I actually ended up liking the Eagle Dance example. Although it checks every box for every part of music I don’t like, I think the fact that it means something important to a group of people made me end up appreciating it more than I expected. The vocal quality had little variation, both in pitch and lyrics. It isn’t the kind of thing we would expect to be playing on the radio, since they are singing without any sort of “meaning” in the lyrics, the tempo is too fast for casual listening, and the cultural significance can be lost without context. It helps immensely to see the dancers perform during this song, since it changes the song from being simple chanting with a drumbeat to an act belonging to a community that has been practiced for generations.
Moving onto Bobby McFerrin’s performance, I felt less connected to this piece, but felt more impressed by the talent and skill required to pull it off. He managed to keep an audience of thousands engaged and participating without any instruments accompanying him nor actual lyrics. The vocables in this song were somewhat similar to the ones in Eagle Dance, but what makes them unique in McFerrin’s performance is the fact of their variance. He does not keep using the same vocables from start to finish, but keeps coming up with new ones throughout his performance. In Eagle Dance, the lyrics felt as if they had meaning coming from the history behind the type of music. In McFerrin’s performance, the lyrics felt as if they had meaning coming from his creativity and talent. Out of the pair of them, I feel as if I ended up liking McFerrin’s piece more. While Eagle Dance surprised me, there is simply no topping captivating a stadium full of people with your voice alone.
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