Honking Horns: A Musical Transformation for Ghana
Back in 2007, NPR’s All Things Considered ran a story about how honking your horn in Ghana had been transformed into music. According to the story, a union of truck and taxi drivers in Accra, Ghana turned the mundane sound of honking your horn into music. You can have a listen here.
Music to Your Ears
The horns used in Ghana are slightly different from the car horns used over here in America. Their horns are ‘honk horns’-the kind that have a rubber squeeze bulb at one end and are either straight or curved. Drivers typically hang these off of their side mirrors and use them mostly at night to scare off predators as they changed or fixed damaged tires which were caused by poor roadway conditions.
Steven Feld, a professor at the University of New Mexico spent almost three years recording the sound of these horns, known in the West African nation as por por horns after the sound that they make; and now Feld has produced a CD of the honking horns entitled Por Por: Honk Horn Music of Ghana. The CD came out back in 2007 and coincided with the 50th anniversary of Ghana’s independence.
According to the article from NPR:
Although por por originated 60 years ago, Feld says it has been largely unknown until recently because it is performed only at the funerals of truck drivers.
Today, the honking/music can be heard by everyone worldwide by purchasing their cd. Who would’ve thought that horns could be so musical?!
For more information about auto transport or car carriers, contact National Transport LLC today!
It’s like the whistle tips you can get for your cars.