USAR02: Music and Technology

"Pastime With Good Company": A concert review.

Chen Ee Ting, Jennifer. USAR02 ["Music And Technology"], University Scholars Programme, National University Of Singapore.

"Pastime With Good Company" was a mini concert presented by The Amadeus Choral Society, on the 13th and 20th January 2001. The Amadeus Choral Society was formed in 1994 under the umbrella of Kampong Kembangan Community Club, and her members consist mostly of former choir members in the Tampines Junior College Choir. Amadeus has taken part in several musical competitions both locally and internationally. She was awarded a Golden Diploma in the 3rd International Choral Competition in 1998 and her latest achievement has been to be awarded two Silver Diplomas in the 1st Choral Olympics held in Linz, Austria in July 2000, both events being organized by the Interkultur Foundation. Her Resident Conductor is Mr Nelson Kwei, who is a well-known figure in the choral music scene having won two international conductor awards, a first in Singapore.

The performance on the 13th January was held in the hall of Siglap South Community Centre as a favor to them for having loaned us their premises for practice and rehearsals. The second performance on the 20th January was held in Young Musician's Society at Waterloo St. This concert was unlike our typical annual concerts at Victoria Concert Hall. This was a mini concert that was meant to be shared with close friends, and thus the selections of pieces were mostly accapella, pop, and generally fun and lighthearted. There was not any blatant showcase of music and technology in the concert, but there were elements of technology that cannot be neglected. Firstly, the instruments used. The piano was used as the primary mode of musical accompaniment, and other percussion instruments such as the tambourines and drums were used. Our hands also acted as instruments as we clicked our fingers along to certain songs so as to bring in an element of liveliness into the songs. Undisputedly, the vocal code is the most essential instrument in any choral concert as our voices bring out the music and song with or without background accompaniment. A good example of the versatility of the voice is demonstrated in the opening song, Pastime with Good Company, where we had to shape our mouths and voices to produce the sounds of different instruments. The Basses were to imitate tabors beating in the background; the Soprano 2s, medieval double-reeded instruments; the Soprano 1s, flutes while the Altos and the Tenors provided the vocal section of this piece. This creative manipulating of our vocal codes showed that the chief instrument in any choral concert should always be the voice.

A more technological aspect of the concert would be to look at the lighting and sound systems used. As we had several solo and duet pieces, there was the usage of microphones as well as minus-1 tracks. One or two members of the choir were not accustomed to the usage of microphones and thus did not know basic techniques such as the pulling away of the microphone further from your mouth when you are singing a high-pitched or loud note. There was no feedback system available to the singer and thus he was often not able to hear himself above the piano. Lighting was also important as at several times during the concert, there would be much movement in and out and around the stage, and the lighting technician needed to know when to shine which kind of light and who should the light be shone on. It would not do for the bright lights to be shone on performers exiting the stage or for the lead singer to sing in the dark. All these technicalities required for us to work closely with the technical crew. There were two dry runs where we ran through the stage positions and songs so as to familiarize the technical crew with our stage movements.

The positions of the singers were also very important. There were some songs where we would stand in block position (i.e. stand according to individual sections) and some whereby we would stand in quartet position (stand in mixed position, maintaining balance of voices from different sections). For the accapella songs where we sang in small group style, there would be more movement on the stage with basic choreography to inculcate audience entertainment and participation. However we had to take note of the way we moved, for example no sudden turning of the head when singing, and we had to stand nearer to each other on stage so that we could hear the individual parts. Hall acoustics also played a major role in the success of the concert. In the hall of Siglap South Community Centre, the acoustics were very dry and sound projection was not very good as the sound tended to just fade away immediately instead of lingering on within. Thus we had to really focus on our vocal techniques and stand closer to the front of the stage so that even the audiences sitting in the last row could hear. The acoustics in Young Musician's Society were pretty good, so we could afford to be a littler lazier with our techniques and also to have bigger movement and space on stage as the sounds carried right to the back of the small hall.

Music in this concert refers to the songs that were sung, the music that was played. However the link with music is not simply that, but more on the instruments used to produce the music. As I had mentioned earlier, both 'real' instruments such as the piano and the 'surreal' instruments such as our vocal codes were used. Music can definitely exist by itself. However, the crucial factor is how well the music sounds. No matter how wonderful a voice one has, it serves no effect and purpose if the audience is not able to hear. Music and technology should work together to enhance both the listening as well as viewing pleasures of the audience. A concert is not merely about sitting back and closing your eyes to listen. A concert involves your sight as well as you take in the choreography and expressions of the performers so as to fully enjoy the musical experience.

Finally I will touch on the performer versus the listener perception of music making. As a performer in this concert, I had to work with technicalities such as standing closer to my partner so that we would both be under the same spotlight for example. As the choreographer for some pieces, I definitely had to take note of the stage settings and hall acoustics. I had to ensure that choreography did not compromise the quality of sound, as it was ultimately a choral concert. As a performer and musician, I would be acutely aware of even the most minor glitches such as the song going a quarter tone sharp, whilst most of the audience would not even realize that unless they had some form of musical training or experience before. The audience would not realize that you exited from the wrong side of the stage, nor realize that you accidentally sang wrongly in a solo piece. The performer and the listener have different standards in evaluating a concert. The performer would always be harsher on himself as he is well aware of what had gone wrong. The layman listener would simply judge the quality of a concert by the quality of sound and sight produced, by the entertainment value of it all.

At the end of the day, making good music is not just about the perfection of vocal techniques or the playing of the right notes on the piano. It is also about the interaction between the performer and the audience, the performer and other fellow performers. Most importantly, making good music is all about enjoying and immersing yourself into the sounds that you are producing.