Overall, it was very interesting to get a little bit more background on West African drumming through this project. I had originally contemplated doing lion dance music since I am heavily involved with that, but I'm glad I decided to try something different a learn about different perspectives from others on this subject. First, actually learning the basics of djembe was really fun. Way different than lion dance drumming. What I really appreciated about this project though was speaking with the different drummers and learning about their personal connections to West African music and its significance to them. Listening to Yiriba speak about the disconnect between diasporans and African culture really made me think about how valuable it can be to maintain a relationship with your heritage, or to reconnect to it. There is a strong sense of identity he gained through West African music, and also for some of those that enjoy it.
Do you ever have this sort of identification with music from your culture? Was there anything interesting about my presentation that you weren't expecting?
One thing that I found interesting about your presentation was when you mentioned that West African Drumming is predominantly male. One thing I was thinking of when you were mentioning masters being brought around the world, including to the U.S to teach and either learning from a master here, or traveling to Africa to learn to play is how a female drummer would be accepted as a student seeing as it's not common in practice found in West Africa.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really interesting how music can play such a strong role in identity and culture, and this is something I also hope to address in my presentation. When I listen to Scottish or Irish music (traditional music), I don't listen with the specific intent of feeling more connected to a part of my culture, but I do feel that when listening to it. I can definitely say it feeds this feeling of self-identity. I also think a huge part of this feeling has to do with the memories that listening to a song, a tune, or a rhythm spark for me personally.
Great presentation!
For me, I've never really listened to music that connects to my culture. I suppose I've listen to popular Taiwanese artists before. In high school, or whenever I visit Taiwan I like to explore and listen to their music. However, I wouldn't consider these traditional music, they don't really utilize any traditional instruments and are mostly in tune with popular themes of love. However, when I listen to these songs I do try to learn them and improve my language. Additionally, it does help me relate to what's popular and what people my age admire in Taiwan. Although they have the same love themes as in America, they don't utilize themes of sex. The culture in Taiwan is still much more conservative than the music culture here.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found interesting about your presentation is how they have created a new institution for grand masters and masters to teach African drumming across the world. I wonder how big this will become in the future. I also wonder whether more people in Africa will start pursuing a career in African drumming. it seems like such a prosperous career choice to be able to leave their country and teach African drumming. I've attended a world expo in China and they had a live performance by African drummers. It was really entertaining to watch, and I wonder if it will become more and more popular.
I would be really interested in seeing how many of the masters/grandmasters have become more global in their pedagogy and willingness to spread their teachings through their disciples. With African Drumming being a very popular method of percussion that anyone can learn from nowadays, I wonder just how far the roots have spread from the master. In relating this to a more standardized structure of martial arts, I wonder if there are any tests or examinations that occur for one of the pupils to become qualified to teach that style of African drumming. I would assume that there is no such structure in place, but as this was discussed in class (the negative effects of the implementation of a new structure) I don't know how this would change the dynamic of that kind of drumming.
ReplyDeleteI found the differences between the diasporan and continental African drumming cultures to be a surprise. After hearing about such, I had thoughts similar to some of Jordan's and wondered how much the two drumming cultures differ in regards to schooling structures. You mentioned several learning centers for African drumming in San Diego where one can go and probably take classes like one would many other after school activities. However, do this kind of schooling structure exist for continental African drumming in Africa? Such a structure might change emphasis on certain concepts and alter the master-student relationship, and ultimately leave the two styles looking very different. It reminds of when Regional emerged as a systematized capoeira. Mestre Bimba, the father of Regional, altered the style to fit what he thought would be a more effective martial art, changed the instrumentation of the roda, and decided to place more emphasis on efficiency of techniques than things like malicia, which is a concept that focuses more on deceiving your opponents. Interestingly enough, shortly after, some of those who came from the Regional line altered the style and still called it Regional, but Bimba refused to acknowledge them as such. I wonder if African drumming shares a similar story.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting to hear about the willingness to teach outsiders how to drum within the western African drumming culture, and that their focus was more on making sure that their culture was taught properly as opposed to keeping it away from outsiders especially since the drumming obviously holds a lot of importance to the culture and to the people within the culture. I also thought the distinction between the diasporan and the continental african to be fairly interesting and I think further research into why that distinction is made, because the terminology indicates to me that it is something other than living in a different culture that separates the two. Are there more distinctions between the diasporan and the continental? And does the terminology serve to really separate, or does it also tie the two together more than the terminology implies?
ReplyDeleteI thought it was really interesting how you mentioned that there now a sort of code or 'right' way that this type of music is to be taught and played in order to prevent the false claim of mastery, but my question is that as the cultures of the individual African villages change, will they too be subject to these guidelines even though they are the original bearers of such music?
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was interesting that African Americans either dismiss a connection with traditional African music because it is so far removed or accept it because its a connection with their roots. The latter is interesting because they are not traditionally African but try to incorporate it into their American lives, but really they can never understand the traditional function of this music as far removed outsiders, so acceptance of this music as one's roots kind of creates a sub culture of traditional African drumming music, and it's pretty neat.
the fact that one can gain some sort of personal enrichment and/or greater sense of identity through cultural musical practice is an interesting one. how is it that one comes to better "know oneself" through the integration of an otherwise essentially "foreign" practice into one's life? ... although one may have ancestral roots from that culture or society, there oftentimes (particularly here in the U.S.) are no real ties that connect us with it other than historical ... it is part of a past that we don't necessarily "need" to "reconnect" with. what is it about this desire to "connect" with this perceived notion of "who we were" and so consequently "are" ? what does it add to our lives?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your presentation and how you chose to learn about something you were previously completely unfamiliar with. It's a very interesting culture both inside and outside of West Africa. I find it interesting how they seem to take the concept of the "master" so seriously and how they actually leave Africa to teach their art around the world. I'm always curious about why they do that, especially when they feel that their art is so connected with their culture. It seems somewhat counterproductive to teach it elsewhere. But then again, we and others wouldn't get a chance to learn about the djembe and some of the culture behind it if they didn't.
ReplyDeleteUsing the new-found knowledge of a foreign culture as a tool to gain a better understanding of your own is truly a fascinating experience. I feel like we take the little idiosyncrasies of our own cultures for granted and don't pay much attention to them until we notice the differences in other culture. For example, at Armenian parties such as my brother's graduation last Sunday, the toasts can go on for quite some time with several people giving long-winded toasts (hilarious stuff). I never paid much attention to it because it was "normal" to me until I went to other cultural events which ranged from one short and simple toast to no toasts whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteI never realized there was such a vibrant West African drumming scene. When I first heard that this was going to be your topic, I was actually a bit worried for you since I couldn't imagine there being many resources to access...but you've definitely proven me wrong! This was a fascinating presentation, and I especially enjoyed the discussion about the concepts of 'master' (as mentioned above by Megan as well).
ReplyDeleteTo me it seems rather isolationist & exclusivist to only allow native-born Africans to ever become 'masters' but at the same time I can understand why they would want to keep such titles 'all in the family.' This sort of speaks to the ethnomusicologist's dilemma about just how much one can integrate oneself into a culture, or how much one can ever be accepted, especially when you are an outsider to begin with (in this case, not born in Africa). The idea that only a native can truly be a master suggests that there is a certain authenticity required in the true preservation of a culture, and here the authenticity is determined by birthplace.
Thanks for an interesting presentation...I'm going to look into more West African drumming...
Very interesting presentation! I was in a similar position as you when it came to my research project. I didn't really know much about jazz other than what I had learned from 2 classes here at UCSD but I soon became fairly knowledgeable about the topic and the local scene. One thing I wanted to ask you was how you are affected by these gender roles when it comes to drumming. The majority of West African drummers are male, as you mentioned. Do you experience the same thing in your drumming? If not, why do you think that is so?
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