Now we're just left wondering what's a "sleng teng". Teng is maybe "thing", so we're left with what's "sleng". Searching for it I'm corrected to "slang", and if I force "sleng" then all I can find is the song itself.
I like to tell people that reggae artists (more specifically dub artists) created electronic music. I don’t know if it’s entirely true, but there is some evidence to suggest this.
as a vinyl DJ myself, i have to say mixing break beats is the most fun. you can really bounce rhythms around on the 2s and 4s, and the relative sparseness of the percussion lines lets you do some neat things by mixing in and out the highs and mids of two tracks while just playing the bass line of one.
fun stuff, and super cool story. thanks for the links!
This is a beautiful example of why people shouldn't be too quick to tag cultural borrowings as "appropriation." They often result in a back-and-forth cross-pollination that bears novel hybrid fruit we can all enjoy.
Agree completely, though, I also don't feel like this sort of (awesome) thing is what anybody is talking about when they discuss cultural appropriation!
Cross-pollination like this is, I dare say, universally loved and recognized as vital.
Generally when people speak of "cultural appropriation" it's a situation where you have a majority and/or oppressing group capitalizing on the culture of a minority and/or oppressed group.
Think of the difference between two prison inmates building on each others' ideas is collaboration, and a prison guard stealing their music.
Maybe that nuance was originally intended, but look around and you will find plenty of claims that wearing dreadlocks, rapping or making sushi at home are examples of cultural appropriation, if done by the wrong person.
Actually, that’s a good gut check to test whether emancipatory movements have lost their plot: how often do their prescriptions hinge on identity.
> Generally when people speak of "cultural appropriation" it's a situation where you have a majority and/or oppressing group capitalizing on the culture of a minority and/or oppressed group.
I think the issue, as illustrated in replies to you, is that many people's only exposure to conversations about cultural appropriation are extreme examples brought to their attention by someone seeking to highlight how absurd they are (or more typically, get some click revenue) and not necessarily representative
Yup. I'll never forget Darryl Hall saying that music is a continuum, which is why most of the times he allows his Hall & Oates sounds to be sampled by Rap artists ..
If you look into folk music traditions, one recurring theme you'll find is it's generally not clear who wrote a tune or lyrics, and multiple songs often use the same tune. That's the natural state of music, and the current system of so-called intellectual property is an aberration.
We don't know who wrote "Rolling Down to Old Maui" or "Drunken Sailor," other than that they were popular in the 19th century. They both share tunes with other songs that predate them, just like how there are multiple songs that use the same tune as "The Wearing of the Green." Countless people have performed and rearranged them, and the world only benefits from it.
Everything in art is inherently memetic, building upon the work of others and evolving.
Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption ...
cultural appropriation differs from acculturation, assimilation, or equal cultural exchange ...
the concept is often misunderstood or misapplied by the general public, and that charges of "cultural appropriation" are at times misapplied to situations such as trying food from a different culture or learning about different cultures
QuestionCopyright.org has the same observation. They made a nice music video to further spread the idea, how "all creative work builds on what came before": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcvd5JZkUXY
IIRC that's actually how a lot of academics in cultural studies, history, etc, used the term "appropriation" until the nineties or so, when the more disparaging usage seems to have won out.
I don't buy that using a default demo sample from an electronic keyboard could ever count as cultural appropriation. Even in the most extreme case, the 'rock' sample in question that Casio offered up would ostensibly trace its roots to afro-caribbean origins anyway.
The problem in enjoying the "cross-pollination" is that it never rewards the founders, and often rewards others that deliberately copy the overlooked artists.
Many modern works completely lift sounds and rebrand them as founded by someone else new. That is where the problem lies in modern appropriation. It's sad that social media now encourages people to completely copycat ideas and totally steal credit for innovation...
We should support original culture and artists just as much as those who sample them.
Founders being rewarded is completely orthogonal to culture, in this picture.
Any knowledge or innovation could be “stolen” and used by someone else, whether its origin is cultural or not.
Using the possibility of value extracting theft as a reason why (certain) people should never find inspiration in (certain other) cultures… is just bigoted and nonsensical. It’s racist territorialism.
Especially when all culture is built on something that came before anyway.
It's a bit unfair to categorize Japan as segregationist. While it's true they have gaijin housing and restaurants, that's meant to make the visitor comfortable, especially if they can't speak Japanese conversationally.
For those who don't know, "Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word 'rhythm'. In the context of reggae and dancehall it refers to the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section... A given riddim, if popular, may be used in dozens—or even hundreds—of songs, not only in recordings but also in live performances."
The actual riddim sounds completely uninteresting to my American ears. But the novelty and catchiness obviously connected to millions of people at the time.
> The actual riddim sounds completely uninteresting to my American ears
Dub and reggae are a part of the so-called soundsystem culture. That booming bass line is meant to be heard over an enormous PA system (often home built) designed to rattle your bones!
I remember not getting dubstep (also derived from dub before it’s export to the US and commercialization) because I was listening to it on my PC speakers.
When I finally played it through my hifi it was like a whole sonic landscape suddenly appeared and only then did I finally get it.
seen .. much bettern to hear the song in context in a soundsystem live tape (several on yt) - and possibly with cough cough sacrament - e.g. coxsone, killmanjaro, etc.
<3 the 'digital raggae' electronic pre-dancehall sound
Dancehall riddims are tuned for the dancehall and, occasionally, the car show. It's a vibe and atmosphere that doesn't translate well to headphones. I can listen to 2 DJs in a clash go back and forth for hours with just 1 riddim. But after 1 play of Cash Money riddim, for example, I'm pressing FFWD for something else. Because the moment is gone.
I agree. I tried listening to Clint Eastwood's Jah Lights Shining earlier today thru a speaker system I'm DIYing and it's really not the same unless you've got proper speakers.
> The actual riddim sounds completely uninteresting to my American ears
ok, let me try to make it more interesting.
you seem to think riddim is something from the past. you may remember the music from "run the world" by Beyonce. that riddim is called "pon de floor" riddim. it was created by diplo. (warning nsfw video).
riddim is essentially coding patterns for music. since each riddim has a name it creates a DSL that lets DJs and MCs go meta with the music and focus on making the most catchy sound.
another interesting aspect is it's free from intellectual property. it makes for a good example of the impact of free culture on creativity.
> The actual riddim sounds completely uninteresting to my American ears.
I find the simple casio rhythm delightfully engaging and catchy! But that may be because I've heard it in so many reggae and dancehall songs I associate it with now. But the first time I heard those songs, they immediately caught my ear and made me want to dance.
I've been involved with the German Dancehall scene from around the late 90s early 2000s and danced so many nights to this riddim. I knew the story and how this riddim ended up in Jamaica at King Jammy's (e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mop89McbxAE ), but could not remember to have seen an image of the actual keyboard before.
Overall these riddims are played at so called soundsystem parties - basically huge amount of subwoofers that your body shakes. Earplugs is a must else you'll get tinitus like I did. Stranger part is no photos are allowed and a lot of music isn't released online - it's overall kinda secretive subculture.
It blew my mind when I came to such party first time.
This is a very interesting story, and it's great to see Okuda acknowledged for her work and hear more details about that. Casio is a great example of a company that I just took completely for granted growing up and seemed completely opaque and impersonal to me. It's so cool to see the individuals that are behind all of those things. My brothers and I had an MT-40 when we were kids, I loved playing with it, and had no idea it had an impact like this.
As someone who dj'd almost exclusively early (and late) dancehall and dub back in the early 00s, I can attest that this riddim has absolute magical properties. It is just one of those things where the tone, the key, the hisses, the bass frequency, the everything just clicks. The room will never not pop off when Sleng Teng drops. That, and it's sister riddim, Stalag. Like best buds, those two.
And just in case it is lost on some people, Nippon is one of the possible pronunciations for Japan (日本) in Japanese. The other is Nihon. No, the Japanese have no consensus on the name of their own country.
Most late 20th century western musical movements and the cultural changes that came with them was down to manufacturers of instruments. It was usually a box, synthesizer or effects unit. Surely the R&D for new sounds is what music depends on?
You could create all kinds of new sounds and technologies and they would have no impact if audiences didn't connect with them.
Some people have a certain fluency with sound and music. It's not about training, although training will bring it out if someone has it. But it seems pretty innate. And it cuts through in a way that the work of people without the fluency doesn't.
Roland used to be masters of this. Their rhythm and bass boxes seemed like stupid failed toys, but they had a magic that wasn't obvious until they were handed to people who didn't try to use them in the "proper" way.
That's fluency from two sources - something the original designers somehow had (until Roland stopped being that kind of company) mixed with the feel the pioneering users had.
This story is another example of that.
Compare with - say - Yamaha's attempts to sell physical modelling synthesis. There was much money spent, a good selection of instruments produced, but it failed to cut through. Possibly because it ended up being a system of presets and directed constraints that limited imagination instead of opening it up. (Or possibly not. It's a mysterious process.)
For those who don't know, the TB-303 is probably the most entertaining story of this kind.
> ... the box was largely written off as a failure after just 18 months of production. It was released alongside the TR-606 drum machine as an accompaniment for guitarists, but with unrealistic sounds and a difficult interface the box got little traction upon release. [1]
It became the source of a signature sound in dance music, which remains extensively used today and can be heard in tracks with mainstream chart success. It's terrible interface is somehow part of its charm and it has been cloned in many formats.
This is probably the best way to experience it in a browser [2]
From what I've heard, sample libraries of acoustic instruments are a system of presets and directed constraints (inability to replicate complex dynamics, articulation, and pitch bends). I haven't tried physical modeling, and don't know if it manages to escape this issue, or ends up too complex to learn/perform or stuck in an uncanny valley. (This is from the perspective of orchestral-inspired sound design rather than more synthetic compositions.)
This implies that the manufacturers had a decent grasp of "where things would go," and I think that couldn't be further from the truth? All the good (or at least interesting) stuff came from "hackers," aka the scratching DJs, the guys who had to scrape for beat machines, etc. etc. Limitations being the inspiration and all that.
I don't think it's necessarily the sounds, but what the article describes, "bringing the pleasure of playing a musical instrument to everyone". New ways of creating music end up in the hands of people that otherwise may not have gotten started, and new styles emerge.
I think it was always the case that the development of instruments is a major influence on musical styles. Sacred music and the church organ, Baroque music and the harpsichord, Romantics and the piano, Jazz and sax, the list goes on and on.
Today however, synthesizers can create any sound imaginable so we probably reached the end of the cycle. Who knows what will guide the future of music.
Readit News
Original "under mi sleng teng" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjw7m-BKmQ8
One of my favorites, "The Don" by peter metro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnZuTOH2zoc
90 minute sleng teng mix (here's a bunch): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwLKc61dVWQ
related:
Under mi sensi (doesn't actually use sleng teng riddim but it's a riff on the sleng teng chorus): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_dwpUrWkE4
A different riddim (bookshelf), but great example of seeing the DJ at work on a riddim mix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyGhjR7CE3k
If you want to explore other popular riddims, the punanny riddim is a good next stop! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UkJRGIpzYM
I bet that this is where many thirty-something people heard it for the first time.
[1] http://wiwords.com/word/sleng-teng
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2W9YVkkn9U
"Way in my brain"
that's awesome. he's actually mixing! :D
as a vinyl DJ myself, i have to say mixing break beats is the most fun. you can really bounce rhythms around on the 2s and 4s, and the relative sparseness of the percussion lines lets you do some neat things by mixing in and out the highs and mids of two tracks while just playing the bass line of one.
fun stuff, and super cool story. thanks for the links!
Cross-pollination like this is, I dare say, universally loved and recognized as vital.
Generally when people speak of "cultural appropriation" it's a situation where you have a majority and/or oppressing group capitalizing on the culture of a minority and/or oppressed group.
Think of the difference between two prison inmates building on each others' ideas is collaboration, and a prison guard stealing their music.
Actually, that’s a good gut check to test whether emancipatory movements have lost their plot: how often do their prescriptions hinge on identity.
I think the issue, as illustrated in replies to you, is that many people's only exposure to conversations about cultural appropriation are extreme examples brought to their attention by someone seeking to highlight how absurd they are (or more typically, get some click revenue) and not necessarily representative
That's a pretty tortured metaphor.
Would it be morally ok for the prisoners to steal the guard's music?
What if cultural borrowing is the societal precursor to acceptance and integration?
Deleted Comment
We don't know who wrote "Rolling Down to Old Maui" or "Drunken Sailor," other than that they were popular in the 19th century. They both share tunes with other songs that predate them, just like how there are multiple songs that use the same tune as "The Wearing of the Green." Countless people have performed and rearranged them, and the world only benefits from it.
Everything in art is inherently memetic, building upon the work of others and evolving.
---
Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption ...
cultural appropriation differs from acculturation, assimilation, or equal cultural exchange ...
the concept is often misunderstood or misapplied by the general public, and that charges of "cultural appropriation" are at times misapplied to situations such as trying food from a different culture or learning about different cultures
---
Many modern works completely lift sounds and rebrand them as founded by someone else new. That is where the problem lies in modern appropriation. It's sad that social media now encourages people to completely copycat ideas and totally steal credit for innovation...
We should support original culture and artists just as much as those who sample them.
Any knowledge or innovation could be “stolen” and used by someone else, whether its origin is cultural or not.
Using the possibility of value extracting theft as a reason why (certain) people should never find inspiration in (certain other) cultures… is just bigoted and nonsensical. It’s racist territorialism.
Especially when all culture is built on something that came before anyway.
Deleted Comment
most of the segregationists just need inspiration and aren’t as exclusionary as they’ve been led to
The actual riddim sounds completely uninteresting to my American ears. But the novelty and catchiness obviously connected to millions of people at the time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riddim
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjw7m-BKmQ8
Dub and reggae are a part of the so-called soundsystem culture. That booming bass line is meant to be heard over an enormous PA system (often home built) designed to rattle your bones!
When I finally played it through my hifi it was like a whole sonic landscape suddenly appeared and only then did I finally get it.
<3 the 'digital raggae' electronic pre-dancehall sound
Dancehall riddims are tuned for the dancehall and, occasionally, the car show. It's a vibe and atmosphere that doesn't translate well to headphones. I can listen to 2 DJs in a clash go back and forth for hours with just 1 riddim. But after 1 play of Cash Money riddim, for example, I'm pressing FFWD for something else. Because the moment is gone.
ok, let me try to make it more interesting.
you seem to think riddim is something from the past. you may remember the music from "run the world" by Beyonce. that riddim is called "pon de floor" riddim. it was created by diplo. (warning nsfw video).
riddim is essentially coding patterns for music. since each riddim has a name it creates a DSL that lets DJs and MCs go meta with the music and focus on making the most catchy sound.
another interesting aspect is it's free from intellectual property. it makes for a good example of the impact of free culture on creativity.
You better believe Diplo got paid by Beyonce to use Pon De Floor in a track.
I find the simple casio rhythm delightfully engaging and catchy! But that may be because I've heard it in so many reggae and dancehall songs I associate it with now. But the first time I heard those songs, they immediately caught my ear and made me want to dance.
Here's just an MT-40 playing the present. To me that's super catchy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq7B4MFbmgU
In 2002, the "Diwali Riddim" came out, which is the basis of several popular songs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali_Riddim
the original beat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMASjABxHWE
Sean Paul - Get Busy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPQ3o14ksaM
Lumidee - Never Leave You (Uh Oh) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k03HK88HhmU
Rihanna - Pon De Replay - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEauWw9ZGrA
Wayne Wonder - No Letting Go (0:30 to start the actual song) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT1XhnfMT5c
---
Another big one is the Coolie Dance riddim. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d31drv0VQsU
Move Ya Body - Nina Sky https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYbMvAB66KM
Culo - Pitbull ft. Lil Jon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy-vUCIm04M
And also spawned a huge amount of music: https://www.whosampled.com/Wayne-Smith/Under-Me-Sleng-Teng/s...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIfzt7mtFyI
Americans might best know it as the bassline from Sublime's Caress Me Down (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_LP4IU6XD4).
But you might really love the lyrics of Tenor Saw's Pumpkin Belly, which a song of the "old time proverbs":
"Whatsover you want / You have to work very hard to gain."
https://genius.com/Tenor-saw-pumpkin-belly-lyrics
Here is a video where Wayne Smith tells how he found the preset on the keyboard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM2qMdop890
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61kVhWClUZo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOMZlVLh1Ts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9mrs1Ge8fo
then there's stalag riddim:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4fjGwVpbm0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbQX0QmngYg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3d4Efp5TMc
and my favourite heavenless riddim:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBRzaoUe3y8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQXPTRIsEII
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJGa2-qBsSI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MmIP16H5jE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0BxPQIypnQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=himuq_-TM-A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpgl8oK869E
then there's answer riddim:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4bN_lmTGRk
Overall these riddims are played at so called soundsystem parties - basically huge amount of subwoofers that your body shakes. Earplugs is a must else you'll get tinitus like I did. Stranger part is no photos are allowed and a lot of music isn't released online - it's overall kinda secretive subculture.
It blew my mind when I came to such party first time.
Sounds like something I'd enjoy watching, just like 80s warehouse parties with early acid house.
Deleted Comment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dR1tKo1n5I
https://www.engadget.com/2015-12-04-casio-and-the-sleng-teng...
This is a very interesting story, and it's great to see Okuda acknowledged for her work and hear more details about that. Casio is a great example of a company that I just took completely for granted growing up and seemed completely opaque and impersonal to me. It's so cool to see the individuals that are behind all of those things. My brothers and I had an MT-40 when we were kids, I loved playing with it, and had no idea it had an impact like this.
From the same author (the editor of the site):
Tough and Timeless: Ibe Kikuo and the Development of the [Casio] G-Shock
https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g01192/tough-and-time...
....
Background on nippon.com:
The site has its background in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Echo which was funded by Japan's Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Later on it was funded by the Nippon Foundation, and renamed into the Nippon Communications Foundation:
https://foundation.nippon.com/en/about/outline.html
Funded by a generous grant from the Nippon Foundation ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nippon_Foundation
(eh, read for yourself; it turns weird and dark.)
Some people have a certain fluency with sound and music. It's not about training, although training will bring it out if someone has it. But it seems pretty innate. And it cuts through in a way that the work of people without the fluency doesn't.
Roland used to be masters of this. Their rhythm and bass boxes seemed like stupid failed toys, but they had a magic that wasn't obvious until they were handed to people who didn't try to use them in the "proper" way.
That's fluency from two sources - something the original designers somehow had (until Roland stopped being that kind of company) mixed with the feel the pioneering users had.
This story is another example of that.
Compare with - say - Yamaha's attempts to sell physical modelling synthesis. There was much money spent, a good selection of instruments produced, but it failed to cut through. Possibly because it ended up being a system of presets and directed constraints that limited imagination instead of opening it up. (Or possibly not. It's a mysterious process.)
> ... the box was largely written off as a failure after just 18 months of production. It was released alongside the TR-606 drum machine as an accompaniment for guitarists, but with unrealistic sounds and a difficult interface the box got little traction upon release. [1]
It became the source of a signature sound in dance music, which remains extensively used today and can be heard in tracks with mainstream chart success. It's terrible interface is somehow part of its charm and it has been cloned in many formats.
This is probably the best way to experience it in a browser [2]
[1] https://djtechtools.com/2015/12/02/history-tb-303-rolands-ac...
[2] https://808303.studio/
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_eye/2014/10/16/roman_mars_99_...
I think the Roland TB-303 is the best example of what is being talked about here.
It was made by Roland to simulate bass guitars but spawned entire genres of dance music because of its unique sound.
Today however, synthesizers can create any sound imaginable so we probably reached the end of the cycle. Who knows what will guide the future of music.