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Jane's Pacific Islands Radio Newsletter
(Island Music) Vol. 5, Edition No.5, May 2006 http://www.pacificislandsradio.com/ I N T H I S I S S U E ____________________________ Objectives News and Views Feature Artists Notice Board Coming Events Pacific Islands Radio Island Music Suppliers Links Letters It's Time To Chat! T H E V I E W _____________________________________ Pacific Islands Radio (Island Music) News and Views Welcome everybody to our Newsletter for May 2006! It is certainly great to be back in touch with you all again and, as always, I would very much like to take this wonderful opportunity to sincerely wish everybody good health, prosperity, happiness, with peace and harmony. In addition, I would very much like to convey my heartfelt thanks to you, our valued members, who have taken the time to write, and for sharing with us all. In this respect, your most welcome and wonderful messages and contributions are greatly appreciated. Please join with me in extending a very warm and sincere Pacific Island welcome to, once again, the fantastic record number of new members who have joined us since our last Newsletter! Thank you so very much! Welcome on board, please make yourselves feel at home, relax and enjoy the music! May you also find your stay with us to be enjoyable, mutually beneficial and most rewarding! OBJECTIVES This Newsletter is a listening guide to the many listeners of our four Internet Pacific Islands Radio Stations. http://www.pacificislandsradio.com/index.htm This Newsletter will focus on issues relating to Pacific Island music. It will also embrace some of the exciting changes taking place in the Internet Radio Revolution, as well as updated information on our Pacific Island Artists, Programming and Playlists. NEWS AND VIEWS In this edition of our Pacific Islands Radio Newsletter (Island Music), it is my great pleasure to be able to focus on some aspects of the traditional music of Melanesia and to introduce some exciting Melanesian artists who have now been incorporated into our Playlists. In subsequent editions, it is my intention to focus on aspects of Polynesian music and musicians, followed by music and musicians from Micronesia. In this edition, I would like to share with you some thoughts on the music of the Australian Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. Their music is very much part of the social fabric of their life, their history and their culture.It has a haunting and mysterious quality that draws the listener into the history, culture and the ancient dreamtime of the Aboriginal people. Among the earliest inhabitants of the Oceania region, it is generally accepted that the indigenous Australians - the Aboriginal people - entered Australia from the Indo-Malaysian mainland via New Guinea, taking advantage of the land bridges which stretched most of the way through Asia. These land bridges were exposed during the ice ages, the Pleistocene epoch, when water levels dropped hundreds of metres. New Guinea and Cape York Peninsula were once joined by the Sahul Shelf. The oldest settlement so far recorded in Australia is radiocarbon-dated to about 50,000 years ago. This settlement around Lake Mungo is where humans camped around inland lake shores and dined on fish, shellfish, emu eggs, small marsupials and - almost certainly - a range of wild seeds, roots and fruits. The first human remains found at Lake Mungo are all homo sapiens - the modern human type to which present-day black and white Australians all belong. More than this, the remains are among the oldest of this type in the world. The first archaeological discovery at Mungo, in 1969, was a skeleton of a female who had been cremated and placed in a small pit. This cremation is dated to about 24,000 B.C. Other burials in the Mungo region are of bodies laid out flat and not burned, but all have some kind of goods with them in the grave. These goods include stone tools, shells and animal seeds. At this time, we do not know the beliefs of the mourners who made these offerings, however, their presence most probably recorded a complex set of beliefs about the spiritual world. It seems likely that aspects of the "Dreaming", the all-encompassing historical and cosmological structure that is a cornerstone of modern aboriginal life, were already present all those years ago. Although there were variations in the customs and skills of the hundreds of different Aboriginal tribes across the vast continent of Australia, they all lived in equally close community with their environment. The Dreamtime, the Aborigine's spiritual guide, encouraged their intimate involvement with the landscape, whether their home was on the lush coastal plains or in the harsh interior. They knew what to eat, how to prepare it, where and when to find it and, most important, how to protect their resources for the future. What the elders knew about survival, they passed on by example, legend and ritual. Along with this, there were songs for every occasion - hunting songs, funeral songs, gossip songs and songs of ancestors, landscapes, animals, seasons, myths and Dreamtime legends. TRADITIONAL ABORIGINAL MUSIC Indigenous Australian music, in this context, is taken to include the music of the Australian Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, who are collectively referred to as indigenous Australians. Music has formed an integral part of the social, cultural and ceremonial observances of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, down through the millennia of their individual and collective histories to the present day. Aboriginal people throughout most of Australia believe that in the beginning of time, in the Dreaming, there were no visible landmarks; the world was flat. As time progressed, creatures emerged from the ground and had the power to change at will from their animal to their human form. The kangaroo ancestor may now be described, in songs particularly, as the kangaroo; the form of his life essence is a matter of little consequence. These original ancestral beings created all the features of the landscape in the area in which their lives were spent, and also populated the entire region concerned. By their actions, they laid down the rules of conduct for all their offspring. Throughout their lives on earth, they left inseminating powers in the soil; they also created, and taught to others, many songs including those recounting the history of their own lives, songs for healing the wounded and the sick, injuring the enemy, including rain, arresting the flood, or causing the wind to turn back. The inseminating powers left by these ancestors are doubly important to the present people: firstly, because the propagation of their group is dependent on this power to create human offspring in the likeliness of the human elements of the ancestor; secondly, because the food source of the group is dependent on this power of each ancestor to ensure the plentiful supply of recreated forms of the animal or plant element of the ancestor's being. These powers become most accessible to the present inhabitants of the area on those occasions when the spirit of a particular ancestor is drawn towards his own identification marks of the song, acts and designs which he originally created and which have been meticulously preserved ever since. SONGS OF THE DREAMTIME A song is sung as a series comprising many short verses, each of which tells about a particular event or place associated with the ancestor; or the performance may be a full ceremonial one which includes portrayal of relevant events in the performance of dances accompanied by the singing of the appropriate verses. The song associated with any one totemic "line" will have the one melodic form throughout. This means, in the case of very long "lines" of songs, where the ancestor is reputed to have crossed thousands of miles of territory, that the characteristic melodic form will be found in areas with different languages and musical techniques. Because of the latter differences, an outside observer may well fail to recognise extreme sections of the one song-line as conforming to the same musical pattern, but that they do conform has been repeatedly stressed by performers and shown by a number of detailed analyses. The concept differs from our experience of melodic sameness; it consists of repetitions of sections of melody for a set proportion of the time the total verse takes to perform. Because this technique allows flexibility in those areas of musical expression which tend to change from one tribe to another, the basic information can be kept intact even though the total history may be retained, section by section, in many different tribal areas. This means that, even when a visitor from afar is unable to understand the language that the locals are using in a song, he can determine, from the musical structure, to which totemic line the song belongs. And, because his own totemic song has been very strong conditioning agent in the total processes of his education to adult status in the community, the recognition of his own song in another area will have very deep significance. These history songs link the time long past with the present; the singer is part of a continuum; he is reliving events of another era, and is yet part of them. AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS The Australian Aboriginal people developed a number of rare, unique and interesting musical instruments. These include the didgeridoo, the bullroarer, and the gum-leaf. Most well known is the didgeridoo, a simple wooden tube blown with the lips like a trumpet, which gains its sonic flexibility from controllable resonances of the player's vocal tract. The bull-roarer is a simple wooden slat whirled in a circle on the end of a cord so that it rotates about its axis and produces a pulsating low-pitched roar. The gum-leaf, as the name suggests, is a tree leaf, held against the lips and blown so as to act as a vibrating valve with "blown-open" configuration. Originally intended to imitate bird-calls, the gum-leaf can also be used as a musical instrument. The didgeridoo originated in Arnhem Land on the northern coastline of central Australia, and has some similarity to bamboo trumpets and even bronze horns developed in other cultures, though it pre-dates most of these by many millennia. The characteristic feature is that the didgeridoo, which is a slightly flaring wooden tube about 1.5 metres in length, is simply hollowed out by natural termites ("white ants") from the trunk of one of the small trees of the region. After cutting down, the instrument is cleaned out with a stick, the outside refined by scraping and then painted with traditional designs, and the blowing end smoothed by adding a rim of beeswax. The predominant sound of the didgeridoo is a low-pitched drone with frequency around 70Hz, but depending significantly upon the length of the instrument and the flare of its bore. In traditional use, the didgeridoo, with clap-sticks for emphasis, accompanies songs or illustrates traditional stories about ancestors and animals Recently, however, its use has spread into the popular music domain and has had world-wide influence. The bullroarer consists of a simple wooden slat, 30 to 40cm in length and 5 to 7cm wide that is whirled around in a circle on the end of a length of cord. The slat rotates under the influence of aerodynamic forces and generates a pulsating sound with a frequency typically around 80Hz. This sound is an important feature of Aboriginal initiation ceremonies. The instrument itself is by no means unique to Australia, as similar instruments have been used by populations as diverse as those of ancient Egypt and Northern Canada. The gumleaf is altogether more primitive as a musical instrument, since it consists simply of a leaf from one of the various species of Eucalypt trees growing throughout Australia, which held against the lips using the fingers of both hands. It does, however, have a long tradition and culture. Although it takes a good deal of trial and error for a beginner to even produce a sound from a gumleaf, a skilled player can control the pitch with good accuracy over a range of more than an octave and play simple tunes with ease. As in most cultures, the Aborigines also used percussive instruments in their ceremonies. Often these were simply two boomerangs clashed together, but they also made special shaped sticks for this purpose. Because the wood used is a fine-grained hardwood, the clapsticks are physically long-lasting and produce a sharp and well defined sound. In their usual form, these sticks are about 200mm in length and 20mm in diameter and are shaped to a long point at each end. One stick is held in each hand and they are struck together at about the mid-point of each. The pointed ends ensure that the fundamental transverse vibration has a high frequency, so that the percussive effect stands out well above the low-pitched drone of the didgeridoo. The musical instruments of the Australian Aboriginal people have come into world prominence because of the popularity of the didgeridoo, both as a tourist item and as a musical instrument. It is only recently that we have begun to have an appreciation of the acoustical subtleties associated with performance on this and the other ancient instruments of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people. By the way, I am very pleased to be able to say that our Playlists now include beautiful tracks from Yothu Yindi, Becim, Wasi Ka Nanara, Ok! Ryos, along with Elisa and Julie. ADDITIONS TO THE PLAYLISTS OK! RYOS Originally from the Loyalty Province of New Caledonia, Ok! Ryos are certainly one of the most talented and the most prolific bands in the country. Their songs, mainly sung in "Nengone" language, are true jewels of melodies and vocal harmonies. Traditional without being folkloric, contemporary without losing its soul, the musical cocktail of Ok! Ryos charms our ears and our senses, bringing us, for a moment, to the lagoons and atolls of the South Pacific. ELISA AND JULIE The first album from the backup singers from the group "Ok! Ryos." Elisa (25 years old) and Julie (21 years old) momentarily left their older brother (Édouard Wamejo) to record this album. "Ciroi," meaning life, is sung in French and in Nengone (the language of Maré, the home island of the girls in New Caledonia). All the pieces, except one written by their brother, were written and composed by Julie and Elisa. "This is an album from and for girls that talks about life, love, peace, and acts as an encouraging message." However, boys also are invited to listen to this album that combines two young voices in magnificent harmony! WASI KA NANARA The music of Wasi Ka Nanara is indigenous to the Solomon Islands, especially on the island of Malaita. One never sees women in the group, for the music and dance is exclusively the business of men. The musicians make all their instruments themselves out of bamboo. One particular instrument connects many pan pipes together to form a kind of collar which the players manipulate with a turn of the neck. The music of the group comes from the first century of their era, a time of the Lapita culture, enriched later with contacts with Polynesia, the Aborigines of Austrailia and other islands of Melanesia. BECIM From the South Pacific Island of New Caledonia, Becim presents a collection of reggae and pop-influenced island music. Mixed with Latin percussion and beautiful vocal harmonies, Becim gives an unexpected look at Pacific Island music. FEATURE ARTISTS YOTHU YINDI Yothu Yindi have their origins in the Yolngu homelands of the Aboriginal people Arnhem Land, on the north-east coast of Australia's Northern Territory. This is an area that the Yolngu have occupied and protected since their people first arrived on the vast Australian continent perhaps 40,000 years or more ago. The Yolngu members of the band celebrate their deep spiritual connections with the land, connections that are kept alive through song, dance and ceremony. These are reflected in the band's recordings and live performances which are essentially a pleasing fusion of their traditional music and dance with contemporary western music. The name of the band translates as "mother and child", and is essentially a kinship term used by the Yolngu people of the Northern Territory's Arnhem Land. The group's central figure Mandawuy Yunupingu and clansman Witiyana Marika gathered other aboriginal musicians and dancers to form Yothu Yindi, a troupe initially created to perform at cultural events both in Australia and internationally. Yothu Yindi's first album, 'Homeland Movement' comprised politicized rock on one side. The other side of the album concentrated on traditionally based songs like 'Djapana' (Sunset Dreaming), written by former teacher Mandawuy Yunupingu.Mandawuy's family has a long and proud tradition in the struggle for aboriginal land rights. Mandawuy Yunupingu was named 1992 Australian of The Year. Yothu Yindi are a unique group that will always be Yothu Yindi. No matter how you combine Yolgnu culture in pop, rock or dance music what counts are the lyrics and the unique access to 40, 000 years of Aboriginal history and tradition. This is what makes the groups contribution to popular music culture such a valuable one. * * * * * * * * * * NOTICE BOARD MELANESIAN MUSIC - "RADIO MELANESIA" Pacific Islands Radio is very pleased to be able to advise that Pacific Islands Radio 28K has now been converted to "RADIO MELANESIA" - to progressively highlight the vibrant and exciting music of Melanesia, along with a selection of music from Polynesia and Micronesia. RADIO MELANESIA http://www.live365.com/stations/janeres OCEANIA MESSAGE FORUMS I am very pleased to be able to say that, in addition to our main Oceania Guest Book, additional Forums have been introduced to all Web sites of the main islands and islets of the Pacific, as well as personalities, along with our Pacific Islands Radio Web sites: http://pub47.bravenet.com/forum/4004922603 As you are no doubt aware, these Forums have been most beneficial in bringing together many people with an interest in and a love of the beautiful and enchanting music of the Pacific Islands. You are cordially invited to share your valuable and important thoughts and opinions with us all. Recent additions also include the Web sites for Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa, Republic of Nauru, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Tonga, Tokelau, Easter Island, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands and Pitcairn Island, Niue, as well as our Oceania Postcards and Picture Galleries - and many more! Thank you. COMING EVENTS "Coming Events" outlines some of the many events on our musical and dancing calendar throughout the year hence the inclusion in our monthly Pacific Islands Radio Newsletter (Island Music). As much valued members of our Newsletter, you are invited to share any of your thoughts and ideas about Pacific Island music that you feel should be shared with all our members. I am sure that our members would greatly appreciate your kind gesture in sharing this information with us. Thank you so much! MELANESIAN ARTS FESTIVAL The third Melanesian Festival of Arts is to be held in Suva, Fiji, from October 2 to 10 with the theme of the festival is "Living Culture and Living Traditions." This festival promises to be the best yet and will feature rich traditions and contemporary art from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia. In addition, participation is being invited from countries with a substantial Melanesian population, including West Papua, the Australian Aborigines, Torres Strait Islanders and Timor Leste. The Melanesian Arts festival came about in 1995 when it was decided by members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group that they should come together and share the many cultures and to create new cultural processes. The Melanesian Arts Festival was first hosted in the Solomon Islands in 1998 with the second being hosted by Vanuatu. Further information on the Melanesian Arts Festival will be included in our next Pacific Islands Radio Newsletter (Island Music) for June 2006 when more and definite information is available! PACIFIC ISLANDS RADIO I would like to mention, in response to some of the e-mails and messages that I have received, from those wonderful people who would like to listen to our beautiful Pacific Island music, but unfortunately, are unable to actually listen to the music. Basically, it is quite easy to access and enjoy Pacific Islands Radio (our four Pacific Islands Radio Stations). Once you have accessed the page, it is most necessary to firstly log on, in order to be able to listen to the music. The process of being able to log on can be achieved by providing your username and password before clicking on the yellow 'Play' button provided on the centre of the page. Good Luck and Enjoy! In addition, the many listeners who would like to purchase the music played on our four Pacific Islands Radio Stations, in CD format, can obtain details of recommended suppliers by clicking on Artists' Profiles on Pacific Islands Radio Home Page: www.pacificislandsradio.com Pacific Islands Radio continues to offer a range of broadcasting formats in order to allow a wide range of listeners to enjoy our beautiful island music. STATIONS Our four Pacific Islands Radio Stations play the enchanting music of the Pacific Islands 24 hours daily. www.pacificislandsradio.com http://www.pacificislandsradio.com/index.htm http://www.janeresture.com/radio/index.htm Pacific Music Radio (mp3PRO) http://www.live365.com/stations/drjaneresture Pacific Islands Radio http://www.live365.com/stations/janeresture Radio Melanesia http://www.live365.com/stations/janeres Micronesia Music Radio http://www.live365.com/stations/jane_resture MICRONESIA MUSIC ANTHOLOGY An anthology of traditional Micronesian Music is available on Micronesia Music Radio: http://www.live365.com/stations/jane_resture The anthology can be accessed by clicking on the Broadcast Schedule after logging in to Micronesia Music Radio. This should allow you (and our other listeners worldwide) to determine when the anthology is available in your beautiful part of the world. The Broadcast Schedule can also be accessed at the following URL: http://www.live365.com/broadcast/scheduler/?stationname=jane_resture The supporting Web site to the anthology is: http://www.janesoceania.com/micronesia_music_anthology/index.htm GOSPEL MUSIC Pacific Islands Radio is very pleased to be able to advise that a collection of some of the most exciting and absorbing gospel music from the Pacific Islands is now being featured on Pacific Music Radio (FM mp3PRO Stereo), Pacific Islands Radio as well as Radio Melanesia. With an extended running time of three hours, the gospel collection has proved to be extremely popular and features the music of a number of talented artists and groups from Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Please monitor the Broadcast Schedule of the above three Pacific Islands Radio stations for the availability and time for the Gospel Music collection. At present this exciting collection is available every Sunday from 12 midday to 3 pm Australian eastern standard time. Our four Pacific Islands Radio Stations play the enchanting music of the Pacific Islands 24 hours daily. http://www.pacificislandsradio.com/index.htm PACIFIC ISLAND MUSIC SUPPLIERS The following are some of the main specialist suppliers of our music from the Pacific Islands, which are now being used and are highly recommended by Pacific Islands Radio. KING MUSIC - AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND Kingmusic offers a wide selection of Pacific Island music which is available on the Internet. http://www.kingmusic.co.nz/ ISLANDMELODY.COM Pacific Islands Radio would like to recommend Islandmelody.com for a selection of traditional and contemporary music with an emphasis on Micronesian music. http://www.islandmelody.com BWANARAOI MUSIC SHOP - TARAWA, REPUBLIC OF KIRIBATI For Kiribati music, along with music from other Pacific Islands and elsewhere, you are invited to contact the following exclusive distributor: Bwanaraoi Music Shop Republic of Kiribati Phone/Fax (686) 28236 E-mail: angirota@tskl.net.ki LINKS WELCOME TO THE MUSIC ARCHIVE OF THE PACIFIC The Music Archive for the Pacific has been established by the Southern Cross University, Lismore, Australia. for the main purpose of providing a collection of recordings of indigenous music, related books, journals, musical instruments and art works to interested persons for research purposes. The archive covers the music of the indigenous people of Australia (incl. Torres Strait), Papua New Guinea (incl. Bougainville), New Zealand as well as the nations of the Pacific Islands - Cook Islands, Easter Island, Fiji, Hawaii, Nauru, New Caledonia, Rarotonga, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/arts/music/musicarchive/ArchiveHome.html MUSIC ARCHIVE FOR THE PACIFIC http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/arts/music/musicarchive/ArchiveArchive.html ************************ LETTERS The following are extracts from a few interesting and most welcome letters that I have recently received about our four Pacific Islands Radio Stations, our artists and music. In this respect, it is my great pleasure to be able to share these letters with you all as I find them to be most uplifting, supportive, motivating and encouraging. They also provide much needed feedback in order to continuously monitor and enhance the quality of the service provided by Pacific Islands Radio. Please join with me in thanking these wonderful people for sharing their kind thoughts with us all. ************ Hello Jane, What a refreshing connection, thank you. I will be tuning in, does the station feature news bulletins regarding the Pacific? and Pacific issues or just music and song?? I like to keep my ear to the ground. Thanks again. www.pacificislandsradio.com Dear Jane, I wanted to thank you for the stations. You helped me think with my heart again. I had forgotten that art, not love, just the restricted amount the mind could love. I was reading about thinking in the heart and that in the heart is the real battle ground. I would presume he meant the struggle to love in many ways. The islands taught one way and that stayed with me. www.pacificislandsradio.com Hi Jane, I love your music, simple and beautiful. :-) me Jojo from Philippines, currently working in United Arab Emirates. www.pacificislandsradio.com Hello Jane, You have a lovely Web Site. I lived in Vanuatu from 1985 to 1990. How familiar are you with some long time expatriates living there now? I am having a difficult time in locating e-mail addresses for some old friends. I don't know where to turn, can you help me or tell me how to get their e-mail addresses? Gillian Mitride Jennifer Nicoles Chris Sulis Ross Wilson Peter & Aileen Wilson Paul Derrick Heather McDermeade Thanking you in advance for any assistance. June Marie Dear Jane, Greetings in the wonderful name of the Lord! Just writing to say that I enjoy reading your monthly news letter.As being of Australian South Sea Islander decent, it is always good to hear news from the Pacific Island nations. I also have been wanting to find music from the Solomons (bamboo drums the one they play with coconut skins or rubber thongs) or choral gospel music from Melanesia. If you could help or point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated. Yours truly Hi Jane, I just found your broadcast...It's a real nice listen... Jim Coffee break is over, back on your heads! ************* IT'S TIME TO CHAT Our Chat Rooms are always available for online chatting between parties and can be accessed via Jane's Oceania Home Page: http://www.janeresture.com or the URLs: http://pub18.bravenet.com/chat/show.php/1489671900 http://pub32.bravenet.com/chat/show.php/2702076781 COMMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS Your valuable contributions and comments are always most welcome and they can be sent to me at: jane@pacificislandsradio.com Thank you so much everybody for your very kind support and for being such important and valuable members of our Pacific Islands Radio (Island Music) Community. At this time of year, during the month of May, I would like to extend my very sincere best wishes to you all, members of our Pacific Islands Radio (Island Music) Club, as well as to all wonderful mothers around the world who will be celebrating the traditional Mother's Day with their dear families. Happy Mother's Day! As always, let us all also hope for continuing greater peace and harmony, good health, prosperity and happiness, for everybody! May our God bless us all and, as usual, I look forward to the pleasure of your company next time! Jane Resture |
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(E-mail: jane@pacificislandsradio.com -- Rev. 12th December 2007)