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Saturday, October 17, 2009
Whatever I have done or am doing in my life right now, I know that at a certain point in time, I am going to feel awfully and painfully happy. Endings are always hurtful, in whatever sense you look at them. Even if put in the context of violence, of happiness, of pain, of bewilderment, of enchantment, of love, endings are almost always devastating. For one reason, they signify the everlasting effect on people of the various encounters/experiences while the previous state of being lasted. They consequently depict the constant lingering of the actual emotions felt erstwhile. It gives people this particular feeling of helplessness, the inability to escape, and at the same time that ardent desire for permanence. We want to forget, but the sentiments linger on, willingly or unwillingly. The strong emotions that aroused our being, our senses, are elevated uncontrollably at a certain magnitude. And so we begin to become more rational than ever. Another reason would be, that the complexity of incidents is lost, and everything else becomes so simplistic. Because of too much rationality, we reach a state of purgation, catharsis of strong emotions. And the beauty of the complexity of things is destroyed, forgotten, unlearned. Simplicity is achieved, and the excitement vanishes. The irony of which is that we realize that we like things better when they were complex and complicated, always like puzzles to be solved. And that it is in our nature to want difficult things, and always be on that search for simplicity, but never really want to achieve it fully. Reaching the end ends that desire to search, and consequently, our world stops. Endings. I like endings. I am able to realize where I should stand. I don't like to be everywhere. I want to stay in one place, and wait for someone, just one person, to ask me in on a new adventure. Finally I'd answer: Sure, I'm with you.
10/17/2009 12:37:00 AM
Sunday, October 4, 2009
I don't know what to believe anymore. ********************************************************************* I'm trying to finish a paper on the musical elements present in soul music, particularly several videos that proffer certain vocal techniques present only in this genre of music. As I listened to and watched the videos, I took down notes regarding my observations in terms of their musical aspect. Here are some of my remarks: In soul music, the vocal prowess of the singers is reflected on the way they utilize the different vocal techniques. The degree of use of these vocal techniques distinguishes soul music from all the other genres of music. Firstly, soul music is very melismatic. Soulful singers employ melisma to give a distinctive style to the song. Close melisma is evident in the performances/songs of Boyz II Men(So Amazing), Reuben Studdard (Celebrate Me Home), Kyla (Buti Na Lang), and Az Yet (Hard to Say I'm sorry). Open melisma is heard mostly in all the live and powerful performances such as that of Patti LaBelle (Somewhere over the Rainbow and Forever Young), Fantasia Barrino (I'm Here), Luther Vandross (A House is not a Home), and Whitney Houston (I Have Nothing). Vibrato is also carried out, usually in certain words in the lyrics that the singers want to emphasized. Mariah Carey is one of the singers who is fond of using such vocal technique, as heard in her song Can't Take that Away. Another common vocal technique used in soulful performances/songs is the falsetto. It is evident in songs that contain extremely high notes. In the videos, such technique is visible in the songs Can't Take that Away, Somewhere over the Rainbow, Forever Young, I Have Nothing, and I'm Here. Belting, or shouting (as how plenty distinguish it) is another technique prominently used in soul music and greatly evident in this genre of music. Somehow, it is already expected of soul singers and of soulful performances to execute such a technique. This is why one can already be assured of a constantly powerful and dynamic presentation when listening/viewing a soulful performance. In terms of the overall performance/vocal aspect of the videos viewed (and with regards to the general mien of soul music), the musical arrangement, accompaniment, and personal style of the performers also characterizes soul music. One is able to determine immediately a soulful performance apart from other types of performances because the general presentation of soul music is almost always unfamiliar, thus defamiliarizing music as we know it and setting it apart from how people see and hear music. Performing a soulful song with an orchestra effectively individuates that song and gives it an unfamiliar yet powerful feel. The videos of Patti Labelle’s Somewhere over the Rainbow, Whitney Houston’s I Have Nothing, and Fantasia Barrino’s I Believe show how the orchestra as the song’s accompaniment accentuates the overall performance. ********************************************************************* It's 2:22 in the morning and I haven't shut my eyes yet. It's 2:22 in the morning and I'm still conscious. Now's the perfect time for oblivion. I should stop being a nocturnal personage and just be normal. Of course. Normal. Everyone wants normality. A life without that extra touch of randomness and spontaneity. What a dull life that is. I don't want that. I refuse to have and live that kind of life. And it really got me thinking. Do we seriously want and enjoy ordinary things? Or are we all susceptible to anything and everything abnormal, deviant, aberrant, unfamiliar, etc? Maybe it's human nature, to desire for something different.
10/04/2009 12:22:00 AM
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