Four Fields of Music

Like Turino says, "We tend to think of music as a single art form". However, that isn't the case. In fact there are four kinds of music; Participatory, Presentational, High-Fidelity, and Studio Art. The first two forms are variations of live music and the second two forms are variations of recorded music. Each form of music has different values, goals, and levels of effect when it comes to social bonding.

Lets start off with Presentational music. A great simile that I learned is Presentational music is like a pick up softball game. This simile explains that you don't need innate talent to join in the music and any one can join. This form of music has a dense texture (the sounds are all combined together) which creates an ocean of sound so if one person makes a mistake it is covered. Furthermore, since everyone in the frame of the situation is invited, there is no distinction between the artist and people. The advantage of having no distinction between people causes a faster bond and allows people to experience flow at a more deeper and personal level.  However, participational has some drawbacks. First, music is limited to the talent of the music. Because there are so many people involved, the talent required is overlooked and not important as the overall feeling in the social group. There are two forms of participational music; simultaneous and sequential. Simultaneous music is when all the the participants engage in the music at the same time. In contrast, sequential music is when there is a participatory group, but individuals take turns (like karaoke).

An example that I found of participational music comes from the optional reading today about Ewe drumming in Africa. After reading the article, I found this video on Youtube that accurately depicts participational music.

Ewe Drumming in Ghana: Agbadza

Next, there is Presentational music which is the more predominate form of music in America. Compared to the pick-up softball game that is participational music, presentational music would be the World Series. People go to see presentational music for the talent therefore there is more listening then participation. In presentational music, there is a clear distinction between the artist and the audience, creating a hierarchy. There are several positive sides to this form of music. Primarily, the artist has more artistic freedom and is not responsible for the audience. However there are some down sides. Although the artist has more freedom, he/she has to sustain the interest of the crowd. Several ways of achieving this include the artist using extensive variation and transparent textures to highlight there own talent, which is the reason why people pay tickets to see the artist. 

An example that comes to mind when I think of presentational music is Billy Joels live performance of Piano Man in Tokyo. Now in this video, you will notice some interaction with Billy Joel and the audience, but it is mostly the audience listening to Billy Joel sing. 

Billy Joel Live"In Concert" at Tokyo Dome

Now we move into the realm of recorded music. One form of recorded music is labeled high-fidelity music. These types of music recordings are songs that index live performances of the the band or artist. So in other words, high-fidelity music attempts to sound like a live rendition of the song. When it comes to this type of music, studio engineers have the most control of music making. The the key goal of high-fidelity music is  to make a an object (such as a CD or online) that is a product to sell. The most important thing to high-fidelity music is the money generated from the sales of the music.   

The song "Otherside" was in the album Californication, an album that has sold over millions of copies worldwide and is included in Rolling Stones "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". I chose this song by Red Hot Chili Peppers because it is a sufficient example of  high-fidelity music. I have listened to this song live in concert, and the recorded version truly does reflect the live one. 

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Otherside

The last form of music is called studio audio art. Some of the musical genres that fall under this form include electric, chill step, house, trap, and trance. This form gives the creator the greatest control over the finalized product but provides little human interaction. In addition, this form of recorded music is the most abstract and was created with no expectation of being played live. Now even though some might argue saying that they heard an electric music at a concert, the music that they heard is pre-recorded and for the manipulation of the DJ at the venue. Even though there are concerts for these genres, the real making of the music happens behind a computer. 

"Drive it Like You Stole it" by The Glitch Mob is an explicit example of studio audio art. To me this song is an index to me whenever I'm driving fast on a highway. The song is all computer generated  and has an electric feel to it.

The Glitch Mob - Drive It Like You Stole It