Voice as drum as protest
Dec 18, 2023, 02:00 PM
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Voice as Drum as Protest
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The march or demonstration is an act of the collective. An act of a community united in protest.
This act of protest is very often driven and sustained by sound. This sound is sometimes harsh and sometimes harmonious. Many demonstrations, such as the civil rights march at Selma, use song. Others use prayer, chants, instruments and electrification to make the noise of protest. All use the human voice, even when the protest is silent.
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The field recording documents a Finnish demonstration about Russian expansionist aggression. Finnish voices are raised in chants of protest.
As an aside, it is worth noting that two of the oldest manmade instruments ever found, a drum and pipe dated to 40,000 years old, were discovered in territory that is now claimed as Finnish. The Sami drum and pipe instruments are still played today.
The indigenous Sami people, who made and played the ancient drum and pipe instruments, still use these instruments to protest for their seasonal migratory rights and defend against inhibitions of movement imposed by Russian, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian authorities.
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The sound work: voice as drum as protest
This sound exploration uses the field recording of Finnish protest to create a unique set of drums that utilise rhythm, excitation and resonance.
The polyrhythmic content of the Finnish protest was extracted from the chants of the MC and the marchers, as well as the collective applause and chatter of the crowd. The transient components of voices of protest become the sticks (the exciters) to beat the drums using the polyrhythms extracted from the recording. The drum skins (the resonators) are created from the pitch, tone and timbre of the sounds of protest.
The sound piece begins with a number of individual drum sounds and rhythms. The sound piece concludes with a brief rhythmic study of the drums combined.
Finnish protest reimagined by Simon Kennedy.
Voice as Drum as Protest
———————
The march or demonstration is an act of the collective. An act of a community united in protest.
This act of protest is very often driven and sustained by sound. This sound is sometimes harsh and sometimes harmonious. Many demonstrations, such as the civil rights march at Selma, use song. Others use prayer, chants, instruments and electrification to make the noise of protest. All use the human voice, even when the protest is silent.
———————
The field recording documents a Finnish demonstration about Russian expansionist aggression. Finnish voices are raised in chants of protest.
As an aside, it is worth noting that two of the oldest manmade instruments ever found, a drum and pipe dated to 40,000 years old, were discovered in territory that is now claimed as Finnish. The Sami drum and pipe instruments are still played today.
The indigenous Sami people, who made and played the ancient drum and pipe instruments, still use these instruments to protest for their seasonal migratory rights and defend against inhibitions of movement imposed by Russian, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian authorities.
———————
The sound work: voice as drum as protest
This sound exploration uses the field recording of Finnish protest to create a unique set of drums that utilise rhythm, excitation and resonance.
The polyrhythmic content of the Finnish protest was extracted from the chants of the MC and the marchers, as well as the collective applause and chatter of the crowd. The transient components of voices of protest become the sticks (the exciters) to beat the drums using the polyrhythms extracted from the recording. The drum skins (the resonators) are created from the pitch, tone and timbre of the sounds of protest.
The sound piece begins with a number of individual drum sounds and rhythms. The sound piece concludes with a brief rhythmic study of the drums combined.
Finnish protest reimagined by Simon Kennedy.