Nu-Jazz & Club Des Belugas

Photo: Hanno Endres

Jazz music of all kinds has inspired, intrigued, and mesmerized us since the early 1900’s. We can follow a clear timeline of jazz evolution from just before the 1920’s to today. The hard question is, where is jazz going today? To answer this question we will be looking at a modern jazz orchestra called Club Des Belugas. Club Des Belugas perform a style called Nu Jazz. Nu Jazz, like many jazz subgenres, can be quite hard to categorize and remains impossible to pin down.

Club Des Belugas orchestration is very reminiscent of the big jazz bands of the 30’s – 60’s where the arranger and bandleader orchestrates the many artists who comprise different versions of the same band. Club Des Belugas is really less of a single band than one would initially notice. They have many orchestration combinations, from a full ten or more piece band (depending on guest appearances) to a smaller sextet, quartet, and many solo opportunities for both members and frequent guests.

Maxim illion is the founder, bandleader, producer, arranger, keyboardist, bass player & programming director following a mold left behind by arrangers and talent scouts of the 30’s – 60’s, much like Fletcher Henderson in style and arrangement.

Members

Full Band

Sextet

Quartet

Guests

NU-HISTORY:

Club des Belugas started their career in 2002 with their first album “Caviar at 3 a.m.” In 2003 the 12″ vinyl release “Hip Hip Chin Chin” and “Gadda Rio“ became number 1 of the German Club Charts. Eight studio albums, six singles/EPs, a two CD live album and live DVD have been released up to 2014.

In 2010 the band was nominated at the Spanish Jazz Awards in 2 categories: “best live act” and for their 5th album “Zoo Zizaro” as “best jazz album”. Between June & September 2007 the Club des Belugas Quartet performed 89 gigs in China. Since 2007 the band has performed more than 280 live concerts all over the world.

Club des Belugas is on the progressive edge of jazz, specifically Nu Jazz, without being solely influenced by the past or modern electronic music. They somehow find harmony between past and present within this fusion of jazz genres. Club des Belugas is currently one of the leading Nu Jazz bands in Europe, perhaps in the world. They combine contemporary European Lounge & Nu Jazz Styles with Brazilian Beats, Swing and American Black Soul of the fifties, sixties and seventies using their unique creativity and intensity.

What is Nu Jazz?

• Nu Jazz Styles
  • Nu jazz is a genre of contemporary electronic music. The term was coined in the late 1990s to refer to music that blends jazz elements with other musical styles, such as funk, soul, electronic dance music, and free improvisation.
  • Also written nü-jazz or Nu-Jazz, it is sometimes called electronic jazz, electro-jazz, electric jazz, e-jazz, jazztronica, jazz house, phusion, neo-jazz, future jazz or Jazz-hop and electro-lounge.
  • Nu jazz ranges from combining live instrumentation with beats of jazz house, exemplified by St Germain, Jazzanova and Fila Brazillia, to more band-based improvised jazz with electronic elements, such as that of The Cinematic Orchestra, Kobol, and the “future jazz” style pioneered by Bugge Wesseltoft, Jaga Jazzist, Nils Petter Molvær, and others.
  • Nu jazz typically ventures farther into the electronic territory than does its close cousin, acid jazz (or groove jazz), which is generally closer to earthier funk, soul, and rhythm and blues.
  • Groove & smooth jazz artists such as the Groove Collective, and Pamela Williams blur the distinction between acid jazz and Nu Jazz.
  • Nu jazz can be very experimental in nature and can vary widely in sound and concept. The sound, unlike its cousin acid jazz, departs from its blues roots and instead explores electronic sounds and ethereal jazz sensualities.
  • Nu jazz “is the music itself and not the individual dexterity of the musicians.” Often, nu jazz blends elements of traditional jazz texture with that of modern electronic music and free improvisation, thus, the music can truly evolve into a multitude of sounds and can vary greatly from artist to artist.
  • Nu jazz has its roots in the use of electronic instruments in production in the 1970s work of such luminaries as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Ornette Coleman. Hancock’s early 1980s work with Bill Laswell, in particular, such as the album Future Shock, anticipated the style in its incorporation of electro and hip-hop rhythms. Beginning in the late ’80s, many hip-hop musicians worked in the jazz rap style—among them, Gang Starr, The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, and Nas. Also in the 1980s, many house musicians took inspiration from jazz, particularly post-bop and jazz funk.
  • In the mid-1990s and early 2000s, musicians from the downtempo scene, St Germain, DJ Takemura, Perry Hemus and Jazzanova among them, began to delve more deeply into jazz. In the same period, intelligent dance music producers —most famously Squarepusher and Spring Heel Jack, and later London Elektricity and Landslide— took a similar interest. Techno musicians, such as Laurent Garnier, Carl Craig and his Innerzone Orchestra project, have also touched on nu jazz. Some figures from the digital hardcore and breakcore scenes, notably Alec Empire, Nic Endo, and Venetian Snares, have explored a harder, noisier variant on the style. A decade later, some dubstep producers, such as Boxcutter, also explored electronic jazz.
  • While still embracing the traditional forms of jazz, pianist Bugge Wesseltoft and trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær are known for their improvisational nu jazz style. The Cinematic Orchestra is also known for incorporating a traditional jazz band while fusing electronic elements into their music production. St. Germain, a purveyor of nu jazz music, has sold 1.5 million copies of his Tourist album.

Nu Jazz Influences

• Brazilian Beats
  • Styles influenced by African, European and Amerindian forms.
  • Unique and original styles such as samba, bossa nova, MPB,sertanejo, pagode, tropicalia, choro, maracatu, embolada (coco de repente), Mangue Bit, funk carioca (in Brazil simply known as Funk), frevo, forró, axé, brega, lambada.
• Contemporary European Lounge
  • a type of easy listening music popular in the 1950s and 1960s (though not called “lounge” until much later). It may be meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place, usually with a tranquil theme, such as a jungle, an island paradise, or outer space.
• Swing
  • Swing came from the phrase ‘swing feel’ where the emphasis is on the off–beat or weaker pulse in the music (unlike classical music). Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement. The danceable swing style of big bands and bandleaders such as Benny Goodman was the dominant form of American popular music from 1935 to 1946, a period known as the Swing Era.
• American Black Soul of the fifties, sixties and seventies
  • Originated in the United States in the 1950s and early 1960s. It combines elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues and jazz.

All of the above information condenses down to just a snippet of information on Nu Jazz and what it takes to become Club Des Belugas. I could continue on for days with explanations and examples. Modern Jazz remains the melting pot of musical inspiration it has been for years. One could continue to study this amazing artform for a lifetime and still find new information and inspiration. Personally I have been inspired by so many Jazz artists and I am very happy to know that the genre continues to break new ground every day, continuing this creative cycle and paving the way for aspiring creatives.

Works Cited

 

 

“A Flourish of Jazz”, Time Magazine article, including mention of the use of electronics in jazz fusion.

“Club Des Belugas.” Club Des Belugas. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.

Definition from Sergey Chernov, June 7, 2002, in The St. Petersburg Times

Melissa Ursula Dawn Goldsmith, “Lounge Caravan: A Selective Discography,” Notes 61, no. 4 (2005): 1060.

http://www.club-des-belugas.com/

Fletcher Henderson

Fletcher Henderson:

Birth name	James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr.
Also known as	“Smack” Henderson
Born	December 18, 1897 Cuthbert, Georgia, United States
Died	December 29, 1952 (aged 55) New York City, New York, United States
Genres	Jazz, swing
Occupation(s)	Pianist, arranger, bandleader
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1921–1950

(Brother, Horace Henderson)

Fletcher Henderson was born into a middle-class black family. In his youth he studied European art and music under his mother who was a piano teacher. Henderson was considered well mannered and good looking.

Henderson studied chemistry and mathematics at Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated in 1920. After graduation, he moved to New York City to attend Columbia University for a master’s degree in chemistry. Once in New York he found his job prospects in chemistry to be very restricted due to his race, and turned to music for a living. He was also said to be almost painfully shy.

Henderson found work as a song demonstrator with the Pace-Handy Music Company, an early black publishing firm. When Harry Pace founded Black Swan, the first black recording company, Henderson joined it as musical jack of all trades. He began to put together groups to back the company’s singers, and eventually drifted into a career as a bandleader.

He occasionally obtained work for small bands at clubs and dances, and ultimately began performing in the Club Alabam on Broadway sometime around January, 1924 . In the same year he was offered a position at the Roseland Ballroom, later to become the best-known dance hall in New York. (These clubs were restricted to white customers.) Henderson’s band remained there for a decade, using Roseland as a springboard to national fame.

Fletcher Henderson pioneered big band swing music. His group started out as an ordinary dance band, but not a jazz band. Their Early music had an infectious rag-style rhythm that was popular at the time, but it took some time to catch on to the true jazz sound emerging from the south.

Black Northerners of the time had little first-hand experience in Southern spirituals, work songs, and the blues. Northerners only slowly came to grips with the new jazz that was emerging from the South. Although Henderson had been brought up in Georgia, he had been insulated from black folk forms by his middle-class parents who, like many black Americans of their position, frowned on “low” music. Henderson did not learn to play jazz until his 20s, and never became more than an adequate jazz pianist.

In the 1920s musicians everywhere were being drawn to jazz music. Henderson did not find his edge until 1924 when he brought Louis Armstrong into his band as a jazz specialist three years after hearing him in New Orleans. Armstrong’s style was rapidly maturing, and his playing entranced both Henderson’s men, and other New York musicians with its propulsive swing and melodic invention. Although Armstrong was not the only jazz influence on New York musicians, he was the most important one, and Henderson’s band members began to emulate his solo style.

Henderson had a remarkable gift discovering new talent and it could be said this is where his notoriety comes from. While Louis was with them, Henderson was learning Louis style. When Louis left the band in 1925, Henderson began writing with Don Redman. The two worked out a new formula interplaying brass and reed sections, sometimes in call-and-response fashion, at other times with one section playing supporting riffs behind the other. Many solos were interspersed between the arranged passages. The beat is driven by a steady four-beats-to-the-bar foundation. A very prominent part of this formula being rhythm with the “and” in 1-and-2-and-3-and-4 accentuated, or in other words the eighth notes between the four quarter note meter.

When Redman left Henderson to become music director of McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, Henderson worked with other arrangers and freelance musicians including Benny Carter. Carter provided a remarkable talent helping write King Porter Stomp, Down South Camp Meeting, and Wrappin’ It Up.

In steady succession, he engaged virtually all of the major jazz players of the time, many of whom, like Armstrong and Lester Young, he raised from obscurity. Henderson’s arrangements both written and unwritten could be heard in the the hundreds during the 1930s. He also triggered the enormous success of swing bands from 1935 to 1945.

Henderson led bands until 1939, when he joined Goodman as a full-time staff arranger. From 1941, he returned to band-leading and writing arrangements for a living, left behind by the swing-band boom which he had played so large a part in bringing about. In December of 1950 he suffered a severe stroke and was partially paralyzed until his death.

 

Works Cited

DeVeaux, Scott Knowles., and Gary Giddins. “Ch 7 Swing Bands (Swing and Dance).”Jazz: Essential Listening. New York: W.W. Norton, 2011. 127+. Print.

“Fletcher Henderson.” PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.

“Oxford Music Online.” Grove Music Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2015.

Scott Yanow (1952-12-29). “Fletcher Henderson | Biography”. AllMusic. Retrieved2013-10-18.

The Didgeridoo Continued

The didgeridoo is known as one of the oldest instruments still being used today. It was developed by the Northern Australian aboriginals around 1,500 years ago but there is no exact history on how old this instrument could be since the Australian indigenous peoples pass history down orally. It is considered a wooden trumpet or drone pipe. It would be classified as a wind instrument.

The construction of a didgeridoo is very interesting. It was originally crafted using hardwoods, typically Eucalyptus, though one can be made out of any resonant tube-shaped material. Generally the main trunk or a large branch of the Eucalyptus tree is used. Aboriginal didgeridoo craftsmen hunt for suitably hollow live trees in areas with obvious termite activity. Termites attack these living eucalyptus trees, removing only the dead heartwood of the tree, as the living sapwood contains a chemical that repels the insects.

Once a suitably hollow tree is found, it is cut down and cleaned out, the bark is taken off, the ends trimmed, and the exterior is shaped; this results in a finished instrument. This instrument may be painted or left undecorated. A rim of beeswax may be applied to the mouthpiece end. Traditional instruments made by Aboriginal craftsmen in Arnhem Land are sometimes fitted with a ‘sugarbag’ mouthpiece. This black beeswax comes from wild bees and has a distinctive aroma.

No applicable amount of physics will be able to describe a termite hollowed didgeridoo. Termite hollowed didgeridoos have a very irregular inner surface unique to each didgeridoo, which does give many genuine didgeridoos very interesting sound characteristics, but makes it far too complicated to describe physically. Soto make it more simple we need to reduce a didgeridoo to a perfect pipe. Consequently these formulas are really about the physics of a PVC didgeridoo or any other didgeridoo as long as the inside diameter is exactly the same for the whole length of the didgeridoo.

Due to the nature of sound waves the increase of frequency between two steps is not linear, but logarithmic. Put simply: the change of frequency cannot be described as “frequency of c plus increase factor equals frequency of c#”, but as “frequency of c multiplied by increase factor equals frequency of c#”. This means the frequency doubles on every octave, i.e. a’ = 440 Hz, a” = 880 Hz, resulting in an increase factor of the 12th root of 2 between any two musical keys (12 steps make 2 times the basic frequency).

Now what actually influences f, is the frequency a given pipe resonates at, c the speed of sound, which is 344 m/s in dry air at a temperature of 20° C, and l the length of the pipe

The diameter of the pipe is not important at all for this basic calculation; a bigger diameter only makes the pipe sound louder as it gives a higher amplitude.

Which leads us finally to the physics formula determining the frequency a certain didgeridoo resonates at (as long as it is a perfect pipe): f = c / 4l (Reads: The frequency (f) equals the speed of sound (c) divided by four times the length (l) of the open pipe) or, the other way round: l = c / 4f (The length (l) equals the speed of sound (c) divided by four times the frequency (f) )”

A termite-bored didgeridoo has an irregular shape that, overall, usually increases in diameter towards the lower end. This shape means that its resonances occur at frequencies that are not harmonically spaced in frequency. This contrasts with the harmonic spacing of the resonances in a cylindrical plastic pipe, whose resonant frequencies fall in the ratio 1:3:5 etc. The second resonance of a didgeridoo (the note sounded by overblowing) is usually around an 11th higher than the fundamental frequency (a frequency ratio somewhat less than 3:1).

In the 1:3:5 example, the first harmonic would be the fundamental, the third harmonic being three times the frequency of the fundamental, sounds a perfect fifth above the second, and the fifth harmonic being five times the frequency of the fundamental sounds like a major third above the fundamental.

The vibration produced by the player’s lips has harmonics, i.e., it has frequency components falling exactly in the ratio 1:2:3 etc. However, the non-harmonic spacing of the instrument’s resonances means that the harmonics of the fundamental note are not systematically assisted by instrument resonances, as is usually the case for Western wind instruments (e.g., in a clarinet, the 1st 3rd and 5th harmonics of the reed are assisted by resonances of the bore, at least for notes in the low range).

The didgeridoo has been used as an orchestral instrument, but was created as an instrument to play along with the sounds of nature by imitating the sounds of animals and other natural sounds. The aboriginal language assigned names to animals based on the sounds they made or the motions of their actions. For example, a kangaroo would be something along the lines of, toynga. Imitating the song of the kangaroo as bounces through a field would go something like this: toynga, toynga, toynga, breathe, toynga, toynga, toynga breathe, etc. The rhythmic structure of the composition is based on these types of breathing patterns.

Rhythms on the didgeridoo are created  by a combination of breath timing, and sound or mouthing repetition. For example  if the timing of the outbreath equals the timing of the inbreath (inbreath covering the  full squeeze cheek motion of the inbreath phase-not the  actual snatch timing), then you have a rhythm. If the outbreath is twice the inbreath phase   this is another rhythm. If theres two in breaths for every outbreath phase you have another rhythm. If you have two in for  an equal timed out followed by one in four equal timed out and then the whole two parts repeat over and over, you have a more complicated rhythm. And it goes on and on, the possibilities are pretty endless. Then interspersing vocal sounds in a timed pattern the rhythm is accentuated. Certain wordings or mouthed phrasings can be used like; didgeridoo, didamore, didamulla, thuka too, ditty roo, walk a doo, kirrawee, lilli pilli or you can make up your own.

Jaw-Breathing  is a more advanced style of circular breathing where you don not rely on the cheeks, as in puffing up and then flattening  as you snatch a breath. It is done with the cheeks totally flat at all times, also making the  stream of air very focused and punchy. It then relies more on diaphragmatic breathing because theres less time to get the breath in and it counts on more controlled use of muscles in the mouth and jaw movement with the diaphragm backing up with the strong snatch and keeping the pressure up.

This style suits a more rhythmic playing style with a lot of punchiness which comes from the diaphragm and snatch pulse that forms a very strong beat. Oscillating between  jaw-breathing and cheek-breathing in a rhythmic way can also be an effective way to build a rhythm form that has contrasting effects.

Some less common techniques are street styles such as didgeridoo music performed by Arthur “Lucky” Gaykamangu. The didgeridoo player for Dunganda Street Sounds, Arthur has a fast percussive personal style which utilises a lot of vocal calls. Other techniques that are less common but are currently gaining exposure are beatbox and duette styles since the didgeridoo is typically a solo drone instrument.

Much like the aural history of aboriginals, there is not much sheet music written for the didgeridoo. First of all, you need a legend or key so you know what symbols mean what sound/technique. You can make up your own or use some of these examples made by Sanshi from didgeridoo Breath.

Symbol	Technique
B	Circular Breath
dar	miming (without your voice) the word “dar”
dee	miming (without your voice) the word “dee”
ha	diaphragm pulse, like a little cough
ee	a sharper harmonic sound made by moving your tongue forward.
GA	a short vocal sound like a dog bark

Next you would have to add a rhythm, in this example also written by Sanshi, a 4/4 rhythm is used including breath.

1	2	3	4
dar	dar	dar	B

Lets add a sound change…

1	2	3	4
dar	dar	dee	B

Now add a vocal sound…

1	2	3	4
dar	GA	dar	B

Some diaphragm

1	2	3	4
dar	ha	dar	B

Again, even though there is little sheet music written for the didgeridoo in existence, it is not hard to write an easily readable composition which can be as simple or complex as desired.

 

 

 

Works Cited

 

The Didjeridu: From Arnhemland to the Internet Perfect Beat Publishers Pg. 89–98

 

How to Write Didgeridoo Notation or Sheet Music.” Didgeridoo Breath Blog RSS. Sanshi, 30 Sept. 2010. Web. 16 Oct. 2014

 

Playing Tips.” 2000 Heartland Didgeridoos. 2000 Heartland Didgeridoos, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.

 

Sayers, Andrew (2001) [2001]. Australian Art (Oxford History of Art) (paperback). Oxford History of Art (in English). Oxford University Press, USA (published 19 July 2001). p. 19.

 

Journey in Time, p. 189. Yidaki Dhawu Miwatjnurunydja. Buku Larrngay Mulka Centre. Retrieved 14 July 2011.

 

Flinders Journal. Flinders University. 10–23 June 2002. Archived from the original on 19 August 2002. Retrieved 30 October 2012.

 

Aboriginal Australia Art and Culture Centre of Alice Springs

 

Physics of the Didgeridoo.” Physics of the Didgeridoo. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.

 

Taylor R., Cloake J, and Forner J. (2002) Harvesting rates of a Yolgnu harvester and comparison of selection of didjeridu by the Yolngu and Jawoyn, Harvesting of didjeridu by Aboriginal people and their participation in the industry in the Northern Territory (ed. R. Taylor) pp. 25–31. Report to AFFA Australia. Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment, Palmerston, NT.

 

McMahon, Charlie. (2004) The Ecology of Termites and Didjeridus, The Didgeridoo: From Ancient Times to the Modern Age (ed. David Lindner) Schönau: Traumzeit-Verlag

Trip to the Amami Islands

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, I am planning a trip to the Amami Islands of Japan to study the music and culture this part of the world has to offer. The Amami Islands (奄美諸島 Amami-shotō) are a small archipelago south of Kyushu, Japan and sits just north of Okinawa. I have chosen to travel to Amami Oshima as it is the largest island in both area and population.

I chose to do ethnomusicology fieldwork in Amami because I have been mesmerized by the music I have been listening to from this area for the last year or so.

The weather in Amami is temperate all year around so there will be no specific advantage in picking a time of year other than convenience.

 Amami Oshima an unspoiled nature

Cost / Lodging

Plane tickets cost around $1500/person.

I will stay at the Amami Central Hotel which costs $38/night for two guests and has all necessary amenities.

 

A 10-minute walk from Naze Port, Amami Central Hotel offers simple accommodations. Guests can rent bicycles to tour the island and use the free parking on-site. Amami Airport is a 40-minute drive away.

I plan to stay anywhere from two weeks, to a month so I will be getting a month long travel Visa.

Language

The native languages spoken in a large part of the Amami Islands are collectively known as the Amami language/dialect. It is divided into several dialects:

• the Kikai dialect
• North Amami dialect
• South Amami dialect
• and Tokunoshima dialect.

Dialects spoken in the southern islands of Okinoerabujima and Yoronjima are closer to those of Kunigami of northern Okinawa, and hence called Okinoerabu-Yoron-Northern Okinawan dialect.

These dialects all belong to the North Ryukyuan group of the Ryukyuan languages. Although the Ryukyuan languages belong to the Japonic family along with Japanese, they are mutually unintelligible.

Just as anywhere else in Japan, standard Japanese is used in all the formal situations. For instance, I would introduce myself as:

Hello my name is Dillon. What is your name?

こんにちは私の名前は Dillon あなたの名前は何ですか？

Kon’nichiwa watashinonamaeha Dillon. Anata no namae wa nanidesu ka?

And another important phrase:

Where is the bathroom?

バスルームにはどこにありますか？

Basurūmu ni wa doko ni arimasu ka?

Food

The island offers a mouthwatering variety of unique local foods. Its passionfruit and mango, cultivated in the warm southern climate, are said to be exceptionally delicious. Other famous foods include confections and delights made with unrefined brown sugar, an island specialty made by squeezing juice from sugarcane plants and condensing it with heat. I am likely to enjoy the island’s famous kokuto shochu, a variation of Japanese traditional distilled liquor made from brown sugar and rice koji.

Keihan. (C)Amami City

One simple yet tasty local dish becomes an instant favorite of many visitors. Keihan is made by pouring chicken broth flavored with soy sauce over rice topped with steamed chicken, sweet and spicy simmered shiitake mushrooms, thin strips of cooked egg, nori(dried seaweed), and other ingredients.

Other island specialties include the skillfully woven and uniquely dyed oshima-tsumugi textiles, the production of which dates back more than 1,300 years. Oshima-tsumugi fabrics are famous for being used to make high-quality kimono.

Trying not to stray off topic too far, the island is also known for its shima-uta (island songs), folk songs sung with accompaniment from the sanshin, a three-stringed musical instrument. In recent years several singers from Amami Oshima have gained fans nationwide for the distinctive singing that they honed during their time on this subtropical paradise.

sanshin

Research

This music is no secret to the world and has been very well documented. Refer to https://1fortyfour000.wordpress.com/2014/09/18/shima-uta/

The difference in my work does not consist of documenting and selling other musicians music. I will be going to this area to offer my recording skills to musicians who have not yet been able to get into a studio, in exchange for studying the music to use in my own future compositions. This kills two birds with one stone so to speak; by offering my trade as a bartering tool for recordings and knowledge, I will be able to advance my own musical abilities without exploiting other musicians talents. I will get back to the process of this trade later. My main point being, I will be able to replenish the current library of this style of music, while also studying under unique teachers of the Amami islands and broadening my musical theory with new instruments and Eastern scales.

Music

 Shima-uta is often performed alternatively by a pair of man and woman. When one sings, the other must answer. One must choose and sing the most appropriate song in reply to the other’s song. This style of performance is called utakake.

Japanese musical scales can be analyzed with the tetrachord theory. A tetrachord is a series of four notes, usually played one after the other. A major tetrachord is a series of four notes, in ascending order, separated by the following sequence: whole step – whole step – half step.There are four major tetrachords, namely:

•  ryūkyū
• min’yō
• ritsu
• and miyakobushi.

In Northern Amami the ritsu, min’yō and miyakobushi tetrachords can be found. In this respect, Northern Amami marks a sharp contrast with the Okinawa Islands, where the ryūkyū and ritsu scales are prevalent. Southern Amami (Okinoerabu and Yoron Islands) are similar to northern Okinawa.

Probably, the most distinct feature of shima-uta is its extensive use of falsetto, which is usually avoided in mainland Japan or Okinawa. Male and female voices are usually of the same pitch.

The main instruments used to accompany min’yo are the shamisen, the shinobue (a small transverse bamboo flute), and percussion. Japanese folk songs are very diverse. This being said, Japanese folk music has been known to experiment with many unusual instruments.

shamisen

shinobue

Currency

1 US dollar is equal to 109.04 Japanese Yen.

To put this into perspective, a meal at a more average restaurant costs roughly between 1,000 and 3,000 yen, but there are plenty of restaurants where you can have a full meal for between 500 and 1000 yen.

Local supermarkets are relatively inexpensive if you stick to Japanese food such as seasonal vegetables, seafood, soya bean products and rice. If you visit supermarkets shortly before closing time in the evening, you can purchase remaining perishable products at big discounts.

I will visit various folk music shows to get a feeling for the music but when I record I will find lesser known musicians and as I mentioned before, to document this I will be trading my recordings for performance. I can do this at local shows as well if the artist so chooses by sending all the sound from the mixing board to my 2 track recorder and computer. This brings me to my next point, documentation.

Documentation

To document my trip I will be taking many notes and keeping a journal. I will be traveling with my wife who will document the trip with her 5D camera capturing video and stills. I will be recording into my laptop using an all in one portable MOTU 828x Professional 28×30 Thunderbolt Audio Interface with built in preamps. I will be traveling with a rode stereo mic, about six sm58’s, a 421, and all necessary cords and corresponding equipment which all fits into a backpack.

5D

MOTU

I plan on using this trip to gather knowledge more than anything else. Sure I could make a documentary and sell my work, but for me it is much more profitable to get some recordings to use in my own music and learn eastern styles to hone my own craft. I write and sell music, I am not a filmmaker, therefore the experience is more beneficial than any class and I can expose the music through my own artistic filter. The video, photography, and audio all have their place, but they will more likely work together in a more abstract and artistic way.

The only challenges I foresee are language barriers but I have traveled to other countries before and I know with a little time and effort things will work out just fine.

Works Cited

Ogawa Hisao 小川学夫 (1999). Amami shimauta e no shōtai 奄美のシマウタへの招待 (in Japanese).

Nihon min’yō taikan (Okinawa–Amami): Amami shotō hen 日本民謡大観（沖縄・奄美）奄美諸島篇 (in Japanese). 1993.

Hokama Shuzen 外間守善 (1995). “Amami no kayō 奄美の歌謡”. Nantō bungaku-ron 南島文学論 (in Japanese).

Nihon min’yō taikan (Okinawa–Amami): Amami shotō hen 日本民謡大観（沖縄・奄美）奄美諸島篇 (in Japanese). 1993.

Takahashi Miki 高橋美樹 (2003). “Shimauta ni matsuwaru sho-gainen no seiritsu katei: Amami shotō o chūshin to shite” <しまう

     た>にまつわる諸概念の成立過程: 奄美諸島を中心として”. Ritsumeikan gengo bunka kenkyū 立命館言語文化研究 (in Japanese)

     15 (2): 149–161.

Takashima Masaharu 高嶋正晴 (2003). “Rekōdo kara miru senzen sengo no Amami shimauta bunka” レコードからみる戦前・戦

     後の奄美<しまうた>文化”. Ritsumeikan gengo bunka kenkyū 立命館言語文化研究(in Japanese) 15 (2): 163–171.

Ogawa Hisao 小川学夫 (1979). Amami min’yō-shi 奄美民謡誌 (in Japanese).

Takahashi Miki 高橋美樹 (2002). ““Shimauta” ni matsuwaru sho-gainen no seiritsu katei: Okinawa o chūshin to shite” 「しまう

     た」にまつわる諸概念の成立過程: 沖縄を中心として”. Okinawa bunka 沖縄文化(in Japanese) 37 (2): 1–54.

Hokama Shuzen 外間守善 (1995). “Ryūka-ron 琉歌論”. Nantō bungaku-ron 南島文学論 (in Japanese).

“Biography” (in Japanese). Official Website. 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2008.

 

BARKS (2007). “The first singer from Kagoshima sings in the temple of Ikegami” (in

Japanese). Retrieved 12 December 2008.

 

Ogawa Hisao 小川学夫 (1999). Amami shimauta e no shōtai 奄美のシマウタへの招待

(in Japanese).

 

Nihon min’yō taikan (Okinawa–Amami): Amami shotō hen 日本民謡大観（沖縄・奄美）

奄美諸島篇 (in Japanese). 1993.

 

Hokama Shuzen 外間守善 (1995). “Amami no kayō 奄美の歌謡”. Nantō bungaku-ron 南

島文学論 (in Japanese).

“Amami Island, Japan Travel Weather Averages (Weatherbase).” Weatherbase. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.

“The Many Splendors of Amami Oshima | Food & Travel | Trends in Japan | Web Japan.” The Many Splendors of Amami Oshima |

     Food & Travel | Trends in Japan | Web Japan. N.p., Sept. 2009. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.

“Min’yo: Folk Song From Japan – Yujiro Takahashi | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic.”AllMusic. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept.      2014.

“Prices and Living Cost in Japan.” Prices and Living Cost in Japan. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.

Shima-uta

Shima-uta comes from the Amami Islands, in the Kagoshima Prefecture of southwestern Japan. This is where one of my favorite Japanese folk singers is from, Ikue Asazaki. She specializes in shima-uta, Amami’s traditional music genre. Ikue Asazaki grew up on the Amami Islands (in Setouchi, Kagoshima) which are famous for spawning popular singers of shima-uta.

Ikue Asazaki – Obokuri Eeumi

Cosmology

Shima-uta is the name for this specific type of music. In japan shima means “island” but in Amami it means community. Thus shima-uta literally means “communities’ songs”. This is the general basis of the songs.

There are many forms of shima-uta, one for every occasion. Shima-uta is said to represent Amami’s traditional music, but multiple genres of Japanese Amami culture fall under this category of music. 

Genre

Amami’s traditional music can be separated into three main categories:

•  kami-uta (religious songs sung by priestesses)
  • including omori
  • tahabë and kuchi
  • warabe-uta (children’s songs)
  • and min’yo (folk songs).
    • Amami’s min’yo can then be further divided into three sub-genres:
    • gyōji-uta (songs for annual events) including songs for hachigatsu-odori
    • shigoto-uta (work songs)
    • and asobi-uta, which are songs sung at holiday gatherings.

There are more genres in japanese folk and shima-uta, referring to

• asobi-uta which is also known as sanshin-uta
• zashiki-uta (lit. room songs)
• and nagusami-uta (lit. comforting songs).

In a broader sense, shima-uta also covers the gyōji-uta and shigoto-uta genres.

Asabana bushi

It became known nationwide in the 2000s with the success of young singers from Amami Ōshima such as Hajime Chitose and Atari Kōsuke.

Hajime Chitose – Haru no Katami

Technicalities

Today shima-uta is recognized as a genre of songs both in academics and in popular culture. However, musicologist Takahashi Miki showed that the recognition had been developed relatively recently.

In modern Japanese academics, Amami’s traditional songs were described by the term min’yo (folk songs), they were influenced by Yanagita Kunio, the father of Japanese folkloristics, who developed the concept of min’yō

While the natives of the Amami Islands chose the academic term min’yō to describe Amami’s traditional songs, some people from outside the Amami Islands used the term shima-uta proactively. While shima-uta had been songs of isolated communities, it became increasingly frequent that shima-uta was performed for outsiders. 

Chant folklorique japonais (min’yō), “Miyazu bushi”

As for popular culture, Takahashi analyzed the Nankai Nichinichi Shinbun, a local newspaper of the Amami Islands, and found that shima-uta gradually replaced min’yō from 1959 to the early 1980s. A similar change can be observed in the title of records published by Amami Ōshima-based Central Gakki. In the 2000s, and Atari Kōsuke sung pop songs in the style of shima-uta. The series of events helped make shima-uta recognized as a regional brand of Amami.

Confusingly, Okinawa Prefecture’s folk songs are sometimes referred to as shima-uta, which causes a conflict of interest with those who see shima-uta as a regional brand of Amami. Shima-uta is not a native term of Okinawa, Miyako or Yaeyama but was introduced from Amami in the 1970s. Okinawa’s folk songs were simply called uta in local communities and were described as min’yō in academics.

Looking past the genre elitism and semantic argument, it could be said all these types of music fall under the same umbrella of Japanese folk music. Shima-uta meaning community songs could capture this idea well, at least to outsiders, as the songs represent the “community” including all differences found therein.

 

Works Cited

National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGIA). Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Japan Enroute. Prostar Publications (2005). ISBN 1577856511

Eldridge, Mark. The Return of the Amami Islands: The Reversion Movement and U.S.-Japan Relations. Levington Books (2004) ISBN 0739107100

Hellyer. Robert. Defining Engagement: Japan and Global Contexts, 1640-1868. Harvard University Press (2009) ISBN 0674035771

Turnbull, Stephen. The Most Daring Raid of the Samurai. Rosen Publishing Group (2011) ISBN 1448818723

The name Amami-guntō was standardized on February 15, 2010.“『奄美群島』を決定地名に採用”. Geospatial Information Agency of Japan. Retrieved 23 November 2011. Prior to that, another name Amami shotō(奄美諸島) was also used.

“『奄美群島』を決定地名に採用”. Geospatial Information Agency of Japan.

Sakara

Sakara

Sakara is a popular form of Nigerian music based on traditional Yoruba music (an extremely advanced drumming tradition from the people of Nigeria and Benin). It is influenced by Moslem styles, mostly in the form of praise songs, that only use traditional Yoruba instruments such as the solemn-sounding Goge violin, and the small round Sakara drum, which is similar to a tambourine and is beaten with a stick. Sakara music overlays the nasalized, melismatic vocals of Islamic music on the traditional percussion instruments.

Goge violin

Sakara drum

Artist: Adjado
Year: 1952

 

The style of music tends to possess philosophical lyricism and is sung in a somberly rhythmic tone. Sakara is most commonly performed in a heterophonic structure as multiple voices sing their variation of a single melody accompanied by the rhythm section. The main melody only varies when the structure momentarily shifts to monophony, then returns to heterophony as the other singer/singers join in. The ornamentation spontaneously added by the performers is rare but creates a beautiful accentuation.

Little is known about historical Nigerian music prior to European contact. What is known about Sakara music comes from knowledge of Yorùbá music. Sakara, among other styles of music, came fromYorùbá. Best known for it’s advanced style of drumming using the dundun (an hourglass tension drum similar to a tabla) sakara drum, gangan, Sekere, Ashiko, Gudugudu, Agidigbo, and Bembe’. These drums are played by ensembles that back up the vocal heterophony.

Dundun drum

Works Cited

Turino, pgs. 181–182; Bensignor, Francois with Eric Audra, and Ronnie Graham, “Afro-

Funksters” and “From Hausa Music to Highlife” in the Rough Guide to World Music, pgs. 432–

436 and pgs. 588–600; Karolyi, pg. 43

John Collins (1985). Musicmakers of West Africa. Lynne Rienner Publishers. p. 49.

Michael E. Veal (2000). Fela: the life & times of an African musical icon. Temple University Press.

     p. 28.

History of Nigerian Music. OnlineNigeria. Retrieved 2010-01-31.

Renaissance Music

Today my research has lead me to the music of Europe. Because this is one of the more broad topics yet, I will be spending most of my typing power covering European Renaissance music from the 14th-16th century. Renaissance music is was historically written beginning in the start of the 14oo’s at the end of the Medieval period and closing around 1600 at the beginning of the Baroque era. Music and the arts at this time was greatly influenced by developments which defined the Early Modern period with the rise of humanistic thought, literary recovery, and ancient Greek and Roman artistic heritage. During this time there was an increase in commerce, the rise of a bourgeois class, and Protestant Reformation. During this time, the changing society gave birth to a unifying musical language and a polyphonic structure credited to the Netherlandish School.

The Netherlandish School often refers directly to the polyphonic structure of composition as many musicians from this school adopted the new technique, therefore the school is remembered as the origin of this type of music. Most musicians from the Netherlandish School were born in Hainaut, Flanders, Brabant, or Picardy. Until the End of the 16th Century the Netherlandish School was the focal point of the Western musical world.

While many of the composers were born in the region loosely known as the “Low Countries”, they were famous for working elsewhere. Flemings moved to Italy where they were called “I fiamminghi” or Oltremontani (those from over the Alps), to Spain – notably in the Flemish chapel of the Habsburgs, to towns in Germany and France and other parts of Europe – Poland, Czechia, Austria, Hungary, England, Sweden, Denmark, and Saxony – carrying their styles with them. The diffusion of their technique, especially after the revolutionary development of printing, produced the first true international style since the unification of Gregorian chant in the 9th century.

Gregorian chant

This is a rendition of the famous 13th century Latin Catholic hymn, “Dies Irae” (or, “Day of Wrath,” about the Second Coming of Christ and Judgment Day). This rendition is off the 1994 CD, “Ego sum Ressurectio,” and is difficult to find.

Following the history of the Burgundian States are three groups, or generations, that are sometimes distinguished in the Franco-Flemish school. Development of this musical style was continuous, and these generations only provide useful reference points.

• The First generation (1420–1450), was group of composers most often known as the Burgundian School. The origins of the style of the first generation embraces both earlier Burgundian traditions and also Italian and English styles. This era was dominated by Dufay, Binchois and Antoine Busnios.

Dufay

Binchois

Antoine Busnios

Manuscript of Missa O Crux Lignum, a Mass by Busnois. The date is not certain but approximated to be mid-15th century.

• The Second generation (1450–1485), with Ockenghem as its main exponent.

Ockenghem

• The Third generation (1480–1520) was most significantly Josquin born in Picardy.

Josquin

If you are like me, this will be some of the most beautiful music you have ever experienced. These songs are made up of a very ethereal and almost dreamy composition. Many of the instruments heard in these songs originated during the Renaissance, while others were variations/ improvements upon existing instruments. Many of these instruments have survived until the present day while a few have disappeared altogether. Today, we use the Sachs Hornbostel system of classification to place the instruments used into four main categories:

• brass
• strings
• percussion
• woodwind

Medieval instruments in Europe had most commonly been used singly, often self accompanied with a drone, or occasionally in parts. During the 15th century there was a division of instruments into Haut (loud, outdoor instruments) and Bas (quieter, more intimate instruments) Only two groups of instruments could play freely in both types of ensembles: the Cornett and sackbut and the Tabor and tambourine.

Here is a rather extensive breakdown of Renaissance instruments.

Brass

Brass instruments in the Renaissance were traditionally played by professionals. Some of the more common brass instruments that were played:

• Slide trumpet: Similar to the trombone of today except that instead of a section of the body sliding, only a small part of the body near the mouthpiece and the mouthpiece itself is stationary. The slide trumpet was most commonly used for slow dance music.

• Cornett: Made of wood and was played like the recorder but blown like a trumpet. It was commonly made in several sizes, the largest was called the serpent. The serpent became the main cornetto used by the early 17th century while other ranges were replaced by the violin.

• Trumpet: Early trumpets had no valves, and were limited to the tones present in the overtone series. They were also made in different sizes. Although commonly depicted being used by angels, their use in churches was limited. They were most commonly used in the military and for the announcement of royalty. Period trumpets were found to have two rings soldered to them, one near the mouthpiece and another near the bell.

• Sackbut is different name for the trombone, which replaced the slide trumpet by the middle of the 15th century.

Strings

As a family strings were used in many circumstances, both sacred and secular. A few members of this family include:

• Viol: This instrument, developed in the 15th century, commonly has six strings. It was usually played with a bow. 

• Lyre: Its construction is similar to a small harp, although instead of being plucked, it is strummed with a plectrum.

• Irish Harp: During the Middle Ages it was the most popular instrument of Ireland and Scotland. 

• Hurdy gurdy: The strings are sounded by a wheel which the strings pass over. Its functionality can be compared to that of a mechanical violin, in that its bow is turned by a crank. Its distinctive sound is mainly because of its “drone strings” which provide a constant pitch similar in their sound to that of bagpipes.

• Gittern and mandore: these instruments were used throughout Europe. Forerunners of modern instruments including the mandolin and guitar.

Percussion

Some Renaissance percussion instruments include the triangle, the Jew’s harp, the tambourine, the bells, the rumble-pot, and various kinds of drums.

• Tambourine: In the early ages the tambourine was originally a frame drum without the jingles attached to the side. This instrument soon evolved and took on the name of the timbrel during the medieval crusades, at which time it acquired the jingles. 

• Jew’s harp: A steel instrument that produces sound using shapes of the mouth and attempting to pronounce different vowels with one’s mouth. The loop at the bent end of the tongue of the instrument is plucked in different scales of vibration creating different tones.

Woodwinds (aerophones)

The woodwind instruments (aerophones) produce sound by means of a vibrating column of air within the pipe. Holes along the pipe allow the player to control the length of the column of air, and hence the pitch. There are several ways of making the air column vibrate, and these ways define the subcategories of woodwind instruments. A player may blow across a mouth hole, as in a flute; into a mouthpiece with a single reed, as in a modern-day clarinet or saxophone; or a double reed, as in an oboe or bassoon. All three of these methods of tone production can be found in Renaissance instruments.

• Shawm: A typical oriental shawm is keyless and is about a foot long with seven finger holes and a thumb hole. The pipes were also most commonly made of wood and many of them had carvings and decorations on them. It was the most popular double reed instrument of the renaissance period; it was commonly used in the streets with drums and trumpets because of its brilliant, piercing, and often deafening sound. To play the shawm a person puts the entire reed in their mouth, puffs out their cheeks, and blows into the pipe whilst breathing through their nose.

• Reed pipe: Made from a single short length of cane with a mouthpiece, four or five finger holes, and reed fashioned from it. The reed is made by cutting out a small tongue, but leaving the base attached. It is the predecessor of the saxophone and the clarinet.

• Hornpipe: Same as reed pipe but with a bell at the end.

• Bagpipe/Bladder Pipe: Believe to have been invented by herdsmen who thought to use a bag made out of sheep or goat skin and would provide air pressure so that when its player takes a breath, the player only needs to squeeze the bag tucked underneath their arm to continue the tone. The mouth pipe has a simple round piece of leather hinged on to the bag end of the pipe and acts like a non-return valve. The reed is located inside the long metal mouthpiece, known as a bocal.

• Panpipe: Designed to have sixteen wooden tubes with a stopper at one end and open on the other. Each tube is a different size (thereby producing a different tone), giving it a range of an octave and a half. The player can then place their lips against the desired tube and blow across it.

• Transverse flute: The Transverse flute is similar to the modern flute with a mouth hole near the stoppered end and finger holes along the body. The player blows in the side and holds the flute to the right side.

• Recorder: The recorder is a common instrument still used today, often taught to children in elementary schools. Rather than a reed it uses a whistler mouth piece, which is a beak shaped mouth piece, as its main source of sound production. It is usually made with seven finger holes and a thumb hole.

All of these instruments work together to create the beautiful music of the renaissance period. I hope you have enjoyed my rather extensive post on one of my favorite types of music.

 

Works Cited

Atlas, Allan W. Renaissance Music. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998.

Baines, Anthony, ed. Musical Instruments Through the Ages. New York: Walker and Company, 1975.

Fenlon, Iain (editor) (1989). The Renaissance: from the 1470s to the End of the 16th Century. Man &

     Music 2. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

The New Harvard Dictionary of Music.

A History of Music and Musical Style, by Homer Ulrich & Paul Pisk (1963). New York: Harcourt Brace

     Jovanoich.

Register of Polyphonists out of The Low countries/the Netherlands born between 1400-1600

Gleason, Harold and Becker, Warren. Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Music Literature

Outlines Series I). Bloomington, IN: Frangipani Press, 1986.

Middle Eastern Music

In the same way western music is catagorized, Middle Eastern music is separated into many genres and subgenres. The main genres of Middle Eastern music are:

• Classical
• Egyptian Classical
• Folk
• Pop

These are four of the main umbrella categories of Middle Eastern music most other music from the area can fall under. Each Region in the Middle East will have it’s own style and subgenre of each musical type, even each town will have it’s own specific sound within the same genre. It would be impossible to cover all aspects of the music from this area so for the sake of time I will be briefly covering a few types of music that fall under these categories. This list can be used as a reference to study deeper into these categories and where to look for other styles of Middle Eastern music of you find yourself inspired.

First Muwashshaḥ is an Arabic word which translated to english means “ode”. Muwashshaḥ is an Arabic genre of poetry set to music in strophic form developed in Muslim Spain in the 11th and 12th centuries. From the 12th century onward, its use spread to North Africa and the Muslim Middle East.

The muwashshaḥ is written in Classical Arabic, and its subjects are those of Classical Arabic poetry—love, wine, and court figures. It differs strongly in form, however, from classical poetry. Typically each verse is divided into two metric halves and a single rhyme recurs at the end of each verse. Themuwashshaḥ is usually divided into five strophes, or stanzas, each numbering four, five, or six lines. A master rhyme appears at the beginning of the poem and at the end of the strophes, somewhat like a refrain; it is interrupted by subordinate rhymes. An example of a possible scheme is:

ABcdcd

ABefef

ABghgh

ABijij

ABklkl

AB.

The last AB, called kharjah, or markaz, is usually written in vernacular Arabic or in the Spanish Mozarabic dialect; it is often rendered in the voice of a girl and expresses her longing for her absent lover. Such verses make it probable that the muwashshaḥ was influenced by  European Romance, oral poetry, or song. Jewish poets of Spain also wrote muwashshaḥs in Hebrew, with kharjahs in Arabic and Spanish.

Below is an excellent example of classical muwashshaḥ music by The Morkos Ensemble.The Morkos Ensemble was founded by Kamâl Morkos, a musician trained in classical Arabic music. One of the goals of the Morkos Ensemble is to perform according to the tradition to create an appealingauthentic music.

Scholarly Arabic music ensembles generally comprise a voice accompanied by few instruments. Improvisation plays a very important role in this type of music. The singer must memorize a wide variety of songs upon which to base his or her improvisation. The inspiration of the singer is dependent upon the synergy happening between the musicians and the audience during the performance. The “muwashshah” is a multi-rhyming and multi-metric poem that can be either in Arabic or in a dialect. These poems become songs for solo voice accompanied by a choir.

Second, we’ll look at Egyptian classical music. Egyptian music has been an important part of Egyptian culture since ancient time. The ancient Egyptians credited the god Thod with the invention of music. The earliest material and representational evidence of Egyptian musical instruments dates back to the pre-dynastic period. In the Old Kingdom, harps, flutes and double clarinets were played. Percussion instruments, lyres and lutes were added by the time of the Middle Kingdom. Cymbals frequently accompanied music and dance, as they still do in Egypt today.

The prevalent style of dance attributed to this style of music is Egyptian raqs sharqi (Oriental dance) which is known in western cultures as “belly-dancing”. Raqs sharqi often accompanies a new style of Egyptian classical music which came about in the 20th century.

Some of Egypt’s famous composers of this era included:

• Mohammed Abdel Wahab. His compositions included “Enta Omri”, “Zeina”, and “Cleopatra”.

• Baligh Hamdi whose compositions included “El Hob Kulu” and “Alf Leyla wa Leyla”.

• Farid al­-Atrache whose compositions included “Gamil Gamal”, “Habena”, and “Me Alli we Oltelu”.

Egyptian classical music typically follows this format:

• Instrumental overture at the beginning
• Vocal segment to a different melody
• Instrumental interlude, which is often different from the melody of the opening overture
• Vocal segment
• Repeat iterations of the above, which can last from 15 minutes to an hour

Next is Arabic Dabke, a modern Levantine Arab folk dance of possible Canaanite or Phoenician origin.

It is popular in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, and Turkey. It is a form of both circle dancing and line dancing and is widely performed at weddings and joyous occasions. The line forms from right to left. The leader of the dabke heads the line, alternating between facing the audience and the other dancers.

Lastly, I would like to bring you a modern “Pop” band that blends modern dance, Dabke, Raqs sharqi, and electronic music to create a fusion like none other called Ethnotronica. This style is getting more popular every day and could be a staple in Middle Eastern music in the future. I present to you, a trio who arose out of western music as well versed, educated performers who adopted Middle Eastern styles to create their own spin on Oriental Ethnic music to create Beats Antique.

 

Works Cited

 

Adra, Najwa. “Middle East” The International Encyclopedia of Dance. Ed. Selma Jeanne Cohen and the Dance Perspectives

Foundation. Oxford University Press, 2003. Georgetown University. 3 December 2010

Cohen, Dalia; Katz, Ruth (2006). Palestinian Arab music: a Maqām tradition in practice (Illustrated, annotated ed.). University of

     Chicago Press.

Kaschl, Elke. Dance and Authenticity in Israel and Palestine: Performing the Nation. Leiden & Boston, MA: Brill; 2003.

Ladkani, Jennifer. “Dabke Music and Dance and the Palestinian Refugee Experience: On the Outside looking in.” Ph.D.

     dissertation, Florida State University, 2001.

Smyers, Darryll (October 20, 2011). “Tommy Cappel of Beats Antique Talks Tribal Belly Dancing Music, Being Scared in Serbia.”.

     Dallas Observer. Retrieved October 26, 2011.

Horne, Jacklynne (October 24, 2011). “Beats Antique brings unusual show to TMT”. The University Star. Retrieved

     October 26, 2011.

“Cedre/Arabo-Andalusian Muwashshah – Ensemble Morkos | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic.” AllMusic. N.p., n.d.

     Web. 11 Sept. 2014.

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Muwashshah (ode).” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.

     Web. 11 Sept. 2014.

“Middle Eastern Music – An Introduction.” Middle Eastern Music: An Introduction. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2014.

Thailand

Thailand has become one of the cultural melting pots of the world. Thailand is bordered by Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, neighbors Vietnam, and is technically part of China. Influenced by musical styles from much of Asia, Thailand has created many fusion styles, as well as held onto many of it’s traditional styles. It has even been speculated that Tibetan Monks built their majestic monasteries in the high cliffs by harnessing acoustical levitation by singing and playing instruments at specific frequencies.

One of Tibet’s frequency specific instruments is it’s singing bowls, or tone bowl. The instrument looks like a typical pottery bowl, but when struck it makes a beautiful resonant frequency that seems to sing. This tone bowl is really a type of bell, specifically classified as a standing bell. Once struck, the tone bowl is played with the striking mallet by swirling along the rim of the bowl to continue the harmonic.

Singing bowls are used worldwide for meditation, music, relaxation, and personal well-being. Singing bowls were historically made throughout Asia, especially Nepal, China and Japan. They are closely related to decorative bells made along the silk road from the Near East to Western Asia. Today they are made in Nepal, India, Japan, China and Korea.

Thailand has adapted these singing bowls to their own culture for meditation and spiritual purposes. Theses singing bowls are often accompanied by chanting and brass instruments like the rag-dung. In Tibetan Buddhist practice, singing bowls are used as a signal to begin and end periods of silent meditation.

The rag-dung is a trumpet-type instrument used in special ritual by an esoteric sect of the Karma Kaputa monks in Tibet. The largest form has a length of about sixteen feet and sounds the drone or “aum” for chants. There are rag-dungs of lesser lengths which are used for higher overtones.

Last but surely not least, I would like to leave you with my favorite, An Elephant Swan Song. You may have been not told to judge a book by it’s cover, but in this case the title tells it all. Yes, this song is actually composed by trained elephants in Tibet! Please click the link to hear the full song. The video is only a “how it’s made”.

An Elephant Swan Song

Please take a look at this great blog on Tibetan music where I found this great elephant music.

http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-rough-guide-to-the-music-of-thailand-mw0000313941

Works Cited

De Leon, Emile (2012) The Mastery Book of Himalayan Singing Bowls: A Musical, Spiritual, and Healing Perspective

(Audio CD’s) Temple Sounds Publishing /ISBN 9780988266100 / Library of Congress Control Number: 2012948143

 

“Tibetan Musical Instruments.” Tibetan Musical Instruments. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Sept. 2014.

Music of South Asia

Blog post – South Asia – choose a region from South Asia that interests you and create a dynamic blog post highlighting the music of that region.  Be specific – Don’t try to cover an entire region and all the diverse music in that region, instead pick a specific form to explore.

Today I have chosen a region from South Asia to study the music of this specific region. I have been having a great time diving into some music from Myanmar (Burma).

 

Myanmar is situated in Southeast Asia and is bordered on the north and north-east by China, on the east and south-east by Laos and Thailand, on the south by the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal and on the west by Bangladesh and India. It is located between latitudes 09 32’N and 28 31’N and longitudes 92 10’E and 101 11’E.

The Union of Myanmar is made up of 135 national races, of which the main national races are Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Bamar, Mon, Rakhine and Shan. Population of the country is estimated at 52.4 million (July, 2003) and the population growth rate is 1.84 percent.

The main religions of the country are Buddhism (89.2%), Christianity (5.0%), Islam (3.8%), Hinduism (0.5%), Spiritualism (1.2%) and others (0.2%). Religious intolerance or discrimination on grounds of religion is nonexistent in the Union of Myanmar throughout its long history.

I will be focusing on Buddhist songs of the culture, though as a disclaimer I would like to point out I do not speak the language so if there is any sort of sacrilege or sarcasm in the music posted, it will be utterly lost on me.

The first track I would like to share with you is an amazing fusion of playful rhythms that might just take you beyond your childhood to the earliest memories laying in your crib. The sounds you will hear are reminiscent of a squeaky mobile lulling you into a dreamy bliss as the colorful sound wafts throughout the room.

The childlike coos of the percussion creates an unusual rhythm, complex as it is, can be quite easy to follow if you can keep from letting your mind wander.

The green fields of Myanmar are calling you home like a classic folk song with this next tune. Your heart strings will bend with the twang that creates a longing for a home you did not come from.

Seemingly influenced by western country music, this song comes from a heartland all its own. Called Buddha’s  Rays,the tribute is not lost in translation, but felt in its emotion. The beauty and loft of this piece is hard to put a finger on. It combines a sad airy vocal with a keys and strings enforcing its touch. Though there are no drums, the percussive impact of the song is not lost. Get carried away to a new kind of country.

For the metal heads out there I would like to end with the song, Dark Buddha Rising. It is a minor piece with very dark undertones. I have found music from this region is strongly influenced by western music yet creates their own take on it. This creates a vibe that is not hard to relate to and will leave you longing for a translator.