| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
slackkeymike
Lokahi
440 Posts |
 Posted - 01/16/2005 : 7:54:41 PM
|
I know this is a silly, pointless question. Really. But still, I have a hard time believing people can hear a beautiful slack key song, and NOT get it. Is it genetic? Should I just give up and move to the islands?
Mike 
|
Aloha, Mike |
|
|
Stringbreaker
Akahai
USA
62 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2005 : 08:48:43 AM
|
Not a silly, pointless question at all. However, it touches on profound matters of human psychology that goes beyond my ability to intelligently comment on. But then, I got over my shock of first hearing someone who "just doesn't like music, it annoys me." Really, taste is not universal, even among those who like music at all. Just look at the die hards who think that there is only two kinds of music: country and western. Or that if you can't hear it at the Grand Ol' Opry you don't need to hear it. Or eve the favorite song list of my cousin Aaron 15 years or so ago which started with the Dead Kennedy's and a number of bands with truly rude names? Am I the freak because I don't bang my head to "Who Killed Bambi?"
If the issue is going somewhere wheer you can be around people who have good musical taste (like what you like) there are certainly worse motives to move to the islands. But then, you could also go down SoCal and hook up with the slack key players who hang down there. Or find out if there is a local infestation in your area. I'm down Portland way and they are few and far between 'round here, but there are still enough that workshops with Mark Nelson (Thank You!) happen and the real players do occasionaly come to our area. Maybe you can lure them in to where you are. Do you play at the open mikes? Finally, if it is genetic, I'll never know...I look as wasp as they come, but my Daddy was a foundling and my Mom had irish, german and scots so ther could be anything in my mix. Mark Nelson don't look very Hawaiian, but I think you'll find he appreciates slack key as well as anybody alive. <grin>
Stringbreaker |
Crazy Man Tuning |
 |
|
|
Russell Letson
`Olu`olu
USA
504 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2005 : 09:53:45 AM
|
One of those mantras I would hang on the wall if it weren't tattooed on the insides of my eyelids: There's no accounting for taste. This is true of everything from music to marriages, and I actually see it as A Good Thing, since without differences in taste, the world would be as uniform as Velveeta. One of the best pickers I know is quite indifferent to slack key--finds it kinda bland and uniform. But he's a ferociously good player (and composer) of swing, rags, waltzes, and old-time. We can't all be everything, and it's just as well.
|
|
|
|
Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2005 : 11:01:31 AM
|
Patrick/Stringbreaker touched on few topics, but I would like to emphasize one he made at the beginning: cultural conditioning by the media. We watched the SOH DVD last night and it struck me that even Gabby's and Eddie's somewhat jazzy versions of traditional songs would probably be ignored in a bar or even a festival setting (the kinds of places they were originally played in). They are not uptempo enough = not fast enough, too lyrical, not "fancy" enough for today's average crop of listeners. Even at the Blue Marlin on Maui, when Don was there, the only way to attract attention through the din of eaters and drinkers was to really rock, and Don can do that - his version of Opihi Moemoe has about twice the number of notes that the already jazz-informed original had. Talking to Ernie Pua`a at the Hula Grill, he said that he would love to do more Hawaiian music of any kind,especially slack key, but the audience (drinking eating talking) and the management, won't let him. So, he does lots of Jawaiian and other stuff to shake them up. At the Maui Slack Key Festival, Kevin said you have to do something "spunky", his appropriate word, to capture the audience. I can't remember anything at that Festival that was lyrical, and guys like Barry were really shredding. Another thing that will attract attention, for a while, is a vocal. People will focus on the voice. But, depending on the crowd, they will lose interest before long if it is nahenahe.
Garrison Keillor has everyone in the Upper Midwest convinced that their roots music comes from the Southeast. Mind Control.
Russell, where we live, music *is* uniform. There are only about 4 genres that you can hear broadcast or live. For instance, jazz is nearly extinct. The only reason we can hear decent classical music is because of the Yale Music School and NPR broadcasts - and the former has tended toward the "experimental/inaccessible". Would that it were a potpurri - it ain't.
...Reid
|
|
|
|
RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2005 : 11:22:21 AM
|
Interestingly, when I played the San Francisco Aloha Festival this summer, -- people strated to drift away when I played a ballad -- even though those are my best pieces -- exactly as my teacher pedicted. Granted that was an outdoor setting. I'm told a concert situation works a bit differently
-- Now as far as my regular restaurant gig -- music at a place like that is different than a concert or recital -- it really is to set a background mood to add to the dining experience -- mostly couples -- ballads help folks get romantic and they are appreciated -- groups -- lots of talk -- more up tempo. I see no problem with that. When I go to a bar or a restaurant, I'm not going there primarily for the music. |
|
|
|
javeiro
Lokahi
USA
459 Posts |
Posted - 01/18/2005 : 1:47:38 PM
|
| All interesting comments here. Just submitted as food for thought, I recently introduced slack key to an accountant in the office where I work. This guy is as "haole" as they come, has never been to Hawaii, or heard of slack key. I gave him several CD's to listen to and the one he liked most was Keola's "Soliloquy" which to him "is a lot like classical music". And he now plays it whenever he wants to relax, which is what listening to slack key music does to a lot of people. |
Aloha,
John A. |
|
|
|
RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 01/18/2005 : 3:37:17 PM
|
Reid,
I was thinking about your comments, and a few ideas came up --
I think what we're dealing with is very deep seated in our culture -- 2 more examples --
Last couple of years classical recordings are increasingly done with overly dramatic changes in dynamics and accelerated tempi -- lyricism is out, you got to hit them over the head with the stuff. (I used that image 'cause it brings to mind a contrast that clearly illustrates the tendency -- years ago I sang with Chicago Symphony chorus -- in same season, weeks apart, Carlo Maria Guilini began one of the rehearsals by saying, "OK, lets play and sing each note con amore." His was an elegant and heartbreakingly beautiful style in which you could hear almost every note the composer penned. Few weeks later Solti began a rehearsal by saying -- "OK, let wake them up -- hit them over the head with music." So much of Solti's work reeks of his ego, but he was surely one of the major factors in "bringing "drama to music," as he often said. But I digress.
- Second point - so often when we go to an upscale or "hot" restaurant -- the chefs seem to think they have to jolt our palatte with supern strong and exotic tastes -- and often times we wonder if te chef tasted the meal or was working our of some concept. Subtle food that brings out the qualities of the ingrediates and slowly opens up on your palate -- getting harder to find.
What's happening to "Popular" music is probaly no different.
Overstilumated and jaded audiences are getting used to having performers "hit them over the head" to get their attention -- probably much as mommy or daddy bought their attention with the latest and most stimulating toy. |
|
|
|
Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 01/19/2005 : 03:57:52 AM
|
Raymond, you have hit the nail on the head. It is a pervasive overstimulation that appears everywhere. MTV? Extreme Sports/Makeover? (The much fought over 10-20 year old demographic) It is, as you have pointed out, not just an American phenomenon, either (unless Solti has become American).
I call it The Wal-Martisation of the Western World, and one of its determinants is the lack of choice. Here in CT (pop. about 4 mill), we have only 2 multiplex movie chains. They each show only the BIG Blockbusters. An "Art House" recently opened and is doomed - 4 people when we went to see "Sideways" which just won a Golden Globe award - didn't show in any Cinema 1 - 1000, either. We have AM and FM radio outlets that are owned by only a few conglomerates - the infamous Clear Channel being one. They all sound alike - loud, brutal. New Haven used to be a big theater site. Now, the Shubert, which used to be THE Broadway tryout house, has its *third* road showing of "Cats". We have 1 moderately independent, moderately well run newspaper in the entire state (in Hartford, 50 miles from here)- the local rag is a stripped dependent of a conglomerate that also owns all the billboards pointed at I-95. We have one Supermarket chain - Stop and Shop. Cable TV distributors have guranteed monopolies and the Sat services show the same stuff. There is much more I could cite, but you are probably bored by now.
In France (at least the South where we have personal knowledge), the situation is similar - everyone shops at the new Hypermarche; the old and wonderful epicerie, boucherie, poissonerie, etc. are really hard to find.
So, in this environment, how does any "small" person, or business, or craft or art stand out? Your answer is correct: "hit them over the head". Ritalin, anyone?
...Reid
PS> One important exception to all this: here. The Net. Anarchic and dangerous sometimes, but I dearly hope it is not taken over by the Forces of Evil as other media have been, and as some very knowledgable people fear. We canceled our cable subscription and turned that $ into broadband (3.7 mbps today).This is the place for minority passions and interests and communication throughout the entire world. Read the World Press, watch Condi being ripped a new orifice by Boxer in real time streaming video, listen to all kinds of music, talk to your friends across the continents and oceans, learn all you want to know about anything. A miniscule example: I *love* fish eggs (not "caviar" that I can't afford) with just a squeeze of lemon. You cannot buy them here - no "market". I buy many varieties from many countries on the Net relatively inexpensively, shipped to my door. Makes Life a little more enjoyable. |
Edited by - Reid on 01/19/2005 05:26:49 AM |
|
|
|
`Ilio Nui
`Olu`olu
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - 01/19/2005 : 06:26:18 AM
|
Once Condi fixes her orifice she can help lead the current pro Wal-Martinisation government to build one in Baghdad while the people listen to Not-So-Free-Radio-Iraq. I wonder if they ship fish eggs from Basra? I'll vote for Ritlin if it keeps the ADD junkies from killing everyone.
Maybe we can soon have a thread about why the Iraqis don't "get" "Sideways"
And we thought this was about Slack Key.
Dave - not taken over bt the Forces of Evil - Nye |
|
|
|
Karl Monetti
`Olu`olu
USA
756 Posts |
Posted - 01/19/2005 : 08:31:08 AM
|
Reid,
Please forgive my total ignorance here, but what is broadband, how do you get it, etc.. Sounds like a whooped up form of internet access, no?
Always looking for more information, and ways to make myself heard about the causes I believe in (environment, anti-war, de-centralization of media and other powers)
For those of you whoe read polls, etc., I am an exception (one of many) to teh statements you hear about "all Alaskans want to open ANWR" or NPR-A, gas line, anything along those lines. Our governor is as bad as Bush for the environment. As the Brits said after election day "How can 58 million Americans be so stupid!?!?!?" |
Karl
Frozen North |
|
|
|
Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 01/19/2005 : 08:38:09 AM
|
I'll move this to Talk Story, Karl.
...Reid |
|
|
|
Auntie Nancy
`Olu`olu
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2005 : 05:17:29 AM
|
Hi Mike -
I decided to answer after reading other threads hanging around -
Everyone is blessed w/ different brains - right brain left brain, hearing, tone-deaf, whatever. So those of us who really enjoy this nahenahe music are the really fortunate ones. The others really don't matter.
auntie |
nancy cook |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Topic Locked
