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DePauw University's First Year Seminar on Writing about Music
Experiencing orchestra music live was usually just another way to open myself up to more music, and to observe musicians in action; but when the Minnesota Orchestra performed my favorite piece, Ravel’s "Daphnis et Chloe", I had a previous connection with the music. I had learned to play the piece, read about it and listened to recordings of it. From triangle ding to tuba rumble, I was familiar with it. When the woodwinds trickle in at the beginning I could watch the clarinets pick up where the flutes left off while I heard the same continuous sound. Experiencing Daphnis live was more of a trick for the ears. It had never occurred to me that violins made those chirping harmonics at the beginning. I was so accustomed to simply hearing those bird sounds, that seeing a violinist create them added a sense of wonder to what I was experiencing. Watching the bassists lean with anticipation over their instruments before the flute solo, I swear my heart almost began beating parallel to each of their plucks.
nothing compares to live performances. the unique feeling for both the performer and the audience. my favorite part of music is when i am performing. the intensity and 100% focus you have to give, just the energy flowing excites me. its really easy to tell when a performer is or is not "in" the music, and i really love going to shows when the artists are truly engaged in what they are playing. the "dialouge" between the audience and the artist are un-matched. as a performer, i value the audiences responce to piece, and as an audience member i value the artist's responce to the audience. pretty much, everything about a live performance, including the mess ups, is great, and no recording can capture that.
What I value most about live concerts is the connection one feels, in common with the performer, over the music. Last Thursday, I attended the Chamber Singers concert. Choir piece are not my favorite to learn, or to sit through, but I found this concert transfixing. The sound of the Chamber Singers captivated the audience and drew in our interests, even though we did not understand the words to the majority of the pieces. It was a collaboration of artists and an expression of feeling that everyone can relate to.
This past weekend I got the opportunity to go to the Lotus Fest. I was able to see the Irish trio in that church. It was alright. I like Irish singing, and that ws the good part of it. Then there was the violin player, which left a lot to be desired. I don't think a recording would have helped a lot prior to listening to them live. I went to Les Yeux Noirs shortly afterwards.
When I started thinking about this post, I immediately began comparing all of the live concerts I have been to. I thought about which ones I liked and which ones I didn't, and then I asked myself something I hadn't really thought about. Why did I like some better than others?
Live music can change your view of a band/person/whoever is playing/singing. I have more experience with hearing live rock concerts, so I will mainly focus on rock. Today, we are so used to hearing our favorite music recorded, and used to hearing it the same exact way over and over again, as many times as we want. It's always interesting to hear a band live for the first time after hearing them so much on cd. In my experience, for the most part, rock bands do a fairly decent job of sonding like their recordings, but their are always a few that sound better live, such as Emery and MuteMath, and definately a few that do not sound anything like their recordings, but not in a good way, such as Audio Adrenaline or Copeland. There are also the bands that don't even play the kind of music I like, but put on a great, energetic show, such as Showbread or Squad Five-O. I mentioned in an ealier blog about my brother and I having a discussion about what we value in music, and what we like to listen to. I said that as long as the band has a great recording out, I love to listen to that recording, no matter how crappy the musicians really are. I like to listen to the music that has been created because it makes me feel good, or puts me in the right mood. Of course, it's always a bummer when I see that band live and they really just suck. It is always good for a band to sound good live though, because they will get much more support, and if someone hears them for the first time at a live concert, they will not even consider ever listening to them. Like my brother, sometimes people will not listen to any music unless the musicians are really talented and sound as good, if not better, live as on the recording. As a musician, I do appreciate very talented musicians, and will listen to them even though I might not necessarily like their music. Live music can be a tricky thing sometimes, and with some bands, you have to wonder how the heck they ever made it with such a crappy live performance.