First, enjoy the video tour of Steven Chesne's Global Music Album:
A video tour of the Album
Then, immerse yourself in the Music Film production:
"We are the Descendants (in 79 languages) (feat. Fredo Bang)"
After that, let the excerpts play...
- 1 We are the Descendants (in 79 Languages) - Steven Chesne
- 2 Pyramid of Descendants - Steven Chesne
- 3 Swahili: Who are the Descendants? - Steven Chesne
- 4 Liberators of Descendants - Steven Chesne
- 5 Seeds of Descendants - Steven Chesne
- 6 Train of Descendants - Steven Chesne
- 7 Mongolian: Who are the Descendants? (Electronic Version) - Steven Chesne
- 8 Descendants: Moderato Con Moto - Steven Chesne
- 9 Descendants Voices in the Clouds - Steven Chesne
- 10 Xhosa: Who are the Ancestors Living as Powerful Spirits? - Steven Chesne
- 11 Mongolian: Who are the Descendants? (Orchestral Version) - Steven Chesne
- 12 The Descendants Shuffle - Steven Chesne
- 13 Descendants, Take a Bow - Steven Chesne
- 14 Descendants Finale - Steven Chesne
While you read the story below...
The Inspiration
I had been thinking about the fragmentation of civilization and the growing fear dividing us.
I thought about how - deep inside - we know that we are all made of the same material. We are all descendants from a common origin.
We forget.
But if reminded, it’s familiar
knowledge.
Worldwide Outreach
I focused on the phrase “we are the descendants." Over about a year of outreach, I contacted native speakers in 78 non-English languages, and asked them to translate this into natural phrases within each language.
I composed a melody for each one that would allow them to interweave with all of the other international phrases in song #1, “We are the Descendants (in 79 Languages)”, along with the English language rap.
Arranging Recordings Around the World
Another year was spent seeking brilliant, talented
Vocalists from all over the world to record
these phrases. Recording sessions were
arranged ...
From Madagascar to Albania, from Kenya to
Netherlands, from Germany to South
Africa.
Experimentation with the Phrases
I felt like a mad scientist in a laboratory, experimenting with the phrases, seeing what other pieces of music could be born from this precious material.
14 songs were created for the collection, most using these phrases. Also included are a few solo songs which ask the question, “who are the descendants?” The rest of the album answers powerfully with all of the international phrases singing, “we are the descendants.”
Rapper Fredo Bang Performed the English Lyrics
Besides these phrases, the only other lyrics on the record are an English-language rap in the first song.
Platinum recording artist, American rapper, Fredo Bang performed the English verses. His powerful, commanding style brought a beautiful energy to the song.
Calling in the "Big Guns"
I had been used to mixing and producing my own work for years. But finding myself surrounded with 79 international tracks, all recorded quite differently, a complete pallet of electronic textures, and complex symphonic orchestral tracks, I started to feel like I had bitten off more than I could chew. How does one balance all these elements so that they can coexist and not overwhelm the listener?
I sought help from the amazing sonic wizard, 25-time Grammy nominated Richard Furch (Prince, Usher). He beautifully refined my tracks to better achieve the kind of clarity and balance I was reaching for.
After doing more recomposing and arranging, I had gotten myself in deep all over again! I asked the extraordinary, gifted producer, Snipe Young (Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj, Beyoncé) to help me solve sonic issues towards the end of the production.
“While there are countless things that various peoples and cultures disagree about, even to the point of violence, one thing that we all accept in common is the fact that we all descend from a common source, whatever that may be.”
Steven Chesne
About the Songs
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01) “We are the Descendants (in 79 Languages) (feat. Fredo Bang)”
Joyous
The opening song includes all 79 languages, with each vocalist singing “We are the descendants” in their native tongue, as they weave their phrases around the English lan- guage verses, delivered by American rapper Fredo Bang.
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02) “Pyramid Of Descendants”
Cool/Exotic/Mysterious
In section one, a glitch vocal rhythm (in Italian) is a backdrop to phrases in Balinese, Japanese, Dine (Navajo), and Hungarian. The middle section is a hypnotic repeating loop, gradually adding one language at a time, in Azerbaijani, Cebuano, Thai, Xhosa, Macedonian, and Ukrainian.
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03) “Swahili: Who are the Descendants?”
Ballad/Lullaby
Kenyan vocalist, Kaymo, sings in Swahili, “Who are the Descendants?” with an orchestral accompaniment.
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04) “Liberators Of Descendants”
Cool/Mysterious
An electronic groove-based song featuring Ilongo, Dine (Navajo), Hindi, and Korean in the A-section, and the triumphant B-section features Khmer, Gujarati, and Bosnian.
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05) “Seeds of the Descendants”
Textural/New Age
Like mythic sirens in 3 languages (Swedish, Japanese, and Irish Gaelic), Christine Hals, Rayko, and Aeone embellish the phrase, “We are the descendants.”
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06) “Train Of Descendants”
Playful/Quirky
An electronic dance featuring vocalists in Malay, Tagalog, Danish, and Hebrew in section one, and then Arabic, French, Russian, Korean, and Swahili in section two. In section three, the first two vocal groups are combined, as all the vocal tracks are layered upon each other, intertwined.
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07) “Mongolian: Who are the Descendants? (Electronic Version)”
Epic/Haunting
Against an electronica backdrop, Uyanga Bold sings in Mongolian, “Who are the Descendants?”
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08) “Descendants: Moderato Con Moto”
Neo Classic/Rhythmic
70 of the languages make an appearance over this exciting, pulsating, rhythmically driving orchestral movement.
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09) “Descendants' Voices In The Clouds”
Ethereal/Textural
A New-Age style Orchestral Adagio, as if floating on a cloud, features vocalists in Nepali (which repeats throughout), followed by Hawaiian, Greek, Slovenian, French, Portuguese, Telugu, Irish, German, Urdu, Norwegian, Gujarati, and Armenian.
Then, a Norwegian ad lib overlaps with Persian, Russian, Mandarin, Georgian, Bosnian, and Macedonian, followed by Marathi, Cantonese, Swedish, Thai, Cebuano, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Tibetan, Kashmiri, and finally, Ukrainian, Czech, Vietnamese, Mongolian.
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10) “Xhosa: Who Are The Ancestors Living In Powerful Spirits?”
Playful/Percolating
Lester Mackenzie sings in Xhosa (a South African language which includes glottal clicks), “Who are the ancestors now living in powerful spirits?” He’s accompanied by electronic percussion, and later, an angular guitar solo.
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11) “Mongolian: Who are the descendants? (Orchestral version)”
Neo-Classic/Operatic
Uyanga Bold sings another version of the Mongolian song, styled as an orchestral aria.
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12) “The Descendants’ Shuffle”
Quirky/Uptempo Dance
A playful, brisk shuffle- Verse 1: Odia, Hindi, Cantonese, Polish, Bhutanese
- Verse 2: Igbo, Nepali, Navajo, Bosnian, Finnish, Haitian Creole. (The repeat later adds Albanian.)
- Breakdown Section: Telugu, Kikuyu, Marathi, Haitian Creole, Estonian, Spanish, Azerbaijani, Indonesian, Macedonian, Korean, and Ukrainian. All 78 international tracks sound simultaneously on the huge chorus.
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13) “Descendants, Take a Bow”
Broadway/Theatrical
A post-Sondheim, live-musical-styled number featuring 62 languages.
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14) “Descendants’ Finale”
Epic/Orchestral
A huge, cinematic texture with 78 international voices overlaid as a massive group, then overtaken by a symphony orchestra for a monumental finish!
