Meklit Hadero: The unexpected beauty of everyday sounds
Meklit Hadero: A beleza surpreendente dos sons cotidianos
Meklit Hadero is an Ethiopian-American singer-songwriter living the cultural in-between, both in her own luminous compositions and as a co-founder of the Nile Project. Full bio
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or, as I like to call them,
influências ou, como gosto de chamá-las,
and hip hop that I grew up with,
e pelo hip-hop que cresci ouvindo,
on my childhood radio stations.
que ouvia no rádio na infância.
there is another question:
influenciam a música que fazemos?
influence the music that we make?
inspiration for songwriting,
inspiração para compor.
a little bit more closely,
um pouco mais essa ideia,
about three things:
of true silence.
do verdadeiro silêncio.
a sense of a world
o gostinho de um mundo
as active participants,
but before we do that,
mas, antes de fazer isso,
de ópera aquecendo a voz.
of an opera singer warming up.
of an opera singer warming up.
de ópera aquecendo a voz.
recognizes as its own.
reconhecem como seu próprio som.
1987 Hungarian recording
de Peter Szöke, em 1987, na Hungria,
and slows down their pitches
e diminuiu a rotação
para que o cérebro consiga associá-las.
were inspired by birdsong.
se inspirado no canto dos pássaros.
to be our musical teachers.
os pássaros como professores de música.
are considered an integral part
considerados parte fundamental
was born in the Empire of Aksum,
um menino no Império de Axum,
of the ancient world.
his father died,
o pai morreu,
with an uncle, who was a priest
com um tio, que era padre
of scholarship and learning,
de bolsas de estudo e ensino,
and study and study,
à sombra de uma árvore,
became his teachers.
se tornaram seus professores.
recognized as Saint Yared,
conhecido como Santo Yared,
five volumes of chants and hymns
cinco volumes de cantos e hinos
to compose and to create
into what is known as kiñit,
é conhecido como "kiñit",
modal system that is very much alive
de cinco notas, que está muito vivo
in Ethiopia today.
na Etiópia de hoje.
it's true at multiple levels.
é verdadeira em muitos aspectos.
real, histórica,
can be our musical teacher.
nossa professora de música.
tune their instruments
afinam seus instrumentos
in the forest around them.
expert Bernie Krause describes
em paisagem musical,
possui animais e insetos
has animals and insects
and high-frequency bands,
baixas, médias e altas,
as a symphony does.
were inspired by bird and forest song.
no som dos pássaros e da floresta.
can be our cultural teacher.
nossa professora cultural.
human world of language.
universo humano da linguagem.
with pitch to varying degrees,
cheio de variações,
gives the same phonetic syllable
dá à mesma sílaba fonética
seja uma língua como o inglês,
at the end of a sentence ...
no fim da frase
"implica uma pergunta?"
of Amharic, Amhariña.
the language of my parents,
a língua dos meus pais,
to fall in love with this language:
para nos apaixonar por essas línguas:
its double entendres,
the wisdom and follies of life.
a sabedoria e as loucuras da vida.
a musicality built right in.
uma musicalidade inerente.
emphatic language --
de linguagem enfática,
to highlight or underline
para evidenciar ou enfatizar
in the audience,
something like "No!"
ou "Não é possível!".
this was my very favorite word,
essa era a minha palavra favorita,
as it springs from someone's mouth.
quando surge nos lábios de alguém.
when I hear that word,
quando ouço essa palavra,
is floating through my mind.
for "It is right" or "It is correct" --
para "Está certo" ou "Está correto":
Quando ouço essa frase,
through my mind.
what I did was I took the melody
o que fiz foi pegar a melodia
of those words and phrases
to use in these short compositions.
para usá-las nessas pequenas composições.
ambas terminam em linhas do baixo.
kind of as bass lines.
of Jason Moran and others
de Jason Moran e outros,
with music and language,
com música e linguagem,
in my head since I was a kid,
tive na cabeça desde criança,
to each other and to us.
and from Amhariña that I learned
every sentence that we speak,
em cada frase que dizemos,
that we receive.
em cada frase que ouvimos.
que estou pronunciando agora.
in the words I'm speaking even now.
para os EUA dos anos 1950.
of 20th century avant-garde composition:
a composição experimental:
or combination of instruments.
ou combinação de instrumentos.
to walk onto the stage
são convidados a subir ao palco
by the Museum of Modern Art --
pelo Museu de Arte Moderna.
a single note written
sequer uma nota escrita
when there are no strings
não há cordas dedilhadas
or hands hammering piano keys,
still there is music,
that arises from the audience themselves:
que emerge da própria audiência:
their whispers, their sneezes,
os sussurros, os espirros,
of the floors and the walls
creaking and groaning
rangendo e gemendo,
and even controversial though it remains,
e ainda seja,
such thing as true silence.
essa coisa de verdadeiro silêncio.
we still hear and feel the sound
ainda podemos ouvir e sentir a batida
with musical expression.
let's say, remixing John Cage
de, digamos, rearranjar John Cage
in front of the stove cooking lentils.
cozinhando lentilhas.
and it was time to stir,
de mexer a panela.
the kitchen counter next to me,
para frente e para trás,
clanking against a counter)
that cooking pan lid has."
e legal tem esta tampa".
ficaram prontas e as comemos,
of the lid, and singing)
que inclui o som da tampa)
wasn't instructing musicians
for sonic textures to turn into music.
e a transformá-las em música.
and human hearing expert Charles Limb
cirurgião e especialista em audição,
tenha evoluído para ouvir música,
actually evolved to hear music,
than it needs to be for language alone.
do que entender uma língua.
as a musical desert,
hanging out at the oasis,
but it's already playing.
sonora, mas ela já está tocando.
and enjoy that exploration.
sonoras e apreciem essa busca.
to which we all belong.
a algum tipo de linhagem sonora.
percussion inspiration,
buscando inspiração,
as they roll over the unusual grooves
em diferentes superfícies na estrada,
and dusk avian orchestras
de pássaros de madrugada e ao amanhecer
da linguagem enfática.
of emphatic language.
and we are the composers
que nos são dados.
or language or soundscape,
ou da linguagem ou dos sons ambiente,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Meklit Hadero - Singer-songwriterMeklit Hadero is an Ethiopian-American singer-songwriter living the cultural in-between, both in her own luminous compositions and as a co-founder of the Nile Project.
Why you should listen
Meklit Hadero's music is imbued with poetry and multiplicity, from hybridized sounds of Tizita (haunting and nostalgic music) drawing from her Ethiopian heritage, to the annals of jazz, folk songs and rock & roll. Hadero describes her music as emanating from “in-between spaces,” and the result is a smoky, evocative world peopled by strong bass, world instruments and her soothing voice.
In the Nile Project, founded along with Egyptian ethnomusicologist Mina Girgis, Hadero set out to explore the music of the Nile basin, pulling influences from countries along the river, from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, and finally to Egypt. The project brings together hip-hop, traditional and contemporary music, with instruments and traditions old and new. As she says, "My work on a lot of levels is about multiplicity." Their new record is Aswan.
About her own music, here's what people say:
“Soulful, tremulous and strangely cinematic, Meklit’s voice will implant scenes in your mind — a softly lit supperclub, a Brooklyn stoop, a sun-baked road. Close your eyes, listen and dream." -- Seattle Times
"Meklit… combines N.Y. jazz with West Coast folk and African flourishes, all bound together by her beguiling voice, which is part sunshine and part cloudy day.” -- Filter Magazine
Meklit Hadero | Speaker | TED.com