USAR02: Music and Technology

3 Divas Concert

Melissa, Sim Yunn Tyug. USAR02 ["Music And Technology"], University Scholars Programme, National University Of Singapore.

'3 Divas' is a concert put together by well-known local artist Jacintha. It was held at Jubilee Hall in Raffles Hotel from the 13th to 14th February 2001. The concert that I attended was the second performance held on Valentine's Day. It starred three new singers namely Petrina Kow, Angela Ng and Rekha Rajan who performed Broadway, contemporary and jazz numbers respectively. There was also a short guest appearance by Jacintha when all the Divas, together with her, sang the traditional hymn 'Amazing Grace' in a jazz-like yet contemporary style, giving the piece a new and fresh appeal.

Three different types of music were showcased as mentioned above: Broadway, pop and jazz. The songs were presented along with a story line built on a little part of their lives. Music was used to convey their feelings in different stages of their life as they were going through different experiences and sometimes, the songs were use to convey a message to the audience for instance, Angela Ng used songs to show her relationship with her God as a Christian and Rekha Rajan used music to sing about her mother.

As with many other concerts, the singers used wireless microphones. In this case, the microphones were hand-held ones, unlike some of the more active performers who use hands-free ones attached to some other parts of their body or attire. With the hand-held microphones, it enabled them to move about freely when speaking or singing without having to worry about tripping over the microphone wires but still gave a traditional concert feel where singers sung into microphones held in their hands. One of the performers, Petrina Kow, actually came down from the stage to the audience to get her DJ colleague, the "Flying Dutchman" from Class 95FM, up to stage for a brief time of entertainment. At this instance, the wire-free device showed more of its potential than when used only on stage.

Speakers play a very important role in concert performances like these. There are two main uses of speakers in a concert held in an auditorium as such -- speakers that feed into the house covering largely the entire auditorium, and speakers, known as monitors, placed on the stage facing the singers. The monitors are used to feed the sounds captured by the microphones of the singers, and also the musicians, to the stage so that the performers could hear the sounds that they were producing while house speakers carried the sounds to the audience. In this particular concert, faults in the microphone at the start of the second half of the concert disrupted the enjoyment of the audience. The amplified sounds from the singer's microphone went off and on and it was reflected from the house speakers. This took place due to a low battery occurrence in the hand-held microphones, which relied on alkaline batteries to operate. This showed the importance of technology in live performances when gadgets fail to function as they should. At the same time, it tested the performer's ability to deal with unforeseen circumstances such as this. Rekha, in this case, chose to bravely sing on in her lovely deep voice as the technical crew tried their best to remedy the situation by changing her microphone twice.

Different lightings were employed to create the effects of appropriate ambience in the different musical styles. The Broadway segment started off with the familiar yellow stage lights with special focus on Petrina as she took the limelight on stage. Different colored lights were also used to accompany one of her songs, which sang about colored lights. Most of the time, the stage was brightly lit up with a vibrant and sprightly feel, except for the part where Petrina shared about her breaking up episode with her ex-boyfriend. The lights were dimmed to reflect her despondency and pain endured. Moving on to the next segment by Angela, the use of lights were somewhat played down and I felt that the focus was more on her singing than anything else. The lights used here were relatively dimmer than in the previous segment and had a more settled feel to it, tying in with the type of songs she sang, which carried a lot of feelings and emotion. Finally, the last segment of the concert began with the lights on stage turned down till it was very dim, leaving just some spotlights just enough for the musicians to see their score. A spot light was beamed on Rekha as she started off the second half of the concert after the interval. This jazz segment of the concert used mainly blue lights to bring out the soft and relaxed mood of the music and created a rather "jazz bar-like" atmosphere.

The arrangement on stage was a very simple one with only one medium-sized abstract painting hanging against a black backdrop closer to one side of the stage. The focus can be considered to be almost entirely on the singers and partly on the band. The instruments were arranged into a 'U'-shape nearer the back of the stage while the singers had the front portion of the stage to move about. Given the amount of space in the front of the stage, the singers kept very much within the range where their monitors were facing in order to listen to themselves.

Instruments used included a grand piano, electric guitar, modern drum set, synthesizer and an electric bass guitar. There was a mix of conventional sounds from acoustic instruments such as the piano and drums together with electronic sounds from the synthesizer as well as the electronically amplified guitar sounds. The piano was used most prominently in the jazz section and the bass provided the swing to the jazz music. The drums were used throughout the concert in a supportive role, helping to keep time, and having its versatility suited to different types of music lying in the rhythms and emphasis on different percussive tones used. The mixer and soundboard enabled the sounds from the different instruments to be adjusted to the appropriate volumes where none of them unnecessarily boomed above the rest. These were controlled by the soundman, who must have an acute sense of hearing in order to produce good quality sound, which is balanced in the amount of prominence given to each instrument. It is extremely important in a band where sounds from different instruments have to blend in with one another to bring out only what is sufficient to make good music. An excess of sounds produced from any of the instruments will ruin the accompaniment to the song and make it sound very messy.

The purpose of this concert is, needless to say, entertainment which was delivered through humor in the performers' speeches, their sincerity and of course largely and mainly through their beautiful voices. The approach used in this concert was rather clever in that it not only gave exposure of the singers to the public vocally but it also allowed the audience to know about their background. This personal touch helps connect the performers with the audiences as they catch a glimpse of the artists' lives and somewhat adds on to their publicity as artists.

From this concert, I realized that Singapore, being small as it is, does have people who can hold their tunes pretty well. They may not look like Britney Spears or dance like Coco Lee but they are no doubt gifted. Age is definitely not a limit here where talent is concerned. Angela is barely twenty-one and is already singing in front of a paying audience. The "third Diva", Dr Rehka who is a practicing medical doctor, is a living example showing that it is still possible to live your dreams even after you are thirty years old and also, being in a certain profession doesn't mean you can't pursue your interest as well, unrelated as they seem to be.

Looking at these common people who turned entertainers certainly inspires anyone who hopes to find their footing in the local arts scene. As long as you have the talent and the determination, it is possible - the proof is right before your eyes.