|
|
| Shona of Zimbabwe, E. Africa |
|
| “Nhemusasa” – complete media? |
|
| mbira (linguaphone, lamellophone, or “thumb piano”) plus hosho rattle |
|
|
|
| It’s a very old, very important Shona tradition. Played at a bira to call on the spirit Chaminuka, who protects the warriors and indeed the whole Shona nation. The title means “cutting branches for shelter,” as in war marching. |
|
| “Nhemusasa” – musical features? |
|
| kaleidophonic, fixed (ostinato) plus free components, interlocking parts |
|
| “Makala” (net hunting song) – culture? |
|
| BaAka Pygmies of Central Africa/Congo |
|
| “Makala” (net hunting song) – complete media? |
|
| female and male voices, drums, sticks, body percussion |
|
| “Makala” (net hunting song) – context? |
|
| Performance dance/music for net hunting. The event can take two days. It’s a big cultural happening. People sometimes go to neighboring camps and exchange dance moves. The lyrics to this song are sparse and cryptic, and there are lots of vocables. |
|
| “Makala” (net hunting song) – musical features? |
|
| hocketing, yodel, simultaneous improvisation, kaleidophonic |
|
| Shootingway ceremony – culture? |
|
|
| Shootingway ceremony – complete media? |
|
|
| Shootingway ceremony – context? |
|
| It’s a ceremony where a singer helps cure a patient of a snakebite by appealing to the mana of the holy people. |
|
| Shootingway ceremony – musical features? |
|
| low melodic contour, sharply changing rhythmic phrase lengths, through-composed |
|
| Grass Dance, Pan Indian powwow style – culture? |
|
| Amerindian Sioux/Great Plains |
|
| Grass Dance, Pan Indian powwow style – complete media? |
|
|
| Grass Dance, Pan Indian powwow style – context? |
|
| It’s a social dance for gatherings. There aren’t lyrics, just vocables so that a multitude of different tribes could comfortably join in. It’s community-building. |
|
| Grass Dance, Pan Indian powwow style – musical features? |
|
| falling melodic contour, high falsetto, tense voices, steady drum beat, call and response, clear strophic form |
|
| “Sarasiruha” (alapana and kriti) in Natai raga, followed by a tani avartam drum solo – culture? |
|
|
| “Sarasiruha” (alapana and kriti) in Natai raga, followed by a tani avartam drum solo – complete media? |
|
| veena long-necked lute, tanpura drone lute, mrdangam transverse barrel drum |
|
| “Sarasiruha” (alapana and kriti) in Natai raga, followed by a tani avartam drum solo – context? |
|
| This piece is a kriti addressed to Saraswati, goddess of music and learning. Although the lyrics are not heard in this instrumental performance, listeners and musicians would recognize the melody and associate it with the well-known words. |
|
| “Sarasiruha” (alapana and kriti) in Natai raga, followed by a tani avartam drum solo – musical features? |
|
| begins with unmetered alapana in free rhythm becoming faster, then instrumental kriti composition in aditala using recurring pallavi phrase with many improvised variations returning to pallavi after sam (a la rondo), then tani avartam drum solo on mrdangam with tanpura accompaniment |
|
|
|
| Syria, but Pan-Islamic: done similarly by all Muslims |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Call to prayer (done five times daily) by a muezzin. It’s musical, but not called “music.” |
|
|
|
| In maqam rast with microtones/quarter tones/”half-flat” tones on 3rd and 7th degrees of scale, ascending and descending melodic contour, silences separating lines of text are part of structure, melisma, ornamentation, qafla cadential patterns |
|
| Taqasim in Maqam Rast – culture? |
|
| Israeli West Bank, but Pan-Arab art/classical music style |
|
| Taqasim in Maqam Rast – complete media? |
|
| Solo ‘ud (short-necked lute) |
|
| Taqasim in Maqam Rast – context? |
|
| This was recorded in a Nazareth home by a young musician. It’s a great example of taqasim organization, with the characteristic qafla patterns. A taqasim can be a prelude, an interlude, or a complete performance in itself (like here). |
|
| Taqasim in Maqam Rast – musical features? |
|
| In maqam rast with microtones/quarter tones/”half-flat” tones on 3rd and 7th degrees of scale, ascending and descending melodic contour, silences (influenced by text lines in Qur’an recitation) are part of structure, uses melisma, ornamentation, uses qafla candential patterns |
|
| “Al-Shaghal” (“Obsession”) by Takht art/classical music instrumental ensemble – culture? |
|
|
| “Al-Shaghal” (“Obsession”) by Takht art/classical music instrumental ensemble – complete media? |
|
| Buzuq long-necked lute, ‘ud short-necked lute, nay end-blown flute, qanun plucked trapezoidal zither, violin, daff/riqq tambourine |
|
| “Al-Shaghal” (“Obsession”) by Takht art/classical music instrumental ensemble – context? |
|
| Recorded at a college Arabic music retreat, the lyrics express the common theme in Arabic poetry of obsession with a beloved. |
|
| “Al-Shaghal” (“Obsession”) by Takht art/classical music instrumental ensemble – musical features? |
|
| In maqam bayyati, with microtones/quarter tones/”half-flat” tones on 2nd and 6th degrees of scale, heterophonic texture, rondo/concerto gross-like composition in which tutti plays rondo theme and soloists play taqasim (in this case buzuq and nay) during which tutti ensemble plays an accompanying ostinato, expressions of tarab participation by audience |
|
| “Illuman Tiyu,” a Sanjuan culture? |
|
| Quichua speaking Indians of Ecuadorean Andes |
|
| “Illuman Tiyu,” a Sanjuan complete media? |
|
| male voices, quena vertical notched flutes, guitar, violin, bombo bass drum |
|
| “Illuman Tiyu,” a Sanjuan context? |
|
| Means “man from Illuman.” This piece is written by Galo Maigua and is autobiographical. He’s a very popular composer, and his band Conjunto Illuman, is in demand. |
|
| “Illuman Tiyu,” a Sanjuan musical features? |
|
| pan-Andean style, with syncretic indigenous + European harmonic sequences (including lots of minor-relative major undulation), Quichua language with a little Spanish, quavery tremolo vocal/instrumental quality |
|
| Ladrang “Wilujeng” in pelog mode culture? |
|
|
| Ladrang “Wilujeng” in pelog mode complete media? |
|
| Java Gamelan “soft playing” ensemble: saron-s, gong, kempul, kenong, kethuk, peking, bonang, drum, plus female voice and rebab |
|
| Ladrang “Wilujeng” in pelog mode context? |
|
| Title means “safe, secure.” This piece is played in pelog pathet barang by the musicians from the Ngudya Wirama gamelan group. This piece is a great example of polyphonic stratification. Different instruments elaborate the melody at different tempi. The vocal text used by the singer isn’t specific to this piece, but a well-known verse fitted to many pieces. |
|
| Ladrang “Wilujeng” in pelog mode musical features? |
|
| 32-beat gongan, gong structure, drum as conductor, soft playing instruments elaborating, pelog tuning system, group aural/oral realization |
|
| Playon “Lasem” in slendro mode culture? |
|
|
| Playon “Lasem” in slendro mode complete media? |
|
| Java Gamelan “loud playing” ensemble: saron-s, gong, kempul, kenong, kethuk, peking, bonang, drum, plus dhalang’s metal plates and wooden rapper |
|
| Playon “Lasem” in slendro mode context? |
|
| Musical staples of shadow puppetry generate excitement. The lengths of pieces are variable, tailored to suit the dramatic moment. During a performance, this piece might be played 18 times. Potential for a great variety of renditions. |
|
| Playon “Lasem” in slendro mode musical features? |
|
| Variable lengths of short gongan-s, sudden changes according to dramatic requirements, slendro tuning system, group aural/oral realization |
|
| “Kosalia Arini” modern gong kebyar style culture? |
|
|
| “Kosalia Arini” modern gong kebyar style complete media? |
|
| Bali Gamelan gong kebyar orchestra: bronze metallophones, hanging and horizontal gongs, drums, flute |
|
| “Kosalia Arini” modern gong kebyar style context? |
|
| Balinese gamelan is played often accompanying virtuosic dance. Kebyar means “flash” or “dazzle.” There is a lot of shimmer due to weirdly tuned unison notes. Overall design of these pieces are not cyclic or rigidly binary like in Javanese gamelan. The pieces are like fantasias, or exuberant studies in contrast. |
|
| “Kosalia Arini” modern gong kebyar style musical features? |
|
| Extreme contrasts (media, texture, tempo), interlocking patterns between pairs of instruments, pairs of instruments tuned slightly apart to create “shimmering” effect of “beats.” Composed and learned note-for-note. |
|
| “Chant to [the Orisha] Elegua,” a Santeria neo-African piece culture? |
|
|
| “Chant to [the Orisha] Elegua,” a Santeria neo-African piece complete media? |
|
| female and male voices, 3 bata drums with attached bells |
|
| “Chant to [the Orisha] Elegua,” a Santeria neo-African piece context? |
|
| Elegua is the most important orisha in Santeria, the first created by Olodumare. The goal of Santeria music is to facilitate possession of some dancers by attracting the orisha to the party. When a person is possessed, they are taken into another room and dressed in the orisha’s clothes to embody them. |
|
| “Chant to [the Orisha] Elegua,” a Santeria neo-African piece musical features? |
|
| call/response, ostinato, fixed vs. free, polymetric, kaleidophonic, Iya Illu mother drum clearly audible as lowest drum sound and principal improviser, note song changes |
|
| “El Tocoloro” a rumba culture? |
|
|
| “El Tocoloro” a rumba complete media? |
|
| male voices, palitos (sticks), congas, cajon (wooden box) |
|
| “El Tocoloro” a rumba context? |
|
| neo-African social dance. Rumba sounds very African because of an absence of any European melody/chord instruments and because of intense polyrhythms. These dances were cultivated by the Congolese slaves, however, as a party genre started in Cuba. It is not a retention of an African genre. |
|
| “El Tocoloro” a rumba musical features? |
|
| A+B form, call/response, ostinato, fixed vs. free in montuno (B) section, which begins at about 3:40, polymetric, kaleidophonic, highest drum (in this case) is the principal improviser; lead vocalist called sonero |
|
| “Buscando America,” a salsa piece sung by sonero Ruben Blades culture? |
|
|
| “Buscando America,” a salsa piece sung by sonero Ruben Blades complete media? |
|
| salsa band, male vocal and chorus with jazz band format + Latin percussion (congoas, bongos, timbales, cowbell, maracas) |
|
| “Buscando America,” a salsa piece sung by sonero Ruben Blades context? |
|
| The title means “looking for America.” New York is salsa’s home, and private parties, weddings, etc., as well as street and club performances, are common. 90% of salsa songs are basically categorized as modernized Cuban son songs. Ruben Blades is the most important salsero, arguably. He has bridged cultures, recording in both Spanish and English, and writing powerful lyrics (i.e., not just “let’s dance!” which is also common). |
|
| “Buscando America,” a salsa piece sung by sonero Ruben Blades musical features? |
|
| jazz harmonies, call/response and ostinato in montuno section, fixed vs. free, anticipated bass beginning at 3:00 with piano solo and continuing through subsequent montuno; montuno section begins at 5:00, lead vocalist is sonero |
|