For the video that you select, you will write an essay, approximately 3 pages in length (double-spaced), that does the following five things:
65 Points: Describe the band’s music performance in as much detail as you can. Make sure to do the following three things: (a) describe the characteristics and styles of the music the band plays, focusing on specific details you hear in the video (try to use some of the music terms presented in the first assigned reading!); (b) describe some of the musical instruments the band’s members play; and (c) make observations about the band members’ movements and, if possible, what they do to make their performance engaging for the audience.
40 Points: Describe how people at the performance respond to the music. Again, be specific. It’s not possible to describe everything, but you should choose about 3 specific ways people respond to the music that you observe in the video.
40 Points: Provide some background about the band, plus some background on one of their musical influences, the genre of chindon-ya. Below, I provide a few sources about these bands as well as some sources about chindon-ya.
65 Points: Make an Educated Guess to Answer these two Questions: Why is this music fitting for the performance context? What might this performance’s musical characteristics be providing for the people in the audience? I provide some information about the context of each video below. What I want is for you to make one or more guesses about why the musical characteristics you described (see number one, above) are appropriate for this context and this specific audience. Make sure to explain your rationale for making the guesses you do. NOTE: You do not necessarily need to “get it right,” but I want you to make a guess based on the musical characteristics and the context, and to explain your thinking.
24 Points: Use In-Text Citations to indicate where the information you provide in the essay comes from, and provide a Works Cited section for the sources you use at the end the essay. You do not need to cite the videos (those sections should be your own observations and analysis), but you do need to cite written sources where you find additional material. You can follow MLA, APA, or Chicago formatting. Choose a citation method and be consistent with it.
Option Two: The band Soul Flower Mononoke Summit performing in Kobe, Japan, one year after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake devastated the area.
You can access the video of this performance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVYn-7zhfUE&list=RDzVYn-7zhfUE&start_radio=1.
The band Soul Flower Mononoke Summit is the acoustic version of the Japanese rock band Soul Flower Union. Soul Flower Mononoke Summit’s website can be accessed here (scroll down for the English translation). Another website that provides some background on the band can be accessed here.
Soulflower Mononoke Summit is influenced by a type of music called chindon-ya. You can find detailed background information about chindon-ya on this website and a small amount of information here. You can also access information about the ensemble’s main drum, the chindon (which Soul Flower Mononoke Summit uses in their performance), by going to Oxford Music Online, available here, and searching for “chindon.”
Here is some information about the context of this performance (this is important for number 4, above): Soon after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit near Kobe, Japan, Soul Flower Mononoke Summit began giving concerts for survivors in the Kobe area, which had been devastated by the earthquake. They kept returning regularly to give concerts in the area, and this video is taken from a concert that took place about one year after the earthquake. Presumably, a good number of people in the audience survived the earthquake. As I state above, I want you to make guesses as to why the music is fitting/appropriate for that context, and what the music might be providing for the people at the performance, and to discuss the reasoning behind your answers.
https://breast.co.jp/soulflower/profile/sfms/
https://medium.com/ignition-int/chindonya-japan-s-distinctive-street-advertising-bba019f1036f
