Ethnomusicology

Technologies of Sound across Aegean Crafts and Mediterranean Cultures

by Manolis Mikrakis

in: Ann Brysbaert (ed.), Tracing Prehistoric Social Networks through Technology: A Diachronic Perspective on the Aegean, Routledge Studies in Archaeology, New York and London: Routledge 2011, 48–71

In performative arenas of the Bronze Age Aegean where cult, the formation of social identities and the legitimisation... more In performative arenas of the Bronze Age Aegean where cult, the formation of social identities and the legitimisation of power intersected, encounters with organised sound were closely intertwined with technological, artistic, symbolic and socio-political configurations. Based on new evidence for Egyptian-influenced percussion clappers from Akrotiri, Thera, and the analytical concepts of chaîne opératoire, cross-craft and cross-cultural interaction, the present paper explores this intertwining to demonstrate how the study of auditory practices can add to an embodied understanding of human experience in Aegean prehistory.

‘Celtic’ Dance on the Isle of Man

by Cinzia Afra Yates

Paper given at the 21st Century Celt Conference in Truro, 2006.

Celtic Canons: Craft and craftsmen in Manx traditional music

by Cinzia Afra Yates

Paper given at the British Forum for Ethnomusicology Conference at CArdiff University 2008.

Talented Artists or Hardworking Craftsmen? Perceptions of Talent in the Semi-Professional Popular Music Scene in Cardiff

by Cinzia Afra Yates

Paper as given at the 2009 International Association for the Study of Popular Music held at Cardiff University.

Review in Ethnomusicology, Fall 2010

by Cinzia Afra Yates

Review of:

Play It Like It Is: Fiddle and Dance Studies from around the North
Atlantic. Ian Russell and Mary Anne Alburger, eds. 2006. Aberdeen: The
Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen. iii, 144 pp., figures, musical
examples, map, bibliography, contributors, index.

Driving the Bow: Fiddle and Dance Studies from around the North
Atlantic 2. Ian Russell and Mary Anne Alburger, eds. 2008. Aberdeen: The
Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen. iv, 226 pp., figures, musical
transcriptions, black and white photographs, maps, tables, bibliography,
contributors, index.

A Manual for Documentation, Fieldwork, and Preservation for Ethnomusicologist

by Janet Topp Fargion

Modes of music listening and modes of subjectivity in everyday life

by Ruth Herbert

Journal of Sonic Studies, Vol. 2(1), May 2012
Available online

Technologically mediated solitary listening now constitutes the prevalent mode of musical engagement in the... more Technologically mediated solitary listening now constitutes the prevalent mode of musical engagement in the Industrialized West. Music is heard in a variety of real-world contexts, and qualities of subjective experience might similarly be expected to be wide-ranging. Yet though much is known about function (music as a behavioural resource) less research has focused on ways in which music mediates consciousness. This essay critiques conceptualizations of music listening in extant literature and explores how listening to music in daily life both informs and reflects subjectivity.

Psychological and musicological literature on music listening commonly distinguishes between autonomous and heteronomous ways of listening, associating the former with unusual and the latter with mundane, habitual listening scenarios. Empirical findings from my research, which used ethnographic methods to tap qualities of subjective experience, indicate that attentive and diffused listening do not map neatly onto 'special' and 'ordinary' contexts and that a distributed, fluctuating attentional awareness and multimodal focus are central to many experiences of hearing music.

Researching the Orchestra: A Level Playing Field?

by Emily Granozio

Draft Only

Applying ethnomusicological methods to the research of Western art music. Applying ethnomusicological methods to the research of Western art music.

"Nonsynchronism," Traditional Music, and Memory in Ireland.

by Steve Coleman

in Memory Ireland Volume 2: Diaspora and Memory Practices Edited by Oona Frawley. Syracuse University Press. 2012, pp. 161-170.

In Praise of Lou Harrison

by Joel Taylor

published in The Open Space Magazine, fall 2003

Some thoughts about Lou Harrison's music with emphasis on the experimental microtonal works, and the works for Gamelan. Some thoughts about Lou Harrison's music with emphasis on the experimental microtonal works, and the works for Gamelan.

The Gendered Sound of South Africa: Karen Zoid and the Performance of Nationalism in the New South Africa

by Nicol Hammond

Yearbook of Traditional Music Vol 42 (2010) pp. 1-20

Dragana Stojanovic - Suštinski činioci koji omogućavaju kontinuitet održavanja običaja svadbe kao obreda prelaza kroz XX i početak XXI veka

by Dragana Stojanovic

published in Zbornik Visoke škole strukovnih studija za obrazovanje vaspitača u Kikindi br. 2, Garmond, Novo Miloševo, Kikinda, 2011, 181-193.

"Role-Playing toward a Virtual Musical Democracy in The Lord of the Rings Online," Ethnomusicology 56:1 (2012), 31-62.

by William Cheng

‘Cuir Dhachaidh E’ (‘Send It Home’): The Gifts of the Little People, the Bob of Fettercairn and the aesthetics of a tale and a tune

by Tiber Falzett

2012 [Forthcoming]. In Proceedings of Rannsachadh na Gàidhlig 6. Eds. Colm Ó Baoill and Nancy McGuire.

My research on the nature of Scottish Gaelic performance culture has focused mainly around seanchas or discourse on... more My research on the nature of Scottish Gaelic performance culture has focused mainly around seanchas or discourse on tradition and the semiotics of words contained in such discourse (Falzett 2007-2010; 2010; 2012).  However, as John Shaw has argued, much can be learned by applying such contextual knowledge from the field to the analysis of verbal art forms (i.e. songs, stories, etc.) themselves: “Ideally, informants’ perceptions may eventually be correlated with analysis of texts—permitted variants and other materials—to form a coherent description” (1992/1993: 40). Therefore, this paper hopes to provide insights regarding the dynamic relationships between language and music in varied performative contexts of Scottish Gaelic cultural expression. This will be done by examining the role of ‘genre reinforcement’ (Shaw 1992/3: 38-40) in two Scottish Gaelic versions of ATU  503 (The Gifts of the Little People): one from Kate Dix of Berneray, Uist and the other from Donald (Danny) Cameron of Malden, Massachusetts, who grew up in Beaver Meadow, Antigonish County on the Nova Scotia mainland. In turn, the association of these two versions to the dance-tune ‘The Bob of Fettercairn’ and a related port-à-beul  version of it, beginning with the phrase “Cuir dhachaidh e,” will form the basis of our examination here.

The second part of this paper looks more abstractly at the symbolic nature of the narrative and examines the language contained within various Scottish Gaelic recitations of it. The Gifts of the Little People is well attested throughout the Gaelic-speaking regions of Scotland, Ireland and Nova Scotia. Lillis Ó Laoire’s (2009) groundbreaking discussions on the semiotic significance of this popular narrative have elucidated our understanding of its relevance to the inner mechanics of Gaelic aesthetic criteria and modes of transmission. Following Ó Laoire’s approach, the narrative’s aesthetic symbolism will be further explored through the lenses of emerging theoretical trends in the study of metaphor and other tropes from various scholarly disciplines, including cognitive linguistics and anthropology. This will incorporate a discussion concerning embodied understandings of abstract thought as demonstrated by the seemingly intangible nature of the aural and its ability to be made sense of through its associations with more concrete forms of sensory-motor experience, including vision, motion, and taste.

Passejos, pistes i plaques: els balls a l'Horta Sud durant el primer franquisme

by Isabel Ferrer Senabre

El ball forma part del lleure i de la socialització de les persones. És inseparable de la construcció social i reflex... more El ball forma part del lleure i de la socialització de les persones. És inseparable de la construcció social i reflex de la societat on s’insereix: vehicula comportaments, conforma àmbits de pertinença, recrea identitats polítiques, transforma espais físics i articula cossos. El present article descriu el procés d’aparició de les sales de ball durant el primer franquisme i el seu impacte en àmbit local, a partir d’un estudi a l’Horta Sud (València) que combina fonts escrites i orals. S’examina la influència d’aquest nou lleure en les relacions entre els joves i les conseqüències en la configuració de la comunitat. El retrat etnogràfic ofert s’estructura en tres eixos: el passeig i la seua ritualitat, la mutació de les pràctiques socials en funció dels espais físics destinats al lleure, i el paper dels gèneres musicals en la construcció dels rols de gènere sexual.

Generational Change in Berber Women's Song of the Anti-Atlas Mountains, Morocco

by Katherine E. Hoffman

14. Yüzyılda Musiki Tasavvuru: Hasan Kâşânî’nin “Kenzü’t-Tuhaf” Adlı Eseri

by Zeynep Yıldız

Perception of Music in the Fourteenth Century: Hasan Kâşânî’s “Kenzu’t-Tuhaf” http://www.insanvetoplum.org/index.php/IVT/article/view/23

Classical cult or learning community? Exploring new audience members’ social and musical responses to first-time concert attendance

by Melissa Dobson

Co-authored with Stephanie E. Pitts, Ethnomusicology Forum, 20(3), 353–383 (2011). Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17411912.2011.641717

The concept of turbofolk in Croatia: inclusion/exclusion in the construction of national musical identity

by Catherine Baker

In 'Nation in formation: inclusion and exclusion in central and eastern Europe', ed. Catherine Baker, Christopher J Gerry, Barbara Madaj, Liz Mellish and Jana Nahodilova (London: UCL Press, 2007)

Synopsis POLYPHONIA-ALBANIA'S FORGOTTEN VOICES Björn Reinhardt/Eckehard Pistrick (2011)

by Eckehard Pistrick

Film Synopsis “Polyphonia – Albania’s forgotten voices”
Björn Reinhardt/Eckehard Pistrick,
Germany/Romania... more Film Synopsis “Polyphonia – Albania’s forgotten voices”
Björn Reinhardt/Eckehard Pistrick,
Germany/Romania 2011, 90’

Two shepherds in the Albanian mountains, Arif, a Muslim, and Anastas, an orthodox Christian, have been friends for years in spite of religious barriers. Their profound friendship is constantly strengthened by a local musical tradition, the polyphony. In 2005 this vocal tradition has been declared UNESCO-World Heritage.

The film sets up unforgettable images for the severe poetry, the harsh fates and the almost magical power of the human voice, which helps people in the mountains to master their surreal daily routine at a contradictory stage of post-socialist change. On another level, the film gives an example of how music – even in the Balkans – can build bridges between people and religions.