Rautalanka ( Fin . Rautalanka ) - the style of Finnish instrumental music . As a rule, it is performed by a quartet of musicians playing solo guitar , rhythm guitar , bass guitar and percussion, but other instruments, as well as vocals, can be used in it. "Rautalanka" literally translates as "iron wire" (referring to the strings of an electric guitar ). The name itself came from Sweden . In 1964, Juha Vainio translated into Finnish , recorded and released a Swedish parody Søren Anderson's Sveriges Elektriska Ståltrådsorkester ( referred to as the Swedish Electric Steel Wire Orchestra). Vainio translated the name into Paras rautalankayhtye (ex. "The best iron-wire group", "The best group performing the rautalank"). Prior to this, such groups were simply called “kitarayhtye” ( Finnish “guitar group”), but after the release of Vainio's album, the musical style began to be called a rautalanke, and groups , respectively, were called groups performing a rautalanke ( Finnish “rautalankayhtyeitä”).
The distinctive features of the routalank are distinct melodies, a fast pace and widespread use of film echo machines , but the complete absence of distortion or fuzz . Rautalanka differs from other genres that also use loud guitar sounds in that its melodies are usually melancholy, performed in a minor key and are based on folk motifs and pop songs (hits).
Content
History
In the early 1960s , Yleisradio was a broadcasting monopoly in Finland . Her leadership very rarely aired popular music . This mainly happened during the Lauantain toivotut levyt program , which lasted 20 minutes on Saturdays. On foreign radio stations , also working in Finland , pop music played around the clock, and their programs were listened throughout the country. French Radio Luxembourg was especially popular. The music sounded on it actively inspired Finnish youth to create their own musical groups . Models for them were groups such as the English The Shadows and American The Ventures . The Shadows came to Finland several times with concerts (the last time - in 2005 ). Their main hit is the 1960s instrumental Apache . The Ventures group owns the song Walk, Don't Run , which became a hit in Finland and was used in Yleisradio programs as the main musical theme.
The first Finnish band to play in the Rutalank style was The Strangers. The second was The Saints, a team created by a group of students from Helsinki . The Sounds turned out to be the third in time of occurrence, and it was they who turned out to be the first of the groups playing the Routalank who managed to conclude a contract with a record company . Their first single Emma immediately soared to the top of the music charts , and the composition Emma to this day remains a classic example of the Finnish routalanki. In 1961, the first championship on the performance of music in this style was held in Helsinki . He was won by The Saints, Danny and the Islanders took second place with his frontman Ilkka Lipsanen (Danny), who subsequently made a pop star career in Finland .
Rautalanka became the first "youth" style of music, widely distributed throughout Finland . Prior to this, the release of records and concert activities were more or less monopolized by professional musicians, usually of an older age.
The term “rautalank” is used only in Finland . In the English-speaking world, when it comes to bands like The Shadows , the term " instrumental rock " is used instead. However, the Finnish Routalanka is too melodic to be considered “real” rock, so the existence of a special term for its designation is quite justified.
The heyday of the Routalanka in Finland lasted from the beginning of 1961 to the end of 1963 . Gradually, in the wake of the imitation of The Beatles , vocalists began to appear in groups. They were either invited “from the side”, or one of the former members of the collective began to sing. So, the drummer Johnny Libkind became the vocalist of The Sounds , and The Starngers recorded with Timo Jamsen, who sang in parallel in his own band The Esquires. The style in which the groups played, which had in their repertoire both instrumental compositions and compositions with vocals, began to be called mercibite . Little by little, the purely instrumental music of the Routalanka faded into the background, and somewhere in 1964, bands began to appear that initially had a permanent vocalist (Danny and The Islanders, Jim and The Beatmakers, Topmost).
Style
Distinctive features of the style, including those preserved by its followers to this day.
- A clearly defined solo guitar (usually Fender Stratocaster or its analogs) using single-pickups and film echo machines (as opposed to spring reverbs used in surf-rock ). Guitar parts often require masterly technique.
- Overdrive and distortion are not used.
- Very melodic music; the rhythm guitar only supports the solo guitar .
- If there is a vocalist in a band, he almost always plays bass or rhythm guitar .
- Melancholy melodies performed in a minor key.
- Groups playing in the routalank style usually have English names consisting of one word in the plural with the article. This tradition has been inherited from foreign bands such as The Shadows and The Ventures .
- Many bands use stage costumes in the 1960s style.
Rautalanka today
Although the traditional instrumental routalanque is today a marginal musical style, supported by a small group of enthusiastic followers, it did not cease to exist in the 1960s . Rautalanka laid the foundation for modern youth music in Finland : Finnish melodic heavy metal originates from this sound with an emphasis on solo guitar . There are examples of direct borrowing. So, Finnish rock band Viikate performs “metal routalanka” - music that combines elements of a classic routalank, Finnish hats (“iskelma”) and heavy metal . Overall, Hank Marvin is still a role model for many modern rock musicians in Finland .
Elements of the rautalanki are also used in contemporary popular and dance music , not least due to the legacy of the Swamp of Sorsakoski and the Agents of the 1980s . Finnish pop bands also regularly use an electric guitar with an echo effect.
Literature
Vienonen, Mikko; Lähteenmäki, Timo. Koit ny rauhottu! - Helsinki: Teos, 2009 .-- ISBN 978-951-851-150-5 .
Links
- Finnish Routalanka in the names
- Rautalanka.org - Forum of lovers of rautalanki (in Finnish)