Asian Music

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Music of Asia Asian music encompasses numerous different musical styles originating from a large number of Asian cultures. Asian music most often uses the pentatonic scale . Philippine music uses 8 notes or the European way of music because Philippines was colonized by Spain. The music of Asia is as vast and unique as the many cultures and peoples who inhabit the region. Principal instrument types are two- or three-stringed lutes , the necks either fretted or fretless; fiddles made of horsehair; flutes , mostly open at both ends and either end-blown or side-blown; and Jews' harps , either metal or, often in Siberia , wooden. Percussion instruments include frame drums, tambourines, and kettledrums. Instrumental polyphony is achieved primarily by lutes and fiddles. On the other hand, vocal polyphony is achieved in different ways: Bashkirs hum a basic pitch while playing solo flute. A type of end-blown flute of varying lengths, with 4-5 holes made with reed or wood. Common among Inner Asian pastoralists , this instrumehent is also known as tsuur (Mongolian), chuur (Tuvan), sybyzghy (Kazakh) and kurai (Bashkir). Chopo Choor An ocarina made of clay with 3-6 holes, popular with children in Kyrgyzstan . Daf A small frame drum used as an accompanyoiment to popular and classical music in Azerbaijan . Dayra A frame drum with jingles played by men and women among sedentary populations in Central Asia . Dombra

Transcript of Asian Music

Page 1: Asian Music

Music of AsiaAsian music encompasses numerous different musical styles originating from a large number of Asian cultures. Asian music most often uses the pentatonic scale. Philippine music uses 8 notes or the European way of music because Philippines was colonized by Spain.

The music of Asia is as vast and unique as the many cultures and peoples who inhabit the region. Principal instrument types are two- or three-stringed lutes, the necks either fretted or fretless; fiddles made of horsehair; flutes, mostly open at both ends and either end-blown or side-blown; and Jews' harps, either metal or, often in Siberia, wooden. Percussion instruments include frame drums, tambourines, and kettledrums. Instrumental polyphony is achieved primarily by lutes and fiddles. On the other hand, vocal polyphony is achieved in different ways: Bashkirs hum a basic pitch while playing solo flute.

A type of end-blown flute of varying lengths, with 4-5 holes made with reed or wood. Common among Inner Asian pastoralists, this instrumehent is also known as tsuur (Mongolian), chuur (Tuvan), sybyzghy (Kazakh) and kurai (Bashkir).

Chopo Choor

An ocarina made of clay with 3-6 holes, popular with children in Kyrgyzstan.

Daf

A small frame drum used as an accompanyoiment to popular and classical music in Azerbaijan.

Dayra

A frame drum with jingles played by men and women among sedentary populations in Central Asia.

Dombra

A class of two-stringed, long-necked lutes, the best known of which is a fretted lute that is considered Kazakhstan's national instrument. It is mostly used to play solo instrumental pieces known as kui. The dombra also provides accompaniment to Kazakh jyrau (bards) and singers of bel canto (lyrical song).

Dutar

Refers to a variety of two-stringed long-necked fretted lutes among Uzbeks, Uyghurs, Tajiks, Turkmens, Karakalpaks, and other groups.

Garmon

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A small accordion used in the Caucasus and among khalfa (female wedding entertainers) in the Khorezm region of northwestern Uzbekistan.

Ghijak

A round-bodied spike fiddle with 3 or 4 metal strings and a short fretless neck used by Uyghurs, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Turkmens and Karakalpaks. Also known as a Kemanche - an important instrument in Iranian and Azeri classical music and popular music in Iran.

Jew's Harp

Called by a variety of names, Jew's harps are traditionally used by pastoralists throughout Inner Asia. They are typically made out of wood or metal.

Komuz

A three-stringed, fretless long-neck lute typically made from apricot wood, nut wood or juniper. It is the principal folk instrument of the Kyrgyz. Playing techniques include plucking, strumming, and striking the strings with the fingernails, together with the use of stylised hand and arm gestures to add narrative to the performance.

Kyl kyyak

The Kyrgyz name for an upright bowed fiddle with two horse hair strings. In Kazakhstan it is known as qylqobyz. The deck is usually made from camel or cow hide, and the body is carved from a single piece of wood, typically apricot. The instrument had a strong connection to both shamanism and the recitation of oral poetry.

Rubab

A fretless lute with sympathetic strings played in southern Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

Rawap

An Uyghur long-necked lute similar to the rubab, but without sympathetic strings.

Sato

A bowed tanbur, or long-necked lute, now rare, played by performers of Tajik-Uzbek classical music.

Sybyzgy

A Kyrgyz sideblown flute traditionally played by shepherds and horse herders, made from apricot wood or the wood of mountain bushes. The sybyzgy has its own repertory of solo pieces, known as kuu, which are distinguished by their lyrical content.

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Tanbur

A long-necked plucked lute with raised frets used in Uzbek, Tajik and Uyghur classical music traditions. An Afghani variant has sympathetic strings.

Tar

A double-chested, skin-topped, plucked lute with multiple sympathetic strings used in urban music from the Caucasus and Iran (the Iranian version does have sympathetic strings). The tar is also popular in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Reference

1. ̂ "Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia on the AKDN website". Retrieved on 2006-12-08.

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Music of ChinaThe music of China dates back to the dawn of Chinese civilization with documents and artefacts providing evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC – 256 BC). Today, the music continues a rich traditional heritage in one aspect, while emerging into a more contemporary form at the same time. Music has become somewhat commercialized in Hong Kong and Taiwan. while in mainland China music has been built more on tradition and may be considered more sophisticated.

History

The legendary founder of music in Chinese mythology was Ling Lun, who made bamboo pipes tuned to the sounds of birds.

Dynasty era (1122 BC – 1911)

According to Mencius, a powerful ruler once asked him whether it was moral if he preferred popular music to the classics. The answer was that it only mattered that the ruler love his subjects. The Imperial Music Bureau, first established in the Qin Dynasty (221–207 BC), was greatly expanded under the Emperor Han Wu Di (140–87 BC) and charged with supervising court music and military music and determining what folk music would be officially recognized. In subsequent dynasties, the development of Chinese music was strongly influenced by foreign music, especially Central Asia.

The oldest known written music is Youlan or the Solitary Orchid, attributed to Confucius (see guqin article for a sample of tablature).

The first major well-documented flowering of Chinese music was for the qin during the Tang Dynasty, though the qin is known to have been played since before the Han Dynasty.

In ancient China the position of musicians was much lower than that of painters, though music was seen as central to the harmony and longevity of the state. Almost every emperor took folk songs seriously, sending officers to collect songs to inspect the popular will. One of the Confucianist Classics, Shi Jing (poets), contained many folk songs dating from 800 BC to about 300 BC.

Music of ChinaTimelineGenre

ModernC-pop:(Cantopop/Mandopop)RockHip hop

TraditionalOperaYayueInstrumental (musicology)

National

Historical AnthemsPatriotic / RevolutionaryPRC: "March of the Volunteers"ROC: "Three Principles of the People"

ReligiousTaoist musicBuddhist musicIslamic music

Media Radio stationsChartsFestivals Midi Modern Music Festival

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The first European to reach China with a musical instrument was Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci who presented a Harpsichord to the Ming imperial court in 1601, and trained four eunuchs to play it.[1]

The earliest form of the 1935 March of the Volunteers anthem still in the pre-Communist traditional Chinese character in the Denton Gazette newspaper

Republic of China era (1912 – 1949)

The New Culture Movement of the 1910s and 1920s evoked a great deal of lasting interest in Western music. A number of Chinese musicians returned from studying abroad to perform Western classical music, composing work based on Western musical notation system.

The Kuomintang tried to sponsor modern music adoptions via the Shanghai Conservatory of Music despite the ongoing political crisis. 20th-century cultural philosophers like Xiao Youmei, Cai Yuanpei, Feng Zikai and Wang Guangqi wanted to see Chinese music adopted to the best standard possible. There were many different opinions regarding the best standard.[1]

Symphony orchestras were formed in most major cities and performed to a wide audience in the concert halls and on radio. Many of the performers added jazz influences to traditional music, adding xylophones, saxophones and violins, among other instruments. Lü Wencheng, Li Jinhui, Zhou Xuan, Qui Hechou, Yin Zizhong and He Dasha were among the most popular performers and composers during this period.

After the 1942 Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art, a large-scale campaign was launched in the Communist controlled areas to adapt folk music to create revolutionary songs to educate the largely illiterate rural population on party goals. Musical forms considered superstitious or anti-revolutionary were repressed, and harmonies and bass lines were added to traditional songs. One example is The East Is Red, a folksong from northern Shaanxi which was adapted into a nationalist hymn. Of particular note is the composer, Xian Xinghai, who was active during this period, and composed the Yellow River Cantata which is the most well-known of all of his works.

People's Republic of China era (1949 – 1990s)

The golden age of shidaiqu and the Seven great singing stars would come to an end when the Communist party denounced Chinese popular music as yellow music (pornography).[2] Maoists considered pop music as a decline to the art form in the mainland. In 1949 the Kuomintang relocated to Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China was established. Revolutionary songs would become heavily promoted by the state. The Maoists, during the Cultural Revolution, pushed revolutionary music as the only acceptable genre; because of oppression and propaganda, this genre largely overshadowed all others and came almost to define Mainland music. This is

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still, in some ways, an ongoing process, but some scholars and musicians (Chinese and otherwise) are trying to retrieve what was lost and rebuild the musical heritage.

After the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, a new fast tempo Northwest Wind (xibeifeng, 西北風) style was launched by the people to counter the government. The music would progress into Chinese rock, which remained popular in the 1990s. However, music in China is very much state-owned as the TV, media, and major concert halls are all controlled by the Communist party. The government mainly chose not to support Chinese rock by limiting its exposure and airtime. As a result, the genre never reached the mainstream in its entirety.

Current

China has a high piracy rate along with issues of intellectual properties.[3] As a result, most albums are released in Taiwan or Hong Kong first. It is often one of the business decisions made by record companies. Normally there is some delay before the products are released into the mainland, with occasional exceptions, such as the work of Cui Jian who was released in Taiwan, Hong Kong and the mainland simultaneously.[4] Consequently, a delay in release time is also the biggest driver of piracy, since individuals would rather pirate from the outside. Modern market is not only hindered by rights issues, as there are many other factors such as profit margin, income and other economical questions.

Annual events such as the Midi Modern Music Festival in Beijing attracts tens of thousands of visitors. There was also the "Snow Mountain Music Festival" in Yunnan province 2002. The term "Chinese Woodstock" has been thrown around by Western media for these two events. Both draw sizable crowds outdoor, but the term is not quite official. The Chinese rock movement differed from its Western counterpart in that it never fully made it into mainstream culture due to restrictions by the state.

Today, rock music is centered on almost exclusively in Beijing and Shanghai, and has very limited influence over Chinese society. Wuhan and Sichuan are sometimes considered pockets of rock music culture as well. It points to a significant cultural, political and social difference that exist between China, the West, or even different parts within China. While rock has existed in China for decades, the milestone that put the genre on the international map is when Cui Jian played with The Rolling Stones in 2003, at the age of 42.

Traditional music

Chinese musicians at a restaurant in Shanghai

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Instrumental

Traditional music in China is played on solo instruments or in small ensembles of plucked and bowed stringed instruments, flutes, and various cymbals, gongs, and drums. The scale is pentatonic. Bamboo pipes and qin are among the oldest known musical instruments from China; instruments are traditionally divided into categories based on their material of composition: skin, gourd, bamboo, wood, silk, earth/clay, metal and stone. Chinese orchestras traditionally consist of bowed strings, woodwinds, plucked strings and percussion.

Instruments Woodwind and percussion

dizi, sheng, paigu, gong, paixiao, guan, bells, cymbals Bowed strings

erhu, zhonghu, dahu, banhu, jinghu, gaohu, gehu, yehu, cizhonghu, diyingehu, leiqin Plucked and struck strings

guqin, sanxian, yangqin, guzheng, ruan, konghou, liuqin, pipa, zhu

Re-enactment of a traditional music performance at Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan.

Chinese vocal music has traditionally been sung in a thin, non-resonant voice or in falsetto and is usually solo rather than choral. All traditional Chinese music is melodic rather than harmonic. Chinese vocal music probably developed from sung poems and verses with music. Instrumental pieces played on an erhu or dizi are popular, and are often available outside of China, but the pipa and zheng music, which are more traditional, are more popular in China itself. The qin is perhaps the most revered instrument in China, even though very few people know what it is or seen and heard one being played. The zheng, a form of zither, is most popular in Henan, Chaozhou, Hakka and Shandong. The pipa, a kind of lute, believed to have been introduced from the Arabian Peninsula area during the 6th century and adopted to suit Chinese tastes, is most popular in Shanghai and surrounding areas.

Ethnic Han music

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Han Chinese make up 92% of the population of China. Ethnic Han music consists of heterophonic music, in which the musicians play versions of a single melodic line. Percussion accompanies most music, dance, and opera.

1800s Chinese Opera scene

Chinese opera

Chinese opera has been hugely popular for centuries, especially Beijing opera. The music is often guttural

with high-pitched vocals, usually accompanied by suona, jinghu, other kinds of string instruments, and percussion. Other types of opera include clapper opera, Pingju, Cantonese opera, puppet opera, Kunqu, Sichuan opera, Qinqiang, ritual masked opera and Huangmei xi.

Folk music

Han folk music thrives at weddings and funerals and usually includes a form of oboe called a suona and percussive ensembles called chuigushou. The music is diverse, sometimes jolly, sometimes sad and often based on Western pop music and TV theme songs. Ensembles consisting of mouth organs (sheng), shawms (suona), flutes (dizi) and percussion instruments (especially yunluo gongs) are popular in northern villages; their music is descended from the imperial temple music of Beijing, Xi'an, Wutai shan and Tianjin. Xi'an drum music consisting of wind and percussive instruments is popular around Xi'an, and has received some popularity outside China in a highly-commercialized form. Another important instrument is the sheng, pipes, which is an ancient instrument that is an ancestor of all Western free reed instruments, such as the accordion. Parades led by Western-type brass bands are common, often competing in volume with a shawm/chuigushou band.

A half-section of the Song Dynasty (960–1279) version of the Night Revels of Han Xizai, original by Gu Hongzhong;[5] ladies are seen dancing and one on the right plays a pipa to entertain guests.

In southern Fujian and Taiwan, Nanyin or Nanguan is a genre of traditional ballads. They are sung by a woman accompanied by a xiao and a pipa and other traditional instruments. The music

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is generally sorrowful and mourning and typically deals with love-stricken women. Further south, in Shantou, Hakka and Chaozhou, erxian and zheng ensembles are popular.

Sizhu ensembles use flutes and bowed or plucked string instruments to make harmonious and melodious music that has become popular in the West among some listeners. These are popular in Nanjing and Hangzhou, as well as elsewhere along the southern Yangtze area. Sizhu has been secularized in cities but remains spiritual in rural areas.

Jiangnan Sizhu (silk and bamboo music from Jiangnan) is a style of instrumental music, often played by amateur musicians in teahouses in Shanghai, that has become widely known outside of its place of origin.

Guangdong Music or Cantonese Music is instrumental music from Guangzhou and surrounding areas. It is based on Yueju (Cantonese Opera) music, together with new compositions from the 1920s onwards. Many pieces have influences from jazz and Western music, using syncopation and triple time.

Regional music

China has many ethnic groups besides the Han, concentrated in the southeast and northwest. These include Tibetans, Russians, Uyghurs, Manchus, Zhuang, Dai, Naxi, Miao, Wa, Yi, Lisu and Mongolians.

Tibet

Music forms an integral part of Tibetan Buddhism. While chanting remains perhaps the best known form of Tibetan Buddhist music, complex and lively forms are also widespread. Monks use music to recite various sacred texts and to celebrate a variety of festivals during the year. The most specialized form of chanting is called yang, which is without metrical timing and is dominated by resonant drums and sustained, low syllables. Other forms of chanting are unique to Tantra as well as the four main monastic schools: Gelugpa, Kagyupa, Nyingmapa and Sakyapa. Of these schools, Gelugpa is considered a more a restrained, classical form, while Nyingmapa is widely described as romantic and dramatic. Gelugpa is perhaps the most popular.

Secular Tibetan music survived the Cultural Revolution more intact than spiritual music, especially due to the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, which was founded by the Dalai Lama shortly after his self-imposed exile. TIPA originally specialized in the operatic lhamo form, which has since been modernized with the addition of Western and other influences. Other secular genres include nangma and toshe, which are often linked and are accompanied by a variety of instruments designed for highly-rhythmic dance music. Nangma karaoke is popular in modern Lhasa. A classical form called gar is very popular, and is distinguished by ornate, elegant and ceremonial music honoring dignitaries or other respected persons.

Tibetan folk music includes a cappella lu songs, which are distinctively high in pitch with glottal vibrations, as well as now rare epic bards who sing the tales of Gesar, Tibet's most popular hero.

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Tibetan music has influenced the pioneering compositions of Philip Glass and, most influentially, Henry Eichheim. Later artists made New Age fusions by pioneers Henry Wolff and Nancy Hennings. These two collaborated on Tibetan Bells, perhaps the first fusion of New Age and Tibetan influences, in 1971. Glass' Kundun soundtrack proved influential in the 1990s, while the popularity of Western-adapted Buddhism (exemplified by Richard Gere, Yungchen Lhamo, Steve Tibbetts, Choying Drolma, Lama Karta and Kitaro and Nawang Khechong) helped further popularize Tibetan music.

With the arrival of Tibetan refugees in the Himalayas, Western music, often in unique Tibetan forms, started to become popular among Tibetans everywhere. Rangzen Shonu quickly became the most popular ethnically Tibetan performers of Western rock and pop. Other forms of imported pop music include Indian ghazal and filmi, popular across the Himalayas and in Tibetan communities worldwide. Tibetan-Western fusions have been long suppressed in China itself, but have been widespread and innovative outside of the country. In the mid- to late 1980s, a relaxation of governmental rules allowed a form of Tibetan pop music to emerge in Tibet proper. Direct references to native religion is still forbidden, but commonly-understood metaphors are widespread. Pure Tibetan pop is heavily influenced by light Chinese rock, and includes best-sellers like Jampa Tsering and Yatong. Politically and socially aware songs are rare in this form of pop, but commonplace in a second type of Tibetan pop. Nangma karaoke bars appeared in 1998 and are common in Lhasa, in spite of threats from the Chinese government.

Guangxi

Guangxi is a region of China, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Its most famous modern musician is Sister Liu, who was the subject of a 1960s film that introduced Guangxi's cultures to the rest of the world.

The Gin people are known for their instrument called duxianqin (独弦琴, pinyin: dúxiánqín; lit. "single string zither"), a string instrument with only one string, said to date back to the 8th century.

Yunnan

Nakhi musicians

Yunnan is an ethnically diverse area in southeast China. Perhaps best-known from the province is the lusheng, a type of mouth organ, used by the Miao people of Guizhou for pentatonic antiphonal courting songs.

The Hani of Honghe Prefecture are known for a unique kind of choral, micro-tonal rice-transplanting songs.

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The Nakhi of Lijiang play a type of song and dance suite called baisha xiyue, which was supposedly brought by Kublai Khan in 1253. Nakhi Dongjing is a type of music related to southern Chinese forms, and is popular today.

Sichuan

Sichuan is a province in southwest China. Its capital city, Chengdu, is home to the only musical higher education institution in the region, the Sichuan Conservatory of Music. The province has a long history of Sichuan opera.

Manchuria

Manchuria is a region in northeast China, inhabited by ethnic groups like the Manchu. The most prominent folk instrument is the octagonal drum, while the youyouzha lullaby is also well-known.

Xinjiang

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is dominated by Uyghurs, a Turkic people related to others from Central Asia. The Uyghurs' best-known musical form is the On Ikki Muqam, a complex suite of twelve sections related to Uzbek and Tajik forms. These complex symphonies vary wildly between suites in the same muqam, and are built on a seven-note scale. Instruments typically include dap (a drum), dulcimers, fiddles and lutes; performers have some space for personal embellishments, especially in the percussion. The most important performer is Turdi Akhun, who recorded most of the muqams in the 1950s.

Hua'er

Hua'er unknown

Kuaiban

Kuaiban is a type of rhythmic talking and singing which is often performed with percussive instruments such as hand clackers. The center of kuaiban tradition is Shandong province. Kuaiban bears some resemblance to rap and other forms of rhythmic music found in other cultures.

Modern music

These are genres that started after 1912 to coincide with the New China.

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Pop music

C-pop originally began with the shidaiqu genre founded by Li Jinhui in the mainland, with Western jazz influences from the likes of Buck Clayton. After the Communist Party establishment, the Baak Doi record company ended up leaving Shanghai in 1952.[6] The 1970s saw the rise of cantopop in Hong Kong, and later mandopop in Taiwan. The mainland remained on the sideline for decades with minimal degree of participation. Only in recent years did the youth in mainland resume as a consumer for the Taiwan mandopop market. Still, China is not yet considered a major production hub despite having the largest population[7]. When Hong Kong's icon Anita Mui performed the song "Bad Girl" during the 1990s in China, she was banned from returning to the concert for showing a rebellious attitude.[8] By Western standards, the performance was no more rebellious than, for example, Madonna since Mui based a lot of her dance moves on Madonna's style. Many mainland artists often try to start their commercial success in Hong Kong or Taiwan first, and then re-import into the mainland as part of the gangtai culture.

Since the end of the 20th century, pop music in mainland China started to become more popular. Especially at the start of the 21st century, Mainland Chinese artists have started producing a wide range of mandarin pop songs along with many new albums.

Many mainland Chinese, Taiwanese and Hong Kong artists performed for the promotion of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Hip hop and rap

Rock and heavy metal

The widely-acknowledged forefather of Chinese rock is Cui Jian.[4] In the late 1980s he played the first Chinese rock song called: "I Have Nothing" ("Yi wu suo you"). It was the first time an electric guitar was used in China. He became the most famous performer of the time, and by 1988 he performed at a concert broadcasted worldwide in conjunction with the Seoul Summer Olympic Games.[4] His socially critical lyrics earned him the anger of the government and many of his concerts were banned or cancelled. After the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, he played with a red blindfold around his head as an action against the government.

Following, two bands became famous Hei Bao (Black Panther) and Tang Dynasty. Both started during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Hei Bao is an old-school rock band whose first CD, Hei Bao used the popular English song ("Don't Break My Heart"). Tang Dynasty was the first Chinese heavy metal band. Its first CD "A Dream Return to Tang Dynasty" combines elements of traditional Chinese opera and old school heavy metal. The album was a major breakthrough releasing around 1991/1992. Unfortunately, one member of Tang Dynasty died shortly after the release.

Around 1994–96: the first thrash metal band, Chao Zai (Overload), was formed. They released three CDs, the last one in cooperation with pop singer Gao Chi of the split-up band The Breathing. At the same time the first new metal bands were formed and inspired by Western

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bands such as Korn, Limp Bizkit or Linkin Park. China would have their own with Yaksa, Twisted Machine, AK-47, Overheal Tank.

Punk rock

Punk rock became famous in China around 1994–1996 with the first Chinese artist of the post punk genre being He Yong and his debut record Garbage Dump. The first real wave of band formations erupted in 1995 concentrating in Beijing, and the second generation of punk bands followed around 1997.

National music

A typical PRC national music album branded to be sold outside of the mainland. Songs include The Internationale, The East is Red and many others

Patriotic / Revolutionary

Guoyue are basically music performed on some grand presentation to encourage national pride. Since 1949, it has been by far the most government-promoted genre. Compared to other forms of music, symphonic national music flourished throughout the country. In 1969 the cantata was adapted to a piano concerto. The Yellow River Piano Concerto was performed by the pianist Yin Chengzong, and is still performed today on global stages. During the height of the Cultural Revolution, musical composition and performance were greatly restricted. A form of soft, harmonic, generic, pan-Chinese music called guoyue was artificially created to be performed at conservatories. After the Cultural Revolution, musical institutions were reinstated and musical composition and performance revived. At the height of the Mao Zedong era, the music accelerated at the political level into "Revolutionary Music" leaning toward cult status and becoming mainstream under pro-Communist ideology.

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References

Jones, Steven. "The East Is Red... And White"". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 34–43. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1858286360.

Lee, Joanna. "Cantopop and Protest Singers". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 49–59. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1858286360.

Lee Yuan-Yuan and Shen, Sinyan. Chinese Musical Instruments (Chinese Music Monograph Series). 1999. Chinese Music Society of North America Press. ISBN 1-880464039

Rees, Helen with Zingrong, Zhang and Wei, Li. "Sounds of the Frontiers". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific , pp 44–48. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1858286360.

Shen, Sinyan. Chinese Music in the 20th Century (Chinese Music Monograph Series). 2001. Chinese Music Society of North America Press. ISBN 1880464047.

Trewin, Mark. "Raising the Roof". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 254–261. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 185828636025.

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Music of Indonesia

Indonesia is culturally diverse, and every one of the 18,000 islands has its own cultural and artistic history and character[1]. This results hundreds of different forms of music, which often accompanies dance and theater. The musics of Java, Sumatra, Bali, Flores and other islands have been documented and recorded, and research by Indonesian and international scholars is ongoing.

Tembang sunda

Tembang sunda, also called seni mamaos cianjuran, or just cianjuran, is a form of sung poetry which arose in the colonial-era kabupaten of Cianjur. It was first known as an aristocratic art; one cianjuran composer was R.A.A. Kusumahningrat (Dalem Pancaniti), ruler of Cianjur (1834 - 1862). The instruments of Cianjuran are kacapi Indung, kacapi rincik and suling or bamboo flute, and rebab for salendro compositions. The lyrics are typically sung in free verse, but a more modern version, panambih, is metrical.

Kecapi suling

Kecapi suling is a type of instrumental music that is highly improvisational and popular in parts of Java. It is related to tembang sunda.

Music of Indonesia: Topics

Gamelan

Timeline and samples

Genres

Classical- Kecak - Kecapi suling - Tembang sunda - Pop - Dangdut - Hip hop - Kroncong - Gambang kromong - Gambus - Jaipongan - Langgam jawa - Pop Batak - Pop Minang - Pop Sunda - Qasidah modern - Rock - Tapanuli ogong - Tembang jawa

Gamelan

Angklung - Beleganjur - Degung - Gambang - Gong gede - Gong kebyar - Jegog - Joged bumbung - Salendro - Selunding - Semar pegulingan

Contents

1 Tembang sunda 2 Kecapi suling 3 Gamelan

o 3.1 Central Java 3.1.1 History

o 3.2 West Java 3.2.1 Gamelan slendro

o 3.3 East Java 3.3.1 Osinger

4 Pop and folk music o 4.1 Kroncong

4.1.1 Langgam jawa 4.1.2 Tembang jawa 4.1.3 Gambang kromong

o 4.2 Dangdut o 4.3 Jaipongan o 4.4 Qasidah modern o 4.5 Gambus o 4.6 Tapanuli ogong

5 Indonesian Music Legends 6 See also 7 References

8 External links

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Gamelan

The most popular and famous form of Indonesian music is gamelan, an ensemble of tuned percussion instruments that include metallophones, drums, gongs and spike fiddles along with bamboo flutes. Similar ensembles are prevalent throughout Indonesia and Malaysia, but gamelan is from Java, Bali and Lombok. There are rivalries between different regions' variations of gamelan, especially Java and Bali.

Central Java

Central gamelan is inticate and meticulously laid out. The central melody is played on a metallophone in the center of the orchestra, while the front section plays elaboration and ornamentation on the melody, and, at the back, the gongs slowly punctuate the music. There are two tuning systems - the 5-tone slendro scale and the 7-tone pelog scale. Unlike Western music, there is no standard tuning system. Each Gamelan is tuned to itself, and the intervals between notes on the scale vary between ensembles.

The metallophones cover four octaves, and include types like the slenthem, demung, saron panerus and balungan. The soul of the gamelan is believed to reside in the large gong, or gong ageng. Other gongs are tuned to each note of the scale and include ketuk, kenong and kempul. The front section of the orchestra is diverse, and includes rebab, suling, siter, bonang and gambang. Male choruses (gerong) and female (pesindhen) solo vocalists are common.

History

Gamelan is rooted in Hinduism and Buddhism, though the island of Java is almost entirely Muslim today. Islam arrived in the 15th century, filtered through Hindustani Indians. With the arrival of the Dutch colonizers, a number system called kepatihan was developed to record the music. Music and dance at the time was divided into several styles based on the four main courts in the area -- Surakarta, Yogyakarta, Pakualaman and Mangkunagaran. It is a universal acknowledgment that gamelans are highly honoured citizens.

West Java

Metallophone

Gongs

Player

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West Java, or Sunda, has a diverse brand of gamelan. Gamelan Degung, gamelan salendro and tembang sunda are three primary types.

Gamelan slendro

Gamelan salendro is used primarily to accompany classical or more modern social dances, and is considered a low-class form. The 20th century saw a rise in the popularity and importance of female singers.

East Java

Gamelan from eastern Java is less well-known than central or western parts of the island. Perhaps most distinctive of the area is the extremely large gamyak drum.

Osinger

The Osinger minority in Java are known for social music for weddings and other celebrations, called gandrung, as well as angklung, played by young amateur boys, which is very similar to Balinese gamelan.

Pop and folk music

Indonesian pop and folk is quite diverse, embracing rock, house, Indonesian hip hop and other genres, as well as distinctly Indonesian forms. There are several kinds of "ethnic" pop music, generally grouped together as Pop Daerah (regional pop). These include Pop Sunda, Pop Minang, Pop Batak, and others. The regional pop musics mostly use local languages and a mix of western and regional style music and instruments.

Kroncong

Kroncong (alternative spelling: Keroncong) has been evolving since the arrival of the Portuguese, who brought with them European instruments. By the early 1900s, it was considered a low-class urban music. This changed in the 1930s, when the rising Indonesian film industry began incorporating kroncong, and then even more so in the mid- to late 1940s, when it became associated with the struggle for independence.

Perhaps the most famous song in the kroncong style is Bengawan Solo, written in 1940 by Gesang Martohartono, a Solonese musician. Written during the Japanese Imperial Army occupation of the island in World War II, the song (about the Bengawan Solo River, Java's longest and most important river) became widely popular among the Javanese, and then later nationally when recordings were broadcast over the local radio stations. The song also became quite popular with the Japanese soldiers, and when they returned to Japan at the end of the war re-recordings of it (by Japanese artists) became best-sellers. Over the years it has been re-released many times by notable artists, mainly within Asia but also beyond, and in some places it is seen as typifying Indonesian music.

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Gesang himself remains the most renowned exponent of the style, which although it is seen now as a somewhat starchy and "dated" form is still popular among large segments of the population, particularly the older generation.

Langgam jawa

There is a style of kroncong native to Surakarta (Solo) called langgam jawa, which fuses kroncong with the gamelan seven-note scale.

Tembang jawa

Similar in style is tembang jawa. Perhaps its greatest current star is Didi Kempot.

Gambang kromong

Early in the 20th century, kroncong was used in a type of theater called komedi stanbul; adapted for this purpose, the music was called gambang kromong.

Dangdut

Dangdut is a form of dance music that has been popular since the mid-1970s. Dangdut is based around the singers, and stars include Rhoma Irama and Elvy Sukaesih (the log and Queen of Dangdut), along with Inul Daratista, Evie Tamala, Mansyur S., A. Rafiq, and [[Fahmy Shamnmnm.

Jaipongan

Jaipongan is a very complex rhythmic dance music from Sunda. The rhythm is liable to change seemingly randomly, making dancing difficult for most listeners. Its instruments are entirely from Sunda, completely without imported instruments from the West, China, Japan or elsewhere. It was invented by artists like Gugum Gumbira after Sukarno prohibited rock and roll and other western genres.

Qasidah modern

Qasidah is an ancient Arabic word for religious poetry accompanied by chanting and percussion. Qasidah modern adapts this for pop audiences.

Gambus

Gambus literally means oud, referring to a type of lute. It is used to denote a type of orchestra and the music it plays, believed to be introduced by Muslim settlers from Yemen. Though popular among Arabs in Indonesia, it has gained little popularity elsewhere.

Tapanuli ogong

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From Tapanuli, tapanuli ogong is a form of dance music played with a type of lute, trumpet and flute.

Indonesian Music Legends

From Gesang, Koes Bersaudara/Koes Plus (Indonesian #1 Legend), Dara Puspita, Alfian, Titiek Puspa, Guruh Gypsi, Gombloh and Lemontrees, Bing Slamet, Benyamin S, Godbless, Chrisye, DARSO (Calung X), Harry Roesli (50's-70's) till Fariz RM, Iwan Fals,and many more.

References

1. ̂ Indonesian Geography http://countrystudies.us/indonesia/28.htm

Bass, Colin. "No Risk -- No Fun!"". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 131-142. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0

Heaton, Jenny and Steptoe, Simon. "A Storm of Bronze". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 117-130. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0

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Music of JapanThe modern Japanese music scene includes a wide array of performers in distinct styles both traditional and modern, ranging from rock, electro, punk, folk, metal, reggae, salsa, and tango to country music and hip hop. Local music often appears at karaoke venues, which is on lease from the record labels.

The word for music in Japanese is 音楽 (ongaku), combining the kanji 音 ("on" sound) with the

kanji 楽 ("gaku" Fun, comfort). [1]

Traditional Japanese music

There are countless types of traditional music in Japan. Two of the oldest are shōmyō, or Buddhist chanting, and gagaku, or orchestral court music, both of which date to the Nara and Heian periods.

Gagaku is a type of classical music that has been performed at the Imperial court since the Heian period. Kagurauta (神楽歌 ),

Azumaasobi(東遊 ) and Yamatouta (大和歌 ) are relatively indigenous repertories.

Tōgaku (唐楽 ) and komagaku originated from the Chinese Tang dynasty via the Korean peninsula. In addition, gagaku is divided into kangen (管弦 ) (instrumental

music) and bugaku ( 舞 楽 ) (dance accompanied by gagaku).

Originating as early as the 19th century are honkyoku ("original pieces"). These are solo shakuhachi pieces played by mendicant Fuke sect priests of Zen buddhism. These priests, called komusō ("emptiness monk"), played honkyoku for alms and enlightenment. The Fuke sect ceased to exist in the 19th century, but a verbal and written lineage of many honkyoku continues today, though this music is now often practiced in a concert or performance setting.

The samurai often listened to and performed in these musical activities, in their practices of enriching their lives and understanding.

Contents 1 Traditional Japanese music 2 Biwa hōshi, Heike biwa, mōsō, and goze 3 Taiko 4 Min'yō folk music 5 Okinawan folk music 6 Traditional instruments 7 Arrival of Western music

o 7.1 Western classical music o 7.2 Jazz o 7.3 Rock music

7.3.1 Punk rock / alternative 7.3.2 Japanese Hip-Hop 7.3.3 Roots music 7.3.4 Heavy metal

o 7.4 Latin, Reggae and Ska music o 7.5 Electronic Music o 7.6 Game music

8 References 9 See also

10 External links

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Noh is usually accompanied by music, uta (唄) and hayashi (囃子)

Musical theater also developed in Japan from an early age. Noh (能) or nō arose out of various more popular traditions and by the 14th century had developed into a highly refined art. It was brought to its peak by Kan'ami (1333-1384) and Zeami (1363?-1443). In particular Zeami provided the core of the Noh repertory and authored many treatises on the secrets of the Noh tradition (until the modern era these were not widely read).

Another form of Japanese theater is the puppet theater, often known as bunraku (文楽 ). This traditional puppet theater also has roots in popular traditions and flourished especially during Chonin in the Edo period (1600-1868). It is usually accompanied by recitation (various styles of jōruri) accompanied by shamisen music.

During the Edo period actors (after 1652 only male adults) performed the lively and popular kabuki theater. Kabuki, which could feature anything from historical plays to dance plays, was often accompanied by nagauta style of singing and shamisen performance.

Biwa hōshi, Heike biwa, mōsō, and goze

The biwa, a form of short-necked lute, was played by a group of itinerant performers (biwa hōshi) who used it to accompany stories. The most famous of these stories is The Tale of the Heike, a 19th century history of the triumph of the Minamoto clan over the Taira. Biwa hōshi began to organize themselves into a guild-like association (tōdō) for visually impaired men as early as the thirteenth century. This guild eventually controlled a large portion of the musical culture of Japan.

In addition, numerous smaller groups of itinerant blind musicians were formed especially in the Kyushu area. These musicians, known as mōsō (blind monk) toured their local areas and performed a variety of religious and semi-religious texts to purify households and bring about good health and good luck. They also maintained a repertory of secular genres. The biwa that they played was considerably smaller than the Heike biwa played by the biwa hōshi.

Lafcadio Hearn related in his book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things "Mimi-nashi Hoichi" (Hoichi the Earless), a Japanese ghost story about a blind biwa hōshi who performs "The Tale of the Heike"

Blind women, known as goze, also toured the land since the medieval era, singing songs and playing accompanying music on a lap drum. From the seventeenth century they often played the koto or the shamisen. Goze organizations sprung up throughout the land, and existed until recently in what is today Niigata prefecture.

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Taiko

Taiko performing

The taiko is a Japanese drum that comes in various sizes and is used to play a variety of musical genres. It has become particularly popular in recent years as the central instrument of percussion ensembles whose repertory is based on a variety of folk and festival music of the past. Such taiko music is played by large drum ensembles called kumi-daiko.

Its origins are uncertain, but can be sketched out as far back as the 6th and 7th centuries, when a clay figure of a drummer indicates its existence. China influences followed, but the instrument and its music remained uniquely Japanese.[2] Taiko drums during this period were used during battle to intimidate the enemy and to communicate commands. Taiko continue to be used in the religious music of Buddhism and Shintō. In the past players were holy men, who played only at special occasions and in small groups, but in time secular men (rarely women) also played the taiko in semi-religious festivals such as the bon dance.

Modern ensemble taiko is said to have been invented by Daihachi Oguchi in 1951. A jazz drummer, Oguchi incorporated his musical background into large ensembles, which he had also designed. His energetic style made his group popular throughout Japan, and made the Hokuriku region a center for taiko music. Musicians to arise from this wave of popularity included Sukeroku Daiko and his bandmate Seido Kobayashi. 1969 saw a group called Za Ondekoza founded by Tagayasu Den; Za Ondekoza gathered together young performers who innovated a new roots revival version of taiko, which was used as a way of life in communal lifestyles. During the 1970s, the Japanese government allocated funds to preserve Japanese culture, and many community taiko groups were formed. Later in the century, taiko groups spread across the world, especially to the United States. The video game Taiko Drum Master is based around taiko. One example of a modern Taiko band is GOCOO.

Min'yō folk music

Geisha with her shamisen, 1904

Japanese folk songs (min'yō) can be grouped and classified in many ways but it is often convenient to think of four main categories: work songs, religious songs (such as sato kagura, a form of Shintoist

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music), songs used for gatherings such as weddings, funerals, and festivals (matsuri, especially Obon), and children's songs (warabe uta).

In min'yō, singers are typically accompanied by the three-stringed lute known as the shamisen, taiko drums, and a bamboo flute called shakuhachi. Other instruments that could accompany are a transverse flute known as the shinobue, a bell known as kane, a hand drum called the tsuzumi, and/or a 13-stringed zither known as the koto. In Okinawa, the main instrument is the sanshin. These are traditional Japanese instruments, but modern instrumentation, such as electric guitars and synthesizers, is also used in this day and age, when enka singers cover traditional min'yō songs (Enka being a Japanese music genre all its own).

Terms often heard when speaking about min'yō are ondo, bushi, bon uta, and komori uta. An ondo generally describes any folk song with a distinctive swing that may be heard as 2/4 time rhythm (though performers usually do not group beats). The typical folk song heard at Obon festival dances will most likely be an ondo. A fushi is a song with a distinctive melody. Its very name, which is pronounced "bushi" in compounds, means "melody" or "rhythm." The word is rarely used on its own, but is usually prefixed by a term referring to occupation, location, personal name or the like. Bon uta, as the name describes, are songs for Obon, the lantern festival of the dead. Komori uta are children's lullabies. The names of min'yo songs often include descriptive term, usually at the end. For example: Tokyo Ondo, Kushimoto Bushi, Hokkai Bon Uta, and Itsuki no Komoriuta.

Many of these songs include extra stress on certain syllables as well as pitched shouts (kakegoe). Kakegoe are generally shouts of cheer but in min'yō, they are often included as parts of choruses. There are many kakegoe, though they vary from region to region. In Okinawa Min'yō, for example, one will hear the common "ha iya sasa!" In mainland Japan, however, one will be more likely to hear "a yoisho!," "sate!," or "a sore!" Others are "a donto koi!," and "dokoisho!"

Recently a guild-based system known as the iemoto system has been applied to some forms of min'yō; it is called. This system was originally developed for transmitting classical genres such as nagauta, shakuhachi, or koto music, but since it proved profitable to teachers and was supported by students who wished to obtain certificates of proficiency and artist's names continues to spread to genres such as min'yō, Tsugaru-jamisen and other forms of music that were traditionally transmitted more informally. Today some min'yō are passed on in such pseudo-family organizations and long apprenticeships are common.

Okinawan folk music

Umui, religious songs, shima uta, dance songs, and, especially katcharsee, lively celebratory music, were all popular.

Okinawan folk music varies from mainland Japanese folk music in several ways.

First, Okinawan folk music is often accompanied by the sanshin whereas in mainland Japan, the shamisen accompanies instead. Other Okinawan instruments include the Sanba (which produce a clicking sound similar to that of castanets) and a sharp bird whistle.

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Second, tonality. A pentatonic scale, which coincides with the major pentatonic scale of Western musical disciplines, is often heard in min'yō from the main islands of Japan. In this pentatonic scale the subdominant and leading tone (scale degrees 4 and 7 of the Western major scale) are omitted, resulting in a musical scale with no half-steps between each note. (Do, Re, Mi, So, La in solfeggio, or scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6) Okinawan min'yō, however, is characterized by scales that include the half-steps omitted in the aforementioned pentatonic scale, when analyzed in the Western discipline of music. In fact, the most common scale used in Okinawan min'yō includes scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7.

Traditional instruments

Biwa (琵琶)

Hichiriki (篳篥) 

Hocchiku (法竹)

Hyoshigi (拍子木)

Kane (鐘)

Kakko (鞨鼓)

Kokyū (胡弓)

Koto (琴)

Niko (二胡)

Okawa (AKA Ōtsuzumi) (大鼓)

Ryūteki (竜笛)

Sanshin (三線)

Shakuhachi (bamboo flute) (尺八)

Shamisen  (三味線)

Shime-Daiko (締太鼓)

Shinobue (篠笛)

Shō (笙)

Suikinkutsu (water zither) (水琴窟)

Taiko (i.e. Wadaiko)太鼓~和太鼓

Tsuzumi (鼓)(AKA Kotsuzumi)

Arrival of Western music

After the Meiji Restoration introduced Western musical instruction, a bureaucrat named Izawa Shuji compiled songs like "Auld Lang Syne" and commissioned songs using a pentatonic melody. Western music, especially military marches, soon became popular in Japan. Two major forms of music that developed during this period were shoka, which was composed to bring western music to schools, and gunka, which are military marches with some Japanese elements.

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As Japan moved towards representative democracy in the late 19th century, leaders hired singers to sell copies of songs that aired their messages, since the leaders themselves were usually prohibited from speaking in public. This developed into a form of ballad called enka, which became quite popular in the 20th century, though its popularity has waned since the 1970s and enjoys little favour with contemporary youth. Famous enka singers include Misora Hibari and Ikuzo Yoshi. Also at the end of the 19th century, an Osakan form of streetcorner singing became popular; this was called ryūkōka. This included the first two Japanese stars, Yoshida Naramura and Tochuken Kumoemon.

Westernized pop music is called kayōkyoku, which is said to have and first appeared in a dramatization of Resurrection by Tolstoy, sung by Matsui Samako. The song became a hit among enka singers, and was one of the first major best-selling records in Japan. Kayōkyoku became a major industry, especially after the arrival of superstar Misora Hibari.

Later, in the 1950s, tango and other kinds of Latin music, especially Cuban music, became very popular in Japan. A distinctively Japanese form of tango called dodompa also developed. Kayōkyoku became associated entirely with traditional Japanese structures, while more Western-style music was called Japanese pops. In the 1960s, Japanese bands imitated The Beatles, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, along with other Appalachian folk music, psychedelic rock, mod and similar genres; this was called Group Sounds.

Since then, bubblegum pop and J-Pop have become some of the best-selling forms of music, and are often used in films and television, especially in Japanese animation. The rise of disposable pop has been linked with the popularity of karaoke, leading to much criticism that it is consumerist and shallow. For example, Kazufumi Miyazawa of The Boom, claims "I hate that buy, listen, and throw away and sing at a karaoke bar mentality."

Electronic pop music in Japan became a successful commodity with the Technopop craze of the late 70s and 80s, beginning with Yellow Magic Orchestra and solo albums of Ryuichi Sakamoto and Haruomi Hosono in 1978 before hitting popularity in 79/80. Influenced by disco, impressionistic and 20th century classical composition, jazz/fusion pop, new wave and technopop artists such as Kraftwerk and Telex, these artists were commercial yet uncompromising; Ryuichi Sakamoto claims that "to me, making pop music is not a compromise because I enjoy doing it". The artists that fall under the banner of technopop in Japan are as loose as those that do so in the West, thus new wave bands such as P-Model and The Plastics fall under the category alongside the symphonic techno arrangements of Yellow Magic Orchestra. The popularity of this music meant that many popular artists of the 70s that previously were known for acoustic music turned to techno production, such as Taeko Onuki and Akiko Yano, and idol producers began employing electronic arrangements for new singers in the 80s. Today, newer artists such as Polysics pay explicit homage to this era of Japanese popular (and in some cases underground or difficult to obtain) music.

The late 90's brought the arrival of many new artists and groups, including Utada Hikaru, Every Little Thing, Ayumi Hamasaki, and Morning Musume. Utada Hikaru's debut album, "First Love", went on to be the highest-selling album in Japan with over 7 million copies sold, whereas

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Ayumi Hamasaki became Japan's top selling female and solo artist, and Morning Musume remains one of the most well-known girl groups in the Japanese pop music industry.

Western classical music

Western classical music has a strong presence in Japan and the country is one of the most important markets for this music tradition, with Toru Takemitsu (famous as well for his avant-garde works and movie scoring) being the best known. Also famous is the conductor Seiji Ozawa. Since 1999 the pianist Fujiko Hemming, who plays Liszt and Chopin, has been famous and her CDs have sold millions of copies. Japan is also home to the world's leading wind band, the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, and the largest music competition of any kind, the All-Japan Band Association national contest.

Jazz

From the 1930s on (except during World War II, when it was repressed as music of the enemy), jazz has had a strong presence in Japan. The country is an important market for the music, and it is common that recordings no longer available in the United States are available in Japan. A number of Japanese jazz musicians have achieved popularity abroad as well as at home. Musicians such as June (born in Japan) and Dan (third generation American born, of Hiroshima fame), and Sadao Watanabe have a large fan base outside their native country.

Lately, club jazz or nu-jazz has become popular with a growing number of young Japanese. Native DJs such as Ryota Nozaki (Jazztronik), the two brothers Okino Shuya and Okino Yoshihiro of Kyoto Jazz Massive, Toshio Matsuura (former member of the United Future Organization) and DJ Shundai Matsuo creator of the popular monthly DJ event, Creole in Beppu, Japan as well as nu-jazz artists, Sleepwalker, GrooveLine, and Soil & "Pimp" Sessions have brought great change to the traditional notions of jazz in Japan.

Today, some of the newer and very interesting bands include Ego-Wrappin' and Sakerock.

Rock music

Group Sounds (G.S.) is a genre of Japanese rock music that was popular in the mid to late 1960s. The Tigers was the most popular G.S. bands in the era. Later, some of the members of The Tigers, The Tempters and The Spiders formed the first Japanese supergroup Pyg. Homegrown Japanese country rock had developed by the late 1960s. Artists like Happy End are considered to have virtually developed the genre. During the 1970s, it grew more popular. The Okinawan band Champloose, along with Carol, RC Succession and Shinji Harada were especially famous and helped define the genre's sound.

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In the 1980s, the Boøwy became the biggest band in Japanese rock's history, and inspired alternative rock bands like Shonen Knife & the Boredoms and Tama & Little Creatures as well as more meanstream bands as Glay. Most influentially, the 1980s spawned Yellow Magic Orchestra, which was inspired by developing electronic music, led by Haruomi Hosono. In 1980, Huruoma and Ry Cooder, an American musician, collaborated on a rock album with Shoukichi Kina, driving force behind the aforementioned Okinawan band Champloose. They were followed by Sandii & the Sunsetz, who further mixed Japanese and Okinawan influences. Also during the 80's, Japanese rock bands gave birth to the movement known as visual kei, represented during its history by bands like Buck-Tick, X Japan, Luna Sea, , Malice Mizer and many others, some of which experienced success in the recent years.

In the 90's rock bands such as Glay, Luna Sea and L'Arc~en~Ciel, which are often considered visual kei or related to this genre, as well as bands like B'z and Mr. Children achieved great commercial success, some of them establishing marks in Japanese music history. While B'z is the #1 best selling act in Japanese music since Oricon started to count, followed by Mr. Children, Glay was arguably the most massively popular band in the '90s.[3] In 1999 the band played for a crowd of 200,000, the most attended single concert ever held in Japan. [4] Though the rock scene in the 2000s is not as strong, newer bands as Bump of Chicken, Remioromen, UVERworld and Orange Range, which are considered rock bands, although the latter also does hip hop, have achieved success. Established bands as Glay, L'Ar~en~Ciel, B'z and Mr. Children, also continue to top charts, though B'z and Mr. Children are the only bands to maintain a high standards of their sales along the years.

Japanese rock has a vibrant underground rock scene, best known internationally for noise rock bands such as Boredoms and Melt Banana, as well as stoner rock bands such as Boris. More conventional indie rock artists such as Eastern Youth, The Band Apart and Number Girl have found some mainstream success in Japan, but relatively little recognition outside of their home country.

Punk rock / alternative

Early examples of punk rock / no wave in Japan include The SS, The Star Club, The Stalin, INU, Gaseneta, Lizard (who were produced by the Stranglers) and Friction (whose guitarist Reck had previously played with Teenage Jesus and the Jerks before returning to Tokyo). The early punk scene was immortalised on film by Sogo Ishii, who directed the 1982 film Burst City featuring a cast of punk bands/musicians and also filmed videos for The Stalin. In the 80s, hardcore bands such as G.I.S.M, Gauze, Confuse, Lip Cream and Systematic Death began appearing, some incorporating crossover elements. The independent scene also included a diverse number of alternative / post-punk / new wave artists such as Aburadako, P-Model, Uchoten, Auto-Mod, Buck-Tick, La-ppisch, Guernica and Yapoos (both of which featured Jun Togawa), G-Schmitt, Totsuzen Danball and Jagatara, along with noise/industrial bands such as Hijokaidan and Hanatarashi.

During the late nineties and early 2000s bands like Hi-Standard, Hawaiian6, Snail Ramp, Garlic Boys, Husking Bee, Nicotine and Going Steady brought Japanese punk to new heights.

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Later examples of Japanese alternative bands are Ellegarden, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, The Blue Hearts, Shonen Knife, Asian Kung-Fu Generation and Maximum the Hormone.

Another subgenre is characterized by highly technical, yet dissonant, instrumentals. The vocal style runs the gamut from J-Pop style, to incoherent screeching, to traditional Japanese style singing. Lyrics may be generally nonsensical and random. Their visual style also reflects this and may run to the extremes in Visual Kei bands. This style seems to be a conscious rejection of the old Japanese proverb, "The nail that sticks out will be hammered down." When their culture prides itself on conformity and harmony, these artists strive to create dissonance and attract the wrong kind of attention. This is relatively new genre, starting in the late 1990s and just now getting its voice heard. Notable bands in this subgenre include: Antic Cafe, Limited Express (has gone?), Miyavi, Dir en grey, Alice Nine, GazettE, Peaches55, Hyde, Musyaburui and Peelander-Z.

Japanese Hip-Hop

Hip-hop is a newer form of music on the Japanese music scene. Many felt it was a trend that would immediately pass. However, the genre has lasted for many years and is still thriving. In fact, rappers in Japan did not achieve the success of hip-hop artists in other countries until the late 1980s. This was mainly due to the music world's belief that "Japanese sentences were not capable of forming the rhyming effect that was contained in American rappers' songs." [5] There is a certain, well-defined structure to the music industry called "The Pyramid Structure of a Music Scene". As Ian Condry notes, "viewing a music scene in terms of a pyramid provides a more nuanced understanding of how to interpret the significance of different levels and kinds of success." [6] The levels are as follows (from lowest to highest): fans and potential artists, performing artists, recording artists (indies), major label artists, and mega-hit stars. These different levels can be clearly seen at a genba, or nightclub. Different "families" of rappers perform on stage. A family is essentially a collection of rap groups that are usually headed by one of the more famous Tokyo acts, which also include a number of proteges. [7] They are important because they are "the key to understanding stylistic differences between groups." [8]

Hip-hop fans in the audience are the ones in control of the night club. They are the judges who determine the winners in rap battles on stage. An example of this can be seen with the battle between rap artists Dabo (a major label artist) and Kan (an indie artist). Kan challenged Dabo to a battle on stage while Dabo was mid-performance. Another important part of night clubs was displayed at this time. It showed "the openness of the scene and the fluidity of boundaries in clubs." [9] Both artists did a cappella freestyle, but in the end, the audience showed their approval for Dabo.

Roots music

In the late 1980s, roots bands like Shang Shang Typhoon and The Boom became popular. Okinawan roots bands like Nenes and Kina were also commercially and critically successful. This led to the second wave of Okinawan music, led by the sudden success of Rinkenband. A new wave of bands followed, including the comebacks of Champluse and Kina, as led by Kikusuimaru Kawachiya; very similar to kawachi ondo is Tadamaru Sakuragawa's goshu ondo.

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Heavy metal

Japan is known for being a successful area for metal bands touring around the world and as a result, many live albums are recorded in Japan. Some notable examples are Deep Purple's Made In Japan, Blind Guardian's Tokyo Tales, Children Of Bodom's Tokyo Warhearts and Ozzy Osbourne's Live At Budokan.

The most popular metal genre in Japan is Neo-classical metal and Power metal. Bands such as Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica, Skylark, Angra, Firewind, and Sinergy have had major success in Japan. Japanese Neo-classical bands also had success among international Neo-classical fans with Concerto Moon and Ark Storm being the leading bands.

Speed metal, Melodic death metal and Doom metal also have followings. Many of the older Japanese metal bands (1980's to 1990's) are speed metal due to the success of X Japan. Extreme metal is usually treated as an underground form of music in Japan. Notable bands are Blood Stain Child, Church Of Misery and Sigh.

Loudness is the most successful Japanese heavy metal band outside Japan. Their 6th album Lightning Strikes peaked at #64 on the Billboard 200.

Latin, Reggae and Ska music

See J-ska Other forms of music, from Indonesia, Jamaica and elsewhere, were assimilated. African soukous and Latin music was popular as was Jamaican reggae and ska, exemplified by Mute Beat, Home Grown and Ska Flames, Determinations, and Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra.

Electronic Music

In 2004,an independent music producer from south America released an electronic album called The Kyoto Connection (a fusion of hypnotic ambient textures with traditional Japanese sounds); under a Creative Commons License. Two years later, "The Second Voyage" was released to the public. Both albums are still available for download from the Web.

Game music

When the first electronic games were sold, they only had rudimentary sound chips with which to produce music. As the technology advanced. the quality of sound and music these game machines could produce increased dramatically. The first game to take credit for its music was Xevious, also noteworthy for its deeply (at that time) constructed stories. Though many games have had beautiful music to accompany their gameplay, one of the most important games in the history of the video game music is Dragon Quest. Koichi Sugiyama, a composer who was known for his music for various anime and TV shows, including Cyborg 009 and a feature film of Godzilla vs. Biollante, got involved in the project out of the pure curiosity and proved that games can have serious soundtracks. Until his involvement, music and sounds were often neglected in the development of video games and programmers with little musical knowledge were forced to write the soundtracks as well. Undaunted by technological limits, Sugiyama

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worked with only 8 part polyphony to create a soundtrack that would not tire the player despite hours and hours of gameplay.

Another well-known author of video game music is Nobuo Uematsu of Mistwalker. Even Uematsu's earlier compositions for the game series, Final Fantasy, on Famicom (Nintendo Entertainment System in America) are being arranged for full orchestral score. In 2003, he even took his rock-based tunes from their original MIDI format and created The Black Mages.

Yasunori Mitsuda is a highly known composer of such games as Xenogears, Xenosaga Episode I, Chrono Cross, and Chrono Trigger.

Koji Kondo, the main composer for Nintendo, is also prominent on the Japanese game music scene. He is best-known for the Zelda and Mario themes.

The techno/trance music production group I've Sound has made a name for themselves first by making themes for eroge computer games, and then by breaking into the anime scene by composing themes for them. Unlike others, this group was able to find fans in other parts of the world through their eroge and anime themes.

Today, game soundtracks are sold on CD. Famous singers like Utada Hikaru sometimes sing songs for games as well, and this is also seen as a way for singers to make a names for themselves.

References

1. ̂ Clewley, pg. 143 2. ̂ History of Taiko [1] "鼓と太鼓のながれ" - 中国の唐からわが国に入ってきたいろんな太鼓が、時代と共にどのように変遷してきたかを各種の資料からまとめると、次のようになる。

3. ̂ "The Day the Phones Died". Retrieved on 2008-05-23. 4. ̂ "Barks" (in Japanese). Retrieved on 2008-05-23. 5. ̂ Kinney, Caleb. "Hip-hop influences Japanese Culture.

http://www.lightonline.org/articles/chiphopjapan.html 6. ̂ Condry, Ian. "Hip-Hop Japan". Durham and London, Duke University Press, 102. 7. ̂ Condry, Ian. "A History of Japanese Hip-Hop: Street Dance, Club Scene, Pop Market."

In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA, 237, Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2001.

8. ̂ Condry, Ian . "A History of Japanese Hip-Hop: Street Dance, Club Scene, Pop Market." In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA, 237. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2001.

9. ̂ Condry, Ian. "Hip-Hop Japan". Durham and London, Duke University Press, 144.

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Music of Korea

Traditional Korean music includes both the folk and court music styles of the Korean people.

Introduction

Korean music is based on Buddhist and native shamanistic beliefs. Buddhist and shamanistic dancing, and shamanistic drum music, are extant, as is a melodic, dance music called sinawi.

Traditional Korean music can be divided into at least four types: courtly, aristocratic, scholarly, and religious.

Folk Music

Korean folk music is varied and complex, but all forms maintain a set of rhythms (called Jangdan) and a loosely defined set of melodic modes.

Because the folk songs of various areas are categorized under Dongbu folk songs, their vocal styles and modes are diverse. Therefore, currently scholars are attempting to categorize the Dongbu folk songs further based on different musical features. These songs are mostly simple and bright. Namdo folk songs are those of Jeolla Province and a part of Chungcheong Province. While the folk songs of other regions are mostly musically simple, the folk songs of the Namdo region, where the famous musical genres pansori and sanjo were created, are rich and dramatic. Some Namdo folk songs are used in pansori or developed by professional singers and are included as part of their repertories. Jeju folk songs are sung on the Jeju Island. They are more abundant in number than any other regional folk songs, and approximately 1600 songs are transmitted today. Jeju folk songs are characterized by their simple and unique melodic lines and rich texts.

Pansori

Pansori is a one-man operatic form accompanied by a barrel headed drum. The singer executes dialogue and narration, acting and singing. The performance of a complete Pansori takes 4-8

Contents

1 Introduction 2 Folk Music

o 2.1 Pansori o 2.2 Nong-ak o 2.3 Sanjo

3 Court music o 3.1 Aak o 3.2 Dang-ak o 3.3 Hyang-ak

4 Aristocratic chamber music 5 Traditional instruments 6 References 7 See also

8 External links

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hours. It requires a heavy hoarse vocal timbre like that used for any other Korean vocal Music. It is obtained through long training including shouting in remote areas until one develops a hoarse throat condition. The Pansori singer usually stands on performing area holding a fan and a handkerchief in each hand as symbolic props. The drummer provides the required rhythmic patterns and also inspires the singer by providing exclamations in such a way that there is a link between the music of the singer and the drummer.

Nong-ak

Nongak

Nongak is a rural form of percussion music, typically played by twenty to thirty performers. A smaller band version of nongak became very popular in Korea in the late 1970s, and some bands, like Samul Nori, even found some international

success.

Sanjo

Sanjo is played without a pause in faster tempos. The tempos increases in each movement. The general style of the sanjo is marked by slides in slow movements and rhythmic complexity in faster movements. Sanjo is entirely instrumental music that shifts rhythms and melodic modes during the song. Instruments include the changgo drum set against a melodic instrument, such as the gayageum or ajaeng. Famous practitioners include Kim Chukp'a, Yi Saenggang and Hwang Byungki.

Court music

Korean court music preserved to date can be traced to the beginning of the Choson Dynasty in 1392. It is now rare, except for government sponsored organizations like the The National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts.

There are three types of court music.

One is called Aak, and is an imported form of Chinese ritual music, and another is a pure Korean form called Hyang-ak; the last is a combination of Chinese and Korean influences, and is called Dang-ak.

Aak

Aak was brought to Korea in 1116, and very popular for a time before dying out. It was revived in 1430, based on a reconstruction of older melodies. The music is now highly specialized, and

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uses just two different surviving melodies, and is played only at certain very rare concerts, such as the Sacrifice to Confucius in Seoul.

Dang-ak

Modern dangak, like aak, is rarely practiced. Only two short pieces are known; they are Springtime in Luoyang and Pacing the Void.

Hyang-ak

By far the most extant form of Korean court music today, hyangak includes a sort of oboe called a piri and various kinds of stringed instruments.

Aristocratic chamber music

Originally designed for upper-class rulers, to be enjoyed informally, chongak is often entirely instrumental, usually an ensemble playing one of nine suites that are collectively called Yongsan Hwesang. Vocals are mainly sung in a style called kagok, which is for mixed male and female singers and is accompanied by a variety of instruments.

Traditional instruments

Bells and Piri.

Traditional Korean instruments can be broadly divided into three groups: string, wind and percussion instruments.

The 12-string zither (gayageum) and geomungo (six-string plucked zither) are part of the string fold instruments. The haegum (two-string vertical fiddle) and the ajaeng (seven-string zither) is part of the string T'ang. Court string music also included use of the seven-string zither and the 25-string zither.

The daegeum (large transverse flute), piri (cylindrical oboe) and grass flute are all called wind folk. Wind T'ang includes the Chinese oboe, vertical flute and hojok or taepyongso (shawm). The saenghwang (mouth organ), panpipes, hun (ocarina), flute with mouthpiece, danso (small-notch vertical flute), and flute are wind court instruments.

Percussion folk instruments include jing (large hanging gong), kkwaenggwari (hand-held gong), buk (barrel drum), janggu (hourglass drum). The bak (clapper) and the janggu (hourglass drum) are the percussion T'ang instruments. Percussion court includes the pyeongjong (bronze bells),

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pyeongyeong (stone chimes), chuk (square wooden box with mallet)and eo (tiger-shaped scraper).

References

Provine, Rob, Okon Hwang, and Andy Kershaw (2000). "Our Life Is Precisely a Song". In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific , pp 160-169. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0.

Korean Cultural Insights. "Traditional Arts". Republic of Korea. p 27. Korea Tourism Organization, 2007.

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Music of MalaysiaMalaysian music is influenced by neighboring Indonesian and Thai forms, as well as Portuguese, Filipino and Chinese styles (Munan, 175).

Contents

1 Traditional music 2 Pop music

o 2.1 Pop Yeh-yeh o 2.2 Changes in musical tastes o 2.3 Islam-influenced pop o 2.4 Underground music scene o 2.5 1990s-present

3 Underground music o 3.1 Terengganu Punk: The Origins of Malaysian Punk Rock

4 Chinese music 5 Indian Music 6 Jazz, classical, and world music 7 Contemporary music 8 See also 9 External links

10 References

Traditional music

The Malays of Kelantan and Terengganu are culturally linked to peoples from the South China Sea area, and are quite different from the West Coast of Malaya. The martial art of silat which is original from Indonesia is also popular in Malaysia, while essentially still important as a branch of the self defence form. Similar to tai chi, though of independent origin, it is a mix of martial arts, dance and music typically accompanied by gongs, drums and Indian oboes.

The natives of the Malay Peninsula played in small ensembles called kertok, which is swift and rhythmic xylophone music. Ghazals from Arabia are popular in the markets and malls of Kuala Lumpur and Johor, and stars like Kamariah Noor are very successful.

In Malacca, ronggeng is the dominant form of folk music. It played with a violin, drums, button accordion and a gong instrument from Indonesia.

Arabic-derived zapin music and dance is popular throughout Malaysia, and is usually accompanied by a gambus and some drums. Another style, Dondang Sayang is slow and intense; it mixes influences from China, India, Arabs and Portugal with traditional elements.

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Pop music

Malaysia's pop music scene developed from traditional asli (pure) music popularized in the 1920s and 1930s by Bangsawan troupes. These troupes are in fact a type of Malaysia opera influenced by Indian opera at first known as Wayang Pasir (Persia) which was started by rich Persians residing in India. They portrayed stories from diverse groups such as Indian, Western, Islamic, Chinese, Indonesian and Malay. Music, dance, acting with costumes are used in performance depending on the stories told. The musicians were mostly local Malays, Filipinos and Guanis (descendants from Gua in India).

One of the earliest modern Malay pop songs was "Tudung Periok", sung by Momo Latif, who recorded the song as early as 1930. In the 1950s P.Ramlee became the most popular Malay singer and composer with a range of slow ballads such as "Azizah", "Dendang Perantau" and the evergreen "Di Mana Kan Ku Cari Ganti".

Pop Yeh-yeh

In the 1960s, western-influenced Pop Yeh-yeh musicians came to the forefront. The Pop Yeh-yeh genre was popular in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei in the 1960s. Pop Yeh-yeh ruled the Malay music scene from 1965 to 1971. The music and fashion of The Beatles and other British rock and roll bands during the 1960s were a strong influence of the pop yeh-yeh bands and also generally influenced the Malay music industry of that period. In fact, the term "pop yeh-yeh" was taken from a line from the popular Beatles song, "She Loves You" ("she loves you, yeah-yeah-yeah".)This may not be a fact as the term "pop yeh yeh" was never used in the 1960s but much later when such music was revived in the 1980s by M. Shariff & The Zurah. It might be that music jounalists of the 1980s coined the term.

The first local song in the Pop Yeh-yeh vein was a song called "Suzanna", sung by M Osman in 1964. During the height of the pop yeh-yeh craze, a lot of the bands that were formed tried their best to mimic The Beatles in their look, songwriting and performance style. But still the musical style was taken from The Shadows and The Ventures. Usually the bands (also referred to as "kumpulan gitar rancak" - "rhythmic guitar bands" – or its accronym "kugiran") consists of four members who sings on top of handling the basic four musical instruments (two electric guitars, electric bass and drums). Most of the bands were formed in Singapore but also in Malaysia. The southern state of Johore and Singapore were the hub of activity for these bands. Most of the recordings were done in Singapore such as at the old EMI Studio at MacDonald's House in Orchard Road and many small studios owned privately.

The word "Kugiran" was first aired on Radio Singapore in the weekly Top Chart "Lagu Pujaan Minggu Ini" programme on Radio Singapore and hosted by the 1st Malay DJ M.I.A. (Mohd Ismail Abdullah). It was understood the accronym "Ku-Gi-Ran" was the idea of a subtitling officer, Daud Abdul Rahman. It is also said that it was P.Ramli who coined the term to differentiate it from the combo styled Malay bands of earlier times. "Kugiran" comprises 5 piece band members and a vocalist, one lead-guitarist, one bassist, one rhythm-guitarist, one organist (keyboardist)and a drummer.

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The formation and development of these kugiran's encouraged the establishment and existence of various recording companies in Singapore in the 1960s and a lot of these songs were recorded on vinyl and sold well commercially. Some of the singers who made their name during that period include M Osman, A Ramlie, Jeffrydin, Roziah Latiff & The Jayhawkers, Adnan Othman, Halim "Jandaku" Yatim, Afidah Es, J Kamisah, Siti Zaiton, J. Sham, A Rahman Onn, Hasnah Haron, J Kamisah, Fatimah M Amin, Asmah Atan, Orkid Abdullah, A. Remie, Zamzam, Salim I, Kassim Selamat, M Rahmat, A Karim Jais, M Ishak, Hussien Ismail, Jaafor O, A Halim, Azizah Mohamed, S Jibeng and L Ramlee. Other popular rock and pop bands of the period include The Rhythm Boys, The Siglap Five, The Hooks which featured A Romzi as their lead vocalist (they scored a hit with the song "Dendang Remaja"), Siglap Boys, Les Kafilas, Cliffters featuring Rikieno Bajuri, Impian Bateks featuring Rudyn Al-Haj with his popular number "Naik Kereta Ku" and acapella like "Oh Posmen", "Gadis Sekolah" etc, The Swallows featuring "La Aube", "Angkut-angkut Bilis" etc whose vocalist was Kassim Selamat and the EP was featured in a radio station in Germany. There, "La Aube" was in the German pop chart. Almost all the above mentioned artistes were Singaporeans. The most popular ones from the Malaysian side of the divide must include L. Ramli, Roziah Latiff & The Jayhawkers, J.Sham,Orkes Nirvana, The Sangam Boys and Les Flingers. The music and lyrics were usually composed by the bands themselves. The band leaders were also the producers of the albums of the period.

The golden age of pop yeh-yeh started to dwindle in 1971. Since the fall of the popularity of pop yeh-yeh, the center of the Malay music industry shifted up north from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. A lot of composers, songwriters, lyricists, singers, and producers started to gain foothold not only in Kuala Lumpur but also in other cities including Johor Bahru and Ipoh to grab the opportunity of the emerging and rapidly changing Malay music industry.

Changes in musical tastes

DJ Dave, Hail Amir and Uji Rashid introduced Hindustani-influenced music in the 1970s. Between the late 1970s and mid 1980s, the market for local recordings and artiste was in big demand, bands and musicians performing in clubs and pubs were contracted to record. This was the time when non Malay artistes, bands and business man ventured into the Malay music industry. Bands like Alley Cats, Discovery, Carefree and Chendrawaish took the lead to modernize Malaysian Pop music; solo singers like Sudirman, Sharifah Aini further push the music to its peak.

Before the mid 1980’s another genre of music appeared. This time it was slow rock, heavy metal, hard rock and the blues. Popular bands from the west like Scorpions, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Def Leppard were some of the major influences for these Malaysian bands. M. Nasir previously a Singaporean played a leading role in shaping rock music in Malaysia as a song writer and producer for a period of almost ten years. He produced local rock bands like Search and Wings and took them to their highest level of Malaysian rock music. Piracy in the form of duplicating cassettes and CDs became rampant and uncontrollable around this period as sales of these items soar which was supported by the country’s wave of economic success.

Between the mid 80’s and early 90’s, R&B and Pop music became the focus of the urban youngsters. This music was cosmopolitan and catered to a professional and educated crowd.In

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1985 Sheila Majid a singer groomed by engineer /producer Roslan Aziz made a debut album called dimensi baru which was financed and produced by Roslan Aziz himself. With a lovely mellow voice together with a bunch of creative musicians like Mac Chew and Jenny Chin both influenced by R&B, fusion and jazz achieved their dreams and set a new direction for many Malaysian R&B artistes to come.This was evidently clear when her second album EMOSI was released in Indonesia and earned the BEST R&B ALBUM in the prestigious BASF awards in 1986.This historical release has changed the facet of the music industry. In the mid 1990s,the 1 rap group 4U2C with 7 young boys was introduced by Zman Production and a producer mansenoi & mam rap and they had made a big hit in the market and received few gold and platinum and KRU a vocal group comprised of three brothers among others developed Malay rap and hip-hop.

Islam-influenced pop

In 1991, an environmental album recorded by Zainal Abidin, songs written by Mukhlis Nor and produced by Roslan Aziz was released. This was received very positively by the public and the international music scene especially in Asia. Around this time nasyid pop music which was a form of Islamic religious which utilized a vocal group and accompaniment of only percussions music entered the market. Developed by vocal groups like Raihan, Rabbani and Brothers, this music got a lot of support from the countryside and religious fans.

In 1996 a school girl by the name of Siti Nurhaliza from a rural town Termeloh in the state of Pahang released an album produced by a talented pop music producer named Adnan Abu Hassan. This album of Malay Pop genre was a huge success. She included different genres such as Malay pop, R&B and Malay Traditional music in her later albums with much success. This singer is now a singing sensation in the country.

Underground music scene

The Malaysian underground music scene (also known as the Malaysian independent or urban music scene, with the term "urban" introduced only in the late 90s) is an established localized underground culture within Malaysia. This is in opposition to mainstream music, which usually, in the Malaysian context, refers to artists with strong ties or are engaged in direct contract with fairly large recording companies, giving them a more commercial and popular image. Underground groups normally promote themselves by performing at lesser-known clubs or at places that need their music to attract a clientele.

Malaysian rock is quite popular locally and overseas, often because it's packed with tropical energy and fun reflected by modern Malaysian culture itself. Malaysian youth are typically into the punk-rock culture and is reflected by the music that they come out with. Main article Music of Malaysia. Punk Rock bands were originally from the Malaysian underground scene from the late 80's and early 90's which actually made a marker in the Malaysia music scene. Respectable bands like The Pilgrims, Carburetor Dung, The Bollocks, A.C.A.B and A.R.T were playing in the underground gig circuit 90's around Kuala Lumpur, sharing the same stage with other great bands playing different music genre. There was also the Spiral Kinetic Circus(indie rock), Koffin Kanser (Metal), Infectious Maggot(Grindcore), 24 Reason(Hardcore) and many. The Oi! scene

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were also successful back then with melodical street punk music by bands like A.C.A.B, The Official & Roots N Boots, with the smart look of the mods and skinheads. It was a great blend of music and a diverse of culture.Joe Kidd (Carburetor Dung) who was a journalist from Malaysia's The Sun newspaper wrote his column called 'Blasting Concept' which reviewed most of the records and demo released by D.I.Y bands in the 90's circa. There was also reviews of gigs and shows all around Malaysia. Joe Kidd now owns a D.I.Y shop called 'The Ricecooker' which is located in the heart of the Malaysian underground scene, Central Market.

Artists and musicians who are involved in the Malaysian underground scene were typically guitar-driven bands with inclination towards punk rock, hardcore, indie-pop, heavy metal, thrash metal, speed metal and death metal sub genre of rock music although there are a number of acts with differing musical influences such as hip-hop, electronica and dance music. The current rise of singer-songwriters in the acoustic or folk vein in the underground scene (also oft referred to as the "independent circuit") represents the rising diversity in the problematised definition of "underground music". The first wave of singer-songwriters who have established and gained reputation in this genre include Rafique Rashid, Meor Aziddin Yusof, Sherry and Kit Leee (now known as Antares). The 'new generation' singer-songwriters include Pete Teo, Shelley Leong, Azmyl Yunor, Jerome Kugan, Shanon Shah, Mei Chern and Tan Sei Hon.

Most of these musicians are independent, entirely or partially DIY-driven groups or bands who focus on creating, sharing and experiencing music, together and collectively. Most recordings they produce are funded by themselves rather than through corporate sponsorship, because of their creative differences with major recording companies for whom "the bottom line" is all that matters. Like all independent artists, those on the musical fringe generally insist on full artistic control over their music. They also tend to play both the roles of performers and organisers and generally receive little airplay despite encouraging crowd support.

They were also those in the scene who practically refused to play the mainstream music industry game due to the lack of transparency and fair-play in the dealings of the music companies, including one-sided and exploitative recording deals which they see as grossly unfair.

The underground scene in Malaysia used to be a strong and unified community, especially from its birth in the mid-80s to the mid-90s. Bands or acts of different persuasions, such as punk rock, hardcore, Oi!/street-rock, metal and ska usually performed together. The unity started to untangle and crack by 1996 when most hardcore punk bands then started to apply a more staunch anti-corporate and DIY ideals into their activities.

It was also the days when fascist and right-wing elements started to rear its head via gangs of "chaos punk" and some skinhead bands. Metal bands had also removed itself from the usual multi-genre gig circuit, preferring to play only with other metal bands. Anti-corporate DIY punk bands, with libertarian anarchist ideals also started to be on their own, cutting off all ties with the others; building their own network and starting small distros and labels. On the other hand, bands who were originally nurtured in the underground scene such as Butterfingers and OAG began to work with major label-affliated record companies; which was seen by some as a betrayal of the DIY underground spirit.

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This resulted in the break-up of the larger scene into smaller pockets which refused to acknowledge the other. The scene essentially split into two larger camps, on one hand the mainstream-friendly bands and the other, a deeper underground scene alienating themselves from the larger picture or any form of media exposure apart from their own fanzines.

1990s-present

By the late 1990’s with the internet easily available, downloading was the easiest and cheapest way to obtain recordings through mp3 files. Hardware CDs were also available in shops, illegal CD stalls and night markets. Priced at a quarter (1/4) of the original product price, CDs from major distributors and recording companies were no competition for these pirates. The market further deteriorated with the arrival of hardware such as mp3 players and mobile phones with similar features.

The encouragement from the Malaysian government towards privatization of broadcasting stations received tremendous support from the public. An array of new radio and TV stations were built to facilitate public interest in entertainment, news, movies and information.

It was during the early 2000 that introduction to a new form of entertainment called “Reality Shows” was able to revive public interest in music entertainment. Shows such as Akademi Fantasia and Malaysian Idol allowed the public to choose their own stars by sending SMS through hand phones or computers at the convenience of the audiences. This excited the public because they were involved in the making of a celebrity and could choose who they wanted instead of having record companies create & distribute artistes.

Research implied that comparing from the past decades many other forms of entertainment such as DVDs, Cable TVs, increased radio programmes and change of life styles has affected the musical interest of the public towards local artistes. However, this is still not representative of the active live music circuit with performers who compose and perform their own materials. The rising tide of commercialisation and product placements using musicians and popular artists casts a giant shadow over the local independent music (or "underground") scene and gives a skewed perception of what the local music "industry" represents instead of the actual voice of local musicians who still actively perform at pubs, gig venues and cafes.

From reality shows, stars such as Vincent Chong, Jaclyn Victor, Daniel Lee Chee Hun and Mawi are able to command larger volumes of CD sales compared to non-reality-show artistes. This diversity personifies the wide-ranging field of popular music in Malaysia and the unpredictability of Malaysian consumers towards popular cultural products.

Underground music

The Malaysian underground music scene (also known as the Malaysian independent or urban music scene, with the term "urban" introduced only in the late 90s) is an established localized underground culture within Malaysia. This is as opposed to mainstream music, which usually, in the Malaysian context refers to artists with strong ties or are engaged in direct contract with fairly large recording companies, giving them a more commercial and popular image.

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Artists and musicians who are involved in the Malaysian underground scene are usually guitar-driven bands with inclination towards rock music, although there are a number of acts with differing musical influences such as Folk, hip-hop, electronica and dance music.

One of the other characteristics of this local scene is that most of the musicians are independent, entirely or partially DIY-driven groups or bands who emphasise on creating, sharing and experiencing music, together and collectively. Materials that they produce, such as albums, demos or EPs will usually be independent works, most of the time funded entirely or to some extend by themselves. Also, small musical performances known as gigs are organized regularly showcasing these bands.

The state of Terengganu was known as the Malaysian capital of punk rock throughout late 1979 and the 1980s, but there were no bands then as the punks were too poor to afford the equipment. The scene then was more a covergence of pioneering punk rockers trading pre-recorded music and fanzines acquired from pen-pals and friends from overseas while dabbling in home-made DIY punk fashion. This early Malaysian punks started in 1978/79. The early punk scene in Terengganu hit its peak in the early 80s before gradually dying out in the mid 90s. A new generation picked it up again in the late-90s with bands, DIY labels and intermittent gigs.

The first rumblings of a bonafide "underground music scene", as in real bands and original recordings. in Malaysia actually started in the city of Kuala Lumpur in the mid-80s with bands such as Punisher, Nemesis, Rator etc. These pioneers paved the way for a huge explosion of bands in the early 90s and it continues today with bands and acts of many different permutations, from political, anarcho punk (Carburetor Dung, Relationsheep, Mass Separation, The Bollocks, FSF, Pusher, The Mindless Show, Injustice System Acceptance etc.), streetpunk/oi! (A.C.A.B., The Official, Roots 'N' Boots, etc.), hardcore (Chronic Mass, Basic Rights, Disaster Funhouse,N.E.T., Reprisal, Noisemonger, Cramp Mind, etc) Metal (Koffin Kanser,Sil-Khannaz) to experimental, avant-garde noise (Amid the Mimic, Maharajah Commission, Ta, Goh Lee Kwang, Eerie etc.) to singer-songwriters (Rafique Rashid, Pete Teo, Meor Aziddin Yusof, Azmyl Yunor, Jerome Kugan etc.) to Chinese indie (Moxuan, Lang Mang, KRMA, Nao etc.) to instrumental post-rock (Furniture, Before The Meltdown Sgt. Weener Arms etc.} to improvised/ eclectic music (The Experimental Musicians and Artists Co-operative Malaysia (EMACM)).

Lately, more than half of the underground gigs are coming from the hardcore scene with established bands (Cassandra, Love Me Butch, Second Combat, etc} leading the pack of uprising bands (H.A.N.D., Creamson, I Quit Antartika, etc.); and also from the burgeoning folk singer-songwriter scene with established performers such as Azmyl Yunor, Reza Salleh, and Mia Palencia playing an average two to three gigs a month, a prolific average by the independent or underground scene standard.

Terengganu Punk: The Origins of Malaysian Punk Rock

The first proper punk rock "scene" in Malaysia started in Terengganu in 1978/1979. It started in the small town of Dungun by a group of friends influenced by British music magazines such as NME, Melody Maker, Sounds, and Zig Zag, as well as their brothers and friends studying or living in the more modern West Coast cities who would pass them the magazines and music.

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By late 1979, almost every secondary school in the state had its own cliques of punk rockers. They would hang out on the weekends at the main bus station in the capital city of Kuala Terengganu, with the usual punk rock regalia (badges, studs, safety pins and such). Too poor to afford guitars or any other musical instruments, there never was an actual punk band but trading of tapes and zines were vigorous.

Most of the trading material came from friends studying overseas, friends living in the West Coast cities and also punk rockers from UK, Europe and US who were kind enough to send tapes and magazines for free. Irregular trips were made to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (and Georgetown, but rarely as it was too far) to dub punk rock records at the music stores or buy pirated tapes, the only source for good music those days.

Some fishing villages would have the most "punks" and thus became the center of activities. The main two villages were Kampung Mengabang Telipot (an hour north to the city) and Kampung Tanjung (right at the mouth of the city's river system). In Mengabang Telipot, there was a small punk community library laden with fanzines, magazines and music, which the kids would share. This library was actually a wooden cupboard situated at one of the punk rockers' houses, it was called as "logen".

The first Malaysian punk rock fanzine came out from this scene. It appeared in 1986 with the title of Huru Hara (meaning "chaos"); it was written in Terengganu slang by editor Mamat Hitam but never distributed on a large scale. The first fanzine to do that was Aedes, which lasted until 1996; the first punk bands to appear there were Mallaria and later The Stone Crows. Both put out one rehearsal/demo tape.

There was a lull in activity in the mid-80s for the Terengganu punk scene, but a resurgence of bands of different persuasions appeared by the late 80s and early 90s (sparked in part by the setting up of a larger Malaysian underground music scene based in Kuala Lumpur in 1987). By the mid 90s onwards, there were constantly new bands appearing in the state and as of 2007, there are still a lot of active punk-influenced bands such as Dirty Divider and The Goodnight Goodies.

Chinese music

The Hua Yue Tuan (華乐团), or "Modern Chinese Orchestra," is made up of a blend of western and traditional Chinese musical instruments. The music itself combines western polyphony with Chinese melodies and scales. Although the bulk of its repertoire consists of music imported from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, many local Chinese orchestras also regularly perform Malay folk tunes with various local composers making a definite effort to absorb elements of surrounding musical cultures, especially Malay, into their compositions. In Malaysia, Chinese orchestras exist nationwide in urban areas which have large concentrations of Chinese Malaysians. Sponsored largely by various Chinese organisations including schools and Buddhist societies, a typical orchestra consists of between 12 to 50 members.

The orchestra is usually made up of four sections:

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Bowed string instruments, consisting of:

erhu (二胡; range of three octaves; performs the role of the violin)

banhu (板胡; a high pitched fiddle with coconut sound box)

gaohu (高胡; pitch is higher than erhu)

zhonghu (中胡; tenor erhu, similar to viola)

gehu (革胡; like the cello)

bei-da-ge-hu (倍大革胡; like the double bass)

plucked strings comprising various sized lutes :

pipa (琵琶; highest pitch)

liu-yue-qin (柳月琴)

yueqin (月琴)

zhongruan (中阮)

daruan (大阮)

sanxian (三弦)

guzheng (古筝)

yangqin (扬琴)

the wind section consisting of:

dizi (笛子; transverse flutes)

xiao (箫; vertical flutes)

sheng (笙; mouth organ)

suona (唢呐; reed aerophone)

percussion section consisting of:

paigu (排鼓; drums)

taigu (太鼓; drums)

dabo (大钹; cymbals)

lo (锣; hand held tam-tam)

shih mian lo (十面锣; frame mounted tam-tam)

ling (铃; bell)

ma ling (马铃; 5 suspended bells)

shuang yin mu (双音木), bang zi (棒子) and mu yu (木鱼; wood blocks)

There is no lack of virtuoso performers in the Chinese classical tradition in Malaysia. Advanced training is however not presently available with most Malaysian virtuoso musicians obtaining

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their advanced training either in China or Singapore. Various professional and semi-professional Chinese orchestras are in existence. Malaysian western trained classical conductors are employed full time. Much of the music played is imported from China. There are however some accomplished Malaysian composers for this medium such as Saw Boon Kiat and Chew Hee Chiat.

New generations of Chinese singers are more into pop music. These talented composer/singers includes Eric Moo, Lee Sin Je, Fish Leong, Z Chen, Penny Tai and lately Daniel Lee.

Indian Music

Indian music is strongly associated with religious tradition and faith. As its origins in India, there are two systems of traditional or classical Indian music in Malaysia, viz. Carnatic Music and Hindustani Music. Since Tamils from South India are the predominant group among the Indian population in Malaysia, it is the South Indian carnatic music which predominates. Simply speaking, Hindustani classical music is more lyric-oriented, while Carnatic classical music emphasises musical structure.

Indian classical music as it is performed in Malaysia has remained true to its origin. There is practically no other cultural influence. Other than reflecting Indian life, the purpose of Indian classical music is to refine the soul.

The fundamental elements of carnatic music are raaga and taala. A raaga is a scale of notes, while the taala is the time-measure. A carnatic music concert usually starts with a composition with lyrical and passages in a particular raaga. This will be followed by a few major and subsequently some minor compositions.

In Malaysia, traditional or classical Indian music are studied and performed by Malaysians of Indian ethnic origin with material that still comes from India. Musical productions are mainly in the form of dance dramas incorporating instrumental ensemble, vocal music and dance. Musical instruments used in the performances are imported from India.

Jazz, classical, and world music

The 21st Century has witnessed the rapid rise of a variety of new musical trends, imported from different shores and strongly influenced by an urban elite hip to jazz-fusion and fringe music (classical revivals, ethnic-flavored folk, trance, and so on). Students who studied in Europe and the Americas began returning with a staunch passion for more progressive musical modalities.

Ethnic Music has also found a new and vigorous following, with world music festivals like the Rainforest World Music Festival, held annually since 1998 in a scenic open-air setting in Sarawak. The first Malaysian "ethnic fusion" group to play on this international platform was Akar Umbi - comprising Temuan ceremonial singer Minah Angong (1930–1999) and fringe musicians Antares (formerly Kit Leee)[1] and Rafique Rashid. Unfortunately, the charismatic Minah Angong (better known as Mak Minah) died just three weeks after winning over the hearts

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of a whole new audience at the RWMF 1999. This left Akar Umbi with only one posthumously released CD to its name ('Songs of the Dragon,' Magick River, 2002).

Private companies like Trident Entertainment *[1] have begun to invest in the production/distribution and promotion of the "ethnic fringe" in Malaysian music.

Petronas *[2], the national petro-chemical corporation responsible for the construction of the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (Petronas Philharmonic Hall), and statutory bodies like the Sarawak Tourism Board have contributed significantly to the development of a broader interest in jazz, classical, and world music amongst the new generation of Malaysians. Private institutions like the Temple of Fine Arts have also produced a steady flow of students skilled in the world music genre (though with a pronounced bias towards Hindustani & Carnatic musical traditions). The Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (Petronas Philhrmonic Hall), home to the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, has become a popular venue amongst the affluent new Malaysian middle class for quality acts encompassing jazz, classical, and world music concerts.

Malaysia can boast a handful of homegrown musicians who have achieved world class stature in jazz exposition (e.g., ace keyboardists Michael Veerapan and David Gomes; freestyle bassist Zailan Razak; versatile multi-instrumentalists and vocalists, The Solianos; and virtuoso drummer Lewis Pragasam). Mohar and Prabhu Ganesh, two master flautists with ethnic leanings, are Malaysian musicians who have begun to make waves abroad. Many of these innovators are ex-alumni of the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and the Juilliard School of Music in New York. The promise of even more exciting things to come can be seen in the emergence of youthful, ethnic-flavored percussion ensembles like the Aseana Percussion Unit (APU) and the Diplomats of Drum.

The Diplomats of Drum are relatively new to the music scene, but they are a performing band which lights up the stage at the click of a drumstick and always seem to work crowds into a partied frenzy. A promise of more to come!

Contemporary music

In the field of Malaysian contemporary music a number of composers have gained international recognition, for example award-winning composers Chong Kee Yong, Dr Tazul Izan Tajuddin, Yii Kah Hoe, Saidah Rastam, Adeline Wong and others, encompassing a diverse range of styles and aesthetics.

For example, at the cutting edge of the avant garde are Chong Kee Yong and Tazul Tajuddin. Yii Kah Hoe is slowly exploring a similar direction as a departure, or perhaps an enrichment, of his work with Chinese orchestral music, while pianist-composer Ng Chong Lim treads the ground between atonalism and aleatoric music based on the live interaction of more tonal fragments.

Pursuing a more accessible tonal language is the colourful and rhythmically vibrant music of Adeline Wong and Johan Othman, the latter combining a quasi minimalist approach with elements of Malaysian aesthetics tempered with jazzy undercurrents. Saidah Rastam

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experiments with jazz and atonalism in combination with ethnic Malaysian elements, and has even worked with reinventing Chinese Opera through atonal jazz. Ahmad Muriz Che Rose works with a more populist approach to Malay traditional instruments in a contemporary language through his work with the Petronas Performing Arts Group, Prabhu Ganesh fuses European Classical Music with undertones of North Indian Raagas, bringing back similar feelings explored by Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar in the early 90's through their venture Passages(BMG).

Since the turn of the new millennium Malaysian composers have begun to earn recognition and respect for their work, and increaded coverage and interest in the media has also helped to bring the efforts of serious composers to the foreground of musical activity in the country.

References

Munan, Heidi. "Music at the Crossroads". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 175-182. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0.

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Music of ThailandThailand music reflects it geographic position at the intersection of China, India, Indonesia and Cambodia, and reflects trade routes that have historically included Persia, Africa, Greece and Rome. Thai musical instruments are varied and reflect ancient influence from far afield - including the Klong Thap and Khim (Persian origin) Jakae (Indian origin), Klong Jin (Chinese origin) and Klong Kaek (Indonesian origin).

Though Thailand was never colonized by Western powers, pop music and other forms of European and American music have become extremely influential. The two most popular styles of traditional Thai music are luk thung and mor lam; the latter in particular has close affinities with the Music of Laos.

Aside from the Thai, ethnic minorities such as the Lao, Lawa, Hmong, Akha, Khmer, Lisu, Karen and Lahu peoples have retained traditional musical forms.

Classical music

Siamese theater group which performed in Berlin, Germany in 1900.

Thai classical music is synonymous with those stylized court ensembles and repertoires that emerged in its present form within the royal centers of Central

Thailand some 800 years ago. These ensembles, while being deeply influenced by Khmer and even older practices and repertoires from India, are today uniquely Thai expressions. While the three primary classical ensembles, the Piphat, Khruang Sai and Mahori differ in significant ways, they all share a basic instrumentation and theoretical approach. Each employ the small ching hand cymbals and the krap wooden sticks to mark the primary beat reference. Several kinds of small drums (klong) are employed in these ensembles to outline the basic rhythmic structure (natab) that is punctuated at the end by the striking of a suspended gong (mong). Seen in its most basic formulation, the classical Thai orchestras are very similar to the Cambodian (Khmer) pin peat and mahori ensembles, and structurally similar to other orchestras found within the wide-

Contents

1 Classical music 2 Piphat 3 Khruang Sai 4 Mahori 5 Traditional or folk

o 5.1 Luk thung o 5.2 Mor lam o 5.3 Kantrum

6 Pop and rock o 6.1 Pleng phua cheewit o 6.2 String

7 Indie 8 External links 9 See also

10 References

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spread Southeast Asian gong-chime musical culture, such as the large gamelan of Bali and Java, which most likely have their common roots in the diffusion of Vietnamese Dong-Son bronze drums beginning in the first century ACE.

Traditional Thai classical repertoire is anonymous, handed down through an oral tradition of performance in which the names of composers (if, indeed, pieces were historically created by single authors) are not known. However, since the beginning of the modern Bangkok period, composers' names have been known and, since around the turn of the century, many major composers have recorded their works in notation. Musicians, however, imagine these compositions and notations as generic forms which are realized in full in idiosyncratic variations and improvisations in the context of performance. While the composer Luang Pradit Phairau (1881–1954) used localized forms of cipher (number) notation, other composers such as Montri Tramote (1908–1995) used standard western staff notation. Several members of the Thai royal family have been deeply involved in composition, including King Prajatipok (Rama VII, 1883–1941) and King Bhumibol Adulyadej (1927–), whose compositions have been more often for jazz bands than classical Thai ensembles.

Classical Thai music is heterophonic - the instruments either play the melody or mark the form. There are no harmony instruments. Instrumentalists improvise idiomatically around the central melody. Rhythmically and metrically Thai music is steady in tempo, regular in pulse, divisive, in simple duple meter, without swing, with little syncopation (p.3, 39), and with the emphasis on the final beat of a measure or group of pulses and phrase (p.41), as opposed to the first as in European-influenced music. The Thai scale includes seven tempered notes, instead of a mixture of tones and semitones.

Piphat

The most common and iconic Thai classical music that symbolizes the dancing of the Thailand's legendary dragons, a midsized orchestra including two xylophones (ranat), an oboe (pi), barrel drums (klong) and two circular sets of tuned horizontal gong-chimes (kong wong). Piphat can be performed in either a loud outdoor style using hard mallets or in an indoor style using padded hammers. There are several types of piphat ensembles ranging in size and orchestration, each kind typically being associated with specific ceremonial purposes. The highly decorated piphat ensemble that features the ornately carved and painted semicircular vertical gong-chime is traditionally associated with the funeral and cremation ceremonies of the Mon ethnic group. Different versions of the piphat ensemble are employed to accompany specific forms of traditional Thai drama such as the large shadow puppet theater (nang yai) and the khon dance drama.

Khruang Sai

The Khruang Sai orchestra combines some of the percussion and wind instruments of the piphat with an expanded string section including the so duang (a high-pitched two-string bowed lute), the lower pitched solaw (bowed lute) and the three-string jhakhe (a plucked zither). In addition to these instruments are the klhui (vertical fipple flute) in several sizes and ranges, a goblet drum (than) and, occasionally, a small hammered Chinese dulcimer (khim). The khruang sai ensemble

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is primarily used for instrumental indoor performances and for accompanying the Thai hoon grabok (stick-puppet theater), a genre deeply influenced by Chinese puppetry styles. Accordingly, the addition of Chinese-sounding string instruments in the khruang sai ensemble is imagined, by the Thai, to be a reference to the probable Chinese origins of this theater form.

Mahori

The third major Thai classical ensemble is the Mahori, traditionally played by women in the courts of both Central Thailand and Cambodia. Historically the ensemble included smaller instruments more appropriate, it was thought, to the build of female performers. Today the ensemble employs regular sized instruments—a combination of instruments from both the Khruang Sai and Piphat ensembles but excluding the loud and rather shrill oboe. The ensemble, which is performed in three sizes—small, medium and large—includes the three-string so sam sai fiddle, a delicate-sounding, middle-range bowed lute with silk strings. Within the context of the Mahori ensemble, the so sam sai accompanies the vocalist, which plays a more prominent role in this ensemble than in any other classical Thai orchestra.

While Thai classical music was somewhat discouraged as being unmodern and backward looking during Thailand's aggressively nationalistic modernization policies of mid-20th century, the classical arts have benefited recently from increased governmental sponsorship and funding as well as popular interest as expressed in such films as Homrong: The Overture (2003), a popular fictionalized biography of a famous traditional xylophone (ranat ek) performer.

Traditional or folk

Luk thung

Luk thung, or Thai country music, developed in the mid-20th century to reflect daily trials and tribulations of rural Thais. Ponsri Woranut and Suraphol Sombatcharoen were the genre's first big stars, incorporating influences from, Asia. Many of the most popular artists have come from the central city of Suphanburi, including megastar Pumpuang Duangjan, who pioneered electronic luk thung.

Mor lam

Khene player wearing sarong and pakama at the Ubon Candle Festival

Mor lam is the dominant folk music of Thailand's north-eastern Isan region, which has a mainly Lao population. It has much in common with luk thung, such as its focus on the life of the rural poor. It is characterized by rapid-fire, rhythmic vocals and a funk feel to the percussion. The lead singer, also called a mor lam, is most often accompanied by the khaen.

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There are about fifteen regional variations of mor lam, plus modern versions such as mor lam sing. Some conservatives have criticized these as the commercialization of traditional cultures.

Kantrum

The people of Isan are also known for kantrum, which is much less famous than mor lam. Kantrum is played by Khmer living near the border with Cambodia. It is a swift and very traditional dance music. In its purest form, cho-kantrum, singers, percussion and tro (a type of fiddle) dominate the sound. A more modern form using electric instrumentation arose in the mid-1980s. Later in the decade, Darkie became the genre's biggest star, and he crossed into mainstream markets in the later 1990s.

Pop and rock

By the 1930s, however, Western classical music, showtunes, jazz and tango were popular. Soon, jazz grew to dominate Thai popular music, and Khru Eua Sunthornsanan soon set up the first Thai jazz band. The music he soon helped to invent along with influential band Suntharaporn was called pleng Thai sakorn, which incorporated Thai melodies with Western classical music. This music continued to evolve into luk grung, a romantic music that was popular with the upper-class. King Bhumibol is an accomplished jazz musician and composer.

Pleng phua cheewit

By the 1960s, Western rock was popular and Thai artists began imitating bands like Cliff Richard & the Shadows; this music was called wong shadow, and it soon evolved into a form of Thai pop called string. Among the groups that emerged from this period was The Impossibles. The '70s also saw Rewat Buddhinan beginning to use the Thai language in rock music as well as the rise of protest songs called pleng phua cheewit (songs for life).

The earliest pleng phua cheewit band was called Caravan, and they were at the forefront of a movement for democracy. In 1976, police and right wing activists attacked students at Thammasat University; Caravan, along with other bands and activists, fled for the rural hills. There, Caravan continued playing music for local farmers, and composed what is now their most famous song, "Khon Gap Kwaii".

In the 1980s, pleng phua cheewit re-entered the mainstream with a grant of amnesty to dissidents. Bands like Carabao became best-sellers and incorporated sternly nationalistic elements in their lyrics. By the 1990s, pleng phua cheewit had fallen from the top of the Thai charts, though artists like Pongsit Kamphee continued to command a large audience.

String

String pop took over mainstream listeners in Thailand in the 90s, and bubblegum pop stars like Tata Young, Bird Thongchai McIntyre and Asanee-Wasan became best-sellers. Simultaneously, Britpop influenced alternative rock artists like Modern Dog, Loso, Crub and Proud became

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popular in late 1990s. In 2006, famous Thai rock bands include Clash, Big Ass, Bodyslam and Silly Fools.

Indie

A group of independent artists and records which produces music for non-commercial purpose also found in Thailand: Bakery Music (now under BEC-TERO) [1]; Smallroom [2]; FAT radio [3]; City-Blue [4]; Coolvoice [5]; Dudesweet [6]; Idea-radio [7] and Panda Records [8].

References

Clewley, John. "Songs for Living". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 241-253. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0

Morton, David (1976). The Traditional Music of Thailand. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-01876-1.

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Music of Vietnam

Traditional Vietnamese music is highly diverse and syncretistic, combining native and foreign influences. Throughout its history, Vietnam has been most heavily impacted by the Chinese musical tradition, as an integral part, along with Korea, Mongolia and Japan. [1] The ancient Indochinese kingdom of Champa also had a very significant historical effect upon this music, because the Vietnamese court found it intriguing.

Imperial court music

Nhã nhạc is the most popular form of imperial court music, specifically referring to the court music played from the Trần Dynasty to the very last Nguyễn Dynasty of Vietnam, being synthesized and most highly developed by the Nguyễn emperors. It is based on earlier Vietnamese imperial court music, its primary influences coming from Ming Dynasty's imperial court and later the music of Champa. Along with nhã nhạc, the imperial court of Vietnam in the 19th century also had many royal dances which still exist to this day. The theme of most of these dances is to wish the kings longevity and the country wealth.

Folk music

Vietnamese folk music is extremely diverse and includes dân ca, quan họ, hát chầu văn, ca trù, hò,

and hát xẩm, among other forms.

Quan họ

Quan họ (alternate singing) is popular in Hà Bắc (divided into nowadays Bắc Ninh and Bắc Giang Provinces) and across Vietnam; numerous variations exist, especially in the Northern provinces. Sung acappella, quan họ is improvised and is used in courtship rituals.

Hát chầu văn

Hát chầu văn or hát văn is a spiritual form of music used to invoke spirits during ceremonies. It is highly rhythmic and trance-oriented. Before 1986, the Vietnamese government repressed hát chầu văn and other forms of religious expression. It has since been revived by musicians like Phạm Văn Tỵ.

Contents

1 Imperial court music 2 Folk music

o 2.1 Quan họ o 2.2 Hát chầu văn o 2.3 Nhạc dân tộc cải biên o 2.4 Ca trù o 2.5 Ho

3 Ritual music 4 Revolutionary music 5 Modern Pop music 6 Traditional musical instruments 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

o 9.1 Listening

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Nhạc dân tộc cải biên

Nhạc dân tộc cải biên is a modern form of Vietnamese folk music which arose in the 1950s after the founding of the Hanoi Conservatory of Music in 1956. This development involved writing traditional music using Western musical notation, while Western elements of harmony and instrumentation were added. Nhạc dân tộc cải biên is often criticized by purists for its watered-down approach to traditional sounds.

Ca trù

Ca trù (also hát ả đào) is a popular folk music which is said to have begun with Ả Đào, a female singer who charmed the enemy with her voice. Most singers remain female, and the genre has been revived since the Communist government loosened its repression in the 1980s, when it was associated with prostitution.

Ca trù, which itself has many forms, is thought to have originated in the imperial palace, eventually moving predominantly into performances at communal houses for scholars and other members of the elite (this is the type of Ca trù most widely known). It can be referred to as a geisha-type of entertainment where women, trained in music and poetry, entertained rich and powerful men.

Ho

"Hò" can be thought of as the southern style of Quan họ. It is improvisational and is typically sung as dialogue between a man and woman. Common themes include love, courtship, the countryside, etc. "Hò" is popular in Cần Thơ - Vietnam.

Ritual music

Nhạc đám ma - funeral music Nhạc lễ - ritual music

Revolutionary music

Modern Pop music

The embrace of Modern Pop music has increased as each new generation of people in Vietnam become more exposed to and influenced by westernized music.

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Traditional musical instruments

Đàn bầu (monochord zither) Đàn gáo (2-stringed fiddle with coconut body) Đàn nguyệt (2-stringed fretted moon lute) Đàn nhị (2-stringed fiddle with hardwood body) Đàn sến (two-string fretted lute) Đàn tam (fretless lute with snakeskin-covered body and three strings) Đàn tam thập lục (hammered dulcimer) Đàn tranh (long zither) Đàn tỳ bà (pear-shaped four-stringed fretted lute) Kèn bầu (oboe) T'rưng (bamboo xylophone)

References

1. ̂ "Southeast Asian arts Vietnam". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. (23 July 2008). Encyclopædia Britannica. p. 36 of 129.