Here’s the early cut of a song I recently started producing.
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Before I leave on this journey, I have quite a few things that I need to take care of. A visa is probably the most important thing that I will need to travel. I have already applied for it, and am waiting to hear back. This should not be a problem though since it it pretty easy to obtain one being a US citizen. I also have an appointment this week to get all of the travel immunizations that I will need. I have to buy airfare of course, but this is the least of my worries. I have traveled quite a bit in the past, so packing and figuring out the logistics of traveling are not wording me that much. The most important thing for me will be developing a shot list and rough prospectus of what exactly I want the end result of my documentary to be. I know that I want to tell a story about the current conditions of youth in India, and contrast that to that of those in Seattle, so I also need to dive into getting some footage and understanding of the current conditions back home. I will attend local shows, go to skateparks, and get interviews from youth around Seattle.
In order to get started, I need to acquire certain equipment. I have been saving, and will use student loans to acquire a Panasonic GH3 camera, which will enable me to take quality stills as well as video. I already have a 50mm lens for interview, but will also need a good zoom lens for a lot of other different kinds of shots. On top of this, I will use a go pro to get action shots that the GH3 will not allow me to get, and with a different perspective since the go pro uses a wide angle lens. I will also use the go pro to get lime lapse footage for my documentary. Extra memory cards, batteries, and a hard drive will also need to be obtained. I am very weary about traveling with such expensive equipment, especially since last time I traveled I had my macbook air and iPhone stolen from me, so I will definitely be purchasing travelers insurance to protect me financially if anything does happen to get stolen. Since this trip is quite expensive, and I don’t want to overstay my welcome with my hosts, I am planning on staying for 2 weeks, give or take a few days depending on the cost of airfare.
Week 1: Develop a shot list and prospectus for the story I would like to tell
Week 2: Submerse myself in the Seattle music culture and get footage of my research
Weeks 3-4: Travel to Bangalore, submerse myself in the culture of skateboarding and music that I have arranged through my hosts. Obtain footage and really understand the current conditions in India.
Weeks 5-6: Develop a story and edit into a documentary to be viewed when I return to school for my presentation of my field study.
I am very nervous and anxious for this trip to actually happen. India will definitely be the most exotic place that I have traveled to so far. I really don’t have any idea what to expect after I land, and am relying heavily on my hosts to get me around. One really good things about India is that English is a very common language there.
The one thing that I am probably looking forward to the most, is volunteering for a program that Abishek also started that gives impoverished youth free donated guitars and guitar lessons. I feel like this part of the trip will really give me the most understanding and connection with the current feeling of youth and music. It will give me a one on one connection with the kids that are actually living in the culture, and it will be a good time for me to make contrast and comparison notes. A lot of what I will be experiencing will be revolving around the skateboarding scene in India, but one connection that I have already made is that just like here in Seattle, skateboarding and music go hand in hand. And just as skateboarding and music go hand in hand, they all relate to the cities that they are coming out of. I really have not done too much extensive research on Bangalore, and am looking forward to just submersing myself in a culture that is completely different that my own, or I may find out that they are really not so different after all.
Week one – I will scout around the city watching very closely for the visual language of the city. I will visit Gaudy architecture and start collecting wide landscape shots of the city. I will work on animation.
Week two – I will shoot my day time shots. I will explore classical spanish art. I will work on animation.
Week three – I will shoot my nighttime shots. I will explore modern spanish art. I will work on animation.
Week four – I will review my work, shoot any last minute ideas. I will work on animation. I will return fromBarcelona.
Week five – I will begin video editing. I will work on animation.
Week six – I will finish everything up.
I don’t intend to explain why I chose to go to Barcelona in this post. I don’t yet have a clear answer to that question. There are some superficial explanations that immediately come to mind. I’m somewhat familiar with the city and I’m comfortable there. I’ve been there before and I felt safe and inspired. I know that there is a vibrant music scene there. there is lots of music from lots of places there. I have spoken with some European people and have been told that Barcelona is an interesting choice for reasons that could be interpreted as good or bad depending on how you see it. The city was described as a ‘European city’ and that it isn’t a very good representation of Spain in particular. That’s not entirely discouraging though. My interest isn’t in how Spanish cities shapes music but how the city, whichever it may be, is musical.
This week I read the first lecture in the book In Search of Duende by Federico Garcia Lorca. This lecture was about cante jondo, it’s roots and its essential components. I have always loved Lorca but I was completely floored by his writing in this paper. Just wow. His is so eloquent. He did not just write about duende, he wrote every word with duende. It’s almost as if he eats and breathes duende and is incapable of producing anything that isn’t miraculous. This summary of what I learned from his lecture is littered with quotes but I felt it absolutely nessicary. One of my favorite quotes from this paper is “The wind is a character who emerges in the ultimate, most intensely emotional moments. He comes into sight like a giant absorbed in pulling down stars and scattering nebulae.” I’ve read the entire paper about ten times now and I continue to get lost in his words.
A portrait of Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936).
Anyways, besides drooling over Lorca’s writing, I’ve learned quite a lot about cante jondo that I didn’t previously know historically and emotionally. I feel a lot more in tune with my research topic (duende) and more prepared to begin my field study.
Cante Jondo
Federico Garcia Lorca begins his lecture on cante jondo (deep song) by saying,
“Each day another leaf falls from the admirable tree of Andalusian lyrics, old men carry off to the grave priceless treasures of past generations, and a gross, stupid avalanche of cheap music clouds the delicious folk atmosphere of all of Spain.”
This statement, and really, this entire lecture is a call for future generations to not let all the passion and true beauty of cante jondo die away, it is a pleading for Andalusians to reject the mutated, flashy, and fake deep song that has polluted the region.
In case you aren’t already familiar with cante jondo, it is the most important component of flamenco. The other two components are guitar and dance. Although cante jondo is an essential part of flamenco, it is not usually heard in flamenco today. Kind of confusing right?
Ok, let me try to clear this up.
Cante jondo is the name “given to a group of Andalusian songs whose genuine, perfect prototype is the Gypsy siguiriya.” This type of song laid way for other songs still sung by the gypsies such as polos, carceleras, martinetes, and solares. These songs inspired the song forms that falsified flamenco is made of such as malaguenas, rodenas, and granadinas (to name a few) which different in rhythm and basic structure.
Andalusian gypsies dancing in the Sacromonte Caves in Granada, Spain.
Another important difference between modern flamenco and cante jondo is that cante jondo has roots that extend back to the days before the gypsies migrated from India, whereas flamenco did not even solidify into a song form until the eighteenth century. As Lorca said “Cante jondo is imbued with the mysterious colors of primordial ages; flamenco is a relatively modern song whose emotional interest pales before that of deep song.”
Below I have posted a video with Indian singers and another video with a well known Andalusian gypsy singer. The similarities between these two song forms is pretty astounding.
India:
Click here to view the embedded video.
Andalusia siguiriya:
Click here to view the embedded video.
A few essential similarities between the gypsy siguiyira and classical Indian folk music is the use of “enharmonism” to modulate the melody. My technical music knowledge doesn’t extend much past this point but enharmonism has something to do with a “melodic ambient that rarely goes beyond the sixth; and the reiterated, almost obsessive prolongation of a single note, a procedure proper to certain techniques of hypnosis and certain forms of historic recitation”. Apparently this has lead many to believe that song existed before language.
Poems
Another vital part of cante jondo songs is their deep and mysterious lyrics which delve into the very soul of sorrow and pain. Lorca notes that one of the most remarkable part of Andalusian poems is their lack of emotional balance or “lyrical equilibrium”. Emotiveness is the songs most prominent trait. In Search of Duende is so beautifully written, there is no possible way I can put cante jondo into words like Federico Garcia Lorca.
“Cante jondo always sings in the night. It knows neither morning, nor evening, mountains nor plains. It has only the night, a wide night steeped in stars. Nothing else matters.
It is a song without landscape, withdrawn into itself and terrible in the dark. Cante jondo shoots its arrows of gold right into our heart. In the dark it is a terrifying blue archer whose quiver is never empty.”
This is the true nature of cante jondo, and it is also the true nature of duende.
I think it’s very important to note how heavily Arabic culture influenced cante jondo, not only musically but lyrically. Many of the prominent themes in Andalusian poetry are found in Arabic poetry as well, such as weeping, the wind, the Woman (pain), and the obsession with hair and wine.
This next quarter is a pretty big step towards assuming more responsibility for my life. I’m taking this time to remove some of the structures I’ve relied on in order to create a lifestyle for myself that more accurately reflects what I want. I’m a little anxious, but mostly I feel excited.
Basically, I want to learn the things I aim to learn the things I want to learn, on my own time, and I want to find the motivation within myself to do that. I feel like I’ve spent the better part of my life thus far procrastinating. That’s not to say I feel regret, but I do think I’ve given myself a purpose which I’ve often left on the sidelines. I want to take this time to give that purpose the respect it deserves. I’m not content with where I am as a musician, as a songwriter, or even as a listener. I want to be better. So I’m going to work on myself. I could say that this is a turning point in my life, but I won’t. I don’t think its fair to say I’ve made that change until I’m already in the middle of it- until I’ve committed myself to my goals.
Most of my anxiety about this stems from the fact that, as it stands now, I won’t be receiving any structure or credits from college for this. While it is my goal to supply my own structures, I’m still a bit apprehensive about the prospect. I’m thinking that it’ll be good for me to journal as a way of keeping myself on track. Keeping a journal will enable me to step back and reflect on what I’m doing so that I may address any problems I’m having. This blog might actually be a good format for me to keep honest tabs on my progress, especially since I’m already laying the groundwork for it here. I think it’ll also be easier once I establish some other routines for myself such as meditating, listening, reading, etc. As far as credits are concerned, I’m entertaining the possibility of pursuing this study as an ILC. I plan on speaking with an academic advising tomorrow to see if this is actually my best course of action.
I’m quite excited to push myself, and, in that excitement, I may be biting off more than I can chew. The readings I’ve picked are exactly what I want, but they’re also pretty dense materials. While the physics and philosophy portions of this study are meant to fuel my desire to engage with music, I’m a bit worried of getting too caught up in trying to complete those texts and that my time spent with actual music might be affected. Again, I think keeping a journal will be a good way for me to take a step back and make sure I’m keeping my goals balanced.The fact that both the physics and philosophy I study will be used in my approach to music is appealing to me though, and the idea is that thinking of music in these ways will give me a deeper appreciation for it- in turn pushing me to play more.
I’m eager to get into launch this project. Hermann Helmholtz’s book, On the Sensations of Tone, just arrived in the mail today. This book was printed especially for my order, and both the book and its content appear dense. Likewise this path I’m taking appears daunting, but it’s also a path that I can proudly call my own. My real hope is that by the end of this quarter I won’t be satisfied with my accomplishments, but that I’ll be continually striving to outdo myself.
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