April 26th

Professor Helen Rees emphasizes her idea that "Ancient Naxi Music" isn't as "ancient" or "authentic" as it is presented to tourist audiences. Contrastingly, she thinks that the music played by other groups (which use Westernized instruments) are much more "authentic" than the Naxis, who by the way derived their musical styles from the Han Chinese. She believes that many of the individuals witnessing the performance are so intrigued by this type of music mainly "because of the constant comparisons they make with other such performances they have attended in China" (149). She believes that many tourists seek to hear new melodies and rhythms not exposed to them in their home countries. Tourists expect "traditional" and "authentic" music of China to steer away from the sounds of Westernized music. According to Rees, to tourists, "Western harmony presented as local folk culture are an immediate turn-off" (149). These outsiders enter a performance arena expecting the foreign music to not sound anything like the Western style they are accustomed to.

Professor Rees makes it clear to the reader that she believes many tourists and even knowledgeable Western scholars view the modern Chinese orchestra as not nearly "authentic" enough. Many Westernized individuals expect foreign music, especially Chinese, to exclude that Westernized "ring" to it. However, this orchestra utilizes instruments like a Western 'cello and bass. When necessary, the Chinese orchestra will perform using a keyboard as well. Although the sounds resemble old, authentic music, the tourist audience does not enjoy or appreciate it. They hear that borrowed Western romantic sound and become uninterested instantly. To them, the music is modernized and shows no resemblance to the ancient music of China.

I would have to say that I agree with Professor Rees based on the fact that authentic music may be modernized and still be as interesting as the original piece. I believe many tourists, according to this article, are very short sided and expect music to remain the same throughout history. One should not enter a foreign country's musical performance expecting a certain sound to the music. Because the tourist is ignorant to the type of music practiced, the tourist should enter the performance arena with a blank mind set and try to enjoy the music based on how it sounds.

April 19th

Ratna Ayu

In this performance, the individuals involved are wearing bright pink and purple clothing. The lights beaming on the performers are a dim, purple color. Their clothing style resembles that of the characters in the movie Aladdin, primarily Princess Jasmin. The ensemble is made up of men and women, yet women make up the team of dancers. They are seen performing a synchronized dance routine where one (out of the five) seems to be acting out separate moves from the others. Apparently, the woman performing her own dance routine is being praised or worshiped by the other dancers. Towards the end of the performance, she is lifted (as if she were a queen) and carried out off the stage. To the far right of the performance stage, we are able to see various people playing gongs. This group is made up of both men and women. On the far left of the stage, we see another group of individuals playing different instruments. They seem to be playing some types of membranophones or idiophones. These instruments have a much higher pitch and are heard much louder than the instruments on the right side of the stage. Overall, the polyphonic texture of the song is relaxing and the melody is soothing. The setting of the performance leans more toward the feminine side, given that the dancers are female and the primary colors shown are purple and pink.

Gamelan Bali Nyepi

In contrast to the Ratna Ayu performance, the Gamelan Bali Nyepi ensemble does not contain people dancing to the beat of the song. All of the performers are sitting very close to each other, all playing some sort of instrument. A lot of them seem to be playing instruments resembling gongs. From the visible footage, it appears that the entire group is male, whereas in the Ratna Ayu the main actors of the show were female. As oppose to the Ratna Ayu performance, where group members wore bright pink/purple clothing, the individuals in this ensemble are wearing plain, white outfits. This performance also seems to be taking place outside, in nature, as oppose to the Ratna Ayu presentation, which took place on a formal stage. The actual melody and rhythm seems to follow a pretty structured path. The beat speeds up for a couple seconds, slows down, then speeds up again. This process occurs a couple time throughout the song.

April 12th

There was an instance where I felt both as an insider and an outsider at the same time. I consider myself a Catholic of primarily Hispanic ethnicity, however, I do not attend church very often. One day, I attended church with one of my Caucasian, Christian friends back home. Although I didn't feel uncomfortable because the individuals there were awfully nice, I felt as if I would I would definitely blend in more with a Hispanic, Catholic crowd; I felt like an outsider. However, the next week, when I went to a Catholic church, I was surrounded my individuals of my culture. To my surprise, I was in awe when I felt more uncomfortable and ignorant in this Catholic church than the Christian church. Although I felt like I could relate to many of these individuals ethnically, I could not relate to them religiously. I was less knowledgeable in my religion than I ever believed. I felt like an insider but at the same time felt like an outsider who had, for the first time, walked into a Catholic church and heard people preach and pray.

There have been various situations where I have accentuated different parts of my identity. Although I do not stress the fact that I am of Salvadorian, German ethnicity very often, when asked, I do let people know these two characteristics that belong to me. Many presume I'm of white descent because of my physical appearance and my last name (Gerstenacker), therefore I find myself correcting people very often. When it comes to identifying myself as a specific religion and strictly living for those standards, I'm not too attached. Don't get me wrong, I have been baptized as a Catholic and believe in God but I do not attend church and practice the religion as much as I did in prior years. When identifying myself, I often turn to music. Although I'm not too familiar with music from other parts of the world, I am very lenient with the music I am willing to absorb. Because of my parents' ethnic background, I have been able to listen to some Spanish music by modern artists such as Celia Cruz, Juan Gabriel, and Luis Miguel. Reggaeton has also become very famous among the American music crowd recently and I enjoy this as well. Because I am lenient with the music I am willing to listen to, I believe my personality and identity are reflected accurately. Music helps identify certain characteristics of my personality.

I have listened to music in completely different environments. In a night club, all types of modern, popular music are played very loudly. The music is intended to energize individuals and initiate provocative dancing. Most of the time, the people in this night club are drinking liquor and just looking to have a great time. In contrast, at a church, when there is a musical band playing religious music, the effect is different. People are not dancing sexually and are not committing acts which would be considered sinful in a church. The crowd is calm and praying to God. The music, as well as the environment which it is played in, reflects the surrounding event.

April 5th

Although I do not play an instrument or participate with musical ensembles, listening to music is one of my favorite hobbies by far. I did, however, play the recorder when I was in the second and third grades, but I'm not too sure that counts. :] I'm not too familiar with music from other parts of the world so I'm looking forward to learning what other cultures enjoy playing and listening to. I'm hoping that this class informs me about music I had no clue existed. Hopefully it enables me to become interested in different types of music as well. The only foreign types of music I'm familiar with are Reggaeton and Mariachi music. However, like Professor Talusan mentioned, many of the melodies and beats composed by hip hop and rap artists are derived from music from other parts of the world. Therefore, in a sense, I have some experience with other foreign music. :] I'm looking forward to this class and what musical experiences it has to offer.