Modern Berimbau

Title: Berimbau Orchestra Part 1

Artist: Ramiro Musotto & The Berimbau Modern Orchestra in Grenoble, France - 2005

Origin: Brazil

Instrumentation: Berimbau Gunga, Berimbau Medio, Berimbau Violin


For this week, we look at the role of music in socialization. In Brazil, capoeira and its music was originally associated with thugs and "riff-raff" and considered a lower social class form of music and art form. Though the efforts of the Capoeira Mestres and other capoeiristas, this art form broke though those social barriers and is practiced by people of all social classes.

Title: My Time
Performers: Space Coast Steel
Culture: Trinidad
Instrumentation: Steel Band

This week's readings talks about strategies for "creating world music" .  THe strategy I find the most accessible to me is re-creating or arranging popular calypsos from Trinidad. This arrangement is of the Calypso My Time, by the Calypsonian Calypso Rose.  I wrote it for my students seen in this video.  My experience has taught me tht if your can re-create the music of your target culture as authentically as possible, then the students will develop a deeper understanding and respect for the music and the culture.  I hope you enjoy the music as much as we had playing it and I had writing it.

Title: Samba Oba Concert, Florida State University, Spring 2001

Performers: Samba Oba, Brazilian Ensemble

Orchestration: Tambourine, pandiero, surdo, guica, bomba, berimbau

This week's reading deals with authenticity. The performance seen here directly relates to Swanwick's understanding of authenticity: Reproduction, Reality and Relevance.  At Florida State, great efforts are made to reproduce and perform the music of Brazil with the utmost detail as it is performed in the native homeland.  The relevance is that both traditional and modern forms of Brazilian music are performed on the concerts.  This gives the students a direct "link" or connection to the music.  All parts are peformed on traditional Samba instruments and taught by a certified instructor, usually from Brazil, or someone who has thoroughly studied the music and is qualified to teach it..  Enjoy!!

Timbalada!

Title: Timbalada
Performers: Timbalada Escola da Samba
Origin: Brazil
Instrumentation: Samba instruments

In Brazil, Samba is an integral part of Carnaval!  The structure of this music piece is based upon ostinato rhythm patterns that are interchanged and with several call and responses. The context of  the structure is to provide a dance and movement for the Brazilian people to celebrate and to parade to. Samaba is the rhythm of life!  Please enjoy!

Mestre Acordeon -Berimbau Solo

Title: Solo de Berimbau do Mestre Acordeon no 8º Festival de Capoeira Lisboa.

Performer: Ubirajara (Bira) Guimarães Almeida (Mestre Acordeon)

Origin: Brazil 

Orchestration: Berimbau

Classification systems for insttuments are useful  for  several reasons .  But, the most important that I believe is that it can help give difinate distinction to instruments that exist in the same family.  For example, both the erhu, from China, and the Berimbau, from Brazil, can be classified as chords phones. The Hornbostel-Sachs classification system allows more more specificity in identifying the unique characteristics of these instruments.  Please enjoy this performance by a truly great Mestre of Capoeira!

Title: Pan in A Minor

Performers: Amoco Renegades, 1987 Panarama Competition

Origin: Trinidad and Tobago

Orchestration: Lead Steel Drum, Double Tenor Steel Drum, Double Second Steel Drum, Triple Guitar Steel Drum, Cello Steel Drum, Bass Steel Drum, Drum Set, Iron, Percussion (Engine Room)

Ethnomusicology is the study of music of different cultures, particularly non-western ones.  This is crucial to world music pedagogy that we practice in the classroom.  Ethnomusicology gives us the information that we need as music educators to effectively execute the pedagogy in our classrooms.  The piece that I have presented to day is a staple in the  repertoire of  steel drum ensembles.  the studies that ethnomusicologists have made in the area of steel drum performance, history, philosophy, and culture have given us,as educators, the tools we need to teach this art form effectively. From personal experience of performing this piece with the Florida State University Steel Band, the information that I found by ethnomusicologists in preparing for the performance was invaluable.