Peer Response #2

For my second Peer Response post, I have decided to respond to Ian’s encounter with the Tibetan monks’ performance at the Unitarian Universalist Church. I found this very interesting because I have never heard of a live performance by Tibetan monks, especially at a church. He did a great job breaking down everything that occurred in this performance. Through the use of very descriptive adjectives, a clear picture was painted in my mind as to what exactly they sounded like. I especially liked the part where he took to time to explain to origins of the chanting using multiple tones at the same time. This technique came in a dream to the Tibetan lama Je Tzong Sherab Senge. He also discussed how they used trumpets call dung chen to give a solid tone and drums, gongs and cymbals to give a stronger rhythm to the chanting. I had no idea that Tibetan monks used trumpets in chanting, especially ones up to twenty feet long. My favorite part of the post was how at the end he distinguished this performance from a concert. He described how the monks’ outfits helped put the chants into the context of their lives, which I thought was very cool. Finally, to wrap up the response, he posted a video of a Tibetan monk performance to give the reader an idea of what exactly was going on which was very helpful. All in all, it was a nicely done analysis of an exotic performance. He was thorough and has peaked my interest in witnessing one of these events. This is my response to our second peer response for my Folklore F-121 World Arts and Cultures class.