Heralds of the Change
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Musical instruments are an essential part of a culture and its foundations. A material instrument that lets us touch the immaterial, bridging the gap between the physical body and the soul.
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In the past, musical instruments were fundamental in religious ceremonies, agrarian festivals, seasonal rituals and the rites of the human lifecycle. Archeologists suggest music may have helped to maintain bonds between larger groups of humans, and that this may have helped the species to expand both in numbers and in geographical range. These larger social networks, bonded by music rituals, might of have provided a competitive advantage over the Neanderthals.
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As human civilizations around the world based their rituals, festivals, culture and calls to war, with music as a fundamental way to envoke emotion and unity, so shalll the rising Bitcoin civilization.
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THE NEW BITCOIN CIVILIZATION WILL HERALD THE CHANGE IN THE WORLD PARADIGM WITH IT´S VERY OWN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
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Like the music that was played to destroy the walls of Jericho, music played with these instruments will lead to the falling of the walls of Fiat.
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The oldest musical instruments to be found were woodwind and percussion instruments.
Following the way human culture was created, the first Bitcoin instruments shall be woodwind and percussion.
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and here they are...
Bitcoin Xeremia - Traditional Mallorcan Bagpipe
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- Cocobolo wood, brass, cane, stainless steel,
embroidery
SOLD
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Bitcoin Tamborí
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Mediterranean hackberry wood, oil paint, leather
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SOLD
Describe your image
Describe your image
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Arising from the Ashes
The Pheonix is here
It brings with it a message
Of a change that is near
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A civilization is forming
Proof of work is its base
Threads that tie us together
The bull is in place
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The sounds of the bagpipe
Heralding the change
New blocks form like clockwork
a new form of exchange
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Tik Tok, Next Block
The passing of time,
The creation of Blocks,
Like the beats of a drum
Like the sound of a clock.
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The bull moving forward
The Herald of Change
Trustless foundations
A new form of exchange
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Vires in Numeris
It´s all based in code
Printer go BRRR
Won´t bother the node
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The bull is a symbol of fearlessness, highlighting determination and strength. Bull symbols have been depicted since the dawn of humanity. They can be found in art, literature and rites, especially in the Mediterranean.
The famous Palaeolithic paintings discovered in caves in southwestern France, the Lascaux Cave paintings, revealed that when human beings started to draw around 17,000 BCE, they drew the mighty bull.
In financial circles, the term "bull market" refers to the condition of a market, where prices are rising or expected to rise. The term "bull" is thought to come from the way in which a bull attacks its opponents, where a bull will thrust its horns in the air. The Bitcoin bull needed to be in the new musical instruments of the Bitcoin culture. Based on its significance in cultures across the world, and its prominence as the pinnacle of a warrior mentality, the bull is clearly a strong, tough entity.
The Bull
The melody pipe of the Xeremía has a bull holding it in his mouth. Jordi Aixalà, the luthier who built the Xeremía, masterly carved it from cocobolo wood. The result is stunning and has caused sensation in the circle of connoisseurs of his craft.
The tamborí tensioner is a bull head, beautifully carved by Rafel Moll fom African Blackwood. It is a reproduction of the Cap de Bou de Talapi. An archaeological piece of great patrimonial, artistic and cultural value, found in Sa Pobla, Rafel´s village. The sculpture is unique and of modest dimensions (39 cm), made of bronze dated between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC. It represents a beautiful bulls head that symbolizes th Bull God. It is the eastern emblem of the female goddess of fertility, Tanit.
The fundamental obsession of Mediterranean civilizations with the bull is embodied in the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. The victory of intelligence and art over estiality and death and the deliberate immersion in the subterranean world of instinct.
The journey that led me to this artwork...
In November of 2022, I went to the Diada Mariona Galindo i Lora in the village of Mataró, Catalonia. This day was celebrated with Castells, or human castles.
Castells are human towers built traditionally at festivals in Catalonia. On the 16 of November 2010, castells were declared by UNESCO to be amongst the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The tradition of castells within Catalonia originated in the Ball dels Valencians (Valencian dance) in Valls, near the city of Tarragona, first documented in 1712.
The lightest member of the colla (the gang ), is usually a child that climbs to the top and salutes the crowd. This Diada, special day in Catalan, was in memory of Mariona Galindo i Lora, a girl who died, falling from a tower. Her colla, completed a difficult nine story tower that day. The square became "a square of 9", the fifth square with this status in town.
As base levels are completed, the castellers in the pinya (base) determine if their base is solid enough for construction to continue. When the signal to proceed is given, bands begin to play the traditional "Toc de Castells" as a hush comes over the spectators.
One of the most well-known melodies in Catalonia is the "Toc de Castells". It is played during the building of the castle and has a very clear purpose: to inform the colla of how the castle is developing. The melodies have roots in Gregorian and Ancient Greek modes.
As this is a popular tradition in catalonia, members of the crowd are invited to help support the base of their preferred colla. I had the immense privilege to participate in this and feel the incredible energy from within. Making it an unforgettable day.
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As a story teller of Bitcoin culture, this day lead me to continue the journey in search of a way to reinterpret these beautiful traditions.
human castles
The Melody played while the castle is being built
human castles
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This journey continued in one of the most beautiful islands of the Mediterranean, Mallorca. As opposed to the other very planned out journeys for past works, this one followed the whisper of the muses.
Following my enchantment with the music I encountered the day of the Castells, I searched for the most talented and artistic luthier that builds these instruments. This would be my next Bitcoin artwork. After extensive research, I found Jordi Aixalà.
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Jordi is a very talented woodwind luthier, musician and teacher that has a unique vision. I called to arrange a visit to his studio, and he invited me to an annual fair for traditional instruments, in Sa Pobla, Mallorca, that weekend.
I´m not one to question the muses, so I didn´t hesitate to go across the sea to partake in a traditional music encounter. It sounded magical.
Mallorca greeted me with beautiful weather, interesting sites and amazing food.
On Sunday, I arrived in Sa Pobla, a beautiful village that hosts an annual encounter of musicians and luthiers of these traditional instruments. The fair started almost 30 years ago, with the intention of bringing back this endangered musical culture, that almost disappeared.
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This beautiful day is where I first met Jordi, at his stand of Xeremías and Grallas. I also first met Rafel Moll Serra, a talented tamborí maker, who´s stand stood out from all the rest. These ancient instruments are coming back to modern culture, thanks to people like them.
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The sounds of the Xeremía (Mallorcan bagpipe), flabiol (flute) and tamborí (drum) flood the town square. People group together to play.
Luthiers from all over the Balearic Islands and Catalonia show their instruments.
The Gigants come out to dance on the street. The Gigants are a European tradition, inherited from medieval rites, of gigantic costumed figures that represent a fictitious or real being. The Mallorcan version is cheerful and engaging.
Hearing the instruments in different festivals, each time encompassing the atmosphere with moving music, it was final...
The Bitcoin story needed the most ancient musical instruments as part of its culture.
Coming back from the beautiful island of Mallorca, I scheduled to meet Jordi Aixalà in his studio in Ruidoms, Catalonia.
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Jordi is a talented woodwind instrument luthier, musician and teacher, who has been making instruments since 1985. He has a unique take on each instrument, studying each one and adapting it to our times. Jordi writes - "My work is dedicated to the traditional music of the lands of the former Crown of Aragon and Catalonia, places where numerous instruments were played and which have passed down to us to this day. One way to touch our history is to become the minstrels that rolled through the squares and streets everywhere, and continue to maintain the tradition by ensuring that our best customs are not lost."
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As a luthier and craftsman of traditional musical instruments, Jordi also makes reproductions of ancient instruments from time immemorial, from the Middle Ages or from Roman times. All made preserving the original sound of each instrument. He started working in his father´s industrial wood workshop, from a young age, so his hands were already used to the lathe. Music was his hobby, and that´s how the two things got mixed up together.
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His studio was huge, full of different kinds of wood, heavy and fine machinery and he was kind enough to explain the whole process of creation - from the base of each piece to the extremely delicate work needed to create the mouthpieces from a very delicate cut of a cane.
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Jordi is also a talented musician, having played in different bands. He plays in festivals, dances of Gigants and encounters all over Catalonia.
He also teaches to play these ancient instruments in different places.
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We decided that the best piece to collaborate on would be the Xeremía, the Mallorcan version of the known bagpipe. Jordi would make the instrument and add a hand carved wooden bull head, his special touch, and I would embroider the bag with a Bitcoin message.
The second collaboration for this piece is with Rafel Moll Serra.
I first met Rafel during that special musical encounter in his beautiful village of Sa Pobla, Mallorca. The instruments he makes stood out from all the rest.
Rafel started playing the Xeremies in 1987, with his first teacher: the great Toni ´Blanc´ de Campanet. Shortly afterwards, he learned to play the flabiol and tamborí with teachers such as Tomeu Aloy de Sencelles, Toni ´Xisples´from Santa Maria and Pep Toni Rubio from Calvià. In 1999 he started teaching classes in Muro and Santa margalida, and at the same time he started building reed instruments, ximbombes, xeremies and tamborins.
The main motivation for venturing on this new path was the lack of craftsmen at the time, who could not satisfy the great demand for these instruments. Overtime, he researched the old instruments until he came to create his own sound. He realized that no two were alike, which is why he also began to personalize them.
In the case of the tamborins, the process is entirely handmade, using only Mediterranean hackberry - a tree already used by shepherds to make collars for sheep and dogs - and goat skin - very abundant in the Serra de Tramuntana. This wood is supposed to have been the Lotus of the ancients, whose fruit Herodotus, Dioscorides and Theophrastus describe as sweet, pleasant and wholesome. Homer has Ulysses refer to the "Lotus-eaters" in the Odyssey.
Each tamborí is decorated and finished to the customer´s liking, turning each piece into a unique work, just like the old musicians used to do.
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Rafel and I decided that I would paint the Bitcoin tamborí and he would build it. And just as Jordi would carve a bulls head for the Xeremía, Rafel would carve a beautiful one for the tamborí.
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The bitcoin instruments were on their way...