Although President Trump’s statement, “We write symphonies,” was not perfect, he made a good decision to point towards music while praising the progressive mentality adopted by the U.S. and its allies. There’s no doubt the President’s three-worded, blanket statement insinuates that classical music is an elitist artform, but Polish and American composers have produced countless works of art which aim to expose the exploitation of and prejudice against specific groups of people. George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess is an example of music creating awareness and helping those in need.
The initial reception of Porgy and Bess after its release in 1935 was mixed at best. Both the casting and the music were called into question as Gershwin’s folk opera featured an all-black cast as well as music that combined elements of jazz with western classical music. Gershwin was faced with the challenging task of writing music that would pass as authentic folk music but would also withstand the highbrow scrutiny of operatic audiences. Duke Ellington said Gershwin’s score did not reflect a genuine “Negro musical idiom,” but other critics said, “It abounds in color, it retains the quality of the Negro chant, the spiritual, the wail, the jazz, and the blues.” Not only was the music a hit or miss for some folks, but the content of Gershwin’s folk opera also had some questionable implications. Some described Porgy and Bess as a detriment to the race and as a vehicle that promoted racist stereotypes.
Even though Gershwin depicted Bess as a substance abuser with a penchant for abusive men and Porgy as a crippled beggar, Gershwin was still shining the spotlight on African American performers in 1935. Empowering these actors and actresses on stage gave them opportunities to bring about real change. During the show’s run in Washington D.C., the cast went on strike to protest the National Theatre’s segregation policy. Todd Duncan, starring as Porgy, was successful in organizing the protest and as a result ushered in the first integrated audience at the National Theatre on March 21, 1936.
Gershwin’s creation was celebrated by a host of incredibly influential musicians. In 1958, trumpeter Louis Armstrong collaborated with Ella Fitzgerald to release an entire album of Gershwin’s music and one year after that Miles Davis released a similar album featuring the writing of Gil Evans. The two albums are based off of the same material, but the end results are entirely different. Showcasing modal improvisation and third stream aesthetics, the Miles Davis record was quite innovative at the time of its release, whereas the 1958 record is another chronicle in the legacy of the iconic trumpet-vocal duo.
Inspiring two landmark albums, creating change in significant institutions, and advocating for African Americans in the arts, Porgy and Bess remains to be one of the most important American operas today. Gershwin innovated his art to incorporate elements from other cultures to create a dramatic documentation of American life. I say dramatic because the production is hardly factual and uses Gershwin’s ideas of African American culture as an outlet for expression. His folktale created opportunities for Black Americans to perform on legitimate stage bringing about discussion and change. I generally have a hard time supporting anything President Trump says, but a nod to Western Culture’s music history while making an appeal to America’s innovative spirit, “We write symphonies. We pursue innovation,” is one of the less ridiculous statements he’s made especially with figures like Miles Davis, George Gershwin, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong decorating our history.
The infamous song “Thrift Shop” is sung by 35-year-old rapper Macklemore, who rose to fame with his collaboration with Ryan Lewis in their debut album, The Heist. With more than 6 million downloads with “Thrift Shop” and rising to No. 1 on the Hot 100 Chart with “Can’t Hold Us,” they became the first duo in music history to have first two singles reach the top of the pop charts. With their successes at a high, they went on to receive four Grammy’s in 2014.
“Same Love” was song that was inspired by a news article in 2012 about a teenager who committed suicide after being bullied. After reading about it, Macklemore wrote this song to embrace and promote gay marriage, which many raps song did not. Macklemore expressed how he believed the epithets routinely heard in rap music were partly to blame, and that denying gay adults the right to be married contributed to negative effects on gay teenagers. He “just wanted to hold myself accountable and hold hip-hop accountable and bring up an issue that was being pushed under the rug.”
The song quickly made it all the way to the Top 40 and No. 5 on the Rap Songs Chart. The timing of everything was impeccable, as it hit the charts in February, when the Supreme Court was considering challenges to the federal Defense of Marriage Act and to California’s ban on same-sex marriage.
The lyrics of “Same Love” accuse rappers for constantly using “gay slurs” and abusive language. When we hear rap music today, it mainly consists of having a “sick beat” with rhythmic speech over the music. Although it is very groovy and fun to jam to, what most people don’t realize is how often abusive language is used. It seems that rappers will throw around profanity and offensive language like it’s no big deal. But, just because we hear it all the time doesn’t mean it’s okay, right? That’s the point that Macklemore is trying to express in his lyrics:
If I was gay I would think hip-hop hates me Have you read the Youtube comments lately “Man that’s gay” Gets dropped on the daily We’ve become so numb to what we’re sayin’ Our culture founded from oppression Yeah, we don’t have acceptance for ’em Call each other faggots behind the keys of a message board A word routed in hate, yet our genre still ignores it Gay is synonymous with the lesser It’s the same hate that’s caused wars from religion Gender to skin color the complexion of your pigment
Many artists turned down the opportunity to sing this song with Macklemore. With such a controversial topic, no one really wanted to be associated with it. After all, stars and celebrities lose fans all the time when they express an unpopular or polarizing opinion.
They soon found singer Mary Lambert, who agreed to sing alongside. Lambert described singing the song as a “divine moment,” as she had had a very difficult childhood coming out as gay in church.
The Same Love music video depicts the journey of a gay man’s life; from battling a difficult childhood of staying in the closet, to his well-deserved wedding day, and to the inevitable end.
Same Love, music video
Macklemore originally wanted the video to be seen through the perspective of a gay, bullied child; however, he believed that he couldn’t do it because it wasn’t his story to tell. However, he was able to turn a nostalgic piano ballad into a powerful message about marriage equality.
This sparked controversy as this song focused on same-sex marriage, but was written by a white, straight man. In the rap community, there are fewer white rappers that achieve success. Since its roots stem from African-American communities, “the American public has long associated [it] with a particular demographic.” With that being said, Macklemore clearly does not “fit in” with the stereotypical image of rap. During the 2014 Grammy’s, he performed the song with Madonna, as a score of couples (both straight and gay) were married onstage. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis certainly took a risk that night as a duo, as it showed the audience and everyone around the world that they were using their new-found fame to push a progressive message. He once said, “You’re gonna piss people off, but all these moments add up to an understanding and, hopefully, change.”
On May 5, 2018, the release of “This Is America” by Childish Gambino was at the peak of a desire for gun control, because this was also during a time where innocent people of color were being shot and killed by police with no real motive. Riots, arguments on social medias, and hope for change stood nothing against the government. Even after the fatal killings of dozens of innocent lives, If the government isn’t going to listen to normal civilians, they are sure going to listen to celebrities of higher status. When a person of influence states their position on a topic, this gives people a platform. This song blew up in a matter of minutes. The lyrics were strong, but the music video behind the lyrics was even stronger, portraying the killings of dozens of black men and women.
This song is clearly political, saying repeatedly that the America that we live in will shoot and kill you if they catch “you slipping now”, with the main target being black people. According to a study, black people are more than 10 times more likely than white people to die by gun homicide. This video could be seen as a a call to action, to warn African-Americans to be cautious, and to tell politicians in a unique way that change needs to be made.
Colin Kapernick kneeling during the national anthem.
Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) makes it a point to include in his video criminals, as well as young school children, church choirs, and just regular people to show that gun violence and police brutality does not exclude anyone. His constant dancing is meant as a distraction from what is happening to these innocent people in the background. This song and the video accompanying it are in response to the killings of many individuals, a grave widespread problem affecting our African-American population. It is pretty common to see celebrity responses after a controversial event. For example, Colin Kaepernick responded to oppression by kneeling during the national anthem, saying, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” I agree with the actions Colin decided to take. Even against judgement, he does what he believes is correct. Colin Kaepernick and Donald Glover are similar in that they respond in a healthy and nonviolent way. Violence would only discredit their point and lead to more controversy than what controversies are happening now. Celebrities like these are able to grab the attention of crowds and politicians and force them to see what is happening, and fight for a change.
Most peoples reactions to “This is America” we’re positive. I am on social media A LOT and I really only saw support and awe for this artist. I believe this is the outcome he hoped and expected, with thousands supporting his artistic endeavors. This has influenced others to have a sort of protest of their own to fight against inequality and in what they believe is right, a protest rooted in respect and non-violence. It is safe to say that music reflects politics, down to the president (Donald Trump being in too many rap songs), economy (everyone is always singing something about money), and things along those lines. If more celebrity artists state their position on major political topics, it would spark a widespread realization, and possibly even leading to politicians implementing new laws to help protect the lives of innocent people from racism and gun violence.
“What’s Going On?” … a question once asked 48 years ago, still rings out loud and clear. It’s a question that can prompt many different responses, yet it does not just target or point to one answer. This question holds the power to be answered by many in hopes only to bring awareness of your surroundings.
On May 21, 1971 Motown records released the legendary album, “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye. This record pushed boundaries being one of the first of its kind. For Motown records, “What’s Going On” was the first record to print and give credit to all 39 working musicians who were recorded on the album. It was also a first for Motown in the category of a concept album: an album that revolves around a story or message from beginning to end. Artist such as Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder were some of the pioneers on the Motown label who pushed for a bigger say as an artist and strived for their personal opinions to be heard. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/whats-going-on-251498/
Marvin’s first big success was with his rendition of “I heard it through the grapevine” in 1968. After reaching top of the charts, Marvin shortly became a recluse from the music world in response to his close friend Tammi Terrell’s death. The most famous recording of theirs being “Aint no mountain high enough”. Around the same time, Marvin’s brother Frankie returned home from Vietnam forcing a new perspective on Marvin. He noticed something was different about Frankie. This new outlook and awareness of the world helped to fuel the upcoming album, “What’s Going On”.
In reaction to the world around him, Marvin strived to speak the truth and ask others to be aware of the world around them in hopes to improve the situations at hand, “I know is what I know and what I feel I know is truth to me, and that is how I live” .The album itself touches upon issues of the violence and the Vietnam war, pollution of the earth, urban life, and stresses the importance of youth in our nation hoping to preserve the future. Marvin felt he was speaking on be-half of many. He believed in the power of his music and voice in order to expose the observations of life and the conditions of the country. However, through that power he was careful in a sense to not force a right or wrong. In a sense he was only asking for people to take a look a round and “find a way/ to bring some lovin’ here today”.
The opening
title track begins with hoops and hollers of a party welcoming the listener in
to a more intimate setting. In the context of the concept album however, the
man entering the scene is Frankie, Marvin’s brother. The first verse explains
the affect in which the war continues to cause people back home, “Mother,
mother/There’s too many of you crying/Brother, brother, brother/There’s far too
many of you dying”. Through the smoothness and purity of Marvin’s voice he tries
to make people realize the devastation we put friends and family through during
times of war and struggle. There is never a sense of anger or aggression in his
singing, which creates an even stronger pull on the listener. Next he begins to
ask for others to join together and create peace, “You know we’ve got to find a
way/To bring some lovin’ here today”. The second verse continues to preach
peace with the lines, “we don’t need to escalate/you see, war is not the
answer/for only love can conquer hate”. Lastly, the bridge of the song brings
forth elements of peaceful protest in hopes that issue can be resolved without
violence. The lyrics utilize imagery of “picket lines and picket signs…” in
order to create a bigger impact upon the listener. Marvin also touches upon the
desire for discussion and for authority to listen and take in to consideration,
“…don’t punish me with brutality/ talk to me, so you can see/ oh, what’s going
on”. These lyrics above speak from a stance of protests turning violent and
authority taking action. He hopes that there is a line of respect for opinions
and the right for free speech honored. Through his music and lyrics, Marvin is
preaching for peace in hopes that one-day issues can be resolved not at the
expense of war.
I believe that
this album is so powerful because Marvin talks about personal perspective and
experience. He also is able to avoid direct opinions and statements accusing
people of being right or wrong. There was never a desire to be a hero with the
album. Marvin considered this record to be a “feeler” record. He wanted to
avoid being labeled and placed in certain groups. When it first was released,
someone labeled it as “a great black album”. Marvin was struck because that was
not his intention. He didn’t understand because the word “black” was not stated
anywhere in lyrics.
This after thought relates to Ted Gordon’s article regarding Dennis Prager directing the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra. Conflict between Prager and the symphony arise because Prager’s political views do not coincide with what the symphony stands for. Pragers defends himself in the stance that music has the power to bring people together. He wishes that people of the orchestra would tolerate his opinions as he tolerates theirs. It is similar to how Marvin Gaye attempts to create a fluid record. He does not target a specific audience rather he tries to bring people together in hopes they can educate themselves on the world around them. Everyone has a right to his or her own opinion. http://musicologynow.ams-net.org/2017/09/does-music-trump-politics-dennis-prager.html
It’s hard for me to criticize a
piece of music using a modern lens if it was written many years ago. Part of
Gordon’s article criticizes classical music calling it “ the core of western
culture” implying a negative connotation. He is taking music composed in a much
more conservative and reserved culture and placing it in a modern
environment. I believe it’s unfair to
take it out of its societal context. “What’s Going On” is such an amazing
record because it is able to defy the context of time. Marvin Gaye was able to
create an honest, timeless piece of art that will ring true for years to come. He
is preaching to his listeners a message that forces continuous action and
thought. There is no one answer.
Representing a nation with sound has been an important part of history. Most nations of the world have a national anthem they use that shows praise, devotion and patriotism for their country. The national anthem, like other national symbols of a country, represents the history, struggles, traditions and beliefs of a nation and its people. It serves as an expression of national identity and is seen by many to be a unifying factor for its people. During a performance of a national anthem, a lot of citizens of a nation rise up in unison to respect and listen to/sing their country’s song. Now that you have an introduction to the purpose of a national anthem and the impact it has, I want to compare it to Sibelius’ Finlandia and the way it influenced the country of Finland and its people.
In a way, Finlandia became the country’s national anthem for those seeking independence for Finland. Sibelius is arguably the most important composer associated with nationalism. He had written Finlandia as part of his Press Celebration Music suite for an event-a political rally of sorts to protest Russia’s increasing censorship and other cruel measures against Finland. To avoid censorship, this piece was actually not performed under the title Finlandia. With the increasing censorship, a wave of protest was sparked, and an outpouring of music was sparked in Sibelius. With this composition, Sibelius basically secured his reputation as Finland’s national musical voice. The piece starts with a sense of struggle, said to be representative of the ominous Russian Empire, but ends with its famous hymn like melody that made this peace iconic for Finish nationalism. The melody from Finlandia is instantly memorable and timeless. The hymns words have become an unofficial national anthem of Finland.
I found a cool YouTube video that shows the history of Finland and Finlandia while playing the piece. It has nice pictures of the country and it also includes the words of the hymn in the piece. You can find it here. There is also a live recording linked here done by the BBC Chorus and Symphony. It’s a pretty cool piece. And while I’m at it, I’ll link you to a flashmob of Finlandia. It’s amazing how such a beautiful melody can express such powerful nationalism.
A national anthem is mostly used during a national important day and military honors, but it has also become a thing to play the national anthem for sporting events. William Robin’s article “Colin Kaepernick and the Radical Uses of the Star Spangled Banner” is a great example of how a country can be represented through sound. Regardless of what you believe about America’s National Anthem and it’s writer, this is proof that music can be a huge part of representing a nation and the meaning behind it can be very deep and transcendent to people, and it can also represent different meanings for everyone. Regardless of what you believe, it’s amazing how music can be used to represent a nation.
I liked the quote in the article that says “understanding the song as it has been sung moves us beyond the politics of one man and toward comprehending how the anthem has functioned as a powerful articulation of citizenship.” As you can see, a piece such as Finlandia, or a country’s national anthem can represent a lot more than just a song. It shows the pride of a nation through sound and can unify people and share a country’s rich history and beauty. Sibelius’s piece is noted for sparking an outpour of Finish national pride and rallied the Finnish people together which ultimately lead to their freedom.
In grade school, concert dress, attire, etc. usually meant white top and a black bottom. I distinctly remember looking up Youtube tutorials on how to tie a tie (Double Windsor knot for the win) because my Dad didn’t know how, and my brother’s instructions were too confusing for an 8-year old. I also remember standing in dumbstruck awe when I saw that nearly every other boy in the Queensbury Elementary School 3rd Grade Chorus was wearing a clip-on. I had struggled in vain.
We were never really given a good answer as to why concert dress was white and black. “It’s more affordable than a tux” seemed to be the prevailing explanation, but that wasn’t really an answer. Why is concert attire important? Why do most professional orchestras today dress in tuxedos, black suits and dresses, when smaller chamber groups might go for head-to-toe black (my own preferred uniform) or even forego “concert attire” entirely? Why did my High School a cappella group look like a penguin colony?
Where did uniform concert attire originate?
According to the New Penguin Dictionary of Music (a fitting source), concert dress as we know it solidified in the mid-19th century as:
white tie and tails for men
full gowns for women
The New Penguin Dictionary of Music
Orchestral players would wear black, while soloists could be as more “flamboyant.” Notably, this was the evening wear for the upper and middle classes. Musicians, many of whom were just then breaking out of the court servant mold and becoming freelance artists for hire, adopted the dress of the upper class for concertizing. More notably, we in the world of Western “classical music” haven’t made significant changes to concert dress since the mid-19th century. In engaging with this antiquated practice, we are indeed confirming our position at the foot of a tradition 150 years-strong. *
* Of course, other performance wear practices, such as church choirs wearing robes, have endured even longer than the “white and black” paradigm. But that’s a whole other can of worms.
Plenty of practicing musicians today make efforts to “modernize” their performance wear. Choices include foregoing tails and ties, substituting slacks and skirts for floor-length gowns, and even incorporating non-Western elements into one’s outfit.
Of particular importance in today’s cultural landscape is the question of women’s concert dress. “Evening gowns,” while still required by some major institutions, have almost entirely been phased out of professional concert dress in an effort to promote gender equality in the music world.
Upsetting the patriarchy
Historically, the image of women in music has been a hot topic of sorts. Noola Griffiths, a music performance researcher, writes of notions of “appropriate display” that may inhibit women from pursuing (or being allowed to pursue) and succeeding on certain instruments. “[Throughout] 18th century Europe women were excluded from playing instruments that were considered incompatible with notions of bodily decorum and that failed to exhibit ‘a quiet body,’ that is a body not engaged in physical effort … the choice of musical instruments available to women was severely limited” (Griffiths). The fact is, in a field long dominated by the male patriarchy, women still have to contend with what established, white men view as appropriate in order to be taken seriously. This extends to concert dress especially, as the emphasis in institutional choices on the matter generally focus on “modesty” or, worse, “distraction.” We can do better.
Diversity, multi-culturalism and schools
Classical music is fast becoming a different playing field. Though there’s still immense and crucial progress to be made, gender equality in music is a goal within reach. The emergence of gender identity concepts has also blurred the lines between women and men’s obviously gendered concert dress. An increasingly diverse and multicultured industry also creates a need for more inclusive representation in concert dress. All of this is to say that perhaps mid-19th century evening wear etiquette shouldn’t be the rules we play by today.
And then there are considerations of socioeconomic and cultural diversity. The explanation for black and white concert dress received in schools wasn’t totally off topic: it’s cheaper than a tux. Even later on in high school, when I did wear a tuxedo or a suit for gigging and concerts, cost was always an issue. Classical music already has a huge barrier to entry when it comes to cost. This unfortunately goes hand in hand with barriers to entry for certain ethnic or cultural minorities, and it’s a complex issue. Concert dress codes in schools should not be part of the problem.
Re-evaluating concert attire in today’s social context
It’s important to understand the role attire plays in the concert setting. Musicians and performers communicate with audiences not only audibly, but also visually. To quote Griffiths once more:
Concert dress is a valuable visual cue to an individual’s attitudes and through concert dress soloists can confirm or challenge generally accepted roles and statuses in the performance situation.
Noola Griffiths, Music Psychologist, Teesside University
Concert dress is a uniform. Court musicians dressed according to the dress code of the court. When musicians began freelancing more and embedding themselves in the 19th century night life, they dressed to fit their audience, to be at once visible and hidden. Concert dress is designed to allow musicians to blend in with their surroundings, including each other. Today, that generally means black or other neutral colors. This serves the secondary (or perhaps the primary) purpose of drawing the audience’s attention mostly to the music and the soloists, who wear more adventurous colors amid a sea of black because they’re meant to be seen.
[Orchestra] players wear black, because the audience wants to pay attention to the music – not them. Many classical music lovers believe that there should be absolutely nothing to distract from the music, not even the performers themselves
Maddy Shaw Roberts, Classic FM
However, because concert dress is a uniform, many dress codes were designed with only women and men in mind, and with only one body type for each. Trans musicians are often forced to conform to a gender they do not identify with on stage, and musicians of different body types are often forced to wear unflattering clothes. This is, again, applicable to both professionals and to students.
By dividing attire by gender, one is also asking students who identify as one gender but present as another to forgo their presentation in favor of gender-expected clothing. If a student identifies as female but presents as male, what is the purpose of expecting that individual to wear a concert gown? Is there a need to keep the traditional divisions of gender in concert attire?
Stacy Dziuk, NAfME
At the same time, we have to consider the formality of our concert dress. Tuxedos with tails and evening gowns, while outdated, are at least of equal formality. Therefore, it makes little sense for women to wear items like black long-sleeve sweaters or sheer blouses and leggings on stage surrounded by tuxedos. Perhaps this is a sign that tuxedos are “too formal” while current dress codes for women aren’t formal enough, or are too vague to set a standard of formality in the first place. In an impromptu interview conducted with a vocalist at the Eastman School of Music, I was presented with a possible solution:
“Concert dress should be standardized to two or three options of equal formality, each designed to be compatible with a number of body types. That way, there’s no ambiguity as to what one should wear, and people have the choice to dress in a way that fits their concept of themselves without worry.”
Gwyneth Paker, Voice Student, Eastman School of Music
A final point: we should also bear in mind, for the sake of inclusiveness, that classical music and opera don’t have the best public image at the moment. Part of this is a consequence of the fact that classical music is still dominated by white men, and minority representation is going to take a while to improve. But concert dress plays a role here, too. When a child goes to see their local symphony or opera company for the first time, only to see an orchestra dressed in penguin suits and dresses, or yet another presentation of an 18th century opera in period dress, what kind of message does that send? Is our performance practice reinforcing the idea that classical music is irreparably elitist? Can we amend it to mitigate that perception?
Queensbury High School Madrigal Singers (home sweet home)
References
“concert dress.” The New Penguin Dictionary of Music, Paul Griffiths, Penguin, 1st edition, 2006. Web.
Dziuk, Stacy. “We Are What We Wear: Inclusion and Diversity in Concert Attire: Does your concert dress code welcome all students?” Teaching Music, Oct. 2018, p. 26+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A562004496/ITOF?u=nysl_ro_rochstru&sid=ITOF&xid=9fbf2a10.
Griffiths, Noola K. “The Fabric of Performance: Values and Social Practices of Classical Music Expressed through Concert Dress Choice.” Music Performance Research, vol. 4, 2011, pp. 30-48. ProQuest, https://search-proquest-com.ezp.lib.rochester.edu/docview/2082950229?accountid=13567.
Paker, Gwyneth. Personal Interview. 1 February 2019.
Roberts, Maddy Shaw. “Why the heck do musicians always perform in black?” Classic FM, May 2018. https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/musicians-black-concert-dress/.
You might think that finding music stands at a music school shouldn’t be a problem. Wrong. Finding a music stand in the annex is one of the hardest challenges you’ll face at Eastman. Musicians always talk about recording devices, recital halls, more expensive instruments etc., but no one ever talks about music stands?! Let me show you some examples of how hard musicians’ lives would be without music stands:
Other replacements for music stands include window sills, chairs and pianos.
I tried to find out who invented music stands and what they originally looked like but unfortunately couldn’t. This suggests that music stands have been around for a very long time. However, I did find this painting called “Church singing, Tacuinum Sanitatis” from 14th century, which gives us an idea of what stands might have looked like centuries ago.
Look at the stand in the painting. It’s made up of thick wood and is probably extremely heavy. It doesn’t seem to be adjustable, as the children in the painting are craning their necks to see the music. Today, we can easily adjust the height of the stand so that it can suit people of various heights. Not only that, plenty of improvements have been made to music stands to make our lives so much easier.
Most music stands these days are made up of metal, that are lighter than wood and are still steady. Most come with adjustable height and tilt function. Some have knobs attached to them, and some have automatic friction slides so that you can just easily push the head of the stand to adjust the height.
This is my personal favourite type of music stands, as it has an extra accessory shelf that lets you put things like pencils, reeds, tuner etc. I always carry a shitload of stuff with me all the time so this extra storage room makes my life so much easier.
One disadvantage music stands have is that it is too heavy and big to carry around. Thankfully there are these things called foldable stands that lets you fold it to make it easier to carry around, and is also significantly lighter in weight. One downside of these portable folding music stands have is that they aren’t very sturdy. They usually have metal spring arm extensions to hold sheet music in place.
To make music stands more awesome than they already are, there are stand accessories such as clip-on light, attachable instrument stands, clip-on page holder and phone/drink holders. It’s pretty wild.
I’m now realising that it’s kinda hard to write 600 words about music stands.. especially because there doesn’t seem to be much information about it. Unbelievable.. Music stands deserve way more credit than it’s getting. Music stands are an absolute necessity for musicians. You can’t even dreeeam of having a functioning orchestra without music stands!
Maybe I’ll post my blog online somewhere public. Let me know what you guys think.
A very prominent online dictionary defines the timpani as follows: Timpani — The greatest set of orchestral drums ever created. Admittedly, this definition comes from the urban dictionary, potentially a less than scholarly resource, but I can’t help but agree. Perhaps I am a little biased, being a timpanist myself, but the timpani are perhaps the most powerful and dramatic instrument in the symphony orchestra. They can roar or they can whisper, heightening the impact of the moment. The Timpani occupy a percussive category of their own; they have the ability to play specific pitches. The head of the drum is tensioned by a hoop that pulls down on the head to tighten it. On contemporary drums, a mechanism called the spider links this hoop to a foot pedal. This allows the pitched to be raised (by pulling down on the hoop and tightening the head) or lowered (by letting up on the hoop and loosening the head) with the feet, while the player continues to play with his hands. This allows the timpanist to play complex melodies, playing the notes with his hands and quickly changing the pitches with his feet. Here’s a great example:
Percussionists at the Texas Music Festival play an arrangement of the Stars & Stripes Forever
From these militaristic origins, the timpani began to expand into civilian life. Around the 16th century the timpani were adapted for church music. Still, their sound was most often paired with trumpets and used to summon a militaristic aura. These drums would evolve into what modern timpanists consider baroque timpani, drums which were hand- tuned with screws. It would not be until the late 1870s when the German instrument maker Carl Pittrich would patent a pedal mechanism similar to what we see today on modern drums
But how were the timpani made before methods of modern construction? Contemporary drums are manufactured in specialized workshops with machinery that makes the process efficient and exact. Here’s an interesting video showing how Yamaha produces their drums.
But in its earlier days, there were no specialty factories. Instead, it took the skills of many different craftsman to construct the timpani. Firstly, the bowl (or kettle) was made by an expert metal worker. Primarily, the bowl was made copper, although other metals, such as brass of silver, could be used. Interestingly, most timpani bowls are still made from copper. Next, a tanner would fabricate the drum’s head from an animal skin, most commonly a calf. Most contemporary drumheads are made from plastic, although some professionals still favor the sound of calfskin. Finally, a machinist would be responsible for making the counter hoop (the metal hoop that pulls down on the head), the tuning screws used to tighten the head, and the mounting hardware for the screws (these are often called called lugs).
It was a painstaking process, but worthwhile. The timpani were considered a compelling instrument during their early period. German Composer Johann E. Altenburg wrote in 18th century that, “An accomplished timpanist, by utilizing a large variety of techniques and artful beatings, can keep his audience’s attention for quite a length of time. He compensates for the lack of pitches with numerous Schlag-Manieren.” The term Schalag-manieren refers to a series of artful patterns and rhythms that the timpanist would improvise over their part. Timpanist and musicologist Ben Harms demonstrates this in this video.
As you can see, the timpani have a long and rich history. And their evolution continues, with the introduction of new ensemble and solo pieces that push timpanist to unprecedented technical extremes. Who knows where we will end up in another couple hundred years!
If you’ve ever played the piano before, chances are you’ve used the pedals by your feet. Most grand pianos will have three of them, and they all have different uses. But where did they come from? How, and why, were they developed?
The modern piano’s three pedals have pretty distinct functions; the right pedal, or the damper pedal, is the one that is by far the most used. It lifts the dampers off of the strings so that every note you play sustains even after you release the key. The left pedal, also called the una corda or the soft pedal, is designed to create a softer, more muted sound, and it achieves this on most piano designs by shifting the keys and hammers to the right so that each hammer only hits one of the strings (many notes on a piano have two or three strings that create the full sound). The middle pedal, which is rarely used, is usually a sostenuto pedal. It has the same effect as the damper pedal, but only on the notes that you are already holding down when you press the sostenuto pedal. This lets you sustain certain notes while simultaneously playing shorter notes elsewhere.
The first mechanism that changed the sound of the piano in a way that resembles our modern piano pedals was the una corda, invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Italy. Cristofori’s 1700 piano is the first pianoforte that we know of. You’ll notice that Bartolomeo’s una corda shares the same name as our modern left pedal, and that’s because they shared the same function; however, Cristofori’s original una corda was a hand stop, not a pedal. This made it very clunky to use, as the pianist would have to stop playing with one hand every time they wanted to use it.
Cristofori’s piano design, similarly shaped to a harpsichord as that was its predecessor. You can see the white una corda stop to the left of the keyboard.
Moving ahead to Germany in the late 1700s, Johann Stein, who designed the pianos that Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn wrote music for, found a way around the problem of having to use your hands by using a knee lever instead. The lever itself is believed to be developed around 1765, and Mozart wrote about them in a 1777 letter, in which he says,
“I have played my six sonatas by heart repeatedly, both here and in Munich. The fifth in G, I played at the distinguished Casino concert, and the last in D, which has an incomparable effect on Stein’s pianos. The pedals, pressed by the knees, are also better made by him than by any one else ; you scarcely require to touch them to make them act, and as soon as the pressure is removed not the slightest vibration is perceptible.”
A re-creation of what Stein’s knee lever would have looked like.
The first instance of the pedal itself is not as clear, but the consensus seems to be that it came from England. Gottfried Silbermann, the first German piano builder, had many English piano builders as apprentices, and a few of them are credited with first incorporating the damper pedal. Americus Backers, one of these English apprentices, has a surviving 1772 piano with what are believe to be the original pedals.
Piano makers were very experimental with how they arranged the pedals from then on, and the configuration changed constantly. Beethoven owned several different pianos from different makers, all with different pedal configurations. His Broadwood grand had a soft pedal and a separate damper pedal for the treble and bass notes. He also had a piano designed specifically to be louder for him, as he was going deaf. This piano had five different pedals as well as more strings on some of the notes.
The piano pedals are very important in modern classical playing, and looking back on the history of their creation and all of their different variations can be very interesting. It is entirely possible that the modern pedal configuration may end up changing at some point, so looking back at how these changes were made can offer a unique perspective on something as taken for granted as the piano pedals.
All saxophonists and other musicians who play larger woodwinds invest in some piece of technology to support their instruments while they play them. Most people call this piece of technology a neck strap, but as manufacturers become increasingly aware of occupational hazards, some of these devices have absolutely zero contact with the players neck. For instance, JAZZLAB makes a harness which is made of high-tech, lightweight materials, and can be adjusted seven different ways to Sunday.
Now don’t get me wrong, JAZZLAB makes a great product and I have seen many players use this piece of equipment on several occasions, but I have always wondered if their product actually improves posture. If I’m at all like some of my fellow instrumentalists, I don’t think about my posture nearly enough whenever I pick up my horn. But when I do, I think about my posture from the ground up and try sit or stand as naturally as possible as if the horn weren’t even in my hands. The Saxophone Guy provides an excellent breakdown on building a healthy, supportive playing position and also has some pretty sweet pictures on his site:
The Saxophone Guy has some pretty killing posture, but where is his JAZZLAB saXholder!? Countless saxophone legends have been able to play the instrument at the highest of levels without the aid of special harnesses. Here is some photo-graphical evidence for your viewing pleasure:
Michael Brecker
John Coltrane
Dexter Gordon
In the photographs above, we have three jazz giants and zero saxophone suspension gadgets. Perhaps I am a traditionalist, but the previous fact is a good indication that saxophonists today don’t need a fancy harnesses to facilitate good posture and achieve mastery of the instrument.
While Michael Brecker, John Coltrane, and Dexter Gordon were truly masters of their craft, let’s take a closer look at a different saxophonist: Rich Perry (linked below).h
Rich Perry visited the Eastman School of Music in 2016 and performed as a guest with the Eastman Jazz Lab Band in addition to teaching a few master classes. When he played, he used the JAZZLAB saXholder to support his saxophone. I remember him saying that his harness was an essential step in his recovery. After years of developing bad posture, Rich created not only a unique sound on the tenor but also chronic pain in his neck and shoulders. He corrected this issue by improving his posture and using a harness instead of the old-fashioned neck straps. And if you don’t believe me, here’s a video of him playing with his harness on (solo starts at 5:00).
Rich Perry is one of many who has experienced the therapeutic benefits of playing with a harness. To invest approximately $50 to increase the longevity of your musical career is perfectly reasonable decision to make. But if you don’t have to, and you buy an expensive harness to have the latest technology I would advise against it. Either way, it’s probably better than playing on one of these!
