Along with the human voice, percussion is probably the oldest instrument family to exist, known to have been around for at least 8,000 years, according to James Blades1. Furthermore, since ancient times, percussion instruments have been inherently connected to the natural world. For example, the Yaqui people of the Southwest United States use water drums called baa wehai, commonly played in their sacred deer dance2. This dance demonstrates their belief in an essential connection between humans and the environment, through the utilization of natural resources as instruments - gourds, in this case - and in the dance's relation to the hunting of deer for its resources (ibid).

















'Yaqui Deer Dancer' by Tazouz, 2014


These instruments are not exclusive to the Yaqui people though; similar drums are used by the Iroquois, Navajo, Apache, and Cherokee3 people among many others across the Americas, with use in ritual and dance much like the Yaqui's. Across the globe, similar versions of water drums are seen in the Bayaka people in Africa as well. In place of a drum, they sometimes use the water itself and their hands and arms to create different sounds.4  These practices integrate their music with the environment, whether directly through the resources used to make the instruments or by using the environment as its own instrument. Taking note of the similarity and possible transmission5 of instruments or ideas is an important aspect to consider, as it means what classical musicians use today might also come from the transmission of an idea, creating a lineage of reused ideas resulting in what we use today.





 










For example, the marimba can be seen in Latin American traditions of Colombia, Ecuador, and the South Pacific region, and is an integral part of their culture, reinforced by UNESCO's declaration of the marimba and their songs as a part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List in 20156.  However, the marimba is known to have come to Latin America and South America from the African diaspora due to the slave trade in the 16th and 17th centuries (Bogota et al., para.7). The construction eventually transformed into what modern percussionists know as the marimba, exchanging gourd resonators with wooden tubes, like what is used on the timbila from the Chopi people of Mozambique7. while different in construction and traditional usage, the method of performance is markedly similar. 




 
In this example, the necessity of maintaining cultural heritage, due to the unlawful trafficking of slaves, created a transformation and translation of an existing idea into the ancestor of a group of idiophones now used worldwide by classically trained musicians and individual communities alike. In both instances, what was used was prevalent around them - gourds in Africa, and wood in the Americas 10.

Environmental Changes to Traditional Practices

I. The Earth and Percussion in Cultural Traditions
Unfortunately, significant practices like the ones mentioned are threatened by modernization and by damage to the ecosystems in which these cultures have resided for millennia (ibid). Furthermore, many of these cultures demonstrate some kind of innate human-nature relationship, visible in the practices, stories, and music they create. The Yaqui deer dance describes the relationship between humans and nature, with the dance connecting them to the sea ania, or the "embodiment of sacrifice"11. The dance demonstrates and offers respect to the deer for their sacrifice towards humans, while the humans must not overhunt or " ...[offend] deer through inappropriate behavior as well as [consider] the labor-intensive preparation of the deer carcass for ceremonial and household purposes" (ibid). By doing this, the environment can continue to function, and the people receive a valuable resource. As we will see further, indigenous practices seem to frequently place an emphasis on preserving the existing environment, and combining resourcefulness with self-control to not over-hunt or place pressure on their environment to produce more than it can and even begin altering these practices so these relationships can heal as climate change affects them. 
 
In another example, Nakashima12 quotes Fannie Akpik from the Iñupiat nation, who says "Drum music may be our last hope to keep our relationship with the whale" (Nakashima et al. 274). Iñupiats among many other tribes in the Pacific Northwest have traditionally relied on whaling practices. Now, the ethical questioning by legislative proposals, along with environmental changes forcing whales out of their traditional habitats has caused anxiety within the communities. The drums themselves used in connection with the celebration of the successful whale hunt are made from parts of the whale, which are needed both to sustain the people as well as to renew and sustain the musical instruments.

Now, these groups are beginning to take the music to the whales with hopes to mend the breaking bond between the two, in an interesting reversal of roles; before humans celebrated the hunt of the whale with music from the whale's body, now the music is intended to bring the whale to them.

In traditional practice, the Iñupiat people refrain from performing music without a whale harvest. However, due to changing climates and cultural perceptions, Akpik admits a shift of their culture may need to occur to include more music so they may reconnect their communities with the whales they depend on (ibid).
 
These changes in cultural traditions come from a variety of factors, but in most cases, environmental changes force cultures that have traditionally relied on these resources to change and adapt to a new environment.

The resourcefulness of these groups of people also is something to consider, as both the Yaqui and Inupiat people demonstrate a trait that Western and capitalist-based societies often become criticized for. Think of the number of receipts thrown away after just being printed in grocery stores or the massive success of single-use plastics in many aspects of our lives. For most of us, it may be difficult to know the actual number of these kinds of items we have and the volume of it all at that. This resourcefulness and awareness of what we use is a key aspect of environmentalism and sustainability. Even the word sustainability, implies a continuation of something; in this case, perhaps it refers to keeping the planet in as good of shape as one found it. Though it is unreasonable to expect every individual to adjust their lifestyles to become as environmentally conscious as possible, taking notes of cultures that are becoming forced to do so is one step in ensuring larger groups will become more conscious. This also tends to stem from corporatization and capitalistic development in Western culture, in which a group of very few make decisions for a group of many, with an intent to net a profit in some way, often utilizing cheap and quick methods to get products to people, though usually at the cost of ethics or the environment. In short, a large sum of the world's resources are utilized by a small fraction of the population. Determining how to adjust behavioral expectations while having privilege be a protected asset of this group of few is not simple13. 
 

While these examples of indigenous nations of the Americas demonstrate the different relationships percussion has to humans, modern-day percussionists, and artists have indeed found ways to resignal the significance of items from everyday life into the concert hall. One notable example comes from two young Norwegian girls, Anna & Emma, who recorded a song about climate change and how humans need to take responsibility for it, called "Earth is Sick" (Kloden er syk) 10. Using oil drums in their music video, these two young girls take a well-known object, and transform it into a percussion instrument, while also forcing viewers to connect their message of taking accountability for climate change to the association an oil drum has for many people - oil companies, gasoline, drilling, climate change, etc. The lyrics during this moment "we can change the world we live in" demonstrate the possibility for alternative uses of items, businesses, or art even. Judith Butler, in her book "Undoing Gender", describes a theory of resignification (Butler 2004, p.223) as a possible political tool. This idea involves taking pre-existing terminology, objects, or ideas, and recontextualizing them. For example, appropriating racist language in rap and hip-hop, where it is acceptable and empowering for a marginalized group, demonstrates one form of resignification, but it is not limited to the transformation of something negative to positive. Butler even states, "One can argue that the Nazis appropriated power by taking the language and concerns of democracy against itself..." (ibid). 

 

Taking this theory of resignification into musical practice could offer a new way to promote environmentalism. Turning junk and recycled items into musical instruments, not solely as gimmicks but as a way to send a message that items are more than their intended use - the utilization of a plastic jug meant for gasoline as an instrument sends a message more than just sounding interesting. If contextualized, the jug's intended use could be ironic if the piece it is used in focuses on the degradation of plastics over time in a musical form. Creating tambourine jingles out of bottle caps, Turning plastic bottles into tuned idiophones, or developing mycelium-based leather or mango-rind skins for drumheads, all could be possible alternatives to reusing products that either provide sustainable alternatives or reutilize a single-use product that originally was never intended to become a musical instrument. 

Resignification
III. Musical Activism in the 20th and 21st Centuries

Activism through music is not out of the ordinary and is quite visible in more popular music through the 20th and 21st centuries. Artists such as Dana Lyons in the Pacific Northwest of the US have taken music and turned it into a form of activism itself, touring behind political campaigns. In one example, he made concerts at locations where a proposed coal supply train would go through to supply coal to Asian exporting companies; this ultimately resulted in the backing out of many major companies invested in the project, effectively rendering the train a failure (Pedelty 2016, p.43). Likewise, artists such as Woody Guthrie, Bob Marley, or Bruce Springsteen18 all have taken music as a medium to present messages of loss, hope, or transformation of places and people that nowadays are commonplace songs in a Western vernacular. 
 
Attempts to have music become activism have not always succeeded, but a majority of successful activist music relies on lyrical output, a far more explicit demonstration of tone and topic over instrumental output. Nonetheless, presenting these issues is a step in a positive direction for change. About musical activism, writer Mark Pedelty19 says,
 
"Pity the climate scientist...whose work would be judged on whether or not the science leads to effective solutions to anthropogenic climate change. All they can do is speak the truth. All the musician can do is sing the truth" (Pedelty 2016, p.18).
 
Taking into account the diverse range of musical connections to the environment from other cultures and forms of artistry allows classically trained musicians an opportunity to incorporate the same ideas in their practices. In order to connect these two worlds of musical thought, instrumental performers must think differently from singer/songwriters to bring audience awareness to the varying issues at hand. How music is composed, the instruments used, and the context given for each piece all must be taken into consideration; all of this including the traditional expectations of musicians: bringing intention behind the notes, why the composer wrote it a certain way, how the piece fits with and responds to the other pieces surrounding it in a program, what kind of audience it is played for, etc.
 
In an attempt to resignify items, music, or places for positive change, considerations must be taken so groups of people, species, or environments are not unintentionally harmed. For example, social media can play a large role in promoting change, but it also has the opportunity to damage environments unintentionally, such as the hashtag #Superbloom2017 which in the Anza-Borrego State Park, left the immense flower fields present there in spring-time flattened and beaten by thousands of tourists trying to secure photos and views of the landscape (Miller 2022, p.33). Intentions were well-meaning to get people out and into the state parks, but had damaging consequences due to the impossible task of asking thousands of people to 'Leave No Trace'. 

Thus, careful consideration when experimenting and exploring methods of promoting environmentalism is essential to not unintentionally impact something like a composition, or a performing space. Performing outdoors is a great opportunity for clear communication of ideas, but an excess of people in locations that are not intended for heavy traffic may have a more negative impact on the local space than the art at hand hopes to fix.

II. Greenwashing and the Musical Prospects of Resignification
Due to the vast array of environmental issues, limiting the scope of the discussion is best for both this research and for performance intentions. To take an example, focusing on recycling and the greenwashing of companies is an opportunistic realm for a percussionist, as it plays into the creative habit of percussionists as designers of multi-instrumental setups, and the developed interest in sounds that objects can create. It also focuses intentions toward raising awareness for greenwashing, which harms both the environment and consumer trust and is something that can be targeted to legislate against, compared to the larger globally-rooted problems that environmental activism tends to cover. 
 

According to the Cambridge Dictionary14, greenwashing is defined as "behavior or activities that make people believe that a company is doing more to protect the environment than it actually is." Through this practice, companies are able to promote products or behavior that actively benefits them, almost exclusively financially, by making the consumer choose instead of the company making changes. The term originally came from the 1980s, when Jay Westerveld, an environmentalist, stayed at a hotel that asked occupants to reuse their towels to save the environment when in reality it was only to reduce the hotel laundry costs (“The History of Greenwashing and Its Modern Evolution,” para.2). These practices force consumers to make the choice to be more environmental with their buying habits, despite oftentimes the products labeled as "natural" or "eco-friendly" are no different from the "non-natural" counterpart. In fact, the word "natural" is still not a regulated term in product development ("Are 'natural' products better than synthetic ones?", para.19), making consumer decisions increasingly more difficult as corporations cash in on the buzzwords. How is a consumer expected to know what is the best product and ingredient list for every item they wish to buy? Companies that genuinely create environmentally conscientious products are placed in a position to spend more to prove they are with official third-party certifications, which help to cut through the greenwashing of the product-saturated industries (ibid). As a result, well-intentioned consumers make purchasing habits that do not improve the environment at all or may even support businesses that actively harm the environment (“The History of Greenwashing and Its Modern Evolution,” para.2).  Consumers should not be the sole party responsible for making positive environmental decisions, as the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development15 states, corporate responsibility includes environmental, workplace, marketplace, and community responsibilities, which the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development16 hopes to improve (United Nations, pg. 2).  The CIPD says by doing right by a company's shareholders and sharing the same values as its consumers, brand enhancement occurs, causing positive reputation and employee engagement, so "it therefore makes good business sense to operate sustainably" (ibid).  

Greenwashing Figure 4. Extinction Rebellion protesting greenwashing at the COP26 in 2021. Copyright Andrew Aitchison Getty Images 

The purpose of showing this kind of issue in music is more than to change consumer perceptions of greenwashing. The kind of critical awareness towards decisions people make could be seen throughout daily living. By bringing a specific issue to the forefront of the audience's mind, it may be possible they will see room for adjustment in other parts of their routines. For example, someone aware of greenwashing and knowing what to look out for in buying products may also begin experimenting with ways to limit their plastic use or find a way to commute to work that is less carbon-heavy, since they are aware of reducing their footprint through purchases. Ultimately, the art aims to invoke action or reaction from audiences, with some artists attempting to go beyond this by making their art activism in its own right. According to Tania Bruguera17, an installation and performance artist and activist from Cuba, "I don’t want art that points to a thing. I want art that is the thing" (ibid). This comes from active involvement in the community where the activism will have the most impact, where the art actually becomes a product of this activism.

Musically, locale becomes a significant factor in how this kind of activism would be perceived. A concert hall setting may be a suitable place for traditional concerts and certainly offers an opportunity to demonstrate a message to a wide audience, but taking the music out of the classical sphere and into protests, gardens, dump sites, or just outdoors can alter the perception and intended message of the music.