Maaaaaaarimba

Hello again!

This week has been a busy one! Because I suspect that this is going to be a massively long post, I will attempt to spare you by dividing my writing into sections so that you might read about only the subjects that interest you. And of course, if you would rather skip straight to the photos and bypass my ramblings, you can find them (as usual) at www.grinnellgallery.com, under the name "parkersa." So here goes!


Marimba

This has been a busy marimba week for me! After successfully making contact with amaAmbush last Friday I was scheduled to spend Wednesday through Friday in a sort of 'jobshadow' of the company's operations manager, Tracy (notice that there is no 'e' in 'Tracy' :) because, of course, 'e' stands for 'eeew'). This turned out to be a great deal of fun, and incredibly informative as well. I was joined by a Grade 11 student named Kelly who actually was completing a jobshadow assignment on Tracy. Kelly and I accompanied Tracy to lessons at a variety of schools, played marimbas with in the amaAmbush band room, and did some office work as well. I have tried to separate my impressions into categories, but it's not the easiest thing, so please forgive me if there is overlap!

amaAmbush Instruments

The instruments that amaAmbush builds and plays on are a variation on the standard marimba that we play in Portland (see photo below). The keys aren't tuned quite as precisely as ours (at least, they aren't now... perhaps they started off more in tune and have lost pitch!) and aren't as uniform. The average key is also less wide but thicker than the ones we are accustomed to, so it's a bit harder to hit the key full in the center. The more I play on them though, the more accustomed I get to the differences in keyboard structure.

Something I haven't gotten used to yet is the range of the instruments. The bass instrument is close to the same as ours in terms of range, but there is no baritone instrument. Instead, there is a tenor with similar range, an alto instrument that is like the top of a tenor smooshed together with the bottom of a soprano, and a soprano instrument that only goes down to middle C but extends up to the E above our usual high C. You might imagine that this plays havoc with our Zim-style parts! Things don't generally fit where they are supposed to, so I've had to do a bit of improvising.


As you can see from the picture above, there is also a different resonator system on the amaAmbush marimba than our PVC-pipe system. The structural parts of the marimbas are built at the Azaad Youth Center in a workshop that they use out back, and the box-type resonators have individual box-shaped compartments for each key to resonate in. This part is machine/computer cut for precision, while the sides of the boxes are cut and assembled and the legs/etc. built and attached at Azaad. The instruments come apart quite differently from ours! The keyboard lifts right off, and then the legs can be detached as well. That leaves the boxes to pack quite easily against each other and the keyboards can be packed separately. The main idea, I think, is to make the instruments as indestructible as possible.

The mallets are also much heavier than the yellow polymer mallets that we use in Portland, with a thicker shaft and larger mallet head. The heads are made of black rubber, and remind me a great deal of the mallets we used to use at Sellwood when I was just starting out on the marimba. I think that the extra mass is necessary to resonate the thicker keys of their instruments, but I find it much more difficult to play quick intricate parts with them. The mallets also break fairly often--whether that is because the wood is less strong or because the style of playing is more violent I couldn't say.

Playing Style

As may be expected, the music played here in Cape Town differs in both structure and content from the Zimbabwean style that we play in the states. The instruments play largely the same roles, but in different fashions. The bass is the heartbeat of the band and keeps everyone together. The tenor is the "meat and potatoes" instrument, often playing chords in drag triplet rhythms to fill in the chordal base of the song. Small variations occur here, but the tenor is there mostly as utility player and not as a curiosity or as the star. It's rare (but not completely unheard-of) for the tenors here to play a rhythmically challenging part such as we find all over in our Zim-based music. The alto is the melody instrument in the standard three-piece performing band, and the soprano will often double the melody in four-piece school ensembles. The result of this structure is a sense of power that is conveyed through the volume and intensity of the parts, a feeling that mimics the sense of standing in front of the speakers at a rock concert. Different, but also very cool.

In teaching, the style is quite different because it is focused around chord patterns. There are letter names at the top of each key and the teachers communicate through chords to the students. It's an interesting concept because we spend so much time emphasizing the absence of standard music education in our marimba playing. But it is effective, if slightly harder to grasp at the outset.

When performing, there are often four or five players but only three play on the marimbas. In concerts that I have seen it is common for a fourth player to be on drum and the fifth on shaker or tambourine. They play very actively, with continuous movement and plenty of energy. I laugh sometimes to think about how some of my marimba compatriots back in Portland would react to it! It takes more confidence to play this way and it certainly livens up the performances!

The Music

The pieces are generally quite short here in Cape Town compared with our marathon performances of pieces like Nehmamusasa! On average a piece will last between 1:30-2:30 minutes, compared to at least 5 and sometimes 10 or 15 back home! But I think it's a difference in concept and not a statement on endurance or anything like that. The structure of a marimba piece here is very straightforward, and the melody player (which they don't call the 'lead') has control of the group but not the extended solos that we get. In general, a piece starts with the chords or the bass and the melody joins after a few cycles. The melody is stated once or twice (there are usually only a few melody lines) and the singing begins, sometimes accompanied by a change in rhythm from the players. This rhythmic alteration is termed the 'change' and it can come as an independent section as well. There will often be a solo section for the professional groups, then the melody is restated and the piece ends. Not the extended leads that we are used to!

The chordal structures of the songs are also quite different. In the Zimbabwean-style we play mostly among the standard C, F, G and sometimes D chords, but here they utilize the A and D much more. I thought that different chords would be the result of an F sharp key, but really I haven't used that key at all and the chord structures are still different. The phrase structure is also extended so that some of the minor and diminished chords fit better into the music. In general, the cycles are much longer than ours. They're not quite on par with Siyakudumisa or Nhemamusasa, but definitely longer than Zendikiawa or Skokiana.

All signals are vocal, usually indicated by the band leader who shouts "melody!" "change!" "play!" or "end!" in the appropriate enthusiastic style, of course! I can think of many marimba folks back home who would love for all our signals to be vocal! It certainly simplifies the memorization side of things!

I have heard the songs here referred to as the 'Xhosa-style,' but I'm not entirely sure what that means because I haven't heard any other Xhosa music. The groups here aren't shy about adopting popular music either! I have heard make-shift arrangements of several tunes that I thought to hear only on the radio such as "Take 5" and "Clocks." Sometimes the chords don't quite work out, but the arrangements are amazingly good for the fact that some of the accidentals are missing!

The music is, in general, very free. I sometimes feel that the music we play on our marimbas in Portland is losing its essence because we constrain it with so many signals and rules and confine our thinking to one part and then specific variations. One of my hopes in traveling this year is to free up my sense of the music and gain confidence in improvisation. I was just starting to get comfortable with that before I left and I am hoping to develop that aspect of my playing. In some ways, it's very liberating to teach this music to players here in Cape Town, because they don't know the songs at all. So there are no expectations for certain signals/variations/etc. an no comparisons to other players' leads.

My 'Jobshadow'

The first day of my jobshadow was spent largely playing marimba with Kelly and Tracy and observing Tracy's lessons at two all-girls private schools. It was really great to play and jam with Kelly and Tracy--they were quick to pick up parts and willing to teach me some of their pieces. I got to record some parts to a few songs and I am hoping to transcribe them when I get the chance. The lessons we attended were also quite interesting. amaAmbush auditions the students for places in the school bands based on two criteria: energy and ability. This was apparent in the lessons as every one of the students was both capable and enthusiastic. What a contrast from the township schools, though! I am glad to see the other side of education in Cape Town, and it makes me even more glad that I am able to help out even a little bit in the townships by tutoring. The lessons were interesting because Tracy 'conducted' by drumming, something that I have never tried but worked well. It kept the pieces moving at an appropriate tempo while imbuing the music with energy. It's a bit more subtle than the Hosho that we play, because the sound of the drum lies 'underneath' the music instead of layering 'on top' like the higher rapping of the hosho gourds.

On my second day I spent some time transcribing amaAmbush songs--a process which is never quick for me, but is also very revealing of the differences between our musical styles. There's nothing like a written rhythm to exemplify the different meter and emphasis in the Xhosa music. I hope to do more of this when I have time, because it's both useful to amaAmbush as well as to me. I also attended a lesson that Ross taught at a high school in the Heideveld area (a township that is slightly better off than most). This was the same school that I attended a performance at the first day that I got involved with amaAmbush, and it was a fun lesson. I got to listen a bit as well as teach a bit, but it was difficult because there was a language barrier (Afrikaans was their best language and I can't speak a word of it) so I couldn't tell if they understood me or not. I believe that there are some photos of this lesson but I don't have them at the moment, so you'll have to check my grinnell gallery account for those a bit later.

In general when I have taught here, both to students and to more accomplished players, our Zimbabwean parts seem quite difficult to grasp. I think it's a difference in rhythm. We're used to short parts with intricate syncopations, while the standard here is simple triplet-syncopation with longer chordal patterns to remember.

My third day was spent as a participant/teacher of a drumming/dancing/marimba workshop at the Azaad Youth Center. The Azaad center is a post-high school institution that attempts to teach matriculated students from disadvantaged areas practical skills that they can use to find a good job. One side of that is marimba, so I got to sit in (and participate in) this workshop for Azaad youth.
We started off with some African Dancing taught by Zama (see above), a teacher affiliated with amaAmbush. I think that drumming was to be the subject of the day, but the teaching drums didn't arrive, so we were left to dance and play marimbas. I did participate in the dancing (surprise anyone?) but I don't think I was very good! It was fun, anyway. I am learning to be less shy about making a fool of myself--for better or for worse :).

Sorry about the blurry photo... there were lighting issues in the room. I am the gal in the green shirt in the back, and Zama is the one demonstrating the moves.

Kelly and I also got a chance to teach some marimba to the students... their very first time playing a marimba! I don't have any photos of me teaching, but I will try to remedy that in the future!

Life in Cape Town

Edit: This is the second section of this post, as promised!

OK, well, if you've made it this far into my post you definitely deserve a medal! Looking back over what I've written (not particularly elegantly this time) I realize that it's turned into a summary of my marimba research thus far. Now, if you happen to be looking for the world's leading expert on the differences between marimba culture in Portland, Oregon and Cape Town, then you're probably hanging on each and every word of my drawn-out exposition. If not, I apologize for the excessive scrolling that was necessary to reach this portion of today's post!

If you didn't read the earlier bits about marimba, the salient points are the following: I spent three days at amaAmbush Marimbas playing, teaching, and observing marimbas. It was really great, and I hope that there will be more to come!

Meanwhile, in Cape Town, I have been living life as usual. With a few exceptions. Today was the first day of Spring, although you'd never know it from looking at the sky! Cape Town weather is always a mixed-bag, but today was particularly gloomy and dark. Luckily, we had a clear night on Wednesday (even though it was, technically, still winter) when the moon was full for climbing Lion's Head (see pics below). Lion's Head is the second or third largest mountain/hill in the middle of Cape Town and is reputed to be one of the best hikes around. The hike isn't too long because there is a road that climbs half-way up the gentler part of the slope before you start the walk.
According to the park rangers that we met on the trail, you aren't actually supposed to climb up Lion's Head after sunset, but nobody in our group was aware of that fact before we were half-way up the trail. At that point we thought that the ranger would make us descend without reaching the top, but some smooth talking (I never did figure out exactly what JP said) got us permission to finish our climb if we promised to be careful and also hurry back. I'm still not sure how we were supposed to do both of those things at once!

But the hike was beautiful in the dark with the city lights stretched out around us, interspersed with the menacing dark shapes of Table Mountain, Devil's Peak, and the Bay. You could see so far, it was both amazing and gorgeous. The pictures certainly don't do justice to the view, so I will have to recommend a personal trip for beholding the true splendor of the city lights on a clear night. And the full moon as well--it was so bright! Every time we circled to the 'dark side' of the mountain you could hardly see the trail, but it was bright and clear on the moonlit side!

Luckily, nobody got hurt even though there were a few tricky spots and a few accidental slithers coming down, nobody was mugged (this is a ridiculously serious problem here... last week a woman climbing Table Mountian was mugged and everything she had with her was stolen... including her clothes! She had to walk down the mountain in nothing but her bra. Now that is serious mugging!), and nobody was arrested for illegally entering a national park after hours. All-in-all, a good night!

Other Musical Endeavors

In the absence of good marimba activity I have arranged a number of other activities in the past month. One of them I have mentioned before: the musical production put on by students from disadvantaged high schools. I attended another rehearsal session this morning, and it was lovely. The students are feeling more comfortable with me around, and I am getting to know a few names and faces so I can offer more intelligent conversation than the standard variations on 'Hi, where are you from?' So I spent the morning doing vocal and physical exercises of various sorts and learning to enunciate my vowels clearly, hold a pitch, and various other things that I have undoubtedly learned before but never remember well :).

The most interesting part of the session was the students character brainstorm. They were provided with a storyline starter at the end of last week's session and asked to brainstorm a charachter to fit into the story. The characters that the students came up with were amazingly detailed and intimately related to the social problems inherant in township life. I won't repeat any of them here because I haven't gotten their permission, but the range of characters spanned religion, drugs, prostitution, familial abuse, pregnancy, and almost any other vice you can imagine. Very sad to think that these students may know people just like the characters they created, but it is also uplifting to think about these students and their motivation for changing their own status and way of life.

Unfortunately, I don't have permission yet to put up any photos from this rehearsal, but I will check into it and perhaps I can post some in the future.


Conclusions

Well, there's plenty more to say but I'm afraid that there's nobody left to read it! And I am so tired of typing... I'm currently writing on a German keyboard (belonging to my housemate) where many of the keys are actually in unusual places. So for now, that's all you get!

I will try for brevity (and perhaps more levity) in the future!