The Instrument: Language

     Over the past couple of years, I have delved into the realm of music, and I was instantly captivated by its intricacy and potential. If you have been following this blog, then I'm sure that you could tell that I am quite passionate about this topic. I have fallen in love with music for a variety of reasons, ranging from its potential to immediately impact my mood to its ability to make me stop anything I'm doing and dance along. However, music's most attractive component is its capacity for expression, its infinitely limitless instrumentation.

     Although I try not to be a musical elitist, I am saddened every time I think of people who are musically satisfied with the basic musical compositions and styles of music that dominates most of the airways. I am not trying to say that simple music is bad music, because I am very aware that this is not true. In fact, music with the simplest time signatures and rhythms are the easiest to dance and groove to. However, when the someone's capacity to enjoy music is limited strictly to these types of music, they are simply dipping their toes into the bath, they are only tasting one kind of fruit from the market, they have only seen the tip of the iceberg. I can come up with countless metaphors for this unfortunate truth. I only wish that more people could appreciate music's capacity to speak to you in a variety of ways. After all, music is a language.

Music, like any other language, has structure. It has a rich vocabulary consisting of a million words and expressions. Individual notes act like words and the measures like sentences. There is a grammatical structure to music, as a certain group of notes can resonate with each other in a major scale, a minor scale, or a pentatonic key. Through these various grammatical structures, music takes on an emotional depth via connotations. Just as words are associated with their definitions, certain sounds and notes convey certain emotions; major keys are usually associated with joy and happiness, and minor keys with dark, gloomy emotions. By simply listening to the “sentences” of a song, consisting of its key, its poetic rhythm in time signature, and the emotional connotations of the sounds, the audience can feel the emotions that the sounds are trying to convey. 

There is something quite beautiful about music that differentiates it from other languages. After all, it is a language that isn’t limited by words that only a singular nation or culture can understand. It is universally understood and therefore universally important. I’m incredibly proud of my studies in the language of music, and I feel most productive when I play it because, at least to me, music is much more than a form of entertainment. It is an artful science that can express all the colors of the rainbow, all of the emotions of life.

This is all accomplished through instrumentation, and that is why it is the subject of my blog. By highlighting this critical component of music, I hoped to make the expansive world of music more accessible to all. Now, I do not claim to be a master of the musical world. I sill have a lifetime to go to explore music; I find myself playing my bass guitar every single day, practicing my musical expression and expanding my knowledge on the language in order to master it. Nevertheless, all I'm trying to do is open doors because I know that whats behind these doors is a thing of beauty. 

I've said what I've needed to say, now play me out, Hiatus Kaiyote.

The Instrument: Poetic Justice

   For a very long time, writing poetry had been an extremely easy process. To me, poetry was simply the creative composition of words in lines and stanzas to develop an artistic story. Therefore, the process was simple. I would first think of one story or event that I could somehow shape into a poem. Then, I would crack down on the meat of the poem itself. I dished out amazing rhymes and organized the words into neat little stanzas that made the paper seem clean and complete. And that was it; the poem would be complete in a matter of thirty-five minutes. This brief process reflects my previous beliefs regarding poetry: it was a giant waste of time. Why go through the trouble of writing a poem when there are easier ways of communicating messages and stories? However, as we began to actually study poetry in class, I realized that poetry was instrumental in its own right.

      Poetry was much more than interesting and extensive than I had previously believed. As we dissected numerous poems from various authors, I began to see the layers of thought and material that lay beyond the meanings of the words themselves. There were literary devices and methods that were present in poetry that I never knew to have existed. I began to see the use of enjambment, extended metaphors, non sequiter, juxtaposition, and even the change in tempo and rhythm of words. These techniques can all be likened to the aspects of an instrument, its various sounds and tones. Once all of these techniques became available to me, I saw the need to alter my process of writing poetry.

     As we learned how identify these poetry techniques in class, I attempted to use them in my first draft of my poem. My method in writing my poem became almost formulaic, as I analyzed each poetic skill and saw if they would fit well within the realm of my poem. This was completely different than my previous spontaneous approach. I actually took note of the placement of my words, the sound that my words would make in succession, and the layers of information that I could conceal under a few stanzas of poetry. This deep analysis and execution of poetry was completely new to me. I had always believed that good poetry was born from the random spark in the mind and instinctive writing. However, I came to realize that poetry was should be tediously crafted to truly make it beautiful. 

    At first, the formulaic approach to poetry seemed counter-intuitive. I had my doubts thinking that the approach could harshly limit my creativity. However, this was not the case. I found that inputting these techniques into the poem took all the creativity in the world. This newfound perspective allowed me to play with poetry in a very musical and instrumental sense. Manipulating the English language by using the techniques takes an extensive reserve of creativity to accomplish. In the future, I do not intend on changing this new method in writing poetry because I find the formulaic method to be rather rewarding. When I finally completed my poem, it was satisfying to look over the work and visualize the layers of information that I constructed beneath the words. I'm thoroughly surprised by this because I never thought that writing poetry, my previous bane to my existence, could be so satisfying. I'm glad that I discovered this way of thinking because it gives me a new drive and incentive when it comes to poetry, and will definitely be helpful in many other aspects of literature as well.

The Instrument: Birdsong

     Today, I'm going to start off this blog post a little differently; I will start by telling you a little story. It was July of 2014, July 21st, to be exact, and I had gone to a Phish show that evening. It was the best concert that I have ever been to, but that is a story for a different time. When I returned home with my brother and a couple friends, we relaxed for a little, told a couple stories, listened to some music, and just enjoyed each others company until the clock showed 3:30 A.M. It had been a long day of phenomenal music and general mental and physical stimulation, so around this time, we decided to call it a night (or a really early morning) and head to bed.

     But for some reason, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find sleep and it surely could not find me. I tossed and turned in bed for a little until I realized that there was no point in seeking slumber; I  knew that it would find me eventually when my active mind decided to take a break. So, I climbed out of bed, threw on some clothes, and headed downstairs. I sat on my couch for a while, doodling in a notebook. I looked at the clock again: 4:15 A.M. That's when I heard the first one. A singular, subtly sharp whistle pierced the silence of the darkness outside. It was a birdsong, and for some reason, this I was captivated by this lone bird, crying out while not a single person was awake to hear it. I was startled. I never noticed how early the birds sing in the morning since I'm usually asleep by four in the morning. 

     I then thought of the hundreds of birds that would soon rise and answer the call of this early bird, and in a moment of curiosity and boredom, I draped a blanket around my shoulders to keep me warm, and I walked out onto my balcony and sat down, just listening. I heard another whistle, and it was the very same progression of sounds that I had heard earlier. The tonality of this birdsong was so unique that I thought to myself, it must be the same bird. 4:35 A.M, and a few birds had answered the first bird's call. Either that or they were starting up new conversations with other birds. Now, the calls were all different, and if I put my mind to it, it was quite easy to differentiate the songs of the different birds. I noticed the shrilly whistle of the original bird, but I also noticed a soft, wind-like birdsong. I heard a deeper, guttier coo of a presumably larger bird. Then, I noticed a melodic voice, a bird that would almost run up and down our musical scale, forming sentences from whistles. 

     Soon enough, I was sitting out there at dawn, listening to something like this...

Just listen, and continue reading.

     I must have sat out there for almost two hours. The sun had just broken over the horizon and shades of orange and yellow began dancing amongst the trees across from the balcony. By this time, the birdsongs were abundant, and the hundreds of birdcalls were instruments in a grand avian symphony. It wasn't until I was sitting out in the balcony in my pajamas that I realized that instrumentation is just as prevalent in nature as it is in our lives. Through a variety of melodies, tones, and pitches, all species of birds are able to express themselves and are understood by others. They are able to communicate fear, anger, happiness, the desire to mate, and every emotion in the spectrum of feeling through their calls, their instruments. Isn't this exactly what we do? As artists, musicians, and intellectuals, don't we take the tools made available to us to make sense of the world and to tell our own stories? Well this shouldn't come as a surprise. After all, human beings are from nature too. We just seem to have forgotten that. 

The Instrument: Peter and the Wolf

      Chances are, you have heard the tale of Peter and the Wolf. And when I say heard, I mean exactly that, as Peter and the Wolf is no ordinary story. It is a very well known children's story, but it is quite unique in the sense that the tale of Peter and his adventures in the forests is grounded to the musical world. Although since its birth and inception as a story, Peter and the Wolf has been adapted into almost all forms of media ranging from live action adaptations to Disney animations, Peter and the Wolf was originally just a soundtrack. Written by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev in 1936, this unique composition told the story of a young pioneer named Peter and his interactions with all the animals of the forest near his home, and it does so solely with instruments and an accompanying narration. Just as a picture book relies on images to fabricate an imaginary world, Peter and the Wolf relies on sounds to provide the substance of the story. How are the themes of nature and the relationships between man and animal portrayed through sound? How does Peter and the Wolf accomplish this feat? Well, based on the lens of this blog, I'm sure you have already guessed the answer: instrumentation.

Record cover of Disney's adaptation of Peter and the Wolf

     The score of Peter and the Wolf is performed by a fully fleshed out orchestra, consisting of string, wind, brass, and percussion instruments. You have probably seen an orchestra perform before, and if you haven't, just trust me, they're big. It's quite an awesome experience to see the sea of musicians and their instruments, all swaying to the motions of the conductor. Anyways, this massive collective of music serves as the foundation for the story of Peter and the Wolf. It also presents a challenge. How can the emotional content of a story be portrayed by such a variety of instruments and components? And, since Prokofiev was commissioned to create this piece to "cultivate musical tastes in children from the first years of school," how could this be done in a way that could be appreciated by children? Well, before I delve into this, I suggest that you give this recording a listen. The introductory narrator will begin to paint you a picture of what really makes this piece tick. The entire piece is roughly around thirty minutes long, but just pay close attention to the opening couple of minutes and continue reading. 

     So, clearly, instrumentation really plays a vital role in Peter and the Wolf. Instead of solely composing a piece that contains the emotional connotations of certain musical modes and keys, Prokofiev does something extremely intriguing. He assigns instruments, and their distinct sounds, to the numerous characters of the story. Prokofiev did not do this randomly, either. He connected instruments to animals based on the relationship between the instrument's sound type and the personality of the animal. For example, the high, lightly fluttering sound of the flute represents the bird in the story. Meanwhile, the lower and more meandering sound of the oboe represents the waddling duck. There was definitely a method to his madness.

     

The Instrument: Popular

     Popular. Outside of the musical context, we all know what this word means. Something popular is something that is generally favored by the public, and, due to the innate tendency of human beings to associate with current popular trends, popularity is also something that is desirable. Now, since this blog primarily focuses on the instrumental intricacies of the music, I must ask this question: Does the word "popular" have a place in artwork, the realm of the creative?

     The correlation between "popular" and "music" is instantly recognizable. After all, there is a genre of music that dominates the airwaves and iPods of adolescent teenagers. It is a genre that is, interestingly enough, labeled "pop" music. I found it intriguing how the genre of pop claimed its name, as it is the only genre of music that is labelled as an adjective that already has an established definition, and is not self-describing such as jazz, blues, or rock and roll. Pop music clearly derives its name from "popular," but I struggled with this concept, being an avid listener of music and an even greater critic of pop due to the genre's musically limiting characteristics. I thought to myself, how could the likes of Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Nikki Minaj define the popular music of my generation? This cannot be so! Alas, this is so. One only needs to go on Youtube and compare the number of views between a catchy Taylor Swift pop single and Herbie Hancock's masterfully crafted and musically intricate jazz work to realize that, yes, pop music is truly quite popular.

Katy Perry; popular music artist

     I hate on pop music, but I get the appeal. Pop music is so successful and, for lack of a better term, popular, because the music focuses completely on the catchy. I agree that pop music is easy to listen to compared to more complex genres such as classical music and jazz, but I find the simplistic instrumentation of popular music to be boring. I don't like being bored when I listen to music; it's a paradoxical mistake to listen to boring music because I believe that music should be musically engaging. Nevertheless, I wanted to dig deeper on what is and has been deemed popular music from a strictly instrumental perspective. How has the instrumentation of popular music evolved over time? Has the genre followed a specific trend?

The Beatles; popular music circa. 1960

     And the answers to both of those questions are: a lot and a little. The origin of modern pop music is the emergence of popular rock and roll in the 1950's, with up and coming bands such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and ABBA winning the hearts of an entire population of young adults. In terms of instrumentation, there are no similarities whatsoever between the pop music of young and old. The standard implementation of the electric guitar, the electric bass, and drums in the instrumentation of rock and roll are completely absent from today's pop music, which has leaned more heavily towards electronic compositions accompanied by strong and clear vocals. So, it is clear that the only trend that popular music has followed over the years is just that the music has always been popular.
   
     Ultimately, pop music is a genre that will continue to change as long as music continues to be consumed. After all, mindsets do not last decades, and I'm sure that the popular music of today will not be considered "pop" music in another half-century. Although popular music has continued to define youth culture and sentiments since its conception, just look at how much popular music has drastically changed since the 1950's, at least in a strictly musical sense. So, the question to ask is this: is this unstable, "popular," definition of music worth it? What's the point of characterizing music based on it popularity?

     I have mixed opinions on the matter. First of all, I believe that popularity has no place in determining the quality of music. I realize that personal preference is ultimately the deciding factor on a persons musical taste and his or her value of the quality of music, but the popularity of a song should never be discussed when analyzing its musical qualities and attributes. In this sense, popularity simply has no place in music. However, I also realize that music can be a very community-oriented experience. Being a fan of the Grateful Dead and Phish, two bands that have intensely devoted and almost cult-like following, I understand that there is a huge appeal in being a part of musically extended family. The concert experience in itself is a testimony to the power of this experience; whether you are at a Justin Bieber show or a Grateful Dead show, you will undoubtedly hear the roar of the fans singing along to the tune. So, to provide an answer to the previous answer, I'll say that yes, the "popular" definition of music is worth it. It was an definitely interesting experience researching how the community of the popular has defined its own genre of music over the years. Although I may not be a fan of what popular music has become, I am reassured that it is ever-changing. Who knows, one day I might enjoying pop music on my balcony as an old man, finally thinking, what a good time it is to be alive.

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.