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Black Metal: War against the World

The Metal scene in Norway is most famous for being the spawning grounds of the controversial subgenre of music, Black Metal. Norwegian Black Metal has roots in Thrash and Death metal, and commonly includes very extreme, violent and misandric lyrics with heavy Satanic themes. It’s characteristics include fast tempos, shrieking vocals, heavily distorted guitars, and a very dark atmosphere brought on by the use of ‘corpse paint’, death/satanic themed pseudonyms adopted by band members and gory stage decorations.

Norwegian Black Metal was first founded in the 1980’s by what is now commonly referred to as the first wave of black metal. Bands which contributed to this include ‘Venom’, ‘Hellhammer’, ‘Bathory’ and ‘Celtic Frost’. These bands were the first to start including extreme lyrics with many references to the satanic, acts of anarchy and violence.

The second wave of Norwegian Black Metal came in the early 1990’s, brought on by the success and controversy of the first wave Black Metal bands. This era spawned one of the most infamous Norwegian Black Metal bands in history, “Mayhem”, along with “Darkthrone”, “Burzum”, “Immortal” and “Emperor”. This is when the genre really started to gain traction and the themes and styles of the first wave Black Metal bands were developed into a defined genre and subculture.

As a genre, Black Metal is quite different from other forms of extreme Metal, such as Death Metal and Thrash Metal, because of its philosophy and culture. However in terms of pure sound, Black Metal can be mistaken for other forms of extreme Metal by those not familiar with the subtle differences between genres. Black Metal’s most easily recognizable feature is the musical innovation of playing full chords instead of power chords. This innovation has largely been credited to Black Metal figureheads, Snorre ‘Blackthorn’ Ruch and Øystein ‘Euronymous’ Aarseth. Furthermore, most fans agree that Black Metal vocals are often in a higher register and contain ‘shrieks’ rather than ‘growling’ which is used more widely in Death Metal. Black Metal, and a few other Metal genres, also do not have a clear song structure, and rarely follow the traditional verse-chorus format. Large parts of the songs are often devoted to atmospheric and heavy instrumental sections.

With the rise in popularity for Black Metal, the main audience for Black Metal has shifted from youths from Anglo-Saxon countries, to youths in general. The non conformism and exclusiveness of Black Metal appeal a lot to modern audiences because of the commercial nature of music today. In an age where the success of a band depends on the amount of ‘likes’ they get on Facebook and pandering to gigantic record labels, a genre of music which is all about authenticity and shunning the mainstream is a breath of fresh air.

What makes Norwegian Black Metal so distinctive and interesting is not simply the music, but also the culture which the music surrounds. The core values of the Black Metal culture are anti christian, individualistic, maintaining authenticity and barring entry to those who are ‘uncommitted’. The idea of keeping Black Metal out of the mainstream is heavily centric to the Black metal culture. As a result, Black Metal bands will often choose to record in ‘lo-fi’ with very low production quality to ensure a ‘raw’ and ‘cold’ sound, shunning anything which would make the genre more accessible to the mainstream. One of the main founding members of Norwegian Black Metal ‘Euronymous’ would even go so far as to name the founding members of the genre “The Black Circle” to further the image of Black Metal being cult-like, non conformist and separatist, even though the scene was never really organized enough to be anything like a cult.

The idea of being separatist and keeping out of the mainstream is taken to such extremes that many ‘Purist’ Black Metal bands don’t treat their concerts as performances to entertain the audience, but rather as rituals, where authenticity and sincerity are the most important factors. In general, audience participation in Black Metal concerts varies from band to band. However Black Metal bands like ‘Watain’ and ‘Mayhem’ have been known to throw animal blood and heads on to their audiences, and cast ‘spells’ during their performances. Furthermore audience members commonly ‘scream’ and or ‘growl’ along with the beast like vocals of Black Metal performances, and make the iconic ‘sign of the horns’ gesture with their hands.

In most forms of Metal, there are some themes of class superiority and individualism based on music and culture. What makes Black Metal unique is that those themes and ideals are taken to the extreme. In Norwegian Black Metal, authenticity and barring the mainstream are of the utmost importance. This is normally practiced by those in the Norwegian Black Metal scene by intentionally making their music as radical and controversial as possible (which in the highly Christian country of Norway means singing about Satanism) in order to place a firm barrier of entry against those not ‘evil’ or ‘Metal’ enough. It doesn’t stop there.

Not only does the Norwegian Black Metal shun those outside of the Black Metal circle, but there is also constant contention within the scene itself over what is ‘real’ Black Metal, and whether or not certain bands and songs are ‘evil’ and authentic enough. This constant quest to play the ‘blackest’ music and be the most ‘evil’ has even created fatal schisms within the founding members of the Black Metal scene, ‘The Black Circle’. On August 10th 1993 renowned Black Metalist Varg Vikernes killed prominent Black Metal figure ‘Euronymous’. There are still multiple theories as to why Varg killed Euronymous. According to Varg Vikernes himself, he learned from mutual friends of Euronymous that Euronymous was planning to ‘…meet me, knock me out with a stun-gun, tie me up and put me in the trunk of a car. He would then drive into the countryside, tie me to a tree and torture me to death while videotaping everything.’ Varg then proceeded to confront Euronymous in the middle of the night at Euronymous’s home. During the confrontation, Euronymous attacked him first, then went running for a kitchen knife, prompting Varg to pull out his own knife and chase Euronymous out of the apartment before stabbing him in the forehead.

At its heart, Black Metal is a war against the world. It started off as the response of lost youths in the highly religious country of Norway, trying to find their identity. Now, it has come to symbolize the rejection of everything, and the universal desire to rebel against the broken world those before you have created, and return it to its natural state. Many forms of music also express this feeling of primal rebellion, like punk, rock, and even pop music today.

This feeling and desire to break free of the mold that society dictates to us and change the world is a timeless one. Black Metal expresses this dissatisfaction of the world in its extreme music and associating with the Devil, the universes first rebel. And this sometimes leads to people in the Black Metal scene committing heinous acts, due to the the cultures constant quest to be more apart form society, and be more authentic.

Though the acts and music of the Black Metal scene may seem extreme or evil, make no mistake, we all have a bit of Black Metal in us.

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One example of the basic structure and format of your end-of-quarter soundscapes analysis. As you’ll notice, this post takes the three categories of sound, setting, and significance and integrates them into a cohesive whole. The post has a clear organizational structure, a compelling narrative, and an abundance of supplemental materials (photos, videos, etc.).

#music #metal #student assignment #ethnomusicology #soundscapes

sonofbaldwin

Yes, that means everyone at Afropunk too.

I wasn’t going to post this article because I knew that it was going to be a contentious, angering piece in which black people would be pitted against one another. But Wanelisa Xaba asked my opinion on it, so here are some of my initial thoughts from my perspective as an African American (all over the place and not fully thought-out, in-progess, and evolving, but here goes).

Please let us keep this conversation cute. Thank you.

1. African Americans are caught between worlds, neither of which want us–not the world where our ancestors were sold from and not the world they were sold to. frown emoticon

2. African Americans have adopted some of the pathologies of both of those worlds, which seem to be at cross purposes, and at least one of those pathologies is wholly and entirely negative.

3. African Americans have our own rich, brilliant, sought-after culture. There really is no need for us to adopt others–no matter how “lost” or “disconnected” we might feel if we don’t.

4. Privilege works by comparison and there *IS* a such thing as Western/American privilege–even if, while in America, we African Americans don’t feel as though we are experiencing any kind of privilege because of institutionalized and social racism (which is an experience we compare to white people’s experiences, not really to the experiences of continental Africans).

5. We need to have really deep, really clear conversations about what appropriation is. Is at least *some* of what we’re calling “appropriation” merely how culture–by the nature of what it is and by the nature of what it means to be a social creature–works?

6. Can culture be trademarked and do we want it to be?

7. Are we understanding culture with too much capitalism on the brain? Is there a way to understand culture that is separate from profit?

8. What is ownership? Is it a concept that we should adopt and treat as natural?

9. How can ownership be enforced? How do we claim ownership of things that involve more than one person, experience, or imagination?

10. How different would the world look and feel and sound if African Americans decided to remove our art from it or prevent others from enjoying or partaking in it? Imagine a world with no spirituals, no gospel, no blues, no jazz, no rock & roll, no soul, no R&B, no hip hop–among so many other things.

11. How will art, the artist, people, growth, and evolution suffer as a result of making everything we do, say, create, or think–as individualized cultures of people–a monetized, proprietary object?

12. Has the European/Western/White way of being and doing so traumatized us all–the African and the African American alike–that we can’t tell the difference between theft and exchange, mocking and homage, disrespect and kinship, acrimony and love?

UPDATE: Tia Oso wrote a rebuttal to the original article. Please read it here: https://thsppl.com/claiming-what-s-ours-on-black-americans-and-cultural-appropriation-ceb7ec3fa4ae

UPDATE II: Jessica Ann Mitchell from Our Legaci has also written a response:

http://ourlegaci.com/2015/09/07/black-americans-wearing-african-clothing-is-not-cultural-appropriation/

Trot Music: What came before KPOP

Written By: Maywan Tang

To get a better picture of trot music, I will first begin by describing where trot music came from and include significant and important events or details about that specific country. In the next section, I will talk about important recurring themes that can be found in trot music. The final section will conclude with my personal analyses of two trot songs in order to allow you a better understanding about what standard trot music sounds like.

At the start of the song, right away you can hear the baritone saxophone playing alongside with the string instruments (violins mostly) in additional to a group of females singing harmonies. In continuation of the introduction, brass instruments, primarily the trumpets, also are added in a little bit after the start of the song. After the introduction, the main instruments build up tension and excitement in the song just before Nam Jin joins in. At these parts of the song, he sings along with an electric guitar and drums playing in the background simultaneously. As heard throughout the song, the guitar and drums play the signature “ppong tchak-tchak ppong tchak” onomatopoetic rhythm (the Korean spelling of how the bass line beat sounds in trot music), often characteristic of trot music (Kwon, 2012). In most of the verses following his introduction, Nam Jin is mostly accompanied by the strings, electric guitar, and drums. In these parts of the song (not the chorus), he often sings calmly which contrasts to the excitement that was in the song before entrance of the chorus. Despite the frequent transitions to the calmer mood, the song remains in an upbeat fashion without slowing down or speeding up. The baritone saxophone and trumpets frequently follow his singing by adding strong accents at the end of his phrases, which help build up to the chorus—I suspect this is to prevent them from overpowering his voice while he sings. Occasionally throughout the song, solos from the violins, trumpets, and baritone saxophone are present. These solos often include adding little accents or runs (playing a bunch of notes up a scale quickly) before he sings the next verse. In addition, the female chorus group harmonizes with him at the end of a few phrases here and there throughout the song. Toward the end of the song where he takes a momentary break from singing, the group sings by themselves (with instrumentation in the background). In addition to the female group solo at the end of the song, the electronic guitar/bass is all you can hear, since all the other instruments (including the drums) drop out—this helps to build up to the climax of the song as the instruments and female voices are added in after he sings his last note.

#ethnomusicology #trot #south korea

Norwegian Folk Music and the revival

Madoka Watahiki

Norway is the country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in northern Europe, and borders on Finland, Sweden, and Russia. Norway has a long history both in history and culture. It was first established in 9th century by Normans, and Norway and Sweden were unified in the beginning of the 14th century, and at the end of the century, the two countries came to be ruled by Denmark in the Kalmar Union. Norway remained in union with Denmark until 1814. However, Denmark was defeated by Sweden during the Napoleonic war so that it came to be controlled by Sweden. It finally became independent of Sweden in 1905 although it was occupied by Germany from 1940 to 1945. Therefore, Norway had a very close and complicated connection with Sweden and Denmark. It has a total area of 380000㎢ approximately, and the population is about five million and the majority of them are Lutheran that was used to be a state religion. In terms of economy, Norway is one of the biggest exporters of oil and natural gas, and also flourishes with tourism. Norway is known for its beautiful nature such as fjords, northern lights, midnight sun, and glaciers, and their folk music was inspired by such landscapes. Their music is different from those of other country in Europe, because they developed among small farmers and cotters. Norway had economic growth along with industrialization and civilization in the late 19th century, and more music was created in the cities at that time. The purpose of folk music was for entertainment and dancing. It is a living tradition, and remained unaffected by changing musical fashions of music in Europe, but they share some Nordic music or dance tradition with its neighboring countries, Sweden or Denmark. It has been passed down aurally to the present from generation to generation. Norwegian folk music can be divided into two groups: vocal and instrumental music. Instrumental music is dance music so called slåtter. In addition, it can be broken down into two categories depends on their roots: the North Germanic and Sami. Sami is indigenous people who traditionally live in the Northern part of Norway, and they have unique vocal style of folk music. Following are two examples that demonstrate these two types of Norwegian music.

There are two issues that highlight Norwegian folk music; patriarchal society and religion. First, it has the influence of its patriarchal society. The Norwegian folk music is a male dominance under its patriarchal society. Musicians in Norway were often not professional, but they were farmers, construction workers, and miners, and music was a leisure time activity after such hard work while women steadily worked in the home for long hours. Thus, masculinity is often associated with the social identity of the Norway working-class male in the countryside. The word “fiddler” that means play-men in Norwegian reflect its society. However, the Norwegian folk music has a concept of “dåm(rikt)” that means expressive, emotional, melancholic, tender, personal, and it is traditionally considered as a female quality. Nevertheless, being fiddler was considered inappropriate for women, because playing fiddle in public was the form of self-expression and emotional pleasure that are not allowed for women to have access to it. Women were expected to listen, dance, and act supportively for the male fiddler, so they rarely appear in public. Although some parts of the Norway, such as Nordfjord, officially have a lot of women players, female performers are described as completely invisible or “exotic” exceptions in the most of the book about Norwegian folk music. These days such male-dominated Norwegian folk music culture is changing, and the female fiddlers outnumber the male ones. There are two types of opinions toward this ongoing change in folk music; rejecting anything untraditional, and celebrating that change as fresh or innovative. Mats Johansson, one of the researchers working at the department of musicology in Oslo University said in 2009, “Norwegian folk music is in the process of freeing itself from its cultural-political status as a collection of artifacts that need to be saved for the future, to constitute an independent, dynamic music genre within the field of popular culture.” What is interesting is the central value of Norwegian culture is “egalitarianism”. It is an idea of the society that everyone is socially equal, but this idea is not reflected to the music in Norwegian folk music.

Second, Norwegian folk music was threatened by a religion. Majority of Norwegian belong to Lutheran church that used to be a state religion. There were religious movements called Pietisms in 1800s. Pietisms were led by Hans Nielsen Hauge of a Lutheran minister, and spread through all the Norway. Many pagans attached the devil-related myths to the fiddle, and the fiddle was recognized as sinful, devil’s instrument. Therefore, the fiddle had become a target of the church, and the fiddles were often destroyed or burned. It contributed the decline of the folk music as well as folk dancing. The Norwegians later realized that their traditional music is in decline, and some organizations have preserved their traditional folk music. The Norwegian Tourist Board and the Norwegian Youth Organization organized a folk music contest in 1881, especially for folk music instruments that was almost entirely out of use at that time such as lur, a wooden brass instruments with origins in the Bronze Age or earlier. The contest attracted the sufficient interest of participants and listeners, and it became the events that was regularly held once or a few a year, but we see its significant growth after World War Ⅱ. As the contests were regularly held both in villages and cities, some of the prominent and well-educated fiddlers came to think that it was worthwhile to make the “Landslaget for Spelemenn” known as “National Fiddler’s Association”, the organization to preserve the Norwegian folk music and folk dance, was founded in 1923. The organization has two significance goals to create better economic circumstances for the fiddlers to work for better payment in their districts, and bring the fiddle tune to the general public. However, this new national organization has not been successful before World War Ⅱ and in the early 1950s, and was aligned with the venerable Norwegian Youth Organization. They contributed to fiddler-based event and made the general public have interest in Norwegian folk music in several ways. One of the most important events is so called Landskappleiken, and it is a national traditional music and dance competition held in different town every year. About 1000 active folk musicians, singers, and dancers gather for five days in late June, and approximately from 5000 to 7000 audience go to the event yearly. They also publish a journal Spelemannsblad, and it was started from a few pages of brochure and grew a thick issue that is regularly printed. The contents of the issue are mostly about news of the events, concerts, and profiles of respected performers. The Norwegian folk music has been successfully preserved by the efforts of these organizations I have mentioned above.

#ethnomusicology #norway #folk music

Kuaiban - Let the Bamboo Clappers do the Talking

By Denise Gee

On the south side of the hill at Jingshan Park in Beijing, there are middle-aged and elderly people using bamboo clappers to create “the aesthetics atmosphere” while rapping folk poetry and tongue twisters. (Shih, Yu-Jung)

Kuaiban is pronounced “kwai bahr” and it translate to be “fast boards” and “bamboo clappers” in Chinese. (Kuai Ban) Kuaiban is usually performed standing up and it is a solo performance. The instruments in Kuaiban are vocals that recite poetry and two different size clappers that are tied together by string and would have tassels hanging out. The clappers were originally made of cow bones, but later changed to being bamboo and sometimes brass. The larger clapper is translated to “big board” and is made up of two bamboo pieces. The smaller clapper is translated to “rhythm-keeper” and is made up of five pieces of bamboo. The “big board” is played in the dominated hand while the “rhythm-keeper” is in the other. (Kuaiban A) The smaller clapper is played continuously while the bigger clapper is clapped only for emphasizing in pausing because the dominate hand is used for gesturing.

Palo de Mayo: Music of the Nicaraguan People

Introduction to Palo de Mayo

Also known as the maypole dance, Palo de Mayo is a type of music and dance comprised mainly of Afro-Caribbean rhythms. Palo de Mayo music, known for its rhythmic and intense beats, significantly characterizes the Palo de Mayo dance festival which is held in specific parts of Central and South America such as Panama, Nicaragua and Belize (Britannica). These festivals are centered on a decorated maypole and is complemented with parades and creative costumes. In most locations, dancers hold on to the ribbons attached to the top of the Maypole and twine the ribbons around it. Prior to May, people in neighborhoods gather together to prepare their costumes, carriages and dances for the festival despite the fact that they will be competing against each other. Music is played via loudspeakers throughout towns for the whole month of May, in order to maintain the festive air. Festivals are held yearly, starting from the first of May, as a tribute to the Mayaya African goddess of fertility (NicaTour). Although these festivals are held for the same reason, it is known that each location celebrate the event a bit differently in terms of the dance and music.

#PaloDeMayo Nicaragua

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Cumbia: The Music of Columbia

Nicholas Swanson

Setting

Cumbia is a popular Latin American musical genre similar to salsa that dates back to the 17th century. Cumbia is now one of the most well known genres in Latin American music. “Cumbia is often known as Colombia’s main folk style; many would say that it is the musical genre that most accurately symbolizes Colombian nationality (others might argue that vallenato does this)”(Carter). It was also used during the Colombian struggle for independence as an expression of resistance against Spain; therefore, most of its songs’ messages were related to freedom or slavery. Cumbia originated in Columbia’s Caribbean costal region and combines the music and culture of the native Colombians, slaves that had been brought from Africa, and the Spanish that arrived during colonial times. The true birthplace of cumbia is uncertain; however, there is consensus that it was near the Colombian colonies that were inhabited by African descendants.

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Hawaiian Music: Past and Present

Hawaii, the 50th State in the United States of America, was annexed during the term of President William McKinley in 1898. Prior to this, Hawaii was independent but in the more recent 100 years or so before 1898, there was a desire, or perceived desire, by the world powers to control Hawaii because of its geographic location. This was primarily because of military strategic opportunities. In 1875 the United States and Hawaii established a trade agreement centered heavily on the sugar industry in Hawaii which led to, “ United States sugar plantation owners from the United States (coming) to dominate the economy and politics of the islands”(Department of State). With the increasing outside influence and power, Queen Liliuokalani, who would end up being Hawaii’s last sovereign monarch, sought to increase the power of the monarchy which led to her being removed from power by Americans led by Sanford B. Dole (cousin of James Dole of the Dole food company). This led to the aforementioned annexation, followed by Hawaii being declared a territory in the year 1900 and later being named the 50th state on August 21, 1959.

A time long before outsider contact is interesting to cover as it provides more insight into the core of this Hawaiian, Polynesian, culture more so in purity. The Hawaiian islands are in the part of the Pacific Ocean known as Polynesia, which also includes; Tonga, Samoa, the Marquesas islands, and New Zealand, among others. Although an unnamed Spanish explorer made contact sometime in the 1500s, the first significant outsider contact is believed to have occurred when Captain James Cook, and explorer from England, landed on Kauai in 1778. Cook called the islands the Sandwich Islands. He made his way back to Europe having documented observations in his journals, which spread knowledge of his discovery. While this contact is significant for having been first, it was but preliminary. A much more fateful contact was made in 1820 when the first missionaries arrived on the Islands. These were Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Dutch Reformists who came from Boston, New England (Hawaii). Forever previous, the Hawaiian language was solely oral, there were no written forms. With the missionaries entering the scene, Reverend Hiram Bingham, their leader, began creating the written form of the Hawaiian language so that the missionaries could translate the Bible and spread its teachings to the Hawaiian people.

A big theme when looking at Hawaii and the culture and the music is that of precontact vs. postcontact with the outside world. Needless to say, the music of Hawaii changed greatly after 1820. The missionaries established singing schools and taught Western music theory(Tatar 481). Hawaiian music changed with general outsider influence, and the religion they brought, and also with the effects on language. So, let’s start with the foundations of the music itself and see how outside has had an influence.

Mele is a Hawaiian word which holds two meanings, it means music and at the same time, and equally, it means poetry. Although it is sometimes presently used to identify music that is precontact and more original, authentic, it has maintained the definition of music and poetry throughout. There are two types of mele, mele oli and mele hula. These take on the two meanings of mele, music and poetry. Mele oli is the poetry aspect. Mele oli is always chanted, and sometimes referred to by outsiders simply as chant, Hawaiian chant. The chanting form of mele oli comes directly from the way the Hawaiian language is, it has 12 letters, 7 consonants and 5 vowels which leads to (from a western perspective) long words with repeated sounds, that it lends itself to chanting. As mentioned, before 1820 Hawaiian language was strictly oral. This meant histories, myths, legends, genealogies, prayers, medical practices etc were all preserved orally through the mele, chanting. Upon creation of the written form of the Hawaiian language, researchers have found that Hawaiians began writing of most all of the aforementioned topics and many others which had previously been passed down through the chant (Tatar 483). Researchers found that there were over 210 different terms that described chants and different types of chanting. There were “chant terms” which referred to the meaning of the type of chant and the literal meaning, there were also “chant terms” which described the chants or chanting musically, sonically. The chants with the most meaning were the most sacred and were highest on the hierarchy of chants. There were many terms, 90 of the 210, which specifically described prayer chants. There were: “Cosmogonic (describing the race origins/ origins of man) (ku’ auhau) and genealogic (describing family history and lineage) (ko ‘ihonua) chants (Tatar 484). Prayer chants were addressed to the gods as well as to the people. These chants were performed without dance, that is in contrast to mele hula which had the extension of dance included.

Mele hula was considered to be “both the gift of the god Laka to the Hawaiian people and their tribute to her” (Solberg 43). Hula was very much religious it was a way to honor the gods. In the ancient times, before 1820, everyday Hawaiian people did not take hula lightly at all. They observed the sacred performance by paid professional performers who were accomplished having completed a great amount of education and training in order to be able to perform. These specialized hula performers were taught by hula masters, kumu hula, in schools, hula halau. The dancers were under strict rules “governing all aspects of behavior: dietary prohibitions, abstinence, personal cleanliness, and many other strictures (that) reinforced the discipline of the dance and sacred ritual” (Solberg 44). The musicians held a higher rank than the dancers and were “repositories of the historical and sacred songs”(Solberg 44). The rank of musician being the highest, who also has the responsibility of knowing and performing the chants, is a direct effect from the Hawaiians having an oral only language. These musicians memorized all the mele, so they knew all great information of history, lineage, nomenclature, prayer etc.

The following words by anthropologist E.C. Handy describe the significance and breadth of mele hula eloquently, efficiently, and precisely.

In the mele hula, the stories of love, war, the gods, ali’i honor, and every

phase of island life were put into dance form. The result produced for

Hawaiians a living picture of their whole existence… . The hula was

performed on occasions to invoke the gods at births, feasts, weddings, and

funerals. Wars, spells, charms, incantation, and just sheer entertainment

gave reason for the performance of the hula.

The hula … was the history book of a people without a written lan-

guage. Its main purpose was to keep up the relationship between gods and

mortals through dance. But, importantly, it also preserved the greatness of

the senior chiefly lines of rule. The hula honored the race and told of its

continuance through procreation. It described the beauty of their natural

environment. And finally, with all its rules and stratifications, the hula

forced the dancer to achieve perfection in the dance.

Wrapping up with the background and significance of mele oli and mele hula, let’s get into the actual sounds.

First, mele oli. Mele oli is performed solo, by one artist unaccompanied, and without music or dance. There is little in the way of rhythm or melody, mele oli is very much free meter. While there is not rhyme and there are variable line lengths, there are some predictable elements such as repetition. The conclusion of a phrase can be with a long carried out note or with a trill, and these different types of endings distinguish different types of oli “ Vocal style and inflection are of great significance in (these performances)” (Smith 51).

Mele hula is regular compared to mele oli, there is a stable meter and consistent line length. There are often two short, distinct, melodic phrases that are repeated in this type of mele. There are some types of mele hula that can be performed as mele oli and some “songs” of mele oli that can be performed in the hula style; the style chosen to give the performance holds a meaning and is an important facet of the performance itself. While mele oli is solo and a capella, mele hula can be performed in a chorus and is accompanied by music and so there are instruments to introduce. The first would be the pahu, or pahu hula. This is a wooden drum made of a hollowed out coconut tree and stretched with a shark-skin playing surface (Smith 51). The pahu is played with the hands. There is also the ipu, for drums. The only indigenous string instrument is the ukeke. The ukeke is a unique string instrument, it is a bow attached with sinnet (almost like straw). The instrument is played by plucking the taught twine while holding the wood side in your mouth and singing. Here is an example of a man playing the ukeke:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m-AFkWQG7o (skip to :40 sec)

I personally find the ukeke so interesting because we, in the west, tend to think of instruments as being played one way, and I feel that this is very unique because of how it’s played with the mouth, voice, and fingers.

Another very interesting instrument used in mele hula is the ohe hano ihu, or the bamboo nose flute. According to Helen Roberts, who studied Hawaiian folk music extensively, in 1959, there were “probably not more than four or five persons… living who can play the ohe” hano ihu (Roberts 35). Considering the rarity, it is a real find that there are a few YouTube videos of a gentleman demonstrating the nose flute and playing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcnYmxWPw6w

A few other instruments just to be touched on quickly are the pu, the uliuli, and the papa hehi. The pu is an ancient instrument, it is a conch shell trumpet that was used to signal. The uli'uli is a Calabash gourd adorned with red and yellow feathers and filled with seeds. The papa hehi is a stamping board played with the foot like a pedal.

Now, let’s get it back to the pre and post contact discussion. As alluded to earlier, the missionaries that landed in 1820 had a huge impact. While they “They sought to suppress all activities opposed to their concept of Christian living, including ancient music, and dance. They translated their hymns into the Hawaiian language and taught them to the natives. Some of these hymns are still sung”(Smith 52). Thanks to ethnomusicologists Helen Roberts, we have a calibration point to compare contemporary Hawaiian music against. “In 1923 a large sample of about 300 chants performed by Hawaiians born between 1820 and 1860 was recorded by Helen Roberts” (Tatar 482). These subjects lived in relatively remote areas of the islands, and only spoke Hawaiian. Also, they were trained traditionally. This suggests that we can consider their song as authentic and precontact especially when comparing against contemporary. As the language was always oral prior to this, and the oli were passed down through the generations, the oli didn’t exactly hold the same meaning with the introduction of written language. Previously, there were a few families that had preserved some especially sacred oli through their lineage. Some of the oli being sacred is also evident in that these families were protective of who to pass these oli down through to protect against the chants getting into the wrong hands and someone potentially disrespecting the oli or not showing the proper reverence and respect.

According to Dr. Elizabeth Tatar, an ethnomusicologist from UCLA, the Hawaiian chanting from the recordings by Helen Roberts is very different from the more recent Hawaiian chanting recordings. The change is a result of the western musical influence brought by the missionaries. The western influence also caused a linguistic, pronunciation, shift in the Hawaiian language in which the physical, oral (literally inside the mouth, tongue etc), properties of the language changed, resulting in a much different sound.

The missionaries suppressed Hawaiian culture that they considered to be deviant, immodest, or un-Christian. They attempted to shut out hula. Gaining the support of the monarch at the time, Queen Ka’ahumanu, there was a ban on hula performances in 1830. For some time after this hula became an underground, secretive thing until 1883 when they were brought back under King Kalakaua (Missionaries).

Over time although hula was underground, it being the musical version of mele, there were many outside musical influences. For example, the ukulele made its way into the culture by way of Iberian sailors. It was originally called the bragha, a four stringed instrument, and adopted as the ukulele by the Hawaiians and incorporated into the hula. Also, I would be remiss to not mention the slack key guitar which was a variation invented by a Hawaiian schoolboy of the outsider instrument, the guitar.

The population of Hawaii currently is very diverse with many immigrants from all over the world including Japan, the United States, Korea, the Philippines and Europe. This has resulted in much musical influence, especially from the Japanese who are one of the larger racial groups in the islands. The result is that modern Hawaiian music has influences of jazz, Asian and Western musics, as well as old Hawaiian music. It has also resulted in mele hula becoming “touristy” in the eyes of some people. So, the major change in mele hula is the meaning, the instrumentation, and the intent (tourism vs. religious). Overall, the biggest change inducing factors were the religion, writing and the instrumentation.

Although the outside influence has certainly changed the flavor of Hawaiian music, it has been said that the music is still uniquely Hawaiian, mostly because of the vocal style. Also there is a religious line throughout where before there were the indigenous religious songs, and currently there are hymns, himeni, introduced by the missionaries.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’ll leave you with a cool present day fusion, and a personal favorite of mine, that could not have been possible without the outsider influence and synergy. This is a cover of The Notorious B.I.G.’s song Big Poppa performed with a Hawaiian ukulele.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_OyAp4IT40

#hawaii #hawaiian music #music #ethnomusicology #hawaiian folk

tongsha1995-blog

Dagu analysis (Chinese Drum Story Singing)

Microsoft Word - TMBLR POST V2.docx

Dagu (Chinese Drum Story Singing)

Vocal singings are somehow often combined with story telling in many cultures in the world. This seemingly coincident phenomenon can be explained by a very shallow reason since story singing is just an extended form of regular vocal music with a more organized plot. We’ve learned about the Korean story singing P’ansori that uses a very unique singing style of singing that may take a performer many years to sing the songs in a conventional way. Compared with P’ansori, Dagu is a younger and more flexible school of story telling, which also led to the result that Dagu gained its audience extremely fast during the first 50 years in its history and is still popular today among traditional art fans.

Origin

The setting of Dagu is quite complex because of the special era it was born. The origin of the music has been under great controversy but the mainstream theory states that Dagu originated from a music played with wooden panels and was used in fortune telling in Shandong Province at the start of 20th century. (Yao fang, The Origin and Development of Yue Ting Dagu) The most challenging step of the spreading of Dagu was the first one caused by its accent. At the time when Dagu was born, the Qing dynasty could already foresee its collapse and the imperial family had already lost interests in developing the country’s economy, education and national defense, etc. The average education level of the civilians was not so competitive as it is today. Because of the imbalanced economic development, which is common for an empire since the emperor always preferred to show off their power by spending a huge number of the annual fiscal budget on building palaces and other luxurious aspects than improving the living and education standard of ordinary people, the economic gaps among provinces were unimaginably large and caused by this gap was regional discrimination. As I mentioned above, Dagu was born in Shandong that has a

very strange accent compared with Beijing and other more developed areas. This background made it challenging for the music to be accepted by audience from Beijing since that accent originally designed to connect the performer with the audience in Shandong was considered a sign of being uncivilized and uneducated in the capital. However, because of the music’s flexibility on contents and rhythms, it quickly adapted to the environment in Beijing and was accepted as a popular music form among lower class people. The same story happened in every major city in the north China and later on, people found that the music originally existed for fortune telling had evolved to an art form that everyone enjoys in their spare time. The different accents and music styles played in different cities have now become hundreds of schools of Dagu.

Dagu During WW2

One of the most basic themes in the study of the setting of this music is the WW2 when Japan attempted to invade and colonize China and opened the pacific theater of the war. Before the U.S government intervened by supplying the Nationalist party, the loosely organized troops of China had

experienced so many failures that Japan almost successfully colonized the North part of China. At the same time, Dagu was rapidly gaining its audience among Japanese troops and Nationalist governmental officials, which sounds impossible from today’s perspective since entertainment would only grow when the material demand is satisfied. It is true that the war was a disaster for lower class people but this proves the flexibility of the music to a further extent because it managed to switch its audience from ordinary local people to the Japanese soldiers and military officers. In content it shifted from various stories to focus on only those about battles in ancient China and even deliberately chose those depicting successful conquers and colonization wars. These stories were passed down to today and even affected the direction of the composition of new songs for performers now.

Instrumentation

The instrumentation used in the general Dagu musics is quite simple compared with other folk songs and story telling styles. It only uses several instruments commonly seen in traditional music performances. In order to

introduce the music in a more clear way, we’ll take Beijing Dagu as a standard since it uses a more complex instrumentation system and can cover the characteristics of other schools in terms of instrumentation. The leader of the ensemble is the performer who tells the story and controls the base rhythms using the main instruments of Dagu and wooden panels that tells the audiences when the major turns happen in the plot. In addition to these main instruments, Pipa, San Xian (literally translated as Three string violin) Si Xian (four string violin) and Erhu are also required for the music to enrich the ornamentation and provide a more perceptual melody for the leading performer and the audience. Some instruments for Jingju are occasionally used in the performance if the story is adapted from jingju but later on the music completely separated from Jingju and formed its own instrumentation system.

Sound Texture

In terms of sound texture, there are basically two parts in vocal singing, narrative and singing. The narrative part is said to be the most difficult part of the music since the performer has to follow the rhythms even when he or she is

plainly narrating. The narration part of the Beijing school of this music sounds exactly like that of Beijing opera. The narration is used when the performer thinks that the audience should pay attention to the conversation he or she is describing instead of the music, which means that this part is for the sake of the plot instead of mere entertainment. The singing part is more aesthetically appealing to the audience. The singing part is basically monophonic with repetitive tones that don’t vary in most part of the performance except from that in the beginning and ending verse.

The Teaching of Dagu

Just like other traditional art forms, although the music is relatively young and should have been scripted and passed down given that most musical forms born in the same period were already taught in a written form. However, reserved Chinese artists decided to teach the music orally because they believed that scarcity determines the value of the music. Because Dagu doesn’t require a complex singing skill, it is relatively easier to learn than other music forms like Jingju. In terms of this reason, Dagu is very similar to Indonesian

Gamelan since performers of both musics decided to control the amount or characteristics of the perspective performers by teaching the music only through oral traditions.

As is well known by the world, the relationship between the teachers and students in China is extremely strict especially if the teachers teach some traditional skills that can be used to make a living for the student. This can be traced back to the incredible influence of Confucianism from ancient China. Teacher is respected as much as the father of the students in many perspectives. Also, the teachers treat their gifted students as their children.

Famous Dagu Artist

Dagu is an art form that kept many lower class people living a satisfying life during the wartime. During this period, many famous Dagu performers appeared on the stage. Among these performers, Wenfu Liu (1989-1967) was the most popular Dagu performer in the mid 1900s. His records were played in every radio station during Nationalist era until communist party took over the governance. According to one of his records, it is clear that he established his own

style that distinguished from any existing Dagu styles at that time. The popularity of his Dagu music is even comparable to the most starring pop groups today and even gained some political influence in nationalist party, which was not so common in China since artists are valued as people with lower social status even in modern China. However, he was cruelly oppressed during communist period probably because of his unique political influence in Nationalist party. However, his extraordinary fame also saved his life during that “Ten-Year Chaos” or “the Cultural Revolution” when most traditional artists are imprisoned, tortured and even executed by the government. After being prohibited from performing and composing Dagu music, he never appeared in public. Whenever requested to attend a public event or festival, he never mentioned the real reason he refused to perform but merely said“ I just want to give the younger people more opportunities to shine.” He was not the only performer oppressed in the “Ten-year chaos” but he is definitely the most unforgettable one for people who love traditional arts.

Dagu in Cultural Revolution

Dagu was one of the worst oppressed art form in the “Ten-Year Chaos” because of the fact that the music served the audience from Japan and Nationalist party, which may sound unreasonable at the first glance but it is also true that artists in China are all socially related to some political figures because of the Chinese tradition “Tang Hui” (Private Concert). Tang Hui is a music event where the artists are invited by upper class people to perform exclusively for their family. During wartime, upper class consisted of only politicians and military officials. This was how these artists connected themselves with political figures in order to seek protection from the war. Therefore, Dagu was especially oppressed in the ten years. Today, Dagu is rarely played as a single art form but is frequently adapted in Xiang Sheng (The traditional paired stand up comedy that originated in the same period when Dagu was born).

Dagu Today

As every traditional art in China, Dagu has lost popularity among the major audience and already exited the field of popular arts. However, in addition to the influence of western cultures, this phenomenon is also caused by the deliberate oppression of the government and the repellence of the patriotic public because of the behavior of the performers in the war against Japan. Nowadays, most people simply don’t know about the music without knowing why it is not popular any more. There were attempts made by artists to rejuvenate the music just like other traditional art forms. XiangKun dong, a professional Dagu performer who is a professional composer. In around 2005, he released a Dagu song called “sending my daughter to college” that basically tells the story of him sending his young daughter to a college that he always wants her to attend. However, this attempt did not succeed at the end because of multiple reasons. Among all of them, the most important one was the lack of influence of the performer himself.

Conclusion

Throughout the course of history, Dagu has experienced its peak and low ebbs and is already on its way to perish. Political factors always have a stronger influence on the music than the choice of the public. The public audiences

have their own preferences but they can only choose among the options given by the government. For example, South Korea believes itself is a country of freedom on the international stage. However, even the confidence of the government of a developed country seems to be insufficient when it comes to the conflict between South and North Korea. Also, the cultural shock brought by the western culture is another influence. Compared with hip-hop and rock music, Dagu sounds less passionate and not as engaging for young people. There is no doubt that young audiences always lead the trend. If a music form’s audience consists of only older people, it is not far from being forgotten by the public.

Sources:

athleen Kuiper, “The Culture of China” Rosen Educational Publishing | 2010 | ISBN: 1615301402, 1615301836

http://www1.chinaculture.org/gb/en_artqa/2003-09/24/content_40189.htm China Culture– Xihe Dagu

video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7BXMeThHGI&index=21&list=PL843641F7526 2B223

#dagu #chinese music #chinese folk #china #ethnomusicology #music

rebeccass2-blog

Maori Traditional Folk Music: A Case Study

Rebecca Palmer

SID: 999821866

MUS11 SS2

Sarah Messbauer

6 September 2015

Word Count: 2,005

Maori Traditional Folk Music: A Case Study

The Maori peoples settled in New Zealand in 1200 A.D. (The McGraw-Hill Companies). It was not until the late 18th century that any other peoples—the first being Europeans—arrived on New Zealand and interacted with the Maori (The McGraw-Hill Companies). This long period of time in complete isolation allowed the Maoris to develop and fortify their own individual culture before foreigners came into their world. While only 15% of the New Zealand population today constitutes the modern Maori population, they still maintain the traditional folk musical style of their culture in the present day (The McGraw-Hill Companies).

Maori Music: An Introduction

Maori folk music is the traditional music of New Zealand, and was invented and produced by the Maori peoples starting around 1200 A.D. Their musical style, called kapa haka, consists of songs, chants, and dances (The McGraw-Hill Companies).

This form of music is not very well known around the world, but it is well known to many rugby sports fans. The Maori people perform a traditional, native Maori dance, a haka, when the national New Zealand rugby sports team plays (The McGraw Hill-Companies). The haka is a type of dance called a shouted posture dance where 20 men shout, move perfectly in synch, and make different facial expressions. The original purpose for this type of Maori performance was to welcome and entertain people as well as to prepare for battle and establish or even change a tribe’s reputation—fitting for a pre-rugby game performance from the sports team’s native country (The McGraw-Hill Companies).

Maori folk music does not employ many traditional Maori instruments; this musical style consists mostly of vocals and most of the instruments they do use are European, such as the guitar (The McGraw-Hill Companies). Among the handful of Maori instruments that are valuable to this style of music are mostly percussion and aerophones (wind instruments), and include the poi, the putatara, and the pahu (see “Maori Music: The Sound” below).

There are several types of Maori music. There is the vocal music which includes singing and chanting. Sung vocal music is called, waiata-a-ringa, which translates into “action songs.” Most of these types of songs involve movements and dancing, mostly with the arms. This particular form of Maori song was influenced by music from Europe and was developed around 1900 (The McGraw-Hill Companies). The other form of vocal Maori music is chanting music, which has no influence from other cultures or musical styles; it was developed before Europeans voyaged to New Zealand in the late 1700s. There are many forms of chant, each with a different significance, meaning, and corresponding event. Songs have a specific purpose and are sung or chanted at the appropriate, corresponding activity or event (The McGraw-Hill Companies).

Other popular, culturally important performances of the Maori people are the poi and the titi torea. The poi is the name of a traditional Maori instrument—balls attached together by string—and the performance that utilizes this specific instrument. This dance involves both men and women singing while the women dance, twirl, and provide instrumentation with the poi instruments (The McGraw-Hill Companies). Titi torea is another Maori dance performance. During this performance, wooden sticks are hit on the ground, flipped, and passed to other performers to create an instrumental song with a rhythm and pulse. This is a very challenging art form and requires great skill, practice, patience, and discipline (The McGraw-Hill Companies).

While this old, traditional New Zealand musical style has not influenced many other world musics, Maori traditional folk has been influenced by European culture, music, and religion (see “Maori Music: The Cultural Issues” below for more details) and is still very important and significant to the modern Maori peoples and their culture (The McGraw-Hill Companies).

Maori Music: The Sound

The first explorers to travel to the Pacific and encounter the Maori people in the late 18th century wrote about the Maori folk music as strange, “slow and solemn,” and “a dreary monotone.” Their music, before being influenced by the Western culture, correlated with their cultural beliefs about religion, magic, and healing (Newzealandgovt.nz).

The Maori peoples have only few traditional instruments, as they use wooden sticks and their bodies in place of drums to keep the beat and the pulse of their songs (Newzealandgovt.nz). Besides their bodies and the wooden sticks, the collection of Maori instruments consists mainly of flutes and trumpets. The main instruments used for this traditional music are the koauau, nguru, and putorino. These instruments were usually made out of stone, whale ivory, wood, or bone (Newzealandgovt.nz).

The koauau is a Maori flute. It is a small, cylinder-shaped, simple, traditional flute played almost vertically, rather than horizontally like the Western classical flutes of today. The sound is a lower, smooth pitch of a traditional flute (Newzealandgovt.nz). The nguru is another type of Maori small flute, but shaped differently than the koauau. It is also known as the nose flute, possibly because the word nguru translates as moan or snore. The head is wide, and it gets narrower going down to the opposite end of the instrument that is curved upwards. Both flutes are played similarly as well as creating a similar sound. Of all of the Maori flutes, the nguru is the most common (Newzealandgovt.nz).

Koauau demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQOt4t9wGNs

Nguru demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHYd0hdDR8I

The puorino is a traditional, indigenous Moari trumpet. This instrument is an original instrument of the Maori peoples, and contrasts drastically with Western trumpets. It is long and narrow and is wider in the middle with a large hole on the top. It is played similarly to the koauau flute, but produces a higher pitch than the flutes (Newzealandgovt.nz).

Putorino demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xeHyxErPV8

Karakia is a very important form of music to the Maori people. It is a sacred form of monotone chanting. It is usually mostly vocals with no instrumentation and is rhythmic with a steady beat, or pulse, with no break within the chant. This is performed at special occasions to celebrate life (Newzealandgovt.nz). An example of karakia is the chant about fishing. This performance celebrates an important part of life—hunting—and is specific to an activity or event within the Maori culture and society (Newzealandgovt.nz).

Karakia example: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/video/6799/maui-chants-a-fishing-karakia

Another important type of Maori folk music is the waiata songs. There are many different types of this musical style, but the two main styles are waiata tangi—laments—and waiata aroha—love songs. Waiata songs are very expressive in feelings, and sound like wailing. These songs only have between two and four melodies, and microtonal intervals are employed during these songs. Some of these songs can be a chant, but they are mostly sung (Newzealandgovt.nz). An example of a waiata performance is a song called Homai. There is one lead singer who is singing rather than chanting, and the audience is singing along in the background. The lead singer is also playing a European guitar rather than a traditional Maori instrument (see link below).

Waiata example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceb1iVjSUM4

The Maori peoples’ singing voice is nasally. They sing using the method of tightening their throat muscles, which is difficult for women when singing high notes, so women use another method of singing than the men, known as the chest voice (Newzealandgovt.nz). Women have a rich, deep pitch when singing lower, but, because of this difficulty when singing, they use the chest voice which creates shrill sounds when singing higher notes. Both women and men sing action songs and ritual chants that are slower and “dignified” (Newzealandgovt.nz). Solos are rare in the Maori musical style; a leader of an ensemble leads the group and sings vocables, but it is required that everyone sings altogether. Sometimes, singers complete verses by yelling vocables such as ‘A’ or ‘E,’ which is called hianga (Newzealandgovt.nz).

Maori Music: The Cultural Issues

Maori people, culture, and traditional folk music has been influenced by a class struggle that took place in the late 1960s, and by European peoples in terms of religion starting in the late 18th century.

The Trade Union Movement in the late 1960s involved local Maori peoples protesting low wages and undesirable work conditions (Ahu). This movement influenced the creation of a new subgenre of Maori music, protest songs, as well as songs about the lives of workers. Some topics of these new types of folk songs are farming, the country, and people met at local places, such as pubs (Ahu).

The Europeans significantly influenced the Maori people and their music in a religious context. Not only did the Europeans influence the Maori peoples’ instrumentation, they also influenced the sounds and melodies of Maori music (Buchanan). Guitars and ukuleles began to be used widely in Maori music after being introduced by the Europeans. The voice became very common in Maori folk music after the initial influence of the Europeans, and they veered away from a heavy use of instruments because of the influence of Christianity from the Europeans. The Maori people learned about different harmonies than their traditional style from the European’s religious Victorian hymns, and incorporated this new style in their songs (Buchanan; Christchurch City Libraries). Although they were influenced by Christianity and this Church musical style, Maori religion, culture, and original characteristics has largely survived within their music. They have adopted some aspects of the European style of music—the aforementioned characteristics—but their cultural and religious ideas and views have mostly been maintained through the present day (Darge).

Ethnomusicologists mainly dislike the general pattern of the West influencing other cultures’ musical styles and traditions (Darge). Specifically with the Maori peoples and culture, though, scholars aren’t as worried or upset at this European influence on the traditional folk music. This is because the Maori people have made a comeback or “strong revival” of their traditional music after the immense European influence (Darge). The intensity of the commercialism of the European influence has been lessened due to this Maori music revival—religion and culture has been well-maintained because of this cultural comeback, though European influence is still evident in Maori music, included the guitar (Darge).

The Maori people do not like the idea of westerners studying their culture, tradition, and music in this way, however (Darge). They believe that their modern music, even with the western, European influence, is just as authentic as their old, traditional music, as it is, since all cultures and musics transform over time and a culture’s new music is just as authentic as their old music (Darge).

Maori traditional folk music is a unique and very old musical style. It began around 1200 A.D. after the Maori peoples settled in New Zealand (The McGraw-Hill Companies). The modern Maori folk music is a blend of indigenous sounds and Western—mainly European but also including American—influence (Darge). Their songs are mostly vocals, including singing and chanting. Traditional Maori instruments are mostly aeorophones (wind instruments) and percussion (drums), yet they are few. European instruments such as the guitar are very popular and instruments in general are not very common within the Maori culture and music industry (Newzealandgovt.nz). Class tension and European culture and religion greatly influenced Maori traditional folk music. The class struggles created a new sub-genre within Maori folk music (Darge). European religion influenced the Maori music in regard to sound, instruments, and vocals (Darge). This culture is very old and developed for so long without foreign interactions and influence. However, the Europeans greatly influenced the Maori music and altered many aspects of the style even though their culture had been fortified for so long (The McGraw-Hill Companies). But, since the Maori culture was able to develop for such a long time without outside influence, their music is still fairly close to the original and authentic sound and style to the early Maoris even though the European culture had altered many aspects of the music (The McGraw-Hill Companies). It can be seen as at equilibrium: the traditional style of Maori music has prevailed throughout the centuries, yet the Europeans have contributed to the creation of the modern Maori folk music enough to be noticeable.

Works Cited

Ahu, Te. The Evolution of Contemporary Maori Protest. Accessed 23 August 2015. http://maorinews.com/writings/papers/other/protest.html.

An Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 1966. Maori Music. A. H. McLintock, ed. Accessed 13 August 2015. http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/maori-musicaori_eng.html.

Buchanan, Dorothy and Keri Kaa. Discover Te Kohinga Taonga. Traditional Maori Music. Accessed 23 August 2015. http://digital1.natlib.govt.nz/support/discover/m3essay.htm.

Christchurch City Libraries. Early New Zealand Music. Accessed 23 August 2015. http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Music/New-Zealand/Early/.

Darge, Moniek. Traditional Maori-Music From New-Zealand. Accessed 23 August 2015. http://www.logosfoundation.org/etnische_muziek/m Newzealandgovt.nz.

Newzealandgovt.nz. An Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 1966. Maori Music. A. H. McLintock, ed. Accessed 13 August 2015. http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/maori-music

The McGraw-Hill Companies. Maori Folk Music: Folk and Traditional Styles. Accessed 6 August 2015. http://spotlightonmusic.macmillanmh.com/n/teachers/articles/folk-and- traditional-styles/maori-folk-music

#maori #maori music #music #ethnomusicology #education #world music

theirrationalhamster-blog

Black Metal: War against the World

As a genre, Black Metal is quite different from other forms of extreme Metal, such as Death Metal and Thrash Metal, because of its philosophy and culture. However in terms of pure sound, Black Metal can be mistaken for other forms of extreme Metal by those not familiar with the subtle differences between genres. Black Metal’s most easily recognizable feature is the musical innovation of playing full chords instead of power chords. This innovation has largely been credited to Black Metal figureheads, Snorre ‘Blackthorn’ Ruch and Øystein 'Euronymous’ Aarseth. Furthermore, most fans agree that Black Metal vocals are often in a higher register and contain ‘shrieks’ rather than ‘growling’ which is used more widely in Death Metal. Black Metal, and a few other Metal genres, also do not have a clear song structure, and rarely follow the traditional verse-chorus format. Large parts of the songs are often devoted to atmospheric and heavy instrumental sections.

Though the acts and music of the Black Metal scene may seem extreme or evil, make no mistake, we all have a bit of Black Metal in us.

#metal #norway #black metal #ethnomusicology #soundscapes #education #music

Enka: Simply Just Enkaredible

Matthew Huang

Japan, with a population of about 126 million people, is known for its great strides on science, engineering, and technology. The island, located to the east of mainland Asia, is home to bustling cities, packed train stations, delicious food, and a particular form of animation that has captured the hearts of millions worldwide. The people there often keep to themselves and have an air of politeness and sincerity that is second to none to any other culture. After opening their doors to the western world, the cultural exchange between Japan and other countries has created a new genre of music known as Jpop. However this has caused an overshadowing of a previously popular and more traditional genre known as enka.

Country, Like Its Country, is a Melting Pot: An Analysis of Country Music

Thang Du

The 1920’s was the birth of a genre of music in America known as country. Its parents are the southeastern genre of American folk music and American Western Music. If the United States is known as a melting pot of cultures, then this child named Country is the representative of that concept as its parents have African, English, Scottish, Irish, and other European cultural backgrounds.

Country is important to American identity because of this melting pot idea, which makes it a symbol and pride of American music. From birth until now, country continues to live on, and we will create an analysis of the life it has lived thus far using the Soundscape Model of music. We will use that model to discuss the sound, setting, and significance of country music in America. We first visit the sound of country. If one has ever heard enough country music, then one will realize that most county songs are not very upbeat and many very sad or pessimistic. We will visit why this genre gives the listeners such a feeling beyond just the lyrics, and to truly analyze, we must use an example. In a popular country song called, “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” by George Jones, we can see by the lyrics that this song is sad because of how Jones mourns over the loss of his love and that he did not stop loving her until he died. These types of lyrics are very typical in country music and is one of the defining sound characteristics of country and why it is so relatable. However, Country, and music in general, would be not be great if it were this one dimensional. What further adds on to this feeling of sadness is the instrumental accompaniment. From the Jones examples, after many listen through, we are able to identify the guitar, acoustic guitar, steel guitar, violin, drums, harmonica, and minor uses of the maracas and slapping sticks. A huge part of sounding sad are the objects that produce the sounds themselves that help us identify sadness in a song. In Jones’s song, a technique that we repeatedly hear throughout the song is that he is using the instruments, primarily the violins and harmonica, with acoustic guitar near the end, to create an echo/cry back effect. What we mean by this is that after every line sung, an instrument would be played to create a sad mood effect that mimics Jones’s feelings. In particular, the harmonica echo/cry back used felt very characteristic of the technique used in blues music for the very same reason. Certain instruments just make us feel certain moods, which is why it is not odd that the harmonica carries the same role over two or perhaps even more music genres. The steel guitar was used near the end, creating a “wah wah” effect which mimics a person crying to further add on to the sad sound. On a side note, the steel guitar was created by a Hawaiian man named Joseph Kekuku, which is interesting because the steel guitar became another huge identifier of country music in more recent times, even though it is not in the original sound of country that derived from African and European cultures. That note further provides evidence of country music being a great symbol of America as a melting pot, and although is not the main point of this analysis, does still speak of the importance of country music and its identity in reflection of America. Another aspect of sound we can visit is rhythm. Analyzing Jones’s song in terms of rhythm, we can see the song follows a four beat pattern but with an emphasis on the first and third beat. What this means is that when a distinct rhythm appears, e.g. when the acoustic guitar began this role, the instruments would play four quarter notes per measure, emphasizing, or playing louder, the first and third beat. This beat pattern could be compared to a heart beating, whereby the emphasis beats show the unstable heartbeats to represent that the singer’s heart is unsteady. Next we analyze the setting of country music. We know that country music originated in America, specifically southern parts of North America in around the 1920’s. The combination of American Folk and Western Music created country and so we would be correct to assume that the people of the cultural backgrounds of American Folk and Western Music, being Europeans and slaves from Africa, would be the ones producing and listening to country. The first commercial recording of country music was by a man named Eck Robertson. Although there most likely had been producers before him, Robertson made a name for himself by putting his music out for the mass public. Being the first also means that many he will eventually inspire or those who do not know what country music is, will learn from his interpretation of country music, and so in a way, Robertson set certain precedents for future country music connoisseurs. Country music in its “traditional” sense remains to be practiced and produced primarily in the South. However, with time and music genres blending, new genres such as country rock or country pop are being produced countrywide. A big name in the pop country music industry is a woman named Taylor Swift. She debut as a pop country singer and her first few big hits were in this genre of music. Swift produces music in California and is representing country music in the West. We next discuss the setting of music videos of country music. In traditional country and some country rock, we often see the music videos being shot in rural or the countryside to represent the South, country music’s origin. The background is usually a farm or open plain of some sort. The singer is almost always holding and playing a guitar as it is one of the primary instruments in country music. The music videos also usually incorporate scenes of the singer driving a truck or using the truck as some sort of stage as the truck is a very important part of southern American identity. Women in country rock music videos, especially upbeat or love videos are often treated as sexual objects. In Maddie and Tae’s song, “Girl in a Country Song,” the two criticize the male dominant culture in country music that treat women as objects rather than human beings. They sing in their song, “…Like all we’re good for is looking good for you and your friends.” This cliché of oversexualizing women and viewing them as objects has, as sad as it may sound, turned them into a part of country rock setting when the theme fits with the one stated prior. Before analyzing country pop music videos, we must think to ourselves who and why one would listen or watch these videos. Throughout history, the people determining popularity are the youths of the middle and lower class. This is the time of age where people seek an identity for themselves and following the mass is the perfect way to fit in. With the youth being immersed in media in modern times, and with the mass media promoting songs of love and overemphasizing love, country pop naturally leaned towards that theme to satisfy the needs of emotional teenagers who are engrossed with the idea of love. After watching many pop country music videos, Taylor Swift in particular, it seems that there is no staple background across these videos. What we did notice is that when the singer is sad or is thinking about his/her love, he/she is usually alone singing to him/herself. There will always be flashback scenes that contrast the scenes that indicate present time, e.g. if the singer is sad presently, then the flashback will show her and her love having a good time. Lastly, we will discuss the significance of country music. We have already touched upon the importance of country to American identity, but let us go beyond that. We will analyze country music’s contribution to religion, primarily Christianity, and to politics. After we hear enough popular, traditional country songs, we start to notice that many of them convey messages about faith and Jesus Christ. Many of which the entirety of the song is dedicate to Christ or God, and most where a few lines in the song talk about faith. There are enough songs to warrant a top ten list, provided by theboot.com. This shows us that there are a plethora of songs from this idea to choose from, and so we will try to analyze using our wide selection. A common theme across these songs is that the artists primarily talk about how they need Christ or God in times of need, or they thank these figures when they are presented with fortune in their lives, or other subject matters as well. For example, in Carrie Underwood’s, “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” Underwood sings about how she is no longer in control of her own life, and hence, needs Jesus to take over and steer her in the right direction. Curtis W. Ellison wrote a book titled, Country Music Culture: From Hard Times to Heaven. Ellison, in this book, frequently mentions how an artist’s faith attributes to an album’s success or fan endearment (e.g. pg. 59 and 169.) This shows that fans appreciate the artists’ open voice on faith, whether it be advocating or repent. More on significance, we next explore the politics involved in country music. It might not be so obvious that country music would make for good political/protest songs. But when we evaluate its popularity and think about how much of a religious influence it has on many Americans, it then makes sense that its influence could be further extended to any message an artist is trying to convey, including political issues. In recent times, being the 21st century, artists tend to bash war efforts such as the Iraq War and even more recent events by stating how soldiers’ lives are being wasted and that their deaths have been in vain. Artists have also been known to criticize government, mainly the democratic government as many, if not most of the big name country artists, not including pop country artists like Taylor Swift, live in the South, where mainly republicans live. Many of these artists feel that the United States should stop pursuing foreign policy and correct our own nation first. For example, Merle Haggard in his song, "Where's All the Freedom?" states, "Get out of Iraq....Get back on track...and build America first." However, not all songs about war are on the same thought process as Haggard's song. Many of country music’s songs about war actually talks about America's strength and how we should be a nation to be feared as our might is the greatest. This leads to many scholars, such as Melton A. McLaurin in his book titled, You Wrote My Life: Lyrical Themes in Country Music, to view country music as jingoistic, which is defined as patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy. One example of jingoistic lyrics could be found in Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue," where Keith sings, "Oh, justice will be served and the battle will rage. This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage. And you'll be sorry that you messed with the U.S. of A. Cause we'll put a boot in your ass, it's the American way." Keith is fairly confident in the United States’ military strength and even calling our aggressive nature, "the American Way." Country music is a huge factor in American patriotism with artists like Keith boosting American ego, whether it be good or bad. We touched upon the roots of country music. We discussed its importance to American identity. We then analyzed its lifetime using the Soundscape Model of music to truly digest what makes country music what it was and what it is today and again, how its change is reflective upon us. We talked about how it changed and divided in current times and is being enjoyed by Americans in all regions. We saw the different representation of country music in the music videos we analyzed and we concluded with how country goes beyond just entertainment and bringing Americans together through its significance.

Klezmer: The Vessel of the Jewish Voice

Hanna Tears

Klezmer music’s heart and soul has withstood many trials over the years and has never completely faded away, despite the attempts made by Hitler and the Nazi Party. Klezmer music originated in the early 20th century as an instrumental folk music intended for celebrations like weddings or holidays performed mainly by the Jewish people of eastern Europe. The Yiddish word klezmer is taken from the Hebrew words klei and zemer meaning ‘vessel / instrument’ and ‘song’ respectively (Slobin). This music has been influenced by many different cultural regions due to the changing borders of the Jewish people. Outside influence aside, klezmer music follows the Jewish people wherever the majority roams. Although it has been tugged at and influenced by many different cultures, this diasporic music has held fast and been strengthened by the hardships its people has suffered.

#klezmer music

The Metis People and their Music

Grant Heir

Professor Messbauer

Music 11

4 September 2015

The Metis people are one of three recognized indigenous groups in Canada. They were given this title under the revision of the Canadian constitution in 1982. The Metis people are descendants of European fisherman, trappers, and hunters, and their native Canadian Indian wives. The Metis culture is all about bringing together cultural ideas from different places. This idea is captured in the Metis flag, which symbolizes the unity of two diverse cultures. Metis music has characteristics that portray these ideas of cultural unity and fusion.

Hmong Qeej: Music and Culture

Matthew Moua

Student ID: 999198117

Sarah Messbauer / Music 11

Final Essay, Words: 2055

Located in the mountainous regions of Southeast Asia, primarily in the country of Laos, resides the ancient people of China called the Hmong. They were indigenous in Southern China since around 2000 B.C. and created their own kingdom; however, due to their different ethnic identity, the Chinese forced the Hmong southward into Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia (Southeast Asia). Hmong music often reflects this incident, recalling the prosperous kingdom and telling of stories of when their liberation will come. “In Hmong folktales and songs, the ancient Hmong kingdom is celebrated as a golden age.” (John, 4) Because history has demographically shifted the Hmong into isolation, the Hmong, surrounded by tall trees, soaring mountains, long hollow bamboos, and the wild jungle, “society has been shaped by life in the mountains” (John, 9) and develops much of their music and culture in isolation, living quietly in small villages high in the mountains. Since the Hmong are firm believers in Shamanism, the religious belief of worshipping one’s ancestors, their musical traditions and culture revolve around the deceased ancestors. They believe every object is metaphysical, contains a soul and are considered transposable; thus, their music plays an essential role in guiding the deceased person to the afterlife whom watches over the mourning family. A shaman practitioner playing the instrument, the Qeej, an aerophonic instrument made of bamboo, interconnects the shaman with the spirit world and guides the spirit, depicting the long and lonely journey into the afterlife.

The Vietnam War heavily impacted Hmong music and culture. In this time period, much of Hmong music and culture was lost and spread over the course of the world and thus have reshaped their music in different parts of the world. “War and relocation transformed Hmong social and cultural life.” (John, 6) During the war, the Hmong “were sent to re-education and labor camps… escaped across the Mekong river to Thailand… relocated to several Western countries, including: America, Australia, Canada, and France” (Nicholas, 23). Communist Vietnamese forces swarmed the Hmong villages and separated the Hmong population, causing the deaths of many, whom knew the traditions and folklore of the Hmong; it was as if an entire generation of Hmong was lost in the war. My grandpa often expressed his deep emotions of the many stories of their struggle to come to the United States as he overcame the obstacles of escaping the communist Vietnamese forces. He elaborates on his regret as he is forced to leave behind his relatives in the Hmong villages, his relatives along the journey to the weakening capitalist countries still in Southeast Asia, and his family whom were thrown off the boats along the Mekong River by the greedy Laotian ferries. Both of my parents also came from Laos at a young age and both have forgotten everything that occurred during that time. In this sense, the difference between my grandpa’s generation, who were familiar with the Hmong tradition and practices and my parents’ generation (who were children at the time and have limited knowledge of Hmong culture) is huge, resulting in lost traditions and culture. The Hmong people – chiefs, musicians, shamans, villagers, farmers, etc. – who were lost in the war carry with them the Hmong music, culture, traditions, and even their repertoires of classic Hmong folklores. Therefore, the knowledge passed down from the older generation to the new generation is lacking. Despite the unfortunate loss of music and culture, the Hmong were successfully able to transition into the United States and other Western Countries and have integrated Western music into traditional Hmong folk songs.

#hmong

Reggaeton: A Complete Analysis on the Origins of Reggaeton to the Modern Day Club Music

Joni Gore

Roots of Reggaeton

The musical genre, reggaeton, is a popular fusion of Jamaican reggae and dancehall, American hip-hop, and Caribbean sounds. The unique geography and variety of cultures in the Caribbean spawned amalgamations of various genres, but made confidently defining the origins of such genres difficult, especially once a genre became popular. Reggaeton, for example recently formed a strong relationship with Latino artists in Central and South American countries. Puerto Rico was often said to be the birthplace of reggaeton when in fact, Panama spurred the social changes that would later lead to reggaeton.

#reggaeton music donomar daddyyankee vicoc panama puertorico dancehall reggae ucdavis

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