Exploring Music in Context Section 3: AOI 1

Score: 


For my Exploring Music in Context Section 3: AOI 1 recording, I recorded Myanmar’s national anthem Kaba Ma Kyei, or “Till The End of The World.” Firstly, I wanted to do the lyrical content of the piece justice in my recording, as the lyrics are completely centered around bringing love and freedom to Myannar, and vowing to preserve its precious land. This creates a very loving and warm tone, and I wanted to replicate the same tonality in the Double Bass by playing very expressively. One way I was able to do that throughout the piece is by incorporating a lot of vibrato—not only to mimic a soloist or choir’s voices that could sing the piece, but also because on an instrument, the piece sounds very dry without vibrato. 

Since the score is written in treble clef, this means I cannot play as a double bass might play it, and instead need to play as a cello would. The tone cannot be too deep, so that is why I am pretty sure that I did not use the low E string a single time—I also do not have a C extension, so that would not be possible regardless. I decided to use open strings to play G and D, rather than stopped notes to do vibrato, in order to create a more airy, clear tone that I thought would work better than just vibrating every single note. However, vibrato was still prominent throughout my recording, especially during the 5th line, with the half notes.

The score I used was written in 2/4 time. After digging around the internet and looking at various BPMs of other sources, it was in the range of 70-100 bpm, with some going as high as 140 bpm. I stayed at around 80 bpm throughout my recording, but I didn’t have a metronome, so I had to make sure I kept the rhythmic integrity the entire time. 

As for dynamics, it was mostly forte throughout the piece, but in the with bar section, it dropped to more mezzo-forte or piano.
The pattern in the second to last line, an eighth note followed by a quarter note, and then another eighth note, is the most rhythmically complex sequence in the piece. Although it isn’t the most difficult rhythmic pattern by any means—this arrangement is fairly simple, after playing so many basic rhythms, I had to make sure that I did not mess up that simple idea. 

Due to the last passage slowing down, as evidenced by the “ritardando” in the second to last measure, and the fermata markings over the last two bars of the anthem, I had to make sure to play very slowly. As evidenced in the recording, which I sadly cannot link here in this document, I also made sure to end the recording with a bow. Traditionally, Burmese singers, or whoever sings the anthem, makes sure to bow at the end in order to show their respect for the anthem, so I made sure to do the same. 











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