The Instrument: Propaganda...?

     In an blog post that I wrote near the end of last year, I called advertisement a corporate instrument. The astounding attention to detail that is present in powerful and effective advertisements instantly made me think of how the use of advertisement was the corporate equivalent of playing an instrument aimed at pleasing "the listener's ear", so to speak. Recently, I have made the parallel hypothesis that propaganda is the instrument and tool of the government. Just as advertisements attempt to convince consumers to purchase the product or service being advertised, works of propaganda aim at influencing the will and perspective of the public. This is a much darker interpretation of instrumentation in general, and that definitely has something to do with the ellipses and question mark that ends this blog title, but I will further describe my hesitance later in the post. So, let us analyze the instrumental qualities of propaganda.

Propaganda from World War I

     This is maybe the most iconic piece of American propaganda. Distributed during the first world war, this picture depicts Uncle Sam, the patriotic mascot of America, pointing at you to enlist in the army to fight in the war. This article of propaganda was extremely successful because it appealed to the patriotic side of every U.S. citizen. The use of Uncle Sam and his expressed interest in recruiting "you" completely downplays the dangers and consequences of war, and gives enlistment a heightened standing as an action of patriotic duty and necessity. Now, I am not saying that the decision to enlist in the army is not a brave and patriotic one, but rather that the government played a large role in glorifying conflict in order to raise the number of soldiers in the American ranks through works of propaganda such as this one. 

An image from President Obama's Hope campaign

      I have already made the connection that propaganda is to the government as advertisement is to corporations and businesses; it is a method of telegraphing your character, business model, prized product, qualifications, or goals to the people. In this sense, Obama's Hope campaign is a modern example of government (in this case, the Democratic Party) propaganda. The appeal here is focused on the colors of the propaganda: the dense and starkly contrasting colors of red, white, and blue appeal to the spirit of patriotism in many Americans. The values of liberty and diligence that are symbolized by these very colors is transplanted onto the face of Obama; he inadvertently associates himself with these appealing and favorable qualities of the United States.

    However, I also have a problem analyzing government propaganda, a tool used to mentally influence and maintain a specific perspective in the minds of the masses, as an "instrument". After using this lens of instrumentation in a variety of ways over the course of months through this blog, I have come to see the lens itself in a completely different way entirely. At first, I was okay with the notion of the instrument being a tool used to achieve a specific result, whether that result was making a crowd dance or entertaining an engaged reader, but now I believe that instrumentation has a more complex connotation. Synonyms have very similar meanings, but with their own specific flair. The instrument's flair is that it is a tool of creativity, a tool meant to develop thoughts, both musical and not. Propaganda does not contain this essential characteristic of the instrument, so I am skeptical to call it one. 

The Instrument: The Funk

      It is clear that instrumentation is a very versatile tool that can accomplish a wide variety of musical goals. I often like to compare musical instrumentation to crafted writing and literature, as I believe music to be an entire language of its own. The metaphor of music as a language is incredibly fitting; the parallelism between the creative opportunity and intricacy of both forms of art are immaculate. Just as writing can be channeled into specific, intricate shapes in the forms of different genres, instrumentation can be manipulated to different generic forms as well. What do I mean by this? Well, take the drums as an example. The sounds of the drum, played in any musical setting, sounds the same. Every time you snap the snares and crash the cymbals, as long as you hit them with the same strength and speed, they will sound the same. However, it is the specific instrumentation and mastery of the drums that allows for distinct drumming styles that are specific to certain genres of music. In other words, instrumentation dictates and defines musical genre. So, I would love to take the time to analyze how instrumentation shapes one of my favorite music genres of all time: the world of funk.

James Brown, a founding father of the funk genre.

     I love funk music. There is no other genre of music that can make me drop whatever I'm doing instantly and groove and dance to the beat. Funk music originated in the late 1960's when African American musicians created the rhythmic genre by taking heavy influences from other genres such as soul, jazz and R&B. Funk caught fire, as artists such as James Brown, The Temptations, and Earth, Wind & Fire began to shape the American musical landscape of the next decade. 

     So what makes funk music so unique? What makes it tick? Well, funk music was almost revolutionary in a way because it de-emphasized the melodic aspects of music, and focused heavily on the rhythm. In fact, funk music brings the cooperating rhythm of the electric bass and the drums to the spotlight. The entirety of the funk song revolves around this tight groove established by the rhythm section. Being a bass guitarist myself, this is probably why I enjoy the genre so much. The emphasis of the bass allows for more creative freedom in the rhythm section, as it is the centerpiece of the song. 

Papa Was A Rolling Stone, The Temptations

      Here is a song the exemplifies the spirit of funk music. Although the song is 12 minutes long, you can understand the essence of the song in the opening bass line. The instrumental setup demonstrated in this Temptations song and in other works of funk function for a variety of reasons. First of all, funk music is not extremely complex; it is very easy to listen to. This is because funk grooves utilize relatively simple chord progressions. Usually, funk songs stick to one chord, using variances of the notes and riffs that are a part of that chord. In addition to the short, staccato blasts of the sounds of the horns and melodic accompaniment, funk music can be described as short, sweet, and to the point.