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Music

Chechnya Is Banning Music That's Too Fast Or Slow (npr.org) 229

Rachel Treisman reports via NPR: Authorities in the Russian republic of Chechnya are banning music they consider either too fast or too slow, effectively criminalizing many genres. The Chechen Ministry of Culture announced the ban on its website last week, by the order of Culture Minister Musa Dadayev and with the agreement of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. "Musical, vocal and choreographic" works will be limited to a tempo of 80 to 116 beats per minute (BPM) to "conform to the Chechen mentality and sense of rhythm," said Dadayev, according to the Russian state-run news agency TASS.

"Borrowing musical culture from other peoples is inadmissible," Dadayev said, per a translation by The Guardian. "We must bring to the people and to the future of our children the cultural heritage of the Chechen people. This includes the entire spectrum of moral and ethical standards of life for Chechens." Russian media report that artists have until June 1 to rewrite any music that doesn't conform to the new rule, though it's not clear how it will be enforced. [...]

The government's crackdown on certain musical tempos would silence most modern music genres. Electronic styles of music like house, techno and dubstep all tend to have BPMs of over 116, says the audio tech company Izotope, while the average tempo of 2020's best-selling pop songs was 122 BPM, according to the BBC. The independent Russian news outlet Meduza said the tempo of the Russian national anthem would be considered too slow under the new limit, reports RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. But it would seem to permit hip-hop music, which generally has a BPM of 85 to 95.
"Chechnya is a roughly 6,700-square-mile autonomous republic situated in the North Caucasus of southern Russia and home to some 1.5 million people, the vast majority of whom are Muslim," notes NPR. "The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has said Kadyrov's regime 'maintains hegemony through the imposition of a purported 'traditional' version of Islam, which falsely claims to defend local belief and culture, and combat violent extremism.'"

"'In reality, Kadyrov has [co-opted] Chechen religion and culture to support his brutal regime, which violates the secular constitution of the Russian Federation and international standards of freedom of religion or belief,' it added."
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Chechnya Is Banning Music That's Too Fast Or Slow

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  • Cut the top number in half and halve the tempo. Or vice versa.

    Idiots.

    • by pereric ( 528017 )

      Nice idea, but it assumes some kind of rule of law - albeit with stupid laws.
      If you annoy the dictatorship by playing "wrong" music or in any other way, they will probably find that you are breaking the law regardless (if they care about formal procedures, which may or may not be the case for oppression in Russia).

    • Or just move the lever to 45rpm
    • Re-releasing music to be played at 2x or 1/2x (with a note "warning" users not to play at 2x or 1/2x) is likely. It would effectively recreate the original recording, though it might have to be released at a higher sample rate to be able to play well at 1/2 speed.

    • Given the "approved" tempo range, that could result in music with too fast a tempo now being too slow.

      Now excuse me while I listen to Chopin's Ninety Second Waltz.

      • No, then you only count every other beat. So a 4/4 becomes 2/4 at technically half tempo. I was a terrible musician, but I was good at reading music! LOL

  • Joking aside... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by christoban ( 3028573 ) on Thursday April 11, 2024 @05:32AM (#64385846)

    Chechnya is getting quite uppity, with all the FSB agents concentrated on murdering Ukrainians for a change.

    • Chechnya is getting quite uppity, with all the FSB agents concentrated on murdering Ukrainians for a change.

      Putin has no problem with Kadyrov oppressing Chechnyans as long as Kadyrov keeps supporting Putin in his project of oppressing Russians and Ukrainians.

  • "Entartete Kunst" (Score:5, Interesting)

    by chthon ( 580889 ) on Thursday April 11, 2024 @05:34AM (#64385848) Journal

    Which only proves which kind of government there is in Chechnya.

    • Re:"Entartete Kunst" (Score:5, Interesting)

      by fullgandoo ( 1188759 ) on Thursday April 11, 2024 @07:43AM (#64386082)

      Quebec is doing similar things under the pretence of protecting the French language and culture. For example:

      - All names on businesses must be in French, even world famous brand names. For example, KFC must be called PFK.
      - Students studying in English must pay more than those studying in French.
      - Cap on the number of students studying in English.
      - Govt. employees can not wear anything that might even remotely be characterized as religious.
      - Tried to ban "bonjour, hi" in greetings.
      - Cited a restaurant that had "Fish and Chips" on its menu.
      - Companies with 25 or more employees have to submit an annual report on their use of the French language. Any complaint can trigger an investigation.

      The list is long.

      • - Govt. employees can not wear anything that might even remotely be characterized as religious.

        This s the complete opposite of how the things are in Chechnya.

        • by Calydor ( 739835 )

          And it is actually intended to avoid situations where government employees are perceived as discriminating against someone else on religious grounds due to being eg. Catholic vs. Protestant, or Jewish vs. Muslim, etc.

          • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

            And it is actually intended to avoid situations where government employees are perceived as discriminating against someone else on religious grounds due to being eg. Catholic vs. Protestant, or Jewish vs. Muslim, etc.

            That's what the government said. In reality, it was because they wanted to ban people wearing the hijab (the head and face covering devout Muslim women wear). They tried to ban it directly, but ran afoul of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the ban was struck down and they didn't feel like

        • Modern clothing is the result of modesty requirements in religions. I expect to see topless government employees in Quebec. Loincloths are optional, depending on the weather.
      • You are exaggerating Quebec's rules. KFC is allowed to go by KFC if they want now. In fact, KFC used PFC in Quebec BEFORE the language charter was enacted (https://www.mashed.com/439969/the-reason-kfc-has-a-different-name-in-quebec/).

        You can also get an exception in your business name if you include at least one French word that indicates your type of business.
        • In fact, KFC no longer stands for anything in English. They dropped that from the official name. Or at least they did. Their web site went in full reverse and doesn't even show KFC in the logo.

          • by AvitarX ( 172628 )

            I believe this was a trademark issue.

            The state trademarked Kentucky and KFC wasn't Kentucky enough to use it.

            Later court decisions made it so the state trademarking its name was invalid and KFC went back to using Kentucky (after using kitchen fresh chicken for a bit in the interim).

            • by _merlin ( 160982 )

              I thought they went with the "KFC" branding to try and get people to refer to it using the three syllable abbreviation (kay eff see), making it shorter. They also use "KFC" as global branding in countries where the name "Kentucky Fried Chicken" isn't used, e.g. in Viet Nam they have the "KFC" logo/abbreviation while the full name is "Ga Ran Kentucky", and in Japan they have the KFC logo while the full name is "Kentucky" written in katakana script.

              Now that they've achieved their goal of a generation growing

      • by SirSlud ( 67381 )

        I'm an anglophone. I lived in Quebec for 8 years. I work for a company that is headquartered there. I go there all the time.

        This is nothing like what Quebec is doing. Don't be a fucking moron.

        • It's not clear what exactly Chechnya is doing, either. We don't have anyone who lived there for 8 years to clarify it for us. Apparently this was for a meeting for a government owned/sponsored orchestra, not for all music.
          • by SirSlud ( 67381 )

            Yes, that's not surprising that there's nuance that does beyond the headline. There always is.

      • Quebec is doing similar things under the pretence of protecting the French language and culture.

        *sarcasm* Yeah, it's totally as oppressive being a English speaker in Quebec as being a non-devout Muslim in Chechnya.

      • This, among other reasons is why Western Canada can't take Quebec seriously.

        They are a country within a country that beats to their own drum. Why they are even part of Canada is beyond me

      • by e3m4n ( 947977 )
        with all that french influence, how have they not already surrendered to Russia, just incase they invade.
        • by dryeo ( 100693 )

          Our French haven't surrendered since 1762 and started their winning streak by beating George Washington.

      • by antdude ( 79039 )

        Where's this long list at so we can read?

    • They will be square-dancing by May Day

  • by Mr. Dollar Ton ( 5495648 ) on Thursday April 11, 2024 @05:40AM (#64385858)

    The stooge of putler in power there, kadyrov, is "banning music". Chechnya, as in the Chechen population, has no input or control over the issue, just as they have no say over what's going on in their country.

  • It's time (Score:4, Funny)

    by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Thursday April 11, 2024 @05:46AM (#64385872)

    We need to deploy Kevin Bacon.

  • by zenlessyank ( 748553 ) on Thursday April 11, 2024 @05:50AM (#64385878)

    Good ol Cockasians.

  • "Chechnya is a roughly 6,700-square-mile autonomous republic situated in the North Caucasus of southern Russia and home to some 1.5 million people, the vast majority of whom are Muslim," notes NPR. "The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has said Kadyrov's regime 'maintains hegemony through the imposition of a purported 'traditional' version of Islam, which falsely claims to defend local belief and culture, and combat violent extremism.'"

    Yes, just some odd little aberration of Islam, not the natural application of it, ha ha, no! Well, maybe.

    (Meanwhile, Slashdot remains vigilant against ... imaginary Handmaid Tale stuff.)

    • by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Thursday April 11, 2024 @09:45AM (#64386428) Homepage Journal

      Islam is shit.

      Judaism is shit.

      Christianity is shit.

      All for the same reasons, only for differing degrees at different times.

      The sooner you realize this, the sooner you can get in a whole different set of arguments with a whole different set of people. But at least it will be with the people who turn the screws.

      • by UnknownSoldier ( 67820 ) on Thursday April 11, 2024 @01:54PM (#64387222)

        Throwing the baby out with the bathwater much?

        (Almost) all religions at the core teach forgiveness, compassion, and how to connect to the our innate divinity.

        Beliefs aren't the problem, it is the actions of immature people that is. The sooner your stop judging others the more happier you'll be.

      • There are things that every religion gets wrong, but there are also many things they get right. One thing many nonreligious folks get wrong, is a lack of understanding of the importance of family. Yes, religions do put inordinate emphasis on the arcane trivia and traditions they hold. But that doesn't mean that every aspect of religion is harmful.

        If you believe that Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are all wrong, then you too have religious beliefs. If you want to be able to say you are not religious, then

        • Believing that being against religion is religion is an enormously shit take. I'm not taking a stance on whether YHWH is real. My position is that the way he is worshipped is terrible for everyone.

          • My position is that the way he is worshipped is terrible for everyone.

            And *that* is a religious position...you believe that somebody else's worship is...wrong. That's exactly what all religions do, they claim their "way" is right and the others get it wrong.

        • by JustNiz ( 692889 )

          >> "One thing many nonreligious folks get wrong, is a lack of understanding of the importance of family."

          Firstly that is a ridiculous over-generalization that is inherently wrong. It claims for example that, as less than 49% of Brits identify as religious, that more than half of the entire population of the UK don't understand the importance of family.

          The old "you can't have morals unless you're religious" argument is provably no more than baloney, yet the religious keep using it to make themselves fe

          • Speaking of ridiculous over-generalizations, your characterization of religion is as grossly over-generalized as you say mine is, of nonreligious people's views on family. Yes, there are certainly religious "leaders" who are in it for money, and money alone. But the vast majority have the best intentions at heart. You have not done research proving that anything like a majority of religious leaders, are acting (literally) in bad faith. You are relying heavily on your selection bias.

            Regarding the importance

            • by dryeo ( 100693 )

              Are you really trying to claim that staying in an abusive situation is good? Perhaps you also think it is good that traditionally in India, even death didn't break up the marriage, with the wife joining the husband on the funeral pier whether she wanted to or not, because family.

      • Islam is shit.

        Judaism is shit.

        Christianity is shit.

        While I generally agree with you, those things will continue to be a thorn in your side until you acknowledge that there is something useful and necessary going on with all of those 'religions'. Until you address the needs that religions serve, you will continue to be 'bothered' by religious people.

        • While I generally agree with you, those things will continue to be a thorn in your side until you acknowledge that there is something useful and necessary going on with all of those 'religions'.

          No, that's stupid and ignorant bullshit. There is something effective going on with these religions. That doesn't make them useful or necessary, except to a ruling class that would subjugate you along with everyone else.

          Until you address the needs that religions serve, you will continue to be 'bothered' by religious people.

          The need served by religion is for a tool to use to fool rubes into donating their money to work against their own interests.

          • As an American who was baptized and was forced to go to church, I looked out and saw all of the horrors that religion was forcing upon people and I was/am horrified. I experience visceral hatred whenever I think of organized religion.

            As a sentient entity that is physically incorporated into a universe of spacetime, I observe that religion can drive a sense of community and socialization. All religions have some amount of wisdom to pass down to its followers. Within a universe that is not fully knowable at p

            • The need served by religion is for a tool to use to fool rubes into donating their money to work against their own interests.

              That is certainly the implementation we currently have. You are not wrong here; however, you are missing the entire point.

              No, sir. You are missing the point, which is that religion always becomes this; if not sooner, then later, but usually both sooner and later.

              It has been said that the difference between a religion and a cult is that in a religion, everyone in on the scam is dead. But that's not really true, because you don't have to get in on the ground floor to pick up the dangerous weapon that someone else left behind, and point it at people to make them do your will. That is what it is for.

              • While I generally agree with you, those things will continue to be a thorn in your side until you acknowledge that there is something useful and necessary going on with all of those 'religions'.

                This was my original statement.

                No, sir. You are missing the point, which is that religion always becomes this;

                That is your statement, and I fully agree with the part that states that "religion always becomes this", but that does NOT negate my point that you must address the needs served by religion or else you will be besieged by religion forever. Are you mistakenly thinking that I am arguing FOR the existence of religion? I am not. I am arguing about dealing with the needs that religions fulfill.

    • by JustNiz ( 692889 )

      "Chechnya is a roughly 6,700-square-mile autonomous republic situated in the North Caucasus of southern Russia and home to some 1.5 million people, the vast majority of whom are Muslim," notes NPR. "The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has said Kadyrov's regime 'maintains hegemony through the imposition of a purported 'traditional' version of Islam, which falsely claims to defend local belief and culture, and combat violent extremism.'"

      Yes, just some odd little aberration of Islam, not the natural application of it, ha ha, no! Well, maybe.

      (Meanwhile, Slashdot remains vigilant against ... imaginary Handmaid Tale stuff.)

      Lol @ autonomous. In reality it's as much a part of the Russian empire as Moscow is.
      Russia invaded Chechnya in 2009 and Putin established direct rule of Chechnya in May 2000. Only after putting a puppet leader in place (Akhmad Kadyrov), a new Chechen constitution was passed in 2003 which granted the Chechen Republic a significant degree of autonomy, however make no mistake that Putin has his hand so far up the puppet leader's arse (currently Ramsan Kadyrov, son of Akhmad), it's actually Putin who is in comp

  • Marches (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Tomahawk ( 1343 ) on Thursday April 11, 2024 @06:28AM (#64385932) Homepage

    Most marches, including Russian marches, would normally be played at 120bpm or faster.
    So they banned all of these too...

  • by jenningsthecat ( 1525947 ) on Thursday April 11, 2024 @06:43AM (#64385946)

    There's a multi-platform audio program called Audacity which can easily change the tempo of music without altering the pitch. I had never used that feature before, so I just tried it out on the Bee Gees' song Stayin' Alive. It works quite well - it turned an upbeat dance song into a dirge.

    Seriously though, it could be used to turn a song that's just a bit outside the guidelines into one that's legal yet still listenable. People living in a regime like Chechnya need all the joy and comfort they can get.

    • My impression is these guys aren't that susceptible to weaseling around legal technicalities.

      https://www.theguardian.com/wo... [theguardian.com]

      • by AvitarX ( 172628 )

        My guess is that something not Chechen enough is going to be risky to play.

        And this guideline will make sure that Chechen music doesn't change in style over time.

    • Why preserve the pitch? Just alter the pitch with the stretch and warn people not to accidentally play it at 2x.

      • Why preserve the pitch? Just alter the pitch with the stretch and warn people not to accidentally play it at 2x.

        You're absolutely right, assuming that everyone has access to a way of playing it back at double speed in a manner that they can be sure won't be overheard.

    • Seriously though, it could be used to turn a song that's just a bit outside the guidelines into one that's legal yet still listenable. People living in a regime like Chechnya need all the joy and comfort they can get.

      There's countries where thumbing your nose at the authorities by exploiting a technicality is a fun idea, and there's countries where the authorities respond by shooting you in the face.

      Guess which kind of country Chechnya [rferl.org] is [telegraph.co.uk].

    • People living in a regime like Chechnya need all the joy and comfort they can get.

      Why? Do they not get what they deserve? I keep being told that the USA has exactly the politicians it deserves. I guess the Chechnyans and myself just don't vote correctly. I wonder why that is... *shrug*

  • Burning witches and insisting everyone gets leeched for pretty much any ailment.

    We belong dead

  • It's depressing experience every time that such signs of deep tribalism, xenophobia, and just plain ignorance come to the forth.
  • Now I can release an album that's illegal in a country just by keeping my tempos outside the allowed range. This is a marketing win for all those punk, rock, metal, thrash, and death heads out there that want to rebel but can't figure out how! STAND UP TO MUSICAL TYRANNY AND BE A REBEL!

  • all these???? https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
  • No one tell them about progressive polyrhythmic power pop-punk.

  • Ambient, 60-90 BPM
    Blues, 60-80 BPM
    Classical, 40-200 BPM (very wide range depending on the composition)
    Country, 80-140 BPM
    Disco, 120-130 BPM
    Drum and Bass, 160-180 BPM
    Dubstep, 140-160 BPM
    EDM (Electronic Dance Music), 120-130 BPM
    Folk, 70-130 BPM
    Funk, 100-130 BPM
    Gospel, 75-105 BPM
    Hip-Hop, 60-100 BPM
    House, 115-130 BPM
    Jazz, 120-125 BPM (can vary widely)
    Metal, 100-160 BPM (subgenres like death metal can be much faster)
    Pop, 100-130 BPM
    Reggae, 60-90 BPM
    R&B (Rhythm and Blues), 60-80 BPM
    Rock, 110-140 BPM
    Salsa, 150

  • Is John Cage's famous minimalist piece [youtube.com] acceptable?

    If not, how will they prevent people from playing it?

  • ... can I release a song about Kadyrov sucking ejaculate from Putin's dick?

  • I consider Theo-Fascism the worst type of fascism, because it abandons reason even way earlier than regular fascism. Both have a quasi-religious perversion of government, but at least with regular fascism religion is more of a sideshow. In Theo-Fascist regimes its front and center which turns it evil way faster and harder. On top of that, because its religion at the center, reason has been abandoned at the onset of fascism and not as a final result, making it much harder for a society to turn around or find

  • I only clicked on this because I can't understand how this isn't an Onion article.

    Will the tempo restriction be on the original piece, or are sped-up Nightcore versions of really slow songs that now fall in the range acceptable?

    Do remixes count at their remixed speed, or the original track's tempo?

    Holy shit this is mentally ill on a national level.
  • Drum and Bass is fine, so long as you write it in 2/2 time with 85 half-notes (minims) per minute.
    Trance and house will have to be sped up, rewritten in 2/2 time (so at least 160 quarters per minute),
    and become a subgenre of happy hardcore.

  • In music, a "beat" is a relative measurement. Four quarter notes played at 100 bpm sounds identical to four eighth notes at 50 bpm or four half notes at 200 bpm. You can make any piece of recorded music fit the law by declaring a beat within the limits. (Written sheet music still has a problem though.)

  • ...HBO's The Regime, but not as an instruction manual.
  • Pretty silly, doesn't say what it is banned from... public TV? private TV? Public performance? Private performance? Sheet music? Digital copies? Playing your own instrument in your home?

  • Pussy Riot's - Police State comes in at 93bpm so it's A-OK.

  • An eighth note at 160bpm is a sixteenth at 80bpm, so there are plenty of ways around this.

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