11 Sep Siwa Music #2218 By Sahra K. | Music, Siwa Siwa Music #2218 Siwa Oasis Series – May 2019 In 22 years I was never able to hear live music in Siwa Oasis. After 3 trips to Siwa where I stayed in the city center, I read that it is not considered polite to have music or singing in the city unless it was a wedding. Soon after I read that, I met with Tamalyn Dallal who had heard and recorded Siwa music. She confirmed I would have to hear it outside of the city. Luckily in this trip in May, 2019, we stayed two nights outside of the city, and my dream was realized! We stayed at the Taziri Ecolodge where we had no public electricity. In this video you can hear the un-amplified music and singing, our path guided by candlelight. With a couple steps down, we come to a circular sitting area, and listened to actual Siwa men singing and playing music! In this video the line of lights on what looks like the horizon is Siwa city. Between the lights and our seating area is the large salt lake. I had not found the low-light setting on my video camera yet and I did not know how long this experience would last. I have learned in real-time, first-person research you record immediately, don’t wait until things are technically “perfect”. Then take the time to discover the correct settings. 0:10 After we ate an outdoor dinner at dusk, the music started and we followed a path of candles to the seating area. The music was very familiar to me as I had heard the same song and sound on Tamalyn Dallal’s DVD. 0:53 All you can see here is a tour guest clapping. But you can hear the preparation of the rhythm for a rhythm change at 1:05 1:05 Rhythm change; often with this rhythmic change the Siwa male performers would get up and dance, if they weren’t dancing already. Sorry you can’t see anything but a single candle. 1:28 Man shouting with the rhythm. 1:32 Chorus singing. 2:05 Clip edit; can see dancing. The Siwa men have encouraged members of our group to dance. This style of dance is for tourists, where it is also gender mixed. In actual Siwa custom men and women would not dance together, nor even be at the same party. 2:31 It is not easy to see the dancing, but now and then you can see the 3 drummers seated behind the dancers. 3:07 The melody instrument musician can barely be seen between the dancers. He is sitting between the drummers to his left, and the men clapping/dancing to his right. Read More
Siwa Music #2218 Siwa Oasis Series – May 2019 In 22 years I was never able to hear live music in Siwa Oasis. After 3 trips to Siwa where I stayed in the city center, I read that it is not considered polite to have music or singing in the city unless it was a wedding. Soon after I read that, I met with Tamalyn Dallal who had heard and recorded Siwa music. She confirmed I would have to hear it outside of the city. Luckily in this trip in May, 2019, we stayed two nights outside of the city, and my dream was realized! We stayed at the Taziri Ecolodge where we had no public electricity. In this video you can hear the un-amplified music and singing, our path guided by candlelight. With a couple steps down, we come to a circular sitting area, and listened to actual Siwa men singing and playing music! In this video the line of lights on what looks like the horizon is Siwa city. Between the lights and our seating area is the large salt lake. I had not found the low-light setting on my video camera yet and I did not know how long this experience would last. I have learned in real-time, first-person research you record immediately, don’t wait until things are technically “perfect”. Then take the time to discover the correct settings. 0:10 After we ate an outdoor dinner at dusk, the music started and we followed a path of candles to the seating area. The music was very familiar to me as I had heard the same song and sound on Tamalyn Dallal’s DVD. 0:53 All you can see here is a tour guest clapping. But you can hear the preparation of the rhythm for a rhythm change at 1:05 1:05 Rhythm change; often with this rhythmic change the Siwa male performers would get up and dance, if they weren’t dancing already. Sorry you can’t see anything but a single candle. 1:28 Man shouting with the rhythm. 1:32 Chorus singing. 2:05 Clip edit; can see dancing. The Siwa men have encouraged members of our group to dance. This style of dance is for tourists, where it is also gender mixed. In actual Siwa custom men and women would not dance together, nor even be at the same party. 2:31 It is not easy to see the dancing, but now and then you can see the 3 drummers seated behind the dancers. 3:07 The melody instrument musician can barely be seen between the dancers. He is sitting between the drummers to his left, and the men clapping/dancing to his right.
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