Singing/Chanting

From SPARK

A song is a short composition made of melody and words. A chant is usually a short, simple series of syllables or words that are sung on or intoned to the same note or a limited range of notes. It often is an ethnic narrative sung in poetic or rhythmic form.

Considerations

Oral cultures usually like a lot of repetition to aid in remembering songs because they don’t have them written down on paper. Songs and chants are good teaching tools because of the repetition.

It is good to resist the temptation to give too much information in a song or hymn. Outsiders from the literate world tend to try to pack too much verbal information into one hymn.

Songs can be more difficult to understand than monologue or dialogue.

Songs and chants can be more effective than speech because they add an extra dimension of emotions and attitude. Care needs to be taken so attitudes and emotions translate correctly into the target culture. Indigenous performers who know what is to be conveyed are the most able to “translate” attitudes and emotions correctly.

Songs and chants written by indigenous Christians communicate better than foreign songs translated into an indigenous language.

The meaning of indigenous words of tonal languages may change when they are sung to Western tunes.

It is wise to involve local musicians and get their advice. They will know the cultural use of different types of songs and chants. Some cultures associate certain tunes and instruments with social activities that would not be appropriate for a Christian production. In some cultures, it is not wise to just use a portion of a song.

Using non-indigenous Christian music to share the Gospel

• makes Christianity seem like a foreign religion,
• encourages seeing Christianity as separate from one’s life,
• is unappealing especially to nonbelievers,
• encourages dependence on outsiders for new music material and hymn development,
• stifles creativity because it’s usually impossible for the indigenous person to create in it.

The words should be prominent and heard clearly so the message comes through clearly. If being recorded, the recording technician has the responsibility of producing clarity through proper microphone balance between instruments and voices. Normally, the technician gets the clearest reproduction of words when there are only eight voices per microphone. Where there are more than eight people wanting to sing, the producer or technician can select a variety of small choir combinations. This gives all the singers a chance to participate and produces a variety of music which will be attractive to the listeners.

The singers are also a key to clarity, both in their skills and their voice quality. All language communities have gifted singers, and it is just a matter of identifying them and enlisting their help. Local musicians will likely be eager to participate in a recording project. Remember to match singing groups with the program’s target audience (e.g., women or children where the projected target audience consists of women or children; teenagers for a teenage target).

When recording, many cultures will want the song to have a clean, crisp start. In most situations using a music director is the only way to achieve this, so be sure to include such a person in the recording plan.

See under About Live Media regarding time considerations.

See Concerts for more information about music in a cross-cultural context.

See also: disciplethenations.org