Topic: Dance Music - Electronica
Hip Hop was dance music that began by treating turn tables and speakers as musical instruments rather than mere sound reproduction devices. After it merged with text-centric rap, others playing disco combined hip hop’s intensity with synthesizers and drum machines to create music only useful on a dance floor. Jesse Saunders released the first popular House Music recording, "On and On," in Chicago in 1984. [1]
The genre was taken up in Europe where it merged with rave music, then remigrated when promoters realized it was an inexpensive way to fill clubs and sell drinks. The onus was on one man, the DJ, to provide music for four hours from tapes he had made. [2]
Jason Madeira lived the life. His father played keyboard in a Portuguese band in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and worked as a DJ. Jason helped the group at events and honed his technique "practicing the art of djing in his bedroom." He got his first job in Boston in 2007 when he was just 21, then moved to Providence, Rhode Island, in 2009. At the time he was posting to Facebook, he was working steadily at one club in Boston and performing as a "rotating guest DJ" at other places. [3]
He put together a tape of "Kumbaya" in 2014 that spliced together two versions of the song, random distorted voices, and a deep voice that began with "let’s get ready to rum-bullllll." The constant was the drum machine that began alone and continued until the sounded faded at the end. The syncopated rhythm used a loud drum on the down beat, hand drums on the second and third, and a rattle motif.
The first and third vocal repetitions were the usual kumbaya verse sung by a group of girls or children. The second iteration was done by a man with horns playing ascending chords after every phrase. His verbs were distorted, whether because they wouldn’t have passed YouTube’s standards, or because Dera wanted to create that impression.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: unidentified man
Vocal Group: unidentified group
Instrumental Accompaniment: keyboard, brass
Rhythm Accompaniment: drum machine
Credits
None given
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: man used kum-bye-ya; group used koom-by-YAH
Verses: not audible
Vocabulary
Pronoun: no more
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: one-verse song with beginning and ending chorus
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: none
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: fast
Basic Structure: diverse segments over constant drum beat
Singing Style: group sang one syllable to one note in unison; man used some melisma
Instrumental Dynamics: only the drum machine was constant. Other instruments were used in discrete segments.
Notes on Performers
Madeira said on Facebook:
"My life has been dedicated to music. I want to keep it that way. The best feeling in the world is when I look down at the crowd, and everyone is having the time of their life. That’s my job, and i love every minute of it!" [4]
Availability
YouTube: uploaded by Dennis Rahayaan on 18 September 2014.
End Notes
1. Wikipedia. "Electronic Dance Music." Saunders’ record was "On and On." Jes Say Records JS9999. 1984. (Discogs entry for record)
2. Diplo [Thomas Wesley Pentz] described the economics to Philip Sherburne. "The New Rave Generation." Spin website. 14 September 2011.
3. "DJ Dera." Facebook.
4. Dera.
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