Hey guys! I hope everyone has had a great week. Today for my cool stuff blog, I wanted to dive into Libya and explore their music and culture. Apparently, according to Wiki, the most popular music in Libya is Arab music. There are various types of Arab music such as, Andalusi, Chabi, and Arab classical music. Hope you guys enjoy!
For my first topic, I wanted to explore and learn about the type of instruments they use in their music. After looking some things up, I found that the most common instruments that the Libya's use is the zokra, which is a bagpipe; the flute; tambourine; oud, which is a fretless lute; the darbuka, which is a goblet drum held sideways and is played with one's fingers. What I found myself the most interested in was the zokra. The zokra is a double-chanter terminating in two cow horns. I learned that in the south and west of Libya, the zokra is played as the bagpipe, but in the east, it is played by the mouth without the bag that is apart of the "bagpipe" or zokra. The zokra is used for feasts, weddings, and funerals. Men typically are the ones who play this instrument so here is a video of the zokra being played. I could not find a video that showed the person playing the instrument; nor could I find a video of a woman playing the zokra. As you listen to it though, you'll find that this song is actually really catchy and entertaining, enjoy!
For my next paragraph, I wanted to learn more about one of their singers. One of their most famous singers is Ahmed Fakroun. Ahmed was born in Benghati, Libya in the year of 1953. He is a pioneer of modern Arabic world music, and a singer/song-writer. He collaborated with many international producers, such as Tommy Vance. Ahmed has always been fascinated with rhythmic harmony, which led him to pick the Fender precision electric bass as his first instrument; he later picked up on other instruments such as the harmonica, guitar, piano, oud, and the mandola. He listened to varieties of music which had a major influence on his personal and unique style of music. Ahmed pursued musical and cultural understanding and harmonizing of the world's heritage. He wrote many songs that set himself and his career in a good place, but one song in particular called "Soleil Soleil" was the break through of his career. Down below is his music piece of "Soleil Soleil" and I can see why it was his break through song, quite interesting. For my third paragraph I wanted to discuss the size of Libya. I thought to myself, well, if they have so many different types of music, then surely it must be a big state and have fair sized population. To my surprise, it is actually the 16th largest nation in the world. Libya extends over 1,759,540 square kilometers (which equals 679,362 square miles). Libya is to the right of Egypt and is just north to the Mediterranean Sea.
I really wish you were able to find a video of someone playing the zokra because the shape of it is so interesting, but I understand the struggle. I liked the transition from what I'm assuming is only the zokra to the other instruments joining in. I think its some kind of stringed instrument, but I'm not sure. I liked the Ahmed Fakroun song; the only way I can describe it is groovy. You blog offered a lot of great information on Libya.
I really enjoyed your blog, when you first compared the zokra to a bagpipe I was not expecting the extent that it does. But it really does sound just like a bagpipe, and I understand how this is an instrument using mainly for feasts, weddings, and funerals.
Hey Guys! Its so good to be back on here and to talk about some more cool stuff! Were almost there guys, just hang in there! Just think haha, a few more weeks and well be stuffing our faces with some goooooodd food, at least I will be doing that. I am not going to lie, it did take me a long time to figure out what I was going to write about today, so I just decided that I was going to dive deeper into what we have already been learning in class and try to find out some more cool things about all of this stuff. For my first cool thing, I wanted to dive deeper into the drone. It sounds super cool and whenever I say it I always think of an actual drone flying over someone's head getting all of these cool videos and everything. But that is no so in this case. This is actually an instrument in Indian classical music (like we didn't already know that though). Anyways, I looked up what the drone was in Indian music and it is a harmonic or monophonic effect where a note is played co...
Hello friends! I hope you all have had a great day so far and week haha, but lets get started on this blog! So I was going to interview my boyfriend of two years because he was seriously considered family to my family and me but unfortunately we broke up almost a week ago (the thing is though, is that I never ever saw that coming haha... who knew) I am fine though, really. He wasn't worth it that much anyways (just a sis tryna make herself feel better I guess). So because of my breakup , I am having to interview a different boyfriend who is considered family as well (don't worry, I am not a hoe, it is my sister's boyfriend). His name is Dylan and he is in the military and is a pretty cool guy with some pretty cool music taste. Here is a picture of him so you all can get an idea of what this fella looks like. :) Me: So to start it off, what kind of music did you listen to? Dylan: Well, I like country music, rap, and rock. Me: Oh, you like rock, I never pegged you as the kin...
I really wish you were able to find a video of someone playing the zokra because the shape of it is so interesting, but I understand the struggle. I liked the transition from what I'm assuming is only the zokra to the other instruments joining in. I think its some kind of stringed instrument, but I'm not sure. I liked the Ahmed Fakroun song; the only way I can describe it is groovy. You blog offered a lot of great information on Libya.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog, when you first compared the zokra to a bagpipe I was not expecting the extent that it does. But it really does sound just like a bagpipe, and I understand how this is an instrument using mainly for feasts, weddings, and funerals.
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