Critical Review #7

Miller, Kiri. 2008. Traveling Home: Sacred Harp Singing and American Pluralism. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Questions for Kiri:

You talk about how Sacred Harp is “particularly accommodating of participant observation because it welcomes new singers of every age, background, or level of musical training” (27). You also mention that some singers are known to bring recording equipment to conventions along with their lunches. I thought this was interesting and different from others’ experiences with working in the field, and I would like you to speak more about your experiences as an ethnomusicologist. Did you feel your presence had an effect on the performances? Did singers greet you with interest, disapproval, or did they even notice you?

You also begin to describe the complex relationship singers have to the music. For examples, some northerners feel guilty for “diluting” what they see as a southern singing tradition (30), while some singers from the south “recognize and embrace the diversity of the national singing community” (43). How do you self-identify and does that identification have any bearing on how you personally feel about the music? Do your feelings parallel how other singers with the same identification view Sacred Harp singing? Have/How have your feelings changed because of your research?

Discussion Question:

When I think of an ethnography, I usually imagine papers and books written for an audience that does not practice the described musical tradition, and where the primary criticism of the ethnography will come from scholars in the field rather than practitioners of the music. When an ethnography is readily available to the culture it describes, should this have any bearing on how it’s writing? (This leads to more questions for Kiri; did she consider her audience when she wrote the book, and how did singers receive her book?)

Challenge Questions

The ability to learn about a culture’s music and the role of that music within culture is easier because of technology. Information can “come from the source;” people from around the world can publish their work for a wider audience. If insider ethnographies exist with more frequency, what is place of outsider ethnographies? Do we need an outsider’s ethnography on a culture when we can readily get an insider’s?

A thought experiment: an isolated island is dominated by a culture that practices human sacrifice. Most anthropologists would say they are within their right; this is a consenting culture existing on its own terms. However, if that island’s population moved to Providence, RI and practiced human sacrifice, most people, probably including anthropologists, would say this is not ok. Ethnomusicologists are concerned with not passing judgment on peoples’ cultures; they see every culture as being valid on its own terms. However, are we allowed to pass judgment on our own culture or traditions happening within our culture? Can we pass judgment on musical traditions, such as white supremacy rock, that exist in our own culture?

Field Notes #2: Rehearsal and Interview

I attended an ARRR rehearsal last Friday from 3:00 PM-5:00 PM. Before entering the Zeta Delta Xi Lounge, both pirates and visitors asked “Permission to Board” of the captain, the leader of the group and first person there. After permission was “granted” members of the group flopped onto to couches and began to socialize. A few pirate alumni showed up and they were greeted with hugs and enthusiasm. The captain calmed down the talking and started the rehearsal with a lusty “ARRR!!!!” in which everyone in unison shouted “ARRR!!!!!.” The chaplain read a pirate poem and then members of the group made announcements, which included things like “Hey guys I baked cookies for rehearsal, enjoy” to “These are my parents, they’re going to watch the rehearsal.” Announcements turned into a disorganized but energetic discussion about Parents’ Weekend, during which the pirates plan on having an arch sing. During the discussion of what songs to sing at the concert, pirates would test whether or not they wanted to sing a song by singing it in rehearsal. Usually a confident pirate would burst into song and others joined in after him or her. The pirates evaluated songs based how energetically the group sang them and on whether or not they knew all the words. The cabin boy, serving as the secretary, wrote down which songs they would sing at the concert. Here is a recording of this discussion process with a song:



The pirates also programmed their show to have a variety of styles of songs. They decided on singing a kid-friendly pirate song from Muppet Treasure Island, a slow Sea Shanty ballad, a slightly off-color song, and a call-and-response song, where ARRR would showcase the new pirate members, who would sing the verses. Here is a recording of the pirates practicing their call and response song “Clear Away the Track.” Some of the verses are traditional and some humorous and improvised:



The rehearsal ended with another lusty ARRR!!! And pirates made some more announcements before everybody left or stayed to socialize. The captain expressed interest in partying later that evening.

The rehearsal was very casual and social; pirates sang from their spots on couches, even talked a little with their neighbors in the middle of the songs. There was no vocal instruction, the pirates learn by singing; each new pirate has a binder containing only lyrics to shanties. After the rehearsal, I got the opportunity to interview two pirate alumni of the group, John Cannon and Daniel Byers. This interview gives a very good sense of the theatrical performance aspect and image of the group:



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John=J, Daniel=D, Mike=M

M: Alright, I’m recording now guys. It’s ok I’ll probably cut this part out.

[pirates making ninja slices noises as they “cut” each other’s throats with their hand, laughter]

M: They’re just being silly. Alright, so who am I with right now?

D: Stephan Blackheart of the pirates of ARRR.

J: I recently renamed myself captain Jack Cannon, the Adder, but in fact I am just a guy

M: So those are your real names or what, your pirate names?

J: Yeah

D: Yarr, our pirate names. I’m a former captain and he’s a former traitor. [Referring to the fact that John wasn’t a very active member his senior year]

J: That’s about right; I’m a former a lot of things.

D: Yes.

M: Ok, so you’re alumni of the group.

D: Since last may we’ve been- graduated.

J: Is that Greek?

M: Alright, I think what they’re trying to tell me is that they are alumni of the group.

[laughter]

M: Alright, so I was wondering if you can tell me what you guys think of ARRR. What is ARRR?

J: What is ARRR?

M: Yeah what is ARRR?

[1:00]

J: ARRR is the last line of defense.

D: -Against the Ninja Menace

J: Among other things.

D: Yes. You See, back in the days when pirates road dinosaurs…

J: And Brown was allowed to have a militia…

D: [laughter] We don’t really know where we’re going with this.

J: I do

[both laugh]

J: Well you see, so obviously, so have you been to other university where they have crenellations on top of their buildings?

M: What’s a crenellation?

J: Crenellations are ramparts if you will, like little arrow slits in the sides-towers- and things like that. That was because they needed archers to defend the campus. But Brown didn’t have the kind of stones they needed for crenellations, they preferred to use granite, all we had was brick here, so instead we decided that we would use a melee force to defend the school and hire mercenaries, who happened to be pirates.

[2:00]

D: -That also however failed to work; the original mercenaries weren’t very affective because every spring, as you know, Brown is submerged in at least ten feet of water, and this brings in many sea-faring beasts, such as the kraken, from the ocean.

J: -And manatees.

D: -And manatees, lots of manatees that constantly barrage the campus with their large, bulbous, grotesque, worm-like bodies.

J: -So once several generations of mercenaries were killed, Brown decided to hire outside help.

D: See, pirates, pirates are special in that they are amphibious; they can both attack on water and on land.

J: I have gills, I think he absorbs oxygen through his skin.

D: -And fires it out in the form of bad TV shows from my eyes.

J: Anything else?

M: Yeah, I was wondering, is ARRR a theatrical performance group, a musical performance group, or like a social organization?

J: It is theatrical, it is vaguely musical at times, what’s the other question?

D: Could all of those options-

M: -A social organization?

J: Socialist?

M: No, like you hang out together, is that the primary purpose-

D: We do hang people sometimes

J: We do hang people, yes

D: -Out-on-

J: Oh, yes.

G: -Lines-

J: Two brave sailors died just last year.

D: It’s a very socialist process.

[3:00]

J: They put their heads on pikes in University Hall

D: That wasn’t so much hanging as sticking, but in general, yes-

J: -Well, we hang them first.

D: We’re socialist in that we all agree who we’re going to hang, and then we do it to the greater common good of people who aren’t be hanged.

J: It’s a Hindu thing.

D: Right. It’s hilarious for the rest of us so the one guy getting hanged goes with it. He’s like “yeah guys, it’ll be so funny for you, I don’t even care.” He usually really drunk at the time.

J: It’s a natural high.
D: That’s the thing that we do here, we get people drunk and hang them.

[laughter]

M: Alright, thank you.
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I also had a more serious interview with Daniel Byers:



In the interview, Dan claims that the group has multiple foci, saying that the goal of group changes depending on who is in the group and who is leading it, however he does say that singing of sea shanties keeps the group together. Dan also claims that Brown students find ARRR attractive because of the mythos of pirates, the casual and quirky feel of the group, the theatrical aspect, and social aspect of the group.

Critical Review #6

Nettle, Bruno. 1995. Heartland Excursions: Ethnomusicological Reflections on Schools of Music. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

In chapter one of his book Heartland Excursions, Bruno Nettle claims that Western art music can be compared to a religious system, where the deities are the great composers (Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, etcetera) and priests and laity are the historians and performers (15). At one point, Nettl supports his claim by comparing western perspectives on music to Greek mythology. Just like Greek gods, the “gods” of western art music have relationships with each other, ranking, and distinct musical images (21). As an example, Nettl contrast the modern images of a child-like Mozart, whose compositions supposedly appeared full-formed in his mind, with the image of a hard-shelled Beethoven, who labored intensely over his music. Nettl claims that these contrasting symbolic representations of composers reveal insights into western culture, one, relating the Mozart/Beethoven example, being the presence of a dichotomy between inspiration, nature’s gift to man, and labor, man’s own accomplishment (27-28) in western culture.

This article reminded me of how I imagine a psychologist would clinically describe a patient’s problems. I think if this article were written about another culture’s music or by a non-westerner, it would sound critical and dated; it is not reflective and doesn’t bring in outside voices. Why is it that anthropologists are so concerned with not passing judgment on peoples’ cultures, but seem to put down their own culture? Can your own culture the only culture you can be openly critical about?

Critical Review #5

Barz, Gregory F. "Confronting the Field(note) In and Out of the Field." In Shadows in the Field: New Perspectives for Fieldwork in Ethnomusicology edited by Barz, Gregory F. and Timothy J. Cooley, 206-223. New York: Oxford University Press.

In his article Confronting the Field(note) In and Out of the Field, Barz makes the argument that fieldnotes mediate between experience in the field and interpretation outside the field. Barz claims that a fieldnote “ ‘changes’ whatever experience it focuses on, whether through magnification, clarification, examination, or reduction” (210); ethmusicologists reflect on, and consequently change, their sensory experience in the field by writing a fieldnote. For Barz, this reflective process of writing fieldnotes opens the door to interpretation. For example, fieldnotes have helped him see experiences form different perspectives (213) or uncover new questions he may have not have considered before putting his thoughts into writing (214).

After writing my own fieldnotes, I understand Barz’s point that writing down your experiences in the field is a form of reflection that can lead to new insights. For me, writing about my experiences and perceptions of pirates led me to interesting questions about the role and image of ARRR on Brown Campus.

So how would an ethnomusicologist incorporate fieldnotes into an ethnography? Should ethnographers include their notes in appendix’s or blog, or should explain how they reached their interpretation by referencing their notes directly?

Field Notes: Initial Observations and Interview

As I already mentioned in a previous post, I will be researching ARRR!!!! (for now on referred to without the exclamation points), the Brown University pirate a cappella group that sings sea shanties. Because ARRR just started rehearsing with its new members, I haven’t gone to any rehearsals yet, and there haven’t been any concerts this year since early September. I took the opportunity during this “waiting time” to reflect on my experiences with and my perceptions of the group.

I was standing under Wayland Arch when I first learned about ARRR from a peppy Brown University tour guide. A junior in high school at the time, I was on a road trip with my parents and my high school friend Joe Maurer, visiting colleges. Brown was one of the few schools that gave Joe and me great first impressions. The pretty main campus and quiet green, the noticeably happy and helpful students, and the strategic placement of stunning cherry trees around admissions, in conjunction with our knowledge of the University’s liberal attitude towards everything from core curriculums to alcohol regulation, made Brown seem like the most appealing college I could hope to go to. When we first heard about ARRR under Wayland Arch, Brown only continued to gain points with me. In a small way, the mere existence of ARRR contributed to my desire to apply to Brown. Now, I am a Brown University undergraduate student, typing an assignment for a Brown University music class. Joe “Bloody-Violet” Maurer is only half-a-Patriots’ Court away, possibly doing the same thing as me.

Why was and is ARRR so appealing to me? The group does not have the “musical” or “technical” prestige of the other a cappella groups on campus such as the Jabberwocks or the Brown Derbies; at their concerts, the pirates, the members of the group, are sometimes out-of-tune and forget words. There is no organized harmony for most songs; members improvise their own harmonies. Do I like the repertoire of sea shanties? Yes, but there’s more than sea shanties that attracts me to the group; it’s my perception of their unique style and image. Prospective pirates audition in character and full costume. Their performances feature debaucherous and bawdy skits, comedic energy, and lightheartedness. The pirates engage with the audience, often singing directly to volunteers. They come off as a cohesive fun-loving group, entertaining the audience with a hybrid of music and comedic theatre. When people talk about pirates outside of their concerts, some people smile or laugh, some people role their eyes.

I obviously see ARRR as more than “just” a choral group whose repertoire is sea shanties; they are a theatrical group and they have a distinct cultural image on Brown campus. For me, they have a casual but energetic and goofy image, and the fact that they aren’t technically “on-par” with most traditional musical groups on campus doesn’t negatively affect that image in my head. In fact, it may strengthen it.

These initial observations and reactions I’m having to ARRR bring up a lot of questions. If performing and preserving a traditional music is not the main purpose of the group, then what is the role of the music in this group? Is it important that the songs are sea shanties, or would the group image not work if they sang a different style of music? Do my initial thoughts on ARRR match-up with what the pirates and other Brown students think of the group’s role on campus?

I started to research the answers to some of these questions by interviewing Lorraine “Tuna” Fryer about her emic perspective about ARRR (interview edited):



Lorraine shared her and other pirates’ perspective on the role of the group. For Lorraine, ARRR is primarily a social group; the performances, both musical and theatrical, are second to the hanging-out, singing, and drinking they do apart from performing. Other pirates place more weight on the theatrical performance or musical performance aspects of ARRR. She also gave her perspective on the purpose of ARRR performances. She talked about the theatrical aspect, claming that it’s entertaining to watch people crazier than you putting on a spectacle and that each show is a “moment of fun surreality” for the audience.

While talking about the reason why ARRR is so popular, Lorraine began to allude to my observation of ARRR’s public image on Brown campus, saying ARRR is “part of what makes Brown, Brown.” I want to find out more about how ARRR makes Brown, Brown. I may interview an ARRR fan or a random Brown student to see what their opinion of ARRR’s place on Brown campus is.