Editor’s note:Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
Using player pianos as a case study, Taylor examines, from an ethnomusicological perspective, how the means of reproducing music impact its dissemination. Building on Karl Marx’s concept of commodities, Taylor argues that the success of player pianos as the first commercially mass-produced products can be attributed to effective advertising strategies tailored to the societal norms of the time.
Taylor highlights the democratization of music access and the role of advertising in the reification of music. He observes the historical evolution of marketing tactics from the late 1880s to the early 1930s, a period considered the rise of popular culture, noting certain enduring strategies still relevant today. The ongoing commodification of music adapts to contemporary dynamics, influenced by the rise of artificial intelligence and online platforms. I highly recommend this article to anyone interested in learning about one of the many significant roles music plays in our lives!
The Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. Their folk music traditions are often integrated with poetry and dance. Here’s a brief overview of Māori music culture past and present:
Taonga pūoro
This picture displays several traditional Maori instruments belonging to master practitioner, Horomona Horo. The instruments are from bone, wood ,shell and gourd. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taonga_p%C5%ABoro
Taonga pūoro are the traditional musical instruments of the Māori and consist of a variety of blown, struck and twirled instruments made from hollowed-out wood, stone, whale ivory, and bone.
The sounds of the instruments were intended to mimic the sounds of the natural environment such as insects, birds, water, trees and wind and were connected with religious practice. According to Wikipedia, the Māori viewed music related to their creation story where “The Gods sang the Universe into Existence.”
Here is a short video on taonga pūoro featuring Māori instrumentalist Richard Nunns:
Today, taonga pūoro are most frequently used at Māori ceremonies and also by New Zealand composers, such as Gillian Whitehead.
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Haka
The Te Aka Māori Dictionary defines haka as a general term for “vigorous dances with actions and rhythmically shouted words” and/or the performance of these dances. Haka are sometimes described as challenges. They are used to make a point, honor someone/something, tell a story or express an emotion. They are performed by both men and women.
Kapa haka is a term for Māori action songs like haka and groups that perform them.
Here is a short video on kapa haka produced by NPR:
And here are a few song styles performed by kapa haka groups: Waiata are songs are sung solo or in unison, usually lullabies, love songs or laments. Waiata is also a Māori verb which means “to sing.”
Poi are (usually) women’s dances involving the swinging of balls, about the size of tennis balls, attached to cords and its accompanying music.
A karanga is a formal, ceremonial call and response at the start of a pōwhiri (welcome ceremony). Karanga are carried out almost exclusively by women and in the Māori language.
*** Contemporary Māori Music
Māori musical heritage continues to have an impact on New Zealand music and culture. Western instruments like guitars are frequently employed with traditional instruments today and indigenous sounds are melded with many different styles of music such as pop, jazz, classical and hip hop. Māori traditional instruments are sometimes used by contemporary composers, musicians and artists.
Here are a couple of fun video examples of Māori music melding with western forms for your enjoyment:
* “Poi E” by Pātea Māori Club was a NZ hit single in 1984 and is still beloved today. (Note that poi as described above are featured in the video!):
* Here is a classical piece featuring taonga pūoro written by contemporary Māori composer Gillian Whitehead:
* And for contrast, here is a thrash metal song released in 2019 by the group Alien Weaponry:
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Here are some items from our collection that will give you more information on Māori music:
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
This special edition of Arachnophonia features contributions from students in Dr. Joanna Love‘s MUS 235 class: “I Want My MTV: Music Video and the Transformation of the Music Industry.”
In Rap Music and Street Consciousness, Cheryl L. Keyes tracks the development of rap music in the United States from the early 1970s to 2000. Employing the perspectives of ethnomusicology, folklore, and cultural studies, Keyes brings in views from a variety of critics. The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 explores the sociocultural history and aesthetics of rap music. Part 2 provides critical perspectives of rap and explores the representation of rap in popular culture.
Keyes details the start of hip-hop and rap as a youth movement that evolved in the Bronx, New York, in the early 1970s. She defines rap music as a “musical form the makes use of rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular, which is recited or loosely chanted over a musical soundtrack” (1). In its beginnings, the movement was comprised of disc jockeys, emcees, break-dancers, graffiti writers, and style of urban street culture. In her research, Keyes focuses on disc jockeys and emcees. Hip-hop began with the mixing of pre-recorded hits on two turntables and as it became more competitive, artists started to hire MCs to do vocals over the tracks. The rhythmic aspects of hip-hop caught people’s attention and brought this new style into mainstream media. “Rapper’s Delight” (1979) by Sugarhill Gang became a commercial hit and catalyzed rap’s entry into the popular music industry. By the late 1980s, rap had become a billion dollar enterprise.
With commercial success came harsh criticism and controversy. Many critics often saw rap and violence as synonymous. The media and the right-wing politics of the 1980s amplified the perceived negativity surrounding rap and hip-hop. Ronald Reagan’s rhetoric and ideas spurred division between black and white communities and these sentiments were reflected in the media’s portrayal of African American and Latino youth communities as fraught with violence, crime, and drugs. Rap emerged to combat the negative narrative being placed unfairly upon these communities. Attacks on rap continued, as gangsta rap particularly came under censorship. Critics disputed the artistry of rap; some questioning the sampling of musical tracks rather than the creation of newly inspired works. In Keyes’ work, she situates rap and hip-hop within the context of urban street culture. She defines ‘streets’ as “a subculture of the urban milieu that operates by its own rules, economics, lifestyle, language, and aesthetics” (6). ( A deep understanding of street culture is needed, she states, to mold the discussion of rap and hip-hop.)
Chapter 8, “Visualizing Beats and Rhymes,” will prove most valuable for my individual research. Keyes briefly starts out the chapter discussing how music videos are used as marketing and advertising tools for artists. They serve as a platform for artists to re-envision their music. The first part of the chapter, which I will draw some useful information from, provides a model for analyzing how black youth culture is encoded in rap videos. The second part of the chapter details the video-making process from an interview with director and producer J. Kevin Swain.
In Chapter 8, Keyes introduces the idea of iconic memory, which she defines as “the referencing of place, historical events, and music familiar to hip-hop viewers” (211) and says is unique to rap. Key aspects of iconic memory include visualization of “illustration, amplification, and disjuncture” (212). She focuses some of her discussion on gangsta rap music videos in particular, which is useful since I will be analyzing N.W.A, whose music classifies as gangsta rap. Keyes notes how gangsta rap music videos tried to capture the reality of life in the hood, focusing heavily on the relationship between black youth and the police. Although some critics say N.W.A glorifies violence — which is the reason MTV actually refused to air the “Straight Outta Compton” music video initially — rappers argue that it simply depicts the harassment young black men experience in their everyday reality. She quotes Ice Cube, a member of N.W.A. saying “‘We deal with reality; violence is reality’” (216). “Fuck tha Police” and “100 Miles And Runnin’” were also direct references to police harassment and the repression in young black communities. An important point is how the ‘streets’ influence rap music videos. In the introduction, Keyes notes how video director Hype Williams said that urban street culture informs his directing. “‘The ‘streets’ reflect in all that I do; the camera [lens] is an extension of that’ (1995)” (5). This idea, along with her idea of iconic memory will help shape my discussion when analyzing “100 Miles And Runnin’” and other N.W.A. music videos.
Hype Williams, a prominent rap music video director
Although Chapter 8 aids in my specific analysis of N.W.A.’s music videos, other chapters in the book can provide me, and other researchers, with more contextual context and historical discussion. For example, in Chapter 4, “Expanding Frontiers: Rap Music, 1990-2000,” Keyes discusses censorship of gangsta rap and the wave of concern over First Amendment rights. Also, in Chapter 6, “Issues, Conflicts, and Conspiracies: The Hip-Hop Nation at the Crossroad,” Keyes’ discussion of how materialism plays a role in shaping hip-hop culture will be valuable in my analysis.
N.W.A.’s “100 Miles And Runnin'” music video
As Keyes describes herself, the “nature of this work” is “multifaceted” (13). She was a university student when she began her research and explored aspects of rap and hip-hop by bringing in the voices of critics and artists alike. While other works could perhaps provide a more detailed look at specific topics, Keyes offers a comprehensive base for further research into the musical, visual, cultural, and social aspects of rap and hip-hop. Further, the book contains a “Glossary of Common Rap Music Terms” toward the end. This tool can be helpful to anyone studying the genre.
Author of “Rap Music and Street Consciousness,” Cheryl Keyes
Keyes herself is a black, female researcher who is an outsider in the music industry. In the introduction to this book, she notes how her position as an outsider — and an insider because of her race and gender at times — helped frame her research and fieldwork. By disclosing the positive and negative ways her information gathering was affected by how she was perceived by those in the music industry, Keyes gives an honest account and recognizes her work’s strengths and limits.
