Music in a Pickle Jar

Its been quite sometime for the little annoying voice shouts for help inside my biological hard drive. After 6 months, the same little problem that hinders me from proceeding further pursuing my past hollow superficial goal. Since entering university, performing modern music had been my carrot hanging on a stick as a donkey of society. Over the years, it evolved into passion for well structured, detailed prepared and meaningful intellectual music. Finally before the long hiatus of my planned work, meaningful become the only meaningful thing i see in music besides without lying to myself the importance of details (i know it had always been bumps details proves to me. Important bumps that will let you slow down and realize the little jasmine tree that had always been there at the little corner of my neighborhood). 

6 months ago i finally reached dead end in my pursuit of happiness through music. It came to me that the little annoying voice that i am trying to picture in this posting had always been there. Its just that, its vocal cords hasn't develop well enough to shout out loud before this. I still until now could not understand where it is trying to point me to, but i know i am taking a wrong direction or better still, a wrong destination.

It came back to me after the grueling 6 months of uncertainty, clueless about my life basically. This happened after just reading 2 chapters of the eccentric Gisa Jahnichen's book "Turning perspectives of South East Asian Music Practices" (available in the national library and published by UPM). Chapter 1 was just a little appetizer for me, reminding me about how important universal and specialized history is on the effect of music of today. A very kind reminder and informative it is. But what did got me by my chimes is Chapter 2, "Presevation and Its subjective conditions within Local Traditions"  

The chapter started of with documentation and explanation of a type of performance practice from Vietnam which i don't have the guts to write it down on my blog what more discuss. What i would like to share with you or basically myself is the few pages behind describing how and what people think of preservation of culture and music is. What i mean by this is that, most people would go on and make efforts to preserve their own tradition on different scales from telling their children stories to publishing 10 years of research BUT each individual with their own translucent agenda attached to it and all this, is causing ethnomusicologist and anthropologist a lot of trouble when carrying out their work, solely because of inner conflict locally. What i am trying share what Ms Gisa Jahnichen wrote is hopefully portrait in this point forms :

(few examples not all)

1. Musicians(of the genre) would want to preserve the part of the tradition which contain artistic practices for enjoyment of musical detail so that the peculiarity of the genre as an equivalent artist is obtained.

2. Traditionalist want the historical diversity to be preserved to reflect individualism and active interpretation of the "traditional"

3. Modernist wants enrichment trough virtuosity to be preserved so that the "traditional" can be integrated and accepted in the modern world required structures (of impressive and professional music i think)

4. Cultural Politicians would just want the abstract tradition as it is purposely for self presentation and representation which are clean of elements(might it be sensitive) with critical interpretations.

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All the above have their own solutions on how the process of "pickle" should be. I do see positive outcomes, as a musician, from the stated (including those in the book which i did not share) except of cause the political reasons. But what i see and think as a novice in this world of humans is that, even though say, all the elements stated in the preceding are preserved and archived in jars as moving museum which is countrywide marketed for the public to enrich themselves in whichever way they prefer, it still wont give such a culture impact what pop culture had gave the world. What i think the problem might be is DEVELOPMENT.

Development brings the culture vessel forward, simply to a new age. When a youngster from the city sees a chinese opera, i would like to say that they will enjoy it very much but that is not the case. Normally sarcastic laughs and nostril exhales are the reaction. If not, they will not stay and watch for 10 seconds. When even educated students look at any Mak Yong performances, they will quite react with boredom (mostly) with the mindset thinking that it is not as interesting nor intellectual as Mozart. Worse, even a music student will make fun of a professional world class carnatic singer (i even met and worked with a teacher of a private school which makes fun of the vocal styles of chinese opera and carnatic singing in front of all the students and basically the students are brainwashed by that moment). Why is this ? Is it that chinese opera, Mak Yong, carnatic music and the performers gives the impression of a non class act, a not so intellectual art or lacking of the full package of the shallow conception of what civilized high ranked informative culture (how good looks and money pop portray, how cool and intellectual jazz music is, how civilized and deeply intelligent orchestral pieces is ? Sadly i still have no constant answer to all this questions but,  i think what could help balance things out is Development.

To Be Continued (its getting too late and i need to wake up early to fetch my mom to work tomorrow morning)

ChongYew