Music Is Not Universal: For the Record of Human Vanity
For the sake of open-mindedness in understanding music and the experience of listening to different kinds and genres, we like to attach it with a universal label. But sometimes, this view is illusionary and gives us more noise than music to our ears.
Humanity always longs to be in a group, but the desire has never crossed beyond the perception of a certain space. In our age, a nation is the largest possible space that we can think of. Continents and the globe are shrunk only when there are mutual benefits, as in the formation of regional blocs for economic development. So we have our music and othersβ music, more segregated by the countless languages and genres.
Some talented and fortunate musicians have been acclaimed for performing crossover and capturing the attention of the global audience. The recently deceased sitar maestro Ravi Shankar was one of those few people; but their number is comparatively negligible. This takes us back to the beginning. Music is in some way universal but it is grossly overrated. Still we are so lucky that it is not divided like religion and we are fighting for supremacy and killing for it.
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Out-of-tune blues |
Pop Placenessness
Pop music is paradoxically popular as much as it is sneered at. I take this example seeing pop music has the ability to go global unlike any other genre. However this does not change the social reality, with the overtly amorous and lovelorn expressions of pop music. This inability is why music cannot be universal. We can clearly see the inequality. To take another example, we will die for all the western musicians, starting from those rock-around-the-clock 1950s melody makers to the present metal-heads and sexless, lovey-dovey Casanovas-cum-crooners. Their music reaches nook and corner of the globe, convincing us music is really universal. But is it really universal? Does it make music universal?
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Image from weknowmemes.com |
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Pena is a stringed, bowed instrument used in Manipuri folk music. It has strings of horse hairs, a body created from coconut shell and an unmarked fingerboard made of polished bamboo. The long established tradition of playing pena is quite unique but it is confined to some areas in the region and to only a few people. The instrument is available only from individual pena makers. There is no shop anywhere, which sells pena, even in the congested shitty-smelling markets around Imphal town. Help is at hand, though. You can contact Rajen on +91-9860-103100 if you are interested to play or learn some psychedelic melodies out of horse hairs, coconut and bamboo. He lives near Lamsang along Uripok Kangchup road on the way to Singda Dam. You can order a pena from Nameirakpam Jila as well; he resides in Kwakiethel Haorakchanbi. I have also heard about the Laihui Ensemble, a group of hardcore Manipuri musicians, but I don't have much idea about them.
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