Coldplay

Although Western music tends to be very mainstream, they shouldn't be discounted for music research. All bands and artists each have their own unique style and individual flare which make them "mainstream."

One of my favorite bands is Coldplay. They are a Brihtish band that has achieved high success wthin the UK and the U.S. In terms of aesthetics, they do not present as many unique qualities as African music, but there are certain elements that become incorporated into their music which gives them their sound. Texture is pretty standard as far as this band goes. They do tend to be very "poppy" so most of their songs are usually homophonic. The instruments support the lead singer Chris Martin as he belts out "emo" lyrics. On another note, the voice is naturally deep and low. It is his somber voice which carries the emotion throughout the song. Instrumentally, their songs often showcase the lead singer with a piano accompaniment. Rhythmically, they are not very complex but rather cyclical. Songs tend to follow the typical song schema with 2-3 stanzas of lyrics, followed by a chorus, 2-3 more stanzas, chorus, and end. However, at the same time, these characteristics which are present in Coldplay's music are common features of many mainstream bands as well. It is these things such as emo lyrics, simple instrumentation, homophonic texture, and rhythmic simplicity which tend to define these mainstream bands. It gives them their identity as this popular British band. People's relationship to their music can best be defined through a live concert. All concerts are like these ritualistic performances where people come together to celebrate their love for a band's music. Lighters sway back and forth, fans mouth lyrics , people wear shirts or other apparel related to the band, etc. This is the classic social pattern we find at concerts.

Many people tend to hold the opinion that if a band or artist goes mainstream, they have "sold out." Many mainstreamers do are starting to incorporate different culturally-focused instruments from other regions of the world. Although I cannot say that Coldplay uses any special instrumentation, if they did then those instruments can potentially gain recognition through mainstream music. Is that such a bad thing that these instruments begin to grow in popularity elsewhere? Even moreso, how bad of a thing can it be for these other cultures to gain notoriety?

East Meets West

As we mentioned in class, Eastern European music is highly influenced by outside forces. Because the Roma people constantly moved around Eastern Europe, many of the instrumentation found within the movie appear very similar to the many instruments we are most familiar with in the West.



One instrument which was very prevalent throughout the movie was the violin. It was very interesting to see variety of ways in which it was played. Most noteable was the segment where the man produced the long, screechy notes with a single hair of the bow by dragging a single hair of the bow across the strings. I played violin for 6 years and those sounds reminded me of those notes that you accidentally played if your bow didn't have enough rosin on them. There was an aerophone which resembled a smaller type of shakuhachi. The instrument was played by blowing through the top of the flute (like the shakuhachi). If it had to be compared to another Middle Eastern instrument, I suppose it would be closest to the Duduk which was mentioned in Vahe's presentation. The Duduk, however, is still very different from the flute in the movie. It is a double reed flute, which produces very rich, robust sounds. When I heard the music clips of it, I instantly thought of it a Middle Eastern Kenny G. The other instrument from the movie I'd like to point out is the Santur (sp?). The size of the movie one was much larger than the one we were showed in the video example from class. It was played much the same way as in the Middle East. Other things I would like to mention are the rhythmic clapping and the use of household objects. One man was shown slapping his thighs, the bottom of his shoes, and clapping his hands to produce his own rhythm for the song. We saw much of this rhythmic clapping when we were studying Oceania. The small clip with the dogs barking also reminded me of the call and response techniques from Oceania.


I love the fact that there is no presence of dialogue in most of these scenes. It reminds me of Ch. 1 of our World Music text. At the beginning of the chapter, the author dives into David Henry Thoreau's experiences listening to the soundscape at Walden Pond. I feel that this movie is a respresentation of just that--a soundscape. The lack of dialogue forces the listener to hone in on the sounds and voices that are generated in a multitude of ways whether it be from neighbors arguing with each other, dogs barking, or slapping the top of a milk jar. The collage of sounds and voices that come from this movie makes me realize that music is everpresent in my daily life. It doesn't have to come from the traditional forms in which we listen to music to be classified as "music" (e.g., radio, cds, concerts). Music is truly everywhere.

Video Game Music

I would like to throw another medium into the mix—video games. They have quickly proven themselves to be a popular form of entertainment over these past several of years. Although these games are not exactly live performances, huge franchises easily spend a lot of money to hire composers and orchestras to record music for their games. A fine example is the Final Fantasy series. Nobuo Uematsu is famously known for his epic scores he incorporates into these games. They are classically known for being their ability to capture the emotion of the game. These compositions are another indicator of how the Japanese use western influences in their music. If I had to compare Nobuo Uematsu to someone in the western world, I would say he’s like the John Williams of video games. As I mentioned before, his scores are epic. They are very saturated with piano, many string instruments, and brass. They have the very dramatic feel to them which can easily translate into movie music. Video game music is so popular now that there are annual tours where orchestras will sample music across various video game titles. Last year, the Video Games Live event came to the Hollywood Bowl where they played a famous piece called “One Winged Angel” from Final Fantasy 7. Nobuo’s orchestra has even performed at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. At this event, he solely concentrates on classic Final Fantasy songs from across the years.