The Chinese erhu, a bowed, two-stringed instrument, similar to a violin; the Peruvian quena, a traditional flute from the Andes; the Persian tar, a long-necked string instrument from the lute family. These are some of the instruments that Berklee students, faculty, and alumni have performed — and recorded — as part of the Berklee Intersectional Soundbox Archive.
The college’s new project aims to collect clips of instruments, stories, and sound expressions from Indigenous communities worldwide. Lim proposed the idea via Berklee’s grant office after meeting students who were unsure of how to share their expertise with traditional instruments within the college’s community. He’s been overseeing the archive’s development since earlier this year.
“People kinda go, ‘Wait, how do you come to Berklee and play a ‘non- conventional’ instrument’?” Lim says. “I wanted to give respect to the hands that preserved this body of instruments that have been surviving for hundreds of years.”
As of November — Native American Heritage Month — the archive already has swelled to over 350 sound samples. Emphasis on samples; these aren’t fully fleshed-out songs, but rather recordings that showcase each instrument’s various textures and tones, as well as the tonal differences between different variations of the instruments. While browsing the archive, guests can opt to download the music for free for future use in their own compositions (although attribution is required).
Some clips, like a burst of Middle Eastern percussion, are barely more than 10 seconds. Others, like a portion of the tale “How Fire Was Made,” stretch closer to a minute and a half. That particular recording showcases storytelling from Tchin, a musician, flutemaker, and folklorist from the Narragansett tribe. Earlier this year, Lim and a handful of students visited the recording studio at Berklee’s New York City campus to record Tchin’s work.
So far, the project has been just as much of an outlet for students as it has been for guest artists and educators like Tchin, who Lim says is “still imagining ways to share this knowledge with people, which is why he’s sharing it with us.”
GIG GUIDE
Thwart any budding cabin fever this weekend with a few bursts of New England rock, starting with an appearance from Belly, who return to the Paradise Rock Club on Friday. Boston alt-rock darlings Vundabar cozy up to Cambridge, performing their 2015 album “GAWK” in its entirety at the Lilypad on Friday, followed by an appearance at the Sinclair on Saturday that’s more focused on their latest LP, “Surgery and Pleasure.”
Smooth jazz trumpeter Chris Botti heads to the Wilbur for shows on Friday and Saturday. Across the street at Royale, New Zealand’s the Beths provide a punchy double shot of rock with shows on Monday and Tuesday to support their August album “Straight Line Was a Lie.” The grunge-grazed act Sir Chloe, whose roots trace back to Bennington College in Vermont, continues Royale’s rock block on Thursday.
Skylar Spence, king of funk-slicked electronica, performs at Deep Cuts on Sunday as part of Carpark Records’s 25th anniversary festivities. You might not have heard of Spence before, but you know the gist of his work; the earworm guitar riff powering Doja Cat’s breakthrough hit “Say So” seems to closely mimic Spence’s 2014 song “Fiona Coyne.” If you’re into that dazed disco vibe, more grooves await at Spence’s local stop.
Also on Sunday, Earl Sweatshirt becomes one of the few people to ever make the phrase “Live Laugh Love” sound cool, as he brings his album of the same name to Big Night Live. Along with a string of releases via Warner Records, the Chicago-born rapper also touts past membership in Odd Future, the alt-hip-hop collective that included bigwigs such as Tyler, The Creator and Frank Ocean.
Nigerian Afrobeats sensation Burna Boy returns to TD Garden on Wednesday with his latest offering, the fervid LP “No Sign of Weakness.” The last time the singer, rapper, and producer visited Massachusetts, he made history as the first African artist to sell out the arena, and Boston City Council declared it “Burna Boy Day” throughout the city.
NOW SPINNING
Tems, “Love Is a Kingdom.” Earlier this year, singer-songwriter Tems became the first Nigerian artist to win multiple Grammy Awards. On the heels of her historic win — and her 2024 record “Born in the Wild” — Tems returns with her EP “Love Is a Kingdom,” another simmering bridge between Afrobeats and R&B. “They can’t stop me now / I’m different,” she sings on opening song “First,” gliding on her career’s almost palpable momentum.
Aerosmith and YUNGBLUD, “One More Time.” When Aerosmith’s LP “Music From Another Dimension!” arrived in 2012, no one uttered the phrase “final album,” but the possibility lingered, unspoken, for years. But the bad boys of Boston come bearing an early holiday gift with “One More Time,” their new EP with British rock artist YUNGBLUD. The project’s four original tunes (and remake of “Back in the Saddle”) injects Aerosmith’s retro rattle with YUNGBLUD’s joie de vivre. Don’t miss the “desert road” rendition of lead single “My Only Angel,” which features Steve Martin on banjo.
BONUS TRACK
Good luck to anyone seeking one of 1,600 copies of the latest release from Jonathan Richman: a 30th anniversary edition of his LP “You Must Ask the Heart,” remastered and pressed on “candy heart” pink vinyl for Record Store Day’s Black Friday festivities. Folks looking for a different local-ish score might fare better with “Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live” from Talking Heads, which includes newly discovered material and recordings from the band’s early days in Rhode Island, when they performed under the moniker “the Artistics.”
Victoria Wasylak can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Bluesky at VickiWasylak.bsky.social.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.bostonglobe.com ’
