Profile
Name:
Ranzo, the YouTube Chantyman
Channel Views:
30,948
Total Upload Views:
1,855,531
Age:
36
Joined:
Sep 2, 2006
Latest Activity:
2 days ago
Subscribers:
550
About Me:
SORRY, YOU WON'T FIND NO 'NANCY BLAIR' HERE.
This channel is about the music that keeps me alive.
It has often been said that a chantey was worth ten hands on a rope. I say that nowadays a chantey is worth 1000 songs in an iPod.
Follow my new blawg:
http://shantiesfromtheseven...
Mission Statement: to make technology obsolete. To promote self-made music and to demote musical chauvinism.
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This channel has several thrusts. Some of these can be gleaned from the playlists. Most is related to:
**Jamaican music and soul...the world of riddims, sound systems, and musical messages -- my first love**
**Chanties...the world of work, wit, and history - my fascination and motivation**
**Punjabi music - my research interest**
One of the main thrusts has been:
The "Shanties From the Seven Seas" project.
A quasi-systematic project of recording examples of the sea chanteys (shanties) in Stan Hugill's book of the same title. The text compendium contains "over 400 shanties," and Hugill was one of the last living working chanteymen aboard merchant sailing vessels, who was largely responsible for keeping alive the know-how of chantey-singing after the days off sail had ended.
The goals of this project are both personal and public.
Personal: By going through the book ~systematically~ I am broadening my repertoire beyond the more common chanteys...and by recording them regularly, I am forced to really learn them, while also becoming a better singer, too (compare earlier dated uploads to more recent). Needless to say, the experience of doing is much more enriching that simply reading the book!
Public: I won't pretend: I have issues with much of today's commercial music. As much "music" as there is around these days (perhaps too much???), I think most people in the developed world, especially, are unnecessarilly distanced from the ~experience~ of music-making. I hate that people fear singing, and think everyone should sing, regardless of whether their singing/voice is "bad." The presiding vibe seems to say, "How dare you sing, your voice is bad!"
Making music is something that all humans are hardwired to do...and the culture that makes people feel embarrassed to express themselves musically-- as if to encourage only the "best" performances-- only destroys itself by limiting expression; just look at the garbage we have in public culture, which only exists because it fits the lowest common denominator criteria of not challenging this strange sense of what is "appropriate" musical expression.
I think sea chanteys, in their quasi-authentic style, challenge ideas abour what it means to sing "well," as one quickly realizes that what is important to them may be something else than one was expecting. They are a good vehicle for amateur music making since they require little training to sing along and are not required to please anyone except for the people making them.
While not denying the coloring of my own personality and reality of my ahistorical position, I hope to create examples that reasonably respect the basic genre characteristics, which include:
--a capella for true chanteys (work songs)
--realistic tempos
--a rhythmic vocal, where necessary, for keeping time
--full-bodied tone/volume
--natural diction
--a full set of lyrics, not watered down or Disney-fied. (Be advised that sometimes this means the lyrics are not politically correct or may contain mature themes.)
Hometown:
Hartford
Country:
United States
Interests:
harmony, dissonance, music, noise, rum, truth, tea & cookies
Channel Comments
Subscribers
(633)
@BardOfShwa Great to hear ya. I know nothing about the 17th century--sounds interesting! I've also got a new blog started.
I'm from chile and I'm amazed with the chanties about chilean girls naming chilean ports (I work very close to talcahuano). Tha t is a part of culture pretty lost and definitly unknown in my country.
Thanks for the work and passion in your songs. Feel free to ask anything from this side of the world.