Terminology and origin.

No agreed definition of what is a superpower exists and may differ between sources. However, a fundamental characteristic that is consistent with all definitions of a superpower is a nation or state that has mastered the seven dimensions of state power, namely geography, population, economy, resources, military, diplomacy and national identity.  The term was first used to describe nations with greater than great power status as early as 1944, but only gained its specific meaning with regard to the United States and to a lesser extent, the Soviet Union after World War II. This was because the United States and the Soviet Union had proved themselves to be capable of casting great influence in global politics and military dominance. The term in its current political meaning was coined by Dutch-American geostrategist Nicholas Spykman in a series of lectures in 1943 about the potential shape of a new post-war world order. This formed the foundation for the book "The Geography of the Peace", which referred primarily to the unmatched maritime global supremacy of the British Empire and United States as essential for peace and prosperity in the world.  A year later in 1944, William T. R. Fox, an American foreign policy professor, elaborated on the concept in the book "The Superpowers: The United States, Britain and the Soviet Union — Their Responsibility for Peace" which spoke of the global reach of a super-empowered nation. Fox used the word superpower to identify a new category of power able to occupy the highest status in a world in which—as the war then raging demonstrated—states could challenge and fight each other on a global scale. According to him, at that moment there were three states that were superpowers, namely the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. The British Empire was the most extensive empire in world history and considered the foremost great power, holding sway over 25% of the world's population and controlling about 25% of the Earth's total land area, while the United States and the Soviet Union grew in power before and during World War II. The UK would face serious political, financial and colonial issues after World War II that left it unable to match Soviet or American power. Ultimately, Britain's empire would gradually dissolve over the course of the 20th century, sharply reducing its global power projection. According to Lyman Miller, "[t]he basic components of superpower stature may be measured along four axes of power: military, economic, political, and cultural (or what political scientist Joseph Nye has termed "soft power")".  In the opinion of Kim Richard Nossal of Queen's University in Canada, "generally this term was used to signify a political community that occupied a continental-sized landmass, had a sizable population (relative at least to other major powers); a superordinate economic capacity, including ample indigenous supplies of food and natural resources; enjoyed a high degree of non-dependence on international intercourse; and, most importantly, had a well-developed nuclear capacity (eventually normally defined as second strike capability)".  In the opinion of Professor Paul Dukes, "a superpower must be able to conduct a global strategy including the possibility of destroying the world; to command vast economic potential and influence; and to present a universal ideology". Although "many modifications may be made to this basic definition". According to Professor June Teufel Dreyer, "[a] superpower must be able to project its power, soft and hard, globally". In his book "", Dr. Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, argues that a superpower is "a country that can exert enough military, political, and economic power to persuade nations in every region of the world to take important actions they would not otherwise take".  Apart from its common denotation of the foremost post-WWII states, the term "superpower" has colloquially been applied by some authors retrospectively to describe various preeminent ancient great empires or medieval great powers, in works such as Channel 5 (UK)'s documentary "" or the reference in "The New Cambridge Medieval History" to "the other superpower, Sasanian Persia".

Cold War.

The 1956 Suez Crisis suggested that Britain, financially weakened by two world wars, could not then pursue its foreign policy objectives on an equal footing with the new superpowers without sacrificing convertibility of its reserve currency as a central goal of policy. As the majority of World War II had been fought far from its national boundaries, the United States had not suffered the industrial destruction nor massive civilian casualties that marked the wartime situation of the countries in Europe or Asia. The war had reinforced the position of the United States as the world's largest long-term creditor nation and its principal supplier of goods; moreover it had built up a strong industrial and technological infrastructure that had greatly advanced its military strength into a primary position on the global stage. Despite attempts to create multinational coalitions or legislative bodies (such as the United Nations), it became increasingly clear that the superpowers had very different visions about what the post-war world ought to look like and after the withdrawal of British aid to Greece in 1947 the United States took the lead in containing Soviet expansion in the Cold War.  The two countries opposed each other ideologically, politically, militarily, and economically. The Soviet Union promoted the ideology of Marxism–Leninism, planned economy and a one-party state whilst the United States promoted the ideologies of liberal democracy and the free market in a capitalist market economy. This was reflected in the Warsaw Pact and NATO military alliances, respectively, as most of Europe became aligned with either the United States or the Soviet Union. These alliances implied that these two nations were part of an emerging bipolar world, in contrast with a previously multipolar world.  The idea that the Cold War period revolved around only two blocs, or even only two nations, has been challenged by some scholars in the post–Cold War era, who have noted that the bipolar world only exists if one ignores all of the various movements and conflicts that occurred without influence from either of the two superpowers. Additionally, much of the conflict between the superpowers was fought in proxy wars which more often than not involved issues more complex than the standard Cold War oppositions.  After the Soviet Union disintegrated in the early 1990s, the term hyperpower began to be applied to the United States as the sole remaining superpower of the Cold War era. This term, popularized by French foreign minister Hubert Védrine in the late 1990s, is controversial and the validity of classifying the United States in this way is disputed. One notable opponent to this theory is Samuel P. Huntington, who rejects this theory in favor of a multipolar balance of power. Other international relations theorists such as Henry Kissinger theorize that because the threat of the Soviet Union no longer exists to formerly American-dominated regions such as Western Europe and Japan, American influence is only declining since the end of the Cold War because such regions no longer need protection or have necessarily similar foreign policies as the United States.  The Soviet Union and the United States fulfilled the superpower criteria in the following ways:

Post–Cold War era.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 which ended the Cold War, the post–Cold War world has in the past been considered by some to be a unipolar world, with the United States as the world's sole remaining superpower. In 1999, Samuel P. Huntington wrote: "The United States, of course, is the sole state with preeminence in every domain of power – economic, military, diplomatic, ideological, technological, and cultural – with the reach and capabilities to promote its interests in virtually every part of the world". However, Huntington rejected the claim that the world was unipolar, arguing: "There is now only one superpower. But that does not mean that the world is unipolar," describing it instead as "a strange hybrid, a uni-multipolar system with one superpower and several major powers". He further wrote that "Washington is blind to the fact that it no longer enjoys the dominance it had at the end of the Cold War. It must relearn the game of international politics as a major power, not a superpower, and make compromises".  Experts argue that this older single-superpower assessment of global politics is too simplified, in part because of the difficulty in classifying the European Union at its current stage of development. Others argue that the notion of a superpower is outdated, considering complex global economic interdependencies and propose that the world is multipolar.  A 2012 report by the National Intelligence Council predicted that the United States superpower status will have eroded to merely being first among equals by 2030, but that it would remain highest among the world's most powerful countries because of its influence in many different fields and global connections that the great regional powers of the time would not match. Additionally, some experts have suggested the possibility of the United States losing its superpower status completely in the future, citing speculation of its decline in power relative to the rest of the world, economic hardships, a declining dollar, Cold War allies becoming less dependent on the United States, and the emergence of future powers around the world. Others have pointed out that the US has four times the wealth of its nearest competitor China, and five to six times the military capacity, giving it a lead that will not soon be overcome.  According to a RAND Corporation paper by American diplomat James Dobbins, Professor Howard J. Shatz, and policy analyst Ali Wyne, Russia in the breakdown of a disintegrating unipolar world order, whilst not a peer competitor to the United States, would still remain a player and a potential rogue state that would undermine global affairs. The West could contain Russia with methods like those employed during the cold war with the Soviet Union, though this would be tested by Russia's overt and covert efforts to destabilize Western alliances and political systems. On the other hand, China is a peer competitor to the United States that cannot be contained, and will be a far more challenging entity for the West to confront. The authors state that China's military dominance in the Asia-Pacific is already eroding American influence at a rapid pace, and the costs for the US to defend its interests there will continue to rise. Moreover, China's economic influence has already broken out of its regional confines long ago and is on track to directly contest the US role as the center for economic trade and commerce.  However, while China was referred to as an "emerging superpower" that could potentially challenge the eroding status of the US as sole superpower, it still lacked several factors until recently, particularly global military power.

Potential superpowers.

The term potential superpowers has been applied by scholars and other qualified commentators to the possibility of several political entities achieving superpower status in the 21st century. Due to their large markets, growing military strength, economic potential, and influence in international affairs, China, the European Union, India and Russia are among the political entities most cited as having the potential of achieving superpower status in the 21st century. In 2020, a new UBS survey found that 57% of global investors predicted that China would replace the U.S. as the world's biggest superpower by 2030. However, many historians, writers and critics have expressed doubts whether any of these countries would ever emerge as a new superpower. Some political scientists and other commentators have even suggested that such countries might simply be emerging powers, as opposed to potential superpowers.  Besides those mentioned above, a limited number of observers have also discussed, although ultimately dismissed, Brazil having the potential to emerge as a superpower.  The record of such predictions has admittedly not been perfect. For example, in the 1980s, some commentators thought Japan would become a superpower due to its large GDP and high economic growth at the time. However, Japan's economy crashed in 1991, creating a long period of economic slump in the country which has become known as "The Lost Years". As of August 2012, Japan had yet to fully recover from the 1991 crash.

A superpower is a state with a dominant position characterized by its extensive ability to exert influence or project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, technological and cultural strength as well as diplomatic and soft power influence. Traditionally, superpowers are preeminent among the great powers.

Supervelmoc je termín, který byl zaveden po druhé světové válce; označuje stát disponující takovou mocí, že může ovlivňovat velkou část planety. Za jedinou současnou supervelmoc bývají označovány Spojené státy americké.


Background and recording.

Compared to previous efforts, the band decided to try a new approach to recording. Alan Wilder said, "Usually we begin the making of a record by having extensive pre-production meetings where we decide what the record will actually sound like, then go into a programming studio. This time we decided to keep all pre-production work to a minimum. We were beginning to have a problem with boredom in that we felt we'd reached a certain level of achievement in doing things a certain way." Martin Gore elaborated, "Over the last five years I think we'd perfected a formula; my demos, a month in a programming studio, etc. etc. We decided that our first record of the '90s ought to be different."  With co-producer Mark "Flood" Ellis, Wilder began a complementary working relationship, with Flood able to provide the technical know-how and Wilder working on the arrangements and song textures. "That's how we made the group work at that time", clarified Wilder, "by accepting that we all had different roles and not actually all trying to do the same thing. So we ended up with this unwritten agreement in the band, where we'd all throw together a few ideas at the beginning of a track. Then Fletch and Mart would go away, and they'd come back after we'd worked on it for a while to give an opinion."  There was also a notable change in Gore's demos. After the rigid, limiting effects of almost-finished demos for "Music for the Masses", Gore, agreeing to Wilder's request, kept them less complete this time around. Several of the basic recordings consisted of vocals over a simple guitar or organ part, with the odd percussion loop, but less sequenced material. The sparse demos allowed the band to take creative liberties with the songs. For instance, "Enjoy the Silence" started out as a slow ballad, but at Wilder's suggestion became a pulsating, up-tempo track.  The band convened to work on the record with Flood at Mute's WorldWide programming room in London for three weeks after which they flew to Milan for the new sessions at Logic studios. According to Flood, they didn't do a substantial amount of work in Milan, except for the song "Personal Jesus", which was crucial in setting the tone and spirit of the album. "Everybody was feeling each other out, because they wanted to try working in a different way. The idea was to work hard and party hard and we all enjoyed ourselves to the full." After Milan the band relocated to Puk studios in northern Denmark, where most of the album was recorded.

Composition.

Musically, "Violator" has been described as synth-pop and alternative rock. Gore called the track "World in My Eyes" a very positive song. "It's saying that love and sex and pleasure are positive things." The song "Blue Dress", which Gore called "pervy", is simply about "watching a girl dress and realising that this is 'what makes the world turn.'" With "Halo", Gore said, "I'm saying 'let's give in to this' but there's also a real feeling of wrongfulness [...] I suppose my songs do seem to advocate immorality but if you listen there's always a sense of guilt." The closing track, "Clean", was inspired by Pink Floyd's song "One of These Days", from their 1971 album "Meddle". Said Wilder, "they [Pink Floyd] were doing something very different to anyone else at that time – you can hear electronics in there, and the influence of classical music. It's got a very repetitive, synthesised sound, and the bass riffs with the echo have a very hypnotic groove that underpins it. We basically nicked that idea [for 'Clean']".  Regarding the album's title, Gore said, "We called it "Violator" as a joke. We wanted to come up with the most extreme, ridiculously Heavy Metal title that we could. I'll be surprised if people will get the joke."

Reception.

Critical.

In a contemporary review for "Melody Maker", music critic Paul Lester called "Violator" the group's "most arresting work to date." Tim Nicholson of "Record Mirror" was enthused by the stripped-down quality of the songs and called the album a "compromise between pop music and something a little more sinister. There are no noises out of place in this perfectly formed void". Ian Cranna of "Q" magazine found the music subtly clever and called it "a fine record which may not set the world on fire but deserves to singe it a bit." "NME" writer Helen Mead felt that the album "seems almost a step back, in that it's cleaner, sparser, more clinical" than "Music for the Masses", but concluded that "there is security in the knowledge that everything is very clear cut in Depeche Mode's blue and white world." In a less enthusiastic review, Robert Christgau said that Depeche Mode conceded to fickle teenage demographics on "Violator". "Rolling Stone" magazine's Chuck Eddy said that, despite its "ambient charm", Gahan sounds "slimy and self-involved", and in their attempt to make listeners dance, Depeche Mode "revert to morose pop psychology and then never tell you how come they're so sad." "Entertainment Weekly"s Greg Sandow felt that the album's varied music can "cast shadows, the significance of which can be hard to figure out".  "Violator" was ranked number 342 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time and number 57 on the magazine's 100 Best Albums of the Nineties list. It has also featured on lists of the greatest albums of all time made by publications such as "Q" and "Spin". In a retrospective review, "The Austin Chronicle"s Christopher Gray cited "Violator" as Depeche Mode's "career peak", while "The Guardian"s Dorian Lynskey called it the band's best album, "encasing Martin Gore's favourite tropes – guilt, salvation, obsession and the virtues of keeping your mouth shut – in production as black and shiny as a beetle's shell." Barry Walters of "Rolling Stone" complimented its "heavier hooks, cinematic arrangements and sleek sonic detail". Sal Cinquemani of "Slant Magazine" called the album "a quintessential benchmark of pop, rock and electronic music." It is included in the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

Commercial.

As a sign of their rising popularity when "Violator" was released, a signing party for fans at a Wherehouse record store in Los Angeles that was expected to draw only a few thousand fans ended up drawing around 17,000. The band were forced to withdraw from the event due to security concerns, and their early exit nearly caused a riot. "Violator" reached number 17 on the "Billboard" 200 year-end chart of 1990, and was the first Depeche Mode album to sell a million copies in the United States.  The success of "Violator" introduced the band to a wider audience, and this increased exposure led to their 1993 follow-up album "Songs of Faith and Devotion" debuting atop the charts in both the United States and United Kingdom. "Before this, we'd been going along quite nicely," recalled Andy Fletcher. "Then when it came to "Violator" we inexplicably went huge. It was just incredible, and in many ways we never really recovered from that. After that, we just felt like we wanted to muck it up a bit."

Re-release.

As part of Mute's 2006 reissue schedule, "Violator" was re-released as a hybrid Super Audio CD + DVD-Video package on 3 April 2006 which included two-channel and 5.1 surround mixes of the album. The six B-sides to the "Violator" singles—"Dangerous", "Memphisto", "Sibeling", "Kaleid", "Happiest Girl", and "Sea of Sin"—also appear, albeit without the surround sound treatment. The reissue didn't reach the US till 6 June 2006. The US version lacked the hybrid SACD and instead just had a CD, but the DVD was included, and was identical to the European DVD but in NTSC format instead of PAL. The lack of SACD is due to the titles being distributed in North America by Warner, who do not support the SACD format.  A 32-minute short film entitled "Depeche Mode 1989–90 (If You Wanna Use Guitars, Use Guitars)" and featured interviews with the band, Daniel Miller, Flood, François Kevorkian (who mixed the album), Anton Corbijn (who directed the music videos and did the album's photography/cover), and others. It also includes news footage from the infamous "riot" in Los Angeles which gave the band media publicity the day before "Violator" came out. The band were scheduled to do autographs in an LA music store, and the line reached into the 20,000's. The event had to be cancelled shortly after it began due to problems keeping the line in order. There is also footage from "Strange Too", notably clips from the music videos for "Halo" and "Clean".  The remastered album was released on "deluxe" vinyl on 2 March 2007 in Germany and on 5 March 2007 internationally.

Track listing.

Notes

Personnel.

Credits adapted from the liner notes of "Violator".

References.

Bibliography

Violator is the seventh studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was first released on 19 March 1990 through Mute Records internationally, and through Sire and Reprise Records in the United States.

Violator je sedmé studiové album Depeche Mode. Bylo vydáno Mute Records 19. března 1990. Album obsahuje hity „Personal Jesus“, který byl vypuštěn 6 měsíců před vydáním alba "Violator", a „Enjoy the Silence“, které dostaly skupinu na pomyslné hvězdné hudební nebe. Toto album je označováno fanoušky jako jedno ze tří nejlepších, které skupina kdy vytvořila.


Musical characteristics.

New wave represented a break from the blues and rock & roll sounds of late 1960s to mid-1970s music. According to Simon Reynolds, the music had a twitchy, agitated feel. New wave musicians often played choppy rhythm guitars with fast tempos, and keyboards were common, as were stop-start song structures and melodies. Reynolds noted that new wave vocalists sounded high-pitched, geeky and suburban.  In the early 1980s, new wave acts embraced a crossover of rock music with African and African-American styles. Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow, both acts with ties to former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, used Burundi-style drumming. The Talking Heads album "Remain in Light" was marketed and positively reviewed as a breakthrough melding of new wave and African styles, although drummer Chris Frantz said that he found out about this supposed African influence after the fact. Second British Invasion acts were influenced by funk and disco.

Attitude and fashion.

A nervous, nerdy persona was a common characteristic of new wave fans as well as acts such as Talking Heads, Devo and Elvis Costello. This took the forms of robotic dancing, jittery high-pitched vocals and clothing fashions such as suits and big glasses that hid the body. This seemed radical to audiences accustomed to post-counterculture forms such as disco dancing and macho "cock rock" that had emphasized a "hang loose" philosophy, open sexuality and sexual bravado.  The majority of American male new wave acts of the late 1970s were from Caucasian middle-class backgrounds. Scholar Theo Cateforis theorized that these acts intentionally presented these exaggerated nerdy tendencies associated with their "whiteness" to criticize it and/or to reflect their identity. Singer-songwriters who were "angry" and "intelligent" and who "approached pop music with the sardonic attitude and tense, aggressive energy of punk" such as Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson and Graham Parker were also part of the new wave music scene. These artists were often referred to as "angry young men" for their aggressive style.  The idea of rock music as a serious art form started in the late 1960s and was the dominant view of the genre at the time of new wave's arrival. New wave looked back or borrowed in various ways from the years just prior to this occurrence. One way this was done was by taking an ironic look at consumer and pop culture of the 1950s and early 1960s. The B-52's became most noted for a kitsch and camp presentation with their bouffant wigs and beach party and sci-fi movie references. Other groups that referenced the pre-progressive rock era were the Go-Go's, Blondie and Devo.

Origins, etymology, and scope.

Early applications.

The catch-all nature of new wave music has been a source of much confusion and controversy. The 1985 discography "Who's New Wave in Music" listed artists in over 130 separate categories. The "New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock" calls the term "virtually meaningless". Decades after the fact, in the US, late 1970s new wave acts such as the Pretenders were more likely to be found on classic rock playlists than on new wave playlists there. Reflecting its British origins, the 2004 study "Popular Music Genres: An Introduction" had one paragraph dedicated to 1970s new wave artists in its punk chapter in contrast to a 20-page chapter on early 1980s synth-pop.  As early as 1973, critics including Nick Kent and Dave Marsh were using the "new wave" tag to classify such New York-based groups as the Velvet Underground and New York Dolls. In the US, many of the first new wave groups were the not-so-punk acts associated with CBGB (e.g. Talking Heads, Mink DeVille and Blondie), as well as the proto-punk scene in Ohio, which included Devo, the electric eels, Rocket from the Tombs and Pere Ubu. Some important bands, such as Suicide and the Modern Lovers, debuted even earlier. CBGB owner Hilly Kristal, referring to the first show of the band Television at his club in March 1974, said, "I think of that as the beginning of new wave." Furthermore, many artists who would have originally been classified as punk were also termed new wave. A 1977 Phonogram Records compilation album of the same name ("New Wave") features American artists including the Dead Boys, Ramones, Talking Heads and the Runaways.  Between 1976 and 1977, the terms "new wave" and "punk" were somewhat interchangeable. Music historian Vernon Joynson claimed that new wave emerged in the UK in late 1976, when many bands began disassociating themselves from punk. That year, the term gained currency when it appeared in UK punk fanzines such as "Sniffin' Glue" and newsagent music weeklies such as "Melody Maker" and "New Musical Express". In November 1976, Caroline Coon used Malcolm McLaren's term "new wave" to designate music by bands not exactly punk, but related to the same musical scene. The term was also used in that sense by music journalist Charles Shaar Murray in his comments about the Boomtown Rats. By the end of 1977, "new wave" had replaced "punk" as the definition for new underground music in the UK. The mid-1970s British pub rock scene was ultimately the source of many of the most commercially successful new wave acts, such as Ian Dury, Nick Lowe, Eddie and the Hot Rods and Dr. Feelgood.  Sire Records chairman Seymour Stein, believing that the term "punk" would mean poor sales for Sire's acts who had frequently played the New York club CBGB, launched a "Don't Call It Punk" campaign designed to replace the term with "new wave". As radio consultants in the US had advised their clients that punk rock was a fad, they settled on the new term. Like the filmmakers of the French new wave movement (after whom the genre was named), new wave artists were anti-corporate and experimental (e.g. Ramones and Talking Heads). At first, most American writers used the term "new wave" exclusively in reference to British punk acts. Starting in December 1976, "The New York Rocker", which was suspicious of the term "punk", became the first American journal to enthusiastically use the term, starting with British acts and later appropriating it to acts associated with the CBGB scene. Part of what attracted Stein and others to new wave was the music's stripped-back style and upbeat tempos, which they viewed as a much-needed return to the energetic rush of rock and roll and 1960s rock that had dwindled in the 1970s with the ascendance of overblown progressive rock and stadium spectacles.

Related styles and terms.

Power pop continued the guitar-based, singles-oriented British invasion sound of the mid-1960s into the 1970s and the present day. Although the term "power pop" had been around before punk (it is believed to have been coined by Pete Townshend in 1967), it became widely associated with new wave when "Bomp" and "Trouser Press" magazines (in March and April 1978, respectively) wrote cover stories touting power pop as a sound that could continue new wave's directness without the negativity associated with punk. By the end of 1979, a backlash had developed against power pop in general, particularly in regard to the Los Angeles scene. The skinny ties worn by L.A. power pop groups, epitomized by the Knack, became symbolic of the supposed lack of authenticity of the genre. Power pop's association with the genre was later forgotten.  "Post-punk" was coined to describe groups who were initially considered part of new wave but were more ambitious, serious and challenging, as well as being darker and less pop-oriented. Some of these groups would later adopt synths. While punk rock wielded a major influence on the popular music scene in the UK, in the US it remained a fixture of the underground. In the UK, post-punk music developments became mainstream and were considered unique cultural events. New wave was much more closely tied to punk, and came and went more quickly in the UK (and in the rest of Western Europe) than in the US. At the time punk began, it was a major phenomenon in the UK and a minor one in the US. Thus when new wave acts started getting noticed in America, punk meant little to the mainstream audience and it was common for rock clubs and discos to play British dance mixes and videos between live sets by American guitar acts.  By the early 1980s, British journalists largely had abandoned the term "new wave" in favor of subgenre terms such as "synth-pop". By 1983, the term of choice for the US music industry had become "new music", while to the majority of American fans it was still a "new wave" reacting to album-based rock.

Popularity in the United States (1970s–1980s).

In the summer of 1977 both "Time" and "Newsweek" wrote favorable lead stories on the "punk/new wave" movement.<ref name="punk/newwave">[ Genre Punk/New Wave Allmusic]</ref> Acts associated with the movement received little or no radio airplay or music industry support. Small scenes developed in major cities. Continuing into the next year, public support remained limited to select elements of the artistic, bohemian and intellectual population, as arena rock and disco dominated the charts.  Starting in late 1978 and continuing into 1979, acts associated with punk and acts that mixed punk with other genres began to make chart appearances and receive airplay on rock stations and rock discos. Blondie, Talking Heads, the Police and The Cars charted during this period. "My Sharona", a single from the Knack, was "Billboard" magazine's number one single of 1979. The success of "My Sharona", combined with the fact that new wave albums were much cheaper to produce during a time when the music industry was in its worst slump in decades, prompted record companies to sign new wave groups. New wave music scenes developed in Ohio and the college town of Athens, Georgia, with legendary bands such as the B-52s and R.E.M.. 1980 saw brief forays into new wave-styled music by non-new wave artists Billy Joel, Donna Summer and Linda Ronstadt.  An African-American "new wave" of sorts also arose in the US in the late 1970s and early 1980s, driven, as AllMusic points out, by "drum machines, synthesizers and programming [becoming] common studio tools." Following the musically stripped-down approach of Stevie Wonder and Parliament-Funkadelic, post-disco explored a more electronic and experimental side of African-American music by incorporating an eclectic range of styles, e.g. Jamaican music, electronic art music, jazz, blues and, in the latter years, European and Japanese synthesizer music. Stretching the boundaries of disco music, post-disco took many forms, some entirely R&B-based (NYC boogie), some post-punk–based (alternative dance), underground club culture-centered (Chicago house with its own style of dance called jacking) and futurism–leaning (Detroit techno). Embracing new wave music (synth-pop) proper was proven to be influential, as Afrika Bambaataa ("Renegades of Funk") and Arthur Baker point out, on both underground and mainstream black dance music (electro, dance-rock, Minneapolis sound).  Early in 1980, influential radio consultant Lee Abrams wrote a memo saying that, with a few exceptions, "we're not going to be seeing many of the new wave circuit acts happening very big over here (referring to America). As a movement, we don't expect it to have much influence." Lee Ferguson, a consultant to KWST, said in an interview that Los Angeles radio stations were banning disc jockeys from using the term and noted, "Most of the people who call music new wave are the ones looking for a way not to play it." Despite the success of Devo's socially critical but widely misperceived song "Whip It", second albums by artists who had successful debut albums, along with newly signed artists, failed to sell, and radio pulled most new wave programming.  The arrival of MTV in 1981 would usher in new wave's most successful era in the US. British artists, unlike many of their American counterparts, had learned how to use the music video early on. Several British acts on independent labels were able to outmarket and outsell American artists on major labels. Journalists labeled this phenomenon a "Second British Invasion". MTV continued its heavy rotation of videos by new wave-oriented acts until 1987, when it changed to a heavy metal and rock dominated format.  In a December 1982 Gallup poll, 14% of teenagers rated new wave as their favorite type of music, making it the third most popular. New wave had its greatest popularity on the West Coast. Unlike other genres, race was not a factor in the popularity of new wave music, according to the poll. Urban Contemporary radio stations were the first to play dance-oriented new wave artists such as the B-52's, Culture Club, Duran Duran and ABC.  New wave soundtracks were used in mainstream Brat Pack films such as "Valley Girl", "Sixteen Candles", "Pretty in Pink" and "The Breakfast Club". John Hughes, the director of several of these films, was enthralled with British new wave music and placed songs from acts such as the Psychedelic Furs, Simple Minds, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Echo and the Bunnymen in his films, helping to keep new wave in the mainstream. Several of these songs remain standards of the era. Critics described the MTV acts of the period as shallow or vapid. The homophobic slurs "faggot" and "art fag" were openly used to describe new wave musicians. Despite the criticism, the danceable quality of the music and the quirky fashion sense associated with new wave artists appealed to audiences.  In September 1988, "Billboard" launched its Modern Rock chart. While the acts on the chart reflected a wide variety of stylistic influences, new wave's legacy remained in the large influx of acts from Great Britain and acts that were popular in rock discos, as well as the chart's name, which reflected how new wave had been marketed as "modern". New wave's indie spirit would be crucial to the development of college rock and grunge/alternative rock in the latter half of the 1980s and beyond.

Post-1980s revivals and influence.

Indie and alternative rock.

New wave died out after the mid-1980s, knocked out by guitar-driven rock reacting against new wave. In the aftermath of grunge, the British music press launched a campaign to promote the new wave of new wave. This campaign involved overtly punk and new wave-influenced acts such as Elastica, but it was eclipsed by Britpop. Other acts of note during the 1990s included No Doubt, Metric, Six Finger Satellite and Brainiac. During that decade, the synthesizer-heavy dance sounds of British and European new wave acts influenced various incarnations of Euro disco and trance. Chris Martin was inspired to start Coldplay by a-ha.  During the 2000s, a number of acts emerged that mined a diversity of new wave and post-punk influences. Among these were the Strokes, the Bravery, Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Franz Ferdinand, the Epoxies, VHS or Beta, the Rapture, She Wants Revenge, Bloc Party, Foals, Kaiser Chiefs and the Killers. These acts were sometimes labeled "New New Wave". The new wave revival reached its apex during the mid-2000s with acts such as the Sounds, the Ting Tings, Melody Club, Hot Chip, Passion Pit, the Presets, La Roux, Ladytron, Shiny Toy Guns, Hockey, Gwen Stefani and Ladyhawke. While some journalists and fans regarded this as a revival, others argued that the phenomenon was a continuation of the original movements.  The Drums are an example of the trend in the US indie pop scene that employs both the sounds and attitudes of the British new wave era. A new wave-influenced genre called chillwave also developed in the late 2000s, exemplified by artists like Toro Y Moi, Neon Indian, Twin Shadow and Washed Out.

Electronic music.

New wave had a seminal role in the development and popularity of contemporary electronic music.  During the late 1990s, new wave received a sudden surge of attention when it was fused with electro and techno during the short-lived electroclash movement. It received popular attention from musical acts such as I-F, Peaches, Fischerspooner and Vitalic, but largely faded when it combined with tech house to form the electro house genre.  During the mid 2000s, new rave combined new wave with elements from several other genres, such as indie rock and electro house, and added aesthetic elements archetypal of a rave, such as light shows and glow sticks. Despite the term itself stimulating controversy to the point where many affiliated artists rejected it, new rave as a musical genre was adopted by artists such as the Klaxons, NYPC, Shitdisco and Hadouken!  In the 2010s, nostalgia for 1980s new wave saw a resurgence in the form of synthwave, which is primarily characterized by new wave, soundtrack influences and a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk-like visual aesthetic. This term is applied to the music of artists such as Kavinsky, College, Power Glove, Mitch Murder and, as well as to soundtracks of films and video games such as "Drive", "", "Hotline Miami", "Kung Fury", "Turbo Kid" and "".

Mainstream popularity.

New wave music experienced a lot of mainstream success during the late 1970s and also during the 1980s. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Blondie had 4 songs on at number 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. The Clash's song "Rock the Casbah" went to number 8 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 on 22 January 1983. The Clash's album "Combat Rock" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on 10 January 1983 was later certified 2x platinum by the RIAA in 1995. Men at Work's albums "Business as Usual" and "Cargo" were certified 4x platinum by the RIAA on 19 October 1984 and 2x platinum by the RIAA on 19 October 1984, respectively. Men at Work's song "Who Can It Be Now?" peaked at number 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in 1982 and the band's song "Down Under" peaked at number 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in 1983. In 1983, Men at Work's songs "Overkill" and "It's a Mistake" peaked at number 3 and number 6 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, respectively. Men at Work's album "Business as Usual" peaked at number 1 on the "Billboard" 200 on 13 November 1982 and was at number 1 on the chart from 13 November 1982 – 19 February 1983.  The Police had four consecutive number one albums in the UK, and six top ten hits on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, during the first half of the 1980s, with "Every Breath You Take" peaking at number 1 on the UK Singles Chart and the US "Billboard" Hot 100 in 1983. During that time, the band's songs "Spirits in the Material World" and "Synchronicity II" peaked at number 11 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and number 16 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, respectively. The Police's album "Synchronicity", released in June 1983, was certified 4x platinum by the RIAA on 14 November 1984 and was later certified 8x platinum by the RIAA in December 2001. The Police's album "Ghost in the Machine", released at the beginning of October 1981, was certified platinum by the RIAA less than 3 months after being released. The album was certified 2x platinum by the RIAA in November 1984 and was certified 3x platinum by the RIAA in December 2001. The Police's album "Synchronicity" peaked at number 1 on the "Billboard" 200 on 23 July 1983. "Synchronicity" was at number 1 on the "Billboard" 200 both from 23 July 1983 – 3 September 1983 and from 17 September 1983 – 19 November 1983.  The Cars' self-titled debut album was certified 6x platinum by the RIAA. The band's album "Candy-O" was certified 4x platinum by the RIAA. The Cars' album "Heartbeat City", released in March 1984, was certified 2x platinum in October 1984 and was certified 3x platinum in July 1985 by the RIAA. The Cars had four top ten hits on the "Billboard" Hot 100 during the 1980s. The Cars' song "Magic" peaked at number 12 in July 1984 and the band's song "Let's Go" peaked at number 14 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in 1979. Duran Duran had nine top ten hits on the "Billboard" Hot 100 during the 1980s, with two of those top ten hits, "A View to a Kill" and "The Reflex", peaked at number 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in 1985 and 1984, respectively. Duran Duran's live album "Arena", released in November 1984, was certified 2x platinum by the RIAA on 5 February 1985. Duran Duran's album "Notorious", released in November 1986, was certified platinum by the RIAA on 20 January 1987. The Fixx's "Reach The Beach" album was certified 2x platinum in 1983, its first year of release. The band also had seven songs reach the top ten throughout the decade, with three of those, "Are We Ourselves?", "Secret Separation" and "Driven Out" reaching number 1 on the "Billboard" Mainstream Rock Chart. Devo's song "Whip It" went to number 14 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in the year 1980. Kim Wilde's song "Kids in America" peaked at number 25 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in 1982. "Kids in America" was at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart in March 1981.  Tears for Fears' album "Songs from the Big Chair" was certified 4x platinum by the RIAA less than a year after being released. Tears for Fears had four top ten hits on the "Billboard" Hot 100 during the second half of the 1980s, with two of those hits both peaking at number 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in 1985. Talking Heads' song "Burning Down the House" peaked at number 9 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in 1983. The song "Love Shack" by the band the B-52's peaked at number 3 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in 1989. The band's album "Cosmic Thing", released on 27 June 1989, was certified 2x platinum by the RIAA a little less than nine months after being released. The Human League had three top ten hits on the "Billboard" Hot 100 during the 1980s, with two of those hits peaking at number 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. In 1982, the songs "We Got the Beat" and "Vacation" by the band the Go-Go's peaked at number 2 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and number 8 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, respectively. The band's song "Head Over Heels" peaked at number 11 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in 1984. The album "Beauty and the Beat" by the Go-Go's, released in July 1981, was certified 2x platinum by the RIAA on 14 November 1984. The album "Beauty and the Beat" peaked at number 1 on the "Billboard" 200 in 1982 and was at number 1 on the chart from 6 March 1982 – 10 April 1982.

New wave is a broad music genre that encompasses numerous pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. The term derived from the unrelated "French New Wave" and was originally used as a catch-all for the music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself, but may be viewed retrospectively as a more accessible counterpart of post-punk. Although new wave shared punk's DIY philosophy, the artists were more influenced by the lighter strains of 1960s pop while opposed to mainstream "corporate" rock, which they considered creatively stagnant, and the generally abrasive and political bents of punk rock. Common characteristics of new wave music include the use of synthesizers and electronic productions, and a distinctive visual style featured in music videos and fashion.

Nová vlna (anglicky "New Wave") je termín, kterým se označuje hnutí populární hudby v USA, Austrálii, UK, Kanadě a Evropě na přelomu sedmdesátých a osmdesátých let. Muzikálně čerpá ze směsice doznívajících rock ́n ́rollových principů, mnohdy průkopnického začlenění elektroniky (metoda pokus/omyl) a průzkumu do alternativních hudebních kultur, převážně z třetího světa; často používá hudební postupy funku, z něhož čerpá živost a spontaneitu kompozice. Označení "Nová vlna" vzniklo v paralele k francouzskému filmovému hnutí 60. let.


Description.

Vostok Research Station is around from the Geographic South Pole, at the middle of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.  Vostok is located near the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility and the South Geomagnetic Pole, making it one of the optimal places to observe changes in the Earth's magnetosphere. Other studies include actinometry, geophysics, medicine and climatology.  The station is at above sea level and is one of the most isolated established research stations on the Antarctic continent. The station was supplied from Mirny Station on the Antarctic coast. The station normally contains 25 scientists and engineers in the summer. In winter, their number drops to 13.  The only permanent research station located farther south is the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, operated by the United States at the geographic South Pole. The Chinese Kunlun Station is farther south than Vostok but only occupied during summers.  Some of the challenges faced by those living on the station were described in Vladimir Sanin's books such as "Newbie in the Antarctic" (1973), "72 Degrees Below Zero" (1975), and others.

History.

Vostok Station was established on 16 December 1957 (during the International Geophysical Year) by the 2nd Soviet Antarctic Expedition and was operated year-round for more than 37 years. The station was temporarily closed from February to November 1994.  In 1959, the Vostok station was the scene of a fight between two scientists over a game of chess. When one of them lost the game, he became so enraged that he attacked the other with an ice axe. According to some sources, it was a murder, though other sources say that the attack was not fatal. Afterwards, chess games were banned at Soviet/Russian Antarctic stations.  In 1974, when British scientists in Antarctica performed an airborne ice-penetrating radar survey and detected strange radar readings at the site, the presence of a liquid, freshwater lake below the ice did not instantly spring to mind. In 1991, Jeff Ridley, a remote-sensing specialist with the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London, directed a European satellite called ERS-1 to turn its high-frequency array toward the center of the Antarctic ice cap. It confirmed the 1974 discovery, but it was not until 1993 that the discovery was published in the "Journal of Glaciology". Space-based radar revealed that the sub-glacial body of fresh water was one of the largest lakes in the world – and one of some 140 subglacial lakes in Antarctica. Russian and British scientists delineated the lake in 1996 by integrating a variety of data, including airborne ice-penetrating radar imaging observations and spaceborne radar altimetry. Lake Vostok lies some below the surface of the central Antarctic ice sheet and covers an area of.

Historic monuments.

Vostok Station Tractor: Heavy tractor АТТ 11, which participated in the first traverse to the South Geomagnetic Pole, along with a plaque to commemorate the opening of the station in 1957, has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 11) following a proposal by Russia to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.  Professor Kudryashov's Drilling Complex Building: The drilling complex building stands close to Vostok Station at an elevation of. It was built in the summer season of 1983–1984. Under the leadership of Professor Boris Kudryashov, ancient ice core samples were obtained. The building has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 88), following a proposal by Russia to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.

Climate.

Vostok Station has an ice cap climate ("EF"), with subzero temperatures year round, typical as with much of Antarctica. Annual precipitation is only (all occurring as snow), making it one of the driest places on Earth. On average, Vostok station receives 26 days of snow per year. It is also one of the sunniest places on Earth, despite having no sunshine at all between May and August; there are more hours of sunshine per year than even the sunniest places in South Africa. Vostok has the highest sunshine total for any calendar month on Earth, at an average of 708.8 hours of sunshine in December, or 22.9 hours daily. It also has the lowest sunshine for any calendar month, with an absolute maximum of 0 hours of sunshine per month during polar night. Of official weather stations that are currently in operation, Vostok is the coldest on earth in terms of mean annual temperature. However, it has been disputed that Vostok Station is the coldest known location on earth. The now inactive Plateau Station, located on the central Antarctic plateau, is believed to have recorded an average yearly temperature that was consistently lower than that of Vostok Station during the 37-month period that it was active in the late 1960s, and satellite readings have routinely detected colder temperatures in areas between Dome A and Dome F. The most recent record set was the March record low, set on 22 March 2020.  Vostok is one of the coldest places on Earth. The average temperature of the cold season (from April to October) is about, while the average temperature of the warm season (from November to March) is about.  The lowest reliably measured temperature on Earth of was in Vostok on 21 July 1983 at 05:45 Moscow Time, which was 07:45 for Vostok's time zone, and 01:45 UTC (See "List of weather records"). This beat the station's former record of on 24 August 1960. Lower temperatures occurred higher up towards the summit of the ice sheet as temperature decreases with height along the surface.  The coldest wind chill was on 24 August 2005 with a real temperature of.  Though unconfirmed, it has been reported that Vostok reached a temperature of on 28 July 1997.  The warmest recorded temperature at Vostok is, which occurred on 5 January 1974.  The coldest month was August 1987 with a mean temperature of and the warmest month was December 1989 with a mean temperature of.  In addition to the extremely cold temperatures, other factors make Vostok one of the most difficult places on Earth for human habitation:  Acclimatization to such conditions can take from a week to two months and is accompanied by headaches, eye twitches, ear pains, nose bleeds, perceived suffocation, sudden rises in blood pressure, loss of sleep, reduced appetite, vomiting, joint and muscle pain, arthritis, and weight loss of (sometimes as high as ).

Ice core drilling.

In the 1970s the Soviet Union drilled a set of cores deep. These have been used to study the oxygen isotope composition of the ice, which showed that ice of the last glacial period was present below about 400 metres' depth. Then three more holes were drilled: in 1984, Hole 3G reached a final depth of 2202 m; in 1990, Hole 4G reached a final depth of 2546 m; and in 1993 Hole 5G reached a depth of 2755 m; after a brief closure, drilling continued during the winter of 1995. In 1996 it was stopped at depth 3623 m, by the request of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research that expressed worries about possible contamination of Lake Vostok. This ice core, drilled collaboratively with the French, produced a record of past environmental conditions stretching back 420,000 years and covering four previous glacial periods. For a long time it was the only core to cover several glacial cycles; but in 2004 it was exceeded by the EPICA core, which, whilst shallower, covers a longer time span. In 2003 drilling was permitted to continue, but was halted at the estimated distance to the lake of only 130 m.  The ancient lake was finally breached on 5 February 2012 when scientists stopped drilling at the depth of 3,770 metres and reached the surface of the sub-glacial lake.  The brittle zone is approximately between 250 and 750 m and corresponds to the Last Glacial Maximum, with the end of the Holocene climatic optimum at or near the 250-metre depth.  Although the Vostok core reached a depth of 3623 m the usable climatic information does not extend down this far. The very bottom of the core is ice refrozen from the waters of Lake Vostok and contains no climate information. The usual data sources give proxy information down to a depth of 3310 m or 414,000 years. Below this there is evidence of ice deformation. It has been suggested that the Vostok record may be extended down to 3345 m or 436,000 years, to include more of the interesting MIS11 period, by inverting a section of the record. This then produces a record in agreement with the newer, longer EPICA record, although it provides no new information.

Vostok Station (,, meaning "Station Vostók") is a Russian research station in inland Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica. Founded by the Soviet Union in 1957, the station lies at the southern Pole of Cold, with the lowest reliably measured natural temperature on Earth of. Research includes ice core drilling and magnetometry. Vostok (Russian for ""east"") was named after "Vostok", the lead ship of the First Russian Antarctic Expedition captained by Fabian von Bellingshausen. The Bellingshausen Station was named after this captain. (the second ship "Mirny" captained by Mikhail Lazarev became the namesake for Mirny Station).

Vostok (:"Станция Восток") je ruská výzkumná stanice ve Východní Antarktidě, nedaleko jižního pólu nedostupnosti, což z ní činí nejizolovanější výzkumnou stanici na kontinentě. Její nadmořská výška je 3488 m. V roce 1983 zde naměřili absolutně nejnižší teplotu na Zemi, −89,2 °C.


History.

Ancient.

Xylophones are widely used in music of Asia and west and central Africa. In Latin America, enslaved Africans recreated them in the 16th and 17th centuries. The name "marimba" stems from Bantu "marimba" or "malimba", 'xylophone'. According to some Western sources, the word'marimba' is formed from "ma"'many' and "rimba"'single-bar xylophone,' however the use of the term marimba and/or derivative terms is not present in any West African language. The instrument itself is present, but is called balafon or heri in Mali and/or Guinea, while it is known as gyil among the Gur peoples in and around northern Ghana and Burkina Faso. The word marimba and derivative words is used widely in East, Central and Southern Africa. A survey of the literature on the African marimba and related instruments, like the Xylorimba, likembe and ilimba indicate a relationship between the word marimba and the various lamellaphones found all over Central and East Africa. Other sources credit the creation of the marimba and the kalimba to Queen Marimba of the Wakambi people, who live south of Lake Victoria. In the Shona language "imba" means song. Kuimba is to sing. Marimba, is said to be the "mother of song" and the creator of all the instruments, including the marimba. Mama means mother in Kiswahili, so it makes perfect sense that the word mother would be combined with the word "imba" which is the unconjugated verb for'sing'. The karimba is also said to have been created by Queen Marimba. In much of East & Central Africa the karimba is seen as a hand-held version of the marimba.  Diatonic xylophones were introduced to Central America in the 16th or 17th century. The first historical record of Mayan musicians using gourd resonator marimbas in Guatemala was made in 1680, by the historian. It became more widespread during the 18th and 19th centuries, as Mayan and Ladino ensembles started using it on festivals. In 1821, the marimba was proclaimed the national instrument of Guatemala in its independence proclamation.

Modern.

In 1850, Mexican marimbist Manuel Bolán Cruz (1810-1863), modified the old bow marimba, by the wooden straight one, lengthening the legs so that the musicians could play in a standing mode, expanded the keyboard and replaced the gourd resonators by wooden boxes.  In 1892, Mexican musician expanded marimba to include the chromatic scale by adding another row of sound bars, akin to black keys on the piano.  The name "marimba" was later applied to the orchestra instrument inspired by the Latin American model. In the United States, companies like Deagan and Leedy company adapted the Latin American instruments for use in western music. Metal tubes were used as resonators, fine-tuned by rotating metal discs at the bottom; lowest note tubes were U-shaped. The marimbas were first used for light music and dance, such as Vaudeville theater and comedy shows. Clair Omar Musser was a chief proponent of marimba in the United States at the time.  French composer Darius Milhaud made the ground-breaking introduction of marimbas into Western classical music in his 1947 "Concerto for Marimba and Vibraphone". Four-mallet grip was employed to play chords, enhancing interest for the instrument. In the late 20th century, modernist and contemporary composers found new ways to use marimba: notable examples include Leoš Janáček ("Jenufa"), Carl Orff ("Antigonae"), Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Hans Werner Henze ("Elegy for Young Lovers"), Pierre Boulez ("Le marteau sans maître") and Steve Reich.  The Marimba sound has become recognizable through its role as the default ringtone in Apple's iOS mobile operating system.

Construction.

Bars.

Marimba bars are typically made of either wood or synthetic material. Rosewood is the most desirable, while Padauk is a popular affordable alternative. Bars made from synthetic materials generally fall short in sound quality in comparison to wooden bars, but are less expensive and yield added durability and weather resistance, making them suitable for outdoor use; marimbas with wooden bars are usually played inside because the bars are susceptible to pitch change due to weather. Bubinga ("Guibourtia demeusei") and mahogany have also been cited as comparable to rosewood in quality for use as marimba bars. The specific rosewood, "Dalbergia stevensonii", only grows in Southern Guatemala and Belize, formerly the British Honduras. This wood has a Janka rating of 2200, which is about three times harder than Silver Maple. The bars are wider and longer at the lowest pitched notes, and gradually get narrower and shorter as the notes get higher. During the tuning, wood is taken from the middle underside of the bar to lower the pitch. Because of this, the bars are also thinner in the lowest pitch register and thicker in the highest pitch register.  In Africa, most marimbas are made by local artisans from locally available materials.  Marimba bars produce their fullest sound when struck just off center, while striking the bar in the center produces a more articulate tone. On chromatic marimbas, the accidentals ("black keys") can also be played on the extreme front edge of the bar, away from the node (the place where the string goes through the bar) if necessary. Playing on the node produces a sonically weak tone, and the technique is only used when the player or composer is looking for a muted sound from the instrument.

Range.

There is no standard range of the marimba, but the most common ranges are 4.3 octaves, 4.5 octaves and 5 octaves; 4, 4.6 and 5.5 octave sizes are also available.  The range of the marimba has been gradually expanding, with companies like Marimba One adding notes up to F above the normal high C (C) on their 5.5 octave instrument, or marimba tuners adding notes lower than the low C on the 5 octave C. Adding lower notes is somewhat impractical; as the bars become bigger and the resonators become longer, the instrument must be taller and the mallets must be softer in order to produce a tone rather than just a percussive attack. Adding higher notes is also impractical because the hardness of the mallets required to produce the characteristic tone of a marimba are much too hard to play with in almost any other, lower range on the instrument.  The marimba is a non-transposing instrument with no octave displacement, unlike the xylophone which sounds one octave higher than written and the glockenspiel which sounds two octaves higher than written.

Resonators.

Part of the key to the marimba's rich sound is its resonators. These are tubes (usually aluminum) that hang below each bar.  In the most traditional versions, various sizes of natural gourds are attached below the keys to act as resonators; in more sophisticated versions carved wooden resonators are substituted, allowing for more precise tuning of pitch. In Central America and Mexico, a hole is often carved into the bottom of each resonator and then covered with a delicate membrane taken from the intestine of a pig to add a characteristic "buzzing" or "rattling" sound known as "charleo". In more contemporary-style marimbas, wood is replaced by PVC tubing. The holes in the bottoms of the tubes are covered with a thin layer of paper to produce the buzzing noise.  The length of the resonators varies according to the frequency that the bar produces. Vibrations from the bars resonate as they pass through the tubes, which amplify the tone in a manner very similar to the way in which the body of a guitar or cello would. In instruments exceeding octaves, the length of tubing required for the bass notes exceeds the height of the instrument. Some manufacturers, such as DeMorrow and Malletech, compensate for this by bending the ends of the tubes. This involves soldering smaller straight sections of tubes to form "curved" tubes. Both DeMorrow and Malletech use brass rather than aluminium. Others, such as Adams and Yamaha, expand the tubes into large box-shaped bottoms, resulting in the necessary amount of resonating space without having to extend the tubes. This result is achieved by the custom manufacturer Marimba One by widening the resonators into an oval shape, with the lowest ones reaching nearly a foot in width, and doubling the tube up inside the lowest resonators—a process known as "Haskelling", originally used in pipe organ resonators, and named for its inventor, William E. Haskell.  Resonator tuning involves adjusting "stops" in the tubes themselves to compensate for temperature and humidity conditions in the room where the instrument is stored. Some companies offer adjustment in the upper octaves only. Others do not have any adjustable stops. Still some companies (Malletech and DeMorrow) offer full range adjustable stops.  On many marimbas, decorative resonators are added to fill the gaps in the accidental resonator bank. In addition to this, the resonator lengths are sometimes altered to form a decorative arch, such as in the Musser M-250. This does not affect the resonant properties, because the end plugs in the resonators are still placed at their respective lengths.

Mallets.

The mallet shaft is commonly made of wood, usually birch, but may also be rattan or fiberglass. The most common diameter of the shaft is around. Shafts made of rattan have a certain elasticity to them, while birch has almost no give. Professionals use both depending on their preferences, whether they are playing with two mallets or more, and which grip they use if they are using a four-mallet grip.  Appropriate mallets for the instrument depend on the range. The material at the end of the shaft is almost always a type of rubber, usually wrapped with yarn. Softer mallets are used at the lowest notes, and harder mallets are used at the highest notes. Mallets that are too hard will damage the instrument, and mallets that might be appropriate for the upper range could damage the notes in the lower range (especially on a padouk or rosewood instrument). On the lower notes, the bars are larger, and require a softer mallet to bring out a strong fundamental. Because of the need to use varying hardnesses of mallets, some players, when playing with four or more mallets, might use graduated mallets to match the bars that they are playing (softer on the left, harder on the right).  Some mallets, called "two-toned" or "multi-tonal", have a hard core, loosely wrapped with yarn. These are designed to sound articulate when playing at a loud dynamic, and broader at the quieter dynamics.

Mallet technique.

Modern marimba music calls for simultaneous use of between two and four mallets (sometimes up to six or eight), granting the performer the ability to play chords or music with large interval skips more easily. Multiple mallets are held in the same hand using any of a number of techniques or "grips". For two mallets in each hand, the most common grips are the Burton grip (made popular by Gary Burton), the Traditional Grip (or "cross grip") and the Musser-Stevens grip (made popular by Leigh Howard Stevens). Each grip is perceived to have its own benefits and drawbacks. For example, some marimbists feel the Musser-Stevens grip is more suitable for quick interval changes and mallet independence, while the Burton grip is more suitable for stronger playing or switching between chords and single-note melody lines. The Traditional Grip gives a greater dynamic range and freedom of playing. The choice of grip varies by region (the Musser-Stevens grip and the Burton grip are more popular in the United States, while the traditional grip is more popular in Japan), by instrument (the Burton grip is less likely to be used on marimba than on a vibraphone) and by the preference of the individual performer.  Six-mallet grips consist of variations on these three grips. Six mallet marimba grips have been used for years by Mexican and Central American marimbists, but they are generally considered non-standard in the Western classical canon. Keiko Abe has written a number of compositions for six mallets, including a section in her concerto "Prism Rhapsody". Other marimbists/composers using this technique include Rebecca Kite (who commissioned composer Evan Hause to write Circe, a major work for six mallets, in 2001), Dean Gronemeier, Robert Paterson, and Kai Stensgaard. Paterson's grip is based on the Burton grip, and his grip and technique have been called the Paterson grip, and even the Wolverine grip. Paterson states that his technique differs from others in that there is less emphasis places on block chords on the lower bank of notes (the naturals or white notes) and more emphasis on independence, one-handed rolls, and alternations between mallets 12-3 or 1-23 in the left hand (or 45-6 or 4-56 in the right hand, respectively), and so on. In 2012, Paterson released the world's first all six-mallet marimba album entitled Six Mallet Marimba, demonstrating these techniques via works Paterson has written. Kai Stensgaards grip is based on the Stevens Grip describes in the method: The Six Mallet Grip. He has written a number of compositions for six mallets, among those Concierto Mexicano for marimba & Orchestra. He started playing this grip in 1985. Ludwig Albert published at first a work for 8 mallets and demonstrated the Ludwig Albert 8 mallet grip based on the traditional grip from 1995.

Classical works.

This list represents an incomplete selection of Western classical compositions for the instrument:

In other music.

Traditional marimba bands are especially popular in Guatemala where they are the national symbol of culture, but are also strongly established in the Mexican states of Chiapas, Tabasco and Oaxaca. They are also very popular in other Central American nations like Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, as well as among Afro-Ecuadorians and Afro-Colombians.  There have been numerous jazz vibraphonists who also played the marimba. Notable among them are Gary Burton, David Friedman, Stefon Harris, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Locke, Steve Nelson, Red Norvo, Dave Pike, Gloria Parker, Dave Samuels and Arthur Lipner.  Marimbaist and vibraphonist Julius Wechter was the leader of a popular 1960s Latin-flavored band called Baja Marimba Band and Herb Alpert and his Tijuana Brass made frequent use of the marimba.  Marimba was played famously by Brian Jones in the Rolling Stones' songs "Under My Thumb" and "Out of Time". "Island Girl" by Elton John and "Moonlight Feels Right" by Starbuck also prominently feature the instrument. Ruth Underwood played an electrically amplified marimba in Frank Zappa's The Mothers of Invention. Art Tripp played the marimba on several of Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band's albums, most notably on "Lick My Decals Off, Baby" and "The Spotlight Kid". Victor Feldman played the marimba on several of Steely Dan's early albums. It is played at the start of "Mamma Mia" by ABBA and also played by Mike Mainieri in the Dire Straits track "Private Investigations".  One of the most popular songs to feature a marimba is "Vincent" by "Don Mclean" also "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran, where marimba is part of the tropical house effects, and The Psychedelic Furs 1982 song "Love My Way" which features the marimba, originally played by Todd Rundgren, throughout. It is also featured on Toto's 1982 hit song "Africa". Percussionist Evelyn Glennie has collaborated with Björk and can be heard playing the marimba on "Post" and "Telegram", as well as "Oxygen". Thompson Twins included marimba in their many 1980s works. Jack White played marimba on "The Nurse", a song on The White Stripes' album "Get Behind Me Satan". In 2003, Marina Calzado Linage recorded an album bridging the gap between academic and popular music, "Marimba de Buenos Aires", featuring music by Ástor Piazzolla. In 2009, Canadian musician Spencer Krug, working under the moniker Moonface, released a 20-minute continuous piece called "Dreamland EP: Marimba And Shit-Drums" with Jagjaguwar. The recording consists entirely of marimba, drums and vocals and comprises many movements and recurring themes. Vincent Montana Jr. played the marimba on one of the great socially conscious soul songs of the early 1970s "People Make the World Go Round" by The Stylistics. The experimental band Coil used the marimba in its later performances such as "Selvaggina, Go Back into the Woods" and studio albums "The Ape of Naples" and "Black Antlers".  Kenji Yamamoto used the marimba as the primary instrument in the composition, "Green Brinstar".

Flapamba.

The flapamba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of tuned wooden bars pinched on one side (over the node), and mounted over resonator boxes. Sliding the bars slightly forward or backward affects their tuning. Unlike marimba or xylophone however, the sound is not as focused tonally, as it is a bit more percussive (closer to tuned log drums).  Part of what makes the flapamba's characteristic sound is the tuning; for instance, the resonators are not tuned to the bars as in other standard keyboard percussion instruments. Renowned studio percussionist Emil Richards bought his original flapamba from Professional Drum Shop in Hollywood in the late 1960s or early 1970s, and added it to his giant instrument collection, the Emil Richards Collection. The staff at the store convinced him to buy it, as they told him that they were getting out of the percussion rental business since Emil was dominating much of the work in town. Emil couldn't find any info on the history or maker of the flapamba when he purchased it, but nevertheless he started using it on recording sessions, as the chromatic layout of the instrument made it an easy transition from other keyboard mallet instruments. He used the softest mallets possible or the meat of the fingers to get a warm, resonant, wooden sound. This original flapamba had a range from middle C (C), up two full octaves.  In the 2000s, Emil decided that he would like the flapamba to have an additional lower range, so specialty mallet craftsman Chris Banta made new bars spanning F to C, and dubbed this the "bass flapamba". He also replaced the bars on the original set to maintain continuity of sound between both sets, and changed the finish to a blonde color from the original set's brown. Both sets combined have a range from F–C. Emil's flapamba has been heard on countless soundtracks and other recordings, such as on the television shows "Lost", "Daktari", and "Kung Fu".  Elmer Bernstein used it on his soundtrack for "McQ".  The beginning of the Steely Dan track "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" features Victor Feldman playing the flapamba, but his contribution was cut from the original ABC single version.

The marimba () is a percussion instrument consisting of a set of wooden bars struck with yarn or rubber mallets to produce musical tones. Resonators or pipes suspended underneath the bars amplify their sound. The bars of a chromatic marimba are arranged like the keys of a piano, with the groups of two and three accidentals raised vertically, overlapping the natural bars to aid the performer both visually and physically. This instrument is a type of idiophone, but with a more resonant and lower-pitched tessitura than the xylophone. A person who plays the marimba is called a "marimbist" or a "marimba player".

Marimba (marimbafon) je bicí hudební nástroj patřící do skupiny úderové idiofony, na který mohou hrát až 4 hráči. Řadí se mezi xylofony. Tónový rozsah je až 5 oktáv – od C (E, F, A, c) do "c4". Historici tvrdí, že nástroj pochází z Afriky a že byl do Ameriky přivezen černými otroky, ale obyvatelé státu Chiapas v Mexiku, kde je marimba velmi rozšířena, věří, že je původem odtud.


Etymology.

The etymology of "Guinea" is uncertain. The English term "Guinea" comes directly from the Spanish word "Guinea", which in turn derives from the Portuguese word "Guiné". The Portuguese term emerged in the mid-15th century to refer to the lands inhabited by the "Guineus", a generic term used by the Portuguese to refer to the 'black' African peoples living south of the Senegal River (in contrast to the 'tawny' Sanhaja Berbers, north of it, whom they called "Azenegues"). The term "Guinea" is extensively used in the 1453 chronicle of Gomes Eanes de Zurara. King John II of Portugal took up the title of "Senhor da Guiné" (Lord of Guinea) from 1483.  It is believed the Portuguese borrowed "Guineus" from the Berber term "Ghinawen" (sometimes Arabized as "Guinauha" or "Genewah") meaning "the burnt people" (analogous to the Classical Greek "Aithiops", "of the burned face"). The Berber terms "aginaw" and "Akal n-Iguinawen" mean "black" and "land of the blacks", respectively.  A competing theory, first forwarded by Leo Africanus in 1526, claims that 'Guinea' is derived from Djenné (which he refers to as "Gheneo, Genni" and "Ghinea"), the great interior commercial city on the Upper Niger River. Djenné dominated the gold and salt trade across West Africa, from the 11th century (fall of Ghana) until the 13th century (when the Mali invasion disrupted its routes and redirected trade to Timbuktu, hitherto just a small Djenné outpost). It is during the period of Djenné dominance that the term "Genewah" really comes forward into usage in Arab sources ("al-Sudan" – Arabic for "blacks" – is used more commonly before).  Other theories try to connect "Guinea" to "Ghana", but this is less certain. The Ghana Empire is named after the Medieval trading city of "Ghanah" mentioned already by 11th-century Arab geographers (e.g. al-Bakri), but it is used distinctly from "Genewah" by Arab sources (e.g. they would say "Ghanah in the country of Genewah"). Conversely, it remains possible that both Ghana and Djenné themselves owe their original city names to the Berber appellation for the blacks that lived there. A possible reconciliation of the theories is that the Berber "Ghinawen" (blacks) was the source of the "Djenné" (city), which in turn gave rise to the Arabic "Genewah" (land dominated by that city), which finally made it into the Portuguese "Guiné".

History.

In 1478 (during the War of the Castilian Succession), a Castilian armada of 35 caravels and a Portuguese fleet fought the battle of Guinea in the waters off Elmina, for the hegemony of the Guinea trade (gold, ivory and black pepper). The war ended both with a Portuguese naval victory and the official recognition by the Catholic Monarchs of the Portuguese sovereignty over most of the African territories in dispute (Treaty of Alcáçovas, 1479). This was the first colonial war among European powers. Many more would come. After the Portuguese and Castilians came the Dutch, French and British.  The extensive trade in ivory, gold, and slaves made the region wealthy, with a number of centralized kingdoms developing in the 18th and 19th centuries. These were much smaller than the large states of the wide-open Sahel, but they had far higher population densities and were more centralized politically. The cohesion of these kingdoms caused the region to show more resistance to European incursions than other areas of Africa. Such resistance, combined with a disease environment hostile to Europeans, meant that much of Guinea was not colonised by Europeans until the very end of the 19th century.

Subdivisions.

Guinea is often subdivided into "Lower Guinea" and "Upper Guinea". Lower Guinea is one of the most densely populated regions of Africa, covering southern Nigeria, Benin, Togo and stretching into Ghana. It includes the coastal regions as well as the interior. Upper Guinea is far less densely populated and stretches from Côte d'Ivoire to Senegal. Within the Republic of Guinea, Lower Guinea refers to the country's coastal plain, while Upper Guinea refers to the country's interior.  European traders in the region subdivided the region based on its main exports. The eastern portion around Benin and Nigeria was named the Slave Coast. What is now Ghana was called the (British) Gold Coast, a name later given to a British colony in the area which ultimately absorbed earlier European colonies. West of this was the Ivory Coast, still the name of the nation in that region. Farthest west, the area around modern Liberia and Sierra Leone was referred to as either the Pepper Coast or the Grain Coast.

References.

Books

Guinea is a traditional name for the region of the African coast of West Africa which lies along the Gulf of Guinea. It is a naturally moist tropical forest or savanna that stretches along the coast and borders the Sahel belt in the north.

Guinea (jinak také tropická Afrika) je tradiční název pro region Afriky, který leží na pobřeží Guinejského zálivu. Zabírá deštný prales a končí na pomezí tohoto pralesa a Sahelu.


Geology.

The basement rock of most of Africa was formed during the Precambrian supereon and is much older than the Atlas Mountains lying on the continent. The Atlas was formed during three subsequent phases of Earth's geology.  The first tectonic deformation phase involves only the Anti-Atlas, which was formed in the Paleozoic Era (~300 million years ago) as the result of continental collisions. North America, Europe and Africa were connected millions of years ago.  The Anti-Atlas Mountains are believed to have originally been formed as part of Alleghenian orogeny. These mountains were formed when Africa and America collided, and were once a chain rivaling today's Himalayas. Today, the remains of this chain can be seen in the Fall Line region in the Eastern United States. Some remnants can also be found in the later formed Appalachians in North America.  A second phase took place during the Mesozoic Era (before ~66 My). It consisted of a widespread extension of the Earth's crust that rifted and separated the continents mentioned above. This extension was responsible for the formation of many thick intracontinental sedimentary basins including the present Atlas. Most of the rocks forming the surface of the present High Atlas were deposited under the ocean at that time.  Finally, in the Paleogene and Neogene Periods (~66 million to ~1.8 million years ago), the mountain chains that today constitute the Atlas were uplifted, as the land masses of Europe and Africa collided at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. Such convergent tectonic boundaries occur where two plates slide towards each other forming a subduction zone (if one plate moves underneath the other), and/or a continental collision (when the two plates contain continental crust). In the case of the Africa-Europe collision, it is clear that tectonic convergence is partially responsible for the formation of the High Atlas, as well as for the closure of the Strait of Gibraltar and the formation of the Alps and the Pyrenees. However, there is a lack of evidence for the nature of the subduction in the Atlas region, or for the thickening of the Earth's crust generally associated with continental collisions. In fact, one of the most striking features of the Atlas to geologists is the relative small amount of crustal thickening and tectonic shortening despite the important altitude of the mountain range. Recent studies suggest that deep processes rooted in the Earth's mantle may have contributed to the uplift of the High and Middle Atlas.

Natural resources.

The Atlas are rich in natural resources. There are deposits of iron ore, lead ore, copper, silver, mercury, rock salt, phosphate, marble, anthracite coal and natural gas among other resources.

Subranges.

The range can be divided into four general regions:

Anti-Atlas.

The Anti-Atlas extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest of Morocco toward the northeast to the heights of Ouarzazate and further east to the city of Tafilalt (altogether a distance of approximately ). In the south it borders the Sahara. The easternmost point of the anti-Atlas is the Jbel Saghro range and its northern boundary is flanked by sections of the High Atlas range. It includes the Djebel Siroua, a massif of volcanic origin with the highest summit of the range at 3,304 m. The Jebel Bani is a much lower range running along the southern side of the Anti Atlas.

High Atlas.

The High Atlas in central Morocco rises in the west at the Atlantic coast and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border. It has several peaks over, including the highest summit in North Africa, Toubkal () and further east Ighil m'Goun () the second major summit of the range. At the Atlantic and to the southwest, the range drops abruptly and makes a transition to the coast and the Anti-Atlas range. To the north, in the direction of Marrakesh, the range descends less abruptly. On the heights of Ouarzazate the massif is cut through by the Draa Valley which opens southward. It is mainly inhabited by Berber people, who live in small villages and cultivate the high plains of the Ourika Valley. Near Barrage Cavagnac there is a hydroelectric dam that has created the artificial lake Lalla Takerkoust. The lake serves also as a source for fish for the local fishermen.  The largest villages and towns of the area are Ouarzazate, Tahannaout, Amizmiz, Imlil, Tin Mal and Ijoukak.

Middle Atlas.

The Middle Atlas is completely in Morocco and is the northernmost of its main three Atlas ranges. The range lies north of High Atlas, separated by the Moulouya and Oum Er-Rbia rivers, and south of the Rif mountains, separated by the Sebou River. To the west are the main coastal plains of Morocco with many of the major cities and, to the east, the high barren plateau that lies between the Saharan and Tell Atlas. The high point of the range is the jbel Bou Naceur (3340m). The Middle Atlas experiences more rain than the ranges to the south, making it an important water catchment for the coastal plains and important for biodiversity. It is home to the majority of the world's population of Barbary macaque.

Saharan Atlas.

The Saharan Atlas of Algeria is the eastern portion of the Atlas mountain range. Though not as high as the Grand Atlas, they are far more imposing than the Tell Atlas range that runs to the north of them and closer to the coast. The highest peak in the range is the high Djebel Aissa. They mark the northern edge of the Sahara Desert. The mountains see some rainfall and are better suited to agriculture than the plateau region to the north. Today, most of the population of the region are Berbers (Imazighen).

Tell Atlas.

The Tell Atlas is a mountain chain over in length, belonging to the Atlas mountain ranges and stretching from Morocco, through Algeria to Tunisia. It parallels the Mediterranean coast. Together with the Saharan Atlas to the south it forms the northernmost of two more or less parallel ranges which gradually approach one another towards the east, merging in "Eastern Algeria". At the western ends at the Middle Atlas range in Morocco. The area immediately to the south of this range is the high plateau of the Hautes Plaines, with lakes in the wet season and salt flats in the dry.

Aurès.

The Aurès Mountains are the easternmost portion of the Atlas mountain range. It covers parts of Algeria and Tunisia. The Aurès natural region is named after the range.

Flora and fauna.

Flora in the mountains include the Atlas cedar, evergreen oak and many semi-evergreen oaks such as the Algerian oak.  Examples of animals in that live in the area include the Barbary macaque, Barbary leopard, Barbary stag, Barbary sheep, Atlas Mountain badger, Cuvier's gazelle, northern bald ibis, Algerian nuthatch, dipper, and Atlas mountain viper.  Many animals used to inhabit the Atlas mountains such as the Atlas bear, North African elephant, North African aurochs and bubal hartebeest but these species are all extinct. Barbary lions are currently extinct in the wild, but descendants exist in captivity.

The Atlas Mountains () are a mountain range in the Maghreb. It separates the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert. It stretches around through Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The range's highest peak is Toubkal, which is in southwestern Morocco, with an elevation of. The Atlas mountains are primarily inhabited by Berber populations. The terms for'mountain' are "adrar" and "adras" in some Berber languages. These terms are believed to be cognates of the toponym "Atlas". The mountains are also home to a number of animals and plants which are mostly found within Africa but some of which can be found in Europe. Many of these species are endangered and a few are already extinct.

Atlas (arabsky جبال أطلس, "Džabál Atlas," kabylsky "Idurar n leṭles)" je pohoří v severozápadní Africe táhnoucí se v délce 2 400 km přes Maroko, Alžírsko a Tunisko; za jeho pomyslné prodloužení lze chápat ostrov Sicílii a italské Apeniny. K Atlasu patří i severomarocké pohoří Ríf, k němuž geologicky patří i Gibraltarská skála na Pyrenejském poloostrově. Tady na Atlas navazuje andaluská Sierra Nevada.