A very musical weekend was had by all in our nation’s capital. Since America[1] doesn’t have herself a proper opera house, she goes in for those large outdoor musical festivals like Woodstock ‘99, Occupy 0’11, and the three-day Toby Keith concert rocking the past weekend in D.C. And as a drummer, I couldn’t help but […]
Archive of posts tagged Audience
American Indian War Chant
The American Indian War Chant is a popular melody sung at sporting events1. There’s even a dance craze that goes along with it—the tomahawk chop. Fans of tribe-inspired teams sing the War Chant in perfect 4/4 time, set to an “ooga chaka” beat, while tomahawking with their right hands on the downbeats (usually the 1’s […]
Adult Sing-Alongs in Contemporary Film
Dead, dead; dead. The American sing-along is dead. Once upon a time, there was a baby Steinway in every household, and American families sang together in perfect nuclear harmony. Pa was an operatic baritone, and little Timmy had chosen to forgo puberty to carry on the castrati legacy. The sing-along was the musical hearth of […]
Sporting Event Melodies
The biggest sing-alongs on Earth are found at sporting events. Accompanied by a sparse hammond organ, thousands of people sing simple intervals and clap various 4/4 rhythms, albeit in a thousand different keys and at a thousand different tempos. This one’s my favorite. Drag over the black stemmed noteheads. “Asshole” is a minor third […]
Audience Licks
Music is born of Noise and applauded with Noise. The more musical a performance, the nosier the reaction. Some audience members might whistle or woo, but not usually in key. So too with blind hand clapping that says nothing of the tempo and rhythm of the applauded music just heard. Drag over these noteheads: The […]
Clapping on the One
Audiences everywhere are clapping on the One. They’ll clap on every beat, regardless of a downbeat feel. This practice must be stopped. A hand-clap is a snare drum, and snare drums belong on the Two and Four. The need for clapping on the One is born out of fear and distrust of Rests—those unplayed spaces […]
