This song happens to be from on of my favorite disney channel movies- The Little Mermaid. It depicts music being played in a participatory manner by showing various sea creatures unite in order to enjoy their time. There is no distinction made between audience and performer because every fish has their own integral part of the circle. There is certainly a collective feeling of involvement rather than having one individual person play while others listen. More importantly it establishes a bond between each fish, and it focuses on how the song/music made you feel as opposed to the quality. This particular song in the movie is approached in a very egalitarian manner: by dissolving the barrier between performer and audience and furthermore stimulating active participation towards the whole group. I personally do not feel that there are any limitations associated with a participatory style of music. It is certainly not as commonly seen or accepted by individuals in America as presentational music, and therefore I recognize the argument other people may have against this form of music. In America we thrive off of competition in order to stimulate motivation and progress. Competition is an integral part in our capitalistic society. I acknowledge the fact that many individuals believe competition is normal, healthy, and necessary. Some people just want to strictly attend a musical performance without having to be an active participant. So, I can see why some individuals would interpret a participatory style of music as a bother or burden. (I personally do not) This style of music offers a plethora of potentials such as social bonding, sense of community, feeling of equality, and satisfaction generated through feelings instead of quality. Participatory music is considered to be the most democratic in value due to no hierarchy or competition. It mainly values the formation of social bonding outside of a hierarchy where participation is essential.
Presentational:
"Get By"- Talib Kweli
This performance by one of my favorite rap artists in an example of presentational music. Talib Kweli controls the crowd with his rehearsed performance through a hierarchical scale. In this case there is a pronounced separation between performer and audience. Both groups of people, artist and audience, have certain tasks. The audience must not be actively participating yet rather listening. The performer carries a more complex task when it comes to providing and sustaining interest for an audience. Talib Kweli sustains the interest and energy of the crowd through change. He begins by steadily rapping then mixes the song and cuts the beat short. By this point the audience becomes interested as to why he stopped his performance. He engages the audience once again by interacting with them through an active dialogue. He proceeds into his next song only after establishing a connection with his audience. Presentational music is geared towards the importance of a certain individual or group performing. Instead of focusing on active participation like participatory music presentational music frames the importance of the individual. Even physically we can easily see a distinct separation between performer and audience. The performer is usually always placed on a stage which intentionally is raised off of the ground. That physical change alone exemplifies the common hierarchical scale depicted at every live concert. This style of music limits participation tremendously because the performance is extremely linear in the sense that the audience cannot reciprocate. There is no focus on establishing a bond anymore so it becomes more of a focus on creating a sense of 'worship'. A hierarchical scale limits the feeling of communitas completely. Expectations from the audience for the performer is the ability to provide and sustain interest as a lasting effect.
High-Fidelity:
"Skinny Love"- Bon Iver
What characterizes high-fidelity music is the index and the value of the product. In order to have an index there must be a co-occurence that leads you to the next step. A natural habit for humans while listening to recorded music is the direct thought after about the live performance. Although it's a recording it has a lasting effect on a listener. The main expectation in high-fidelity music is for it to become a product that must be bought and sold. It is the most common manner in which we listen to music because we are not always given the chance to experience it live. Studio production is always associated with recordings because since we can only hear it, individuals are given the freedom to manipulate any and everything. Due to its production in a studio the public is limited to the actual truth, and in some cases the artist is as well. We are left listening to a recorded song with only a semblance of the truth about its creation. Personally, I think about it as being a gift not knowing where it came from or how it was put together. On the other side it has made music extremely accessible to the public. Without recordings of songs we would be left with just a memory of a live performance-given that you only heard the song during a live performance- that forces us to re create the song in our head.
Studio Audio Art:
"Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites"- Skrillex
This genre of music I rarely ever listen to because a lack of connection and appeal. Dubstep and techno music have become more prevalent especially during our generation. It can be defined as recorded music composed and manipulated only by its creator that has no intention of every being performed live. It's valued as sonically abstract, and through computers the composer is freely given absolute control. It severely limits human interaction and is the complete antithesis of an active music style like participatory.
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