Yuh-tyng Chen: 09/2010

20100927

Ghana Postal Workers- Work Music

Four postal workers use music to make the work of canceling stamps less boring. They were recorded at the University of Ghana post office in 1975 by James Koetting. Their song appears in the book/CD-Rom Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples.

Description from Bloggio Oddio:

This is what you are hearing; the two men seated at the table slap a letter rhythmically several times to bring it from the file to the position on the table where it is to be canceled (this act makes a light-sounding thud). The marker is inked one or more times (the lowest, most resonant sound you hear) and then stamped on the letter (the high-pitched mechanized sound you hear). As you can hear, the rhythm produced is not a simple one-two-three (bring forward the letter - ink the marker - stamp the letter). Rather, musical sensitivities take over. Several slaps on the letter to bring it down, repeated thuds of the marker in the ink pad and multiple cancelations of single letters are done for rhythmic interest. Such repetition slows down the work, but also makes it much more interesting for the workers.

The other sounds you hear have nothing to do with the work itself. A third man has a pair of scissors that he clicks - not cutting anything, but adding to the rhythm. The scissors go "click, click, click, rest" [...] a basic rhythm used in popular dance music. The fourth worker simply whistles along. He and any of the other three workers who care to join him whistle popular tunes or church music that first the rhythm.

These post office workers provide us with a modern example of work music in Africa, but there are many traditional forms of it. Drummers may be sent to the fields to provide rhythm for workers harvesting or weeding crops; men pulling a fishing net might sing to coordinate their efforts; women using poles to beat down the dirt floor of a house might sing and stomp in rhythm. Sometimes the music is intended to help the workers work together, make the task go faster, or keep the work steady; it always makes the work more fun.

北美黑人靈歌

This film was made from b/w Super 8mm footage that William Ferris gathered in rural Mississippi in 1968. The film includes footage from rural church services and a full immersion baptism.

"Work Songs" recorded at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman in 1947...

..recorded at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman in 1947..
..taken from italian version'wax L.P. from 1977 ALBATROS Records..

This is a short excerpt from documentary movie "Lomax the songhunter", with some of the most epic songs ever sung. Try to find this movie if you are keen on traditional folk music from all around the world

Pete and Toshi Seeger, their son Daniel, and folklorist bruce jackson visited a Texas prison in huntsville in March of 1966 and produced this rare document of worksongs by inmates of the Ellis Unit.

拉縴工作歌/ A Work Song of Boat Trackers in SiChuan Province

本片榮獲第四屆中國山花獎民俗音像作品金獎(全國金獎排名第一)
（導演/攝影/剪輯/撰稿：劉川平）

《川江號子》起源於中國西南四川屏山的金沙江一帶。金沙江是長江的上游，山高路遠，交通非常不便。所有貨物及人們的出行全靠木船運輸。過去沒有機械船，只能靠人工拉縴行船。由於金沙江灘多彎急，船工們的拉縴生活十分艱苦。船工們為消除疲勞，鼓足乾勁，尋求娛樂，便一邊拉縴行船，一邊喊唱一些號子歌謠。漸漸地，船工們喊唱的號子歌謠，就形成了一定的規模，其唱腔和唱法也形成了獨特的風格，《川江號子》因此而聞名中外。新中國成立後，由於生產力的飛速發展，現在的金沙江邊，已有近三十年見不到船工們拉船喊號子的身影了。
本片真實地紀錄了子大王江進祿老人與他的伙伴們喊唱《川江號子》的生動場面。讓人在感受《川江號子》雄厚高吭之聲的同時，產生對那個時代人生往事的追憶，並從激越的《川江號子》聲中，熱情地謳歌了我們的祖國的確今非昔比。