Japanese Music

I am going to be writing about Traditional and current Japanese Music and the people behind it, if i was asked before doing any research about Japanese music, I would probably offer the same assumptions as most other people, fast and upbeat techno music, usually used in games with plenty of flashy lights, and yes, to some extent this is correct, in the modern day this is exactly what Japanese music is known to be like, usually seen in Anime films and computer games, even in children's cartoons, although this is to some extent what the culture is about, it is not even close to the roots of the 'Real' Folk music of the Japanese people.

So what i will be doing is taking you through the stages of what i have found out about all of the different styles that come along with the folk and also the preconception of modern world Japan and Japanese music.

Japanese music dates back to Ancient times, which means it was among the first styles of music to be heard, although there are an abundance of different types of Japanese music, there are 3 main 'Traditional' styles, the first being instrumental, this music was used at first as more of a meditation tool, to help sooth and refine the people and used to refresh the 'spirit', secondly there is Theatrical music, which is very self explanatory but is effective and plays a very important role in the history of the music, and then there is court music.

All of these types of music have a lot of sub categories that go into each of them, i will be honest I do NOT know to which each sub category falls into but i will try and explain them to the best of my abilities.

From what i have found out, chamber music is more of a slow paced and as previously stated a more meditative feel to it, this comes from the Buddhist monks and the chants that are used are to keep evil away in the eyes of the Japanese people and the traditions that they keep.

Japanese music to the native people is a strict art form, not estranged from Martial arts, instruments are practiced to a regimental regime just like martial arts are trained and art is practiced, they believe that things need to be perfected, this still lives on today just like it did in the very early ages of the music, children of today are usually made to practice for hours on end in order to become masters of there instrument, and these skills are mostly passed down through generations.

But back to the early days, the instruments that were used and some that are still widely used today are mostly very natural and ornamental.

In the theatrical side of the instruments, we start off small with the Hyoshigi, which are 2 wooden or bamboo blocks held together with a rope (below), these are used to announce the beginning of the theater show, and also used for ambient sounds such as loud bangs and short sharp claps, even though this seems like an insignificant instrument, this is more a tool of the trade, but was a very useful idea in them days, and oddly enough the same method is used in boxing and martial arts today to signal the last 10 seconds of a round.


 Hyoshigi (Kyoto Fukuchiyama Kamiaraga, Date Unknown)

Japanese Buddhist Wooden  Temple Drum (Lane, 2011)

Another percussive instrument is known as the wooden fish or a temple block, this was and is still used in rituals or mantra's which are spiritual meditations performed by monks and also in special occasions such as weddings.

Shoko is one of three sizes of gongs, these are used with horn beaters, having 3 sizes it allows the player to get different sounds for certain occasions or different sounds of musical content, the Shoko as far as i am aware these are still widely used today within the Japanese musical and spiritual cultures.

Now we move on to more of the string sections, with the first being the Japanese national instrument, the Koto, this instrument is the most widely known instrument from Japan, (Even i knew this one), this is my opinion is how i would describe as the sound of Japan, when I hear this I picture a congregation of Geisha's surrounded by monks in a meditation or a spiritual ritual.

The Koto is a 13 stringed instrument that also has 13 bridges that can be moved to make different sounds, pitches and tuning's, this is how the traditional Koto sounds -

 A picture of the Japanese 13-stringed koto (Gregory, 2007)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6hDzHIsWtU

As you see the Koto is somewhat plucked with the fingers, which generally but not always have plectrums attached to the fingers and thumb, this gives it the sharp sound but played pianissimo, which then gives it a roomy and full feel.

Below are a list of what are known to be the most important types of traditional music - Traditional Japanese music is also known as Hogaku.

Gagaku: Is Ancient court music from China and Korea, it is known to be the oldest type of Japanese, traditional music. 

Biwagaku: Music played with the Biwa, a kind of Guitar with four strings, here is the Biwa in action, as you will see, it is not played with the fingers or a plectrum like the guitar, here the craftsman is playing with what looks to be a wooden spatula.




Picture of a Biwa (National Music museum, Date unknown)

Nohgaku – Is commonly played during performances known as ‘Noh’, this is a musical drama. In basic terms it is made up of a chorus, with uses of the Hayashi flute, also the Tsuzumi drum, along with other instruments.

Here is a beautiful performance using the Hayashi flute, much like the bamboo flutes of Indian music, It produces a very pure sound, but here resembles a higher pitch alike some of the metal flutes of today.

Title Undecided (Jun 1, 2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NnNjjCnK9s

This is what i have found about the traditional side of the music and culture, now lets have a look at the modern take on what we in society know as Japanese music. 

well first off, Japanese music is in among the top market within the music industry today,

Here is an artist that uses electronic versions of traditional instruments, but accompanied by a beautiful voice, all sang in Japanese, Not quite sure what she is singing about but to me it sounds really nice and is very pleasing to the ear.

Alan - Sakura Modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK_rKhMIotU

 As you will hear throughout the song, especially the first few bars, the feel of tradition is very strong, keeping with a style that can be recognized not just as new and modern, but also rustic and pure to form.


I believe that all in all Japanese music will continue to dominate the music industries, not only with catchy and annoying songs, but also with the traditional and modern traditional takes.

The general and first thoughts on Japanese music are mostly alike in English musical culture, as i said at first i see it as anime and fast up tempo songs, but as i have researched more and more of the music and where it came from i am finding out that my previous thoughts were most certainly misconceptions of huge proportions, the style and general culture is a beautiful and somewhat majestic feel, and something that people may not like, but something that i will now take with me.

Just to play you out, something that i forgot to touch upon , was Folk music, having looked and looked, folk music to the Japanese people must have some meaning behind it, weather that be happiness or sadness, etc, but rather than me try and explain, here is a Traditional/modern Folk song, also known as a Minyo, the lyrics as understand are of sadness but of the healing and rebirth or replenishing of said sadness.

Traditional Japanese Music 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raX64OgsOHo

Reference list - 

Photograph and video Reference 


 Lane, A,C. (2011) Japanese Buddhist Wooden Temple Drum. Available at:
http://thevintagevillage.com/photo/antique-japanese-buddhist-wooden-mokugyo-temple-drum?xg_source=activity
(Accessed: 28 October 2013).


 Kamiaraga, K, F. (date Unknown) Hyoshigi,
Available at: http://nohmask21.com/shishi4/hyoshigi-sonokeling1.jpg
 (Accessed: 28 October 2013).

 
Gregory, S,A. (2007) A picture of the Japanese 13-stringed koto.
Available at: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Japanese_Koto.jpg
(Accessed 27 October 2013).

 kana wakana (2005) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6hDzHIsWtU -
Uploaded on Mar 5, 2010, (accessed 27 october 2013).

 National Music museum, (Date unknown) Picture of a Biwa, Available at:
 http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/EasternAsia/1433JapaneseBiwa/1433JapanbiwafrontwithplectrumLG.jpg
 (accessed 28 october 2013). 

Title Undecided (Jun 1, 2013) Nohgaku,
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NnNjjCnK9s, (Accessed 27 October 2013). 


Alan/Shinitkun, Aug 29, 2008, Sakura Modern,
 Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK_rKhMIotU, (Accessed 27 October 2013). 


Yuuka Kazami, Aug 18, 2011, Traditional Japanese Music 2,
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raX64OgsOHo, (Accessed 28 October 2013). 

Spanish music

This week I have been listening to a lot of old and new style Spanish music, the reason I have chosen this style is because of the general sound and feel of the music, it is a style that once it is in your head, it does not want to leave, even if the music is of a sad nature, it still makes you feel very happy just with the way that it is set out, the older style is known to have used the 12 stringed guitar, in my view I think this may have been for the many different sounds that can be made with this instrument, but it is not all about guitar, Spanish music can be traced back to the very early days of Spain itself, with people bringing over musical sounds but with the new government the rise was soon stopped as they declared a prohibition of such music.

After this within the Renaissance period, a lot of music began to grow and flourish within the towns and communities, the music became more instrumental but also combining more instruments, in which case most of the instruments are still used in the modern Spanish music of today, and like music from around the world, some techniques are passed on to different styles and places. and not just keeping it within the Spanish community.

Here is an example of what was known as Spanish 'Folk' music -

As you will hear it is a lot different from the style that we today would class as Spanish music, apart from the language being spoken, this give another side to the general acoustic guitar that we normally hear to represent Spain.

But on the other hand, here is the Spanish guitar being played alone, but in a more modern way, with the use of a loop station to create the scene of a Spanish song -  

In the Spanish music of today there are a lot more vocal styles, with artists such as Pitbull, Don Omar, and Shakira all of which bring a very modern take on the kind of music that it is but always keeping to there roots, making sure the Spanish language is always the dominant of any used throughout, but again there is a big emphasis on the actual music itself, although it is using mostly new styles and techniques there are again the roots of Spain.

Newer Spanish music can be found in some Blockbuster films worldwide, such as 'The Fast and furious', although this is a good move for the general outlook of the style of music, it also interpenetrates it in a different way than from when it started out. 

When we look deeper into the meaning of Spanish music, we can come across some interesting things, it is known to be the language of love, so this in theory should be interpreted into the kind of music that has come and gone, but also within today's culture, looking back at the very early Spanish and Latin American sound, there was that aspect of love and loyalty within not just the lyrics but the music itself, this then is made to be fun as well as 'lovey dovey', but reverting back to today's sound, it is not at all the case, Obviously Spanish as a language is spoken not just in Spain but in Central and south America.

This in my opinion brings 'new style Spanish Music' into its own class, rather than take away from the organic roots that it is built around, we should treat true Spanish and new American styles as a totally different breed, and not all as the same, because they are in some ways very similar, but in many more ways, nothing alike. 

In some areas, Spanish music is associated with Flamenco music and a lot of 12 string acoustic guitar styles, mostly played allegretto but with an acceso edge to it,

Spanish music is very diverse from place to place, for instance as we mentioned, flamenco music is a genre known by the name Andalusian, which is not known to be widespread from its own region, but has helped shape some of the other styles and genres that have emerged throughout time, for example a few other regional genres such as Galicia and Asturias coincide with and also educate genres such as Andalusian, but still they all have the roots of Celtic and Irish folk music. 

Some more of the instruments used in traditional Spanish music come from the flamenco side, like the clave and the castanets, this gives the rhythm something to hold onto and also give it the percussive edge, along with the Cajun drum box, sometimes known as the snare front.

All in all, the main aspects of Spanish music still live on today, with obvious changes, with the new upbeat and somewhat club sound, but also carrying on with tradition such as some of the instruments and keeping the language as prominent as possible throughout.   

Here to play you out, we have a traditional Spanish guitar song, played on a 16th century Spanish guitar -

Reference List

Arany Zoltán. (2009). Folk music from Spain - La molinera by Arany Zoltán. [Online Video]. 10 June. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fudo3fpr0Dc. [Accessed: 12 November 2013].

johnclarkemusic. (2012). Fuerte - John H. Clarke - San Francisco Street Performance. [Online Video]. 26 May. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvaaL2RKaKs. [Accessed: 12 November 2013].

Cajun drum shop, (2013), Cajun [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.thecajondrumshop.com/index.php?no=Adjustable-Cajon [Accessed 01 December 13].

Google.com, (2013), Castanets [ONLINE]. Available at: http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow/images/a07/n5/lu/spanish-music-traditional-instruments-800x800.jpg [Accessed 01 December 13].

djsashavaladi. (2012). Best Solo ... Spanish Guitar. [Online Video]. 18 April. Available from:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dShR9VrzG4. [Accessed: 02 December 2013].

  

Old English/Elizabethan

Today I will be talking about the Old English and Elizabethan era music with a small emphasis on William Shakespeare, the reason I have chosen this subject is from my own perspective, the musical abilities along with the extensive use of vocabulary, have been a ‘Game Changer’ from then on, all the way to modern day English and American Music and culture.

I believe this was one of a plethora of musical and cultural era’s that have changed and enhanced the general way that we look at music and lyrical content in today’s age.

The reason for this, has come from the style of playing in general, although a generic structure was not important at this time, it gave a musician of the era a freedom of which to express themselves, but within a basic sound, for example one of the main instruments used, especially as entertainment or royalty purposes was the Lute, a stringed instrument, which was played a lot like the guitar or mandolin of today, also noting the actual complexity of the pieces were some of which had not been seen or heard of previously, the Elizabethan era lasted from 1558 - 1603, and within that time many styles were created.

Music was used in the Elizabethan era as great form of entertainment, The Elizabethan musical instruments consisted of many brought through from medieval times, also of newer instruments to the times, these consisted of stringed instruments of which may have been played with a bow or plucked, also even though they were at the beginning stages a lot of keyboard types of instruments were played, such as the harpsichord and the spinet, and of course not forgetting the percussion section which used various different types of drums, some of the old English era instruments are still used in music as we know it today, or if not used are a big influence on how we use modern instruments. 


The lute is still known as one of the main instruments used at the time, here is a little demonstration of how the lute sounds and how it is played, As you can see it is played a lot like the guitar of today, but notice how the head is bent backwards but with a small neck, this gives it a very soft tone to make the 'Medieval' sound.

Music was not only used used for entertainment purposes it was also used in royal proceedings, also it started being implemented into the plays and shows that were becoming more and more popular with the likes of William Shakespeare, who used music to depict the scenes, for example just like music as we use it, to make us feel happy, sad, angry etc, this technique was used for Shakespeare’s greatest plays, and is still used in modern society in the very same way.

Although William Shakespeare was not a musician, he was a poet and a play write, and as we know poetry has a strong impact on the way musical lyrics are written today, Shakespeare was known to have used what is now known as ‘Queens English’, with very precise pronunciation on words, this has since opened up many peoples way of using Old English sounding words, into very new songs, which has then inspired artists to learn and add to there vocabularies.

Much of today’s ‘Pop’ music has very little emphasis with regards to the Elizabethan era, unlike ‘Rock’ music which has very similar styles of playing, but in the 21st century unlike the Elizabethan era, it is now all about, 'more is better', where as it was very stripped and clean in the past, but surprisingly enough, a lot of the words spoken by the people of that time, including Shakespeare, are reincarnated into modern day English and American Hip Hop, although hip hop has had its own timeline, at some point has crossed into the intellectual field of the Elizabethan era music, this is shown in the way that many hip hop artists speak today.

For example taking lyrics out of the context of hip hop, a lot of the time it is difficult to decipher weather it was in fact for example an Elizabethan or Shakespeare poem, or a hard hitting rap.
Here are a few examples to get your own minds working-

Pop quiz-

To destroy the beauty from which one came.

Maybe it’s hatred I spew, maybe its food for the spirit.
Men would rather use their broken records than their bare hands.
I was not born under a rhyming planet.
The most benevolent king communicates through your dreams.
Socrates, philosophy and hypotheses can’t define me.

This now gives a new way of thinking to modern day music, but still using the same basic patterns and techniques that were used in the Elizabethan era, even though most people have the own views on English music, weather that be of today’s chart music all the way back to the 8th century, we can always look back on what as changed from the past and what has remained a big part of our musical cultures.

The Old English and Elizabethan music style was one of a very relaxed but up beat sound, this for the poor people of the time was a great way to lift spirits, for royalty purposes it was used in a very similar way, but it was more entertainment led.

The sound that was produced from a musician was not of a poor quality, it was very clean, and very polished, here are a few of the musicians of the period.

 Elizabethan Musicians composed music for musical instruments and the voice. The Elizabethan Golden Age saw the emergence of the Anthem, the Madrigal, the Masque and Opera. The emergence of new English music schools. And great Elizabethan Musicians such as William Byrd (1543-1623), Thomas Campion (1567-1620), John Dowland (1563-1626), John Farmer (1570-1601), Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), Robert Johnson (1500-1560) and Thomas Tallis (1505-1585).

Here we have an example of some of the music of the time from a musician called William Byrd, who started writing music towards the end of 1570, and was writing thereafter until he was to old to do so.

This is a piece of music taken from the period, which is a beautifully arranged piece of music, this piece may have been used as a spiritual song, or within the church for an occasion.

Here is an example of a few more musical instruments, the instruments that are shown here are just a few of a mass amounts that were used.

From the picture I can clearly see an instrument called the Viol, also known as the 'leg viol', it is played between the legs, a lot like the cello or bass, but still has a sound alike the violin.

And also in the top right of the picture, we see an instrument called a Cornett, this has the mouth piece like the trumpet, but has the body of a curved recorder, this still gives a very strong sound out.

not forgetting the lute, the violin and viola also within the picture.

These are some of the 'main' instruments played in the time, and are still widely used today.



The traditions at the time were that of a very simple way of life, the royalty ruled the kingdoms and castles and the poor people worked for very little within each of the kingdoms, this is where a lot of the typical music came from, then ranging all the way up to royal musicians that played professionally.

And now to play you out, we have an ensemble, playing a 16th century piece of music, with all the general instruments of the time.

Reference list

salixarbour. (2007). Melancholy Galliard - Renaissance Lute. [Online Video]. 28 January. Available from:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_K5zRA2APo. [Accessed: 23 October 2013].

warren king. 2012. Shakespeare's Blog . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/blog/hip-hop-shakespeare/. [Accessed 22 October 13].

Alchin, L.K.. 2012. Elizabethan Music. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-music.htm. [Accessed 26 October 13].

444Vincent444. (2012). Elizabethan Consort Music - Qeumadmodum A 6 (Taverner). [Online Video]. 11 December. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkU2BrX-PN8. [Accessed: 28 October 2013].

Pop quiz answers:

Hip hop: Jay-Zee

Hip hop: Eminem

Shakespeare: Othello

Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing

Hip hop: Wu-Tang Clan