|
| 1 | +This tune is one of the RoR basics. |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +In this tune, the Low Surdo swaps one of its beaters for a plastic Repinique |
| 4 | +stick (aka a whippy stick) to get a higher pitched sound. Then it plays a |
| 5 | +combination of high-pitched and normal hits. |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +**Sign:** pull two prison bars apart in front of your face |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | +## Background |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +**Name:** Angela Davis is an Afro-American activist from the USA. She |
| 12 | +experienced a lot of oppression as a university professor due to her political |
| 13 | +views and involvement in the black liberation, communist and radical feminist |
| 14 | +movement. She became a major figure of the prison abolishment movement after |
| 15 | +being imprisoned for a murder that she did not commit. |
| 16 | +([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Davis), see also the |
| 17 | +documentary “Free Angela & All Political Prisoners”) |
| 18 | + |
| 19 | +**Musical background:** Break 1 sounds like from “Sex machine” by James Brown, |
| 20 | +Low Surdo is based on the drumset rhythm of this song, not sure if the rest of |
| 21 | +the tune is also based on his music. |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +**Sign:** The sign represents prison bars, because Angela Davis is a major |
| 24 | +figure in the prison abolishment movement. |
| 25 | + |
| 26 | +**History:** Part of the first set of tunes taken from Barking Bateria in 2000. |
| 27 | +The name used to be “James Brown” (famous musician from the USA) and the sign |
| 28 | +was to depict an afro haircut. James Brown didn’t have an afro haircut for most |
| 29 | +of his life, but later got one as it became a symbol of Black pride. The tune |
| 30 | +was renamed because of domestic violence and rape accusations against James |
| 31 | +Brown, and Angela Davis was chosen because she fit the tune sign. Later the tune |
| 32 | +sign was changed. We consider both the old tune sign itself and the fact that |
| 33 | +Angela Davis was chosen because of her afro hair as racist. |
| 34 | + |
| 35 | +## Controversies |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | +There is an ongoing discussion in the RoR network whether we should play a tune |
| 38 | +that is based on the music of a rapist. |
| 39 | + |
| 40 | +Some RoR members from the Baltic States have recently raised concerns that the |
| 41 | +tune is named after Angela Davis, who was a member of the Communist Party and |
| 42 | +actively collaborating with the oppressive regime of the Soviet Union. |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +## Difficulty |
| 45 | + |
| 46 | +* **Low Surdo:** hard |
| 47 | +* **Mid Surdo:** easy to remember, but hard to play it without beeing to fast |
| 48 | + nor to slow |
| 49 | +* **High Surdo:** medium |
| 50 | +* **Repi:** easy |
| 51 | +* **Snare:** easy (there are some variations) |
| 52 | +* **Tamborim:** easy |
| 53 | +* **Agogô:** medium |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +## Breaks |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +* Break 1 consists of a pickup followed by a bar of eight-notes. |
| 58 | +* Break 2 is a call&response between Surdos and everyone else, it is ended by |
| 59 | + the pattern of Break 1. |
| 60 | +* Break 3 is a loop which is played by everyone except the Snare (which just |
| 61 | + continues its normal groove). At the end (or every time just before the Break |
| 62 | + starts again from the beginning) the pattern of Break 1 is played. |
| 63 | + |
| 64 | +## More |
| 65 | + |
| 66 | +Combinations of Angela Davis and Funk sound nice (changing between both, |
| 67 | +introducing break of one on the other, etc.). In fact, Angela Davis is a kind of |
| 68 | +funk too. |
0 commit comments