tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jan 08 07:09:45 2009
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RE: Conlang music
Say Emrys asked:
>> What music do you know of whose lyrics are in a conlang?
>> Have any of you created such?
>> I ask partially out of simple curiosity, but also partially by
>> request; Swandive Films' conlang-themed movie is nearing completion
>> (it's in post-production, with filming and first pass editing
>> complete), and they are interested in conlangy music to use in the
>> film.
be''etlh (Elizabeth Lawrence) wrote:
>I wrote a lullaby in klingon, and I know Qanqor HoD has written a number of
>original pieces. There are also any number of other people who have
>translated songs into klingon, but I'm guessing you are more interested in
>the original works.
There's actually quite a bit of Klingon music out there, good and bad. Here's what information I've collected over the years in my notes in no particular order (N.B. I haven't verified the URLs are still valid):
KLINGON MUSIC AND SONGS
"Well, Krankor, of course, has been churning out his Klingon songs and recordings thereof, including the famed singing of Klingon barbershop quartet by the {matlh juppu'} ["Friends of Maltz"].
"There was a record by a group called 'Degh' called "Tek for Trek" that had songs with Klingon lyrics. The grammar wasn't good, but you can tell that they were trying to do it right:
http://www.khemorex-klinzhai.de/e/culture/Degh
A composer named William Sethares wrote to me a year or two ago, about a piece he'd written called {rojqoq} ("So-Called Peace"); you can hear it at http://eceserv0.ece.wisc.edu/~sethares/exo.html
[FYI: An MP3 download of the song {rojqoq} including the written lyrics in Klingon and English is at:
http://eceserv0.ece.wisc.edu/~sethares/mp3s/rojqoq.html ]
I was going to work with him on some more musings on Klingon harmonics. Maybe I'll write back to him. There was an opera being worked on by David Barron and Tom Twohy, but that was years ago and I have not heard anything about it since. And of course there are always the impromptu (not always) performances at each qep'a', at the Cabaret.
"And for purely written music, there are the various parodies and translations... Björn Öqvist has a collection of many of these, at his site at http://www.klingonska.org/songs ." [Mark Shoulson]
Kosmic Horrör is a rock band that performs in Klingon:
http://www.kosmic-horror.com
"A friend got me a CD called DUJ TVOQ TAH (actual spelling from the CD), by a band called Kosmic Horror, who I think are either German or Swedish . I'm guessing they spelt it wrong (especially with the old style writing from the original orthography. I'm guessing they actually intended the song to be called {Duj tIvoqtaH} but unfortunately the song is mostly incomprehensible, and any lyrics, if the title is anything to go by, would be incorrect." [qeraqjih]
"Yes, indeed, they are from Germany. They started this idea to make a Klingon song many years ago, then they forgot about it, and now they found their texts back. They didn't remember who had translated it, but it sounded good. Besides of that, they had no clue about Klingon grammar, spelling or pronunciation. When listening to the song, you really don't understand a word, just the chorus can be recognized if you've read the title before. But it sounds very Klingon!! I happened to be at that convention, where this group was going to have a live performance. They needed a few Klingons to stand proudly in the background, and I was just the right man on the right place on the right time :-) They were lucky to meet me, because when I saw the title of the CD, I could not keep my mouth shut. We stayed in contact and - I'll keep it short - about five new Klingon songs have been made already. And this time, you'll certainly understand what they sing!" [Quvar valer (Lieven)]
Stovokor -- a heavy metal band who sing exclusively in Klingon:
See the WikiPedia article (with links):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stovokor_%28band%29
Jigar Mehta, "With a Song in Their Heart, Klingon Wannabees Star in Portland Bar", UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, October 31 2003
"cha'ben [2001] Björk bom "vergh jan bom" ("The Anchor Song") vImugh 'ej ghomvamvaD 'oH vI'agh. ghIq De'wI' lo'lI' *taD* 'ej wab lIS. QoQvo' Björk ghogh nop 'ej Okrand ghogh tam ghaH! mIwDaj vISovbe' 'ach jIyay'qu'." [Andrew Strader]
The sound file is at:
http://uberguido.tripod.com/files/vergh.mp3
and the lyrics and translation are at:
http://uberguido.tripod.com/files/akkeri.html
To hear a "RealAudio" recording (labeled "wo' bom") of the anthem from "Soldiers of the Empire," visit:
https://65.13.120.12:80/tlhIngan/anthem.mp3
http://www2.rpa.net/~cheesbro (old link)
Here's the version heard in Star Trek: Klingon!:
http://media.khemorex-klinzhai.de/audio/anthem.wav
Actor J.G. Hertzler ("Martok") likes to sing it in an interview with the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/st/clips/hertzler/clip4.shtml
Collections of Klingon song translations online:
http://teresh.tdonnelly.org/klinbom.html
(includes ter'eS's version of Elvis Presley's "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof)
http://www.geocities.com/benasaudi/songs.html
(also includes the love duet from "Aktuh and Mellota")
For Klingon sounds, especially opera, visit DloraH's website:
https://65.13.120.12:80/tlhIngan/de.htm
and click on "Mellota" to hear the love duet of that famous opera.
Russ Perry Jr.'s band did a song called "Klingons", sung in (bad) tlhIngan Hol in 1991:
http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/1375/1375882.html
"Two caveats: 1) The site isn't for people who are easily offended. That's not to say it's pornographic, or that there is a lot of violent or sexual images, but there are some images and lyrics that WILL offend some people. I don't think anything would offend a Klingon, but any Federation types may want to tread lightly. 2) There isn't much of interest to a Klingonist, and anyone here who really knows Klingon will probably be able to point out all kinds of flaws in the lyrics of the one song we did in Klingon. That said, the "front door" is either:
http://come.to/dethkorpz
OR
http://users.rcn.com/slapdash/dethkorpz
A direct link to the lyrics, which I notice are not formatted very well and I'll need to fix, is:
http://users.rcn.com/slapdash/dethkorpz/mtlyr.htm
Anyone interested in buying a CDR of the album with that song can contact me, but I'll warn you that it's NOT a professional production, and it IS metal (at least in spots). I may be able to post a link to an MP3 of the song, but right now all our songs are down and I haven't had time to put them up on a new site." [5/31/2004: Russ Perry Jr., 2175 S. Tonne Dr. #114, Arlington Hts IL 60005, tel. 847-952-9729, e-mail: [email protected]]
Quvar (Lieven Litauer) has a website for the German group Klenginem (in German):
http://www.klenginem.de
"The Official Klenginem Website is now finally available also in English! Go see http://www.klenginem.de and choose your language to find out who is Klenginem, what he does, listen to his music or read some Klingon lyrics and leave a message in the guestbook - why not in Klingon?" [Quvar, 2/26/2007] You can also listen to the Klingon adaption of Eminem's "Without Me" at:
http://media.khemorex-klinzhai.de/audio/Klenginem.mp3
and there are additional sound files available at:
http://media.khemorex-klinzhai.de/audio/klenginem/
Holtej has a recording of his 2 1/2 year-old son singing the first part of {taHjaj wo'}:
http://higbee.cots.net/~holtej/klingon/alec1.ra
--
Voragh
Canon Master of the Klingons