Waxonia
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Recording

Yèkèrmo SèwMulatu Astatke

Released
1969
Label
Amha
On one list
Ethio-Jazz
Updated
2026-08-30

Analysis

6 sections, no single moment the energy jumps to.

Tempo
117.5 BPM
holds throughout
Key
G minor
estimated from the pitch content
Dynamic range
4.5 dB
compressed hard — very little between the quiet and the loud
Length
4:16
measured from the YouTube master

The record, end to end

energy
drums
bass
vocals
other
  1. 0:00Aintro0
  2. 0:52Asteadybar 26
  3. 1:38Abreakdownbar 48
  4. 2:24Bsteadybar 71
  5. 2:35Cpeakbar 76
  6. 3:16Aoutrobar 96

0:00 · A · intro

opens the record below its own average energy · instrumental · one of 4 stretches of the same music (A)

Lasts
0:52
Energy
66
Brightness
0
Density
42
  • drums
  • bass
  • vocals
  • other

Brightness and density are scored against this record's own sections, not against music in general — they say how its parts differ from each other, and nothing about how it compares to anything else.

Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names.

drums
the drum kit, separated from the mix
bass
the bass part, separated from the mix
vocals
the voice, separated from the mix
other
everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings
intro
opens the record below its own average energy
steady
holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling
breakdown
energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning
peak
sits at the top of this record's range
outro
the closing fall
Every moment against every other. Squares on the diagonal are sections; a bright patch off it is the record recognising itself — the second chorus meeting the first.

Measured from the YouTube master on . Section labels describe how the energy of the recording moves, not its musical form — a machine can see loudness climb and jump, it cannot hear a chorus arrive. Anything we were not confident enough to state is left out rather than shown with a caveat.

  1. Ranked No. 1 in Ethio-Jazz

    A vibraphone, a fuzz guitar and a mode that refuses to resolve. Jim Jarmusch later used it in Broken Flowers and introduced the whole tradition to a generation who had never heard of Addis.