Simon's "Music of the Americas"

 How It's Made: Have you ever seen the show How It's Made? Spoiler alert: it's an entire show telling you how things are made. In our Music of Diverse Cultures Class, we were discussing some of the traditional instruments used in South America. One of them was the charango, which our professor graciously pointed out was (traditionally) made from dead armadillos. It got me thinking, how is the rest of the instrument made? What about other traditional instruments like the panpipe (also known as la antara, or siku)? I did some digging and discovered that not only was the shell made of armadillo, the strings of the charango were made from animal tendons, as pointed out in this article. There was another website that I visited to learn more about the charango, but ended up being educated on armadillos and their defense mechanisms. Did you know there are at least 20 species of these hard-bodied creatures? As I mentioned before, I also became incredibly curious about how panpipes were made. They actually seem pretty straightforward once you get the motions down, as you can see in the video below. Wayra Nan, a maker of 32 different instruments, guides us through his process. You too could be an instrument maker - all you need is straws, scissors, clay and something to hold the straws together!

Native American Vocal Technique: As a musician, I am constantly listening and analyzing sounds around me, even if it isn't music. More specifically, as a singer, I analyze voices. If you've ever talked or sung around me, it's a safe bet that I have made conclusions about your voice. Needless to say, when we started exploring Native American music, I noticed two things right off the bat: the rhythm of their music, and their voices! Because so much of their music is communal, the melodies are not overly complicated, and are small in range. However, that does not mean that you are equipped to sing them. If I tried employing some of the technique that Native American singers do, I would either die of a heart attack or my voice teacher would kill me; not sure which one would happen first. One of the foundational things we learn as singers is to simply let the air flow, and allow your voice to do what it's going to do. Native American vocalists approach singing differently. As you will read in this article, Native Americans rely heavily on the strength of the muscles in their voice, and less on air flow. You can observe the very muscular sound in the video below:

Teach Me How to Dougie: When it comes to Native American culture and music, how can you not mention their dances? Such energy, such reverence to nature, such vibrancy cannot go unnoticed. I had the opportunity to witness a traditional Native American dancer in Cherokee, North Carolina and the amount of stamina it took to perform the way he did was staggering. Because dancing is such an integral part of their culture, Native Americans don't just stick to one dance in one setting to one song. Nay, they have many different dances for different occasions. Are we dancing for fun? Or are we honoring Mother Earth? Are we around a fire, or are we in an open plane? Is it just one person, or are we in a group? What are we wearing? Read all about it here. I also invite you to watch the video below, which is a prime example of traditional Native American dance (notice the woman's dress and how it's a part of the music).

And because I now have it stuck in my head, you get to listen to "Teach Me How To Dougie":