“Desafinado“, a Portuguese word, usually rendered into English as “out of tune”, or as “off key”, is the title of a bossa nova song composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim with lyrics by Newton Mendonça.
“Out of tune” could be defined as the correct musical sound is not played or sung and in a state in which people do not agree with or understand one another (source: merriam-webster)
“Desafinado” bossa nova song was originally a response to critics who claimed that bossa nova was a new genre for singers who can’t sing or who sing out of tune.
João Gilberto innovated by using two microphones to record, one for the voice and one for the guitar. This way, the armony became more clearly heard. Until then, songs were recorded with only one microphone, emphasizing the voice to de detriment of the guitar. With this innovation, voice and guitar could complete equally, if the voice maintained a natural intensity.
Western altered tunings
Scordatura, an Italian word for “mistuning”, is an altered tuning, different from the normal, standard tuning. Scordatura was much used by classical composers including J.S.Bach, Vivaldi, Camille Saint-Saëns or Béla Bartók. The “out of tune” meaning was substituted for scordatura as convenience.
When western formal conscious defines something, a song, a voice, an idea, a cultural identity…. out of tune it means that the same conscious doesn’t agree or considers that it doesn’t match, so it’s culturally and socially rejected.
Just make me sound good!!!!
No one needs pitch correction Auto-tune; civilizations were certainly capable of making music without it. But as audio professionals, our goal is not to further any personal agenda but to deliver a wonderful experience to the people who listen to music.
prosoundnetwork.com
What is the point of music?
Natya Shastra is a Sanskrit text of performing arts, it dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE. The text consists of poetic verses describing performance arts and it asserts as a primary goal transporting the individual in the audience into another parallel reality, full of wonder, where he experiences the essence of his own consciousness, and reflects on spiritual and moral questions.
The liberation of a being from his/her narrow self and become one with the universal consciousness or Being
Natya Shastra
Nitin Sawhney draws on his own personal experiences of music, Indian musical thought, dance, theatre, cultural identity, the concepts of a “universal sound” and the individuals unique “voice”
‘World music’ is a crazy term; it’s another way to marginalize and generalize music from other cultures that people don’t want to give an equal platform to – an excuse for apartheid in record shops. If it’s a fair term, why isn’t all music called ‘world music’?” he says. “‘World music’ is about trying to reduce a movement towards a greater understanding of culture to a fad or fashion. Source: Shawhney’s interview
“Music is a place without prejudice,” he insists. “It’s not subject to the same insecurities that we have in language, because language is something that everyone uses and it’s the tool of education and manipulation. Music can be as abstract or literal as you want it to be. Its form defies attempts to manipulate it by people who try to dictate or control the colonization of the mind. It’s also a fantastic place to escape to. I find that music is a great place for sanctuary and also it’s a very free place to express yourself as who you are and not as other people expect you or are trying to dictate you to be. I find it a powerful and empowering place to be in. I’ve learnt everything I know about humanity through music.
Note : This post is inspired from Nitin Sawhney Beyond the skin album
Featured image: wildlife
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