Lokanin Discs
These songs come from glass records that were given to the Alaska and Polar Regions Archives at University of Alaska Fairbanks. Because the discs are made of glass and were somewhat damaged, they had to be sent to a special facility for digitalization. The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) has written a fantastic article about the restoration of these recordings, which can be found here.
The recordings feature Mike Lokanin and his wife, Parascovia. Mike and Parascovia were living on the island of Attu when they were taken prisoner by the Japanese during World War II. These recordings, from 1945, were made by anthropologist Verne Ray at the University of Washington in Seattle, shortly after the Lokanin’s return from Japan.
Parascovia was born on Atka, and Mike was born on Unalaska, but the couple lived on Attu and sang and spoke in the Attuan variety of Unangam Tunuu. There are no more living speakers of Attuan, which makes transcription of these recordings especially challenging. Fortunately, Moses Dirks, a native speaker of Atkan, is experienced with transcribing Attuan.
The Lokanin family recently requested that we do not make these recordings available online. It is, however, still worthwhile to share the lyrics and melodies without the sound files. The recordings can be accessed by the public through the archives at University of Alaska.
So far we have only transcribed one full song, but I have transcribed the basic melodies for all of them:
The Chipmunk Hypothesis
It seems clear to me that somewhere in the digitization process some, if not all, of these recordings were sped up. This increased the tempi of the songs, and also raised the pitches. I call it a "chipmunk effect" because speeding up a recording makes humans sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks (high-pitched and funny-sounding). When I slowed the sound file down by 10%, it sounded much more natural.
Distortion like this is one of the many challenges involved in the restoration and use of archival audio materials. How can we determine what the initial pitches and tempi were?
Mourning Song
The song is a popular Unangax̂ folk tune, sung throughout the Aleutian Islands. The singers are husband and wife, Mike and Parascovia Lokanin. It sounds like Mike names someone else at the beginning of the track, possibly "Julia". We are not certain who was playing the guitar accompaniment.
At the request of the Lokanin family, this recording is not currently available online via the archives at University of Alaska.
Due largely to damage, it is difficult to make out some of the words on the recording, and some of the transcription is incomplete.
Here is the basic melody and lyrics:
Unangam Tunuu (Attuan version)
Asx̂alakan ayulakan ting as tin ukuux̂tin.
Asx̂akax̂liidaĝulax asx̂aliidax̂aan waya.
English
Don’t die. Don’t fall. You and I'll look after each other.
Though you look invincible, you will someday die.
Vocabulary Lesson:
asx̂alix 'to die'
ayulix 'to fall down'
ting 'I/me'
as 'together'
tin/txin 'you'
ukux̂talix 'to see, watch'
liidalix 'to resemble'
aan waya 'thusly, eventually'
tuuyulix 'to be lonesome'
qidalix 'to cry'
-laka- (negation)
-ulax (negation)
Additional lyrics:
Unangam Tunuu (Attuan version)
Mas miiyang aqaqalix waliga ting as tin ukuux̂tin.
Waĝaaĝan akuqngaan adalulakan hingaya
Asx̂alakan ayulakan ting as tin ukuux̂tin
Asx̂aakax̂ liidaĝulax asx̂aliidax̂ aan waya
Asx̂alakan ayulakan hadamiing waaĝakut ukux̂
Ting as tin ukukuxt hingalix, hingaliix̂
Ayulakan, asxalakan ting as tin ukuux̂tin
aasalilix ayulakan , hingay ting ukuuxtin
...waligan akuux̂tin, waligan asx̂alakan ting as nukuux̂tin
waaĝqaan angaligan tin (as) ukuux̂tin...
...inaaĝul...ukuuĝu...
English
When going there, we’ll be together
As I was arriving in a boat, I found out you were true to your word.
Don’t die. Don’t fall. You and I will look after each other.
Even though you look invincible, one day you will die.
When you came towards me in the boat, you and I together.
We saw each other when you got there, when you got there.
Don’t fall. Don’t die. You and I will look out for each other
And then don’t fall. There we will look after each other
...when you were here, when you came here, you didn’t die.
You reached me in a boat that day so we could look after each other.
...I feel rejected...expect...[static]
Moses Dirks grew up singing the Atkan version of this song. He prefers the title “Tuyusaaĝanaan” or “Don’t Be Lonesome”:
Unangam Tunuu (Atkan version)
Tuyusaaĝanaan qidasaaĝanaan ukuliimis saĝaqaan.
Asx̂akax̂liidaĝulax asx̂liiĝan aan waya.
English
Don’t be lonesome, don’t cry about it. You'll soon find it.
Though you look invincible, you will someday die.
Love Song
We have not yet transcribed the lyrics to this song, but below you can find a sketch of the basic melody. I hope to add the lyrics and translation in the future.
At the request of the Lokanin family, this recording is not currently available online via the archives at University of Alaska.
Like the Canoe Song, and all of the songs on the Lokanin Discs, each verse of this song is slightly different rhythmically, and even melodically. Often this is to accommodate the changing text.
The basic pattern sketched repeats nearly 40 times in the recording. Each repetition seems to have different lyrics, and slightly different rhythms. The singer frequently adds one or more beats to the melody, once again demonstrating that this music is not confined by a "Western" sense of time signature.
Canoe Song
We have not yet transcribed the lyrics to this song, but below you can find a sketch of the melody. I hope to add the lyrics and translation in the future.
At the request of the Lokanin family, this recording is not currently available online via the archives at University of Alaska.
This song is a great example of how transcribing traditional folk music using "Western" staff notation can be problematic. I was able to transcribe a basic sketch in 4-4 time, however I am not convinced that this song really has a time signature. The song is sung in verses, the rhythms and melodies of which are slight variations on a theme. In order to transcribe the entire recording, I had to insert several bars of both 5-4 and 3-4 and even some 2-4. The time signature began to feel arbitrary and inconsistent. If the software would allow me, I would transcribe this without bar lines.
Additionally, what I have transcribed as a dotted eighth-sixteenth pattern is not a true dotted eighth and sixteenth. In this sound file, I attempt to present a rhythm more like the one in the original recording:
Returning Child
We have not yet transcribed the lyrics to this song, but below you can find a sketch of the melody. I hope to add the lyrics and translation in the future.
At the request of the Lokanin family, this recording is not currently available online via the archives at University of Alaska.
Like the Canoe Song, and all of the songs on the Lokanin Discs, each verse of this song is slightly different rhythmically, and melodically. Often this is to accommodate the changing text.
I could not tell whether the song begins with an "A" pattern or a "B" pattern because the recording picks up part way through. I have outlined a few of the many variations to show some of the ways in which the rhythm, melody, and even time signature vary. The “breath marks” mark substantial pauses that could arguably be described as added beats (or half-beats).
