The Four Music Fields

The four music fields discussed in our book are participatory, presentational, high fidelity, and studio audio art music. In this post I discuss and give examples of these fields of music.

Participatory Music

     The video I chose for participatory music is a video of people doing a traditional Agbadza dance of the Ewe people. I thought that this one would be appropriate since we are learning about Ghanaian drumming on Thursday. A characteristic that shows that this is a participatory music event is the fact that everyone shown is participating in some way. All of the people are either playing instruments, clapping, or dancing. Some potentials of participatory music is that it gives everyone a chance to join in and does not exclude anyone. People are separated into their roles by skill levels, so no one does anything that is above or below their capabilities. However, this can also result in a sound that has a dense texture, but may be off key due to some of the people having out-of-tune instruments or something else. The cultural impact of participatory music like this has the effect of bringing people together as a close-knit community.

Presentational Music

     This next video is an example of presentational music. It is U2 playing their song "One Tree Hill" at Soldier Field in Chicago in July 2011. This one has a special meaning to me because I was at this particular concert. It is characteristic of presentational music because it was performed live, had a scripted set list, sustained interest, and there was a distinction between U2, the artist, and the audience. A few potentials of this type of music are the popularity that it can give to the artist as a performer and the sense of togetherness it gives the audience. One of its limitations is the fact that the artist is responsible for retaining the interest of the audience, and another is that the performance must be much better rehearsed than a participatory one. The cultural impact of concerts and presentational performances is huge, drawing hordes of people to them each year.

High Fidelity Music


     The next style, high fidelity music, is music that is recorded in a studio and then mixed or otherwise distributed to people. The song I chose, "Avenue" by Emily's Army, is a good example of this because it showcases the sound of the song and resembles what the song would sound like if it were performed live in a presentational performance. The potentials of this method or field include the ability of the artists to distribute their music to the masses without the people being required to see them in concert and also gives them the chance to connect to a broader audience. Conversely, the artists that use high fidelity music must be sure to maintain the live sound in the recordings, or else listeners might find the music to be too engineered with little authenticity. Also, the musician must be sure that the music is interesting enough to hold the interest of people that listen to or buy their recordings. From a cultural standpoint, almost every artist must release some kind of recording to their followers if they want their name to be known. Digital download versions, CDs, vinyls, etc. are very popular methods of distributing these recordings.

Studio Audio Art Music

     To demonstrate studio audio art music, I chose a compilation of different background songs from the various Pokémon video games. These songs, as is characteristic of most studio audio art, were made without the intention of ever being performed live. They also were made using some kind of computer technology, another indication that they are studio audio art. A potential advantage of studio audio art music is that it is not bound by authenticity, but at the same time this could be a limitation for this form of music because people might take it less seriously. Also, another limitation is that it is likely to provide very little interaction with other people. On the other hand, some more potentials of this music are the control that the composer has on the finished product and that even people with little musical "skill" can pick up the various methods of making it. Video game music may not be the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of studio audio art, but its prevalence in today's society likely makes it a cultural phenomenon.

     These fields of music are the major ones that are the most prevalent in today's musical world. Each of them has its own distinct set of traits, and each is important for different reasons.