Popular Music of the Chinese Culture Essays

Popular Music of the Chinese Culture Essays Popular Music of the Chinese Culture Essay Popular Music of the Chinese Culture Essay Essay Topic: Popular The Joy Luck Club Screaming and crying androids: voice and presence in Chinese popular music is an article from the journal Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Volume 11, and published by Routledge: Taylor and Francis Group. They are a global publisher of academic books, journals and online resources in the humanities and social sciences, publishes it. One can find more information on the publishing company at www. routledge. com. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies provides a forum for scholars to critique on the cultural studies of Asia. It includes discussions, reports, and analysis aiming to enhance the communication and information exchange between inter-Asia and other cultural regions of the world (Taylor). The journal carries out a wide range of subjects on cultural studies, such as music, politics, economy, movements, and history. Jereon Groenewegen, author of Screaming and crying android: voice and presence in Chinese popular music, is Dutch, however he is a researcher of popular music in Chinese languages and an interpreter at Chinese cultural events in the Netherlands. His main interests are in pop, rock, and folk music. Groenewegen is also one of many authors in the Asia Pacific Arts Magazine and author of many other articles and blogs that contribute to his PhD project, The Performance of Identity in Chinese Popular Music, at Leiden University. Groenewegen has a unique style of writing that I like. He has subtitles for every different section, and the titles gives one a hint on what he is about to talk about. I can tell that he has a great grasp on Chinese culture based on his writing. How I can tell? I can tell because Groenewegen uses a lot of symbolism. If you have ever picked up a Chinese book or watched a Chinese drama, there are at least fifty objects in each piece that is used as a symbol for something part of life. In addition, each song or voice described in the article, the author finds a second meaning and interpretation for it. Screaming and crying androids seeks to understand the voice and teach one that it is much more complex than what meets the eye. It is not just for talking, singing, or yelling. In this article, one will see how the voice is part of the body and how it defines an individual. Groenewegen gave me the feeling that he was actually present at the artists concert listening and observing every beat and lyrics of every song. Antoine Hennion wrote that a persons voice is conceived as physiological and psychological (Groenewegen). In the article, it states, Songwriters and producers have a stronger presence in the artwork than the singer, I strongly agree. It was originally the songwriters or producers masterwork that led the singers to have a top hit single or cover. The writer had their own vision and their own voice put into it. It is difficult for an individual to tell someone how he or she feels. However, they can write down their true feelings on paper and then have it project through beats and lyrics of a song. The lyrics that are projected belong to the songwriter, unless of the course the songwriter and singer is the same person. However, in this case, let one just say they are not the same person. One can say that it is the artists heart and soul being poured out, but is it really? Was it really the artists own heart and soul? Or are they just singing what was on the paper? I do give them credit for making it sound good and their own. Songs evolve and get pass down orally, so eventually replications of the same song will become something new and unlike the original, which could be a great thing. Nevertheless, it was not initially their feelings and voice delivered. I believe that songwriters and producers do not get as much credit as they should. Just keep in mind that the voice an individual hears is actually the man or women not in front of that microphone. If one picks up a Chinese based book like The Joy Luck Club, watch a Chinese drama, or pay attention to Chinese lyrics, one can see that they hold many traditions. Perhaps the best place to find traditional music is at a funeral The music is heavy with percussion and carried by the mournful melodies of the suona, a double-reed instrument. However, nowadays, C-pop is the abbreviation for Chinese popular music. Not only does it cover Chinese pop, but also ballads, R;B, Chinese rock, Chinese hip hop, and Chinese ambient music (C-pop). As one can see that the world of music has evolved. One no longer has to go to such a depressing location like a funeral to enjoy popular music. Music ranges from a wide variety of pitches, tones, and emotions. One just has to find the right one. Groenewegen uses many song references to support each of his ideas of why singers do the things they do. He states, Lyrics often present romances as nostalgic past events, even while they are budding. Groenewegen researches deep into the different simple sounds of music. To him, different genres use a different voice like screaming for rock and punk, crying for romance and love, sneezing for musicals, and gurgling for diversity. Teng Geer and Cui Jian have introduced something called shout singing to the Chinese. Shout singing is a vocal technique used to instead of shouting at the top of their voices, it is restrained in the back of the throat, creating a rasp. This technique is a form of folk traditions and uncivilized individualism (Groenewegen). Although this method is uncouth it quite popular and has evolved since the 1990s and early 2000s. The article states, Popular music is dominated by the pathos of romantic ballads. When one watches a romantic movie, there are bombardments of melancholy scenes that provide them with melancholy background music. However, crying is not shown through the music because it is not entertaining (Groenewegen). According to Groenewegen, in the song Achoo-Cha-Cha sneezes represent boyfriends. Every day when we hear someone sneeze, we tell him or her that someone is thinking of him or her. Has one ever thought where that saying came from? I just recently learned that it came from the Chinese. According to Grace Changs lyrics, the sneezes are induced by absent lovers thinking of her, and she herself sneezes. Every sound and voice made is a movement of the body and it could define a person. Screaming and crying androids, is an article I want to suggest to everyone that enjoys learning about new cultures. It is not a very hard piece to read, and actually quite simple to understand after the first or second read through. I learned that popular music is not only in America but also everywhere around the world and the genres are quite similar to our nation. I really enjoy the way the author interprets and uses lyrics as symbolization that relates to everyday life and desires. As Groenewegen said, just like traditional Chinese landscape paintings cannot be reduced to a single perspective. This just purely means that there are other points of views out there about the Chinese popular music. Citation Asia Pacific Arts :: Jeroen Groenewegen. Asia Pacific Arts Online Magazine. Web. 11 Sept. 2011. ; asiaarts. ucla. edu/author. asp? author_ID=401;. C-pop. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 13 Sept. 2011. ;http://en. wikipe dia. org/wiki/C-pop;. Groenewegen, Jeroen. Screaming and crying androids: voice and presence in Chinese popular music. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 11. 1 (2010): 108-114. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 29 Aug. 2011. Taylor Francis Journals: Welcome. Web. 12 Sept. 2011. ; tand f. co. uk/ journals/RIAC;.