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Bau
Lokahi
USA
226 Posts |
 Posted - 09/22/2010 : 07:06:55 AM
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I watched a bit of a western this week and the old western style of music and yodaling, realy reminded me of the hawai'ian falsetto singing.
i was wondering , where did this style orignate? was it something native Hawai'ians have always done, or was this adopted from the cowboys too along with the guitars and ukulele as accompanyment?
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Kapila Kane
Ha`aha`a
USA
1051 Posts |
Posted - 09/22/2010 : 5:17:22 PM
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Big question...
if Peter Medeiros is lingering in the taropatch, that might be a good perspective, with depth and accurate musicology...
One thing though...there is a huge difference
in quality of the high-voice singers.
Some belt it at 100 dB, and beat you up, some pop in and out with a thin Tiny Tim for the head voice...
But some know how to get there with grace and beauty...and create amazing beauty.
Nathan Aweau of Hapa is one of the best in my book.
Of Course,, Iz could go in and out of Chest and Head voice, almost seemless in his best performances...amazing quality in both ranges.
In one video, a musicologist, (I believe it must have been Peter, explained how Hawaiian groups evolved to be all male or all female...
After Women imitated the mens' versions in their harmony, the men decided to imitate the women's execution of the high lines in some parts...resulting in a pronounced "break" that got emphasized.
Yodeling is all around the world...Austria, Switzerland, Bavaria, the American West, and
others.
Perhaps as a way to communicate in the wide open spaces...it does carry!
Sheperds, cowboys and rural folks, pre-internet.
There are also vocal varieties like "Tuban Throat Singing", (see Genghis Blues, a documentary) about a Shepard style of singing in Mongolia...
while THAT is not true yodeling (or true slack key for that matter, and it isn't contemporary either!) it does tend to carry down the valley and is sorta like short wave radio.
I had to throw that in cause our first night in Hawaii in 2001 or so, Konabob showed us Genghis Blues, and my mind has been short waved ever since.
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noeau
Ha`aha`a
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 09/22/2010 : 8:44:16 PM
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| I think in the beginning 1820 or so Missionary folk taught hyms with harmony parts. Men still stayed with men and women with women. A holdover from the kapu that regulated daily life. The men just mimicked the the high parts with falsetto ranges. The styles then evolved from there. Other cultura groups had their high singing males too. Hawaiians just didnʻt have to cut out certain body parts to maintain the high notes. |
No'eau, eia au he mea pa'ani wale nō. |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2010 : 07:36:48 AM
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quote:
Hawaiians just didnʻt have to cut out certain body parts to maintain the high notes.
Ouch!! 
Small correction to Gordon: Tuvan throat singing, and yes Genghis Blues is an excellent film / documentary, Tuvan throat singing is related to Tibetian throat singing where in both cases you actually sing a very low note and then use your throat formants to select which harmonic to emphasize in the resulting sound. The Tibetan variety is smoother sounding than the Tuvan and they hold the note longer. The Tuvans will also transition from throat singing to yodeling and back in their songs. (A professor I worked with at University specialized in teaching these techniques.)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187859/
Besides Genghis Blues, another ready source of Tuvan material is of course the "Hit Recording" Back Tuva Future  - by Kongar-ol Ondar (who was also featured in the movie along with Paul Pena (slide gutarist and writer of song "Jet Airliner" made famous by the Steve Miller Band), and my #1 Hero, physicist Richard Feynman).
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1102168/a/Back Tuva Future.htm
(note: I did not link to those Amazon crooks)
Note quite Hawaiian falsetto, but an interesting art form in its own right (for those with wide musical interests).
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
Edited by - Lawrence on 09/23/2010 08:21:05 AM |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2010 : 09:48:31 AM
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| wrt Tuvan & Tibetan throat singing, a jew's harp (and a mouth bow, for that matter) work the same way. A fundamental note is played real low, and the mouth forms a resonant cavity which produces an overtone one or more octaves above. So, don't listen to the fundamental, which is just "twanga twang" on the low note, but catch the REAL tune. I've heard jew's harp good players (Larry Hanks comes to mind) who play American fiddle tunes. What's going on is that the overtone sequence becomes diatonic about two octaves up. Oh - that's how an alpshorn works, too, except they are played way up the overtone sequence (no need for a fundamental to resonate above). That's why they are so huge. |
keaka |
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Volcano
Akahai
USA
89 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2010 : 11:24:54 AM
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| Do you mean a Jaw Harp? |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2010 : 1:51:57 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by slipry1
a jew's harp
quote:
Originally posted by Volcano
Do you mean a Jaw Harp?
Same thing. But if we argue over the name, we could be accused of being anti-semantic.
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Volcano
Akahai
USA
89 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2010 : 2:02:32 PM
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| Okay, way clever. But . . .it is an offensive name. Jaw harp or juice harp are much better. |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2010 : 3:02:38 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Volcano
Okay, way clever. But . . .it is an offensive name. Jaw harp or juice harp are much better.
There's a wonderful discussion of this name aspect at
http://www.jewsharpguild.org/history.html
(Notice the name of the guild itself.) |
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Bau
Lokahi
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2010 : 3:38:30 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Volcano
Okay, way clever. But . . .it is an offensive name. Jaw harp or juice harp are much better.
why, do you find Jews offensive? |
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Volcano
Akahai
USA
89 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2010 : 6:51:05 PM
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| Are you kidding??? I hope so. I was born Jewish although religion means nothing to me now. The term is offensive, period. It was originally called a Jew's harp in a different era and referred to the fact that it was cheap. |
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noeau
Ha`aha`a
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2010 : 7:33:22 PM
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| Awright you blame kānaka fo dis one. |
No'eau, eia au he mea pa'ani wale nō. |
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Hookani
Lokahi
232 Posts |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2010 : 08:01:15 AM
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| Okay, kiddies, time to weigh in. The origin of the name of the instrument is the "Jugendharfe" or "children's harp" in German. It became known as a jew's harp in England in the middle ages. The name "jaw harp" arose at the dawning of political correctness. I have several friends, the late Mike Seeger and Larry Hanks, to name a couple who are expert at the thing. If played improperly, it can (and did to me - see pre-dentalwork pictures) lead to chipped front teeth. The name "jew's harp" never had any negative meaning as far as I know. As they say (and just who are "they", anyway), "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". |
keaka |
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Volcano
Akahai
USA
89 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2010 : 08:16:51 AM
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I appreciate your research, Slipry, but the connotation is quite negative.It has to do with how inexpensive the instrument is. A harp is obviously quite expensive while anyone could afford one of these, especially a Jew who throughout time has been portrayed as cheap, miserly, and money hungry. Charity in the Jewish tradition must be done without any fanfare or acknowledgment on the part of the giver. Throughout his lifetime, my grandfather supported three families. Even his close family had no idea until his death. I think this is part of where this serious misconception of the "cheap Jew" comes from. Trust me, if you are on the wrong end of the Jew's Harp it can be as hurtful as slamming your mouth with a metal spring.
As far as the "political correctness" era, it's my opinion that as difficult as it has made it for many, it has improved the quality of life for many more. |
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noeau
Ha`aha`a
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2010 : 08:27:40 AM
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| Plenny opinions. Cite sources liʻdat. And not tertiary kind too. Primary sources are welcome. Some people get offended really easy and for good reason. In some cases every body is right to a degree. |
No'eau, eia au he mea pa'ani wale nō. |
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falsetto singing
