Culture & Community | Music | Arts & Culture | Westville | Artwalk
In front of Elm City Sounds, ethnomusicologist Patrick Rivers was doing his best to make and spread a beat. The sweet aroma of kettle corn, the excited “hellos” of unexpected familiar faces, and the groovy blues of Joe Cocker all filled the air around him.
On a table in front of him was a laptop, keyboard controller, turntable, buttons galore, and of course, headphones.
“It’s something that started in the universities that I’m now bringing to New Haven,” said Rivers, an associate professor at the University of New Haven.
Saturday, Rivers rolled into Westville as the host of “Curate/Create,” a beat making workshop held in partnership with Westville Artwalk and the Fountain Street indie record store Elm City Sounds. When it was just within the university, the workshop was a space where students of any major could explore the world of music technology. It is now being expanded to the broader city of New Haven.
Those attending the expansive vendor market or digging through the crates at Elm City Sounds could get a sense of that by putting on a pair of headphones for themselves and taking a moment to listen. It was then that they could hear the different ingredients that come together to make a beat. The sounds of percussion mingled with the steady bass keeping rhythm, and an electric melody all coming together.
The goal is to teach people how to digest music, or “how to listen to drums, how to listen to beats,” Rivers said. In his own work as a professor and a DJ, he takes inspiration from music’s past and creates something new.
He hopes to keep music from the archive alive and appreciated, especially within a younger generation, he added. The aim is for them to “learn old music,” and understand “why music from the past is important,” he said. That will be the foundation for them to be able to then create something of their own.
“That’s why I have my turntable here,” he added, encouraging aspiring beat makers to pick up an old record and spin it. He urged them to take what attracted their ear—a sharp guitar riff, an addicting drum rhythm—and add it to their own beat.
A short walk away, the music education continued at Edgewood Park, where live performances from local bands like Glambat and Model Decoy took center stage. For some people in their audience, it was a chance to support an old favorite while others found a new track to add to their playlist.
That was true for New Havener Maura Perez. who after listening to Glambat’s set was still enchanted with the group. “I vibe with them! I really enjoyed their songs,” she said.
Then came Model Decoy, who performed a cover of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” before introducing their last song, “Oxytocin.” “This song is about the love molecule oxytocin; it’s in all of us, even in our dogs,” said frontman Doron Monk Flake.
As they performed, those attending—including four legged furry friends— clustered closer to the stage. Directly in front was an open patch of grass, slowly being occupied by a shower of bubbles coming from a machine next to the stage. The younger generation ran through them as they did their own interpretive dance and waved to the band.