For Mother’s Day, I was fortunate enough to convince my mom that she wanted Mexican food for her celebratory dinner. We drove down to south Dallas to go eat at El Ranchito, which is now officially the best Mexican food I have ever tasted.
Aside from the food, the atmosphere, people, and music explain very well why there was a line of people stretching out the door and down the street who were waiting for a table. This crowded restaurant hosted two mariachi bands that night. The one that I listened to consisted of three guitars, a violin, and a trumpet. All five of the performers sang while they were not playing their instruments, except for the guitarists who could do both at once. The music itself either sounded like a love ballad or a fast paced song that made me sway to the rhythm of the guitar. The trumpet was usually the main melody, with the guitars as accompaniment and the beat. Quite often, the trumpet would play a long run of notes followed by a few short staccato notes to end the phrase. The performers were all dressed in traditional ranchero costumes and danced when the song allowed. The audience was comprised of Hispanic families who were out to celebrate Mother’s Day and my family. The tables that were close to the performing band were very focused on them. During many songs, you could hear a good five or six tables singing along to the song. The restaurant was very crowded and completely full. The atmosphere was very lively, with singing, clapping, and disco balls. Now, since this restaurant was very authentic, it seemed like the target audience was specifically for Hispanic people. The table next to ours leaned over to ask us which songs we wanted to hear, which made me think that not very many people outside of that culture come to this restaurant. They played La Cucaracha and the Macarena per our next door table’s request.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Side Show Performance Report
Musical theatre has a long history, stretching back all the way to ancient Greece. Although it has radically transformed since then, it is still a form of theatre that combines songs, music, spoken dialogue and dance into one flowing production. This particular musical, Side Show, was performed at the University Theatre on the UTD campus. It was performed on the weekends of April 8- 10 and April 15-17. Loosely based on the true story of the conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, the story depicts the transition of the two twins from a small side show to becoming famous vaudevillian performers.
One key characteristic of musicals is the ability to flow from speech to song very easily. This musical had hardly any actual speech. The actors would say maybe a few words, maybe a sentence, before switching into a song. Also, although it was sung, many of the songs were still a conversation held between the performers. The music varied from short, staccato like notes that took place while the performers were “speaking” in song to the long vibrato notes at the end of phrases. Most notes were short in order to allow the audience an understanding of what’s being said. Being a musical, the whole story was sung, so it was imperative that the audience could understand the lyrics. I was surprised at how well I could understand what they were singing. Usually when seeing a musical, the story gets lost to me from time to time. They enunciated well enough to understand most of what was being sung. The flow of the music was also very fluid. The transition between songs was quick and sometimes almost unnoticeable.
I also want to note the small orchestra that performed the music for the songs. It was composed of a tiny woodwind and brass section as well as percussion, a synthesizer, a guitar, and a bass. There were no cues between the actors on stage and the orchestra backstage that I could see. I’m not sure how they pulled that off.
The actors started off on the steps on each side of the theatre and proceeded to dance and sing while heading towards the stage. From the very beginning, there was a lot of movement on the stage. When the spotlight was on one or two main actors, the rest of the background actors would stay in the stark contrast of absolute silence so as to not take away from the focus on the moving main actors. The lighting was usually a faint light on the entire stage with a much brighter light on the actors who were singing at the time. If they were all singing at once, the entire stage was lit up brightly.
The theatre was surprisingly full. I noticed two small sections that were empty, but otherwise it was a full house. Most of the audience looked like family of the actors on stage, along with a large number of students. I’m sure there were a lot of people from our class in the audience. There was also a lot of applause at the end of each song. It seemed like the audience really appreciated the work that the actors put into the performance.
The theatre was quite small, which made everything very easy to hear. The small space reverberated everything well, but the acoustics worked so that you didn’t have a lot of echo afterward.
A musical has the ability to put a play to a tune. The dancing, songs, and speech were all there in this performance. The easy flow from one song to another kept it going at a fast pace and the small theatre made the actors very up close and personal.
One key characteristic of musicals is the ability to flow from speech to song very easily. This musical had hardly any actual speech. The actors would say maybe a few words, maybe a sentence, before switching into a song. Also, although it was sung, many of the songs were still a conversation held between the performers. The music varied from short, staccato like notes that took place while the performers were “speaking” in song to the long vibrato notes at the end of phrases. Most notes were short in order to allow the audience an understanding of what’s being said. Being a musical, the whole story was sung, so it was imperative that the audience could understand the lyrics. I was surprised at how well I could understand what they were singing. Usually when seeing a musical, the story gets lost to me from time to time. They enunciated well enough to understand most of what was being sung. The flow of the music was also very fluid. The transition between songs was quick and sometimes almost unnoticeable.
I also want to note the small orchestra that performed the music for the songs. It was composed of a tiny woodwind and brass section as well as percussion, a synthesizer, a guitar, and a bass. There were no cues between the actors on stage and the orchestra backstage that I could see. I’m not sure how they pulled that off.
The actors started off on the steps on each side of the theatre and proceeded to dance and sing while heading towards the stage. From the very beginning, there was a lot of movement on the stage. When the spotlight was on one or two main actors, the rest of the background actors would stay in the stark contrast of absolute silence so as to not take away from the focus on the moving main actors. The lighting was usually a faint light on the entire stage with a much brighter light on the actors who were singing at the time. If they were all singing at once, the entire stage was lit up brightly.
The theatre was surprisingly full. I noticed two small sections that were empty, but otherwise it was a full house. Most of the audience looked like family of the actors on stage, along with a large number of students. I’m sure there were a lot of people from our class in the audience. There was also a lot of applause at the end of each song. It seemed like the audience really appreciated the work that the actors put into the performance.
The theatre was quite small, which made everything very easy to hear. The small space reverberated everything well, but the acoustics worked so that you didn’t have a lot of echo afterward.
A musical has the ability to put a play to a tune. The dancing, songs, and speech were all there in this performance. The easy flow from one song to another kept it going at a fast pace and the small theatre made the actors very up close and personal.
Elements of progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock that was at its peak in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Largely a British rock movement, it attempted to bridge the gap in between rock, jazz, and other genres of music. It came out of the psychedelic rock subgenre and still has some characteristics of it, including the “attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs”. It includes several of my favorite bands, some of which are Genesis, Pink Floyd, and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. These bands tend to alter the generic form of verse, chorus, bridge and like to lengthen out these sections or performing long interludes in between them. With the blending of jazz into the mix, the usual 4/4 time signature of most rock genres is cast aside for a different one. The songs tend to feeling long and flowing with a freer rhythmic approach. Melodies tend to be modal with a long build up instead of fast paced. Other sounds are likely to be in songs as well, used as imagery for concepts. For example, Pink Floyd uses clock sounds and cash registers in the Dark Side of the Moon album, while Emerson, Lake, and Palmer uses a lot of synthesizers in their songs.
Listening guide:
This song is called Romeo and Juliet by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. It features a heavy emphasis on synthesizer sounds. The title, an allusion to the tragic story of two people killing themselves out of love, also gives reasoning behind the kind of eerie, dark sound of this song.
0:14 This slow intro builds up until the melody starts here.
0:55 Bridge with orchestral instrument sounds
1:21 Guitar solo. Lots of recurring notes, with a bit of the melody mixed in.
1:43 Goes back to the melody from the beginning of the song
2:08 Sounds like the song is done, then they start up the
2:15 Solo on electric keyboards that builds up until the song is done
Listening guide:
This song is called Romeo and Juliet by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. It features a heavy emphasis on synthesizer sounds. The title, an allusion to the tragic story of two people killing themselves out of love, also gives reasoning behind the kind of eerie, dark sound of this song.
0:14 This slow intro builds up until the melody starts here.
0:55 Bridge with orchestral instrument sounds
1:21 Guitar solo. Lots of recurring notes, with a bit of the melody mixed in.
1:43 Goes back to the melody from the beginning of the song
2:08 Sounds like the song is done, then they start up the
2:15 Solo on electric keyboards that builds up until the song is done
Extra Credit: How Side Show reflects Society Today
I think that the ideas and values in the musical Side Show reflect all of those that most college students have themselves. There were two main points in the story that I caught on to. The first one was a sense of trying to better yourself. Although it was a scary transition for them, both girls desperately wanted to get out of the side show and into a more upscale way of life. I think that most college students are attending school in order to do the very same thing. College can be a big transition from high school life, but it’s one big step towards a life where you have the potential to be more prosperous and successful. The other point in the story was maturing and figuring out the confusing emotion of love. Both sisters fell in love with the men who helped them out of their bad situation. I’m pretty sure that any story that involves falling in love and the complexities and uncertainties of doing so for the first time will never fall out of relevancy in today’s culture. If it hadn’t happened already in high school, college is the perfect situation to fall in love for the first time. You have a huge population of people in the exact same boat as you’re in: poor college kid seeking a particular degree meets another poor college kid doing the same thing. Instant connection, no?
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Video Games Live
I was browsing the ever addicting facebook just now and came across an ad that actually caught my attention. I know it's after this class ends, but I wanted to give a heads up to those who might be interested. I'm certainly going.
It's called Video Games Live, performed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on June 11-12. It features music from the most popular video games, everything from Frogger and Zelda to Wacraft and Halo.
Being a gamer myself, I was immediately sucked in. I'll be interested to see how a full orchestra interprets the game music. I know in the very old games, the music was limited to midi files, which did the job, but not very well. Hearing the melodies fully developed will be exciting.
Here's the link for it if anyone else is interested.
http://www.dallassymphony.com/Ticket/ProductionDetail.aspx?perf=17324&selected=800
It's called Video Games Live, performed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on June 11-12. It features music from the most popular video games, everything from Frogger and Zelda to Wacraft and Halo.
Being a gamer myself, I was immediately sucked in. I'll be interested to see how a full orchestra interprets the game music. I know in the very old games, the music was limited to midi files, which did the job, but not very well. Hearing the melodies fully developed will be exciting.
Here's the link for it if anyone else is interested.
http://www.dallassymphony.com/Ticket/ProductionDetail.aspx?perf=17324&selected=800
Monday, April 5, 2010
Jazz in the Atrium
For my first performance report, I decided to go to the Dallas Museum of Art and listen to jazz music. The museum hosts a jazz group every Thursday night in their casual café, the Atrium. The Atrium was a very open space, brightly lit with many round tables filling the space almost to the brim. Very different from the cliché dark-lit smoky bar that many people think of when they think of jazz, this setting changed the atmosphere a bit. A giant glass window that stretched from the floor to the ceiling framed the band. All of the tables were surrounding them. This placed the band at the center of attention while still giving the audience the ability to hold polite, quiet conversation at each table.
The place was extremely crowded. I couldn’t even find a table to sit at, so I ended up leaning against the wall in the back of the room for the performance. This gave me a good view of the band and the audience at the same time. The audience was a mix of old and young, families and couples, well-dressed and casual. It did not seem like there was a cookie cutter mold of who came to listen to this performance. The attention of the audience depended on where one was sitting. The people very close to the band were focused and attentive the entire time. That kind of dissipated as you looked further back at the tables that were on the fringe. There was polite clapping after each song, and also during some of the songs, which baffled me. I’m guessing that it was after some of the solos that the trumpet player did, but I don’t know how the audience knew when to clap. I certainly did not.
On this particular night, April Fool’s Day, the performing group was Freddie Jones Jazz. In jazz music, usually there are melody instruments and a rhythm section that provides the harmony and rhythm. These two lines create polyphony that kind of weaves in and out of each other. During this performance, Freddie Jones would be the melody on trumpet while the guitar, basses, percussion, and keyboard would create the rhythm section and harmonize with him. On occasion, the guitar would take the lead and the trumpet would move to the back with the harmony. The timbre of a trumpet is very sharp, while the timbre of the harmonizing instruments felt a lot smoother. It seemed to balance each other out. Many of the songs had a laid back, lazy feeling, while others were very upbeat. I noticed that when the trumpet player was playing on his own, it seemed like he was improvising at times, which is another common element of jazz. I was also surprised to hear a song that I recognized. It was hard to make out at first, because at the beginning the trumpeter was slowing it down a lot and adding in his own flairs here and there. However, once the rest of the band joined in, the tempo speeded up and I recognized the melody “Killing me Softly with his Song”.
The band is influenced by Stevie Wonder, David Sanborn, Najee, and Chris Botti. The trumpet player, Freddie Jones, graduated from University of North Texas with a degree in jazz studies and is a teacher at Brookhaven College in Dallas. While the group performed, I noticed that all the performers were nodding their heads to the beat of the song. It seemed like they were very into the flow of the music and in synch with the other musicians in the band.
I’m glad that I attended this event. It made me appreciate jazz music a lot more. The intricate parts that all musicians played wove together and created a whole sound that is very uniquely jazz. The audience seemed like they enjoyed it, as did I.
Works Cited:
"Facebook |Freddie Jones Jazz". 4/5/2010.
Jazz in the Atrium. By Freddie Jones Jazz. Perf. Freddie Jones, Gordon Pope, Lawrence Ferrell, Aaron West, Mike Finkel, Allen Cato. Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas. April 1, 2010.
The place was extremely crowded. I couldn’t even find a table to sit at, so I ended up leaning against the wall in the back of the room for the performance. This gave me a good view of the band and the audience at the same time. The audience was a mix of old and young, families and couples, well-dressed and casual. It did not seem like there was a cookie cutter mold of who came to listen to this performance. The attention of the audience depended on where one was sitting. The people very close to the band were focused and attentive the entire time. That kind of dissipated as you looked further back at the tables that were on the fringe. There was polite clapping after each song, and also during some of the songs, which baffled me. I’m guessing that it was after some of the solos that the trumpet player did, but I don’t know how the audience knew when to clap. I certainly did not.
On this particular night, April Fool’s Day, the performing group was Freddie Jones Jazz. In jazz music, usually there are melody instruments and a rhythm section that provides the harmony and rhythm. These two lines create polyphony that kind of weaves in and out of each other. During this performance, Freddie Jones would be the melody on trumpet while the guitar, basses, percussion, and keyboard would create the rhythm section and harmonize with him. On occasion, the guitar would take the lead and the trumpet would move to the back with the harmony. The timbre of a trumpet is very sharp, while the timbre of the harmonizing instruments felt a lot smoother. It seemed to balance each other out. Many of the songs had a laid back, lazy feeling, while others were very upbeat. I noticed that when the trumpet player was playing on his own, it seemed like he was improvising at times, which is another common element of jazz. I was also surprised to hear a song that I recognized. It was hard to make out at first, because at the beginning the trumpeter was slowing it down a lot and adding in his own flairs here and there. However, once the rest of the band joined in, the tempo speeded up and I recognized the melody “Killing me Softly with his Song”.
The band is influenced by Stevie Wonder, David Sanborn, Najee, and Chris Botti. The trumpet player, Freddie Jones, graduated from University of North Texas with a degree in jazz studies and is a teacher at Brookhaven College in Dallas. While the group performed, I noticed that all the performers were nodding their heads to the beat of the song. It seemed like they were very into the flow of the music and in synch with the other musicians in the band.
I’m glad that I attended this event. It made me appreciate jazz music a lot more. The intricate parts that all musicians played wove together and created a whole sound that is very uniquely jazz. The audience seemed like they enjoyed it, as did I.
Works Cited:
"Facebook |Freddie Jones Jazz". 4/5/2010
Jazz in the Atrium. By Freddie Jones Jazz. Perf. Freddie Jones, Gordon Pope, Lawrence Ferrell, Aaron West, Mike Finkel, Allen Cato. Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas. April 1, 2010.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Avatar
Being the highest grossing film of all time, it’s needless to say that Avatar has an amazing soundtrack to go with its beautiful storyline and special effects. After buying and listening to the soundtrack a few times, it’s not too difficult to distinguish the film score and the music of the Na’vi. The film score reminds me of a lot of works done by Han Zimmer, with the many harmonizing string instruments, complex melodies, and a feeling of deepness. The Na’vi, which I prefer, has a feeling of tribal music. The melodies are lighter with a big emphasis on drum beats. A good example of the differences between the two is the song in which Jake enters his avatar for the first time. In the beginning of the song, when he is being prepped and entering the avatar, the drums have a steady and simple rhythm while the orchestra performs a lot of chords in homophony. The beat is slow and steady. Once he enters his avatar body, the song transitions into a faster pace. A few instruments do the melody while a wide assortment of percussion instruments does a lot of complex rhythms. I think both types are beautiful, but I lean more towards the Na’vi because I love the percussion part.
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