Author Archives: CaitlinAhSing

For the final performance I watched, I saw the UBC Korean Percussion Ensemble, which I think was a great way to end off the term. The entire performance was so lively and it was nice to see the students genuinely having fun playing with each other and performing for the audience that just kept growing since it was outside on the plaza. They started their performance sitting down and it seemed as though they were playing a few pieces all strung together. The first thing that really struck me about this performance was how incredibly loud the instruments were, especially the brass/metal drum-like ones. I could really feel the ground and my body shake every time they struck their instruments. But it was very well balanced with the wooden drums that kind of muted each piece. The metal drums were like thunder and lightning striking and the wooden drums felt more like the heartbeat.

The other three pieces the students played were all standing, which I found to be the most interesting because there was a lot more energy and movement involved, and this is where the performance really came to life for me. With the beats and the walking, it felt almost like a marching band of just percussion instruments. I noticed that their movements would match the tempo, so if it was a slower beat, the musicians would walk and as the piece picked up speed, they would too, so there were times when they were running around while they played which I found to be extremely fun. I’m not well versed on Korean percussion, but I would be interested to learn about how they put together the routes and patterns they take when they move because there were clear leaders that led the group in certain directions. When they were walking, I noticed that sometimes they would all follow the same direction, but sometimes the wood and metal drums would break off and go in separate directions and do their own thing, but they always came back together and would end each piece by banging on their instruments that kind of mimicked clapping and turning in a circle in both directions. They encouraged audience participation through having the audience call out Korean phrases whenever they were “feeling the performance” and for the last piece, they came out into the audience and handed some of their instruments off for random people to join and play with them. This was particularly enjoyable to watch because you could see the confusion and nerves on the selected people’s faces because they would be trying to match the beat so they could play with the rest of the ensemble in harmony.

The Oral Composition performance was such an interesting concept, because it was done for a class with 10 students and they each had to compose a piece and teach the rest of the class how to play it orally. The professor briefly explained that they spent the first few weeks of the term learning about rhythms and beats and how to construct a piece, and then they began composing, and then finally getting to teach it to the rest of the class. They performed each of the 10 pieces and we got to see how each student’s composition was unique from the rest. The concept of this course sounds so challenging, yet very creative and fun and I can only imagine how difficult it was to not only compose a 3 minute piece with 10 different percussion parts but to then teach it orally to the class, and then memorise each piece to perform in front of an audience. Just thinking about doing all of that sounds daunting, so I applaud them all for putting on such a great performance.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself during this performance, and my mood was only boosted by the fact that they played outside with the beautiful weather with the blooming cherry blossom trees in the background. The musicians all sat in a circle, took their shoes off, and got comfortable and it was evident that they were all having a great time playing with each other. They were all smiling and making eye contact to connect with each other and to stay on time and overall it was just great vibes. It was also really nice to see what some of the UBC music students work on during the term because I’ve never really been exposed to what they do in the music department.

There were some really complicated and intricate pieces composed for this performance, and I can see how necessary their seating arrangement was to execute some of the parts because they really had to look at each other and see what they were doing in order to stay together. I was also interested in the instruments they used, as I haven’t seen many of them before, but there were some I recognised like a gong or cymbals, but there were also some small metal drum-like instruments that almost looked like a baking tin. What I have enjoyed so far about some of these performances is that I have been exposed to a lot of new instruments, which has been a nice change to what I’m used to. As someone who has more experience playing music with melodies, seeing two percussion performances has been really new and different for me because the music is created solely from rhythm and beat in combination with the different sounds each percussion instrument makes. It’s a completely different experience because instead of having an idea of where the piece may go melodically, I can follow along with just a specific rhythmic pattern or be completely surprised with something that disrupts the pattern.

James Bay is one of my favourite artists at the moment, so I have been looking forward to seeing him live or a while now since I have missed his previous visits to Vancouver. Going to see my favourite artists live is always one of my favourite things to do because I get to experience their music on a whole new level rather than just hearing them through my headphones. James has released two full albums, both quite different from each other. His first album, Chaos and the Calm is a much more subdued and calm album, with more acoustic pieces while his second, Electric light, has a little more production behind it and has more upbeat songs. When he was performing, it was easy to tell which song came from which album as he switched between electric and acoustic guitars, and as a guitar lover, it was so great to get to experience his guitar playing live because I never knew he was so talented. He had some really guitar moments in there on top of his incredible singing. I wouldn’t say I was surprised that he was so amazing on the guitar, but I wasn’t expecting it because from listening to his albums on my own, I never realized a lot of his songs were so guitar-heavy. James’s band was also so great and it was fun to watch them interact with each other while they were playing because you could see how much they were enjoying themselves and the chemistry they have as a group.

Just on a side note, James’s opening act was Noah Kahan, who I had never heard of before, but I really connected with his music because it fits right into the genre that I listen to, so I’m glad that I got to discover a new artist and I look forward to exploring more of his music in the future.

James as a performer is extremely fun to watch as well because you can see how much of energy he gives on the stage and to each song. His vocal range is also much wider than I had realized. As this was the only big concert I went to this term, and because it was so different in comparison to the ones that I watched here on campus, it was a nice change up from the instrument-driven performances I have seen. There is so much more engagement with the audience in these kinds of performances because the artist can talk to the audience and James was able to kind of have a conversation with everyone. Plus everyone is able to let loose and show their appreciation for the music and performance as much as they want, which really brings up the energy and atmosphere of the whole room. I think the greatest takeaway I have from seeing James Bay live is how much better he is than I thought because his records don’t show off how far his talent really extends.

I did not think I was going to watch another contemporary music concert again, but here I am. It just so happened that the performance I chose to go to today was a contemporary music one, but just as I had suspected, it was completely different to the first one I watched. What struck me when I first walked into the concert hall was the set up on stage, because it was very full with a lot of different stations, and front and centre was a stuffed monkey and banana. So of course, I was intrigued to see where this would go because from what I learned from the first performance I watched, is that contemporary music completely baffles me and throws me off. The first piece consisted of just various plant pots and the musician playing them with what looked like chopsticks. What I also was not expecting was the spoken word aspect that went along with it, so just like one of the pieces from the last concert I attended, there was a vocal aspect that was very poetic. I think I understood this piece more than I did the ones from the previous concert I watched because I can see the connection between the name of the piece: “To the Earth,” the poem, and the pots.

The second piece was unusual as well. Honestly, I think that’s the best way I can describe all of the contemporary pieces I have experienced because they are unusual from what I am used to. This piece was the reason for the intricate stage set up, as the two musicians moved from the back of the stage forwards, each playing an instrument at each station as they came towards the front of the stage. I would have to say the climax of the piece was the monkey and banana, which turned out to be rattles or shakers, and when they picked them up, the audience couldn’t help but laugh. Hopefully that was the intention, because otherwise we were all very rude, but the use of random items that can be found around the household in this piece did kick up some chuckles. I think visually and conceptually, this piece was very cool because of how it was composed and how the piece moved not only musically but also physically.

Do I know how to appreciate and write about the contemporary music genre yet? Not at all, I was still very much confused through this concert just as I was in the first one, and I think it is an acquired taste. The experience of a concert like this is very different than that of a pop artist or seeing the VSO, but I’m glad that I have gone to watch two different contemporary music performances because had I not had to do this for class, I don’t think I would have ever been exposed to music like this. It is always nice to discover what else is out there in the world outside of my usual interests.

I’m not sure if I know where to start with this journal because this performance left me a little bit confused. For my first performance I watched, I saw Light and Perspective, which was a contemporary music performance, and I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything quite like it. There were only 3 instruments used in this performance – flute, piano, clarinet, and some of the pieces were accompanied by electronic sounds and visuals. I don’t think I know how to fully appreciate contemporary music because I don’t really know anything about the practices and techniques, or anything about it at all, really. I can just talk about how each piece and the entire concert made me feel and what I thought of everything because it was all very abstract to me, which I guess is kind of the point of this particular genre. It is supposed to disrupt the norm and be unexpected? How was this music supposed to make me feel? Is there a definite answer?

As soon as the first piece began, I was completely thrown off because I went into the performance not expecting anything, so when the performer started playing, I realized that I wasn’t expecting that. There were a lot of cacophonous sounds and sounds that clashed with each other and it was all very sudden and sharp. The second piece, played on the piano, was accompanied by a video of the inside of an empty home, showing random shots of different features or appliances. The musician, Megumi, also talked while she played so it sounded almost like spoken word, the piano and the talking was very subdued, and accompanied with the video, it felt almost a little bit uncomfortable and haunting. She also did something I have never seen before, where she would stand up and touch the inside of the piano to get a different effect, and that was really interesting to me because I had never really thought about the piano being used in such a way. It is a very creative and unusual thing to do and I wonder how somebody decided to make this a part of a way to play piano.

The third piece, “Displaced Light,” sounded very much like running through a jungle because of the sound effects that accompanied the flute. The flute itself was very airy and sounded I guess from watching movies and TV shows, I have come to associate that sound with exploration and adventure that takes place in a jungle setting. The final piece I got to watch, “Spark and Sizzle,” was very energetic and the visual of different light beams shooting across the screen behind the musicians really added to the movement of the piece because of how the colours, speed, and direction of the sparks matched the music. It was like a visual representation of what was being played. I think if I were to watch another contemporary music performance, I will still be pretty confused, and still not know what to expect, but I’m sure it will be a very different experience because of the wide range this genre has the ability to cover.