14 juin 2010, 10:21
Africa/Afrique
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2010 Fifa World Cup:Is Vuvuzela SA football’s trumpet a beautiful noise or a sound from « hell »?

Vuvuzela, Fifa 2010
Vuvuzela, Fifa 2010

What’s plastic, a metre long, brightly coloured and sounds like an elephant? It’s the vuvuzela, the noise-making trumpet of South African football fans, and it’s come to symbolise the sport in the country. I am not sure I like it a lot even though it ads some ambiance !

It’s an instrument, but not always a musical one. Describing the atmosphere in a stadium packed with thousands of fans blowing their vuvuzelas is difficult. Up close it’s an elephant, sure, but en masse the sound is more like a massive swarm of very angry bees.

And when there’s action near the goal mouth, those bees go really crazy.

To get that sound out requires lip flexibility and lung strength – in short, a fair amount of technique. So be sure to get in some practice before attending a South African football match, or you the sound you produce may cause some amusement in the seats around you!

Vuvuzela supplier Boogieblast offers this advice: « Put your lips inside the mouthpiece and almost make a ‘farting’ sound. Relax your cheeks and let your lips vibrate inside the mouthpiece. As soon as you get that trumpeting sound, blow harder until you reach a ridiculously loud ‘boogying blast’

What should it sound like? Try this .wav file from www.boogieblast.co.za

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