Vuvuzela: The Buzz of the World Cup
Deafening to fans, broadcasters and players, the ubiquitous plastic horn is closely tied to South Africa’s soccer tradition
- By Jim Morrison
- Smithsonian.com, June 08, 2010, Subscribe
(Page 2 of 2)
During a friendly match between South Africa and Colombia two weeks before the World Cup, officials tested noise levels at the 90,000-seat Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg and announced there would be no ban.
The horns, FIFA officials said, were too much a part of the South African tradition to silence them. “It’s a local sound, and I don’t know how it is possible to stop it,” Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA’s president, told reporters. “I always said that when we go to South Africa, it is Africa. It’s not Western Europe. It’s noisy, it’s energy, rhythm, music, dance, drums. This is Africa. We have to adapt a little.”
The horn began showing up at matches in Soweto in the 1990s between the Kaizer Chiefs and the Orlando Pirates, rivals and the two most popular South African teams. Kaizer Motaung, a South African who played in the North American Soccer League in the mid-1970s, founded the Chiefs and began promoting the horn. The vuvuzela was introduced at their games in the 1990s with gold horns for Chiefs’ fans and black or white for Pirates’ fans.
“The [two teams] have a huge following all over the country,” Nauright says. “In fact, that game is probably still more watched than the Bafana Bafana, when the national team plays.”
Playing the horns to encourage teams to the attack became part of the culture, a way for fans to express themselves, much the way South American soccer fans drum during games. “There is a grass roots organic culture out of the townships using soccer as a way to be creative in a society that oppressed people on a daily basis,” Nauright says.
In Cape Town, a music educator, Pedro Espi-Sanchis, created a vuvuzela orchestra in 2006 that plays regularly at matches of the Bloemfontein Celtic club. Some of the songs are set to dancing and singing. “For guys who know how to play it really well, you have a technique, almost like a didgeridoo. You use the tongue to make different sounds,” Nauright says.
The origin of the vuvuzela is murky. Nauright explains that some people have promoted it as a modern incarnation of the traditional kudu horn used to call villagers to gatherings. But he also says horns were used in Cape Town and Johannesburg to call customers to fish carts. Early versions were made of aluminum or tin. It wasn’t until a manufacturer, Masincedane Sport, received a grant in 2001 to supply soccer stadiums with plastic horns that it exploded in popularity.
Now, they’re inescapable. The only other country where horns are heard so extensively at soccer matches is Mexico. And guess what? South Africa and Mexico meet in the World Cup opener.
“It’s sure to be the loudest match at the World Cup,” Nauright says.
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Comments (25)
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Even though the noise is irritating but it is Africa's World Cup.Let them enjoy it.To ban it or not to ban it,we should look for the bad sides and good sides.
Posted by Fiona Santiago on August 19,2010 | 09:42 AM
The noise is awful~But still acceptable~
Posted by Summer on July 9,2010 | 12:24 AM
I'm not sure if the vuvuzela's sound is less now (than at the start of the games) or I'm just getting use to them... but I "almost" like it now. At least now I don't feel like my ears are going to bleed.
Posted by Frankie Salvaggio on June 26,2010 | 07:04 AM
Culture!!! Perhaps refer to a dictionary.
My arse has more culture than any plastic horn and is capable of more than one note!
Posted by Dave on June 18,2010 | 06:31 PM
The vuvuzela is being utilized by the CIA to test mind control on a massive scale. The messages being transmitted are subliminal and coded deep within the ubiquitous drone. I was watching Brazil v. North Korea when I discovered the key to unlocking the code. First: turn up the volume on your TV until the the hairs on the back of your arm stand up. Next: close your eyes to block out any exterior distractions and focus your complete attention on the buzzing cacophony until all other noise is excluded (including the commentators). Tap your foot to a slow but steady 4 count and gradually speed up. If done correctly the secret instructions will form an identifiable prosodic contour - in this case four simple syllables. The test message being broadcast throughout every match in the tournament (thus far) is: watch/ more/ base/ ball.
I believe that the government is exploiting this opportunity to test the vuvuzela as a possible masking agent in concert with more advanced mind control technology. Proof of the experiment's efficacy may lie in the fact that after 10 minutes I experienced an irresistible compulsion to switch channels and watch baseball - interleague baseball!
NEXT: Is FIFA the unwitting dupe of the CIA/MLB/ESPN triad and how much does Obama know?
Posted by Zmansf on June 18,2010 | 02:40 PM
No one, especially me, wants to offend South African culture. I'm thrilled they were chosen to host the World Cup, but I feel that FIFA has let them down in many ways.
I think there was guidance needed regarding the vuvuzelas. Maybe FIFA didn't realize how thousands of the horns would sound inside a stadium, and rightfully defended the cultural right to use them. The horns have been especially awful on American television as ESPN does not seem to have filtered them any. European and the BBC stations have done this fairly successfully. In essence, the horns have had a much larger impact on viewers everywhere than FIFA ever thought.
Of course, it is too late to ban them in the stadiums. Backtracking on the decision would be demeaning to the people who feel the horns are their football culture. If FIFA and Sepp Blatter care as much about the overall culture of football as they do about making money, some type of diplomatic solution would have worked for everyone.
South Africans are some of the most graceful people I've ever met. Their elegance in the face of the Uruguay match red card was symbolic of that grace to me, and while there is still a cry to be heard in South Africa, I honestly don't think they want the vuvuzela to be what people around the world remember.
Posted by SackSepp on June 17,2010 | 08:22 PM
The vuvuzelas and those choosing to play them could have been a perfectly fine part of the world cup crowd. This is if certain conditions were met.
A)They were played only during KEY parts of the game. Goals, great near goals, great saves by the keeper. Give their use meaning.
B) Try to be musical with them. Unless "Constant buzzing noise in the key of B" is some award winning song, try to make it a musical experience. Or at least try to stick with A.
It's a great musical culture. Dancing, singing, chanting, so why are the people of SA downplaying that for these plastic horns that seem to be annoying most of the world cup watching world? Show us your tradition and culture and in turn enjoy the rest of the worlds. Its why they're in your stadiums.
Posted by Ryan on June 17,2010 | 08:15 PM
All I'm hearing is a bunch of sore losers prattling on.
Posted by El Culturebug on June 15,2010 | 01:20 AM
South African tradition, really? We had them in the American midwest in the early 1970s. I call B.S. on this "tradition" claim.
Posted by Tom on June 15,2010 | 04:01 PM
The there is a time and place for everything. The constant buzzing is so annoying I have not be able to enjoy a single game for more than a few moments. It's a shame this sort of firestorm has started over what should be a matter of common courtesy. Why not start and end the game with the blowing of the horns? Why the need to shove the constant barrage of noise on all of us all during the game?
Posted by Julianne on June 15,2010 | 03:57 PM
I like Vuvuzelas http://audioblog.arteradio.com//esprit-des-lieux/frontUser.do?method=getPost&postId=3042373&blogName=esprit-des-lieux
Posted by georges castagné on June 15,2010 | 01:18 PM
Vuvuzelas are not 'REALLY' a South African tradition or part of their culture. This is not something that has passed down from the elders or through the generations... it is only about 15 years old.
It is as much of their culture as swinging a rally towel is in the United States. As much of a tradition as having a foam #1 finger or blowing an air horn. Boo-hoo.
FIFA and South Africa are trying to make this a successful World's Cup. This has to be done through experience for the people in the stands and, as important, a HUGE world viewing audience.
Unfortunately, you cannot turn off the horns and still listen to what the announcers are saying on TV. Maybe the broadcasters could do that, but it still negatively affects the teams, refs and other NON-vuvuzela fans in the stands.
Banning the horns would allow for normal fan participation... yelling, cheering, booing, chanting, singing, stomping... but no, it is the constant drone of waaaahhhhhhh...
I am watching less games than I had planned because I cannot stand that constant drone.
Ole, ole, ole, ole...
Posted by Tom on June 15,2010 | 01:07 PM
Empty cans make the most noise.
Posted by Herc on June 14,2010 | 01:53 PM
African music, dance and beautiful bright clothing are wonderful. And I am all for the cultural aspects of the vuvuzela. Unfortunately, I find the buzzing sound so irritating that I don't like to watch the games. And soccer is so cool. I've never been fond of the sounds of an American football game either.
Posted by Karen on June 14,2010 | 07:28 AM
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