- Chaplain begins with reading
- "Permission to board" from members
- Informal beginning - food, drinks
- Binders (bindarrs) with lyrics - do members just learn tunes through memorization?
- Collection of funds
- People look much more like normal Brown students here than they do at shows
- People randomly begin songs after suggestion made
- Harmonization seems mostly to come from the same group of people
- Really feels like a group of friends, little organized leadership
- Argument about different versions of songs
- About 17 people present
- Some people using "pirate speak" much more than others
- New members are easy to pinpoint - seem scared to speak still
- Music - often a discant over chorus
- Hand symbol for who's going to do the next solo verse (acknowledged by Captain)
- Some reference current events/last night, inside jokes
- Change of emotions quickly between songs (example: "Fields of Athenry")
- Much more harmony here - sung often (I recognize it), so it's more set than other ones
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Fieldnotes: Arrr rehearsal 10/5
On Friday 10/5, I met the members of Arrr for their weekly rehearsal at 3 pm. Due to the gorgeous weather, they decided to hold it outside on the Main Green instead of at a member's house. Here are my (unedited) notes from the rehearsal:
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This sounds like a really fun topic to research! I don't know a lot about the acappella scene at Brown beyond a few select groups, so I'm curious to see how a group like Arrr came to be. It seems like a really informal, friendly environment based upon your fieldnotes, but there's definitely a lot of information about the group that I'm now curious to know. I'd love to know when it was founded, who founded it, what the history is to its curious pirate-motif, and what sets it apart from the other acappella groups at Brown (I'm sure your research to come will address many of these questions). Your fieldnotes perfectly portray some of the details from this particular rehearsal, but I'd love to see how interviews with some of the older members (or alums?) might help in understanding the traditions and musical emphases of this group.
ReplyDeleteThese brief, schematic notes already suggest so many possible directions. Possible themes include the ritualized elements of the rehearsal structure (interesting that it is framed by a reading from the Chaplain -- and I really want to know about the content of such readings!); oral vs. written transmission (or the mutual implication of both?); hierarchy and decision-making (is there a guiding political ideology here? and, as Nick asks, is it different from what one might find in other groups at Brown?); the process of integrating newcomers into the group (are there are any particular rites of passage involved?) -- and oh yes, let's not forget the musical repertoire and performance style. Have you started to choose an angle yet? It'll be interesting to see how your interview material contributes to this topic-refining process.
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