Abstract:
Busking is found as part of the culture in many large European cities. People’s opinions in these cities regarding busking musicians range from the thought that they are a nuisance to that of being an integral feature of an area. Regarding this, the author brought up the question of whether buskers felt differently about how others perceive them as based on where they actually performed (i.e. location). In Berlin, Germany, the author compared busking musicians based on whether they performed in a public square or on street corners. It was found that those playing music in the former place enjoyed themselves and felt no stigma while those in the latter location only sometimes enjoyed themselves and felt stigmatized. In addition, the author did some busking of his own but found it difficult to associate with either type of busker regarding stigma/enjoyment as passerby found it difficult to hear an unamplified guitar.
Introduction:
Street performance, or busking, has been around for many centuries. Despite the term “busker” only coming into the English language within the past 200 years, records point to individuals carrying out this activity at earlier times—as far back as the days of Ancient Rome(1). Although the term “busker” encompasses street performers of all types—be it musicians, mimes, jugglers, or living statues, for the purpose of this paper, “buskers” or “busking” will refer exclusively to street music and the musicians performing it.
Whether a vagabond strums chords on the side of a bridge or a well-rehearsed band plays songs next to a department store, street music and musicians finds a place in many major cities of the world. Some may see these people as a nuisance; disturbing the peace, second-class citizens trying to fuel a thirst for alcohol. Others may view them as an important part of the city—adding culture and art to what might otherwise be a drab environment. Regardless of the different views held about these musicians, initial observations of these artists allowed for their general categorization in two groups: those who perform in large open areas and those who play in more intimate settings. Did differences exist between those who performed in one environment vs. another?
Renowned as being one of the world’s centers for the arts, the city of Berlin is well-known for being one of the best places in the world for buskers to perform and make money(2). The term “busker” makes no delineation between whether street performance is an individual’s main source of income or if it is done for some pocket change. This environment makes the city an ideal location to observe and talk to street musicians in several settings. Through observations of performances and conversations with some of the musicians, the similarities and differences surrounding buskers in open squares and those making music on street corners were found.
As a music major, my university education thus-far dealt with topics and issues surrounding performance of “classical music” in concert-hall type venues. However, information surrounding the common practice of street music remains unaddressed. As a classical musician, I am interested in the performance aspect of this related art form. In the broad sense, this will change how I view the way people interact in any city I walk through while in the more self-interested sense, this research may change how I approach my own performances and music-making.
Methods:
Observations of buskers regarding their repertoire, setting, and performance styles were noted. Also observed was the popularity of particular buskers with regard to the size of the crowd they drew. When possible, the musicians were interviewed with a few questions. Since the amount of money a busker makes is a product of many complex variables—specific location, weather, musician’s mood, particular day, other events/musicians in the area, etc., income was not used as a factor to compare musicians.
The general area of Alexanderplatz was chosen as a location representative of public squares whereas outdoor cafes/restaurants were observed to survey buskers in a street corner setting. Ten musicans/groups were observed in Alexanderplatz, of which three were talked to. Two musicians were observed in street-corner cafes, of which one was talked to. In addition, I busked for 30 minutes near the Hackescher Markt train station.
Results:
In Public Squares
A large variety of musical styles and stage personas appeared in the locations I observed. Within the public square setting (Alexanderplatz), ensembles ranged from a trio consisting of a guitar/singer, bass, and percussion box to drummers who hit plastic plant pots as well as many things in between (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Example of buskers in Alexanderplatz
The public square setting gets a large quantities of foot traffic as people go to- and from- various destinations. This also makes the area noisy. Understandably, the buskers who drew the largest audience also played with sufficiently loud dynamics.
I conducted interviews with two bands playing at Alexanderplatz who enlightened me about two different strategies on busking. A combo band named “Jammin’ Johnny & the Diskofuckers” (Figure 2) stated that they possessed about a half-hour’s worth of repertoire which is played once at a given location. After performing, they pack up and go one train stop away and repeat the process.
Figure 2. Video of Jammin' Johnny & the Diskofuckers playing "When the Saints go Marching in" in Alexanderplatz.
Another local band made up of a guitarist/singer, a percussion box, and a bassist had some set repertoire but spends most of the time improvising. This allows them to stay at one location and play for hours on end.
Notably, both of these practiced ensembles could be heard from several hundred feet away and both drew an acknowledging crowd. Upon talking with the local trio, it was revealed that busking was “fun” for them and they felt no stigma against their performances.
The third musician interviewed at Alexanderplatz was a solo guitarist/singer from Italy (Figure 3). Although not as clearly audible as the two aforementioned bands, he claimed that he busks at that location as he gets the most money there. Although he did not draw a crowd around him, he was all smiles and did not pressure passing civilians to give him money. Although he wasn’t specifically asked about stigma, the general vibe of the situation suggested that again, no such thing existed for musicians performing in public squares.
Figure 3. Solo guitarist/singer interviewed in Alexanderplatz
On Street Corners
A different scenario exists for musicians playing for street-corner cafes. At a corner restaurant/café called Avril, a solo electric-guitarist hooked up to an amp played some soft jazz solos for 7-10 minutes. During this time, the diners didn’t stop or look up from their conversations/food. After finishing, the musician walked around to each table with a collection jar—essentially asking the diners for money. Following a 40-minute conversation with the man, he revealed that he felt a stigma as a performer at street-corners. He normally plays in bands in clubs. The busking was only a means to make some beer money and felt “fun” only some of the time, depending on mood, day, weather, audience, etc.
The Author’s Attempts to Busk
The author tried to busk as well by playing a classical guitar repertoire just outside the Hackescher Markt train station and in a park. He found that most passerby could not hear an unamplified classical guitar and thus found it difficult to associate with either type of busker studied. The author felt no stigma but also did not find it particularly fun either. It felt to him more like routine rather than a real performance. The few people who stood within hearing range (middle-aged and older), however, appreciated the music that differed from the usual singing/strumming found in the streets, and each donated around 1€. Only enough money for lunch was made during each occasion (3,00€ and 2,50€, respectively).
Future Directions:
The findings of this project are by no means comprehensive or conclusive. Some differences on street music perceptions based on location have been observed however, more interviews need to be conducted before anything conclusive can be said. The difficulty in the research stemmed from the fact that there is a certain degree of luck involved in finding a street musician in a given location. Should this research project continue in the future, more buskers need to be talked to increase the sample size.
In addition, this project only looked at busking musicians. What are the thoughts/stigmas surrounding other types of buskers? Mimes and other street performers often share the same space along public squares or popular roads and may be another topic to perform future research on.
Acknowledgments:
The author would like to thank the instructors of the UW Honors in Berlin Program: Dr. Julie Villegas, Dr. Shawn Wong, and Dr. Shenga Parker for their teachings, guidance, and support. In addition, special thanks are extended to the TAs of the program, Ms. Manuela Mangold and Mr. Tobias Temme for their advice and help through the research. Finally, the author extends a world of thanks to his peers in the program who helped nurture a sense of community and fostered the author’s growth as both a writer and as an individual.
References:
1) "Busking History." Busker World. 2007. Web. Aug.-Sept. 2009.
2) Hewitt, John. "World's Best Places to Busk." Traveler's Notebook. 11 Nov. 2008. Web. Aug.-Sept. 2009.
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