The Triplofonic Takeover

Final "Performance Ethnography"

2010-05-20T14:43:00.000-07:00

The musical community at Northpointe Christian church is what takes center “stage.” For those unfamiliar, many contemporary Christian churches, such as the non-denominational Northpointe, replace the long tradition of altar, pulpit & chorus with stage, microphone & rock band. The “worship band” is responsible for “leading” the service—and, along with the “teacher” (preacher-type role), the “worship leader” is the central figure of the service at Northpointe.

I have been visiting Northpointe for a few months now while working on this project. After missing a couple weeks of the services, Jordan Plumier (Worship Arts Director at Northpoint & my main contact/informant) got in touch with me about playing for a special Mother’s Day service. Jordan wanted to put together a group of musicans to play the usual worship songs but with a more intimate, quiet sound than the regular group (which includes a full drum set and a Marshall Stack). The ensemble ended up being Jordan on vocals and acoustic guitar, Jon on electric bass, James on Djembe, and myself on the violin. How a classically trained violinist paired up with someone playing a West African drum to play contemporary, American, Chirstian pop-rock songs is probably too culturally complicated for a short performance ethnography to try and explain and analyze.

For the sake of this ethnography, I was lucky to have a very direct performance role in the community with which I have been involved. The musical community at Northpointe is ostensibly focused around the musicians in the Worship Band, however, the congregation always can participate by singing along to the lyrics (projected on the screen of the movie theater). Additionally, the members of the Worship Band change from week to week and are typically culled from the congregation—James and Jon both go to Northpointe and aren’t professional musicians—one is auto-body mechanic and the other is a biology professor.

For the first time, Northpointe was planning on having two services on Mother’s Day, an early bird flight at 8:45 and then another at 10:00. This meant the call time was close to 7:00AM, for which I admit to being considerably late. Every Sunday, the team of around 10 people who make the Northpointe services happen arrive at the church’s theater at the Lincoln, RI Cinemaworld before the crack of dawn to load-in PA and A/V equipment for the sound and projections used during the service. When I arrived, I was handed a minute-by-minute schedule of the morning’s setup, rehearsal, and two services (The band was already behind schedule, on my account…), and we did an abbreviated run-through of the entire service. Then church leader’s gathered all of us who were participating in the service in a neighboring theater for a prayer, a “team-meeting,” and a communion. Most of this set-up leading up to the service feels like setting up for a rock n’ roll show—there are soundchecks, lighting checks, monitor mixes, video/projection tests

The day before, I had rehearsed the songs with Jordan and Jon (the bass player). Some of these I recognized from earlier services, and a couple I had played (when I played at an earlier Northpointe gathering). We practiced 4 songs for the service: “Cannons” by Phil Wickham, “My Deliverer” by Chris Tomlin, Daniel Carson, Matt Maher & Jesse Reeves, “Mighty To Save” by Reuben Morgan and Ben Fielding, and “Glory to God Forever” by Steve Fee. All of the songs have a poppy structure—3 verses with choruses in between and usually a bridge. The tunes were in easy keys—“A”, “D”, and “G”—for Jordan to hit all of those “high notes” and for the congregation to easily learn and follow along.

The first service went off without a hitch—the sound was full and clean—and although there were not as many people as usually attend the 10AM service, the theater felt reasonably attended and attentive. Parishioners weren’t as keen on singing along as one would expect, but maybe that was because it was earlier than normal. The band takes a break while Jerry, the “Teacher” for the day, gives his long talk or sermon. He was in the midst of his “ATM” lecture series, and the services was broken up by a short video of kids from the congregation talking about their mothers, and then again by a video of a newly baptized family from the church.

In between services, we tweaked some of the sound, changed some levels, then we threw on some “house” background music of other contemporary Christian songs via iPod. For the second service went along much in the same fashion. I noticed several faces from the first service who stuck around for round two, but overall, there were more people and more families, which ended up meaning more singing. For some of the quieter parts in songs, I could hear the many voices in the congregation overtaking the output of the PA speakers. It’s typically too loud to hear anyone other than the band—whether you’re sitting out in the seats or up on stage. Hardly anyone sits up close to the stage/screen/altar, because, as Jordan points out, it’s really just too loud.

When I established Jerry’s talk was the same as in the first service, I stepped outside of the theater to relax with the band and have a cup of coffee and a bag of popcorn. We talked about “the sound” of our performance, Iron Man 2, a reliable nearby auto mechanic, and how attendance panned out this week considering there were two services instead of one. When we heard the baptism video come on, we made our way back in to finish up.

Personally, I received positive feedback on my playing and participation. I think people were mostly happy to see another new face playing an instrument they don’t usually hear. As always, everyone on the Northpointe staff as well as the folks in the congregation was overtly friendly and helpful. As a playing experience for me, playing at Northpointe was something very different. I’m a classically trained violinist who ended up playing in bluegrass bands and some honky rock n’ roll. Stylistically, it was inappropriate to play up either of the sounds I had most the most experience playing—I had to fashion a middle ground that wasn’t flowery like classical/orchestral music but also wasn’t flashy or twangy like the bluegrass/fiddle sounding stuff I have done. In a way, the genre or sound of the Worship Band is hard to pin down as well. Apart from calling it pop music that features lyrics with Christian themes, it is maybe easier to define it by what popular forms it is not… Surprisingly, the four of us made a relatively cohesive product, considering we had only had minimal practice. Jordan’s voice and guitar playing so distinctively fit into the particular genre of music he was trying to communicate to the Northpoint congregation that if the rest of the band played to him, we were able to make it sound natural. Even with a djembe, violin, and electric bass on the same stage.

It was valuable to have the opportunity to participate in this performance and help cultivate the “worship sound” at Northpointe. This type of music has never been an interest of mine before now, and throughout the course of my project I had a lot of learning to do to become familiar with what exactly “Contemporary Christian Worship Music” is and what kind of music Jordan et. al. are trying to make at Northpointe. Clearly, they are using this very distinct, bounded, and mainstreamed sound to carve out their own identity as an infant church, and how much they choose to change or build on the existing contemporary Christian foundation will be up to the church leaders and congregation. Nevertheless, my relative outsider status allowed me to start from the ground up in terms of shaping my knowledge and opinions.

Critical Review #10 Novak 2010

2010-04-26T22:18:00.000-07:00

Novak's article does a good job in demonstrating remediation through tracing "Jan Pehechan Ho" from its original context to isolated context to the Heavenly Ten Stems to Ghost World. I didn't know anything about the song, the band, or the movie, so in learning about them, I thought it would be a stretch to link these three examples together. Nevertheless, Ghost World's super-reflexivity on "nostalgia" was a very meaningful end to the analytical trajectory.

Remediation just sounds like a fancy term for how people interpret the art around them to make art of their own. I suppose it has its specific uses (e.g. graphic novel to movie) or clear, distinct examples ("Jan Pehechan Ho"), but I think its hard to draw the line between what is cultural diffusion and "remediation". I think the example from the movie, where Enid claims something that is "so bad it has gone past good and back to bad" is what draws that line.

The point of this article and the point of Ghost World is to decry the effects when remediation replaces the original idea that gets mediated in the first place. When novelty, kitsch and humor replace what heartfelt meaning (not that one can't profoundly feel kitsch etc.), what is the nature of the "new" remediated product that springs forth from the old ones?

The aesthetic of interruption and disconnect used to describe the disjointed tropes and styles of Bollywood movies lays out fertile ground for this "spontaneous remediation". Remediation born out of no evident connection to the original source. But what is original source anyways?

I found Windy Chien's comment, "If you like a Bollywood song now [in 2008], you have to really like it. It's available--so it's not the exotic mystery... (63)." The article mentioned she owned Aquarius Records in San Francisco, which I have been to a couple of times. I quickly understood Aquarius as this bevy of obscure, imported I-don't-quite-know-what. Cool, but I didn't quite know why or have the money to find out why (it's hard to utilize the global current and torrent/megadownload some Columbian electronica you can't locate on iTunes/amazon etc.). Chien, one of the "protesters" at the Heavenly Ten Stems show, goes on to work for the man--for iTunes--exterminating the kitsch and novelty which seem to make a place like Aquarius Records--and the obsessive collectors in Ghost World--thrive.

Critical Review #9 Feld 2000

2010-04-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

Feld has a good example in "Rorogwela"--Deep Forests hijacking of the song comes off as objectively wretched and artistically perverse. The example does raise some important questions about artistic influence, copyright, and global copyright.

In Feld's conclusion, he states that it is unclear if Afunakwa had ever heard the Deep Forest song or its derivative versions and "Pygmy Lullaby". This makes "Sweet Lullaby's" multilocal histories and controversy one that really escaped the original source of the tune entirely and the controversy is one of "our" own making. With the Deep Forest recording especially, it seems as if their grasp of the song was utterly dislocated and disconnected--locally schizophonic--from the source at the Solomon Islands that I'm not sure whether it matters where they got that tune from or not. It is clear Deep Forest isn't concerned about their source and their listeners aren't either--it's only ethnomusicologist types who know the original field recordings. This is cynical, but in this instance, does it matter how flagrantly they used it? Maybe less so than how they incorrectly cited it as a Central African folk lullaby.

The questions Feld was raising about the "Sweet Lullaby"--one of rights, authenticity and copyright--could maybe have been brought up with an example where the power dynamics weren't so irrevocably on the side of the Westerners (Deep Forest). Mining ethnomusicological field recordings for pop-song sample content seems more a question of obtaining artistic clout via obscurity (an extended "nostalgia" for other music, perhaps).

Critical Review #8 Feld and Meintjes 1990

2010-04-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

The discussion in these two articles of Paul Simon's Graceland cover a lot of ground. Meintjes delves into more discussion than the Feld, but, as with Buena Vista Social Club, it's important to know as much background information on this record as possible. I'm finding it hard to make this a critical review about the Feld and Meintjes articles because I mostly want to leap from their discussion on Graceland into my own.

One of the highlights from the Meintjes article is the part on how Graceland includes a hodgepodge of African elements. This "stylistic integration" ranges from a blending of languages, as well as the album's cover art, which features an "Ethiopian effigy" when no other Ethiopian influence is present. This suggests an album that is not wholly South African, but not pan-African either. The inclusion of Los Lobos on the record made this more confusing for me. Meintjes discusses the political ambiguity of Graceland, but I found it just as aesthetically ambiguous.

From my own experiences from the record, it seems like it's purposefully avoiding any political attachment in the name of music and collaboration. I think I agree with Meintjes that this aesthetic pastiche in the actual product of Graceland disregards the collaborators and contributors in a way that disables their agency and artistic integrity. The process and touring around Graceland seems to more sensitive and interested in the collaborators well-being.

I regard this album not as something representative of Africa or African music, but as a Paul Simon record that he got some African musicians to interpret. The product is and has been, at least for me, unmistakably Paul Simon, and if anything, this wide ranging and vague degrees of collaboration detract from Paul Simon's artistic trajectory as an artist. I think Graceland isn't trying to be some Western artist-guided dialogue or exploration of a musical genre or style (unlike Buena Vista Social Club). Rather, it is a confusedly African tinged piece of pop music.

Challenge Question Cycle

2010-04-06T16:05:00.000-07:00

Rebecca's Challenge Question
What do you think constitutes an appropriate motivation to undertake ethnography and what should its ultimate goal be? Consider the following list of reasons one might study a specific group of musicians and contribute additional vantage points as you see fit: personal interest or connection to a subject; filling a gap in academic research; the prestige of the subject being studied; promoting broader understanding, etc... You don't necessarily need to discuss each item on the list, just consider each as you discuss the purposes and goals you see as being most important in conducting ethnography.

Perhaps the question is whether to undertake ethnography as opposed to a less-personalized form of objective study (if there is such a thing). It seems as if the style of ethnomusicological writing we have been reading in class has been highly anthropological and ethnographic--the articles and chapters are typically rooted in a bounded community where the author's own experience constitutes as much of the analysis and narrative as do the experiences of the subject(s). In making a decision begin academic research, one must ask why a particular subject is worth studying as well as whether that subject should be studied using the ethnographic method.

In terms of the "vantage points" provided by the question, I feel that all of those tacts are important components of the answer to "why we study". Of course, personal interest and/or a connection are essential for the researcher to thoroughly undertake a subject so that his or her time will be well spent and enriching intellectually. Filling a gap in academic research is also essential. At Brown, it seems as if much of the anthropological thought concerning ethnography is often to "give a voice to the voiceless". This can be a key point of entry when it comes to selecting a subject, however ethical questions arise: whether ethnographic study intrudes on a particular culture, whether a particular culture should be subjected to the advantages/disadvantages of being "studied", and how power relations dictate the mood being the research and the subject? Broader understanding is an honorable goal, however, once again similar ethical questions arise. How can accurate information and understanding be disseminated when ethnographic writing is constructed by the biased author. Insider/outsider statuses affect the reliability and objective nature of the depiction. The prestige of the subject has, perhaps, some bearing, but I would like to believe that there is something worth knowing about in every person or culture. Prestige can maybe be taken to mean propensity to lend itself towards theoretical or intellectual development. It is this idea that leads into what is the unifying goal for ethnography.

That goal is to demonstrate a framework by which to understand a particular culture and oneself. With music and ethnomusicological writing, it is the music which usually becomes the linchpin for said framework. In all of the articles and chapters that we have read, the take-away points are never about the subject of the article, rather the process by which the article was derived and written or the method through which a particular person, culture, or practice can be understood. There is no simple way to write or depict a people, culture, music etc. plainly, factually, or objectively. Those facts are interesting and essential--for what they are, they broaden our understandings and allow us to develop a more complex and analytical way of thinking about them.

The essential characteristic of ethnography is its narrative nature and author-involvement. Personalizing a research project with ethnographic narrative doesn’t let the framework ascend into generalization on how the world works. The piece is bounded to its actual subjects and its author. With a theoretical goal in mind, however, the researcher/writer of an ethnography can be certain that the his/her subject is rich and interesting enough to provide something beyond a personalized survey, that the research will either fill in or expand academia, and lend an informative (albeit a most-likely hyper self-reflexive) look at a subject for the ends of broadening understanding.

Critical Review #7 Waxer 1994

2010-04-05T22:32:00.000-07:00

I think this article does a pretty good job in making its claims. I don't know tons about son, danzon, mambo, or chachacha, and this seems like one of those situations where thorough listening knowledge would have allowed me to feel like she was making a substantiated and legitimate argument. Her large claims of "transculturation" across the American continents and throughout the fast-paced social and technological developments make sense to me, although it's a huge claim to make for a chapter-sized piece of writing.

That being said, I'm left grappling with her framework--"Fernando Ortiz's influential theoretical concept of 'transculturation'"--and how that relates to the formation of a Pan-Latin identity. Waxer's "genealogical" approach to mambo and chachacha invoke a lot of social/economic explanation for the development of music. Although I am sometimes skeptical when I hear these extremely developmental descriptions of how music is cobbled together by international power relations, media constructions, race relations etc., I like how in these descriptions people and places are married to their music.

What I found interesting was the part about chachacha's popularity being attributed to the intimate connection between the dance step and the rhythmic impulse of the music. In these highly anthropological styled ethnomusicology pieces, I like seeing music tangibly related to the cultural trends or behaviors at hand. This analysis values and empowers the music by giving it similar clout to any economic or racial factor. The chachacha is not simply a practice that is reflective of those economic, racial factors etc., but shaped and formed in an aesthetic way out of its practice. With the risk of sounding cliche, I like the power music has in this particular anaylsis.

Research Notes Part 4 (Interview Documentation)

2010-04-03T23:22:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, I interviewed Chris Link (CL in the documentation), Northpointe’s Director of Community and Generosity, along with my main contact for this project thus far, Jordan Plumier (JP), Director of Worship Arts. We met after the service in the Northpointe office, which is in the Lincoln Mall in between the Cinemaworld and the rows of shops. The office was hectic with the “kids” daycare during the service was being dispensed. Additionally, there was a movie starting at noon, so there was plenty of hustle and bustle to take down all of the equipment and paraphernalia that go into making the Sunday service happen. Despite being so busy, Chris and Jordan sat down with me amongst the ruckus for about a half hour to discuss music and Northpointe.

I tried to offer broad questions that would have Chris and Jordan telling me what they wanted me to know. As the interview went on, it might have turned into more of a conversation—I doubt this would get the Jeff Titon award for methodological excellence. Nevertheless, this in-depth interview was pretty typical of the dynamic I’ve experienced doing “research” at Northpointe. As a young church, its leaders were intrigued as to how I found them in the first place and why I have been interested in the church as a subject. Chris and Jordan have been extremely helpful and willing to talk with me and include me in the church. For that I am very thankful. In turn, they have become increasingly reflexive in their thinking, the more discussion we have about the current state of music and the church, and more specifically music at Northpointe. That being said, by the end of our conversation, I felt we were in full-fledged discussion and I pray my questions didn’t become too loaded/leading.

Here’s the majority of the interview, transcribed. My questions are in bold, and Chris and Jordan’s answers below. Happy Easter.

AS: So what exactly do you do at Northpointe?

CL: My official title is director of community and generosity and so I have all of the responsibility and leadership over community groups—which is our small group structure—and anything that we do generously in the community. We believe Christ has called us to be generous to our neighbors as well as our community and the world, and I lead those three initiatives. So those are my two official titles, but I’m kind of the fill in the gaps guy. Our main marketing strategy is called “community touches”—it’s not so much what we say we are but what we do. So I lead all of that. We do the Easter egg thing. We care about families, so we do family events. And so we let our values lead those things.

AS: Were you one of the three families that started Northpointe?

CL: Yes. Me and my wife moved out in June—we’re originally from the St. Louis area, and we were one of the three couples that moved to this area.

AS: So what did you have in mind for music when you started the church?

CL: Well, I’ve known Jordan for a while, and he has a lead over all of the music stuff. I was excited to have someone who could take lead over the music stuff. I knew where some of his talents were, but also where his heart was, and so for the first time to really be involved in church to set the trend in the church with the arts—making something happen. Just to really have music that could worship god, bring the people in together, and to really create the environment where people can worship God. So many times that just hasn’t happened in my experience where people come together and they really worship God instead of just singing songs. That’s what I really imagine the music being—more worship than just songs.

AS: So what were your past experience in other churches? Were they similar ideologically to Northpointe?

CL: Yes. Theologically, ideologically, similar. Methodologically, completely different. I came from a church that was traditionally like, “let’s sing with a piano and a choir and some old guy standing up front singing songs that couldn’t carry a tune”. But the church absolutely loved that—it was more rural, Illinois… And there wasn’t any atmosphere. So that’s what I was brought up with. When I was leaving the church which I came from, they did move to more of a style that we have here, but it wasn’t anywhere close to what we were doing.

AS: So they put together a band?

CL: Started barely getting a band. A couple of people got their feathers ruffled when we brought a drumset up on stage, you know, that kind of stuff. It was moving that direction. This (Northpointe) is completely different. There’s an environment. It’s not just about—we’ll explore this later as we get older as a church—but there’s an environment that we’re intentionally trying to create inside on Sunday with all of the arts—we really believe that arts can create an environment in which to experience God.

AS: How important do you think music is in terms of shaping the service and shaping the congregation?

CL: I think it varies on multiple levels. I think it’s very important to some people, and then not very important to some other people. Everything we do is based on “discipleship”. One on one conversations. What draws people into that conversation is going to be different for every single experience. So maybe for you guys who are just drawn in by music, it’s so important and shapes everything you do on Sunday. But for some people, it might not be that important, and so there might be different experiences that could draw them into conversation. So I guess it is important as it is to that person. I know people come to the church because of the music here. I know people here. I know people come to the church because they like the speaking… or the popcorn (laughs).

Jordan: Some people come in spite of the music

CL: Yeah, so I really think it’s important, but it’s not the goal. Everything revolves around one on one conversations. Whatever it is that draws people into that conversation is what is the most important thing. Music’s important to shape the experience, but it’s not the goal.

AS: In terms of syncing Northpointes “methodology” with the messages in the music, do you feel that they “line up”?

CL: They line up OK right now. I wish it was better, and it will only get better in time. We have a meeting every week where we get ideas together, and we talk about the environment, what we’re trying to do, what the end goal is—everything revolves around a dominant thought. Jordan creates the environment around that thought. So I think it syncs OK right now, but it’s not great. But that’s not the end goal. On Sunday, it’s important, but it’s not the most important thing. If we have conversations with people to get them into relationships, that’s all that matters to us.

AS: I’m a novice to the Christian music scene, locally and commercially, but it seems like Christian music in general is a very diverse thing. Do you see any cohesive style amongst the broad umbrella of Christian music that you can latch on to?

CL: Well, definitely. I feel like we already are latching on to a specific style. And in talks that we’ve had, we don’t want to do that forever. We really want to set the pace in a lot of things that we do because that’s going to attract certain people that will continue to do that. So yeah, there are trends that we are following—is that what you’re asking?

AS: It seems like selecting certain songs bring particular elements to the table. Elements particular to the people who write and record these songs. When Jordan sends me mp3s etc., I look up the songwriters and some of them are mega-stars. Do you ever feel there is a conflict in engaging with these songs—between the particular individuals who make the music and using that individual’s work as a vessel to something… else?

CL: This is not me and music—I mostly listen to whatever he (Jordan) gives me… and what Justin is into as well. I’m not the cutting edge guy, you know. I just listen. I mean, I’d listen to Jack Johnson until I die.

AS: Maybe that’s a question we can direct to Jordan… what about when you’re participating in the service. How do you feel about your role as a component of the musical element in the church?

CL: I see mine as a voice of many. I don’t see the band as being any more than leading us a relationship or experience with God. They really lead in the experience. I’m having a different experience than anybody else will in that auditorium. And so, I feel like I’m part of many voices and many people having the same experience at the same moment. I don’t play any instruments, I don’t do anything—I just hang out… I talk.

JP: He plays the tuba

CL: The Sousaphone… a long time ago, in high school. The reason why we focus on music and the creative arts here is—eventually one day—Jordan might not be the one to do it, but when we create songs ourselves, there are people who will be attracted. There is a creative element to God. We believe he created everything, and he has inherently given that element to us. And so I’m excited for people to be able to experience God in that way and show their appreciation by writing, developing, doing things like that. So you ask about the mainstream guys? They’re only mainstream because we make them mainstream. The words that they say connect to our hearts for the moment. Hopefully we’ll create our own stuff eventually.

JP: The cool thing about that is that a lot of the songs we sing have somebody else’s words. They’re writing those words out of experiences from their own lives. And as we grow as a church, we’re able to tell our stories, and I think that completely changes everything for us. If I’m writing a song, and I’m thinking of a specific individual and something that’s happened in their life, every time I see those words and every time we sing those words a church we’re thinking about that. It becomes more personal.

AS: Have you ever written anything yourself?

JP: No

AS: Do you have any aspirations… hopes… dreams to do such a thing?

JP: Honestly, I’ve come to the realization that this important just recently. I’ve been wrestling with that. For a long time I was like, “Oh, I’ll just sing other people’s stuff”. But as this church grows and we accumulate stories here at Northpointe, we definitely want to make our own songs. With no real goal but to sing them here…

AS: You’re still interpreting these songs every time you play them. What goes into that interpretation? What’s your process? Do you try to make them your own or are you trying to be authentic to the recording?

JP: It’s interesting because sometimes I’m thinking about what everybody else is playing and people are watching me, and it’s hard for a worship leader to be in that place that he’s trying to lead others to. Not all the time do I think about what I’m singing. Today there were times when I probably wasn’t thinking about what I was singing, but there were other times I definitely was. Start crying and my voice gets shaking and I look like a pansy…

AS: What about the group you’re playing with? It seems from our conversations that you have a rotating cast of players in the band.

JP: It depends on the person. You met Nate… sometimes he gets lost in what he’s doing. He’s one that always sings along while he’s playing the drums. He’s fun to watch. It depends, there are some people who are just playing music.

AS: What about sonically… stylistically?

JP: Are you talking about what we do live with the recordings we have?

AS: Yeah. Are you developing your own style at Northpointe?

JP: It depends on who’s up there. We’ve got a guy who plays electric guitar and it sounds like Metallica. If he had it his own way, it’d probably sound like Metallica all the time. So that kind of comes through—there’s a little more 80s rock sound in a lot of the stuff that he plays. The way that I corral that a little kind of thing is to tell people to learn what I send them. We don’t have a ton of time to rehearse, usually a couple hours on Thursday or Saturday morning, and so we don’t have a ton of time to shake that stuff and make it our own. I tell people to do their best to learn what’s on the recording and then we can go from there.

AS: As a new church, is it important to have a cohesive style, whatever that may be?

JP: Oh yeah.

AS: It seems like you guys have put a lot of thought into having a well-defined image. As a new church you’re trying to attract people to come. Everything from your website to your logos to your signs and team of volunteers who staff the service. The service is very smooth and transitions are clean and seamless and the sound is good. How is this actually important to you?

JP: We try to limit people’s distractions. If stuff like that goes wrong—technically in the service—it can be distracting. If they’re in a place where they’re mentally worshipping God and the something like that happens, then immediately (snaps) it’s just done. We do our best. We have the battlecry of “excellence without extravagance”. We fight really hard to not make it all about that stuff. To our volunteers we say this is important, but if you get some wrong, it’s not a big deal. You’re not going to get fired or something.

CL: And I would say this. It’s important, but it’s definitely not the most important thing. Everything goes back to conversation—how do we have one on one conversations with people. I seriously spend maybe 5% of my week on a Sunday—what are we doing on Sunday. Jordan probably spends 25-30% on that kind of thing. The rest of our time is spent with people talking about discipleship, community group coaching. That can maybe gage how important, but really our battlecry is “we want to be excellent, but we don’t want to be extravagant”. We’re not going to spend tens of thousands of dollars on things that are not necessary. At the same time, we’re going to make sure we spend the right amount of money in the right places to make it look like we have it together. Which we do, but that could be a distraction to people. We want to be put together, but we don’t want to go up there with five button suits…

JP: We try and be polished and know what’s on, but never too polished.

AS: So I guess my final question is how conscious you are in developing a musical voice, both stylistically and with the words, and how much of the effort is to actually develop music or how much of that is just a tool to get to the greater ideas or purpose of the church?

CL: We’ve had a lot of conversations because there are a few areas where we want to set the trend. One of them is the in the arts. The question is “why?” Jordan will say, “I don’t get it, why would we want to do that?” Because that seems very, “look at us…” Let’s just assume that that could possibly happen, if people want to learn something about the arts, they could point to Northpointe. Isn’t that just kind of self righteous? What’s the purpose of that? And really everything has to funnel through our real purpose, which is our vision, which is to transform people led by God to change lives. A simple way of saying it is to create disciples who create disciples. If people just come to the church, we utterly fail. If people come and just want to learn some music and hear some cool music, we utterly fail. I want to be part of a place that’s changing and moving—not just within a building, but actually doing something in the broader perspective of the community and culture. I hope we set a voice. I hope we set multiple voices. I hope people see us as trendsetters, but not for our own glory, but for God’s glory. Ultimately that’s what it’s for. So our end goal—do we want to do that? Completely? I think we will do that… but if we don’t create disciples, we fail.

Research Notes Part 3

2010-04-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

I went to my first Northpointe service on 3/7/10—the services are held in Theater 8 of the Cinemaworld at Lincoln Mall in Lincoln, RI every Sunday at 10 A.M. The picturesque city of Providence thins out as you drive North, and Lincoln’s mall is in a relatively non-descript suburban setting. There are signs at the entrance of the mall ushering folks around to the Cinemaworld parking lot, and more signs on the path to the entrance—I was welcomed many times during the walk from my car to the door of the theater. Outside of Theater 8 are a few tables with piles of study Bibles and “connect cards”, along with some refreshments (coffee and movie popcorn).

The “church” itself is simply a movie theater. Those familiar with churchgoing might feel that going to church in a movie theater is non-traditional, but it is becoming more and more common and clearly working for people. Jordan et. al. set up a projector in the middle of the space, along with a soundboard with all of the accoutrements. A 5-piece band (drummer, bassist, electric guitarist, acoustic guitar/vocalist—Jordan, and second harmony vocalist) is set up and fully mic-ed and amplified. There is some light background music playing before the service starts, and some church notices are cycling through on the screen. There are somewhere around 150 people in attendence, and when 10:00 rolls around, Jordan leads people to stand up and join in song.

Jordan is the Worship Arts director at Northpointe, and the “lead singer” of sorts in the church band. The band’s style is tight, and the sound is very clean—the electric guitar is very distorted but not overwhelming, the vocals soar out above the mix, and the drummer is behind one of those plastic sound-shields. They all have music stands with the lyrics/chord charts, make transitions between songs/parts of the service seamlessly, and all and all have a very professional feel to their group.

The service is structured like this: there are a couple of songs, some announcements, another song, the sermon, then communion which is accompanied with a song, some final thoughts, then a last song. There’s quite a lot of music in the service, with the other major elements being mainly the sermon and the communion (although there is music during that). During the songs, the lyrics are projected behind the band so that people can sing along. Most people seem to be singing, however it is difficult to hear people singing—even when there’s a 100+ people—when the band is playing full force. Apart from singing, there is a fair amount of dancing and arm-raising. I question whether the congregation/audience can hear themselves sing, if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, and if there is an element of church being a safe place where people can sing and dance.

Here is a live recording that I captured from out in the audience using an M-Audio recorder. While not as good as soundboard recordings, listen for people singing around me:

There is definitely an overall aesthetic to Northpointe. Despite not having their own brick-and-mortar structure, there is a specific mood and ambiance created in Theater 8 of the Lincoln Cinemaworld. Outside of the service, this is done with conspicuous and branded signs and pamphlets, plenty of materials to read as well as connect with the Northpointe community more in depth, and swaths of volunteers who are identified with some sort of Northpointe nametag or sticker who welcome the congregation and engage in one on one conversation. Inside the service and apart from the genre/style of music, there’s the actual structure of the movie theater with its cushioned seats, cup holders, and stadium seating, plus the images, lyrics, words and graphics projected up onto the big screen. Unlike a traditional service, there is no alter, just a mic stand up front, and you don’t go forth to get communion. Volunteers bring it to you in small, disposable cups on a kidney-shaped plastic platter.

The preacher at this particular service—Ron—was “pinch hitting” for the “Christ’s Game Plan” sermon series. Ron is from Louisville, KY originally, but moved to Nashua, NH to run the CrossWay church (another “church plant”, like Northpointe). The sermon—looking at Mark chapter 10—took up about as much time as everything else in the service put together and was clearly the focal point of the morning.

Cross reference with: "What to Expect" http://www.northpointechristian.com/new/what-to-expect

Critical Review #6 Turino 1989

2010-03-22T22:45:00.000-07:00

Using Aymara Peruvian musicians as his case study, Turino seems to be making a claim to "naturalize" the musical tradition and performance practice of these people by showing some interchangeability between social practices and musical practices. One is reflective of the other and vice versa. He invokes C.S. Peirce's definition of "icon" when explaining his concept of "iconicity", that is, "a nonarbitrary sign that signifies something through some kind of actual resemblance between the sign and the thing signified." This is important in that the Aymara music in aesthetic and practice is not arbitrarily "symbolic" of the Aymara culture. Rather, it actually is representative of the culture, and the culture is representative of it. Is this not true for most cultural practices to some extent? Isn't this the case we try to make when analyzing music or literature or art?

Turino describes the Aymara as being viciously distinct as Aymara, yet while this unified identity is important, they can't help but divide up into smaller communities. Turino says this is so that they can avoid conflict altogether and maintain they're consistent Aymara integrity. Can this really last for that long?

Regardless, this unquestioning homogeneity is reflective in the Aymara's music (or rather, Turino would say, the music is reflective of the unquestioning homogeneity?). They value "playing as one". Clearly the communal experience of playing music is what is important in this article and in this study. Turino mentions disconnect when his informants don't understand his practicing by himself.

If social practice and music are so closely intertwined--practically inseparable, is it really music? Is it more clear to contextualize the music as a mere social activity of Aymara men? Or is it a sly outlet to assert one's individuality. Obviously the maestros are the self-selecting group that rise above the rest, despite the culture's practice of affording equal opportunities to all adult men. The dynamic in these ensembles strikes me as the inverse of how I have always perceived bebop jazz. In bebop, I like to imagine the combos as a group of individuals who are fiercely attempting to be distinct and outplay the rest, but to frame themselves, they must work in tandem with other players. Here, the individual players are attempting to make their group sound as unified as possible, with all wind instrumentation and parallel harmonies. Nevertheless, to attain that "ideal sound", groups must have creative, inventive, yet tempered individual players.

Research Notes Part 2

2010-03-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

Jordan, the Worship Arts director at Northpointe and my main contact at the church, sent me a .zip file with lyrics (with chord changes!) and mp3s of 3 songs the band typically play at services. This is the file he usually sends to people who are interested in participating in the band. These are pretty clear, clean recordings--taken off of the soundboard at a service. Thanks to close mic-ing and good isolation, I thought this was a studio demo until I heard Jordan (the singer) encouraging people to sing along to the lyrics in the chorus. Take a listen below:

The Highest and Greatest
by: Nick Herbert & Tim Hughes
A/C# - D - E-A - A || A/C# - D - E-A - A

Verse 1:
A/C# D E A A/C# D E A
Wake every heart and every tongue To sing the new eternal song
E D A/C# D E D F#m E/G#
And crown Him King of Glory now Confess Him Lord of all
Chorus:
A E Bm7 A E
You are the highest You are the greatest You are the Lord of all
A E Bm7 A D
Angels will worship Nations will bow down To the Lord of all

Verse 2:
A/C# D E A A/C# D E A
A day will come when all will sing And glorify our matchless King
E D A/C# D E D F#m E/G#
Your name unrivaled stands alone You are the Lord of all

Chorus:
A E Bm7 A E
You are the highest You are the greatest You are the Lord of all
A E Bm7 A D
Angels will worship Nations will bow down To the Lord of all

Bridge:
Bm7 A/C# D
Let every heart let every tongue sing of Your name sing of Your name
Bm7 A/C# D
Let every heart let every tongue sing sing sing
Bm7 A/C# D
Let every heart let every tongue sing of Your name sing of Your name
Bm7 A/C# D
Let every heart let every tongue sing sing sing

Chorus:
A E Bm7 A E
You are the highest You are the greatest You are the Lord of all
A E Bm7 A D
Angels will worship Nations will bow down To the Lord of all
A E Bm7 A E
You are the highest You are the greatest You are the Lord of all
A E Bm7 A D
Angels will worship Nations will bow down To the Lord of all
A E Bm7 A E
You are the highest You are the greatest You are the Lord of all
A E Bm7 A D
Angels will worship Nations will bow down To the Lord of all

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Great Is The Lord
by: Chris Brown

D - A - F#m - E || D - A - F#m - E

Verse:
A D
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
A F#m E
Great are your works in all the earth
A D
The skies declare the glory of Your name
A F#m E
The heavens tell of Your great worth

PreChorus:
D A E D A E
And now we join and sing Father, we bless Your name

Chorus:
D - A F#m E D - A
You are holy We cry with everything that’s in us
F#m E D - A F#m E D - A
Singing the praises of our glorious Our hearts are bowed before Your majesty
F#m E
We worship You our King
D - A - F#m - E || D - A - F#m - E

Verse:
A D
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
A F#m E
Great are your works in all the earth
A D
The skies declare the glory of Your name
A F#m E
The heavens tell of Your great worth

PreChorus:
D A E D A E
And now we join and sing Father, we bless Your name

Chorus:
D - A F#m E D - A
You are holy We cry with everything that’s in us
F#m E D - A F#m E D - A
Singing the praises of our glorious Our hearts are bowed before Your majesty
F#m E
We worship You our King
D - A - F#m - E || D - A - F#m - E

PreChorus:
D A E D A E
And now we join and sing Father, we bless Your name
D A E D A E
And now we join and sing Father, we bless Your name

Chorus:
D - A F#m E D - A
You are holy We cry with everything that’s in us
F#m E D - A F#m E D - A
Singing the praises of our glorious Our hearts are bowed before Your majesty
F#m E
We worship You
D - A F#m E D - A
You are holy We cry with everything that’s in us
F#m E D - A F#m E D - A
Singing the praises of our glorious Our hearts are bowed before Your majesty
F#m E
We worship You our King
D - A - F#m - E || D - A - F#m - E - D

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Cannons
by: Phil Wickham

G - C - Em7 - Am7 || G - C - Em7 - Am7

Verse 1:
G D Am Em
It’s falling from the clouds A strange and lovely sound
C G D
I hear it in the thunder and the rain
G D Am Em
It’s ringing in the skies Like cannons in the night
C G D
The music of the universe plays

Chorus:
G C
You are holy great and mighty
Em7 D
The moon and the stars declare who You are
G C
I’m so unworthy but still You love me
Em7 D
Forever my heart will sing of how great You are
G - C - Em7 - Am7

Verse 2:
G D Am Em
Beautiful and free Song of galaxies
C G D
It’s reaching far beyond the Milky Way
G D Am Em
Let’s join in with the sound c’mon let’s sing it loud
C G D
As the music of the universe plays

Chorus:
G C
You are holy great and mighty
Em7 D
The moon and the stars declare who You are
G C
I’m so unworthy but still You love me
Em7 D
Forever my heart will sing of You

Bridge:
C G D
All glory, honor, power is Yours, amen
C G D
All glory, honor, power is Yours, amen
Am Em Dsus D
All glory, honor, power is Yours forever, amen

Chorus:
G C
You are holy great and mighty
Em7 D
The moon and the stars declare who You are
G C
I’m so unworthy but still You love me
Em7 D
Forever my heart will sing of You
G C
You are holy great and mighty
Em7 D
The moon and the stars declare who You are
G C
I’m so unworthy but still You love me
Em7 D
Forever my heart will sing of how great You are
G - C - Em7 - Am7 || G - C - Em7 - D - C - G

_______________________________________________________________________________________

It's interesting to think about where these songs come from and how they are getting inducted into the cannon of worship music--or at least at the blossoming community at Northpointe. I looked up some of the writers of these songs to contextualize them a little bit.

One of the writers of "The Highest and Greatest" is Nick Herbert, who is the Worship Pastor at St. Mary's church in London (founded 1997). It seems his role is similar to Jordan's at Northpointe--leading the music during the services. Looking at the St. Mary's website, I found it a little hard to find out where the church was coming from. The website is very nice and has good information of the values of the church and such, but I don't see anywhere where it explicitly states what kind of church it is. It appears to me to be non-denominational. In the "history" section, it references the bishop of London, so I am assuming some sort of heirarchical structure within the non-denominational churches, or maybe amongst a group of churches in the UK--this is something I would like to learn more about. My assumption was that non-denominational congregations are independent churches. The non-denominational churches I have encountered throughout my lifetime are remarkably similar in their worship practice & share some basic beliefs and approaches to Christianity. If there is a formalized, international community of non-denominational churches, or are they linked together by common ideas or practices like, say, Nick Herbert's "The Highest & Greatest" song.

It was hard to pick out the Chris Brown I wanted from, you know, Chris Brown. But there was plenty of interweb info on Phil Wickham. Wickham seems to be less involved in a particular ministry and more of a "star" than Nick Herbert. He's got a slick website, myspace (along with all of the other social networking outlets that go along with that), and even a lengthy wikipedia article. He's got tour dates across the world from what looks like huge venues to smaller "chapel" performances, and his myspace has over 6 million listens! The "Cannons live" on his myspace page, as well as link to the "Phil Wickham singalong" available for download from his website tells a lot about this music--the music written for service and worship is meant to be communal art. Accessible, catchy, and based in melody. I'm thinking a modern day kind of hymn. Across the board of these representative examples from my friend at Northpointe, these songs share a pop-rock styled aesthetic and instrumentation. It all sounds as if it has come out of the past 15 or 20 years--it sounds very current, modern, and up to date.

I wonder how genre-preferences and music tastes interact with people's church-going. How music that clearly is based on a rock n' roll form and based around a "lead singer" can break away from the cult of personality that surrounds musicians or rockers in a popular band. It seems as if many of these churches are young and are attempting to attract new members--Northpointe in particular. There is clearly an emphasis on keeping current with musical style. Beyond that, it is clear these churches want to be current and relevant in all aspects of their existence: the websites are very well done and well maintained, if the church has a permanent home, the buildings are often modern in design and architecture, the personalities (e.g. Phil Wickham) have a very polished look:

and keep up to date with all of the latest societal demands (especially online w/ facebook, myspace, twitter, rss feeds, etc.). The role "being new" is playing with this music, and in the bigger picture, this style of church and worship, is a big one. Just some casual thoughts...

Critical Review #5: Agawu 2003 Chp. 5, Waterman 1952

2010-03-09T07:15:00.000-08:00

I spent a lot of my reading time trying to discern if I thought Waterman's article was horribly old-fashioned, out of date, and potentially demeaning to "African" music tradition, or if he was making an honest attempt at legitimizing African music amongst the greater realm of world music, European and American folk and art music included. Agawu's claim that "the choice of an appropriate comparative frame is already ideological" is a good one, although I think it could be argued that Waterman's history of acculturation is not a comparative one but a linear one. Agawu has a very powerful position in the world of ethnomusicology in that he is African, yet has mastered (better than most "Western" ethnomusicologists) the Western styled forms of study and research. I feel like he is easily the most "legitimized" writer we have read on African music because of his well informed and educated insider position. Like the very end of his article stated, however, the problems he outlined in his piece, along with the problems evident in Waterman's article, aren't ever going to end (at least in our Western-centric realm of academia) until "the postcolonial African subjects" have been empowered to represent themselves. Until then, are attempts at "translation" necessary? Or are do we risk overwhelming the "subject" culture with our translated constructs?

Research Notes Part 1

2010-03-07T12:57:00.001-08:00

First off, apologies for this coming somewhat late. These past few days, I finally settled on a community with whom to study contemporary Christian worship music. I had an idea of the "sounds" I wanted to learn about--stuff I've most heard on the radio or seen on TV--but didn't really know where or in what context to find it in Providence. I tried some basic googling, but it was difficult to discern what each church was like and how they ran their services. I knew the churches, of which there are many, in my immediate are pretty traditional--Catholic, Episcopalian, Unitarian. Since very few of my friends go to church (let's face it, Brown does not have the most church-savvy student population), it took a while to figure out where to look. But after getting word from a friend of a friend and a bit of emailing, I got in touch with the "Worship Arts" director at Northpointe Christian Church, Jordan Plumier.

Jordan and I grabbed some coffee last week, and I got to learn a lot more about Northpointe. Jordan has been extremely helpful and interested which has made this endeavor fun and quickly informative. The drummer from the church band, Nate, came along.

Northpointe Christian Church just started this past October and has been convening at theater 8 of the Cinemaworld in the Lincoln Mall (about a 15 minute drive from Providence proper). They are a non-denominational church based on scripture--the Book of Acts in particular. Jordan tells me that his family, along with two others, started Northpointe in conjunction with Restoration House Ministries, which is a group out of Boston that helps to "plant" new churches in areas that are "un-churched". To some Providence might seem like one of the most church-dense places in America, but as I mentioned earlier, most of these are old and more traditional-styled. Jordan told me that there are very few contemporary-styled churches in the Providence area and that there has not been much of a church scene to attract people looking for something "new".

Jordan told me that when him and his friends started the church, he intended for the music to be "awesome" and begin to explode some of the norms set for contemporary "Christian Worship Music". The genre seems to mean a variety of different things for different people, so I'm still going to leave the definition of it relatively open-ended: music written within the past 30 or 40 years for worship services that, stylistically, resembles pop-rock songs in instrumentation and form, but with lyrics drawing on Christian themes.

We talked about how there is a big industry for this type of music, mostly based out of Nashville, and how ubiquitous some of this music can be, especially in the South--Nate mentioned the nationally syndicated KLove radio. Jordan claimed there are swaths of "Christian" bands that many music-savvy people will never have heard of but who could probably sell out the Dunkin Donuts Center in a heartbeat. We made the distinction between "Christian" music and music meant to be sung at services. Of course there is crossover between the two types, but there are many quasi-mainstream bands released on what Jordan referred to as "the indie" Christian labels (such as Tooth and Nail). Bands like Reliant K, Lifehouse, Tampa-based Underoath etc. broke into some more mainstream rock acclaim by taking their "Christian" identities out of the spotlight.

As far as the music at Northpointe goes, Jordan wants it to be upbeat and engaging, and described it as very "electric-guitar driven". As the church got up on its feet, they've had a rotating cast of musicians. Some musicians from other Restoration House Ministries churches came for the first few weeks, and then a few different musicians from Berklee. Nate offered some insight into a lifetime of playing in a variety of bands loosely-identified as "Christian", and even spent some time trying to get picked up with a bigger band in Nashville. The worship band has a rehearsal space set up in a studio specifically geared towards these types of worship bands.

All in all, Jordan and Nate were great guys, and I set a date to come to Northpointe's service on Sunday.

Critical Review #4 Wong 2001

2010-03-04T07:18:00.000-08:00

Deborah Wong tells the story of her friend whose musical taste shifts as he moves in and out of certain cultures--specifically certain class and racial spheres. The quote she invokes from Martin's "Agency & History"--"To deny what the audience produces in performance is to disavow its capacity to produce its own associations..."--suggests that audience and listening is as important to the cultural impact of music as the music is itself. On page 377, wong claims, as an ethnomusicologist of course:

I don't ever think it is ever 'the music itself' that attracts or compels--music has no agency of its own, people do, and they make choices about what they like or hate; indeed I would venture a guess that all Americans go through changes in taste during their lives for reasons that are always already politicized.

I think that personally, I would like to disagree. As a cultural historian, I can respect the claim to audience's impact in constructing music--in constructing art, but never entirely in composing art. What music communicates as a piece of art cannot always be reduced to an "already politicized" sentiment. That sentiment can be extremely influential, especially in more communal musics, but consider the ingenuity and creativity that goes into some sounds, and I believe that there is some music that can stand for something (the already politicized sentiment) and that music that can transcend its original meaning for something different or even something new. So, I suppose my question for discussion is that newness or transcendence I just mentioned possible?

Critical Review #3 Agawu 2003 Ch. 9

2010-03-01T22:28:00.000-08:00

I'm not so sure Agawu's take-away point of the "ethical attitude" helps sort out any of the problems and power disparity of representation. He describes it as "a disposition toward frameworks and styles of reasoning that finally seek--actively, rather than passively--to promote the common good." This reflexive stance is helpful in as much as it admits that we as researchers, insiders or outsiders, are going to do it wrong--at some point in time, our historical or ethnographic product is going to be flawed. I can't say that I am especially critical with Agawu because,insofar as I understand what he's getting at, I think I agree with his reflective tact and, were I writing ethnography would be constantly conscious of my place and my ethnographic constructions and how my own formulation as a person influences those constructions and what sort of perceptions my "subjects" would make of me etc. These types of pieces make me nervous, like stepping into a philosophical house of mirrors. At what point can we draw a line at making research and ethnographic a constant and active "process" for the sake of commodification? At which point does "the line"--or the reflexivity--become the commodification? It seems like Kisliuk's book is a bit more biography than it is a study of the BaAka.

Critical Review #2: Berger 2008; Miller 2007

2010-02-24T22:43:00.000-08:00

Berger's proposition of a phenomenological ethnomusicology is clearly a convoluted one, if not one of platitude. Perhaps the joke (the platitude) is on me because I'm far off from beginning to understand the idea of "phenomenology"--I did a touch of google-research/reinforcement to walk away with this conception: "An experience is directed toward an object by virtue of its content or meaning (which represents the object) together with appropriate enabling conditions."

OK. I'm not quite sure if I buy Berger's argument that phenomenological ethnography is that distinct from how "the new ethnographers" value experience anyways. Maybe the step back to separate experience from object (from content/meaning) takes the next step in ethnographic reflexivity? This could very well be the case, but I can't help but think this added philosophy burdens the discussion of musical and cultural content that are contained within ethnographies.

Did we read Kiri's piece because her case study is representative of a phenomenological tact? This piece was fun and seemed to push the limits of anthropological and ethnographic work just in that the world of GTA has so many layers of cultural significance and experience. As a piece of mass-media, Kiri's fieldwork with the GTA games is interesting in how all of her experience with the game and it's community is perhaps made up most of content and meaning (and maybe not "object" because the game is the common denominator regardless of locale/community).

SEM History Post

2010-02-18T16:24:00.000-08:00

Perhaps what is more astonishing than how much Ethnomusicology (and Ethnomusicology) has changed in the past year is simply how young the journal is. 50 years is merely an infancy for any discipline--that is if we take Ethnomusicology as a formal substantiation of the discipline being codified and called "ethnomusicology". Even today, the field is still enduring intense growing pains, hence the focus on definition, theory, and method. What surprised me about the 1950s issues was how small they were (initially), and how few case studies there were. Most of the writing in the early articles (once the subscriptions creeped past 500 or so) is littered with titles like "A Dialectical Approach to Music History", "On the Subject of Ethnomusicology", and other field, historical, and research method type articles. 1958 seems to be the year when the journal shifted to include a consistent number of case studies and special topics.

Nevertheless, this writing is far less anthropological than one would expect them to be, even by today's standards. Most of the articles that weren't theoretical concerned African, Asian, or South American subjects, but instead of revealing an expose of music in these specific cultures, the articles took a much more technical and historical tact. I was expecting an old-fashioned, over-exoticised, anthropological attempt that centered on music, but instead the "musical culture" seems to take a backseat to the proper analysis of the notes, rhythms, and instruments. Many of these articles amounted to aural archaeology than it did any sort of cultural study.

"The Shak-Shak in the Lesser Antilles" (Sep., 1958) is a prime example: it describes the historical and religious significance of this instrument (the Shak Shak), describes how they are made and what their function is in music. The framework here is the instrument, and the author doesn't include any personalized accounts.

In "The African Hemiola Style" (Sep., 1959), the author presents this comparative discourse on this particular African rhythm in relation to a similar Western/European rhythm. The article is full of very specific transcriptions of the different styles of hemiolas, and is representative of this acute deconstruction of music (not just the African but the Western art music as well). This focus merely describes a particular sound--the musical and cultural implications or significance has not yet emerged, and the performers and composers are not wholly accounted for or explained.

All in all, it seems as if the journal in its earliest stages was still more focused on the music rather than the music and the culture around the music. In a way, I didn't find most of what I read too unsettling (much in the way early anthropology can seem callous and Western-centric) because these early studies were most focused on the musical content for what it was and what it sounded like. This diligent analysis can clearly be valuable to a study that would later become a much more deeply involved cultural dialogue.

Fieldwork Project

2010-02-16T21:43:00.000-08:00

I plan on doing my fieldwork project on worship music in Christian churches around Providence. I have yet to determine a site in which to engage in any sort of participant observation, but I am aiming to study the pop-styled worship music is non-liturgical. This means music that is considered "contemporary" and has been written recently (within the past 50 years), and can be found in church services as well as youth groups, Sunday school, and other extra-service religious activity. As such I'm going to steer clear of Catholic and Episcopalian congregations as well as styled choirs. More to come soon.

Critical Review #1 James Clifford 1988

2010-02-16T06:18:00.001-08:00

The most salient takeaway points for me in this article was the dialogue between "heteroglossia" and irreconcilably incomplete and relative ethnography/anthropology, and this idea of "textualization" from Paul Ricouer . Clifford's subtitle to his article, "Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature, and Art", does well to situate ethnography and attempts at anthropology amongst artistic endeavors. As Clifford traced the history of ethnography and authority, I kept returning to the question, not of what lends ethnography "authority", but what the purpose and place of ethnography is in the first place. In other words, what's the point. The realist, cultural-tableau-vivant approaches don't approach scientific or even historical legitimacy, and the one tact that rectified that for me was the "textualization" theory. Behavior, culture, and discourse, taken as a text for reference and understanding seems to be the best attempt at a hands-off approach. Clifford says "text, unlike discourse, can travel", and I think as such quantifying culture not as experience or interpretation or even history is as clean and distinct as quantifying culture as a text.

The slippery slope here is there is nothing that can't be "textualized"--how much of the process/author/audience etc. gets swept up along in the process? For whom does this all end up being? What do we choose to or need to "textualize" in order to understand? If our discourses end up as texts anyways, what's the purpose of operating under the pretense of authority at all--why not just use art instead? What is the point of being real..?

24-Hour Log

2010-02-08T22:19:00.000-08:00

This is a log of all of the music I heard over a 24-hour period. Here are a few points to preface:

a) I got home later than expected last night while logging, but had an interesting night full of sound (consider this a listening log of 24 waking hours)
b) I didn't include specific song titles for the live music I witnessed/performed. Most of it I didn't know, and for the bands I played in, it would be most likely be overly detailed (is there such a thing?).
c) All locales in Providence, RI or on the interweb--naturally.
d) I listed a specific time for when an identifiable song took place, otherwise, I listed a range for a longer sonic experience.

This 24-hour log is listed as fully as possible and as such:
Time/Artist-Song-Genre or description if unknown)/Place-Heard/Source

2/7/10
10:40PM Wanda Jackson - "You Know That I'm No Good"; rockabilly/home/iTunes
10:43PM Wanda Jackson - "Shakin' All Over"; rockabilly/home/iTunes
10:50PM David Rawlings & Gillian Welch - "NPR Tiny Desk Concert"; roots/home/NPR.com
11:10PM Ludacris - "Blueberry Yum Yum"; hip-hop/home/Youtube
11:12PM Ludacris - "Move Bitch"; hip-hop/home/Youtube
11:13PM Louis Armstrong - "various songs"; jazz/home/roommate's computer
11:20PM - 11:40PM boppin' jazz/home/roommate's computer

2/8/10 (through the wee hours of 2/9/10)
1:28AM "Tunak Tunak Tum"; Indian/home/roommate's Youtube
1:30AM Michael Jackson - "They Don't Care About Us"; pop/home/roommate's Youtube
1:35AM Michael Franti - "Say Hey"; pop/home/roommate's Youtube

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I slept for a while zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

10:48AM semi-audible generic rock/Salomon lobby/in the air
11:23AM unidentified coffee-shop "indie-rock"/Brown Bookstore Blue State/most likely an iPod
11:41AM unidentified rap/Brook and Power St./passing automobile, car stereo
2:20PM - 2:30PM loud rock/car/radio - WBRU
2:32PM - 2:35PM muzak/CVS/in-store speakers
2:38PM Beirut - unknown song; "indie"-folk/Eddy St. Antique store/iPod
2:48PM NPR "indie-rock" between segments/B-Sharp Music/ old fashioned radio receiver
3:00PM U2 - "With or Without You"; rock/car/radio - WBRU
3:05PM Rod Stewart - "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"; rock/car/radio - WBRU
3:09PM U2 - some song off Joshua Tree; rock/car/radio - WBRU
8:15PM - 9:25PM barely audible generic rock. maybe some Strokes/Trinity Brew-House/ceiling speakers
9:40PM - 9:55PM noise-rock type music/AS220 bar/stereo
9:56PM - 10:05PM in-house music, also noise-rock-esque/AS220 performance space/house speakers
10:06PM - 10:30PM Performed a set with "Tallhassee"; folk/AS220 performance space/live band
10:31PM - 10:39PM more unidentified in-house music/AS220 performance space/house speakers
10:40PM- 11:05PM Performance by "The Detroit Rebellion"; bluesy rock/AS220 performance space/live band
11:06PM - 11:38PM more AS220 bar background music/AS220 bar/stereo
11:39PM - 11:50PM remainder of "Pepi Ginsberg's" set; rock/AS220 performance space/live band
11:51PM - 12:03AM yet more unidentified in-house music/AS220 performance space/house speakers
12:05AM - 12:55AM Performed a set with "Last Good Tooth"; rock n' roll/AS220 performance space/live band

Musc1900 Ethnomusicology Begins

2010-02-05T16:35:00.000-08:00

No more wax

Hotwax Residue: Vinyl Finds a Place in the Hearts of the Young

2007-12-14T20:58:00.000-08:00

For my ethnography, I explored vinyl culture. This work is slightly atypical from most ethnographic work in that the central focus of my study, the culture surrounding the vinyl record format, transcends particular genres of music or particular locales. This study is meant to focus on how a “method” of listening to music creates a community rather than how a certain “scene” or “sound” shapes a community. In the late 1980s, the Compact Disc became the prevalent format for listening to and consuming music, at which time vinyl records fell out of mainstream listening culture leaving in its place the more portable, durable, and reliably clean-sounding CDs. Now CDs are on their way out to make way for digital download, but vinyl is still lingering in the hearts of many music fans (Pfeiffer 2007). Today, this shift in format means that anyone younger than roughly thirty years of age never knew vinyl records to be the industry standard for listening to music. From the 1980s up through the present, vinyl records are most importantly associated with hip-hop and DJing culture, where they are used as a palate from which to piece together new (and very influential music). Instead of focusing on the “creative” aspect of vinyl culture, I chose to examine the “listening” aspect of vinyl culture—the continuation of vinyl as a listening format into the age of digital music.

My research methods included interviewing five music-savvy youths ranging in age from late teens to early thirties, a young musician who just released a 45, and a seasoned record store employee, as well as visiting several record stores, independent, commercial, and virtual. My varied contacts, contributors, and locales were drawn from Tampa, FL, my hometown, and Providence, RI, my current location of residence, and the worldwide web, the occupant of a solid majority of my time. The purpose of all of this was to discover how vinyl factors into people’s consumption of music, how it is marketed and presented in stores, and how it is brought into production by musicians.

First off, I feel that it is useful to understand how records are made achieve an analog, non-digital sound. This distinction will be helpful to relate to how some of my interviewees describe listening to records. Here is a clip from Discovery Channel’s “How It’s Made” which surfaced on Youtube.com and details the process of making a record:

And here’s a homemade video on how the needle of a record player “reads” the actual record:

These days, the records that can be found in record stores are broken up into two different varieties, 33s and 45s. 33s, or 12-inch LPs, are long playing discs that usually contain 25 minutes of music on each side, spin on the turntable at 33 rotations per minute, and typically contain an entire album. 45s, or 7-inch records, are short discs with usually one or two songs on each side, spin at 45 rotations per minute, and typically contain a track that an artist considers a “single”

Vinyl culture is still very alive today. Although vinyl is not as ubiquitous as CDs or digital downloads, it still has an important place in the music industry and with music fans. Many bands and record labels are making sure to have releases come out on vinyl as well as CD and digital download. Some of the larger “indie” labels such as Sub-Pop (home to The Shins, Iron & Wine, and The Postal Service), Matador (home to Cat Power, Belle & Sebastian, and Spoon), Nonesuch (home to Wilco and The Black Keys), and XL Recordings (Home to Devendra Banhart, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, and The White Stripes) all feature LP versions of many of there releases if not on their homepage, in there online store. Smaller “indie” labels such as Fat Possum and Alive Naturalsound Records make an even bigger deal about their vinyl releases. Alive often features their new releases in a vinyl format with an odd colored wax or a heavier pressing (such as 180g which means the record is more durable and will last longer).

Images of special "limited" colored pressing of Alive's band Brimstone Howl.

This can well be seen at many commercial record stores. My visit to Newbury Comics at the Providence Place Mall revealed that even a commercial chain still reserves a small corner of their store for vinyl records. Most of the records were of new bands (with a large assortment of White Stripes vinyls) as well as some reissues of classic albums ranging from The Beatles to T. Rex. The selection was small but vinyl was present at even at a commercial outlet in a mall.

Independent record stores are a different story. The independent stores I’ve visited such as Round Again Records and Tom’s Tracks in Providence, as well as Vinyl Fever in Tampa provide a much larger selection with extensive inventories of used vinyl as well as crisp and neatly wrapped new-releases from all sorts of bands, as well as large selections of 45s. I found vinyl was featured much more prominently at independent stores who maybe couldn’t compete with the prices of chain-stores like Newbury or FYE, especially in a market where in the past few years, CD sales have dropped due to digital downloads (legal and illegal).

A view into Tampa's Vinyl Fever!

None of these stores could compare to the vast selection of used, new, and rare/vintage vinyl available on auction sites like ebay or multi-seller record store musicstack.com.

Despite vinyl's scattered representation in stores, the people I interviewed about vinyl had some similar feelings towards the format. In general, everyone that I talked to seemed to link to something that contributes to the authenticity of music (in-depth background on my interviewees can be found in my previous posts). Interviewees often mentioned playing vinyl sounding more “real” and creating a “physical connection” with the music. Tampa-based WMNF DJ Arielle commented on a visceral reaction to the vinyl sound, “I can’t quite describe it, but the sound, it just gets to you in your gut.” Matt from Tampa relates going to a record store and physically picking out records brings him closer to fans of a similar intensity and dedication, creating a physical connection not just between the band and the listener, but between multiple listeners. Doug, a music fan who doesn’t own a record player, described vinyl as “so much more tangible. You’re holding a record. You’re putting it on this thing that you sort of understand,” and also associated vinyl with a “cultural belief” that “(listening to) vinyl means that you have more discerning musical tastes.”

The heightened “discerning musical tastes” could be linked to the fact that vinyl is expensive, and people choose to buy music on vinyl that they feel proud to own. Matt, a late 20s/early 30s vinyl fan from Tampa admitted priding himself on the physical presence of his vinyl collection, which although is not comprehensive like his digital music collection, it represents the music which he likes enough to buy on vinyl. Matt also mentions how on his high-end stereo dedicated to playing vinyls, one can truly hear the superior sound quality of vinyl when compared to a digital track. Matt from Providence (from my first set of interviews) comments on the “reality” and quality of the sound of a record in that “it’s a little more like you’re there,” which is similar to that visceral reaction described by Arielle earlier. The sound of the “music itself” is not concentrated on notes and rhythms, but rather the warmth and quality of the recording, a conception which broadens the scope of McClary’s definition (McClary 1994).

Another interesting aspect of vinyl records is their association to tradition. Several of my interviewees discussed the process of digital download and how it may not necessarily convey the tradition and musical history of listening to music. Matt from Tampa describes the vinyl ritual: “ I mean, it’s more work, it’s really going out of your way to appreciate music on vinyl—it’s a whole process. It doesn’t just flow into your earbuds from something that you can fit in your pocket. The thing doesn’t tell you the track names on the screen and you’ve got to go flip it yourself, but it’s worth it, you know.” Carson Cox elaborates on this idea from the musician’s perspective. His band the Dry County just released a limited run 45—their first official release—on Kiss of Death Records, and Carson mentions the impetus behind going with a 45 was to follow in the footsteps of DIY punk bands whom he considers influences like Black Flag and The Minutemen.

Cover art for the Dry County 45.

Gabe from Tampa record store, Vinyl Fever, inverts vinyl’s association with tradition by saying that records may be non-tradition for youth who have never encountered the format before.

Associations with warmth and presence to vinyl sound, the physical attraction of physically setting up the record to play, and a vinyl tradition historicized through the long history of vinyl production and culture, seem to make vinyl out to be the format which best showcases the sound and history behind a piece of music (Hayes 2006). These associations along with the physicality of playing and owning a record seem to generate a very real, deliberate, and authentic musical environment for many music fans, even if they may not have a record collection. This heightened level of involvement when listening to music is what brings vinyl fans together, even if it's just on the consumerist level to purchase the records, and this status and tradition of involvement will perhaps be what keeps people interested in vinyl even once mainstream format shifts from CD to digital download. Most of my interviewees discussed digital downloading and how that has become an important source of music for them, and some, and Gabe and Carson both discussed how vinyl can supplement the seemingly “invisible” format of digital downloads. Gabe even mentioned many record labels including coupons or CD versions of albums with vinyl releases as an incentive to purchase vinyl yet also to retain the practicality of modernity.

I’ve found that many music fans are beginning to appreciate more and more the physical manifestation which vinyl creates. With music that is truly important to someone, that physical connection can be essential. While a vinyl collection may not be as practical as a collection of mp3s, the format still has its distinctive edge of “authenticity” whereas CDs don’t have much more to offer than an mp3. With a fledging record collection of my own, I can understand the enjoyment which can be derived from physically playing a record, but admit to not having the time or money for any sort of vinyl collection to be comprehensive—I’ll never become musically independent from my iTunes library. As digital download sales continue to rise, perhaps owning a mass quantity of CDs will be less important to music fans and consumers, rather, they will cultivate a selective batch of vinyl records to commemorate their favorite tunes(Lin 2005).

Works Cited and Consulted:

Hayes, David. 2006 "'Take Those Old Records Off the Shelf': Youth and Music Consumption in the Postmodern Ave." In Popular Music and Society Vol. 29, No.1, pp. 51-68

McClary, Susan. 1994. "Same As It Ever Was: Youth Culture and Music." In Microphone Fiends: Youth Music and Youth Culture, eds. Andrew Ross and Tricia Rose. New York: Routledge.

Lin, Albert. 2005. "Understanding the Market for Digital Music."

Pfeiffer, Andreas. 2007. "Why the Audio CD Is Dying... And What Will Replace It."

Marshall, Wayne. 2006. "What Is Stolen? What Is Lost? Sharing Information in an Age of Litigation."

Peitz & Waelbroeck. 2005. "An Economist's Guide to Digital Music."

Milano, Brett. Vinyl Junkies: Adventures in Record Collecting. St. Martin's Griffin (2003)

More Interviews!

2007-12-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

In those post, I am uploading several interviews. One from a musician, another from a record store, another from a late 20s/early 30s vinyl fan, and finally one from a teenage DJ/vinyl fan. As usual, my questions are in bold, and the answers in regular font.

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Here is a conversation with Carson Cox, songwriter, singer, and guitarist of the Tampa band The Dry County. The band just released a limited pressing 7-inch on Kiss of Death records.

First off, can you give me a little bit of background on you and your band, the Dry County? Can you describe the scene in which the Dry County typically performs?

Line up:

Carson - Vocals and Guitar
Matt - Drums
Lily - Bass (2005 - 2007)
Pat - Bass (2007 - present)

Dry County started around 2004, sort of as a recording project where I recorded full band versions of acoustic songs I'd been playing by myself. By 2005 Matt was playing drums and Lily was playing bass at shows. Lily moved away to Gainesville for school in the fall of 2007. That's when Pat started playing with us.

I feel like indie rock such a diluted term but that's what I guess most people think when they hear us. My biggest influences are the pioneering DIY bands like Dinosaur Jr., The Wipers, Sonic Youth, or Mission of Burma.

Has your band officially released any of its music before as an album EP?

We did a cassette demo with 3 songs that has 2 songs from the 7 inch. We made like 100 of these. The next thing we release doesn't have a label affiliated with it yet…

You're releasing a limited pressing of a 45, what's your reason for doing this?

Not that many kids have turntables. Kiss of Death pressed 300(100 with screen printed covers) which is pretty normal for a first release. Limited can also be cool, It's a little piece of the band that not many people get to have. It can suck when a 7inch is on eBay selling for $600 because the band only pressed 100 20 years ago and now everyone will pay top dollar to have it, but that's sort of comes with the territory.

Do bands in your "scene" do this quite often?

Bands that I consider peers typically do. But it's expensive to press anything. It's been something that hardcore bands like Black Flag or The Minutemen and bands that were influenced by hardcore like Beat Happening or SWANS have done since the 80's up to today. It's kind of a way of acknowledging the past and continuing the ascetic.

Will there be a digital download of the 45 release?

Maybe, I'm not against it but I feel like keeping something vinyl only is more appropriate. If someone wanted to rip the record to a peer to peer and share it illegally I give them my blessing to do so. But I would rather focus on what were doing next (Which is going to be a CD, which should come out as a digital download).

How are your fans receiving the fact that you've put out a record... is it popular with the kids?

I think so. I have some friends who bought turntables because of it.

When I see a band that puts out a vinyl only I feel a little more connection with them. It's a first impression that is important. I know what there intensions are as a band, be it good or bad. Pressing 100 7-inch records and selling them for $7 instead of $3 is never something I want to do just to keep a collector aspect/cover the cost of pressing so few. I want my music to be played and enjoyed.

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Next up is an interview with Gabe from Vinyl Fever in Tampa. Vinyl Fever is one of the only independent record stores in the Tampa Bay area and besides selling a whole lot of vinyl, the store also hosts many in-store performances from local/national acts and has a reputation across the bay area for its tasteful selection and knowledgeable staff.

Apart from the name, why is Vinyl Fever still selling vinyl?

I think because there is a certain section of the music buying population that is still really into collecting vinyl and buying vinyl and I just think that’s part of what made this store what it was and I don’t think it’s anything we should let go of any time soon. I think we should keep the tradition alive.

So you’re relating vinyl more to tradition than to something that is more practical or useful at this point in time?

In a large way I would say that, but I think there is a real intrigue and a real amazement for those whom maybe it isn’t as traditional for, such as younger kids. I don’t want to downplay it, but I think it’s more of a novelty. I know there are a lot of young kids who are getting into it and are getting turntables, because I think they are really intrigued by it. So, I think to say it is traditional on one hand is true, but on the other hand, I think it is finding a whole new audience and a whole new section of the population who is getting turned on to it.

So do kids make up a large portion of the customers who buy the vinyl, or is it pretty mixed?

It’s pretty mixed, but I’d say all of the newer customers who are buying vinyl are between 15 and 21.

Interesting. Vinyl fever sells both new and used records, right?

Right.

So what about with current bands, and new vinyl, who buys those?

It depends on the artist and the release. A 200g pressing of a Dire Straits album is going to appeal more to the likes of an audiophile, and not to make a blanket statement, but they are going to be a 25 to 55 year old guy… But the new Jay-Z record… anybody from a 16-year-old kid to a 40-year-old guy might pick it up. It really depends on the release and whom it appeals to tell who’s buying these things. I suppose there are different niches for different records.

Do you see a difference between the people who buy hip-hop records and the kids who buy rock n’ roll records, since there might be a practicality associated with having hip-hop on vinyl?

A long time ago, I would’ve said yeah, but now it’s not unusual for me to come up to the counter with a Wu-Tang record and a Bad Brains record. I think those lines have been blurred and it’s more mixed now. It’s not the hip-hop kids vs. the punk rock kids, I see people coming up to the counter with stuff to by that isn’t similar at all, and I think that’s great. I think vinyl attracts a certain person, and that person will have a wide variety of musical tastes.

So perhaps, it’s not necessarily the genre at this point that is defining people as vinyl fans?

Exactly.

What about with some of these bands that aren’t necessarily punk bands—because I know punk bands have a long tradition of releasing 45s—what about some of these more mainstreamed “indie-rock” or “indie-pop” bands? How popular are those types of records?

Well, I think it’s funny that you mention those. I think those records are leading the way in that they are the first types of records that have made that initial leap to include download codes with the record for the whole content of the record to be downloaded, or even better a lot of the records come with the CD inside of the record. Sub Pop is doing that a lot, Matador is doing that a lot. A lot of the bigger “indie” labels. I can’t believe it took so long to come up with that idea.

Yeah it’s a great idea. So as a local, independent record store, you sell a lot of local music by local bands, right?

Right.

Do you see many local artists putting out records?

Not many, sadly, not too many…

So maybe it’s a luxury that doesn’t come around until you’ve hit it kind of big.

I think so. I think, from what I hear… I don’t have any stats or proof, but I hear that it is a lot more expensive to press vinyl than it used to be. That might be scaring some people off too. You have a brand new, upcoming band who’s trying to get their music out there... it’s great exposure to get it out on vinyl, but sometimes it’s not very economically feasible.

Yeah, I just talked to Carson Cox of the Dry County, and his band just put out a limited run 45…

Yeah, we’ve got those here.

And it was interesting to hear his take on this, because it did seem kind of expensive for something that was a first release and kind of a novelty. But apparently the fans dig it, and it’s a cool little piece of memorabilia.

Yeah it is, it looks really great, too. They did a really good job on it.

That’s good to hear. I kind of want to pick one up myself when I’m back in town. So, one last question. Do you find that more guys will come in and buy records than girls? It seems that a lot of the people that I’ve been running into and talking to seem to have been guys collecting and whatnot…

I’d say yeah, just because of the ratio between males and females who come into the store. But a lot of females buy records too; don’t let me give you the wrong impression. There are a big number of females who buy vinyl.

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Here's an interview with Matt, a late 20s/early 30s vinyl fan from Tampa.

Could you briefly describe what sort of music you are interested in?

OK, I’m interested anything that you could call rock in roll, but to narrow it down, I’d say I’m interested in what people call indie-rock, indie-pop, or alt. country, that sort of thing.

What sort of music do you end up buying? What are the qualifications for dropping some money on music?

Well, I generally buy music based on recommendations of other people whose opinions I trust, and if I know that I’m into the same music as somebody else in general, or if we have a couple of favorite bands in common and then they recommend something that I haven’t heard, I might buy it without listening, or I might encounter something on the local independent radio station, WMNF, and hear it that way.

I know that you buy a lot of music on vinyl… why is that?

Well, I get music two ways right now, I buy music on vinyl, but I also have an emusic account, so I acquire music electronically, which is a very good value. I get a ton of music that way and it’s portable—it works on the ipod, in the car… but I don’t feel nearly as personal or possessive or proud of that collection as I do of my vinyl collection. Also, if I get something from emusic, I’ll decide if I like it enough to go buy the record, because, you know, records are expensive.

So you’ll own two copies of the same music if you like it enough?

Yeah, I’ll get something on vinyl even if I already have an electronic copy if I really love it. Because, vinyl is, first of all, a big twelve-inch square, so you get this huge version of the album artwork. That’s a big part of it. And you get the physical reality and the feeling of possessing something that is tangible rather than something that is an electronic file—which of course sounds the same through a cheap pair of headphones, but it doesn’t feel the same.

So do you listen to your records? Or is vinyl more collectible for you?

Well, I do listen to them. I have a really nice… really nice stereo. It’s got an older turntable with a really expensive, upgraded cartridge, a really great pair of speakers and an awesome amp and a separate pre-amp. So I’ve got a very high end stereo basically dedicated to listening to vinyl. It doesn’t have a computer or CD player hooked up to it. I do have a line-in for my headphone jack so I can plug in my ipod or my music from my computer from itunes, and on that stereo, you can really, really hear the difference. That’s the most satisfying thing about vinyl ownership—it’s that it really does sound better. On a cheap pair of headphones or driving down the road in the car—not that you can play vinyl in the car—you can’t hear the difference, but at home in a quiet room with a really high-end stereo, you really can hear the difference.

So how extensive is your collection? How many records are we talking about here?

Well, not including the sizable collection that my father gave me from his vinyl buying days. Let’s see… I probably have been buying record for a about two years now… I buy a couple a month… I probably have sixty or seventy records… I buy more than two a month. That’s got to be about a thousand dollar’s worth.

How about 45s? Do you pick up a bunch of 7-inches?

I buy 45s at shows, and occasionally I’ll order one online if it’s something I really want. I buy a lot of vinyl at vinyl fever here in Tampa, which is a great record store, buy they never have any good 45s for sale. And when they do, they (the 45s) are really expensive. So, you know, I don’t buy a lot of those records there. But Vinyl Fever gives away a lot of 45s. They have a box of giveaway 7-inches behind the counter, and they don’t offer them to you, but if you ask what’s in the giveaway 7-inch box, they give them to you. So I have dozens and dozens and dozens of those things too, and I’ve probably bought less than half of them.

Wow, that’s really cool!

Yeah it is really cool… that’s probably my favorite thing about vinyl fever.

So, you’d say that when bands or record stores have these free vinyls as incentives, it heightens your desire to actually buy music?

Well yeah. Absolutely. The 45s are, as you probably know, great collectibles and are kind of a novelty and sometimes have cool artwork. Oftentimes, they include tracks which are not on the album. They’ll have an album track and then a B-side that is only released on a 45, and there’s a thrill having a rare recording and appreciating that. Then Vinyl Fever giving them to you for free! I mean, you can buy records online, and in a lot of cases, for cheaper, but I just love going into Vinyl Fever and talking to the people who work there, and one of the things that keeps me coming back is the matter of those free 45s.

So perhaps the tangibility of the actual vinyl record, you know, can be associated with actually going into the record store and picking the music out yourself and buying it and having that sort of physical connection with the music as well?

Yeah, and you know, standing shoulder to shoulder with other analog snobs flipping through the records and talking to other people who appreciate that kind of thing. That’s part of it as well… it’s a community that seems to be growing with people who are into this way of listening to and owning and appreciating music. I mean, it’s more work, it’s really going out of your way to appreciate music on vinyl—it’s a whole process. It doesn’t just flow into your earbuds from something that you can fit in your pocket. The thing doesn’t tell you the track names on the screen and you’ve got to go flip it yourself, but it’s worth it, you know. It reminds me of people who smoke pipes, because the ritual is such a big part of the experience.

That’s interesting you talk about it as such a community. Having other people around to appreciate it can be just as important and personally owning the record—having that connection with other people. Is there a status involved with vinyl ownership?

Yeah, probably. I’d be kidding myself if I said there wasn’t. Often, I just like to sit—I have a whole room now in my house devoted to records and my stereo system with musical instruments for playing, too… it’s a music room—and I sit in the music room by myself and listen to records by myself, and that’s exactly what I want. But then, talking to somebody else who understands the vinyl obsession and even better if they’re into the same kind of music—that can be a lot of fun too.

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Lastly, here's a chat with Arielle, one of the youngest DJs at Tampa's independent, community radio station WMNF 88.5FM.

So can you briefly describe what types of music you’re interested in?

I’m definitely interested in the 80s punk rock genre more than anything else. I have all of the early Generation X albums before “White Wedding” when Billy Idol was in his prime. I have all of those albums… all the Sex Pistols albums, which at every person should at least listen to and begin to appreciate, and, a complete “must” in everyone’s collection: David and Bowie and Bing Crosby… it’s for the holidays!

So when you buy music, how do you do that? What are some of the qualifications for spending money on an album?

If something is good enough for me to say “Oh my gosh, I need to buy this!” usually, because I live in Pinellas County and there aren’t too many “indie” outlets, I’ll go on the band’s website and order directly from them so that they get the proceeds, or I go to Asylum (Records) in St. Pete and try to find it. I either try to get it from the local “indie” record shop or the actual band—I try and get them the money. I am guilty of using Limewire, but I always end up buying the album.

So do you ever find yourself going and buying a new album or a new band’s record on vinyl?

Not so much new… Although I did just get the Joshua Tree re-mastered although that wouldn’t’ be a new band. I guess I don’t buy too many new bands on vinyl because I guess I just don’t know enough new bands that are on vinyl.

Well if you look hard enough, I think you can find vinyl releases of new bands here and there. Anyways, you clearly have a collection.

I do! I’ve got Eric Bourdon and the Animals’ San Francisco Night’s, I have a lot of Tom Waits on vinyl—it just fits his voice. Vinyl, I don’t know why, just makes everything sound so authentic and real and I feel that CDs make music sound so squeaky clean that you lose a lot of the clicks and clatters that make the music have a lot of character. For instance, when I’m at the station DJing my show, I’ll specifically find songs that I know we have on vinyl and play them on vinyl. It just sounds better.

So is that your foremost reason for having this affinity for the vinyl format? Because of the sound?

Yeah. It has a lot of integrity… and I really like music with integrity. For example, if you listen to Bob Dylan on vinyl…. I can’t quite describe it, but the sound, it just gets to you in your gut.

Round #2 of Field-Notes

2007-11-05T23:21:00.000-08:00

Here are three interviews/conversations I had with several friends who are roughly 18 years old and identify with indie rock in one way or the other. None are vinyl enthusiasts or specialists in any way, but all three guys have an awareness of vinyl in their generation. I asked all of my interviewees roughly the same set of questions, and my questions are in bold, with answers in regular font.

Doug:

Can you briefly describe what sort of music you are interested in?

It’s what most people describe as “indie rock.” I would define that as sort of intelligent rock or folk that tries to be original and artistic.

What types of music do you end up buying.

Buying? Well I buy pretty much all of my music. I use a subscription service: emusic. Because I feel like you should pay for music—I’m definitely in the minority in regards to that. I’ll definitely buy stuff if I hear it’s good from a friend, or listen to it and like it, or read some good reviews of it.

So you end up buying most of your indie-rock, no matter how easy or difficult it is to come across?

Yes

What about vinyl? Do you ever consider buying any of these records on vinyl?

I usually go through a phase once every six months where I think it would be really cool if I had stuff on vinyl, but then I realize that I’d have to buy a record player, and that’s an investment, and then I’d have to buy stuff on vinyl, and that’s also expensive.

Well then why is it cool to have music on vinyl?

Part of it is just this sort of cultural belief—I don’t know whether it’s true or not—that vinyl means that you have more discerning musical tastes—that you like the sound of it more. Plus I think it’s cool that you have that more analog thing where you know the needle is sliding over those dots and that’s what’s making the music. I’m like… I have no idea what’s going on in my computer when it makes sounds.

So it’s more about being focused on the music? You can sit down and focus on the physical manifestation of sound?

Yeah, it’s so much more tangible. You’re holding a record. You’re putting it on this thing that you sort of understand.

Do you think it’s good that artists and record labels are making sure to manufacture vinyls for most of their releases?

Yeah, I think it’s cool. I think a lot of people use it if they really like a CD, so when I know people who have record collections, it’s cool to go through that and see what records they have. It’s usually something that they purchased again or if somebody used a free digital download to purchase the music for the first time. It’s like why they go back to the vinyl to focus on the record.

What about deals around today where record companies bundle vinyl records with coupons for a free digital download of the record? Would you buy more records if all vinyls were packaged that way?

Wow, I didn’t even know that was a format (laughs). Well it’s still much more expensive. What, and average LP costs maybe $20? Um, and then with my subscription service, I’m getting usually 4 CDs for 15 dollars (in digital download format). So that price comparison is just so huge that I feel that the vinyl doesn’t really make up for it.

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Matt:

Can you briefly describe what kind of music like to listen to/associate yourself with?

Um, I guess classic rock type stuff… singer songwriters… some newer rock. I think melody is important.

So what kind of music do you end up buying?

I never buy music (laughs)… that’s probably not true. I actually like to buy the classic, solid kind of stuff. Occassionally if I’m at a show, you know, I’ll buy something there. You know, I’ll hear one of the bands that I like, but that’s really not the bulk of the CDs that I have.

What about vinyl? Do you ever think about purchasing an album on vinyl if it’s out on CD?

Once in a while. I think I literally own one vinyl record, so not too much. My record player was broken for a long time, so like…. I like vinyl a lot. I think I prefer listening to it, and my parents have a bunch of old vinyl albums that I like to listen to… I guess I haven’t really bought many vinyl records of my own favorite bands. But I think on some level, I prefer listening to it—the sound—it’s a little more like you’re there. You can scratch records somewhat easily and you have to be really careful when you’re setting it up to play. I guess they’re also kind of bigger than CDs… but I guess that’s not really the issue.

Do you think it’s a good thing for artists and record companies to make sure that they get most of their releases out on vinyl?

I’m not sure… I don’t know if I respect artists more if they do (put their record out on vinyl), but I like it when they do. As far as record sales go, I don’t know if it would help them, but I think it’s kind of cool.

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Sam:

So can you describe what kind of music you like to listen to and associate yourself with?

I guess I would consider myself, you know, an indie kid, but I’m from Austin, TX and we have a lot of our own little indie sub scenes, and I guess the one that I feel the most associated with is the rockabilly indie scene. Okkervil River, Wilco… any of that business. I’m obviously not constrained by that. There are definitely other groups I’m interested in. I like the freak folk—Animal Collective and Devendra Banhart.

What kind of music do you end up buying?

I’m one of those people who generally borrows CDs from everyone else. Generally I’ll buy CDs from band that I feel some moral obligation to support—like if they have some hometown connection. Voxtrot, Virgin of the Birds—that sort of thing. My friend’s bands, basically. Other than that, I can usually find somebody with the CD and I can borrow it.

What about the format?

CD.

Have you ever considered buying vinyl?

I mean, I never have… I just think that… this is the digital age and we have moved beyond. I understand that a lot of people—their argument is about the sound quality, but I’m just not informed enough to be an authority on. I think that a lot of people just purchase vinyl for the nostalgic value. I just don’t have the money for a big LP player and typically I feel that vinyl LPs are more expensive than CDs

So do you think it is a good thing?

I think that it ends up being whatever the market for vinyl can tolerate… I generally view it as a cutesy diversion. If that’s what people want, that’s what they should get.

So are artists making some sort of statement by putting their record out on vinyl, or is it just to fill the niche in the market?

I think they are definitely appealing to a certain segment of the indie scene that appreciates the outdated technology and has a record player… I think there’s some identification with vinyl to some degree within those scenes.

More will follow soon, including an interview with a small, indie-DIY band from Tampa who is releasing their first 45...

Field Notes

2007-10-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

8/5/07 - 8/15/07

The first bit of field research I have undertaken has involved actually exploring where to get vinyl records in this day and age. The task itself is somewhat skewed in that the vinyl format seems to be something out-of-date, banished to vintage stores and thrift shops, but this format is no antique. Whether or not vinyl makes its presence known in our malls/superstores, the format is still very much alive. That's the first thing to understand--that this isn't purely antiquing or a revival. Nor is vinyl that big of a deal. It's not going to break any new ground or change the way we consume new music, mostly, because it already has. Yet it still lives on.

Although I'm new in Providence, I'd like to think I've scoped out most of the places in town to buy vinyl records... so far I've visited two very different spots with a keen eye out for what the places were selling and who was buying.

The first store I visited was a record store on Wickenden Street called "Round Again Records." No youth to be found here--in fact nobody at all to be found here at first. The store was small and a little stuffy, with bins of vinyl everywhere, and only a small corner with CDs, mostly traded in with a spotty selection of new discs. The vinyl was the specialty at this store. Mostly all of it was old vinyl, original pressings, used, and mostly featuring older and less-modern artists. The prices ranged from $3-$10 for the typical disc to $100-$150 for rare and original Beatles records. There was an older man behind the counter, maybe in his early 50s judging by the spreading bald spot, who was happily dancing and singing in front of a blaring stereo blasting an old soul record spinning scratchily on a turntable. Right as I was finishing up my look-around, a young college-aged guy poked his head in as if to see what kind of records this place actually sold, but quickly and politely exited after flipping through a few old moldy bins. This store isn't a place for vibrant and forward thinking hipsters, this is a vintage shop, for the real vinyl nerds. Good selection, however, and I found several good deals on a few discs.

The second place I visited on my quest for good vinyl and good vinyl people, I went to the most commercial place on my list: Newbury Comics at the Providence Place mall. Newbury dominates the mall music/video scene, with a large selection of most kinds of music, music magazines, movies, action figures, band t-shirts, funny hats, and trading card games. Most all of there music selection is on Compact Disc, but in the middle of the stores, there are two bins full of records. New records, in fact, their crisp cellophane wrappings still gleaming in the fluorescent mall lighting. One bin was full of mostly hip-hop and pop singles on 12" disc--the kind of stuff a DJ who's still into analog would be wanting to spin. We're talking everything from 36Mafia to JayZ to the new Britney Spears single to Justin Timberlake, peppered with some meager trance and house offerings, along with a few new re-releases of old jazz, funk, and soul records. The other bin was home to the rock records. Most of the selection included recent indie-rock releases with a few classic albums ("Abbey Road," "The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators"etc.) reissued on vinyl just for good measure. All of the bands you'd read about in magazines and hear about on pitchfork.com/cmj.com/NPR's music of the day blog but never see on MTV had their record in that bin, or so it seemed. Full lengths by Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley, the Flaming Lips, Iron & Wine, Wilco, accompanied by a row of 45s from the likes of Deerhoof , the Shins, and a whole bunch from vinyl-lovers The White Stripes. This bin seemed to be getting the most action of the two, and many of these records included some sort of coupon or code to download mp3s of the album tracks off the internet so that in buying the vinyl, the consumer gets a hard and digital copy of the tracks. Smart move. The crowd was a mix of mallgoers and hipsters, but the vinyl bin only ever received glances from the young, hip, and typically male shoppers. The records were new, so the prices were somewhat expensive in comparison to the same music on compact disc. No vinyl disc was chear than $14 dollars, with the most expensive being double disc, heavy 180g vinyl pressings for a deluxe package that usually ran upwards of $24. Typically that same $24 album could be bought on CD for say $15 and easily exported onto a computer/itunes and then an ipod for convenience.

What do these hipsters want with this vinyl?
It's terribly inconvenient and not very useful compared to CDs?
Can they really discern any difference in sound?
Do these kids even know how to cue up a record? Do they even own turntables?
Is there a difference between an audiophile or vinyl "nerd" compared to a fashionable and hip vinyl connoisseur?

Some other notable sources for vinyl spanned across the world wide web. One good place to find new, hip, indie-bands on vinyl is straight from the record label. A few good labels that do a good job of phttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifutting most all of their releases on Vinyl include the L.A. low-fi/garage alive-total energy and it's online Bomp store, as well as the hipster indie crossed with rare deep Mississippi hill-country blues cuts, Fat Possum.

Another excellent place to find vinyl is ebay. Many of ebay's vendor stores have some of the best selections in new vinyl. Take, for example, ebay vendor "aural exploits'" online store
. I've found that mostly through snooping around on ebay and diligently checking particular auctions or search words, one will find that pretty much everything gets released on vinyl. The only problem with ebay and these online stores is that it becomes difficult to determine what kinds of people actually shop at these stores.

More will come soon!

A few more nifty sources

2007-10-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

Here's a full blown ethnography on youth and the way they consume music in the postmodern or digital age. That article can be found here . It has valuable and current information on the relationship between the vinyl record industry and their appeal in the digital age.

Hayes, David, "'Take Those Old Records off the Shelf': Youth and Music Consumption in the Postmodern Age." Popular Music and Society Vol. 29, No. 1, (2006): 51-68

Also, there's a book called Vinyl Junkies by Brett Milano which I am planning on referencing for this research project. The book focuses on the drive behind people who intensely collect vinyl records from the past up through the present and undoubtedly sheds light on the exclusive nature of vinyl culture.

Milano, Brett. Vinyl Junkies: Adventures in Record Collecting. St. Martin's Griffin (2003)

Treasure Trove of Information....

2007-10-04T06:30:00.001-07:00

The Death of Vinyl: This somewhat recent news clip gives an insightful look into how some record stores are filling a niche market in vinyl so that they can stay competitive in the age of the digital download.

High Fidelity: The first couple minutes of this clip from the 2000 film "High Fidelity" gives some valuable information on how popular culture interpreted the subculture involving vinyl records and youth.

Devendra Banhart and Colin Meloy on Vinyl: The Insound record label supports this website called save the album on which prominent popular "indie" artists are interviewed about their favorite records and why the like vinyl. These are the types of artists who are now making the effort to have their music released onto vinyl. Here are Devendra Banhart and Colin Meloy of the Decemberists.

Here is a newspaper article which discusses the upwards trend in vinyl sales and youth interest in the format by Ben Mock:

Ben Mook "Vinyl records enjoying a resurgence in popularity". Daily Record, The (Baltimore). Jan 20, 2006. FindArticles.com. 04 Oct. 2007. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4183/is_20060120/ai_n16025264

Ethnography Topic

2007-09-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

Over the past twenty years, the format for which music is recorded and distributed has evolved substantially, moving from the cassette tape to the CD, which is now on its way out to make room for the digital world and mp3s. The one format which has seemed to stick around since the beginning of recorded music, however, is the vinyl record. As more convenient and consistent technology became available, the mainstream format of music shifted from record to 8-track to cassette tape to CD, and now to digital mp3, but even through all of this transition, the vinyl record has still been in production for a variety of reasons. On the dawn of a digital age where the physical recording of music is being done away with entirely, the push for sustaining vinyl records seems stronger than ever.
This new movement of artists and music-lovers which centers around vinyl culture has become a unique and substantial subculture, different from the DJs and artists who used the physical record in they're music making. Rather, all sorts of musicians from a variety of genres--especially new, hip, and up-and-coming acts--are making a point to release their albums on an LP, with some artists going so far as to put vinyl exclusive tracks on their LPs or offering free digital downloads with the purchase of a vinyl copy of their record.
Why at this point in time are so many artists interested in sustaining a format which is vastly more difficult to use and maintain than the digital music of today and is generally more expensive than releasing a CD or mp3s? Who are the people who buy vinyl? Why are the young people who are interested in these artists biting at this out-of-date format? Do kids even know how to cue up records anymore? Are the vinyls purchased for nostalgia or vintage aesthetic or for actual sound quality or more practical reason? What is it about a vinyl record which makes them attractive to a generation where vinyl has never been the standard for listening to music? How has this new interest in vinyl affected the subculture of longtime record collectors and vinyl nuts?
There is definitely a youth culture rising up around this antiquated format and artists trying to save the vinyl record from demise in the digital world, and this culture could be a indicator as to how the culture on the whole is going to respond to the complete digitization of music.