A tippy-tappy-toe
February 24, 2007 11:42 PM   Subscribe

The Karbis of Assam, and their sprightly dance.
posted by hadjiboy (6 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
This thread is useless without MP3s.

Joking, of course. Still, I sure do wish there were some audio clips to be found somewhere. Reading this from one of the links:

"Their traditional songs whether folk or religious, are generally sung by experts only who are not only well conversant with their meaning but are also endowed with sweet voices. During the performance of the cremation rites and the performance of the death ceremony, only a professional weeper called UCHEPI is allowed the sing a melancholy song called Sarhe.

A big drum called Cheng is their main musical instrument. It is generally played by a master drummer called Duihudi. They also use small drums called Chengbruk. They have two kinds of flutes, the wooden flute is called Muri and bamboo flute is called Pangche."


First off, any culture that claims a drum as their main musical instrument is just way OK with me. And professional weepers? Gotta hear that, too.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 1:42 AM on February 25, 2007


just 5 or so years ago, we were still grateful we could read about other countries adn cultures on the world wide web and feel a sense of connection. today we take it for granted that we can experience so much more of their culture in the comfort of our own homes.
posted by infini at 2:13 AM on February 25, 2007


just 5 or so years ago, we were still grateful we could read about other countries adn cultures on the world wide web and feel a sense of connection. today we take it for granted that we can experience so much more of their culture in the comfort of our own homes.

Personally, I've been grateful to be able to read about other countries and cultures in books and/or magazines since around the early seventies, that is, decades before the world wide web came into being. I've just as long been an ardent seeker of and listener to recorded music from all over the world, in the form of LPs, cassettes and much later, MP3s and other audio files via the web. I don't know if I ever took it "for granted", exactly: actually, I've always felt pretty grateful to be able to hear so much music from the far-flung corners of the world "in the comfort" of my own home. (Even though my homes weren't always necessarily all that comfortable!) So, I don't take it for granted. Still wanna hear it, though.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:02 AM on February 25, 2007


Fascinating post Hadjiboy, for someone like me who only knows Assam as a tea-producing region.
Many cultures through the world have professional "Keeners" at funerals (which is what we call them).
I remember being terrified the first time I heard one.
posted by Wilder at 4:00 AM on February 25, 2007


This thread is useless without MP3s.

Heh, yeah—I know what you mean.
I was actually searching for some videos of Karbi Dance and couldn’t find any on YouTube, Google or Yahoo. I didn’t bother to look under the different types of Dance, like the Bamboo Dance, which is quite popular, and the one linked to here is a Vietnamese version of it, even though it’s performed in Indonesia and Malaysia as well. Also, children performing it somewhere (it says India, but I’m not sure).
posted by hadjiboy at 6:06 AM on February 25, 2007


hadjiboy, you are fast becoming one of my favorite posters.
posted by madamjujujive at 6:36 PM on February 25, 2007


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