Klarinet Archive - Posting 000708.txt from 1996/02

From: "Gregory T. Wright" <103147.1471@-----.COM>
Subj: generosity, rap, society, etc...
Date: Fri, 23 Feb 1996 23:59:04 -0500

(delete now if you are sick of this topic)
Susan E. Pontow,
While it _would_ have been nice to hear about black clarinettists'
influence on rap and toasts, if any, I think it was EXTREMELY generous of you to
laboriously "reproduce by any means, mechanical or electronic" (both, in your
case, unless you used a scanner to enter the text) tens of kilobytes worth of
Chaika's book, "Language: The Social Mirror". Now, there isn't an online
clarinettist (that is, "Klarinettist") in the world who will have any reason to
buy the book, since we already have large, hand-selected (<-pun) portions of it
on disk. And all this without sales tax! In fact, no book publisher,
distributor, or store profitted by your move, and neither did the author receive
any royalties.
You have saved us QUITE A CHUNK OF CHANGE!

I am also reminded of an expression which I learned from my high school
algebra teacher. "Excuses are for Losers". There is no excuse for creating
deliberately vulgar chants, and inflicting them upon the general public for the
sole purpose ("in your face") of being outrageous. Whether or not it is done
"WELL" or SKILLFULLY, tying it together with a repetitious drum pattern does NOT
make it an "art form".
The most general definition of "music" is "organized sound". This is wh
y
the work of composers such as John Cage is called "music", even if its
organization could be summarized as, "Sit for three minutes or so, and listen.
What you heard was the music." By this definition, rap passes the test; it is
organized sound. The next time rap is disturbing air pressure in your vicinity,
think of this: How much of what I am hearing was performed by the members ot the
group whose name is on the label? How much dedication, commitment, and skill
did it take to achieve this sound?? How much was "sampled"- stolen from some
other source (hopefully with copyright fees paid)???
While the flame is on, I may as well air what is likely one of my least
popular ideas. There is some discussion of "dialect" in the files mentioned.
Let me back up for one moment. One of the things which helped the birth of jazz
was the belief by southern slaveholders (Notice I didn't say "slaveowner"; they
only THOUGHT they had ownership) that Africans could and would send messages
with percussion instruments. The west African "Talking Drum" shows that this
was a real possibility.. However, *stringed* instruments were allowed. This
blending of African tradition with new instruments gave birth to a brand new
genre, and, yes, ART FORM.
Communication between slaves was a concern of the times; if you can't
talk to your neighbor, you can't plan escape. English was, therefore, picked up
haphazardly. Isolate any random sample of people, and eventually they will come
up with a language of their own, with elements drawn from the original
languages. This kind of language is called a "creole" (although I don't know if
the proper noun- Creole, from our South, came first.) The pattern of speech of
the original slave was born in enforced ignorance; poor communication between
slaves was a goal of the slaveholders. Slaves intentionally changed their
speech from that of the people they hated, so as to give an attempt at privacy.
Spirituals were often "coded messages" which explained how to get away.
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is an example. In it, the "chariot" refers to the
seven stars in Ursa Major which we refer to as "The Big Dipper." Imagine a
person standing in the "dipper" and using the "handle" as reins for the horse.
When this "chariot" appears near the horizon at night ("Swing Low"), it is
winter in the North. Crossing a river is MUCH easier if it is frozen over.
Tracks don't last as long in blowing snow. "Angels" in the song refer to the
Underground Railroad, and Heaven means "Canada", where the slavecatchers can't
(legally) go. I believe the river "Jordan", an obstacle in these songs, refers
to the South ("I looked over Jordan, and what did I see...")
Since times have changed and slavery has been destroyed, shouldn't we
destroy that effect of slavery as well? No race needs a private language
anymore.
I know that this may be unpopular, and possibly inflammatory. I don't
mean to start a war. Instead, let me bring up one last proverb of this society,
which sometimes I think may have been forgotten or ignored.

Two wrongs don't make a right.
-Greg
Klarinet, I will not write about this again. This thread is too long already.