Marijuana

I live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. That city is associated in some circles – quite widely and internationally – with the “coffeeshops”, or in other words: a relatively liberal soft drugs/marijuana legislation. This was set into motion in the 1970s, and made the sale of marijuana semi-legal, or at least “decriminalized”, in certain shops or café’s. These became for some reason known as “coffeeshops”.

Certainly at that time (the 1970s), the Netherlands was relatively progressive in that regard. This got known internationally, attracting many marijuana-loving visitors, even from outside of Europe. These often had to hide their use often in their home countries (in some more than others). It gave Netherlands, and especially its tourism-oriented capital Amsterdam, a “cool” image among “potheads” world wide.

Indeed, most coffeeshops in the Netherlands were established in Amsterdam, numerically and proportionally, mostly related to tourism in the capital. We’re talking about a few hundred locales in Amsterdam alone (400 around the year 2000), though coffeeshops appeared all over the Netherlands, especially in the cities. The very first coffeeshop, though, is said to have been started in the city of Utrecht, central Netherlands, already in 1968. They say, though, that this locale in Utrecht, called Sarasani, did not have the form of a coffeeshop as it got known, as the decriminalization legislation was not really implemented in 1968 yet. In Amsterdam, Mellow Yellow was founded as the first “coffeeshop” as such, in 1972.

LEGAL?

A common myth – or misconception - is that smoking or selling marijuana is legal in the Netherlands. Strictly speaking, this is not the case. The selling of certain quantities of marijuana (over the years the maximum became less and less, by the way) is just “decriminalized”, while police turns on occasion a blind eye to how these coffeeshops obtain their marijuana to sell. That is namely largely through illegal trade, although cultivating your own marijuana plants is allowed by law. Again, up to a maximum (five plants at present). Most weed/marijuana to be bought in coffeeshops comes however by necessity from this illegal trade, often via international routes. South America to Northwest Spain (Galicia) is one such known and much used route, unfortunately – as on other routes – mixed up with other, harder drugs as well (like cocaine).

It must be said that over time drug laws, especially regarding soft drugs like marijuana, eased up in several countries outside of the Netherlands. Countries like Spain, Italy, Belgium have decriminalized its private use up to certain quantities. It is moreover at present still illegal but little enforced in the United Kingdom and Germany. In these countries there are no “coffeeshops” as in the Netherlands, but you rather have to “know people”, or they approach you informally in busy places (tourist areas with many young people, subway/underground stations etcetera).

Also some US states (like Colorado) have by now legalized marijuana use for medical purposes, while in Africa, South Africa has recently made a move toward liberalizing marijuana laws.

PERSONAL

I live in Amsterdam now for about 15 years, but I used to live in a village about 20 kilometers south of that city, called Nieuw-Vennep. There was no coffeeshop there.

I got into reggae music in that village at about the age of 11 or 12, even before I made much visits to the city Amsterdam. And no, I did NOT get into reggae through smoking marijuana, because I did not. I have up to then never used marijuana (neither alcohol or cigarettes, but of course I was young), when I got into reggae music, nor for years after this. I am therefore the living proof that that is not necessary. It was strictly for musical and cultural reasons that I fell in love with reggae, partly because it connected with other Black music genres I got a liking for at that time.

Of course, when I got more into reggae, and thus into the “reggae scene” (well, in that village Nieuw-Vennep, where I grew up, the “scene” consisted of a handful of individuals, among which my brother and me), I found out about the connection to marijuana smoking, that was of course also alluded to in reggae lyrics (Kaya being one of the first Bob Marley albums I heard, another early one being the Wailing Souls’ album On The Rocks, with the song Ishen Tree). Especially some older kids in my surroundings, who visited Amsterdam or also nearby Haarlem regularly, took up the habit of smoking marijuana. Sometimes secretively, as not all parents were that liberal or understanding. I found it funny or intriguing, but did not feel a pressing need to start using marijuana too. I did not seek it actively, let’s just say.

STEREOTYPE

I find this important to point out, because, to be honest, I object against the cliché and sterotypical association of both reggae music and Rastafari with smoking marijuana. This stereotype is in part perpetuated by many coffeeshops in Amsterdam, using Jamaican, reggae, and in some cases even Rasta-derived terms as their names, while often using other Rasta imagery as well (the red, green, and gold flag, the Lion of Judah, dreadlocks etcetera), but in most cases just for commercial reasons, not as statement of faith. This makes it somewhat insincere and dubious.

All this is too stereotypical, and therefore oppressive and denigrating. Reggae music is an interesting music genre, born of different cultural and artistic influences, part of the African Diaspora in Jamaica. An important expression of poor, oppressed people. Likewise, Rastafari is a beautiful spiritual movement, born of specific historical circumstances also part of that African Diaspora in Jamaica, as an intelligent, rebellious response by prophetic, inspiring thinkers as Marcus Garvey, and personified by an inspiring personality as Haile Selassie I. One may adhere or not to that faith, but it is certainly not of lesser value than known “religions” as Christianity (and its variants), Islam, or other ones.

What I find unfortunate, therefore, is that Rastafari becomes sometimes associated mainly with marijuana smoking, as is reggae music. With music scenes you might at least argue that “drugs” or certain substances (alcohol, cocaine, speed, lsd, xtc, meth) were/are associated with other music genres too (rock, punk, heavy metal, blues, country a.o.), having to do with the way certain artists/musicians supposedly are unadapted, free spirits living rough, alternative lifestyles, Not every artist can deal intelligently with that, leading even to self-destructive behaviour, stimulated by the “confusion of fame” (Kurt Cobain, Keith Richards, Amy Winehouse, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix). Some known artist thus were effectively alcoholics or hard drug addicts. Compared to that, the common use of a soft plant-based substance like marijuana by many (no, not all) reggae artists and fans, is more harmless or ”innocent”.

The association of marijuana smoking with the Rastafari movement is more problematic, though. That cliché is upheld by the coffeeshops, the “mainstream media”, but also “fake Rastas” or wannabe’s, along with many “outsiders” seeking to denigrate a faith or movement they do not adhere to (nothing to do with them, therefore “bad”.. human being often are that biased). My problem with that is, is that it is not seen as – which it is - part of the ritual complex that some Rastafari adherentes choose (marijuana for meditation), but seen – unjustly - as essential or quintessential to Rastafari. That is not necessarily the case. Sure, some Rastas love to smoke marijuana when and after “sighting” Rastafari – perhaps connected in their mind-state and consciousness. That is, however, an individual choice. Just like some may like avocado more than mango or vice versa, or prefer lentils over beans or vice versa. Or like some like to swim, and others prefer riding the bicycle.

Rastafari is, however, primarily an entire Afrocentric movement with spiritual connections to Africa and Ethiopia, inspired by Marcus Garvey and Haile Selassie I.

Marcus Garvey was furthermore not known to smoke marijuana (or cigarettes for that matter, neither did he drink alcohol much), and according to his own testimony, heard about marijuana use in Jamaica, of which he was in fact distrustful, regarding its effects.

In Jamaica, using marijuana had become common even before Marcus Garvey’s lifetime. According to historical sources, it was first brought by Indian indentured labourers working alongside Afro-Jamaicans, although other sources state that it started among Africans in Jamaica before that. The common term “ganja” for marijuana or weed among Jamaicans is of Indian (Hindi) origin. Anyway, it became a common practice among many poorer Afro-Jamaicans, as a relief from daily pressures. Just like some Europeans do with beer or wine (or even strong drinks like whisky) after work, or in the evenings.

REGGAE

Some argue (or hope?) that the creation of reggae music – or its development – was influenced by the custom of smoking marijuana in Jamaican culture. Its pace and feel and such. The rhythmic, polyrhythmic, and call-and-response stem of course from the African heritage, but the specific form reggae took might have been shaped by weed smoking by influential musicians.

It is hard to deny that in many recording studios, or among musicians where they gathered in Jamaica, marijuana smoking was common, often even while creating and recording songs. Different testimonies and videos from the 1970s and 1980s simply confirm this. Again, not so different from blues bars or studios where whisky or gin is drunk in quantities by the musicians. When one is drunk one feels different, thinks temporarily in a different way. The same applies to the THC effect of marijuana. This all might affect the kind of songs one writes, or how one plays.

This must in my opinion not be exaggerated. There is after all a deeper truth, confirmed by serious scientific studies. That is that “drugs”, alcohol, or hullucinogenic substances in general, do not change how a person “is” (character-wise), but rather how one “feels”, as it changes one’s mood. Ideally, it “relaxes the mind” when necessary, “focusses” it maybe, but does not change it. The good become better, the bad worse, very simply put. It does not change personalities so much.

I think that reggae’s development as a rich, creative music genre can be attributed more to an artistic, cultural, and social (poverty) climate, inducive to it. Thus, more to personalities, than to moods. Much broader than the marijuana use custom alone.

DUB

For his book on Dub Reggae called ‘Dub: soundscapes & shattered songs in Jamaican reggae’ (2007), author Michael A. Veal recorded testimonies of people connected with the origins of the instrumental, “remixing” Dub genre in Reggae music. Dub, with some “spacey” aspects, is by many associated most with the marijuana influence in Jamaica. Testimonies in Veal’s book about the originator of Dub, King Tubby, however contradict this. King Tubby was an inventive technician and musician, creating a new genre from Roots Reggae, building his own studio, remixing existing songs into essentially a new “rhythm pattern”, using echo, other effects like reverb, and fading in and out of separate instruments. Then, this was very innovative. People working with King Tubby at the time (since the late 1960s and in the 1970s), said King Tubby never smoked marijuana, nor allowed it inside his house/studio (people had to go a while to the yard or patio to smoke). Neither did another influential engineer in reggae and dub, Errol Thompson.

For this reason, the author Veal does not consider Dub a Jamaican, reggae, “ganja” variant of “psychedelic music” that arose elsewhere. Not in its origins, anyway.

SCRATCH

Lee “Scratch” Perry, another influential person within reggae, wih his Black Ark studio since the 1970s, was more lenient. Musicians actually liked that he allowed people to smoke freely inside his studio. He smoked marijuana then as well, although he drank alcohol at times too. Maybe it influenced his producing, music, or in general the music recorded by several artists at the Black Ark. On the other hand, later in his life, Perry said that – looking back – he imagined that his creative ideas from that time had more to do with himself, his own personality, than with the effects marijuana might have had. Later, already in his seventies and residing in Switzerland, he – according to his own testament – stopped smoking marijuana for that reason. He still drank occasionally “weed/marijuana tea”, though. This tea is by the way commonly drank by especially older Caribbean and Jamaican people, for its attributed health benefits, even by those who do not really smoke (like aged women). It is said to help against stomach ailments, and assure a general feel of balance. Wisdom from folk medicine.

The general move in Jamaican music since the 1980s toward faster and less “mystic” music (which characterized the Roots Reggae era), is likewise attributed to changes in substance use, as cocaine became more commonly available in Jamaica since the 1980s. Thus the music became faster and more frenetic, the reasoning goes. General effects of marijuana on moods and paces of music, or of cocaïne, can in this case not be excluded, and it might indeed have had an influence.

Again, though, I think this should not be exaggerated, as it can relate to other factors as well (social and cultural changes), while faster paced music arose elsewhere too, where cocaine use is not very common (Timba in Cuba for instance, or Reggaeton).

RASTAFARI

Much of Roots Reggae is influenced by the Rastafari movement. This became evident especially in the 1970s and early 1980s. Many Rastas sang or toasted about marijuana smoking, as a sacrament or not. Anyway, that it should be free (only recently has it been officially decriminalized in Jamaica). Yet, these lyrics point at economic aspects as well: for many poor people, among them Rastafari adherents, cultivating marijuana was the main source of income, with connections to local and even foreign trade. They had to, being discriminated and excluded from the rest of the economy and society. That the first Rastafari “village” in Jamaica, led by Leonard Howell, and started in 1940, called Pinnacle, included marijuana cultivation as income source, cemented an early connection between Rastafari adherents and marijuana. That it gave state forces an excuse to persecute Rastas, was however also an unfortunate side-effect of this.

Rastafari is not a spiritual movement with many set, written rules. That marijuana smoking is used as a sacrament and strictly for meditation is adhered to by many Rastas, yet there are many Rastas who do not smoke marijuana, or smoke it for recreational reasons too, though stricter Rastas sometimes oppose this.

This shows that the connection of Rastafari and marijuana should not be exaggerated (neither simplified).

SINSEMILLA

Talking about reggae lyrics (Rastafari-influenced or not), it is interesting to note that besides several other terms including “ganja”, “collie”, “herb” or “ganja herb”, or simply “marijuana”, another term is also regularly used by Jamaican artists for “marijuana” (or “weed” or “cannabis”). “Sensemillia” or “sinsemilla”. Like marijuana, the word sinsemilla comes from the Spanish language (probably Mexican Spanish). Marijuana means “mary jane”, as a playful allegory, perhaps, in Spanish (Maria and Juana combined). The Spanish J sounds guttural, especially in official, European Spanish (North and Central Spain mainly), but less in many parts of Latin America where it became more an aspirated H sound (as in much of South Spain, and the Canary islands). This translated in the pronunciation like “MariWanna”for English and other non-Spanish speakers.

I am Spanish-speaking, and Spanish was in fact the first language I learned (through my Spanish mother), so these linguistic and pronunciation issues interest me. Sinsemilla is even more interesting. It comes from “sin semilla”, meaning “without seed” in Spanish, referring to the female plants used for marijuana smoking (having most THC). The double LL is mostly pronounced as Y sound in Spanish, also in standard Spanish. In some Northern Spanish accents and in Catalan (and Portuguese, by the way), also differently, as LY, so two separate letters. Dutch people tend to pronounce it as such (and thus wrongly). They say “CastiLYa” (for the region, former kingdom of Castilla, or Castile), while the correct pronunciation would be “CastiYa”. Or pronounce the known Spanish saffron-based rice dish Paella wrongly as PaeLYA, and not as PaeYa.

Likewise, Semilla (seed) should be pronounced as SemiYa and not as SemiLYa, which is done anyway. In the Netherlands, by English-speakers and others, and thus strictly speaking wrong.

Interesting to me is how most Jamaican artist pronounce Sin Semilla or Sinsemilla, yet again different. Not the LL as LY, neither really as the “correct” Y, but the LL in Semilla tends to become a NY (like the Spanish letter ñ) in Jamaican English, so with a slightly nasal sound. The Sin (“without” in Spanish) tends to become a E sound (as in GET), rather than as EE (as in KEY or DEED) as Spanish pronounce it. In many reggae lyrics, therefore, Sinsemilla has come to sound as sensemiña (senseminya) or sensimiña (sensiminya) in Jamaican reggae lyrics. Perhaps a Creole, or indirectly, African influence, while other Europeans than Spaniards pronounce it yet again different, but then according to norms from other European languages.

BACK TO AMSTERDAM

Local and national authorities have become in recent times less complacent with the “coffeeshops” in Amsterdam. With the proclaimed aim of improving Amsterdam’s image and tourism, the number of coffeeshops has diminished, due to stricter regulations and withdrawn licences. Coffeeshops can – for instance – no longer be too closely located to schools. So, the number of coffeeshops has diminished somewhat in Amsterdam, though they still are quite numerous, especially in central parts and around. And yes – predictably – there is also a coffeeshop (I think) named after Sinsemilla in Amsterdam (West), yet with a name spelled as Sensemillia. Let’s hope their weed is better than their Spanish spelling..

This is not to say that “coffeeshops” are by definition innocent, unproblematic paradises that wicked authorities just want to bully. At times unreasonable legal restrictions or policies indeed come down to bullying. Aside from this, like with many things in this world, there are corrupted and immoral aspects regarding many Amsterdam coffeeshops.

The almost inevitable connection (at the “back door”, as they call it) with criminals and maffiosi, often at the same time involved with hard drug traffic and other crimes, is an already alluded to problem. Not always that visible, but certainly there.

Another problem is the quality of the marijuana product itself. Most popular (and expensive) types of marijuana or hash, with brand names like White Widow, Purple Haze, or Amnesia, tend to have high THC values, that are in fact “pumped up” artificially. This distances it more and more from being a “natural plant” that cannabis originally is/was, and even brings it closer in effects to cocaine. It is proven that this can have more negative health effects (on physiology and psychology). Yet, this artificial, “pumped up” marijuana is what is sold most in most coffeeshops. It is not “high grade”. Natural, “outside” marijuana/cannabis can be bought too, fortunately.

SOCIAL CLUB

Talking about health – and returning a bit to the “reggae” theme – a new iniative has been taken on by Café The Zen, a reggae-minded club/café in the East of Amsterdam. Café the Zen is known as one of the “reggae hotspots” in Amsterdam, organizing reggae events and concerts regularly. Now – in fact: starting in Early 2017 - they added to their activities a cooperation with an organization called Suver Nuver, and the phenomenon of “(medical) social clubs”. These were already active in other cities in the Netherlands. Earlier initiatives of similar social clubs were started in Spain too. These social clubs aim at promoting the proven beneficial health effects of marijuana derivatives, like “weed oil”. It is known to help especially older/aged people, yet access to it was difficult due to its illegality. Suver Nuver seeks to improve this through the social clubs, gathering once a week (Sunday afternoon, I understood) at Café the Zen.

Around its opening a reggae party was organized, confirming a stereotype – that is true -, but understandable in its context. Plus, the health focus is a positive, empathic one, and the social clubs also have accessible prices, even for “low-budget people”.

One might be sceptical and think: “many plants, everything growing in nature can have beneficial health effects, why just marijuana?”. I must admit, that I myself have thought and said this once to a few of the people involved. On the other hand, a focus on a proven product like “weed oil”, that is furthermore more easily obtainable in a city like Amsterdam, makes some sense. They intend to work together with growers, but also coffeeshops, but for medical purposes, not commercial ones (like coffeeshops).

They see this furthermore as an innovative and better way toward legalization of marijuana, with which I in itself agree. Spanish reggae singer Morodo too, by the way. In an interview I saw with him, he claimed he was (like several other reggae artists, haha) in favour of marijuana legalization. He feared – though – that then big, powerful commercial companies and multinationals (like Phillip Morris, or Shell) might take over/dominate, allowing no more space for smaller growers, but neither for health, social justice, or environmental considerations.

Anyway, this reggae club Café the Zen, on the eastside of Amsterdam, happens to be a convenient and sympathetic place for Suver Nuver, and its medical social club.

Music, rhythm, and health effects

Recently, I added subtitles to a documentary I made in 2015. That documentary was on the Didgeridoo musical instrument, and was kind of experimental. I have never really made a documentary before, but still I wanted to take it seriously, approach it as professionally as possible.

That documentary was thus on the Didgeridoo instrument, neither an instrument I play. This way, in making it – I reasoned – it was also educational for me. I am very interested in (World) Music and instruments, so it was still somewhat “up my alley”. Musical instruments I play are mostly percussion instruments, and occasionally mbira, harmonica, balafon, flute, MIDI keyboard, or guitar.

The documentary included - or should I use present tense? -, includes, an interview with a Didgeridoo player I met once (Nick Bastiaansen), having seen him perform with a didgeridoo a few times.

This post is not an indirect, “sneaky” way of self-promotion, as some might see it: quite simplistically and negatively of course. Okay, perhaps a bit, I admit. Yet, I don’t make money with this documentary. Furthermore, in my experience, the “ego trip” accusation is sometimes just, but often also used selectively for people you already don’t like for other reasons. For people one likes it suddenly becomes “justful pride in one’s effort/work (or skills)” or “self-expression”.

Let’s just say that I learned more than I knew before about the Didgeridoo, making this documentary, and I am satisfied with the results. People can judge for themselves, and I hope many people want to see it too (subtitles switched on with button, first on the right below).

This post is not about making a documentary. Neither is this post about the activity of “adding subtitles” or “translation”. I translate texts quite a lot, mostly between Dutch, English, and Spanish, both professionally and personally. Then, “subtitling” is a specific skill and activity that has its specific issues (timing with film/images, didactics) even beyond “translation” as such. To be honest, though, I think translation and subtitling are not themes I find interesting enough for my blog.

Instead, I choose to focus on a theme discussed in the said documentary, specifically in its last part, involving the didgeridoo player Nick Bastiaansen. Especially, at the very end of the documentary.

I end the documentary with a short “jam” of me (with the Ashiko drum) playing with Nick Bastiaansen on Didgeridoo. I interrupt/interchange this with final questions regarding any eventual “healing” or “medicinal” properties of the Didgeridoo. That is a theme Nick Bastiaansen knew something about, he mentioned before. It is found after 40 min. and 32 sec. into the documentary (direct link to that part: https://youtu.be/0o-hMdD8w24?t=40m31s).

Nick’s answers were interesting, though maybe a bit difficult to grasp at once. Translating/subtitling it made me grasp it more (again), I must say. He mentions the effect of the Didgeridoo sound and playing on health: physiological: on brain waves (having a calming effect), on blood vessels, better blood streaming, and other aspects..

RHYTHM

This made me think. I sense there is definitely also a (positive) health effect of dancing to rhythms, when one allows oneself to come in a trance created by (poly)rhythms. When playing percussion myself, in songs/percussion instrumentals I made myself, but of course also in other music by others, even if primarily consisting of drums and percussion. This last is common (at least traditionally) in some cultures (parts of sub-Saharan Africa, for example).

Not everything needs to be, as an expression goes, “analyzed to death”, I realize this well. You just feel beter after you danced and got a time in a groove. You might even feel “renewed” or with a new perspective of life. Take it for what it is, one might argue: no need for complex, semi-academic, “textual” scrutiny.

On the other hand, I think a proper analysis would do it more justice. The danger of “over-analyzing” should besides not be exaggerated. After all, in my opinion there is a positive correlation between knowledge and enjoyment, not a negative one, as others state.. Perhaps, this is different for each person.

Some analysis I find appropriate, anyway. Just like Nick Bastiaansen analysed the effects of the Didgeridoo on human health, beyond just “fun” and “nice vibes” with the Didgeridoo.

One aspect in this is rhythm. Instruments I play are mostly rhythmic in essence, albeit with often secondary melodic or harmonic aspects. The Didgeridoo, however, is not really a rhythmic or percussive instrument as such. It is a single-tone/key “sound” instrument, that admittedly can be played in a percussive, rhythmic way on occasion. This made me wonder: are there health effects of “rhythmic music” or “drums” that are comparable, or in turn quite different but also positive for humans? On the brain and/or body? Psychologically and physiologally? I imagine there must be. I have read something about it in the past, seem to experience it as such, but decided to study it further for this specific post.

What I studied more up to now is the cultural function of percussive music and drums, especially in African music. That is a field of interest to me. I discussed it on this blog here and there already. The trance-like possibilities of polyrhythms in African or African-derived cultures and religions (Vodou, Santería, Kumina), as part of “spirit possession” in some way. Such rituals and practices relate to health aspects, even explaining their cultural existence. This seems to me self-evident. Drum music can have community and not just individual functions, but even “harmony in the community” has health or psychological aspect, of course. African world-views – especially traditional ones – tend to be more collectivistic than modern Western ones. This has valuable aspects as well. It might cloud, however, individual effects of percussive music, that are interesting to know about, I opine. Even in very collectivistic cultures, or extreme variants of “group” thinking, there are still individuals who cannot fully deny their own needs, thoughts, and feelings.

Moreover, in most sub-Saharan African cultures – more focussed on drum and polyrhythmic music, compared to other parts of the world – within the “collectivism” there still is a derived place for individual tendencies and difference, part of the same culture, even if fitted in community senses. Like in other cultures, special, “different” indiviuals are imbued with a special, important “spiritual” roles, venerated and respected. Arguably, such individual difference is allowed relatively more in traditional African culture when compared to other “collectivistic” cultures, e.g. in parts of Asia, or even in parts of the Islamic or Western world.

MUSIC THERAPY

In the modern, developed - and according to many “overly” individualistic and socially fragmented - Western world such individual health effects of music have been studied academically a lot. From the psychological, neurological, biological, or medical perspectives.

”Music therapy” is furthermore a quite developed field in several Western countries, often part of wider therapy contexts. Music therapy has been used succesfully in cases of autism, other brain disorders, motoric disorders, after strokes, cardiovascular conditions or disorders etcetera. Psychologically also in relation to “antisocial” behaviour, dealing with traumas, concentration and didactics etcetera.

Scientists have found in recent times “neurons” in the brain essentially there just to respond to music, rendering music an inherent phsiological or neurological (say: “biological”) effect, beyond psychological “inventions”, so to speak.

BRAIN WAVES

Also, as Nick mentioned in the documentary, the response of “brain waves” to music has been discovered, though the most common scientific terminology recognizes besides the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma wave types: Alpha waves (soothing, low frequency), Beta waves (activating, higher frequency), and Gamma waves (highest frequency), also Theta and Delta waves (even of lower frequency than the relaxed Alpha one, and not always relevant to adults).

In the following article “brain waves” and their characteristics and effects are explained clearly, I find.

http://mentalhealthdaily.com/2014/04/15/5-types-of-brain-waves-frequencies-gamma-beta-alpha-theta-delta/

Similar therapy applications of music – and distinctions - have been found, though, in Indian culture traditionally, in Yoga, notably in what is called ‘Nada Yoga’.

“Music” is broad, and includes of course melody, harmony, and rhythm, as well as different sounds (low, medium, high), frequencies, or speeds. I would find it interesting to know if “rhythm” (beats, cadence, “grooves”, metrums, steady beats etcetera) as such has different health effects than “tone” (e.g. the Didgeridoo), melody, or harmony. Drums in particular. Also, how about other percussive instruments like shakers, bells, scrapers, blocks, berimbau’s? Or semi-percussive xylophone/balafon-like or mbira/kalimba-like instruments, found in several parts of Africa traditionally as well?

Well, the studies I could find, seldom were that specific regarding instruments, especially not regarding “small percussion” instruments, as they are known. In a broader sense, though, rhythm, percussion, and drums or drumming have been studied also academically quite a lot. As I mentioned, it also has been put to use in therapy (including e.g. “drum circles”) in the US, Europe and elsewhere. Still, not yet in most “mainstream” therapy, must be pointed out. It is accepted more and more in Western therapy, both medical and psychological, that much is true.

All this – the present state of music therapy, in short - can be deduced from scrolling through the recent contents of the (authorative) academic journal Journal of Music Therapy (Oxford journals), specifically looking for rhythm, drumming and/or percussion.

http://jmt.oxfordjournals.org/

This journal represents, however broad and academic, still a mainly Western perspective, notable in the relatively limited number of articles on percussion, and even less on “polyrhythms”, being a common base of traditional sub-Saharan African music, feeding of course into “Black” music genres created by African descendants in the West. Elsewhere, this one (for example) could be found about that: (http://www.irietones.com/drumtherapy-article_5.htm).

This causes that biased perspectives arise, such as the popularized notion that Classical Music heard by an unborn child is good for its mental development. Read: Western Classical music. Polyrhythmic or other music might have the same positive effects, but are simply studied less. Moreover, what is “positive” is subjectively, and culturally determined. The same applies to intelligence or IQ tests. Contrary to what some might think, IQ (like education) is largely a culturally specific construct, aimed at specific cultural goals (to function in an industrialized Western labour market context, notably).

http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n15/mente/musica.html

The above “summarizing” article, argues that what makes music beneficial is “order” (math), going on to give (predictably), as representative of this, examples from “high-brow” Western classical music.

Well, I argue that “forest” African polyrhythmic, (“clave-based”) music also has inherent “order”, as does African, “swinging around the beat” Griot music. African polyrhythmic music influenced as well as Griot music influenced Afro-American “popular music” genres as Blues, Jazz, Reggae, Calypso, Son, Rumba, Salsa, Merengue, Samba a.o. in different ways. For the untrained ear, Didgeridoo music might not have that apparent order: yet is proven to be beneficial and soothing. It’s thus all relative.

RHYTHM IS EVERYWHERE

When in studies, also the academic ones, the health effects of rhythm are discussed, it is often pointed out that rhythm is everywhere in our lives as humans, and in nature: our heart beat (One-Two), breathing, pulsating of blood, day to night, seasons changing, singing of birds, ways of animals, plants etcetera. The heart beat is what we first hear when conceived and in our mother’s womb: the heart beat of our mother. This makes rhythm so essential and original, that by definition we need rhythm to be complete, balanced. Returning thus to a focus on rhythm, if needed to improve our well-being and health. That is why it is said that, among other things, drumming boosts our immune system.

Nice that scholars confirm this, but it can be considered also as just “common sense” that we can imagine for ourselves: rhythm is nature, we start and live with rhythm (heart beat), so it must be beneficial.

All the more surprising is thus, I find, that in modern Western societies, “rhythm” is actually oppressed and devalued, obfuscated in the life of people. This can be explained by industrialization, for a large part. The increased distance of “nature” in modern Western life: the seasons, plants, animals, natural regeneration.. in short, the balance with nature has been lost. A cliché, but a true one. In its stead came unnatural rhythms making you work productively for the economy – a control measure, basically -, or commercialized “rhythm” for monetary gain, such as commercial music forms, though here it is a bit more egalitarian and with at least partly artistic/entertaining aspects.

Still, some music forms sound more like “corruptions” of rhythm than actually real rhythm and yet became popular, partly by media manipulation. This last aspect disturbs the ideally egalitarian, democratic idea of enjoying art and culture and creates injustices: it’s easier to make money with it (House, Disco, Techno), than with complex music (with polyrhytms, jazz, other Black music). Of course, genres like Reggae or Funk have quite some fans, and at times enter the mainstream (though not structurally), yet are relatively much less popular, and thus less profitable.

On a personal level, the "loss" of rhythm - or perhaps better: the detachment of it - is noticeable among individuals who usually do not dance to music, not even to particularly rhythmic music. Many do not even "feel" or "sense" the basic beat or rhythm yet move ("dance") to the music, but not the rhythmic parts. This is often noted - or joked about - by Black people about White people. Similarly, White people do in many cases - at least at first - not "get" polyrhythmic music, finding it just chaotic. This is of course not a crime against humanity: tastes and cultural preferences differ. One is entitled to enjoy music in one's own way, even if at times it seems a lack of respect. I wonder though: do they really enjoy it as best as possible? Do they get out of it all that there is to get, notably the health effects inherent in rhythm?

One crucial lesson one learns in a.o. the Nada Yoga tradition, is that positive health effects of music can really only be achieved if one truly enjoys the respective music for its own sake, not just the derived social power (negative identity, sense of belonging) or atmospheric issues associated with it. Then they would be just "pretending", for some reason. Again, this is their choice and no crime against humanity (at most confusing or annoying), but culturally "fitting" clothes, hair or stated enthusiasm is not enough for it to be "real". This even applies sometimes to people in looks or genetically from the "same culture", yet with no real interest or love for certain music. All this is comparable to good food or beverage: just smelling it - or even tasting it - is not the same as actually fully digesting it within your body. The European tradition that developed made listening to music something of only the "ears", so to speak, and dancing circumscribed and marginalized. In the African tradition on the other hand, one "listens with the whole body": ear and brain for sure, but also the rest of the body, as music is meant to dance to.

That's, in my opinion, the real test of musical affiliation: if one can enjoy it according to its own terms and intentions. For the same reason that a love relationship with a person whose thoughts or opinions you do not care about is not "real".

Anyhow, returning to experiencing real, natural rhythms - and willingness to do so! - can be healthy and beneficial in response to absence of rhythm (in society and/or persons), or in response to the unnatural or disturbed, corrupted “rhythm” use.

RHYTHM AND HEALTH MORE SPECIFICALLY

The following article I also found interesting, especially the part on “synchronizing brain activity” and the link made between drumming and meditation. The last aspect I already imagined from own experience (a bit related to “Trance” as is a known effect of repetitive rhythmic music). The “synchronizing brain halves” part was new and insightful to me. Also, it goes beyond the arguments promoting “music that helps to relax, thus to concentrate and be more healthy”, that is not totally untrue, but a bit too obvious or better said: simplistic. Music therapists point out, that for some people in fact “activation” (like of the Beta brain waves), rather than "relaxation", is more helpful to their well-being and sense of health improvement. It differs per person and need. "Depression", often sadly triggering suicides, stems from too much of the "low frequency" brain waves (Alpha or lower).

http://healing.about.com/od/drums/a/drumtherapy.htm

Certainly worthy of mention in this regard is Cornell Coley, a drummer specialized in health and education drumming, basing himself also on the mentioned scientific evidence on health effects of drumming, such as the boosting of the immune system (including by creating cancer-fighting blood cells!), in dealing with disorders, with traumas (by focussing on the present), the also mentioned synchronicity between logical and creative brain halves, and other aspects.

In the lecture underneath (from min. 7:50) he summarizes these health benefits, and also his website is interesting to check out ( http://www.afrolatin.net/ ). He uses the significant term "preverbal connectedness" (with nature and universe a.o.) as one of the benefits of drumming.

Dancing to relatively fast-paced, rhythmic music can thus be beneficial too, inducing trance in a positive way, such as in rituals of Afro-American belief systems like Vodou or Santería: typically polyrhythmic songs (chants and drums with specific percussive patterns) meant to “heal” or “resolve” community or personal problems (often via possession by a specific spirit or “forefathers”, as added cultural aspects). Such rhythms can, to some ears, be too “busy” (even if relatively mid-tempo or slow), chaotic, or “boring”. The rituals are in many cases, however, meant to and accepted as “healing” or “resolving”.

Generally, African-(based) polyrhytms combine not only different independent rhythms, but also different tonalities and pitches (high or low, deep or dull, round or sharp etcetera), and different tempos.

Ritual, Nyabinghi drumming music by many adherents of Rastafari (an Africa-focussed movement arising among Afro-Jamaicans in the 1930s) has, in a restructured way, these same aspects, in that while the emphasis is on drumming a kind of (natural) One-Two “heart beat”, this is varied with “cross-rhythms” in the African tradition. This was originally influenced by surviving polyrhythmic African music traditions in Jamaica (Burru, Kumina). The drums used in Nyabinghi derive largely from Kete-type drums from the Ghana region (used before in Burru music in central Jamaica), whereas the played rhythmic patterns of Nyabinghi are influenced by Kumina patterns, originating in the Congo/Central African region. Rastafari is further Christian- and Bible-influenced (albeit from an own African perspective), which is combined with these African musical aspects.

Anyway, Nyabinghi certainly is used not only for beneficial community functions, but according to many also for personal (mental) health improvement, improving focus and concentration, and for “meditation”, similar to how Yoga functions for some. Rastas use the interesting term "grounding" or "groundation" for the positive effect of this joined "heart beat" drumming of Nyabinghi.

RHYTHM AND RELIGION

In Ethiopian Orthodox Christian church services there is also drum music (unlike in mainstream European Christianity or Islam): basic, “deep”, repeated beats aimed at inducing a spiritual mode or “mild trance”. Only the Suffi, more spiritual variant of Islam (influential in Islamic parts of West Africa as well) tends to use rhythm and drumming somehow in its spiritual/religious practices, though as part of other (melodic, harmonic) music. Drums and rhythms are used in Islamic countries outside of Africa or Suffi influence, but not as part of Islamic practice as such (i.e. in secular, folk culture). Early folk Christianity (Orthodox, Catholic) in some parts of Europe had a bit more attention to drums and percussion, before later the Vatican’s or Protestant rigidity took over. Remnants can be found in rural traditions in part of Eastern Europe (e.g. Ucraine), and parts of France and Spain.

In Ucrainian traditional culture, they tend to have (for European standards) relatively many percussion-like instruments (like rattles, sticks, drums) that were partly also used in Orthodox Church activities. This also because bells (now used a lot by churches, of course) were not used by Christian churches before the 10th century.

Likewise, the Basque, wood-based Txalaparta percussion instrument (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Txalaparta) has according to historians been used in early Catholic churches in that part of North Spain and SW France, maintained perhaps because of the territory being not really conquered fully by the Islamic Moors in the 8th c., unlike for a period much of more Central and South Spain.

The Castanets (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castanets) are further a well-known percussion instrument, commonly used in most of Spain, including in some Flamenco genres of South Spain, as in (Central Spanish) Jota genres. The Castanets, according to historians, predate however most probably both Islam (it was in Spain before the Moors) and Christianity, probably dating even back to pre-Roman, Mediterranean or North African influences in Spain, by Phoenicians, from Ancient Egypt, by Carthaginians. Interesting to learn..

Industrialization (or “Capitalism” if you want) as well as organized religion, thus, worked against rhythm and nature in our lives in profound ways. Making us even forget what “life” is essentially about. This causes disorders, illnesses, unbalance in humans that “rhythm therapy” might solve or heal. Also the “didgeridoo” I made a documentary about, is probably “healing” because it is a relatively very “natural” instrument: wooden, and originally not fabricated but rather “found” in woods by Aboriginals, as (eucalyptus) tree branches, hollowed out by termites (insects that only live in more tropical areas of this world). Even the way of playing (with a certain way of using mouth and breathing) seems to fit well, and be in balance with human biology. See the documentary for more information on that (more “self-promotion”, haha).

TO CONCLUDE

Some studies have by now been done in the "developed world" on the health effects of rhythm, psychologically and physiologically. This led to some interesting insights: on brain activity responses, relations of health to rhythm-induced "trance", or social effects. Although the studies are relatively limited in number, it led to the use of "rhythm" and "drumming" in therapy, sometimes as part of even formal health care. Partly still experimental, but hey..

I would welcome more scientific studies on the psychological, physiological, or neorological effects on human health of specifically African percussive music. Especially polyrhythmic music. This can lead to even more insight. This because even though, as I mentioned above, rhythm and percussion are used traditionally also in Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, and Asia, this use was and is rarely polyrhythmic: that’s a specific (sub-Saharan) African approach to rhythmic music. Health effects of it could be researched more in modern universities in the Western world.

On the other hand, ancient cultural and spiritual traditions in Africa and the African Diaspora have in practice already revealed and demonstrated that knowledge or wisdom about the beneficial health effects. This lacks only the Western urge toward categorization, fixation, written text, or terminology.