In our final week we discussed a review of the themes of the course as well as the overarching goals:
- Did you do the readings and pay attention in class?
- Can you manage DAW software?
- Can you think critically and synthetically about working with DAW software?
The themes we reviewed were: the problem of attention – does digital media alter attention span?. displacement – immigrants/space and time/meanings and music, racial categories, enclosure vs. openness, individual vs. openness, generational divide, question of authority (over meaning) and restructuring due to the digital age, disembodiment of music (identity and recordings, people are turned into information), the medium is the message, and many more!
The two themes I identified with the most were the lectures on displacement and racial categories. Particularly discussions on Claude Shannon and how information theory ignores meaning, the disembodiment and displacement of sound throughout music, how the music industry was segregated by marketing, Miller’s argument of how southern music was reduced to racial identities and stereotypes, and the parallels between Carr’s theories on construction of self and how music making has evolved from a physical experience. I hope to touch on all of this in my paper, and through the process of constructing a song. While I have completed a significant amount of my song I’ve realized that I have began to make something that sounds like the music I listen to, eclectic, lots of harmony and layers, but not quite country which is my ultimate goal (as mentioned in a previous entry). I, like many, have found myself stuck in a box of comfortable consumerism, but instead of marketing putting me here I did it on my own!!! Regardless I need to adjust somethings in order to complete my original goal.
All and all, as a music lover and big fan of history I enjoyed this class in its entirety. I learned so much about the origins of the music I listen to, making me a more aware and conscious consumer, and in a way it ruined somethings for me (for example: White Christmas, once a beloved holiday classic, glorifies the minstrel show and is filled with racist sentiments), but in a good way!
Thank you for a wonderful semester, there was never a dull moment, and I hope you enjoy my song (and annotation of the experience)!
In Monday’s class we continued the discussion of music transcending boundaries, using the example of the song Watermelon Man, written by Duke Ellington. The path of this song went from Herbie Hancock, to a renovation with Cuban influence by Mongo Santamaria, Johnnie Taylor transitioned it to soul, with a change in tempo to “white music”by Manfred Mann, followed by a rendition by Byron Lee and the Ska Kings, then taken by Jazz Jamaica, only to have the Herbie Hancock version sampled by Madonna. This song is another example of how music moves around, and by doing so it makes music political. It also raises the frequently mentioned question: is the crossing of historical ownership and cultural boundaries cultural appropriation? I think in some instances yes, it should be considered that. When we discuss Elvis Presley and other white musicians who benefited off of blues and soul without representing or defending the Black community then I think there is an issue of appropriation. You are reaping the benefits of associating with a racial community without experiencing the pain and hardship that comes with being a member of that community. We still see this today featured in mainstream pop culture with artists such as Miley Cyrus, who objectified Black culture and the rap/R&B genre without doing anything for the community. Once it no longer benefited her brand or her financially she dropped the act, and faux grill and dreads, and went back to singing country music “back to her roots”.
The discussion progressed to cover regulating digital media and content, how radio is considered a scarce public resource due to various frequencies a station can be set at so the government has to regulate it. Since it is a public resource the FCC declares it has to have some educational value/public good, which applies to television as well. There used to be a requirement regarding public interest and no “obscene or offensive content” but since television is no longer a scarce resource it is no longer regulated, but should it be?
Wednesday’s class (which I was unable to attend but I received the slides regarding the class discussion) the theme evolved from censorship of public goods to mass marketing in the media. This included the change from unique goods such as bakeries to mass produced items like wonder bread, which again ties into that industrialization has resulted in a grotesque impoverishment and Max Weber’s argument that in the modern/industrial ages the world has become rationalized. The class then discussed how crowdsourcing/collaborative filtering is a useful technique implemented in digital media by sites such as google, where information will come up in the order of how useful it may be to the user rather than by popularity of the source. Another site that uses this is amazon, when it shows suggested purchases based on items you are currently browsing or purchasing (O’Malley, 2018). As a result digital technology is making it easier to track consumer preferences but can also result in locking consumers into a specific “mold”, which may appeal to some but deter others. For example if you continue to gender automobiles, advertising a truck as a “man’s vehicle”, it may cause women to not be interested in purchasing this car. If it were marketed to a broader audience this would limit deterrence. Like the “race records” we discussed earlier in the course, when things are marketed a certain way to only one demographic it will limit the consumer population, hence the cycle of blues from Black American musicians to White English musicians to then be consumed by White American media.
Today’s class focused on the final assignment and how to go about completing it. There are two parts to the assignment: a 3-5 minute piece of music and a 5-8 page analysis regarding our decisions and process in developing this piece. We received a short Garage band tutorial on midi files and how they can be mapped into files of other instruments. I attempted to take notes on this but considering I am a visual learner who needs to do the action myself, I may not have entirely understood the tutorial. To be honest I am very nervous regarding the final project since I am a bit of a perfectionist and a musician myself, so I don’t want to turn in a song if I am not proud of the outcome. While there are some prompts provided I think I have an idea of where I would like to go with this final project. I think I am going to focus on country music, since I am someone who firmly disdains anything with a southern twang. Growing up in two immigrant families in Northern New Jersey/New York country music was never apart of my upbringing since it was associated with a part of American society that rejected my family and their presence in the US. I not only had no exposure to it, I was adamantly against it. In my school you were considered weird if you listened to country, every other genre was absolutely fine just not country. I was previously unaware of the historical and cultural significance of what we know to be country music and its origins and influence from the African American community. I am not entirely certain how I will go about making my song, whether using popular Rap and R&B to make a country song or implementing music from my own cultural background to create, only time will tell (and permit).
In week eleven we discussed digital music theory, the influence of Latin music on American popular music, and Stephen Witt’s ‘How Music Got Free’. Monday’s class mentioned how twentieth century American music is originally based in the swing beat (featured in country, blues, jazz, gospel, pop, early rock, etc) which started to fade with the 1960’s era of music. From there the influence of Latin music (parallel with the increase of Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrants to NY) inspired less emphasis on the chords and shifted focus to the rhythm. The Mambo craze is evidence of this as well as the development of “funk”. Much like the influence of other cultures which the professor has highlighted in this class, the Hispanic influences on American popular music frequently goes without recognition of the style’s origin. “Displacement is a major engine of cultural innovation and creativity. Almost any music you hear has a thick history and is the result of some sorta of displacement,” (O’Malley, 2017). This once again sparked the discussion of what is inspiration and what is appropriation. Can producers just use any track/beat they feel without considering the historical and cultural significance or must we begin an age of historically conscious music production? Will this lead to more folklorists such as Alan Lomax which somewhat fetishize the cultural traditions of other races and ethnicities?
The following lecture focused on Witt’s book and further discussed the influence of Latin music, particularly Cuban, Brazilian, and Mexican. While discussing the decompression process of an audio file I will be honest there were some things that simply went over my head but what I understood is that you can eliminate the things that you won’t hear/the brain won’t process in order to make the file smaller. Witt’s book focused on the phenomenon of music piracy which essentially began Dell Glover smuggling CDs out of a local compact-disc manufacturing plant allowing the music to be released on the internet two weeks prior to its physical release date, which was made possible by Karlheinz Brandenburg and his team who were able to compress the CD’s information into a file approximately a twelfth of the size (Witt, 2015). “Music piracy became to the late ’90s what drug experimentation was to the late ’60s: a generation-wide flouting of both social norms and the existing body of law, with little thought of consequences,” (Witt, 2015). This continues today with illegal music, movies, tv shows, and even free music availability via applications such as Spotify. This sparked the question why won’t we pay for music? I do believe that artists deserve to receive compensation for their art, but I would rather give it directly to the artist through things such as purchasing merchandise (like the business model of Chance the Rapper whose music is free but he sells other items). Additionally, as a college student who works part-time I am a big supporter of free things, which is frequently used by various corporations and programs such as providing student discounts, free food at events, even scholarships to attend school. Even applications such as Apple have a correlation to the piracy industry even though it is an avenue through which many artists still sell their albums, “Apple’s rise to market dominance in the 2000s relied, at least initially, on acting almost like a money launderer for the spoils of Napster,” he says. “If music piracy was the ’90s equivalent of experimentation with illegal drugs, then Apple had invented the vaporizer,” (Witt, 2015).
This led to the discussion of music as a commodity and whether or no that has come to an end. Does music, like information, want to be free? Additionally, has there been an artificial scarcity surrounding musical talent, since it is widely available is the limiting factor marketing? I think this factor could be argued in Western primarily American cultures since we have developed a morbid fascination with musical talent. While there are many who a naturally musically gifted, many could simply take up music lessons for an instrument or their voice and hone their craft. It takes price and motivation but if we can put Justin Bieber, a relatively mediocre singer, on a pedestal for carrying a note then others can achieve this fame status too. In my family every gathering we have a musical exchange where for an hour or so everyone plays their assorted instruments and picks which songs they would like to perform. I sing, my sister plays trumpet and piano, my dad plays the piano and the banjo, and my step mom plays the cello, the violin, and the piano. This is something we all practice for our own enjoyment, not for monetary gain, and enjoy socially. That is not to say that I don’t think artists shouldn’t be compensated when that is their primary source of income, but I do believe there is an artificial scarcity of musical talent as well as a stigma against music as a profession.
This weeks class discussion focused on copyright and ownership, particularly focused on the use of intellectual property in the modern era. According to the assigned articles to read for this week we are rapidly approaching a time when we will be charged or sued for singing the words to “Happy Birthday” due to intellectual property laws. Devices such as the iPhone and Alexa have the ability to be used as recording monitors in order to enforce these laws and charge individuals.
“Is Singing Happy Birthday in Public Really Copyright Infringement?
Yes.
According to United States copyright law in United States Code, Title 17 §106, authors of works such as musical compositions have the exclusive right “to perform the copyrighted work publicly.” In United States Code, Title 17 §101, the law defines publicly performing a work as “to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered.”” (Benjamin Mako Hill, 2016 ).
The discussion opened with the question how can you stake a moral claim for property without using force, which (skipping over manifest destiny and the mention of colonization) led to the conclusion that this could be done through purchasing or ownership. Intellectual property is divided into three sub-sections, patents, trademarks, and copyright, all of which protect the ideas produced by an individual. This concept seems to be inherently classist, since there are those who cannot afford to copyright their ideas or pay to use intellectual property, which limits the information access and potential of low-income populations. That contributes to the claim made in class that copyrights hinder the potential for innovation. Additionally intellectual property and copyrights can be owned by entities such as cooperations, essentially giving more rights to a disembodied idea than the average individual. This tied into the discussion for the following class regarding sampling, referring to repurposing a small piece of music, and copyright. While there a some cases of copyright such as similar melodies (Sam Smith and Tom Petty) or similar sound and lyrics (Robin Thicke and Marvin Gaye), there are also cases where small snippets of music are implemented into songs. While many popular artists continue to do this and are able to afford to pay their source of inspiration, many artists such as those who create mixes and use devices such as turntables may not be able to. In this way creative culture gets enclosed and limited by copyright, and ordinary people can’t afford to license or repurpose popular music. Again this hinders innovation and potential of those attempting to create something new. As someone who has lived in the New York/New Jersey area my entire life, I am very familiar with the concept of sampling for it is a primary source of innovating new sounds and music. Not only is this method of creation implemented for parties and clubs, it is also implemented by many “sound artists” who use various sounds and songs to create something typically accompanied by an instillation/art piece creating an immersive and surreal experience for the audience. Without the access to this music, again it is hindering creative potential and limiting those who can’t afford it.
This week the assigned reading and discussion for Monday focused on Wikipedia, as well as the benefits and downsides of using the site as a resource for accurate information. The article assigned was entitled “The Debate Over “Devil’s Triangle” Shows Wikipedia at Its Best,” by Stephen Harrison which focused on the edits on the “Devil’s Triangle” wikipedia page during the trial of Brett Kavanaugh and his confirmation into the Supreme Court. “an anonymous Wikipedia editor added the following text to the Devil’s Triangle disambiguation page, which lists and describes various meanings for a given topic: “Devil’s Triangle, a popular drinking game enjoyed by friends of judge Brett Kavanaugh.” The text was quickly removed with this warning for potential editors: “DO NOT ADD the hoax about a ‘drinking game’, especially as related by Brett Kavanaugh. We do not dignify such hoaxes with mention.”,”(Harrison, 2018). This definition was rejected based on the standards and principles wikipedia has established as it considers itself an online encyclopedia. Monday’s class began with the discussion of the encyclopedia which was written and compiled with all the information in the world and organized accordingly. This information and organization was provided by a board which hired experts, and this process relates to a primary idea covered in Vannevar Bush’s essay that things get better as more people use them since the encyclopedia (and wikipedia) has consistently been improved and edited.
This ties into software systems such as Apple OSX vs LINUX, since apple can only be altered by the engineers and is only as good as it needs to be to see, while free software programs such as Linux can be edited by anyone and is constantly being improved. This is similar to Wikipedia since it is constantly edited and changing. A study was mention in our class discussion that stated Wikipedia is as accurate as a college textbook, with the benefit of being a free resource. There is no central administration for the site but they have a staff which checks for citations, accuracy, etc. This freedom “democratizes authority,” “undermines the authority of people like me,” and “breaks the tradition of knowledge sharing” as claimed by our professor and it has its downsides. By allowing anyone to edit the site Wikipedia can provide a sufficient source of information but it also has no filter on information which can result in misconceptions contributing to things such as hate-fueled, misguided internet conspiracies.
The assignment for Wednesday’s class was to search a music term in several databases and find when was the earliest mention of this term in American sources, whether literature or news/media. I choose to research the term “opera” which was first ever mentioned in a book 1612 found in the British Library, although it was written in latin. The first mention of the term “opera” in an American newspaper was in the Gazette of the United-States., June 17, 1789, Page 75, in the “Foreign and Domestic Miscellaneous Articles”. The passage is describing the Prince of Wales meeting a crowd while attending the Opera in London, indicating that the concept of opera is widely known and as can be inferred from the book in 1612, existed prior to this newspaper and the United States. It comments on public opinion of the Prince at the time, and also indicates a technological error, for many of the words with “s” feature and “f” in its place, such as ” We fincerely hope that the Prince will not confider this event as any want of refpect of the public at large for perfon or character,” and “His Royal Highnefs”.
This tied into the discussion regarding how in the 18th and 19th century the technological advancements and historical events radically altered peoples perceptions and displaced them in time. In this time period it was the first time sound was studied, and this knowledge was used to create displacing effects in various forms of architecture such as in cathedrals and art museums. The acoustics are engineered in both of these spaces for almost opposite effects, for catholic cathedrals attempt to create an ethereal experience, with the intensity of echos, the power of reverberation from the priest as well as the choir, and other details such as the high ceilings, gargoyles, gaudy features, crosses, gold accents, aroma from the candles and incense, stained glass windows, and more. Each of these features not only displaces the individual but also reflects the power of God, since it was built in reverence of him, and in a way the contrast between God and man. Art museums have a similar impact but rather than God and man, it is art and man. Protected by alarms, guards, and glass, this works are immortalized and not to be touched by the common person. The architectural sound design creates a silent environment, trapping sound and allowing for each individual to observe art in a quiet, undisturbed manner.
This week’s discussion focused on digital media and its control over information. The provided powerpoint stated that Cold War military research demanded secrecy and topdown control regarding information exchanged and produced by the United States. As a result there has been a revolution in control over information and in the ways we understand authority. An example that was mentioned is primary sources and documents which used to require specialized credentials to obtain, and now can be accessed via computer research. The discussion shifted to the ability to edit and alter information in order to support an argument. This claim was supported by Civil War documents which have been used in the argument that the cause of the war was states rights and economic freedom, rather than exclusively supporting slavery. One report we referred to was that of Dr. Lewis Steiner, written in September of 1862 in Frederick, MD, which has been used to make the claim that 3,000 black slaves fought in the confederate army. Although there is factual evidence of slaves fighting within confederate armies, typically alongside their masters this was likely due to pressure on the part of the family which owned them. Slaves at this time were abused, physically and emotionally, and many were either coerced or simply forced to join their masters in battle. I do recognize that their could’ve been a relationship between a master and a slave, similar to friendship, but the key aspect of this dynamic is that one owned, beat, and mistreated the other. An example was discussed of a slave who took his master home after he had been injured and then went back and continued to fight for the confederate army. I believe it is highly unlikely that he did this through his own motivation but was likely given the choice to fight and potentially live or not fight and die. This is not to say that the all Northerners were exempt from racist ideologies and strived for racial equality, as we discussed in class at first slaves were not allowed to serve as soldiers.
Reviewing these documents and the discussion which occurred in class argued that while we as a generation have better access to information than our parents did, having to sift through various sources, we also are subject to the presence of inaccurate information and people presenting their opinions as fact. Most young adults receive their news from twitter, and while this fact may horrify the older generations, twitter has consistently provided news articles and drawn attention to pressing issues, more so than major news outlets. I find myself checking twitter prior to the New York Times and Washington Post when I hear of a major shooting or incident, mainly because I can find everyone’s opinion, not just articles filtered by press organizations. This also is reflected in items such as textbooks (primarily history), which are filled with inaccurate information and frequently leave out major events. I was fortunate to grow up in an eclectic home which encouraged the exchange of knowledge, but I found that the things we discussed at home were rarely mentioned in class with our teachers or in our textbooks (the source of authority on information). We barely discussed Native American history which was absent from most history books, there was no mention of the Arab uprisings in 2011 in my high school history classes, and even while attending George Mason University I attended a World History course which focused exclusively on European history. This blatant neglect of non-eurocentric history is a significant downside of the established authority of information and results in students receiving an inadequate education, as well as feeling alienated in the classroom. Supplemental resources are accessible online but students shouldn’t have to teach themselves on major historical events in, for example, a world history class.
This weeks topic focused on the connection between migrations throughout the US and the development of musical genres which followed. The primary migration discussed was the movement of Black and White Americans from rural areas to urban cities, typically after the Great Depression for industrial jobs (provided by the ever growing industrial complex). This migration led to another reactive migration known as “white flight” when White families fled to areas surrounding cities leading to the development of the commonly known suburban neighborhood. The nostalgia of those who left rural areas fed into the development of country music, which provided an over exaggerated depiction of life in the South. Causing a mixing of cultures, the music scene became increasingly integrated while the political and social dynamics of American life were not. Musicians such as Bob Wills transcended genres and songs and genres began to transcend race, such as Buck Owens and the Buckaroos which presented themselves as a white country band but their style indicated a Mexican influence. The integration within the music industry was hindered but the genre marketing, particularly the labeling of “race records”. A point that was brought up was whether or not Elvis Presley is a culprit of cultural appropriation for the songs he utilized without the original artists permission. Given the time period he was actively benefiting from the color of his skin and distributing this music to an audience the original musician couldn’t reach. Given that he continuously exploited songs by Black musicians and made little to no efforts regarding the civil rights movement at the time (indicating consideration for the culture he is actively exploiting) I would liken his action to cultural appropriation.
In the following class we discussed Miller’s book “Segregating Sound: Inventing Folk and Pop Music in the Age of Jim Crow” in which the author argues that we, the American public, have inherited the ways we think about and categorize Southern music due to the racial identities forced upon popular music. Genres such as the blues were identified as African American and music played by white Southerners became known as country music. By categorizing music by racial and ethnic identity, the music industry in America paralleled the social divided amongst different races perpetuating segregation. Miller argues that throughout this time period, someone’s musical understanding was categorized by who they were and what music they were able to access with this identity, “people’s music worlds were less defined by who they were—in terms of racial, class, or regional identity—than by what music they had the opportunity to hear” (p. 7). In the fourth chapter Miller discusses how many musicians recognized the benefit in encouraging stereotypes within the music industry. This was reflected by Muddy Waters, a musician we discussed in a previous lecture, who began to sing songs which exaggerated Southern living to cater to the nostalgia of the listening audience. Another artist which was mentioned in “Segregating Sound” was the artist “Lead Belly”, who was in prison for murder and was hired by the famous folklorist John Lomax as a driver and to play music at their college tour of folklore programs. John Lomax recognized him as a folk musician, with music untouched by commercial industry, and encouraged him to play into this idea by wearing “folk clothes” and performing barefoot, although he wanted to wear a suit.
While I understand the primary argument of “Segregated Sound” I believe that people were exposed to various kinds of music as a result of societal pressures and dynamics which was influenced by their race. If you were expected to like or listen to a certain kind of music this was a result of what your race was expected to or even allowed to purchase. Which is why the cultural appropriation of Black made songs by White artists allowed for the diverse exposure of different genres such as blues.
This class began with the sad but painful truth: White people can not clap on beat. Eurotraditional music typically features songs with emphasis on 1 and 3, while New World Beats feature emphasis on 2 and 4. According to the slides New World Beats also feature a third displaced beat and this swing beat has become a common characteristic of American sound. The theme of this class was displacement, ranging from the previously mentioned displaced beat to the “Great Migration”. The Great Migration refers to the gradual movement of Black Americans out of the “country”/south due to the disenfranchisement of this community in the 1890’s. This included but was not limited to spectacle lynchings (as featured on postcards), segregation, and discrimination. This racism inspired the migration to cities where Black Americans where they can vote, work a variety of jobs, organize, and have a (somewhat) safer existence. This migration also influenced “white flight” in many cities, where the white populations in these cities were uncomfortable with the increase of Black American populations so as technology progressed, suburban communities were built, and highways were constructed, these white populations fled to the suburbs.
The presence of Black Americans in major urban areas inspired the reemergence of “race records” which led to R&B or Rhythm and Blues. Musicians such as Bessie Smith grew in popularity because of their sound but still faced extreme discrimination in the public sphere, which ultimately impacted her death when she was in a car accident and the nearby hospital refused to treat a Black woman.
Another musician Professor O’Malley disused was McKinley Morganfield, better known as “Muddy Water” who was a man from the Storall Plantation in Mississippi. He started playing music at the plantation such as the song “Whatcha know Joe” (a song which transcended to jazz and then swing), and caught the eye of not only Leonard Chess of Chess Records but also folklorists John Work and Alan Lomax. He becomes famous due to his song “Hoochie Coochie Man”, which initially he recorded reluctantly because it was an exaggerated version of Southern culture, but it appealed to those who were displaced from the South, invoking nostalgia. The folklorists, particularly Alan Lomax, had conflicting views about where this song would go since they viewed Muddy Waters as untapped, genuine folk, while Muddy Waters saw this as an opportunity to make it big. Since the race records weren’t typically accessible to White Americans Chess records decided to export the Blues genre from Black Americans in America to White musicians in England, who then exported the music to White Americans back in America. This phenomenon relates back to the previous lecture of race commodification, since White Americans weren’t exposed to the Blues, a genre started by Black musicians, until it was delivered to the in a racially comfortable package, by other Whites. This continued to influence major musicians such as Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley and others, who give no recognition to their genre’s roots.
This week’s topic focused heavily on the influence and presence of race in American music throughout history. Professor O’Malley stated that during the 1800’s and 1900’s, and I would argue even today, “American popular culture is strangely integrated in comparison to the distinctly segregated political atmosphere.” According to the lecture, the concept of the Minstrel show developed in 1830, taking American music by storm. This involved white Americans dressing and acting as a “Black American”, and preforming songs such as “Yellow Rose of Texas,” “Dixie,” and the character Jim Crow. Instruments typically associated with African culture were used such as tambourines, banjos, fiddles, and”bones”. In the lecture the point was brought up whether the minstrel show was just simple racism or rooted in something else. Personally I believe it is rooted in a morbid fascination with ownership over a culture, not only at the time did the white population own black Americans as property, they also owned their culture, personas, and were able to re-envision the perception of this population at the time. It can be argued that this fascination continues today. The minstrel show and its legacy is deeply embedded in American culture, as mentioned in the discussion the “Yellow Rose of Texas” is the state anthem of Texas, and just recently the “Walmart Yodel Boy” went viral singing a song initially sung by Emmett Miller, who was a famous minstrel actor. I would argue it goes even deeper than this. In American popular culture and media we frequently find musicians or even just celebrities who benefit from the commodification of various cultures, not just Black American, but neglect issues such as the Black Lives Matter movement. A prime examples is the infamous Kardashian family. They have relentlessly fetishized Black American culture through their clothing, hair, makeup, bodies, and more but have remained silent and many pressing issues within American society. I do not believe that any Kardashian should run for any office, but I want them to recognize you can not just pick and choose aspects of a culture to adorn but then ignore when people of this culture are being subject to extreme injustice.
The discussion then shifted to Irish Americans at the time, who quickly adapted the ways of minstrelsy to fit in to public perception. As Irish immigrants began to arrive in America, many found themselves rejected by societal standards. The Irish were typically catholic with a tinge of mysticism, had heavy accents, many spoke Gaelic rather than English, and were fleeing the mass destruction and occupation of their country. As a descendent of many Irish immigrants I am well informed about their treatment in the US, such as signs stating “no Irish need apply” and other discriminatory slogans. Some of my family left Ireland after the potato famine since there was hardly any work in Ireland but when they arrived in the states no one would give them a job. This resulted in positions such as maids, nannies, and indentured servants. Depiction of Irish in newspapers and the public view of the Irish population resulted in a “herd mentality” causing Irish to flock together, also contributing to the adoption of the minstrel act in attempt to Americanize themselves. This proved to be an issue to the next wave of immigrants to New York, many polish and Italians, since the Irish had finally established themselves as Americans and were reluctant to give jobs to other ethnicities and risk losing their position in society.
The following class we continued the discussion of the commodification of various cultures in music and how that continues to influence American music today. Two instruments typically associated with Hawaii, the ukulele (which originally came from Portugal) and the steel guitar, have both infiltrated American sound through various genres. In the slides the lecture mentioned “lap steel” and how colonized Hawaii began to influence the blues and other western music, in songs such as “I hear ya talkin” by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. Similar to the banjo which was associated with African culture, then utilized by the minstrel shows, and is currently used by white, rural musicians, now the steel guitar has transcended genres to “African American music”. “Its native music is repurposed in a time (1940’s) when music is highly racialized,” – Professor O’Malley.
This discussion also tackled the issue of whether or not GarageBand and devices like it have deskilled musicians and has the minstrel show been perpetuated by the faceless racial archetypes present in garage band? These statements tie into earlier weeks of how industrialization has resulted in the gradual decline of individuality and quality. Musicians can be somewhat replaced by this technology but there is a finite number of possibilities of song combinations, resulting in the potential for mass production of the same songs, losing the individuality of musicians.