Author: dcheca

Posted on

Miriam Makeba: “Mama Africa”

It is crazy to think that apartheid, the system of institutionalized racism in South Africa, was abolished way too recently in 1991. It was just twenty-six years ago that South African people were classified into four different racial groups with the goal of maintaining white supremacy. It gave rise to some of the most influential protest movements, within the country, by characters and heroes such as Nelson Mandela, as well as on a global scale. The arts and specifically music had a huge role in the fight against apartheid, with singer Miriam Makeba as a leading musician campaigning against the cruel injustices of apartheid in South Africa.

I’m sure you will recognize Makeba when listening to her performing her awesome “Pata Pata”:

However, today we will be focusing on her performing of the song “Soweto Blues,” by her one of her husbands, which talks about the 1976 Soweto uprising in South Africa. It was decreed in 1974 that the language Afrikaans was to be taught as much as English in schools. Because Afrikaans is inherently linked with racism, between 10,000 and 20,000 black students took to the streets of Soweto to peacefully protest the new law. The police quickly applied their forces very violently, leaving thousands of people injured and around 100-700 dead (the number of casualties is unclear).

Upon this tremendous tragedy, Miriam Makeba performed “Soweto Blues” at every chance. Its lyrics exclaiming,

“There was a full moon on the golden city Looking at the door was the man without pity / Accusing everyone of conspiracy / Tightening the curfew charging people with walking / Yes, the border is where he was waiting / Waiting for the children, frightened and running / A handful got away but all the others / Hurried their chain without any publicity.”

Miriam Makeba had an extensive musical career and participated in various bands, jazz bands, musicals, and films in Africa since very young. She got to travel to Venice to receive an award for her role in the controversial movie Come Back Africa, a documentary on South Africa. Makeba was soon in trouble with the African authorities for it because it portrayed their true and terrible side, and they obviously didn’t like it. She decided to not come back to South Africa, even if it meant she would practically get no payment for her performances. South Africa then revoked her passport, having Makeba officially in exile and preventing her from attending her mother’s funeral in 1960.

Miriam took refuge in London before coming over to the United States, where she would shoot to fame, performing for president John F. Kennedy, as well as alongside Nina Simone and other legendary artists in different occasions. She became a major activist against the injustice of the apartheid system.

“Music was a central part of the struggle against apartheid. The South African government censored many forms of expression, while many foreign entertainers refused to perform in South Africa and discouraged others from doing so in an attempt to isolate the white authorities and show their opposition to the regime. . . From abroad, Ms. Makeba acted as a constant reminder of the events in her homeland as the white power structure struggled to contain or pre-empt unrest among the black majority.” 

As if her stunning singing wasn’t enough, she even went on to testify for the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid:

No wonder she is often called “Mama Africa!”

Let’s connect this to present day events, shall we? This movement against apartheid very clearly connects to Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand during the rendition of “the Star Spangled Banner” in protest and awareness of the oppression people of color are still living every day in the United States. I find the discussion on the various transformations of the anthem very meaningful and relevant to the crucial issue at hand—the oppression of an entire group of people because of their race—and directly connects to the music of protest and activism against apartheid in South Africa.  The Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa shared various similarities and both achieved a lot for people of color in terms of legal equality. However,  there is still a lot to be done in terms of social equality, and that’s what characters like Colin Kaepernick are rightfully protesting.

 

 

Posted on

Theremin: The World’s Spookiest Instrument

It is astonishing to think how interesting and perplexingly cool the theremin is and how very few people in the world know about its existence even when they have probably heard it somewhere. “In my experience, there are two kinds of people: those who are beguiled by the theremin and those who just haven’t heard of it yet. Because of the way it’s played – gestures, space – it fascinates instantly”  https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/aug/22/invisible-instrument-theremin. 

To be honest, I didn’t know about it until a few years ago, when I stumbled upon this video of Clara Rockmore playing Saint-Saëns’s “The Swan” which literally looked like she was playing an invisible violin. The string-like sound is there, but it looks like she isn’t playing a particular instrument or even touching anything to that matter; she is playing air.

Leon Theremin (yes, that’s why the Theremin is called that) was a young Russian scientist who was working on a gas meter to measure densities. “‘Leon Theremin was an[n] . . . inventor of what is probably the most unusual musical instrument ever invented. You’re actually moving your two hands through two electromagnetic fields that are around two antennas. . . He was working in a laboratory in Russia as a young scientist, he was actually working on a gas meter to measure the density of gases,’ Glinsky said. ‘So as he brought his hand closer to the gas meter, he heard kind of a higher squeal. And as he brought his hand back to his body and away from the machine, it was a slower squeal’” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-theremin-a-strange-instrument-with-a-strange-history/ 

Then Leon started playing melodies on the device while his colleagues at the laboratory stared with amazement. This was the birth of one of the world’s first electronic instruments. The first model of the theremin used a foot pedal to control the volume and a switch to modify pitch. Later, in 1920, it became the mind-boggling instrument which requires zero contact of the performer with the instrument.

You are probably wondering how this thing even works, right? Basically, the first theremins were made up by circuits of vacuum tubes, coils, and wires which created electromagnetic fields around two antennae. By vibrating their fingers, players would raise or lower the pitch and volume. You can see why it is considered by many the world’s most difficult instrument. “A real theremin master can make an instrument soar with the fortissimo of Pavarotti or fade to the most delicate of whispers” http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/audio-music/theremin3.htm 

It is really easy to merely produce gross squeaks and cries because only masters can produce the beautiful violin-like sound, like Clara Rockmore, who was actually one of Professor Theremin’s original students. She was an accomplished violinist who was forced to stop playing violin because of injury and therefore picked up the theremin and went on to become the world’s best thereminist. What a great example of how good things can come out of bad situations!

The 1920 theremin was shown at the Moscow Industrial Fair and picked up the interest from Vladimir Lenin, who actually took some lessons on it and commissioned 600 models to be toured around the Soviet Union. Later on, Leon Theremin left for the United States, where he performed at the Metropolitan Opera House as well as Carnegie Hall. He patented his invention in 1928 and its rights were quickly seized by RCA who distributed it during the 30’s. “The Theremin became known in the USA as a home ‘novelty instrument’ and featured in many film soundtracks of the 1940-50’s, it also appeared in several pop records of the 1960’s but never overcame its novelty appeal; used for effect rather than as a ‘serious instrument’, most recordings employ the Theremin as a substitute string instrument rather than exploiting the microtonal and pitch characteristics of the instrument” http://120years.net/the-thereminleon-termensoviet-union1922/ 

Some examples of media were it was used are: “The Green Hornet Radio Show” (1936), “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951), “The Flintstones,” “Batman,” and 2004’s “Hellboy.” You can hear it from yourself in the next video clip. The theremin comes in at 1:14.

Leon Theremin went on creating and invented other instruments, such as the “Terpsitone,” the “Rhythmicon,” and the “keyboard Theremin,” and even the “Electronic cello.” He later ended up eventually “disappearing” and returning to his home country. However, in 1954 in a basement in Queens, NY, a young Robert Moog was obsessed with theremins and began building them with his father. “It’s hard to imagine what the evolution of the synthesizer would have been without Leon Theremin. For one, it was Theremin’s invention that first captivated Robert Moog. Theremin kits were Dr. Moog’s first product and many would say, his first electronic instrumental love. That impact was significant, too, on a whole generation” (http://cdm.link/2015/09/read-article-bob-moog-wrote-met-leon-theremin/  Moog’s theremins went on to become the leading company for the instrument and they have sold more theremins than any other company in the last 57 years. What’s marvelous about all this is that Bob Moog is the man behind the Moog synthesizers, and there is no denying that the theremin was a great influence for this development. “Electronic music pioneer Robert Moog built theremins long before he built synthesizers. In the 1960’s, he produced such models as the wedge-shaped Vanguard theremin and the shoebox shaped Moog Melodia theremin. Today, Moog Music Inc. produces the popular Etherwave and Etherwave Plus theremins and kits as well as the new MIDI-enabled Theremini theremin.”

Now that we have travelled through a brief history of the Theremin, we can see that is it actually a brief history of the technological advancements in electronic music over the last century. The discovery of the theremin and its technological innovation ended up being an inspiration for the creation of synthesizers, which are nowadays are incredibly popular and key for music production.