Japanese Music Culture in Los Angeles - Essay Example

Japanies music cultur in los angelos The world today is moving towards a single unit where all the cultures, societies and traditions are merging into one whole. When one sits down to contemplate on what the world the world was around 100 years ago from today and where the cultural diversity stands today, it can easily be comprehended that the growth of colonialism, neo-colonialism, rise in international trade, mass immigrations from one country to another in the search of better opportunities and protection of life has changed the entire concept of tradition, culture and society. Today not even a single developed country can claim to be a cultural and ethnic unity. In fact in modern times cultural diversity has given impetus to the rise of a new cultural identity that can be called a multicultural culture. And in this all, America stands above all, having the most culturally diversified, multiethnic and modern all merged into one American society. United States of America when claiming to be the most culturally diversified country in the world unintuitive also claims to be the place having the most diversified number of cultures, people, legends, dress codes, folk stories and nonetheless music. The world may be going more global every minute but it is not that easy to let go of one’s culture and music. Almost all of the ethnic groups though believe in “Unity in Diversity” but also strive to protect their legend, their tradition through community group discussions and cultural music and dance. Music plays a pivotal role in not only the protection of a specific culture’s traditions but also in the spread of it. Any cultural music that exists today is not merely a combination of musical tones and vocal played on specific musical instruments. Cultural music represents the ideas on which the music evolved its history, its religious and metaphysical inclinations, the composition, the material culture of the music and thus the whole of the culture it evolved from. (Jeff Todd Titon Linda Fujie, London: Collier Macmillan, 1984, Worlds of music: an introduction to the music of the worlds peoples). The Asians constitute almost 5% of the Californian population (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06000.html, updated on 13th Oct 2011) which makes it an ideal situation for the growth of cultural music. The Japanese cultural music plays an unimportant role in the lives of the people of that descent. The music has in it the elements of tradition and the rich past that clearly shows the long time this music has taken to evolve and the culturally rich tradition and society it represents. When taking about the Japanese and East Asian cultural music in Los Angeles, there is noting wrong in saying that this music although has assimilated many elements of western music and other cultural music in it to evolve into a newer genre. Although when the Japanese immigration arose to America in the early 1900, the immigrants had their traditional art and music with them that gave rise to Issei music. The primary musical hubs of this music ware Los Angeles and San Francisco (P.278, Ellen Koskoff ed. by, New York [u.a.] Routledge 2005, Music cultures in the United States) and since then the Japanese and East Asian music has retained its cultural and evolutionary roots in these cities. The sands of time and improving technology have though made the traditional Japanese music a cultural part of Los Angeles. The instruments that are used by Japanese traditional musicians around Los Angeles are mostly Shamisen and 13-17 strings Koto. The Shamisen is considered to be an excellent instrument to be played at theaters and other dramatic situations that need the outpour of emotions and drama. The music played on Shamisen gives the ambience of temperate mental activity. The instrument is made from wood with a square looking shape at the base and a long neck made also of wood with pegs at the top. The Shamisen has three strings of different thickness by which the music is played. A large plectrum is often used to play the music but it can be played with the fingers as well by plucking the fingers. The music played on Shamisen does not specifically represent any community from Japan and most of the times it is played solo or in pairs. In LA it is common it get a Shamisen player or a Shamisen musical arrangement that in Japanese cultural centers. Being an evolutionary from of the Chinese Sanxian, the Shamisen has surpassed the place it has in the Japanese music as compared to its original form. Most of the Chinese consider putting the Sanxian aside when playing music in traditional orchestras; the Japanese have however made this instrument come a long way to the modern times. Some of the modern Shamisen players like the Yoshida Brothers blend in the Japanese music with rock and pop, but still it carries the tradition ahead. Another element of traditional Japanese music in Los Angeles is the Koto. It is a horizontally flat placed musical instrument with the number of strings varying from 13 to 17 of various thicknesses. Japanese musical instruments are mostly played solo and Koto is a pioneer in bringing live the culture of Japan in to LA. The importance of Koto lies in the fact that it is the national musical instrument of Japan and thus represents the Japanese tradition and cultural identity. Like the Shamisen, the Koto also derives its ancestry to the Chinese musical instruments. The traditional importance of the Koto can be traced back to the ancient Buddhist courts when music on Koto and other instruments was played in the honor of the great Buddha. Since then it has been a part of “gagaku” which is the court music. Being associated with the ancient courts of Japan and its religious inclinations it is still steadfast on the cultural roots of its cultural music (William P. Malm, Kodansha International (2000), Traditional Japanese music and musical instruments). With the immigration of Japanese in various states of America, the musical tradition played on “gakuso” which later came to be known as Koto also came to the Los Angeles. Most of the Japanese traditional and cultural music is not limited to any specific group or class of people and this is why Japanese music also encompasses all the subcultures. Not only this, being driven from Chinese ancestry and having an influence on Korean, Vietnamese and other East Asian people, the Japanese music tradition envelopes them as well in the circle of musical influence. Being not specific to any class or community, the attendees of the concert and the music festival are not bound to wear any specific dress. However the players of the musical instruments prefer to wear the traditional Japanese or East Asian dress to give a complete traditional touch to the music played. One of the main reason that the Japanese tradition and culture has sustained its original form to much extent is due to the fact that it has remained under the court’s patronage till today. The Japanese cultural centers like the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center located in Los Angeles and the Japan Foundation, Los Angeles arranges events and programs to keep the Japanese Americans close to their tradition and heritage. Not only this, these centers also arrange special lectures and community programs to acquaint the non-Japanese with the culture and music of Japan. References: William P. Malm, Kodansha International (2000), Traditional Japanese music and musical instruments P.278, Ellen Koskoff ed. by, New York [u.a.] Routledge 2005, Music cultures in the United States Jeff Todd Titon Linda Fujie, London : Collier Macmillan, 1984, Worlds of music : an introduction to the music of the worlds peoples http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06000.html, updated on 13th Oct 2011 Read More