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Bohemian Rhapsody

 Music videos were at first used for marketing and advertising purposes. They were used to increase the sale of a certain album or a song. However, music videos has also been a great tool for artists to use to complement their songs. A music video usually gives one’s song greater meaning and an easier way to understand what the music is about. The sounds, visuals, and the effects all contained in the music video and the music creates a unique experience that is its own. The artist can use symbols or references to make their music video more relevant and deep. One of the sensational songs that uses the music video make the song greater is Bohemian Rhapsody.

         There are six different parts in this song that is very different from each other. They all use a different musical style such as rock, ballad, or even opera. As the musical styles change, the visuals and the mood of the music video also change to fit the style that is being played. The song opens with an acapella of a multi-track recordings of Freddie Mercury singing. In the music video, it shows all four members of the band in dim lighting lip syncing the lyrics. The lighting helps with the mood of the slow style of the song. Later in the song, Mercury’s head is more prominent to depict him as the main character of the song as he sings the main lyrics. The other members are shown to be singing the chorus in the background.

         After the introduction, the song enters into a ballad. Here, the music video changes to show the members of the band playing their instrument. The lighting here is very colorful but a little dimmed to match the ballad style. Then there is a little guitar slow that helps to transition into the operatic part of the song. Here, just like opera, the members of the band are a different character. When there is a different character singing, that member playing that part will appear on screen. It feels like they are having a conversation because of this. The lights are also dim again just like the introduction here. Towards this end of this section, the music builds up that leads to a rock section. The music video tries to imitate a rock concert here to fit the style of the song. The visuals here are flashier and more dramatic than before which could be described as more calm. The clothing the members wear here are even flamboyant to help. As the song ends, the style and the visual goes back to how it was during the introduction.

I thought that one of the strong points of Bohemian Rhapsody’s music video was how there were many different styles of visuals to go along with the song’s change of styles. I thought that each style matched the mood of the part really well. However, I thought maybe it could have used some symbolisms or allusions to give it greater depth and meaning to the song. I just feel like they could have done a little more with it to enhance the music video whether making the the contrasts between the styles more different or something else. They could’ve maybe tried to emphasize the lyrics with the visuals. However, it was said that the meaning of the song was very individual to the listener. There are a lot of words in the lyrics that seemingly don’t make sense.

Zoom Out

 Bohemian Rhapsody is a great example that relates to what we have been learning in class. It shows how the use of technology can improve and be a part of music. Throughout class, we have been learning about how technology is used in a progressive way to change how we consume music. Some examples were recordings and the use of computers to create electronic music. With music videos, the songs that artists created were embedded with more meaning to help convey the message to the audience better.

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This is America

 Recently, problems of white supremacy and other racism problems have became more prevalent in America. Neo-Nazis and other white supremacist groups have become more widespread after Trump’s win in the 2016 presidential election. According to a Washington Post analysis of global terrorism, “violence by white supremacist groups has risen since Obama and surged since Trump has taken the office”. Another problem that became bigger than ever recently is mass shooting. Mass shooting such as the Las Vegas Shooting in 2017 has shown us that current gun laws aren’t enough and needs to change. This song brings to attention two of the biggest problems in America, gun control and racism specifically against African Americans.

         In a response to all this, Childish Gambino released a song, “This is America”, to portray what America is like. In his music video, there is a lot of references and symbolism to help us understand what America is truly like. Donald Glover shows that racism is still alive in America and how big gun violence is. In the first minute, we see Gambino shoot an African American male as he has a bag over his head. After he shoots the man, he walks away like nothing happened. This may represent how when an African American is unlawfully killed or convicted, the public just pretends like nothing happened and treats it like no big deal. After the shot, the lyrics are immediately “This is America”.  

Soon after, Gambino is shown to massacre an African and American Church Choir with an assault rifle. This is a reference to the tragic 2015 massacre in Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The tragedy left nine dead. After this, Gambino again says “This is America” to show the true nature of this country and the problems with it. Also, in the first scene after Gambino shoots the man, another man shows up with a red cloth to take the gun away in. This symbolize how Americans value their guns and the Second Amendment. He implies that a stricter gun control will be hard to attain.

Throughout the music video, we can see that the sole focus is of Gambino. He is also looking happy, relaxed, and carefree as he dances and laughs amidst the commotion around him. All the violence and chaos that is happening around him are only in the peripheral of the shot and the camera doesn’t focus on them at all. They are all basically a blur. This is representing America. It shows how the majority don’t want to focus on the racial problems and just blur them out. They only focus on the happy and relaxing things in their lives. It shows the problem of how some people tend to be ignorant and believe that racism isn’t alive in America. The lyric “This is America” is repeated to show the reality of this country shown throughout the music video.

William Robin has wrote about how Colin Kaepernick used the Star Spangled Banner to basically protest against the racism that is widespread in America. Childish Gambino also uses his song “This is America” to show the masses of America the reality that racism is well alive in this country. I think using music to spread around a message is very effective. Even though Colin Kaepernick’s use of the Star Spangled Banner was very controversial, it made an impression on a lot of people and spread the message around. These two examples show how using a song can be very impactful and stick for a longer time. They both brought to light a closer inspection of racism and a need a change in gun control laws in America.

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The Development of the Clarinet

         Compared to the other instruments like a violin or a flute, the clarinet is a fairly modern instrument. Even among the woodwind instruments, the clarinet is considered to be a very young instrument. The first instrument that resembled a clarinet was called a chalumeau, which was also a single reed cylindrical instrument but it played a little lower. It wasn’t until around the eighteenth/seventeenth century that the chalumeau begin development into something that resembled more like a clarinet with more tonal range. C. H. Denner (1655-1707), who was from Nuremberg, Germany is said to have been one of the earlier figures who tested with chalumeaus and started innovating various ways to improve upon it.

Chalumeau (image from fmasson)

          The new instrument, which was then called a clarinetto (due to it sounding like a trumpet), became much more relevant to the Western musical world. The clarinetto was basically an improvement to the chalumeau. It had two or three keys. Even though that might seem little, it helped to facilitate technical runs that might have been otherwise too difficult. It also had a louder tone quality and began to be used more and more in orchestras.  

         More and more improvements start to be made into the new instrument as the works for the clarinet gets more demanding. The clarinet was also seen to have potential for its beautiful tone to help color the sound of the orchestra better. Various works such as the Mozart clarinet concerto or the Stamitz concerto required solid technical proficiency which made various musicians and inventors to further develop the clarinet. Ivan Mueller, further improved the clarinet by introducing the thirteen keyed clarinet. The addition of extra keys would allow the player technical ease and the ability to produce more tone colors.

         This type of clarinet that was used in this time period is more related to the Ohler clarinet that is used widely today. It is known for its beautiful tonal focus. Due to that, it could be seen as inflexible as it is harder to manipulate the sound. The Ohler system is used more in Germany and Europe as it is the clarinet used in the Berlin Philharmonic and other European orchestras. Even though this system has a beautiful sound to it, the fingering is more complicated and could make technical works difficult.

         The system of clarinets that the rest of the world uses is called the Boehm system. The Boehm system was created by Theobald Boehm in the mid ninth-teenth century. The two main difference between the Boehm clarinets and the Ohler clarinet (or the German clarinets) are its tone and ease of technicality. Unlike the Ohler clarinets, the Boehm clarinets have a more flexible and lighter sound. You can say that the tonal ideas of the two clarinets were almost opposites. One with a more focused dark sound, and the other with a lighter sound. The keywork was also very different between the two. For the Boehm system, the both pinky would have four keys to make playing easier while the Ohler system had only two on each where there was a roller in the middle you had to slide with your finger if the piece required you to play the other note. It should also be noted that Michele Zukovsky, the former principal clarinet player of the LA Philharmonic, took almost a year to get acquainted with the Ohler system from the Boehm because of its technical difficulty.

Left is the German clarinet and the right is Boehm clarinet (image is from the-clarinets)

        All these little inventions and refinement helped to create the modern clarinet. Musicians faced challenges from the technical limits of the instrument which set off the development which would improve the clarinet in various ways such as bettering the tone, tuning, and key work. This would help them play what is required of them and to bring out their artistry and music making.