Wrap-Up

1. What is something you learned about another culture this term that surprised or intrigued you?

Learning about the Indonesian Gamelan was very interesting to me. Although I had seen pictures of some instruments used in a Gamelan before, I did not have an idea of what those instruments sounded like, before taking this class. The sound of the Gamelan really fascinated me and I found it very surprising that its sound could be considered aesthetically pleasing to the Indonesian culture. I found that out of all the music cultures we explored in class the music of Indonesia was the most intriguing. I also thought that the Indonesian male chorus and play we watched in class was very different to anything I had ever seen before. Most of the music had very percussive characteristics and focused more on rhythm than melody. Learning about the music of this culture was definitely an eye opener to me. It made me realize how differently music can be perceived by diverse cultures. I learned that I needed to be more open minded in order to appreciate, understand and respect the traditional music of this culture.

2. What is something that you realized about your own culture through our discussions

When we learned about Middle-Eastern music and the more we listened to it in class it suddenly dawned upon me that most of the music we listened to sounded very much like traditional Sinhalese music from home. I had never made a connection with Sri Lankan music and Middle-Eastern music before. I always thought that the music of India would be the closest influence to the music of Sri Lanka. It is fascinating how similar middle-eastern singing sounded to Sri Lankan vocal music. When I thought more about it, I realized that the connection between Sri Lanka and the Middle-East made a lot of sense. Because of how Sri Lanka is situated in the map, just below India in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka was a port that many traders stopped at during their sea routes. The middle-eastern countries did a lot of trading with Sri Lanka. Due to geographical proximity, it is not surprising at all that the two cultures could have influenced each other’s music. I would have never made this realization by myself, however. I have also never come across it in books. I am glad that I came to this realization. Perhaps I may choose to explore this topic more and do a thesis on it in the future.

3. What is something that this course has inspired you to learn more about.

This course has made me realize that I had a deep interest in learning about music of other cultures. I had just not explored music of diverse cultures in this way before and I am glad that I was able to learn about so many different musical traditions. I would love to travel someday, visit and experience another culture and do an in-depth study of its music. Two places that I definitely want to visit are Ireland and Japan. I love Irish music and would love to spend some time in Ireland, experience its culture and perhaps lean some traditional Irish dancing. I would also like to spend some time in Japan and get to know more about traditional Japanese music. It is intriguing how sophisticated the anime film soundtracks are becoming. If I ever become a composer for screen, I would love to spend some time in Japan and perhaps write music for some sort of anime film there. I have been to Japan before and spent a short time there and enjoyed myself very much. I would love to go back and study its music.

Thank you so much Dr.Vaneman. This class took me on a wonderful musical adventure. This journey has really inspired me and came to me just at the right time. I will never forget some of the great experiences I had in this class. Thank you once again!