Making Asian American Space Recording

What motivates the musicians to play this music?

The motivations that inspired the Mountain Brothers were at first just a desire to see if they could accomplish it, but soon turned into a way of life. A constant interest in hip-hop compelled them to enter into its arena and delve into its culture. The group formed during their years in college and first started as just a way to pass time but it soon turned into a career.

To what extent do the musicians seek to preserve the music of their ethnic heritage in its original form. To what extent do they adapt it to the present day?

An interesting aspect of this chapter was that the music being produced was not of their original ethnic heritage but that of African Americans. Although the Mountain Brothers have added their own flavor to the music and songs, it remains almost the same as other artists in this style. In fact in an effort to further their credibility, the Mountain Brothers refused to sign with a local Asian music company because they wanted their sound to associated with more than just the Asian community.

Does the community play a part in music making, and if so, describe how?

In this case more than one community plays a part in the Mountain Brothers music. While in Philadelphia the Mountain Brothers lived in a primarily African American community with small pockets of Asian Americans as well. They credit their sound to influences from both communities and admit the success they’ve achieved might not have occurred if the situation was different or if they had tried to only embrace one of the cultures.

List the places where the music making takes place.

The music discussed in this chapter, hip-hop, is created all over the country. Originally only African Americans were involved in it, but it soon spread to all corners of the United States. The music is enjoyed by people of varying ages and multiple cultures, and in a lot of cases other countries such as Mexico and many in Europe have a thriving hip-hop community.

What cultural changes have forced change in this ethnic music?

The major cultural changes that forced change in hip hop has been the evolution in music technology. While the music synthesizer, combined with the personal computer, has made it easier for the music to be made it has imposed new financial and training requirements that require at least a base knowledge of the technology itself. The learning of these technologies is often the substitute to actually learning how to read music leaving a lot of musicians who create hip-hop dependant on there music programs as opposed to music itself.

Listening Questions

List ways in which this music changed from traditional music of its origin as