Twoubadou music, considered Haitian folk music to the Haitian youth of today, is a favored genre of music that has a significant place in Haitian culture. Twoubadou is a Haitian Creole word derived from the Spanish word, “troubadour.” In medieval times, a troubadour was a bard who would compose emotional pieces about love, hate, and the spectrum in-between. Troubadours would travel from place to place, producing music and poetry to fit along the way. Haitian troubadours retain many of these old practices. Instead of moving from township to township, bands of troubadours tour from venue to venue, singing about the pitfalls, beauties, uncanny truths, and graphic passions of love. Sometimes the songs are about lasting relationships; sometimes, outlining the realities of romantic flings. Twoubadou began in the early 1900’s setting off a reclamation of European customs with an added flair of Haitian Creole style. Originally brought to the island by immigrant workers from the sugar plantations of Cuba as well as a style of drumming coined by the Cubans as “Tumba Francesca.” The style of playing is fluid and does not strictly adhere to the earlier practices, however. Twoubadou draws inspiration from the Cuban Guajiro, Puerto Rican Jibaro, and a Haitian subgenre called Meringue. The sound of Twoubadou is that similar to a Spanish Troubadour’s piece: verse, …show more content…
The song incorporates the fundamentals of Twoubadou. The song speaks of a loving relationship from the perspective of the man. He expresses his love for the woman and what he loves about her and how their love is eternal and irreplaceable. Although their love is rejected by family, friends and the general public, the man reassures the woman, that their love is forever. The song is accompanied with vocals, an acoustic guitar, different percussion instruments and an accordion, and embodies the style of Twoubadou with a modern production
Inquiry Question: Why were the passengers on the Komagata Maru rejected to stay in Canada?
Bachata is a creolized music, meaning that there is both European and African influence. It is also a descendent of a few different Dominican Republic and Cuban forms of music – primarily son, but also merengue and ranchera. Son is music of the African diaspora, commonly involved in debates of African retention. Elements of African music, such as call-and-response and preference for polyrhythm survived the middle passage and are deeply rooted in Caribbean tradition. Stringed instruments are believed to have been part of the European influence on the area, as well as harmonic patterns, as well as verse-chorus structure and prominent duple meter. Modern groups consist of two electric acoustic guitars, an electric bass guitar, a guira (A Dominican Republic percussion instrument), and bongos (Hutchinson). Bachata is thought to have originated in the rural areas, being the music of choice at rural friendly gatherings, similar to son’s roots. Bachata then migrated to the cities with the impoverished as they looked for work. With this move the music transformed into something entirely different from its romantic, seren...
Gottschalk’s unique blend of exotic cultures was key to perpetual fame during his time. By examining the compositions Bamboula (Op. 2) and Souvenir de Porto Rico (Op. 31), I will demonstrate how Gottschalk’s musical style represents an integration of Creole, New Orleans, West Indian, and Afro-Caribbean backgrounds he was exposed to throughout his life.
When one first hears the word Vodou, immediately images of curses and little model dolls come to mind. We tend to synonymize it with words like sinister, evil and revenge. However, Vodou is nothing like what mainstream North American media has brainwashed people into believing. As best put by Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, “Vodou is far more than [a religion] it's a spiritual system” (Tippet and Bellegarde-Smith 145). Haitian Vodou is a spiritual system that syncretizes the practices of Roman Catholicism with West African spirituality. This paper will contextualize Vodou and give a brief history on what it is, explain how I came to gain an interest in Vodou and close off with an introduction to Chouk Bwa Libète a traditional Haitian Mizik Rasin—roots
One member of this society is not as eager to keep the status quo. Cuiqiao is seen in the beginning apprehensively observing an arranged marriage. Her older sister had been beaten by her betrothed and the audience is never informed on how her mother died. Cuiqiao expresses her sorrow in song, most pitifully in th...
“How Musical is Man?” was published in 1974. This book was written by John Blacking, a musician turned social anthropologist. His goal in writing this ethnography, and several other papers during this same time period, was to compare the experience of music-making that takes place within different cultures and societies throughout the world. In this book, he discusses and describes the musicology of the Venda people in South Africa. Though he does go to Africa to research and learn about the Venda people and their music, he specifically states that his book is “not a scholarly study of human musicality” (ix), but rather it is a summary (written from his point of view), which is both expressive and entertaining, of several different issues and ideas that he has seemingly been contemplating for some time.
“Litany” is a poem inspired by a quote from Jaques Crickillon, this free verse poem describes the feeling of a man to a girl with the use of nouns. This poem has two different tones during its development, a serious tone and a mockery tone, that change from stanza to stanza, for example the first stanza using a metaphor compare the nature with the beauty of the woman, Crickillon express “you are the dew on the morning grass/ and the burning wheel of the sun.”(7-8). Also, the speaker in this poem change the traditional love poem of portray a woman or lover by focused on what the woman is not in the second stanza, in this lines the author is making fun. Nevertheless, the readers shock when the speaker admits that he is he is not like her, in the sixth stanza, the shooting star and paper blowing represent that how unpredictable the men is .
The harmony of the group is perfectly shown in this song. When a person hears it for the first time it sounds like one person sings it. The song opens with hope, “Helplessly Hoping”, that even in despair, there is hope. The word choice in the song is evocative and elegant, but it can have different meanings. The words are full of mystery, and the alliteration can make one’s spirit uplifting. The song is a non-verbal dialogue between a guy who loves a girl, waiting for her, and wonders about her love for him. The guy is being her harlequin, who hovers close to her, so she could notice him. The guy sees the girl’s good qualities, and true and kind spirit she has. Spirit is considered something that flows in the air, so that is why he wished he could fly and grasp her.
Angeles, Los. (2009). African arts. Volume 28. Published by African Studies Center, University of California.
If you are into percussion and authentic Caribbean Reggae Soca music; you will like ‘Chris Garcia’ ‘chutney Bacchanal’; however, if you want to take a musical look into some of the arch realities that confront the less achieved in the Caribbean by extension, you will be absolutely fascinated by the message in the music. Never before has one song addressed issues such as Soca music, head on as is done by ‘chutney Bacchanal’. Taking an analytical look at this song will magnify the points made by Chris Garcia and highlight his relation to today’s reality. People in the Caribbean do adapt to issues that comes along with Soca music as part of their culture. 1.
Based on this, it has become hard to conceptualize Mayan music nowadays without the influences of post Encounter. The Mayan music of present day uses marimba as the most popular instrument. This instrument is believed to have originated from Central Africa in the 16th century and arrived in Guatemala in the 17th century (Oxford Music Online, 2012). One of the most outstanding examples of hybrid in pre and post Encounter is the notion that in some Mayan tribes the marimba is used both as an instrument of music and communicating device (Pellicer, 2005). The marimba gives a revelation of indirect contact existing between Africa and Europe. The quality of hybrid in Mayan music is exhibited in the selections of songs from Olsen and Sheehy (2008). The influence of Mayan musical tradition has been seen in ‘Los Novios. ' The instrumentation involved mirrors the effect of African contact from an indirect perspective while the subject matter of the work mirrors the influence of Roman Catholic. Looking at ‘Los Trece’ there is an integration of the subject matter into sones that Latino musicians have developed from various traditions of pre and post-Encounter. In ‘Amilahani’ however, the traditional Mayan impacts the performance and music in general. Dances are more vivid without any trace of influence from post
Achebe uses the symbol of tribal drums to show the flourishing culture and life that Umuofia experiences before the Europeans arrive. The symbol of drums is often present during cultural gatherings and celebrations in Umuofia. During the feast, which marks a new harvest year, “drums [are] still beating, persistent and unchanging. Their sound [is] no longer a separate thing from the living village” (104). Drums distinctly relate to the culture and traditions of the village. Moreover, the “persistent and unchanging” beat to the drums also reflects the unity of the society, and how the tribe currently operates (104). These traditions are unique to Umuofia and are an integral part of African culture. However, this unchanging and pe...
...atin American popular idioms. Sonia Possetti is a leading contemporary tango artist that has formed a sextet including the unusual addition of a trombone. POssetti is receptive to the possibility of assimilating outside influences, as she is fully aware of the political implications of creating and performing tango in a country controlled by globalized economic and cultural interests. She uses the standard percussion with djembe, cymbals, bongo, and wood block. Possetti’s “Bullanguera” is based on a milonga rhythm that first sounded in the djembe, a large African hand drum. She layers a salsa clave pattern in the percussion over the milonga foundation. Jazz techniques, improvised solos and sixteen bar progressions add new dimensions to the piece. Her conception remains true to the roots of the tango, yet engages with a sophisticated range of current popular musics.
Music is a form of communication, letting others knows what is going on in the country, political, social or economic and any other problems the people of the Caribbean faced. With so many different ethnic backgrounds in the Caribbean, they are people with Asians, Indians, and Africans descents. This created a language and culture barrier but each ethnic background shared a common link music. Music bridged the gap between the different ethnicities Music is part of everyone’s culture especially here in the Caribbean. Our culture is recognized worldwide for its music. The Caribbean has different genres of music such as calypso, reggae, dance hall, zouk and many others. Our music has roots in both African and European cultures. The drum rhythm comes from the African in...
Juju music emerged in the 1920's and is the most well-known form of Yoruba popular contemporary music in Nigeria. Juju has its roots in traditional Yoruba drum based music. Juju is dance music played by large ensembles centered on guitars and drumming. Singing is a major part of Juju music and is inspired by Yoruba poetry, proverbs, praise songs, and the musical character of the language. The culture and music remained the same for decades after colonization and its explorers left Nigeria. The negative legacies...