Friday, July 4, 2014
Musics of the World Week #2
Title- Cloudy Sky
Artist- 12 Girls Band
Country of Origin- China
Instrumentation- Erhu (two string fiddle), Pipa (four stringed instrument), Zhongruan (plucked string instrument), Dizi (flute), Yangqin (hammered dulcimer), and Duxianqin (one stringed plucked instrument)
12 Girls Band are an all female Chinese musical group that consists of 12 members.
The members of the 12 Girls Band were selected through an audition process. The
initial audition had over 4,000 contestants to compete to become a member of the
group. Each member of 12 Girls Band is classically trained in music. Each member
also studied music at various conservatories such as the China Academy of Music,
the Chinese National Orchestra, and the Central Conservatory of Music.
I feel that classification systems can be very useful for time periods as instrumental
classification. Specific classification systems can be used to classify specific music time
periods. For example, music time periods are currently classified according to years,
composers, and musical characteristics of the specific time periods. A classification
system can be very useful to classify instruments into specific groups or families.
For example, Chinese musical instruments such as the Erhu, Pipa, Zhongruan, and Duxianqin
all belong to the string instrument family that can plucked or played with a bow.
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I really enjoyed this musical performance, and the depth of your assessment. How would we go about classifying musical time periods by instrument in Chinese music? This example really doesn't tell me what period it's from, mainly because I know so little about Chinese music and its time periods.
ReplyDeleteWithin Western music, and being a trumpet player, we might classify by BT and AT -- Before trumpet and after trumpet. If you listen to the soundtracks for the Star Trek movies, on the Next Generation movies, the principal trumpet player is playing a Monette trumpet. I know this because I recognize the timbres unique to that model of horn, but on the fanfares of the original cast movies, the trumpet is a very different sound because it's not Monette. Perhaps BT, AT, and Monette Age might be useful in classifying Western music by trumpet?
Classification of instruments according to time periods would be a difficult task, Like you I know very little about Chinese music and time periods. I really like the example of classifying trumpets by using BT and AT. There have definitely been advancements of instruments within Western Music. I would assume that there are numerous traditional instruments that are still currently being used. This could possibly be so that the music of Chinese cultures can sound the same and will keep the traditional sound that they are accustomed to many years ago.
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