Asian Music Culture Blog
There is one instrument that I will never forget as long as I live, in a weird way it's a memory I cherish. This instrument always intrigued me when I was a kid and went to the Mandir (temple) with my family. This instrument is called the Harmonium, a mix between a piano with its keys, and an accordion with its ‘flaps’ on the back that supply air to the instrument. In my experience the harmonium is usually associated with religious locations, such as the Mandir. At set times the harmonium player will add singing to the instrumentation, this singing is usually a prayer recital, such as the Islamic recitations. I cannot begin to describe how amazing the instrument sounds, something about its appearance being so deceiving, looking old and ancient but having a sound that is so resentment and beautiful.
Anime music or anisong is a very prevalent part of Japanese culture. Each anime show has a super high quality song track for the intro and the ending of the show. This is the blueprint for any anime that is produced in Japan. Anime in Japan is like any other television show in the United States, if not bigger. A massive focus on the music is emotion, it is not pop-songs that are more broadly focused on high beat or fast tempos. Many anime songs are slow paced, more intentional, and heavily focused on lyrics. Even if you cannot understand a single word of Japanese, you can still understand the emotions the instruments are trying to convey.
Black Pink, a name that many people will recognize because of their immense popularity within the western world. Black Pink is a female Korean Pop group, similar to BTS, a male group that predated Black Pink. Korean Pop music has an immense focus on beauty standards and attraction, there is not a single Korean pop group or singer that isn’t within these standards. The reason Black Pink is so popular versus other Korean pop groups is the incorporation of English lyrics within their songs. K-pop is also very modern and uses very new technologies in order to produce music that is both addictive and releases hormones, like serotonin, that are usually associated with happy moments or fun. K-pop companies have been known to not be the best to the individuals within these groups, though this has been mostly kept behind the scenes.
I think it was really great of you to share your personal connection with the Harmonium! It's always awesome to see people's different cultural connections, since we're so used to being around regular American culture. And I don't really listen to much K-Pop, but I have heard a few BlackPink songs that are kind of super addicting, including the one you linked.
ReplyDeleteLearning about a personal instrument that connected to you was cool. The connection you had with it made me understand it more. Im glad to learn about instruments I haven't learned about before so it just makes everything cool. With anime I know a little about the music because I watch some anime myself, but being able to learn more about the music and to connect it with your blog is really cool.
ReplyDeleteI like the variety you included in your entry. Hearing about the personal connection and experience you have with the harmonium was interesting. I also liked the current pop culture things you included with anisong and K-Pop, both things that I like listening to.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed learning about how the instrument connects to you in such a personal way. I was also very interested to learn about the music in anime because I, myself have wanted to get into watching anime recently.
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