Kabuki Theater Vocal Techniques

• Traditional Asian Theater Music includes Japanese Theater, Chinese Opera and Indonesian Theater

Japanese Theater

• Kabuki Theater is a traditional Japanese theater art.
• It is performed in a stylized manner.
• Kabuki combines acting, singing, and dancing.
• "Ka" means to sing
• "Bu" means to dance
• "Ki" means to act.
• Kabuki was founded in 1603
• It was founded by Okuni, a Shinto priestess.
• It was founded nearthe Komagawa River in Kyoto

Vocal patterns & Techniques

• Ipponchōshi, or the continuous pattern, is used in speeches.
• In Ipponchōshi, speeches build up to an explosive climax.
• The style used is the aragoto style
• The aragoto style is an oversize, supernatural, rough hero style.
• Ipponchōshi requires extraordinary breath control
• Only a few experts succeed in achieving the breath control needed for Ipponchōshi
• Nori technique is adapted from the chanting of jōruri.
• Nori technique implies sensitively riding the rhythms of the shamisen, a string instrument, and declaiming each accompaniment.
• Yakuharai technique involves the subtle delivery of poetical text.
• The text is written in the Japanese metrical form of alternating seven and five syllables.

Vocal and Instrumental Features

• Dances and movements are accompanied by shamisen music.
• Nagauta is a long song and the most popular shamisen music.
• Naugata music is flexible and can be performed by one shamisen.
• Naugata music can also be performed by an orchestra of 20 musicians.
• Of those 20 musicians, 10 are shamisen players, while others play flutes and drums.

Role of music in Kabuki Theater

• Geza-ongaku means Off-Stage Music.
• Geza-ongaku is located offstage behind a curtain.
• Geza-ongaku is assigned to play background music and sound effects.
• Geza-ongaku may also set the mood with a connotative popular tune.
• Geza-ongaku usually uses little to no vocals.
• Geza-ongaku is generally more percussion-related.
• Shosa-ongaku means On-Stage Music.
• Shosa-ongaku is located onstage by the Shamisen and Hayashi ensemble.
• Shosa-ongaku accompanies the acting and dancing.
• Shosa-ongaku accompanies actors as they describe scenic settings.
• The actors synchronize their lines with the rhythm of the music.
• Shosa-ongaku accompanies the dances and scenic music.

Kabuki Time!

• For this activity, the class will be divided into four groups.
• Each group brings materials, such as plastic bottles, bamboo sticks, a spoon/fork, and an empty soda can.
• Each group will present a rhythmic accompaniment to a kabuki presentation.
• The accompaniment will follow the given rhythm patterns.

Chinese Opera

• Peking opera, also known as Beijing opera, still follows traditional Chinese arts.
• It stresses meaning rather than precise actions.
• Peking opera artists aim to make every performance exceptionally beautiful in every movement.
• Peking opera is a traditional Chinese theater form that combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance, and acrobatics.
• Peking opera arose in the late 18th century
• Peking opera became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century.
• Peking opera was popular in the Qing Dynasty court.
• It has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China.

Role of Music in Peking Opera

• The music of Peking Opera uses sets of traditional, codified songs.
• Singing primarily follows two sets of tunes.
• 'Xipi' tunes express an ecstatic mood, such as pleasure, rage, or agitation.
• 'Erhuang' tunes convey a low-key mood and deep thought, such as sadness, grief, or melancholy.

Vocal Features

• The arias of Beijing opera can be divided into Erhuang and Xipi varieties.
• Wawadiao is an example of an aria.
• It is an aria in the Xipi style that is sung by a young Sheng to indicate heightened emotion.
• QUPAI is a fixed-tune melody.
• QUPAI tunes are instrumental and serve a wider range of purposes than arias.
• Examples include the "Water Dragon Tune" (shui long yin)
• The "Water Dragon Tune" generally denotes the arrival of an important person.
• Another example is "Triple Thrust" (ji san qiang)
• "Triple Thrust" may signal a feast or banquet.
• The final type of musical accompaniment is the percussion pattern.
• Percussion patterns provide context to the music.
• They provide context in ways similar to the fixed-tune melodies.
• Performances are accompanied by music played on three types of instruments.
• The three types are wind instruments, string instruments, and percussion instruments.
• The main instruments are Chinese in origin
• Jinghu is a two-stringed instrument played with a bow.
• Yueqin is a four-stringed instrument that is plucked.
• Sanxian is a three-stringed instrument which is also plucked.
• A variety of gongs and cymbals create rhythmic and graceful melodies.

Chinese Pekin Opera Adaptation

• Compose a poem of at least eight lines, telling a story on any of the given subjects.
• The subjects are Love, Freedom, Philippine Culture and Respect
• Create a melody or chant, adapting the Chinese singing style.

Indonesian Theater

• WAYANG KULIT shadow puppets are prevalent in Java and Bali in Indonesia.
• Wayang is an Indonesian and Malay word for theater.
• Kulit means skin.
• Kulit refers to the leather construction of the puppets
• The puppets are carefully chiseled with very fine tools and are supported with shaped buffalo horn handles and control rods.
• Shadow puppet theater are accompanied by gamelan in Java
• Performances are also accompanied by "gender wayang" in Bali.

Role of Music in Wayang Kulit

• The Gamelan is used to accompany Wayang Kulit.
• The gamelan is silent when the Dalang is speaking.
• The gamelan rattles and clanks to emphasize a statement or phrase when the Dalang is speaking
• Gamelan players react instinctively to the Dalang's timing and narration.
• Gamelan players play music accordingly
• It accompanies the singing/chanting and stage actions like dance.
• Entrances, exits, and fight scenes are executed in time to gamelan music.
• Suluk is never accompanied by the full gamelan ensemble.

Instrumental Accompaniment

• Saron is a xylophone of heavy bronze bars.
• Gender is a bronze xylophone with resonance chambers beneath.
• Bonang is a set of bronze bowls.
• Gong & Kempul are hanging gongs.
• Kenung & Kertuk is a single inverted bronze bowl.
• Gambang is a wooden xylophone.
• Rebab is a two-stringed fiddle.
• Suling is a flute.
• Kendang is a horizontal drum beat with the fingers on both ends.
• Tjelempung is a zither of thirteen double strings.
• Saron is a metallophone with heavy bronze bars.
• It is struck with a wooden mallet.
• The Saron plays the main melody in a gamelan ensemble.
• The Gong Ageng is the largest gong
• The Kempul are smaller gongs.
• The Gong Ageng and Kempul mark important structural points in the music.
• Gambang is the only wooden instrument in the gamelan.
• The Gambang produces a bright, fast, and flowing sound.
• Suling produces soft, airy melodies.
• These melodies provide a mystical and meditative quality.
• Gender adds decorative melodies and creates a flowing, mystical effect.
• Kertuk & Kenung provide rhythmic punctuation.
• They also reinforce the melodic structure.
• Rebab is a lead melodic instrument.
• It mimics vocal expression and guides the ensemble.
• Bonang signals character entrances and dramatic changes through interlocking melodic patterns.
• Kendang is the most important rhythm keeper.
• It controls tempo and signals puppet movements.
• Tjelempung enriches the texture with gentle plucked harmonies, adding elegance.