Meklit Hadero: The unexpected beauty of everyday sounds
Meklit Hadero: A beleza inesperada dos sons quotidianos
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
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
or, as I like to call them,
influências, ou como gosto de lhes chamar,
and hip hop that I grew up with,
que ouvi enquanto crescia,
dos meus antepassados
on my childhood radio stations.
na rádio durante minha infância.
there is another question:
há outra questão:
que escutamos diariamente
influence the music that we make?
que o fundo sonoro do dia-a-dia
inspiration for songwriting,
inspiração para compor.
a little bit more closely,
um pouco mais de perto,
about three things:
of true silence.
de verdadeiro silêncio.
a sense of a world
o sentido de um mundo
as active participants,
como participante ativo,
but before we do that,
mas antes de fazer isso,
of an opera singer warming up.
de um cantor de ópera a preparar-se.
of an opera singer warming up.
de ópera a preparar-se.
recognizes as its own.
a reconhecem como um som humano.
1987 Hungarian recording
de Peter Szöke, em 1987, na Hungria,
and slows down their pitches
a um ritmo mais lento.
velocidade normal.
justapor as duas.
were inspired by birdsong.
no canto dos pássaros.
to be our musical teachers.
pássaros como nossos professores de música
are considered an integral part
uma parte fundamental
was born in the Empire of Aksum,
no Império de Axum,
da antiguidade.
of the ancient world.
his father died,
o pai dele morreu,
with an uncle, who was a priest
com um tio, que era padre
of scholarship and learning,
de bolsas de estudo e aprendizagem,
and study and study,
e estudar, e estudar.
sob uma árvore,
became his teachers.
tornaram-se nos seus professores.
— escalas, na verdade.
recognized as Saint Yared,
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,
para o que hoje 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 aspetos.
real, histórica,
a nossa professora de música.
can be our musical teacher.
tune their instruments
os seus instrumentos
in the forest around them.
pássaros na floresta.
expert Bernie Krause describes
Bernie Krause, descreve
has animals and insects
possui animais e insetos
and high-frequency bands,
médias e altas
as a symphony does.
were inspired by bird and forest song.
inspirados por pássaros e sons da floresta
a professora de cultura.
can be our cultural teacher.
human world of language.
universo humano da linguagem.
with pitch to varying degrees,
num timbre de vários níveis,
gives the same phonetic syllable
dá à mesma sílaba fonética
at the end of a sentence ...
no fim de uma frase
of Amharic, Amhariña.
the language of my parents,
a língua dos meus pais,
Etiópia.
to fall in love with this language:
para nos apaixonarmos por esta língua:
as suas ambiguidades,
its double entendres,
o seu humor,
the wisdom and follies of life.
a sabedoria e as loucuras da vida.
a musicality built right in.
uma musicalidade construída ali.
emphatic language --
de linguagem enfática,
to highlight or underline
ou sublinhar
in the audience,
something like "No!"
"Não acredito!"
this was my very favorite word,
essa era a minha palavra favorita,
as it springs from someone's mouth.
enquanto 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"
algo assim começa na minha cabeça:
through my mind.
what I did was I took the melody
o que eu fiz foi pegar na melodia
dessas palavras e expressões
of those words and phrases
to use in these short compositions.
para usá-las nestas pequenas composições.
kind of as bass lines.
em linhas do baixo.
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,
na minha cabeça desde criança,
to each other and to us.
e connosco.
and from Amhariña that I learned
amárico que aprendi
de expressões musicais
em cada frase que dizemos,
every sentence that we speak,
that we receive.
em cada frase que ouvimos.
in the words I'm speaking even now.
nas palavras que estou a pronunciar agora.
EUA dos anos 50.
of 20th century avant-garde composition:
do século XX, 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 sai da própria audiência:
os sussurros, os espirros
their whispers, their sneezes,
of the floors and the walls
do chão e das paredes
creaking and groaning
rangendo e gemendo,
que também contribuem.
and even controversial though it remains,
e controverso ainda permaneça,
essa coisa de verdadeiro silêncio.
such thing as true silence.
we still hear and feel the sound
nós ainda podemos ouvir e sentir o som
with musical expression.
let's say, remixing John Cage
digamos, recombinar John Cage
in front of the stove cooking lentils.
do fogão a cozinhar lentilhas.
and it was time to stir,
e estava na hora de mexer a panela.
the kitchen counter next to me,
da bancada ao meu lado.
para frente e para trás
clanking against a counter)
that cooking pan lid has."
que esta tampa faz."
prontas e as comemos,
of the lid, and singing)
a instruir os músicos
wasn't instructing musicians
for sonic textures to turn into music.
e a transformá-las em música.
and human hearing expert Charles Limb
e especialista em audição, Charles Limb,
actually evolved to hear music,
tenha evoluído para ouvir música
than it needs to be for language alone.
o necessário para entender uma língua.
para ouvir música,
as a musical desert,
não existe,
hanging out at the oasis,
no oásis.
but it's already playing.
mas ela já está a tocar.
"Não estudem música"
and enjoy that exploration.
linhagens sonoras e apreciem essa procura.
to which we all belong.
a que todos nós pertencemos.
percussion inspiration,
a procurar inspiração,
aos pneus do carro,
as they roll over the unusual grooves
por sulcos fora de comum da estrada,
and dusk avian orchestras
da madrugada e do amanhecer
of emphatic language.
linguagem enfática.
and we are the composers
somos os compositores.
que nos são dados.
or language or soundscape,
ou da linguagem ou dos sons ambientes,
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