Music has many different cultures, because a culture itself is created by different societies impacts on people. "Musical cultures refers to a learned way of making a using music, which is shared by a group of people, and is usually passed down from generation to generation." is how IB refers to musical culture. So one must think about the many different types of cultures out there, a personal favorite musical culture is the new Indie Rock of the 2000s. This is not the Indie Rock that developed in the 1980s and 1990s. It is still a genre made of groups that want complete control of their own sound, but instead of grunge, it is a very broad genre that almost any type of music can join. This itself is the musical culture: no exclusion is made in this genre. It is trying to be very open to new developments of music that are accessible to listeners, and that they can enjoy. It allows for musicians to control their creations, not record companies. A personal favorite group in this "Indie Rock" culture is Dirty Projectors. Made of six musicians, with a "rotating cast of associates" (pitchfork.com). Using guitars, drums, and vocals, it is a very simple refreshing sound, that unlike today's most popular pop music can be recreated live.
Another musical culture is Bulgarian folk music. The group in particular is The Bulgarian State Radio & Television Vocal Choir. Founded in 1952 by Philip Koutev, it is composed of Bulgarian women from around the country that are trained to use their voices in a way that is particular to that of Bulgaria. The group uses traditional folk music of Bulgaria, which in itself is very unique. Bulgaria, not being under the same rule for all of its existence has had the influence of the Ottoman Turks, Asian influence, and Western European control. As a result a beautiful sound is created using harmonies and rhythmic patterns heard nowhere else.
So why are these two musical cultures talked about in one post, you are asking? Because even though one is using folk songs from the ancient times that have lasted, and the other is a modern group that does not even have a stable ensemble, they have similarities in the wonderful music they both create.
Let's go back to the time when you were sitting in music class, and remember what the word Harmony means. "Harmony refers to the way chords are constructed and how they follow each other." (Kamien 41). So those wonderful combinations of sounds that these two cultures use are harmonies. The Bulgarian State Radio & Television Vocal Choir uses a 2-7-9 harmony. This means that instead of singing a traditional 1-3-5 harmony, they use the second, seventh, and ninth notes from a scale and sing them at the same time. The sound created is one of pure bliss. Instead of listening and hearing only the same thing over and over again, the large choir gives the listener a new feeling that is very strange. This strange is not bad though, it helps you appreciate the fact that Bulgaria has had the many different historical influences that it has had. On the album Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, the song "Kalimankou Denkou" is what I explored. The title of the song means "The Evening Gathering" and this is just the feeling that it creates. The song begins with the whole choir singing, and then the soloist breaks off. The whole choir follows the soloist in harmony behind her beautiful, almost dreamlike voice. You can almost hear her calling all of the village to be together as she belts the beautiful melodies. The fact that the whole choir is singing in harmonies behind her helps visualize that she is the leader, and that the women behind her support her completely. It shows the strength of a woman in the history of the Bulgarian people. The group does not use many instruments, and in this song the only instruments used are the human voice. The rhythms used are not simple quarter and 8th notes, which helps show the complexity of the situation, and the mindset of the people. Yet the music flows in a way that no other type does, and this is because every time she sings, she is followed by the beautiful harmonies of the women of the choir. Near the end of the song, her solo breaks into a duet with one other singer, and the exchange is what brings the song to the actual end. The two parts almost talk to one another, come to an agreement, and end the conversation, which is the song.
Dirty Projectors, on the other hand use only three voices instead of a whole choir. The three voices used are two females, and one male. In 2009, they released their new album "Bitte Orca", used from this CD is "No Intention”. The song begins with harmony, two guitars and a drum beat. The two guitars creating the harmony foreshadows the parts of the male and female vocals. The male vocals is the part that sings the lyrics, while the female parts just emphasize certain parts. The lyrics below are to show the parts that the female vocals emphasize, using a bolded font to show this.
The renegade feelin' satisfied
You blinked and closed your eyes
You like the feeling of Saturday
You love the danger in the night
The restless corpse is collapsing wind
The breath is daffodil
What won't be coming is lapsing
Into the universal fill
Or maybe just no intention
Or maybe just no intention
When I am full with en devour
Nothing can stop
The freshness of my reality
Makes me feel tingly and hot
When you wake up shouting idea
Is that a punishment?
You represent saying, I'm real
But is that what you meant?
Maybe you meant no intention
Maybe you meant no intention
No intention, No intention
The female vocals do not sing the actual words when the are helping to emphasize them, instead they sing an "ooh"or "aah" sound. Where they sing these sounds is interesting, it helps show the satire in the song. The "ooh" sound they are making is very fresh, light, and cheerful. This contrasts with the male vocals, creating a sarcastic satirical sound. And the "aah" sound is almost used to show the spite, after the use the "ooh" Throughout the whole the song a very strong drum beat is used to help drive the message of the song, only changing when the chorus is sung. The harmonies in the song are not just vocals though, from 3:00-3:35 a guitar harmony is played, at 3:12 the female vocals join the two part harmony. But before the harmony began between the two guitars, at 2:50, only one guitar plays. This is probably used to duplicate the part of the vocals earlier in the song, and to once again emphasize the meaning of the song, which is a person sarcastically responding to what someone else has done to them.
In these two completely different musical cultures, harmony is used to express emotion, one is a woman that is supported by a group during the evening. And the other uses harmony as satire, calling someone out on being ridiculous. These cultures both used harmony to relay their emotions with others.
I hope that you appreciate this comparison, signing off
Music Blogger 23
