Background Noise Turns Musical

Sound Recording with the Bayawata Stringband of Balimo

This is not a sound recording lesson. It is just the story of a particular recording session that we did on analogue tape some years back.

I was in Balimo, with a 4 man band called "Bayawata Stringband" in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. One of the band members had been with my group doing some community organising work along the Aramia River.

When that work was done, we sailed by motorised long canoes back to Balimo Station where I was waiting for my flight back to Daru and Port Moresby. During that last night in Balimo, the boys were playing guitars and I was just listening. I had brought along a cassette tape recorder for the community organising workshop that we had been running the weeks before and it was somewhere in my luggage.

At midnight in Balimo, when the station generator was switched off, the boys went on playing and I thought maybe I would record some of the band's music. I only had one microphone, a Sony Walkman, and a couple of C60 audio cassettes.

Accepting and Using Background Noise Creatively

A "hausboi" in Papua New Guinea is a house used as sleeping quarters for single boys. The hausboi where we were recording is raised on stilts, had thatched walls and roof and at the time had many holes in the floor. So not sound proof but had no echoes either. From within you could hear all the river and lagoon wildlife. Balimo is situated near the Aramia River and there are lots of lagoons around.

Insects can be good when recording a village band at night because, they can provide a particular atmosphere - an outdoor atmosphere. As long as one mikes the main subject properly, the insect noise can remain at a not too distracting level in the recording. My main source of sound was a band of four who all do vocals and they had two acoustic guitars.

Unfortunately, for us there was also a howling dog nearby and a couple of recordings later, that dog decided to howl more and more. My first thought was that maybe I should ask someone to quieten the dog down but listening through the headphones, I felt that the dog was not a great problem at all. So we started to record the next song and much to my delightful surprise, the dog became an integral part of the song as you can listen below.

Sorry I have broken the song down into four parts to protect the Bayawata Band's song from copyright infringement so you have to listen to the development of the musical dog's involvement in four stages.

The Song: "Taim mi liklik mangi"

This is a homage, a song of gratitude and thanks to parents. It talks about growing up with caring parents, and praises their help and care wondering how we as children can ever repay our parents for their great kindness. It is sung in Tok Pisin, one of two creole languages of Papua New Guinea. 

I hope you enjoy this Balimo, "After midnight recording".

Part one, Opening.

Notice the dog's opening howl in the background as the recording starts.

Part two, The Chorus.
Here again the dog adds a few howling touches.

Part three, Lead Break.

The dog's response to the lead break was impeccable. I had to believe that dogs are quite musical at that point in the recording.

Part four, Finale.

By the end of the song, the New Guinea Singing Dog was just about ready to let loose, putting some real soul into his performance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Equipment Used:

Click the links below to check out these vintage recording instruments.

Sony Professional Walkman - WM-D6C

Sennheiser MD 421 N 

Recorded on TDK C60 Audio Cassette Tape. 


The sound is as it is from the original analogue tapes - No added effects, filtering or cutting of unwanted frequencies. 

You'll Never Walk Alone

Lyrics of You'll Never Walk Alone

When you walk through a storm

hold your head up high

And don't be afraid of the dark.

At the end of a storm is a golden sky

And the sweet silver song of a lark.

Walk on through the wind,

Walk on through the rain,

Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.

Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart

And you'll never walk alone,

You'll never, ever walk alone.

Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart

And you'll never walk alone,

You'll never, ever walk alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The song, "You'll never, ever walk alone" comes from a 1945 musical called Carousel. You may read more about it at the link in this paragraph but I'd like to have Joss Stone introduce the song for us here. She does it so well. 

What a pity, I wish that Joss Stone would have sung the song through. It is a very inspiring song indeed and in the story of the musical it is sung by a friend to inspire someone in very distressing circumstances.

Over the years, many artists have performed it including notable performances by jazz musician, "Satchmo" Louis Armstrong, The Three Tenors, Righteous Brothers, and gospel singer Mahalia Jackson to name a few.

A version by "The Priests":

This song, "You'll never, ever walk alone" also goes back a long way into the history of Liverpool Football Association whose fans sing the song at every match that liverpool plays. Below is a Liverpool crowd version that seems to date back to 1963 - where Liverpool is playing Everton. You hear the rival clubs sing as the game shifts its fortunes back and forth.

Today perhaps many associate the song with the Liverpool football club as we  are used to hearing it when we are watching a football match in which Liverpool is playing especially in England.

Below is a version by the Norwegian Tenor, Marius Roth Christensen:

And a great version from Jordin Sparks. I really like her version, though I should say that many artists do tend to render it in this way:

And finally an incredible and rousing rock performance of the song by a group that is probably Germany's greatest Punk Rock Band, Die Toten Hosen. Witness this band bring the house down with their rendition of the song. Enjoy..!

In spite of the ample variety of versions of this song, this performance by Mahalia Jackson, known as "The Queen of Gospel", is probably the most moving of all versions, available to the listening public today.

With such incredible, almost haunting performances, Mahalia Jackson, heralded internationally as a singer and civil rights activist; caused entertainer Harry Belafonte to call her "the single most powerful black woman in the United States".

He interpretation of the song below seems to be the most fitting to the spirit and intention of the song. Her vocal touches to the various emotions of the lyrics are as honest and credible as if they did come from a caring soul.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

John Perkins - Author of "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man"

John Perkins (b. January 28, 1945 in Hanover, New Hampshire) is an economist and author. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador from 1968–1970 and this experience launched him in the world of economics and writing. His best known book is Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (2004), an insider's account of the exploitation or neo-colonization of Third World countries by what Perkins describes as a cabal of corporations, banks, and the United States government. His 2007 book, The Secret History of the American Empire, provides more evidence of the negative impact of global corporations on the economies and ecologies of poor countries, as well as offering suggestions for making corporations behave more like good citizens.

Perkins also wrote an introduction to the 2007 book A Game as Old as Empire: the Secret World of Economic Hit Men and the Web of Global Corruption (edited by Steven Hiatt), a collection of accounts from investigators, journalists and other economic hitmen. The book offers further evidence of economic hit men and rebuts some of the criticism that Perkins' book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man received.

Read More at Wikipedia 

Interview - Confessions of an Economic Hit Man - Part I

Interview - Confessions of an Economic Hit Man - Part II




Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 2004

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man reveals a game that, according to John Perkins, is "as old as Empire" but has taken on new and terrifying dimensions in an era of globalization. And Perkins should know. For many years he worked for an international consulting firm where his main job was to convince LDCs (less developed countries) around the world to accept multibillion-dollar loans for infrastructure projects and to see to it that most of this money ended up at Halliburton, Bechtel, Brown and Root, and other United States engineering and construction companies. This book, which many people warned Perkins not to write, is a blistering attack on a little-known phenomenon that has had dire consequences on both the victimized countries and the U.S.

John Perkins on Globalization

"When we address the issue of poverty, I think we really have to look at who benefits from poverty. And the fact of the matter is, the wealthy folks benefit from poverty. So in a way, you might say that the problem is not so much "poverty" as the problem is "Wealth". "Prosperity". And when it is taken to an extreme, that wealth is used as the measure of value in a culture, which is what's happened in our culture..." - John Perkins

More in the interview below:

Melt Down

Film Introduction From Open Culture:
Doc Zone, a documentary series produced by CBC Television, is now airing a four part investigation into the great financial meltdown of 2008. Along the way, the CBC’s Terence McKenna takes viewers “behind the headlines and into the backrooms at the highest levels of world governments and banking institutions, revealing the astonishing level of backstabbing and tension behind the scenes as the world came dangerously close to another Great Depression.”

-----------------------------------------

Tok Piksa presents the 4 part series here, with background information taken from Al Jazeera’s English site, which also hosts the four-part series.


PART 1:
The men who crashed the world

In the first episode of Meltdown, we hear about four men who brought down the global economy: a billionaire mortgage-seller who fooled millions; a high-rolling banker with a fatal weakness; a ferocious Wall Street predator; and the power behind the throne.

The crash of September 2008 brought the largest bankruptcies in world history, pushing more than 30 million people into unemployment and bringing many countries to the edge of insolvency. Wall Street turned back the clock to 1929.

But how did it all go so wrong?

Lack of government regulation; easy lending in the US housing market meant anyone could qualify for a home loan with no government regulations in place.

Also, London was competing with New York as the banking capital of the world. Gordon Brown, the British finance minister at the time, introduced 'light touch regulation' - giving bankers a free hand in the marketplace.

All this, and with key players making the wrong financial decisions, saw the world's biggest financial collapse.

PART 2:
A Global Financial Tsunami

In the second episode of Meltdown, we look at how the financial tsunami swept the world. We hear about a renegade executive who nearly destroyed the global financial system and the US treasury secretary who bailed out his friends.

Henry 'Hank' Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs and later an economic advisor to the US government; refused to bail out global financial services firm - the Lehman Brothers. Paulson said it was not the role of government to save private businesses.

Lehman's failure had repercussions around the world. Millions of people lost their life savings. Pension plans were decimated.

Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister at the time and a close friend of Paulson's, publicly described Paulson's decision on Lehman "horrendous".

Markets from London and Paris to Shanghai fell. An epidemic of fear caused the world's major banks to stop lending, ending the year in protests and industrial action.

PART 3:

Paying the Price

The third episode of Meltdown looks at how the victims of the 2008 financial crash fight back. A protesting singer in Iceland brings down the government; in France a union leader oversees the kidnapping of his bosses; and thousands of families are made homeless in California.

Hordur Torfason, an Icelandic singer, leads the way in holding protests over the country's economy, calling for the resignation of the government and new elections.

Geir Haarde, the prime minister of Iceland, was surrounded and pelted by the protestors. Haarde soon resigned and the country's government collapsed.

In France, workers fought back to claim their rights. The Continental Tire factory announced its plant would close by 2010, meaning job losses for its 1,120 employees. Workers occupied offices and trashed the place in protest. Protests spread right across France and Europe.

As the grim toll of the financial crisis continues to mount around the world, many governments are looking for the true causes of the meltdown. In many cases, what they are discovering amounts to a crime.

PART 4:
After the Fall

In the final episode of Meltdown, we hear about the sheikh who says the crash never happened; a Wall Street king charged with fraud; a congresswoman who wants to jail the bankers; and the world leaders who want a re-think of capitalism.

The financial crash of September 2008 brought the largest bankruptcies in world history, pushing over 30 million people into unemployment and bringing many countries to the brink of insolvency.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al Maktoum calls himself Dubai's CEO. He claims to run his government according to strict business principles, but now many are quietly questioning his judgement and his leadership.

In depth coverage of US financial crisis protests

In the years before the meltdown, Dubai had the biggest real-estate bonanza in the world. During the crash, the market tumbled, losing 50 per cent of its value, leaving Dubai virtually insolvent. But this did not deter the sheikh.

In January 2010, Sheikh Mohammed threw a massive party to mark the opening of the world's tallest building - the Burj Khalifa - using PR strategies to suggest that the real estate crash was a good thing for the emirate.

As one world leader handles the crisis through denial, other leaders try to re-think capitalism. Even though the causes of the 2008 meltdown are now clear, there is no magic formula to stop it from happening again.

The world has to start planning for the next crisis, even as we recognise that this one is not over yet.

Text Transcription Source: Aljazeera

"MELT DOWN"
Writen and Directed by TERENCE MCKENNA
Series Producers: MICHELLE GAGNON and TERENCE MCKENNA

Indian Female Peace Keepers Show the Way in Liberia

Better alternatives to the Enhanched Co-operation Programme

If Papua New Guinea feels, that it needs policing support especially during the upcoming elections, there are better options than bringing in the Australian Federal Police (AFP) who does not have a good record performing off shore duties, as in the case of the RAMSI programme in the Solomon Islands and their own internal security programme called the "Intervention" in the Northern Territory.

Are there better alternatives to the ECP for Papua New Guinea? 

Yes there is. Perhaps the one that is catching the most attention at the moment are Regiments of female peacekeepers. The success of using Female Peacekeepers, as the New York Times reports:  

"...the United Nations is intensifying efforts to recruit women for peacekeeping missions that seek to mend what war has wrought.

The theory — which has evolved since pioneering female peacekeepers started participating in U.N. missions in the Balkans in the 1990s — is that women employ distinctive social skills in a rugged macho domain. They are being counted on to bring calm to the streets and the barracks, acting as public servants instead of invaders.

“When female soldiers are present, the situation is closer to real life, and as a result the men tend to behave,” said Gerard J. DeGroot, a history professor at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland who has written books about women in the military. “Any conflict where you have an all-male army, it’s like a holiday from reality. If you inject women into that situation, they do have a civilizing effect.” 

The Indian approach is perfect for PNG and they could help build a women's paramedical corps to carry on this kind of work after the Indians have gone back to other duties. 

The PNG public is quite weary of Australian neo-colonialism, and the reputation of the Australian Federal Police as a Rigue force. People can also see that after years of AUSAID assistance, there is nothing to show for it in the lives of poor people in urban settlements and in rural villages.

We need a programme that can inspire Papua New Guineans into self help and local action around its own issues.

Charting an alternative path which combines, work towards an improved security situation and engaging with the community through para-medical work is a great idea for Papua New Guinea to consider, if we are really serious about our problems with crime and corruption - and the delivery of health services.


These are good building blocks for local action.

Tooraliaditty

Introduction

This is the story of a song.

A song I heard as a child in the late 1960s and early 1970s. But it is a song that made me wonder where Botany Bay was. 

As I was growing up before the Independence of Papua New Guinea, two places in the present day Australia called to my imagination. Melbourne, a place I could see on the map and Botany Bay a magical place in my imagination.

My elder sisters brought the song home and they would sing it at home. I had three elder sisters and I liked being with them as a child when they would start comparing the different songs that they were learning in school.

I used to be transported by that song and I couldn't wait to go to school myself and learn the song first hand. In many ways, I too wanted to be bound for Botany Bay. 

"Botany Bay" was a song that neither "Waltzing Matilda" nor "This Old Man" could rival in my childhood taste for beautiful songs.

By the time I entered prep in 1970, I kept listening out in the various classes to see which teacher was teaching "Botany Bay". But it seems that I had come in to school too late. For suddenly, it seemed that one part of history would be denied to me. After my own school day, which at the time for preps ended at 12 mid day, I would wait around outside various classrooms, listening for the song. But I never heard it in school ever.

The elder children's class rooms especially around the grade four classrooms, in 1970 were singing "This old man" before they would break for lunch. But I kept listening out for Botany Bay.

We must have had some Irish Australian teachers in Rabaul in those days. Because there was another Irish lullaby that I had heard: "Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ra" 

I never really cared much for the meaning of the words of "Botany Bay" nor did I stop to ponder what must have been the heart breaking conditions that inspired a poet or musician to compose the song.

Today, it can be amazing to wonder: Was this really a song written for entertainment? How could that be, when one human's suffering could be another's pleasure? Yet, when we look at theatrical entertainment over the years, it is such that "Les Miserables" do make for the best figurants or stooges of stage and screen.

But as a child, I was in awe of the song's somehow, liberating refrain. There was something in it that even a child could sense. Something melancholic but something also healing. Something that made even a child go looking. Reaching out. Breathing the air for the meaning of song.

Singing too-ral, li-ooral, li-addity,

Singing too-ral, li-ooral, li-ay,

Singing too-ral, li-ooral, li-addity,

And we're bound for Botany Bay.

I should also explain that "To Ura Lai" in my own language means, two mates or two friends. A familiar term we use to address a brother in law. As inlaws in my culture are addressed in the plural. "Tolai" (my friend) the name my people are known by in PNG, is in fact the singular form of "To Ura Lai" the polite form. It is quite normal for a man in joy or even distress to call out to his "Ura Lai" in various intonations.

Children of my generation, when we were in pain, or if we were punished, or hurt, we would cry out:

"Ooh yau kalalai, yau kalalai titi".

These words have no translatable meaning in the Kuanua language. It is just a long exclamation of a child's fear and anticipation.

Children would chant those lines when they were beaten as was the common practice of the time. As we were called to a beating punishment, we would start chanting that song and sing it as long as we could manage to pronouce it. Then when the pain of the beating became too much, then we would lose the power of speech. We would stop that chanting and switch to "Oui Iau Kamuka, Iau Kamuka", which we would utter at every stroke. Curiously, although this translates to the "Mea Culpa" in latin, we did not shout them to admit guilt. We wanted to speak and prolong the time between strokes. Survival instincts. Children just learnt it from one another and practiced it.

It was almost by a curious onomatopoeic echo, that the song had come to me. Of course I knew it had other meanings but first impressions are first impressions. And in my traditional musical culture there is a whole genre of songs that are called "Li-li". Li-li is synonymous with "song" for which other words in the language are: "kakailai", and "liu" etc.

But as I grew older, I started to realise the meaning of the song. I begain to realise the plight of people who had been sent away from home. And one part of me wanted to know why this was necessary. That's when the song again echoed with traditional myths and legends that I had heard as a child.

So there were some convicts? Some criminals? What kind of criminals? 

• Poachers - people who were just hunting animals like I am allowed to do in PNG
• People who destroyed crops - they must have been hungry and they probably took some food from farms
• Political Protestors - people protesting against low wages

These were criminals?

As I grew older I began to hear "Botany Bay" differently. How could a criminal be so homesick? Why this pain from someone "evil" and condemned?

International Events Leading to Transportation

Although the transportation of convicts to Australia was caused by the American Revolution and War of Independence, which denied Great Britain a previous location of transporting its prisoners, it seems that the main reason for the mass transportation of prisoners to Australia was the looming threat of invasion of Great Britain by the French especially Napoleon, during the time of wars in Europe around 1790.

Perhaps for a protestant monarchy in Great Britain, the threat of a French (Catholic) invasion was too great to face. Any civil unrest at home had to be eliminated efficiently and the best solution that the monarchy could do was to remove any elements of society that might weaken its resolve from within. 

It is not surprising that many of the transported criminals from the gaols and the hulks were of Irish descent. It is said that 9 out of every 10 prisoners in the Irish gaols were catholic. 

As the monarchies in the surrounding countries in Europe prepared for war, a war eventually known as the Napoleonic Wars, and primarily intended to restore the monarchy in France, following the French Revolution, the transportation of rebels, protestors and criminals to Botany Bay became underway before the total outbreak of that particular series of wars.

Botany Bay

Somewhere during that period of constant war in Europe, people found themselves being condemned and transported from their homes and loved ones. It was that traumatic period and condition that gave birth to this song.

Here is "Botany Bay" heard again, this time through the very beautiful voice of Mirusia Louwerse.