Hey guys! So for this blog I'm gonna be educating y'all on African music and culture. Go ahead and prepare for a brief section on heavy metal as usual! :)
I was really interested to see all of the different instruments used in Africa. Out of all of the different instruments I found, I thought the mbira was the coolest. It's an instrument used by the people of Zimbabwe and it consists of 22-28 keys on a soundboard usually made out of wood of mubvamaropa tree. The keys were originally made of smelted iron ore and now they are made of recycled metal from other objects such as bed springs or bicycle spokes. The mbira is usually put in a calabash resonator to amplify the sound. When the mbira is played, it has a unique buzz that adds depth and volume to its sound.
Below is cover of "Africa" by Toto on the mbira.
Also, I just wanted to include this video of "Avatar's Love" on the kalimba. The mbira and the kalimba are not the same by the way as you can tell lol.
Next, I researched the Gumboot dance. The Gumboot dance originated from South African gold mine workers. Flooding became a major problem so their employers decided to give the workers rubber gumboots to protect them from getting ill instead of draining the flood water. In order to communicate in the mines, the workers made rhythms and by stomping their feet or slapping their boots. It was a way of expressing their ethnic identities and communicating with each other. The dance began to spread outside of the gold mines into the city as a form of entertainment. The employers took their workers and formed groups to represent their companies. The workers preformed and were able to mock their employers without them knowing with their dances. Now, the Gumboot dance has evolved into Step Dancing. It involves similar moves and instruments as Gumboot dancing but it has been made more modern. The performers are more dramatic and they use their voices in their performances.
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Sources:
https://mbira.org/what-is-mbira/mbira-music/the-mbira-instrument/
https://dancehistorygumbootdancing.weebly.com/narrative.html
https://audioinferno.com/2017/08/02/cape-towns-female-fronted-terminatryx-celebrating-15th-anniversary/
Hey Chasidy! so first time here and I'm loving the layout. So I loved how you covered the mbira and Kalimba! I love these instruments and hearing their differences. And I really hope you like the show Avatar because it was THE show and listening to the video you put brought back such good memories. Thank you for this Chasidy. And I also thoroughly enjoyed watching the Gumboat dance. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHello, I really enjoyed reading your blog! It is intriguing to see how the Mbira has been all over Africa and how it was constructed From what I can see it has impacted a lot of the many religions and cultures. One of the many things that I like about your blog is that you add your own twist. You talked about the heavy metal in Africa. It is so interesting to see the many different types of heavy metals in your blogs!
ReplyDeleteI wrote on the Mbira too, I honestly just thought it was a cool little instrument... I liked your section on that dance and its origins, it was seriously a really cool story. And finally I love how you always relate your blogs back to rock music, I can definitely tell you're super passionate about it!
ReplyDeleteHey Chas, I really love that you include heavy metal in your blogs. My favorite thing about your blog today, is that you talked about was the Gumboot dance. I was very interested in it, and I love the detail that you provided. I had no idea that the Gumboot dance is now called step dancing, I find that really cool. I also laughed when I read about how the workers created this dance to mock their employers! I look forward to seeing what you post about next time!
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