Ghana Postal Workers - Work Music

Four postal workers use music to make the work of canceling stamps less boring. They were recorded at the University of Ghana post office in 1975 by James Koetting. Their song appears in the book/CD-Rom Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples.

Description from Bloggio Oddio:

This is what you are hearing; the two men seated at the table slap a letter rhythmically several times to bring it from the file to the position on the table where it is to be canceled (this act makes a light-sounding thud). The marker is inked one or more times (the lowest, most resonant sound you hear) and then stamped on the letter (the high-pitched mechanized sound you hear). As you can hear, the rhythm produced is not a simple one-two-three (bring forward the letter - ink the marker - stamp the letter). Rather, musical sensitivities take over. Several slaps on the letter to bring it down, repeated thuds of the marker in the ink pad and multiple cancelations of single letters are done for rhythmic interest. Such repetition slows down the work, but also makes it much more interesting for the workers.

The other sounds you hear have nothing to do with the work itself. A third man has a pair of scissors that he clicks - not cutting anything, but adding to the rhythm. The scissors go "click, click, click, rest" [...] a basic rhythm used in popular dance music. The fourth worker simply whistles along. He and any of the other three workers who care to join him whistle popular tunes or church music that first the rhythm.

These post office workers provide us with a modern example of work music in Africa, but there are many traditional forms of it. Drummers may be sent to the fields to provide rhythm for workers harvesting or weeding crops; men pulling a fishing net might sing to coordinate their efforts; women using poles to beat down the dirt floor of a house might sing and stomp in rhythm. Sometimes the music is intended to help the workers work together, make the task go faster, or keep the work steady; it always makes the work more fun.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• work music
• world music
• ghana

[englshivy]

you're very welcome. I studied it in a similar class 10 years ago and have enjoyed the tune and thinking about those men enjoying their work ever since.

[choggiekendall]

....wish my post office rocked out like theirs!!

[sabreshortie13]

this song is so cool, i am also in a world music class, and this is one of our examples of African music. Thanks for posting it!

[DJMoxie]

Love love love this! Have heard it in every world music class I've taken.

[LindseyLayne]

I heard this song as an example for a "work song" in choir. We're learning about jazz, and work songs influenced jazz. :)

[sparkmark1]

Ha. This is the one song that sticks in my mind from Music of the World class from like 10 years ago!

[USMCdrummer06]

this my jam, son. Music and Culture... Fall '11

[mr9945]

weird

[cadetstarnoodle]

@87325 So it's invalid or ... ? Funny, the textbook makes that perfectly clear in Chapter One.

[cadetstarnoodle]

@87325 So it's invalid or ... ?

[kanakkanakka]

this is post-office music

[miszmikki]

I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!! IT'S MY FAVORITE WORLD MUSIC!!! I WISH I.B. WOULD GIVE US THIS SONG TO ANALYZE ON OUR I.B. MUSIC EXAM