Participatory music is the absence of distinction made between audience and artist. In this field of music there are no capital gains or profits to be had. Rather the participants are only looking to benefit from the experience spiritually, socially, and for pure enjoyment. There are many examples of this music that range from tribal drum circles found in Zimbabwe to North American Contra dancing. Other examples of cooperative music making that takes place on a much grander scale are fight songs: songs used to show pride, loyalty and patriotism. They take place in stadiums holding tens of thousands of people uniting in song to praise, encourage, and uplift athletes "fighting" for the fans. These songs are extremely popular amongst fans of the English Premier League, which is considered by many to be the apex of all leagues in terms of skill level and competition. These loyal and dedicated fans recite songs that glorify their team or even specific players. The first video is a great example of a fight song for a specific player. Fernando Torresis a Spanish footballer who was traded from Atletico Madrid to Liverpool FC in 2007. He was a leader on the pitch and a weapon in the attack, scoring loads of goals during his career at Liverpool. He was given a nickname by his drunken delighted English fans, who dubbed him El Nino because of both his jersey number and nationality. He was also given a song. Set to the tune of "The Ants Go Marching One by One" Fernando's song went like this:
His armband proved He was a RedTorres, TorresYou'll Never Walk alone it said Torres, TorresWe bough the Lad from sunny SpainYou give him the ball he scores againFernando TorresLiverpool's number nine
Not only do European soccer teams have their own fight songs and player songs, they also have songs for the sole purpose of intimidating opponents and establishing their club's dominance. The second video in this post is entitled "Fuck Off Chelsea FC." This raunchy and raucous refrain is aimed at Liverpool's rival club, Chelsea FC. The song is sung during matches between the two clubs and lists the accomplishments of Liverpool FC and asserts its dominance by questioning Chelsea's legitimacy in the league.
Both of these songs qualify as participatory because they are sung by the fans in the stadium. No one tells the fans to sing, nor does the Club (Liverpool) request that they be sung at matches. The fans want to sing them for pure enjoyment. The song enhances their experience at the stadium. They rate these songs by the degree of participation. Because these people are singing about a sports team, these songs are judged by the fans based on how many other fans sing along. It becomes a game of who can scream the loudest or have the most fans. And when finished a sense of comradery falls over the Engish crowd, like the They give fans a chance to bond socially and a great sense of Communitas is felt while these songs are sung in the crowd.
So the next time you sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," or your own school's fight song, just know that you are actually involved in a participatory musical field that brings a sense of communitas and flow to those participating through socialization and the love of the game.
Presentational Music
The man in the green mask is Tyler the Creator, and this Southern Cali emcee loves to perform. His shows are intense 'ragers' made up of hordes of teenagers there to express their angst and love of 'Golf Wang.' This 'odd' ball collection of rappers from California known as Odd Future has a crazily dedicated following. In the video above, Tyler comes out to a mob of angry hyper active young adults. The line between the audience and Tyler is defined and clearly denoted with a barrier. The audience is voluntarily providing energy for the performers but unlike participatory music, the audience is not obligated to provide any music. The audience of youngsters values stimulation and crowd energy, resulting in crowd surfing, pushing, and the occasional mosh pit. Odd Future uses the energy from the crowd and reaches a flow state and give an even better performance, this in turn makes the crowd react with more energy. This results in a circle of energy that passes from crowd to performer.
High Fidelity Music
The high fidelity field of music is the most popular and well known world-wide. This field is made up of musical sounds heard on recordings that index a live performance. Examples of high fidelity recordings are Vinyl, CD's, Cassette tapes, Mp3's, etc. Even recordings such as the Door's "Absolutely Live!" concert album and other recordings of live performances are considered to be high fidelity recordings and may contain presentational fields of music within them.
All Popular music that is used in the music industry is at some point high fidelity. Without high fidelity music there would be no globalization of popular culture and music. However the high fidelity music industry has a capitalistic framework, making it the most profitable, hierarchal and competitive field of music. In high fidelity music value is placed solely on the quality of the performance or performer.
Studio Audio Art
Studio Audio Art is the field of music associated with engineered audio recordings like Electronic Dance Music (EDM), Dubstep, Electronica, and any other electronic musical recordings. This art form is free from the idea of authenticity because no real instruments or performers are used. Studio Audio art can be sold as a high fidelity recording and it can be presentational in places such a dance clubs or concerts where DJ's "perform" their recorded music. Studio Audio is the least interactive of all four fields because it is only made or performed by the creator once when it is being recorded.
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