Beyond The Classroom: Indigenous America and Africa
Beyond The Classroom: Indigenous America and Africa
1. The Pan Flute
As we were discussing Music from the Andes and instruments used, I became really interested in the Pan Flute. So, I'm going to share some history and facts about the Pan Flute, some covers using the Pan Flute, and a song you probably didn't know had a Pan Flute in it. The Andean Pan Flute (or panpipe) came to be from the Aymara cultures in the Lake Titicaca region. From there the Pan Flute spread to other places. The Pan Pipe differs in size and design throughout different regions. Andean shepherdesses would use the panpipe to gather their sheep and goats. Then panpipes were made from bones and feathers, now the panpipe is usually made from bamboo. The average panpipe has 13 bamboo pipes, each pipe has a different "tonal quality" that gives each a different sound. The top of the pipe is open and the bottom is closed.
Also, as I was researching the Pan Flute I came across this website which says the greatest pan flute song of all time is "What Do You Mean" by Justin Bieber. You can definitely hear some king of flute in the chorus, I hope it is a Pan Flute!
2. Fatoumata Diawara
My French teacher showed us this artist from Mali so I'm going to share some about her and her music. Fatoumata Diawara is a Malian singer, songwriter, and actress. She was born in Mali in 1982 and she currently lives in France. She moved to France to become an actress. She starred in the 1999 feature film Genesis, the 2001 film Sia, le rêve du python, the internationally renowned street theater troupe Royal de Luxe, and in the musical Kirikou et Karaba. After acting, Fatoumata Diawara took up singing and songwriting. She was nominated for two Grammys in 2019. Fatoumata Diawara's website describes her music by saying, "The modernity of stinging electric guitar lines combine with the ancient African strings of the kora and kamel ngoni and kit drums combine with the timeless rhythms of traditional percussion..." Her songs are sung mostly in Bambara which is mostly spoken in Mali.
(this video was shot in Mali)
3. Modern Native American Music
During our unit on Native American music one thing I wanted to find out more about was modern Native American artists and their music. The videos for these two songs are very cool so I wanted to show these two songs. Some things to notice from these two videos are the traditional regalia and the more modern regalia. The first video is mostly vocables while the second is in English. Traditional dancing is showcased in both videos. For Native people it is easy to feel unrepresented or misrepresented in pop culture, these two groups of musicians are modern role models for Native people. "They see themselves simply as contributors to a necessary conversation around a subtle and complex representation of the contemporary Indigenous experience." (quote from The Halluci Nation website)
About Mag 7 (performers of We Are One): Mag 7 is a collective of seven MCs and songwriters from different tribes, who came together for hope and optimism. The members of Mag 7 are Drezus (Plains Cree tribe), Supaman (Crow tribe), PJ Vegas (Shoshone / Yaqui tribes), Kahara Hodges (Navajo tribe), Doc Native (Seminole tribe), Spencer Battiest (Seminole tribe), and Emcee One (Osage/Potawatomi tribes). -Information from YouTube
I never really looked into the more modern native american music, but the song you used is so cool (one world). I love that even though it is modernized it incorporates traditional aspects of native american music.
ReplyDeleteWow. I am speechless. I never knew Justin Bieber EVER played the pan flute and was actually good at it. I find it very interesting how subtle traditional and sometimes custom instruments such as the pan flute can be incorporated into contemporary modern music. I also found your second choice very interesting with Fatoumata Diawara. I have not ever heard of her and was very intruiged after watching the video you posted. No wonder she won a few grammys.
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