girl is stupid, I'm so awesome she's not, I'm so awesome he's not...etc..etc...it's so boring. Music is the language of the soul. Why is it that people's souls nowadays are seemingly so retarded...they have nothing sincere to express. All that is left in the connection of the head to the heart is these repetitive chord arrangements and crappy texts. As the songs says, "that's all it takes to be a star". How pitiful.
This song shows just how sad the music world has become in recent days. Of all the chords in all of the music world, why is it that people are not creative enough to use anything but these 4 and in this exact arrangement as well. If you look down Music History Lane, music was so sophisticated back in the day. Composers actually took classes for a large part of their life before writing anything noteworthy because they knew all the other stuff wasn't good enough. They studied under the great masters of that time and devoted their life to creating great music not to becoming famous on something done halfway.
Of course, the goal nowadays is different from back then but it shouldn't change the quality of the music to be something this ridiculous. I once heard that a certain modern day pop composer started the process of composing his new songs by playing a "a" major chord and went from there. How repetitive the songs must sound if they all start with "a". In this day and age, everyone thinks they can compose and everyone thinks they can sing either with very little or no training at all. Sure, people say that the simpler it is the more the layman is able to understand it but why can't the layman become more educated. How does it make anyone feel accomplished if they understand something so simple and trivial and the other side of the world would be laughing at you?
Another thing is the text (words for a melody). For some reason, no one can write text for anything other than love. Love lost, love found, love is stupid, the guy is stupid, they girl is stupid, I'm so awesome she's not, I'm so awesome he's not...etc..etc...it's so boring. Music is the language of the soul. Why is it that people's souls nowadays are seemingly so retarded...they have nothing sincere to express. All that is left in the connection of the head to the heart is these repetitive chord arrangements and crappy texts. As the songs says, "that's all it takes to be a star". How pitiful.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
passive or active listening...?
Ever since I could remember, I have been involved in video games. One of the things about a video game that most people don't notice very much is the soundtrack. But for a particular game, it is very important to the players of this game that the music is good. For the Final Fantasy series, music has always been an integral part of game play.
Perhaps it is the fact that some parts of this game plays out like a movie, with amazing computer generated graphics, and the recent (within the last 10 years) addition of voice acting, music is just as important here as it is in a full movie. Starting with the first game of the series, Final Fantasy I, the soundtrack of this game began to put a signature on the game. Every fan of the series starting at any point in the series's history, whether you started at Final Fantasy I or the Final Fantasy XII, will know it is this series whenever you hear the theme of victory played after every successful battle.
Naturally, there has been more than one composer for the games' soundtracks, but one particular composer to note is Uematsu Nobuo (Nobuo Uematsu in the western name order). He started composing for the series from game 1. His works are the ones most people look forward to hearing. He uses very grand chords and almost always manages to compose a melody that is memorable so you will know exactly which game that song or piece came from. Those games whose soundtracks were not composed by Uematsu or that he didn't have any involvement in sold noticeably less copies. There is a general consensus that he is The composer for Final Fantasy.
Other composers for this line of games may not be bad composers, just as there are movie composers who compose pieces that are very repetitive does not mean they are bad composers. The important thing is to understand whether the audience that you are composing for will be actively or passively listening to the piece that you are currently composing. I believe that Uematsu is every Final Fantasy fan's music composer of choice because he was able to find that balance between music for active and music for passive listening. When you are in-game, you do not want a soundtrack that is annoying because it is so present nor do you want something that is so without presence that it is not memorable and you have unable to remember it even after hearing constantly for the 15 or more hours that you might spend in one location. Uematsu was able to find that balance. In contrast, the composer for the soundtrack for Final Fantasy XII (the previously latest installment), Sakimoto Hitoshi, who composed most of the soundtrack, created what the players would call, the annoyingly present soundtrack. Because of the nature of the game play in Final Fantasy XII, the music did not change unless the player entered a different map area which meant that you were hearing the same thing more often and for longer periods of time. However, the soundtrack had so much movement and demanded so much of your attention that it became a chore to listen to it. During certain points, the music was the reason you really wanted to stop playing the game.
That being said, the Final Fantasy XII soundtrack should be good for active listening then. Well, it fails in this category as well in that it does not demand THAT much attention. It hovers between the fully active and semi active, semi passive listening states which is annoying because then it's not good for anything.
The thing about Uematsu's music is that it is wonderful for fully passive and semi-passive, semi-active listening AND for fully active listening, for a short amount of time. You can't have everything but Uematsu comes close. He understands exactly which tracks you'll be listening to actively and writes those with amazing chord arrangement to make it so grand and amazing that, along with the eye-popping computer graphics, creates a scene of shear awesomeness that makes the hairs on your neck stand on end.
Yes, there are many aspects to a game worthy of the roman numeral and a place in the Final Fantasy line, but the aspect of music is surely half the game.
Perhaps it is the fact that some parts of this game plays out like a movie, with amazing computer generated graphics, and the recent (within the last 10 years) addition of voice acting, music is just as important here as it is in a full movie. Starting with the first game of the series, Final Fantasy I, the soundtrack of this game began to put a signature on the game. Every fan of the series starting at any point in the series's history, whether you started at Final Fantasy I or the Final Fantasy XII, will know it is this series whenever you hear the theme of victory played after every successful battle.
Naturally, there has been more than one composer for the games' soundtracks, but one particular composer to note is Uematsu Nobuo (Nobuo Uematsu in the western name order). He started composing for the series from game 1. His works are the ones most people look forward to hearing. He uses very grand chords and almost always manages to compose a melody that is memorable so you will know exactly which game that song or piece came from. Those games whose soundtracks were not composed by Uematsu or that he didn't have any involvement in sold noticeably less copies. There is a general consensus that he is The composer for Final Fantasy.
Other composers for this line of games may not be bad composers, just as there are movie composers who compose pieces that are very repetitive does not mean they are bad composers. The important thing is to understand whether the audience that you are composing for will be actively or passively listening to the piece that you are currently composing. I believe that Uematsu is every Final Fantasy fan's music composer of choice because he was able to find that balance between music for active and music for passive listening. When you are in-game, you do not want a soundtrack that is annoying because it is so present nor do you want something that is so without presence that it is not memorable and you have unable to remember it even after hearing constantly for the 15 or more hours that you might spend in one location. Uematsu was able to find that balance. In contrast, the composer for the soundtrack for Final Fantasy XII (the previously latest installment), Sakimoto Hitoshi, who composed most of the soundtrack, created what the players would call, the annoyingly present soundtrack. Because of the nature of the game play in Final Fantasy XII, the music did not change unless the player entered a different map area which meant that you were hearing the same thing more often and for longer periods of time. However, the soundtrack had so much movement and demanded so much of your attention that it became a chore to listen to it. During certain points, the music was the reason you really wanted to stop playing the game.
That being said, the Final Fantasy XII soundtrack should be good for active listening then. Well, it fails in this category as well in that it does not demand THAT much attention. It hovers between the fully active and semi active, semi passive listening states which is annoying because then it's not good for anything.
The thing about Uematsu's music is that it is wonderful for fully passive and semi-passive, semi-active listening AND for fully active listening, for a short amount of time. You can't have everything but Uematsu comes close. He understands exactly which tracks you'll be listening to actively and writes those with amazing chord arrangement to make it so grand and amazing that, along with the eye-popping computer graphics, creates a scene of shear awesomeness that makes the hairs on your neck stand on end.
Yes, there are many aspects to a game worthy of the roman numeral and a place in the Final Fantasy line, but the aspect of music is surely half the game.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Performance Report 2
Introduction:
This second performance report is on the musical Side Show performed on April 8 at 8pm in the University Theatre. Book and lyrics by Bill Russell and Music by Henry Krieger.
The story is based loosely on the true lives of conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton born in England in 1908. They were exploited as financial potential, as they could both sing, until they sued for their independence. They continued performing but were abandoned and died of Hong Kong flu in 1969. This story attempts to address the idea topic of self-acceptance identity. What is normal? What is it to be normal? Why does it even matter?
Music:
The music of the show is obviously the main element to the acting and interaction of the performers. Since it is a musical, sentences are often sung and not spoken. The melodies are not as important during these times and the melodic phrase is usually pretty monotoned. There is a song for every situation/scene in the musical. When singing the words, it's pretty much one word per note. All vocals are sung in the traditional, western method or closely resembling that method. It is easy to tell who has more vocal ability from the quality of the voice as each performer sings. The human voice is the most important instrument during the show but live music is present in the form of a live pit which is quite small, consisting only of about 17 people. However, the volume was actually not bad.
Performers:
Performers interact with each other mainly within the context of the musical's story. They talk to/about each other in their characters. They also communicated through eye contact and cues when there is a scene change. Through the music and dance, performers are also able to tell what another performer is about to do. Since everything is in the context of the story, all performers are dressed as their character at all times. The actresses who play the twins are always together even when walking on and off stage. Each performer, with an important role or not, has a different costume, unless the scene calls for them to dress the same. This way you are able to differentiate each of the people.
Performers try to interact with the audience as well by speaking to them during their monologues and actually singing to the audience sometimes. During the start of the musical, the freak show is advertised to the audience as an introduction to the cast.
Audience:
This was the audience for the opening night. Most of the people there know someone on the cast or in the live pit or both, parents, grandparents, friends, family, etc. Some are there for reports. The room was fairly full. In terms of the "outsider", there are those who already know or have performed the songs in the musical so those are "outside" would be those completely new to this musical. Although that doesn't hinder you from enjoying the musical. In fact, it might have been better because these people would not be judging the performance based on a performance they previously attended.
Time and Space:
The size of the crowd is mostly due to the fact that not only is it opening night but it is also free night. Many people who are not UTD students came to see it. They were not the most responsive crowd though. The musical's entrance is with the performers on the side stairs next to the audience and the cannibal king runs around the audience at one point, so they do try to include the audience into the performance. The room was also quite small so the audience was very close to the stage, and very close to the performers making it feel like a very "close" performance, unlike huge stages where the audience is at least 15ft from the edge of the stage.
Conclusion:
In general, it was a good performance. The live pit was regrettably the most unsatisfying thing of the performance because it kept making mistakes which took away from the performance in general. The songs were still pretty interesting despite the fact that the musical is story oriented and less caring about the melodic or actual musical aspects of the performance. Although it is true most to the time, the audience was not always just the audience and the performers tried their best to pull the audience into the world of the story.
Sources:
*NOTE: italics used in place of underlining because blogspot doesn't have the underline option
Side Show. By Bill Russell/Henry Krieger. Dir.Robert Longbottom. Perf. UTD drama students. Cond. Robert Longbottom. University Theatre, Richardson, 8 April 2010. (Side Show).
Longbottom, Robert. Director's Notes. Side Show. 8 April 2010. Richardson: University Theatre. (Longbottom).
This second performance report is on the musical Side Show performed on April 8 at 8pm in the University Theatre. Book and lyrics by Bill Russell and Music by Henry Krieger.
The story is based loosely on the true lives of conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton born in England in 1908. They were exploited as financial potential, as they could both sing, until they sued for their independence. They continued performing but were abandoned and died of Hong Kong flu in 1969. This story attempts to address the idea topic of self-acceptance identity. What is normal? What is it to be normal? Why does it even matter?
Music:
The music of the show is obviously the main element to the acting and interaction of the performers. Since it is a musical, sentences are often sung and not spoken. The melodies are not as important during these times and the melodic phrase is usually pretty monotoned. There is a song for every situation/scene in the musical. When singing the words, it's pretty much one word per note. All vocals are sung in the traditional, western method or closely resembling that method. It is easy to tell who has more vocal ability from the quality of the voice as each performer sings. The human voice is the most important instrument during the show but live music is present in the form of a live pit which is quite small, consisting only of about 17 people. However, the volume was actually not bad.
Performers:
Performers interact with each other mainly within the context of the musical's story. They talk to/about each other in their characters. They also communicated through eye contact and cues when there is a scene change. Through the music and dance, performers are also able to tell what another performer is about to do. Since everything is in the context of the story, all performers are dressed as their character at all times. The actresses who play the twins are always together even when walking on and off stage. Each performer, with an important role or not, has a different costume, unless the scene calls for them to dress the same. This way you are able to differentiate each of the people.
Performers try to interact with the audience as well by speaking to them during their monologues and actually singing to the audience sometimes. During the start of the musical, the freak show is advertised to the audience as an introduction to the cast.
Audience:
This was the audience for the opening night. Most of the people there know someone on the cast or in the live pit or both, parents, grandparents, friends, family, etc. Some are there for reports. The room was fairly full. In terms of the "outsider", there are those who already know or have performed the songs in the musical so those are "outside" would be those completely new to this musical. Although that doesn't hinder you from enjoying the musical. In fact, it might have been better because these people would not be judging the performance based on a performance they previously attended.
Time and Space:
The size of the crowd is mostly due to the fact that not only is it opening night but it is also free night. Many people who are not UTD students came to see it. They were not the most responsive crowd though. The musical's entrance is with the performers on the side stairs next to the audience and the cannibal king runs around the audience at one point, so they do try to include the audience into the performance. The room was also quite small so the audience was very close to the stage, and very close to the performers making it feel like a very "close" performance, unlike huge stages where the audience is at least 15ft from the edge of the stage.
Conclusion:
In general, it was a good performance. The live pit was regrettably the most unsatisfying thing of the performance because it kept making mistakes which took away from the performance in general. The songs were still pretty interesting despite the fact that the musical is story oriented and less caring about the melodic or actual musical aspects of the performance. Although it is true most to the time, the audience was not always just the audience and the performers tried their best to pull the audience into the world of the story.
Sources:
*NOTE: italics used in place of underlining because blogspot doesn't have the underline option
Side Show. By Bill Russell/Henry Krieger. Dir.Robert Longbottom. Perf. UTD drama students. Cond. Robert Longbottom. University Theatre, Richardson, 8 April 2010. (Side Show).
Longbottom, Robert. Director's Notes. Side Show. 8 April 2010. Richardson: University Theatre. (Longbottom).
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
side show: what it shows about society now
The musical assigned as the 2nd performance report assignment:
Side show was written loosely based on the true happenings in the read lives of Violet and Daisy. When thinking about this musical, I thought of how fake everything is. Right now, in a college environment, it seems as through the people here are in their own world. The people here are still being sheltered from the true world. People are so fake in a college setting. Everyone is out to impress and make false promises of wonderful things and yet are unable to fulfill them since they were false to begin with. In addition to addressing the point that nothing is as it seems, Sideshow also addresses the point that people are essentially alone. There will be many people who will claim to never leave you or be with you forever, but it is truly false. In the college setting you learn that you meet people today that you may never see again starting tomorrow. However, there are those who can be found in this society that will stay with you. Those these are rare, they are not nonexistent. Mostly it is family. Many come to college relieved to finally be away from their families only to realize what their family meant to them. Without anyone, college is lonely place with nothing. Many students learn the value of family and gain much better relations with their family members.
College is also a time of new trials. With these new trials, one may see the true face of some people they thought they knew, just as Daisy and Violet saw the true face of people they thought they knew. This can be a good thing or a bad thing in that you may find that there is someone you never saw a someone you could have a relationship with or it could be a bad thing in that you may find there is a person who has been playing you this whole time.
Sideshow addresses the more realistic side of human relations, the side that isn't shown often since it is obviously not appealing nor very entertaining to talk about but is nonetheless a necessary to be discussed since it is real and happening back when the real Daisy and Violet were alive, now and will continue to happen in the future.
Side show was written loosely based on the true happenings in the read lives of Violet and Daisy. When thinking about this musical, I thought of how fake everything is. Right now, in a college environment, it seems as through the people here are in their own world. The people here are still being sheltered from the true world. People are so fake in a college setting. Everyone is out to impress and make false promises of wonderful things and yet are unable to fulfill them since they were false to begin with. In addition to addressing the point that nothing is as it seems, Sideshow also addresses the point that people are essentially alone. There will be many people who will claim to never leave you or be with you forever, but it is truly false. In the college setting you learn that you meet people today that you may never see again starting tomorrow. However, there are those who can be found in this society that will stay with you. Those these are rare, they are not nonexistent. Mostly it is family. Many come to college relieved to finally be away from their families only to realize what their family meant to them. Without anyone, college is lonely place with nothing. Many students learn the value of family and gain much better relations with their family members.
College is also a time of new trials. With these new trials, one may see the true face of some people they thought they knew, just as Daisy and Violet saw the true face of people they thought they knew. This can be a good thing or a bad thing in that you may find that there is someone you never saw a someone you could have a relationship with or it could be a bad thing in that you may find there is a person who has been playing you this whole time.
Sideshow addresses the more realistic side of human relations, the side that isn't shown often since it is obviously not appealing nor very entertaining to talk about but is nonetheless a necessary to be discussed since it is real and happening back when the real Daisy and Violet were alive, now and will continue to happen in the future.
post 12
The subgenre of rock and roll (or just rock) is probably considered to be it's own genre rather than a subgenre by many. There are a few characteristics that make a this subgenre what it is. Things like the use of the electric guitar which was originally for making a guitar more quiet, but ended but ended up being used to amplify it, the small ensembles just as in jazz or bluegrass groups, singing in almost all of the songs, different from the instrumental pieces of previous times, which means the singer always tries to put his/her own individualism into the song. It seems that song lyrics usually consist of love lost, love found, breakup lyrics, etc., usually things about this type of relationship. Also, lyrics tend to repeat themselves many many times. Songs often have 4 beats in a cycle with many strong beats so the rhythm is usually simple and easy to follow. The drum set is responsible for keeping the beat and various rhythms. As technology is getting better, artists of this subgenre are using the many tools coming out to help with their performance. Things like, monitors for live performances, multitrack recording for studio performances, and vocoding for fixes in pitch reference. Unlike those that came before it, this subgenre stresses on being loud and a rebellious statement against the previously very traditional reserved type music. It has a very raw energy. Not only is the rhythm simplified but the chords from which the harmony and melody come from are also very simple. Songs will only use a very standard set of progressions that change rather slowly.
"Suspicious Minds", Elvis Presley listening guide
0:00 instrumental start with guitar
0:06 verse 1 starts, vocals start and instruments become accompaniment, other instruments, like the drums and harmonization, come in
0:23 second part of verse 1 starts, melody of first part of verse 1 starts again
0:41 chorus begins for the first time.
0:48 chorus melody repeats for the second part of the chorus
0:56 verse 2 starts, repeating same melody as in verse 1
1:13 second part of verse 2 starts, repeating the same melody as in verse 1.
1:27 you can hear the back-up singers
1:30 chorus starts again, same as the first time chorus is sung
1:47 music slows down, drum is key to changing the tempo
1:49 bridge part starts
2:15 music speeds up again, drum set is key to changing the tempo
2:17 repeats verse 1
2:48 repeats verse 1 again, you can hear more drums in the background
3:24 repeats verse 1 again
3:37 repeats verse 1 again
3:54 repeats verse 1 again
4:10 repeats verse 1 again
fades out.
"Suspicious Minds", Elvis Presley listening guide
0:00 instrumental start with guitar
0:06 verse 1 starts, vocals start and instruments become accompaniment, other instruments, like the drums and harmonization, come in
0:23 second part of verse 1 starts, melody of first part of verse 1 starts again
0:41 chorus begins for the first time.
0:48 chorus melody repeats for the second part of the chorus
0:56 verse 2 starts, repeating same melody as in verse 1
1:13 second part of verse 2 starts, repeating the same melody as in verse 1.
1:27 you can hear the back-up singers
1:30 chorus starts again, same as the first time chorus is sung
1:47 music slows down, drum is key to changing the tempo
1:49 bridge part starts
2:15 music speeds up again, drum set is key to changing the tempo
2:17 repeats verse 1
2:48 repeats verse 1 again, you can hear more drums in the background
3:24 repeats verse 1 again
3:37 repeats verse 1 again
3:54 repeats verse 1 again
4:10 repeats verse 1 again
fades out.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
post 11
The music of the Gullah come from the mix of cultures from the rice coast area of Africa. As these cultures mixed there was nothing impeding them from developing further as these Africans were imported into the states and left with little interaction with the whites. In this way, their culture, heritage, traditions were preserved.
Music of these people consist of melodies that may not even be called melodies. The singing portion of this culture are with words that are just made up by the singer. The melodies, are also primarily decided by the solo singer, and everyone follows this person. There are songs that are set on how they are played/and/or sung but in general, the people follow the lead singer. Also, working as a salesperson for the things they grew, they would sing things like "strawberries" or such things. In general, songs and such were very simple because they were remembered and sung by those who had no education in music. All they knew was the songs taught to them by ear and what they had grown up hearing. After many years, these people no longer sing in their language from African but in English. Now there are few that can actually recite things in the original language. Music is now mostly drum beats that are played with multiple hand drums (and multiple people). Everyone is part of dancing to the drum beats, very much like other African drum beats.
Their music was about the community. It was about being who they were. They were all performers with their drums, sticks, bead gourdes, etc and they were all the audience as well. The music was very well integrated into their lives for themselves and to others and for their God as well.
Music of these people consist of melodies that may not even be called melodies. The singing portion of this culture are with words that are just made up by the singer. The melodies, are also primarily decided by the solo singer, and everyone follows this person. There are songs that are set on how they are played/and/or sung but in general, the people follow the lead singer. Also, working as a salesperson for the things they grew, they would sing things like "strawberries" or such things. In general, songs and such were very simple because they were remembered and sung by those who had no education in music. All they knew was the songs taught to them by ear and what they had grown up hearing. After many years, these people no longer sing in their language from African but in English. Now there are few that can actually recite things in the original language. Music is now mostly drum beats that are played with multiple hand drums (and multiple people). Everyone is part of dancing to the drum beats, very much like other African drum beats.
Their music was about the community. It was about being who they were. They were all performers with their drums, sticks, bead gourdes, etc and they were all the audience as well. The music was very well integrated into their lives for themselves and to others and for their God as well.
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