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The didgeridoo is a wind instrument, played with continuously vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by Aboriginal peoples of northern Australia at least 1,500 years ago, and is now in use around the world, though still most strongly associated with Indigenous Australian music. The Yolŋu name for the instrument is the yiḏaki, or more recently by some, mandapul; in the Bininj Kunwok language of West Arnhem Land it is known as mako.
The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his colleague Baldwin Spencer and thereafter popularised by A. P. Elkin, who, however, later revised his views. The Dreaming is used to represent Aboriginal concepts of Everywhen during which the land was inhabited by ancestral figures, often of heroic proportions or with supernatural abilities. These figures were often distinct from gods as they did not control the material world and were not worshipped, but only revered. The concept of the Dreamtime has subsequently become widely adopted beyond its original Australian context and is now part of global popular culture.
The Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) is an organisation founded in 1980 to expose Aboriginal music and culture to the rest of Australia. Based in Alice Springs, the organisation is particularly focused on the involvement of the local Indigenous community in its production. CAAMA is involved in radio, television and recorded music.
Indigenous music of Australia comprises the music of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia, intersecting with their cultural and ceremonial observances, through the millennia of their individual and collective histories to the present day. The traditional forms include many aspects of performance and musical instrumentation that are unique to particular regions or Aboriginal Australian groups; and some elements of musical tradition are common or widespread through much of the Australian continent, and even beyond. The music of the Torres Strait Islanders is related to that of adjacent parts of New Guinea. Music is a vital part of Indigenous Australians' cultural maintenance.
The Yolngu or Yolŋu are an aggregation of Aboriginal Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Yolngu means "person" in the Yolŋu languages. The terms Murngin, Wulamba, Yalnumata, Murrgin and Yulangor were formerly used by some anthropologists for the Yolngu.
Blekbala Mujik are an Australian rock, reggae group formed in Barunga, Northern Territory in 1986. They fused rock and reggae with a pop, dance sound and have support base for their live shows and recordings. They are cited in the World Music: The Rough Guide as next best known to Yothu Yindi. The band sings in English and in Kriol. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1996 their album, Blekbala Mujik, was nominated for Best Indigenous Release.
Coloured Stone is a band from the Koonibba Mission, west of Ceduna, South Australia. Their sound has been described as having a unique feel and Aboriginal qualities. The band performs using guitar, bass, drums, and Aboriginal instruments – didjeridu, bundawuthada and clap sticks – to play traditional music such as the haunting "Mouydjengara", a whale-dreaming song of the Mirning people.
The Jawoyn, also written Djauan, are an Australian Aboriginal people living in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Bagala clan are of the Jawoyn people.
Australian Aboriginal culture includes a number of practices and ceremonies centered on a belief in the Dreamtime and other mythology. Reverence and respect for the land and oral traditions are emphasised. Over 300 Languages and other groupings have developed a wide range of individual cultures. Due the colonization of Australia under terra nullius concept these cultures were treated as one monoculture. Australian Aboriginal art has existed for thousands of years and ranges from ancient rock art to modern watercolour landscapes. Aboriginal music has developed a number of unique instruments. Contemporary Australian Aboriginal music spans many genres. Aboriginal peoples did not develop a system of writing before colonisation, but there was a huge variety of languages, including sign languages.
Lajamanu Teenage Band are a rock band from Lajamanu, a town located about 600 km to the north of Yuendumu. The members are Warlpiri and their songs are sung in Warlpiri and English. They are popular in the Aboriginal communities. Their album Vision was nominated for an Aria Award for Best World Music Album.
Letterstick Band are a band from north-east Arnhem Land in Australia. The members are from the An-Barra Clan on the coast near Maningrida. They are named after the wooden tools on which messages are carved to communicate between places. They play a mixture of reggae and rock that has been called saltwater rock and they sing in English and in Arnhem Land languages.
North Tanami Band are a reggae/ska band from Lajamanu, a town located about 600 km to the north of Yuendumu. The members are Warlpiri and their songs are sung in Warlpiri and English. They were the subjects of the documentary The Traveling Warlpiris (1992).
Blackfire were an Australian Indigenous band. They were formed in late 1992 and disbanded in 1999. The original members were Bradley Brown, Selwyn Burns, Kutcha Edwards, Grant Hansen and Kelli McGuinness. They released two albums, A Time to Dream (1994) and the Paul Hester produced Night Vision (1998).
Ilkari Maru is a Central Australian Indigenous band from the 1980s. They played country rock music and sing in English and Pitjantjatjara. They released two albums through CAAMA Music, Ilkari Maru (1984) and Lightning Strikes (1987).
Kulumindini Band are an aboriginal rock band from Elliott, Northern Territory. They are named after a Jingili dreaming site. The members are Jingili-Mudbura people and they sing in both Mudbura and English. In 2008 they were inducted into the hall of fame at the NT Indigenous Music Awards.
Amunda are a rock band from Alice Springs formed in 1985. The band's name is based on Mbantua, the Arrernte word for meeting place, which is associated with the spring at Heavitree Gap in the MacDonnell Ranges at Alice Springs.
"We Have Survived" is a song originally performed by No Fixed Address. It was composed by Bart Willoughby when he was 18. It first appeared in the film Wrong Side of the Road and on its soundtrack and was later included on No Fixed Address's album From My Eyes. It has since been included in The Black Arm Bands concert murundak.
Wild Water is a band which plays a mix of reggae, rock, dub and funk. They sing in Brarra, Kriol and English. They call their music "saltwater style". Wild Water has toured nationally and released two albums, Baltpa and Rrawa. Members of the band come from around Australia and internationally.
Our Home, Our Land is a compilation album released in Australia by CAAMA in 1995. It was released to celebrate the victory in the Mabo case. It focused on the importance of land to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander beliefs. It was nominated for a 1996 ARIA Award for Best Indigenous Release.
From the Bush is a compilation album of Australian Indigenous bands released in Australia by CAAMA in 1990. It was nominated for a 1991 ARIA Award for Best Indigenous Release.
References
- Dunbar-Hall, Peter; Chris Gibson (2004). Deadly Sounds, Deadly Places. Contemporary Aboriginal Music in Australia. University of New South Wales Press. ISBN 9780868406220.
- Dunbar-Hall, Peter (2006). "'We have survived': popular music as a representation of Australian Aboriginal cultural loss and reclamation". In Ian Peddie (ed.). The Resisting Muse: Popular Music and Social Protest. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 122–131. ISBN 9780754651147.
- Cultural Dissent, Green Left Weekly issue #290 17 September 1997 The sound of Arnhem Land, Dreamtime Wisdom Modern Time Vision review
- Music Australia Dreamtime shadow
- Music Australia Dreamtime wisdom modern time vision
