Family Music Paper
What is Music? The dictionary defines music as the art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre. Though the meaning of music has never changed, different generations tend to have different taste in music. In most family generations, the interest of music goes through remarkable changes. My family on the other hand; our interest in music seems to be similar. From my grandparents to my parents and my generation, the choice of music is called “Kompa”. Although there were other types of music’s listened to, “kompa” is the majority favorite. One major difference in the “kompa” of yesterday and today is the evolution of technology. With more technology in today’s society, more combinations are put together to expertise the rhythms.
As I take a closer look at “Kompa”, it has evolved from a Mixture of French and African rhythms combined to form the Haitian Flavor of Music. With technology, the instruments have improved over the generations. The market for "kompa" has changed more significantly than the music itself. The music over the years has changed to some degree, but the market for it has changed drastically. The market has changed from being almost non-existent to becoming so powerful that different bands all over the world are forming to get into the business. In some cases bands have had disagreements between each other to gain more of the market shares to sell their music, their concerts and to gain popularity. The most polemic side of the market is the "carnaval" where millions of people come out and party for days. Bands try to make the public their own by having a competition for "carnaval merengue" and also with lyrics attacking other bands. Over the years the lyrics of “Kompa” has become more significant politically, educationally, and also it became a form of speech for many people to speak out to the authorities. Though some musicians have been crucified for what they’ve said in their music, it is still use a way of getting message out to the public.
My grandparents.
My grandparents whom I grew up with until the age of nine are from a combination of Haitian, French, German and Cuban. My Grandfather moved from Cuba to Haiti in the 30’s in which he meet my grandmother. Music to them was never as popular as it is now. Since they reside in Haiti, they would listen to mostly “Kompa”. In their days radios were not as popular or easy to find as it is now. The place they often went to for music was the “bal” (a social gathering in which people danced, eat and tell jokes). The “Bal” is also a place where they would learn new moves and listened to upcoming artist.
Music at the generation of my grandparents was more of a hobby for bands, and most of the members had other occupations. The bands made very few money by selling the few plaques they recorded, but they made a significant amount more of money at the “bal” where they would play. They also played at theaters where people would come sit down and enjoy the music where occasionally a few people would get up and danced in the aisles. The most favorable times for the bands where at the annual parties or fairs held at the center of town on the weekend of its anniversary. In the past since it was so hard to listen to the radio because of unavailability, families would gather together to hear their favorite tunes.
My parents.
My parents were born during the late forties in a town call “Les Cayes, Haiti”. My mother was a teacher/tailor and my father was a tailor and a farmer. They met through social gatherings. They became friends and later in life they became soul mates. They got married when they were in their mid twenties. They had my brother and my sister during their late twenties and me during their early thirties. During the early 80’s my parents moved to Miami where I later joined them.
Before moving to the United States, my parents had their share of music in their native land. During the late sixties, my father was a musician himself. Even though my family was not too much involved into music, my father was the only musician in the entire family. He was the lead singer of a band named “Orquest Les arcet”. As an ex member of a band he often told me that there is no life better than that of a musician in his days. As a young musician in an evolving style of music like “Kompa”, he became real popular in his town. Although I never saw his band played live, he continuously reminds the family of his past by singing his favorite songs to us. My mother was and still is his left side supporter. When I asked my father why he stop singing he told me that it would have been hard for him to become a family man while living that lifestyle.
From my grandparents to my parent’s generation, “Kompa” basically stayed the same with minor changes. The one glaring change was the style of “Kompa” changing to a more Haitian style of music. The Market for the "Kompa" I can say has remained almost unchanged from my grandfather to my fathers' generation. The music albums were sold more than they were during my grandfathers' generation, but the volume was still very small. Even during my Fathers generation the bands would have to work and the bands where still considered hobbies.
Me.
Unlike my parents I grew up in a different culture where “kompa” is only heard by those of Haitian descent. I don’t have a favorite type of music because I believe that there’s good and bad in every style. Depending on the mood that I’m in will depend on what I listen to at the moment. From Rhythm and Blues to Rap and to “Kompa” all of which I like. As for Haitian music, like my parents and grandparents "Kompa" is my favorite. In my generation “Kompa” music I can say has a flavor of meringue and salsa to it, it is danced with a partner and the rhythms are slower than its Spanish counter-part. I like many groups but my favorite band is called "Zin", their lead singer to me has the best voice in the business. Their 'Kompa' is different than the one my mother and father use to listen to. The instruments they use are more modern. The instruments have changed from acoustic guitar, a piano, drums and 'cha-cha'. Now the bands play electronic guitars, drum-machines, bass and organs. The bass and the drum machine set the tempo for the organ that accompanies the voice of the singer.
Now Kompa is listened to all over the world. Like my parents did in the past, the music is listened to at discos where the bands perform live and the public enjoys the music animated by the invited orchestra. The artists make more money in this fashion than they even make by selling their albums, where they make the less money. The animated nights will earn the bands more than twenties of thousands of dollars a night and they play almost twice a week. The most beneficial events for the bands are the two most celebrated times of the year in Haiti. The most celebrated is still the "Carnaval", where the bands animate a couple of million of people on the street of the biggest park in Port-au-Prince called the Champs-de-Mars. Where for three consecutive days the people of the country and visitors from around the world put their worries to the side, and dance to the more aggressive “Kompa” called "Merengue Carnavalesque", drink and eat without even sometimes going home until the end of the third night, to sleep the whole Ash Wednesday. The other time of the year where the band makes a very good considerable amount of money is at Christmas time, when people are again in a more festive mood, and the bands play everyday of the month form the 22nd of December to the 1st of January.
My favorite song in “Kompa” is called “Chocolat” by “Zin”. The title of the song means chocolate, where the group sings about the beauty of life and women. Even though I chose that song, I still think that music has so much to offer and there are nice songs all over the globe. My dealings with music are through schools in the states. One class that I always found myself taken was band class. There I learned to play the trumpet, baritone and the piano. Also I got closer to understanding the different notes of music and their tempo. Today I own a baritone where I practice once in a while and hopefully I will be able to show the next generation how to play it. At the end of all this I can truly say that thanks to my parents and their ancestors hard work to evolve music, we as the new generation are enjoying the various style of music and all it have to offer.
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