Your Master Project Proposal consists of three elements:
A. I want to play in an symphony orchestra, but I would like to do more things than that and one of them is have a group where we study and play popular music such as Tango, in other words, I would like to see this group as a place where me and other musicians can study effects, musicality, style and repertoire of Tango in a formal way, moreover this space will be a perfect place to explore new sounds or effects, and an opportunity for create repertoire, fusions with other genre or instruments, and create new ways for popular music, or in this case for Tango music. So, in this case my PIA is really connected between them because they are about Tango music, and the research is a step to materialize my PIA because I will learn more about it, but I can meet Tango musicians and start to work with them in looking for new repertoire or creating new music for solo double bass and thus start to walk to my PIA. My PIA and my research are a possibility to expand my knowledge and my musical vision, and with that I can find new skills for my performance as a musician.
B. Using the following format, provide a detailed plan for researching and documenting the research component of your Master Project on the Research Catalogue:
The double bass as a soloist in Tango music
How to play and understand repertoire for solo double bass in Tango music?
How to approach Tango music for double bass from German bow technique?
I want to explore new ways to play Tango music from double bass and German bow, because Now days there is no much information found on this (recordings, scores, how to play), further Tango double bass players only play with French bow, so I would like to discover why and how I can adapt Tango technique in German bow. Also, in this exploration I hope to discover new repertoire and then play it and share it with other musicians. My plan is first look for a Tango music for solo double bass and accompaniment, then I am going to document my analyze and practice about some pieces, also at the same time study how to play Tango music (Effects, musicality, sound, patterns of “fraseo”) and finally I would like to do a recital where I am playing these pieces. To achieve this, I am looking for repertoire with Tango players, and then I am looking for knowledge about Tango in books, methods, interviews and talkings with Tango players, I also plan take classes with some Tango double bass players. Another important element in the whole process is listen to Tango music carefully to understand how I can imitate this way of playing with German bow.
I would like to document my research by making a diary where I keep the record of the process and results that I find along the way. So in the final document I would write about history of double bass in Tango, how it started , why French bow, how was its development and then I will write about my experience play this kind of music with German bow, what are the differences, how to play effects with German bow, how works this repertoire. Moreover, I will attach in the document recordings of pieces and during the presentation I will play it while I am explaining my conclusions and discoveries.
C. In the format provided to you in the course Introduction to Project Management, submit your Brief Description of Professional Integration Activities
Nowadays podcast is a really popular format, and everybody listen to it all the time, so I think it would be nice to do a podcast about Tango music as a first step. I consider that Spotify or YouTube could be a good platform to upload the podcast.
I have been playing Tango music since I’ve been a teenager, although the genre is originally from Argentina, in Medellin, my hometown, we have a strong traditional culture around tango music, and the school of music of the city, where I studied, has a Tango orchestra where I used to play for four years. With this orchestra I had the opportunity to play at the Festival y Mundial de Tango in Buenos Aires, Argentina, also I did record a CD with this orchestra, and now I play frequently with another groups of Tango from Medellín. I love classical music and I do want to play in an orchestra, but tango music has always been a part of my life and I think that it will always be.
The final outcome of my PIA will be a podcast uploaded in a (or multiples) platform(s) which will count with different chapters.
I am aiming to have around 1000 viewers on my podcast and 500 followers. I also expect to improve my knowledge of the topic because although I have been surrounded by it since a long time, I still have a lot to learn, and this would be a great opportunity to do so.
I would like to generate a space where people can learn not only about a single aspect of the genre, but about history, technique, styles, methods, the cultural surroundings of this music and so on; and also a podcast that can impact people in very different places, because you can listen to in anywhere in the world and at any time, that’s the reason why I’ll do my podcast both in English and Spanish. And beyond that, I’d love to expand the perspective of this music and create discussions around it with other musicians.
I think in the future the podcast somehow could generate some kind of income but that isn’t the main objective for me, but instead to have a high social impact thus having a great value for the society (musicians and even not musicians) that have interest in exploring or learning about this genre, and I think if I can achieve that sort of bridge between cultures I’d be more than satisfied, because although tango music is a popular music which its origins come from marginalized communities (it is a mix between poor people from Buenos Aires and European immigrants) it got recognition years later and nowadays many performances of classical music includes the “biggest hits” or the “standards” as part of the repertoire, but through this ideal bridge I’d like to create, people will get to know deeper about this music.
I see this project as a possibility to expand my musical vision and it could take to me other skills or tools for my performance. My main goal is work in a symphony orchestra, but at the same time I would like to create a group of tango music as a side project for my life and, by creating a podcast where I discuss about topics related to the genre, I will expand my knowledge about it, so with the podcast I am starting to create the way for a part of my artistic development.
I want to research about Tango music, so it is completely connected, because although the focus of my research is Tango music for solo double bass, in the process I am learning about history, style of music, new repertoire and these kind of things help me in building my podcast and in the same way when I am looking information for my podcast I could find elements for my research.