Punjabi Music Bhangra - Essay Example

? Punjabi Music; Bhangra Introduction Bhangra music is a genre that was developed in the 1980s in England. It entails both folk and classical music from various western regions as well as the Punjab region of India. Some people refer to Bhangra as a kind of dance since it was earlier used as a celebratory folk dance that meant spring or Vaisakhi was nearby (David, 2011). Concerning India’s partition, members from the different partitions started to interact and mix their varied form of Bhangra. This mixture resulted in a hybrid form of Bhangra that in cooperated many different styles. Some people also referred Bhangra as a folk dance. It is dated to begin as folk dance in 11th century by Punjabi farmers celebrating forthcoming of their seasonal harvests. The various moves used in Bhangra of this form depicted how the farmers farmed their land (David, 2011). It is then that this hybrid dance emerged to become Bhangra. Later, the folk dance was popularized in the West by Punjabi musicians. Today, Bhangra dance exists in many different forms and styles including in film sound tracks, pop music, cultural shows and collegiate competitions (Clint & Jasject, 2009). Bhangra music In late 1960s and early 1970, Bhangra music was popularized greatly in the United Kingdom by many Punjabi bands. Example of music bands existing in those times were The Jambo boys, The Black mist and the Saathies. It was their success that created a fan base and inspired more new artists (David, 2011). These bands used to get a lot of support from both Indian Punjab and the Pakistani. This led to the creation of an alternative to Hindi film music and Ounjabi folk singers Punjabi. Some artists that are still alive today include Alaap band, Apna Sangeet, Heera Group, Chiraq Pehchan and the new pardesi music machine. After 1994, some bands dissolved due to the introduction of electronic Dj loop sampling and dhol drum (Clint & Jaskect, 2009). In the 1980s (Big Bhangra) Punjabi Immigrants invented Bhangra music in the 1980s after taking the folk sound from their home country and started experimenting on it by altering it by using instruments from other countries. The Bhangra music quickly gained popularity in Britain and by so, replacing the Punjabi folk singers (David, 2011). This was made possible by the music in cooperating aspects of rock sounds in their music. Since rock music was popular at that time in Britain, that incorporation really assisted it to get more fans. Bhangra music by in cooperating rock sounds signaled the development of a distinctively rebellious and self conscious Asian Youth culture .That time, young Asians in Britain associated themselves more with Bhangra music as it depicted the need to want to become free from expressing themselves (David, 2011). At that time, there was wide silent rebellion by the Asians in British and they expressed it through gestures, language, bodily signification, and many ways. Such times, there was racism and the Asian people never wanted to be discriminated nor alienated, and so Punjabi music, gave them a sense of pride and identity in such hard times. In the 1980s, some Bhangra artists sold many record labels even some made their way to the Top 40 UK chart. These times, the melody was played out using a harmonium or a guitar and the composer received as much attention from the fans like the (David, 2011). It was during this time that the very first Bhangra boy band, Sahotas, composed of 5 brothers from the UK emerged. It was evident that their music was a mixture of Bhangra, dance and rock. The Golden Star UK was one of the biggest Bhangra stars of that era. Its lead singer, Malkit was mentored by Proffessor Inderjit Singh and improved his skills in Bhangra dancing and Punjabi folk singing while in College. In 1983, from his hit song,” Gurh Naloo ishq Mitha”, he won a gold medal and later in cooperated it in his album, Nach Gidhe Wich that was released in 1984.This album was a strong hit among South Asians (David, 2011). Another group, Alaap, led by Channi Singh, became famous in 1982 after releasing their album Teri Chunni De Sitaray plus creating a stir by their white scarf that associated to the Punjabi region. This album created an interest in Bhangra among Asian students from universities especially those in Britain (Omar, 2000). Also in the 1980s, Heera band fronted by Dhami and Kumar was also popular. The group had diehard fans that could do anything to hear their music played (“Heera Band”, 2011). The group produced the album Jag Wala Mela that was among one of the first Bhangra albums to mix Punjabi synthesizers and Punjabi drums with the traditional British instruments successfully. Bands like Heera and Alaap incorporated rock beats into Bhangra music and this made many Asian youth to get positivity in it since they were able to gain identify from them (“Heera Band”, 2011). In this era, Bhangra art was also developed and like the music, represented a rebellious attitude the Indian continent expressed. In the 1990s Bhangra became more popular in the early 1990s among the youths. Bands like Sahotas, The new pardesi music machine, Anamika and Achanak moved away from the older generation ways of performing in community events and weddings and popularized their music (“Answers.com”, n.d.). Their attempt to bring Bhangra music to western audience was a tremendous step since they popularized this genre (Clint & Jasject, n.d.). Bands like Sahotas and Punjabi by Nature are other example of such bands that broke the monotony of Bhangra being performed at Indian community events by going global (John, 1998). Tony Singh, the songwriter/singer in PBN singer/songwriter in PBN is reported to have said, "I wanted to take sound and culture out.” Mid 1990s In the mid 1990, some artists returned to the original, traditional folk beats and tried to incorporate tumbi and dhol drums. This time, many young Punjabi folk singers also emerged. In addition, they were also assisted by djs who mixed Bhangra, hip hop samples to create sweeter music. From this, it was evident that the Bhangra music was not stagnant and wanted to change with time to maintain its audience (David, 2011). Around 1994, the use of hip hop sample, folk instruments, together with inexpensive folk vocals from Punjab somehow made to the abolishment of Bhangra music. People like Punjabi MC and Bally Sagoo pioneered greatly DJs instrumentation that led to the destruction of Bhangra. These Djs found out remixing folk singers from India was inexpensive compared from working with Bhangra bands (Clint & Jasject, n.d.). There music sold out to many, a good example is Folk and Funky that emerged to be one of the best selling. Bhangra music then started becoming less popular by the end of 1990s. Amar Chamkila and Surjit Bindrakhia are among one of the folk singers that contributed greatly in killing Bhangra (Clint & Jasject, 2009). In 2010, a stage musical Britain's Got Bhangra was produced by Rifco Arts and narrated how Bhangra arrived and developed in UK. This was the first ever Bhangra musical show and made use of dholak, live dhol, tabla, plus traditional folk melodies. It also in cooperated Summet Chopra original score together with some rap, pop and R& B (“Hackney empire”, 2011). Bhangra dance and Instruments Bhangra sound is made by a combination of many instruments. The common instruments were the sarangi, tumbi, dhol, keyboard, strings and other drums. The drum set was the most important item and defines Bhangra (“Bhangra instruments”, 2009). It was played by beating two sticks and pedals were played with foot snaar (treble end) and (bass end). String instruments included the bass, tumbi, sitar, violin, tumbi and guitar. The toms, snare, dhad, damru and dholki are other drums used for Bhangra (“Bhangra history”, 2009). Importance of Bhangra Bhangra was mainly created to create an identity in times where racism and discrimination were the order of the day. The Asian people at that time associated themselves as part of an ongoing rebellion against their oppression and expressed it not only via Bhangra music. Bhangra followers have a sense of identity (Clint & Jasject, 2009). As a movement, Bhangra music also managed to gain international recognition. Bhangra Lyrics These lyrics are always sung in Punjabi language and always cover social aspects like relationships, love, dancing, alcohol and marriage. Furthermore, there are many Bhangra songs composed to praise Punjabi heroes and to depict their Punjabi pride. The lyrics are rich of the cultural traditions practiced by the Punjabis and that depicted their identity. Many Bhangra tracks have also been written about Bhagat Singh and Udham Singh. Minor topics written include songs about beautiful ladies, dancing and drinking. Singers of Bhangra do not sing in same voice like their Southern Asia counterparts, rather, they employ a high, energetic tone in their voices. Contemporary Bhangra Bhangra has become popular today and has taken the entertainment industry by surprise. In the 1970s and 1980s, many Punjabi singers from United Kingdom and Southeast Asia emerged, making to become a new trend in dance music. Modern Bhangra artists, in addition of performing traditional Bhangra and recording songs, have also fused the music with other music genres like reggae, hip-hop, drum-and-bass, hip-hop, reggae, house, and drum-and-bass and house among others (“Indian dances”, n.d.). One of the best contemporary bhangra artists is A S Kang. This artist has continued to produce hit after hit over the years. Notable hits by this artist are Aish karo, Pyar Kardian, Ni Ho, Folk Boliyan, Mitro, Valaiti Boliyan, Mundyan Nu Mardeyai. References Answers.com. (n.d.). Sahotas. Retrieved from http://www.answers.com/topic/sahotas-1 Bhangra history. (2009). Retrieved from http://bhangra-songs.blogspot.com/2009/11/bhangra-history.html Bhangra instruments. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.sohoroadtothepunjab.org/content/view/20/29/ Clint, K. & Jasject, T. (n.d.). Bhangra History: Development of Bhangra. Retrieved from http://www.punjabonline.com/servlet/library.history?Action=Bhangra David, C. (2011). Bhangra: Music and dance from the Punjab. Retrieved from http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/bhangra.html Hackney empire. (2011). Britain’s Got Bhangra. Retrieved from http://www.hackneyempire.co.uk/bhangra Heera Band. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.heera-band.com/ Indian dances. (n.d.). History of Bhangra. Retrieved from http://www.indianetzone.com/44/history_bhangra.htm John, T. (1998). Shaking Rhythm from Punjabi by Nature. Retrieved from http://articles.mcall.com/1998-08-15/news/3212645_1_volksplatz-musikfest-dance Omar, A. (2000). The history of Modern Bhangra Music special. Retrieved from http://www.desiclub.com/desimusic/muzik_newz/muzik_article.cfm?id=27 Read More