Silbo gomero is a whistling language of La Gomera, one of the smallest islands of the Canaries. Here’s a link to a short English documentary about this amazing tradition.
Here is a very passionate drum group from Korea. Kim Duk Soo playing the hourglass drum in this video was the founder of this genre of traditional Korean drumming called Samul nori (Samul meaning four objects and nori meaning to play). The group consists of the Kkwaenggwari (a small gong) a Jing (a larger gong) the Janggu (an hourglass-shaped drum) and a Buk (a barrel drum similar to the bass drum).
Martin’s musical mystery tour – I am out visiting family in Spain – so this month’s blog comes from the land of flamenco.
There are so many incredible sounding instruments that we have encountered on our travels, yet there is nothing quite like the human voice for it's range, diversity and uniqueness. From Tuvan throat singing practised amongst nomadic Mongolian farmers to the South Indian art of vocal percussion called Konnakol, every culture, people group and religion uses their vocal chords to produce singing. In some communities, it is so much a part of life that everyone participates, ie. Central African pygmies where everyone is an incredible vocalist and is able to sing complex yodeling.
The roneat is a Cambodian instrument that is similar to the Western xylophone. There are two played in an ensemble, the roneat ek, positioned at the front of an orchestra, considered to be the female voice and the roneat thong, the male voice.
Celebrating a wonderful musician who has left an incredible legacy.
It’s that time of the year when Christmas songs hit the airwaves. Read More
We interviewed Colin Symes who sang a version of Caedmon’s song on the new Northumbria Community recording, about the story behind the song. A lowly cowherder with a love for music, and how he found his voice.
Martin’s musical mystery tour – Just come back from Sweden so this months music videos comes from that beautiful land. They have some unique traditional instruments like the nyckelharpa and wonderful traditions like yoiking (a style of singing).
I love this song sung by Sofia Jannok a singer-songwriter from Sweden who has taken the tradition of yoiking (Sami singing) and made it her own on this pop song.
A short clip from the Garlands for Ashes DVD. This is a very popular instrument amongst the Khmer people of Cambodia, a dulcimer type instrument called the Khim.. Originally it is thought to have been introduced to Thailand and Cambodia from China. I loved the sound and managed to find one, deep in the recesses of a market in Phnom Penh.
Just been reading an amazing account of survival from Cambodia. The book is called “When broken glass floats” after a Khmer proverb and is about the life story of Chanrithy Him whose family fled their home twice, becoming refugees, forced to live in a rural village and she ended up trekking through the “killing fields.”
