British Forum for Ethnomusicology

In Brief
Source: British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 5 (1996), pp. 186-187
Published by: British Forum for Ethnomusicology
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186 British Journal
of Ethnomusicology, vol. 5 (1996)
186 British Journal
of Ethnomusicology, vol. 5 (1996)
to
grasp
from the text (as in the latter three-
fold distinction), the
recordings may
come
to our aid. These
general sections are
by
Gilles Ldothaud, Bernard Lortat-Jacob and
Hugo Zemp.
The notes on individual tracks (the work
of two dozen annotators) identify
the
performers
where
possible,
the context and
function, the source, and the features of
interest; song
texts are
generally
omitted but
often summarised. A
geographic index
allows one to search
by country;
the Central
African
Republic
leads with six tracks from
five ethnic
groups,
but
representation
is
broad and varied.
French and
English
versions of the notes
are linked
by
a midsection of 20
figures: 16
sonagrams,
two schematic
diagrams
of
various
types
of
polyphony,
and two
drawings
of the vocal tract and
larynx.
The
English
translation is excellent, with
only
a
few
slightly
elusive French tums of
phrase.
The
recordings themselves are
usefully
divided into
topical
sections as noted above.
As
expected-inevitably,
it
appears-the
annotators are frustrated in their
attempts
to
find words to describe "colours and
timbres"; will this forever be the last
frontier? Aside from
specific examples
to
grasp
from the text (as in the latter three-
fold distinction), the
recordings may
come
to our aid. These
general sections are
by
Gilles Ldothaud, Bernard Lortat-Jacob and
Hugo Zemp.
The notes on individual tracks (the work
of two dozen annotators) identify
the
performers
where
possible,
the context and
function, the source, and the features of
interest; song
texts are
generally
omitted but
often summarised. A
geographic index
allows one to search
by country;
the Central
African
Republic
leads with six tracks from
five ethnic
groups,
but
representation
is
broad and varied.
French and
English
versions of the notes
are linked
by
a midsection of 20
figures: 16
sonagrams,
two schematic
diagrams
of
various
types
of
polyphony,
and two
drawings
of the vocal tract and
larynx.
The
English
translation is excellent, with
only
a
few
slightly
elusive French tums of
phrase.
The
recordings themselves are
usefully
divided into
topical
sections as noted above.
As
expected-inevitably,
it
appears-the
annotators are frustrated in their
attempts
to
find words to describe "colours and
timbres"; will this forever be the last
frontier? Aside from
specific examples
grouped
under each
heading,
the notes
point
us to relevant
examples
elsewhere on the
discs. Thus the section on
"Disguised
voices"-"particular
modifications of the
voice for
symbolic ends"-encompasses
five
examples
but refers us to two others as
well. In that section we learn that the
Mitsogho
of Gabon
ingest
"a decoction of
irritant leaves" to
produce
a
husky
voice
that
represents
that of a
genie;
that in the
Ivory
Coast
spirits may
be
represented by
singing
into a resonant
pot
or
through
a
mirliton (kazoo), but that the Miskito of
Honduras
sing through
a mirliton
apparently
simply
for fun. Another section, "Spoken,
declaimed, sung",
wrestles with the
speech-
song continuum; here no new
terminological
ground is broken, no new
insights given,
but
we have a convenient
range
of nine sonic
examples
to use in our lectures on the
topic
and to
compare
with the ten
examples
of
"Calls, cries and clamours".
Well, what are
you waiting for?
DAVID W. HUGHES
School
of
Oriental and
African Studies
University of
London
dh6@soas.ac.uk
grouped
under each
heading,
the notes
point
us to relevant
examples
elsewhere on the
discs. Thus the section on
"Disguised
voices"-"particular
modifications of the
voice for
symbolic ends"-encompasses
five
examples
but refers us to two others as
well. In that section we learn that the
Mitsogho
of Gabon
ingest
"a decoction of
irritant leaves" to
produce
a
husky
voice
that
represents
that of a
genie;
that in the
Ivory
Coast
spirits may
be
represented by
singing
into a resonant
pot
or
through
a
mirliton (kazoo), but that the Miskito of
Honduras
sing through
a mirliton
apparently
simply
for fun. Another section, "Spoken,
declaimed, sung",
wrestles with the
speech-
song continuum; here no new
terminological
ground is broken, no new
insights given,
but
we have a convenient
range
of nine sonic
examples
to use in our lectures on the
topic
and to
compare
with the ten
examples
of
"Calls, cries and clamours".
Well, what are
you waiting for?
DAVID W. HUGHES
School
of
Oriental and
African Studies
University of
London
dh6@soas.ac.uk
in
brief
in
brief
Musique
a la croisie des cultures / Music at
the crossroads. 2-CD set. VDE-Gallo,
VDE-828-9 (AIMP XXXIX-XL); 1995.
Book in
English
& French, 76pp., by
Laurent Aubert.
Music from
nearly
30 countries on 41
tracks, by
artists resident or active in
Geneva-and not
necessarily performing
genres
from their own native culture. Never
mind that
performance quality
is variable:
this double CD stands as a testament to the
cultural
diversity
of a modem international
city,
to the work of Laurent Aubert's
Ateliers
d'ethnomusicologie and to the local
government that
helps
sustain and celebrate
such
diversity.
What can each of us do to
encourage
such
activity
in our home
communities? What would have
emerged
had such a
recording
been
attempted
in
London, Tokyo,, Bangkok, Lagos ...
Musique
a la croisie des cultures / Music at
the crossroads. 2-CD set. VDE-Gallo,
VDE-828-9 (AIMP XXXIX-XL); 1995.
Book in
English
& French, 76pp., by
Laurent Aubert.
Music from
nearly
30 countries on 41
tracks, by
artists resident or active in
Geneva-and not
necessarily performing
genres
from their own native culture. Never
mind that
performance quality
is variable:
this double CD stands as a testament to the
cultural
diversity
of a modem international
city,
to the work of Laurent Aubert's
Ateliers
d'ethnomusicologie and to the local
government that
helps
sustain and celebrate
such
diversity.
What can each of us do to
encourage
such
activity
in our home
communities? What would have
emerged
had such a
recording
been
attempted
in
London, Tokyo,, Bangkok, Lagos ...
BERNEDE, FRANCK, ed.:
Himalayan
music:
state
of
the art.
European
Bulletin
of
Himalayan
Research nos. 12-13, 1997.
This
special
double issue contains the
following
articles: R.K. Duwal and M.L.
Maharjan,
"A
homage
to
Nisahdyo,
the Newar
god
of
music"; R. Widdess, "Carya:
the revival of a
tradition?"; F. Bern6de, "Music and
identity
among Maharjan
farmers: the
dhimay senegu
of
Kathmandu"; I. Grandin, "Raga
Basanta and
the
Spring songs
of the Kathmandu
Valley:
a
musical
great
tradition
among Himalayan
farmers?";
C.
Tingey,
"Music for the
Royal
Dasai
(Gorkha and
Nuwakot)";
S.
Laurent,
"The music at Manakamana
temple: essay
on
the
style
of the ritual music of Damai
musicians";
H. Weisethaunet, "'My
music is
my
life': the identification of
style
and
performance
in Gaine music"; P.
Moisala,
BERNEDE, FRANCK, ed.:
Himalayan
music:
state
of
the art.
European
Bulletin
of
Himalayan
Research nos. 12-13, 1997.
This
special
double issue contains the
following
articles: R.K. Duwal and M.L.
Maharjan,
"A
homage
to
Nisahdyo,
the Newar
god
of
music"; R. Widdess, "Carya:
the revival of a
tradition?"; F. Bern6de, "Music and
identity
among Maharjan
farmers: the
dhimay senegu
of
Kathmandu"; I. Grandin, "Raga
Basanta and
the
Spring songs
of the Kathmandu
Valley:
a
musical
great
tradition
among Himalayan
farmers?";
C.
Tingey,
"Music for the
Royal
Dasai
(Gorkha and
Nuwakot)";
S.
Laurent,
"The music at Manakamana
temple: essay
on
the
style
of the ritual music of Damai
musicians";
H. Weisethaunet, "'My
music is
my
life': the identification of
style
and
performance
in Gaine music"; P.
Moisala,
British Journal
of Ethnomusicology,
vol. 5
(1996)
British Journal
of Ethnomusicology,
vol. 5
(1996)
British Journal
of Ethnomusicology,
vol. 5
(1996)
"Gurung
cultural models in the Ghatu music
and
dance"; M.
Helffer, "The drums of
Nepalese mediums"; P.
Bouchery,
"A sketch of
the musical
heritage
of the Hani
(Yunnan/
China);
C. Jest, "Charako boli: a brief note on
the
language
of the birds in
Nepal". Additional
items include: M. Helffer, "Bibliography
of
Himalayan
music"
(items
in
European
languages, plus
a
discography
and film-
ography);
Ram Sharan Darnal, "Bibliography
of
Nepali
music"
(items
in
Nepali);
M. Trewin,
"The Bhutanese materials of the John
Levy
Collection in the School of Scottish Studies
Sound Archive, University
of
Edinburgh",
with
"Gurung
cultural models in the Ghatu music
and
dance"; M.
Helffer, "The drums of
Nepalese mediums"; P.
Bouchery,
"A sketch of
the musical
heritage
of the Hani
(Yunnan/
China);
C. Jest, "Charako boli: a brief note on
the
language
of the birds in
Nepal". Additional
items include: M. Helffer, "Bibliography
of
Himalayan
music"
(items
in
European
languages, plus
a
discography
and film-
ography);
Ram Sharan Darnal, "Bibliography
of
Nepali
music"
(items
in
Nepali);
M. Trewin,
"The Bhutanese materials of the John
Levy
Collection in the School of Scottish Studies
Sound Archive, University
of
Edinburgh",
with
"Gurung
cultural models in the Ghatu music
and
dance"; M.
Helffer, "The drums of
Nepalese mediums"; P.
Bouchery,
"A sketch of
the musical
heritage
of the Hani
(Yunnan/
China);
C. Jest, "Charako boli: a brief note on
the
language
of the birds in
Nepal". Additional
items include: M. Helffer, "Bibliography
of
Himalayan
music"
(items
in
European
languages, plus
a
discography
and film-
ography);
Ram Sharan Darnal, "Bibliography
of
Nepali
music"
(items
in
Nepali);
M. Trewin,
"The Bhutanese materials of the John
Levy
Collection in the School of Scottish Studies
Sound Archive, University
of
Edinburgh",
with
a note on Bhutanese music from the
editors;
reviews of M.
Helffer, Mchod-rol
(P.
Kvaeme),
L
Grandin, Music and media in local
life
(M. Helffer),
P. Moisala, Cultural
cognition
in music
(M. Helffer),
C.
Tingey, Auspicious
music in a
changing society (M. Helffer);
Conference
report,
"The shamanic cosmos"
(Venice,
October
1996);
dissertation abstract
(M. Trewin). The volume contains an audio CD
with 27 items
illustrating
the articles.
Enquiries
to: Etudes
Himalayennes,
UPR
299, CNRS, 1,
place
A.
Brian, 92195 Meudon, France.
<himal.res@cnrs-bellevue.fr>.
a note on Bhutanese music from the
editors;
reviews of M.
Helffer, Mchod-rol
(P.
Kvaeme),
L
Grandin, Music and media in local
life
(M. Helffer),
P. Moisala, Cultural
cognition
in music
(M. Helffer),
C.
Tingey, Auspicious
music in a
changing society (M. Helffer);
Conference
report,
"The shamanic cosmos"
(Venice,
October
1996);
dissertation abstract
(M. Trewin). The volume contains an audio CD
with 27 items
illustrating
the articles.
Enquiries
to: Etudes
Himalayennes,
UPR
299, CNRS, 1,
place
A.
Brian, 92195 Meudon, France.
<himal.res@cnrs-bellevue.fr>.
a note on Bhutanese music from the
editors;
reviews of M.
Helffer, Mchod-rol
(P.
Kvaeme),
L
Grandin, Music and media in local
life
(M. Helffer),
P. Moisala, Cultural
cognition
in music
(M. Helffer),
C.
Tingey, Auspicious
music in a
changing society (M. Helffer);
Conference
report,
"The shamanic cosmos"
(Venice,
October
1996);
dissertation abstract
(M. Trewin). The volume contains an audio CD
with 27 items
illustrating
the articles.
Enquiries
to: Etudes
Himalayennes,
UPR
299, CNRS, 1,
place
A.
Brian, 92195 Meudon, France.
<himal.res@cnrs-bellevue.fr>.
correspondence correspondence correspondence
Reply
to review: The
following
is
excerpted
from a letter
by
Prof. Kofi
Agawu
(Department
of Music, Yale
University)
in
reply
to the review
by
Dr
Roger Blench of
his book
African rhythm:
a northern Ewe
perspective (BJE
4:
158-60). As a matter of
policy,
we include
primarily
his comments
on
points
of fact; reviews
by
their nature are
full of
opinion. Prof.
Agawu can be
contacted at
<kofi.agawu@yale.edu> and/or
<kagawu @pantheon.yale.edu>.
"... Blench
might have checked the latest
research
by linguists
on Ghanaian
languages
before
telling your readers that I 'incorrect-
ly'
call Siwu a
'Central-Togo'
rather than a
'Togo
Remnant'
language.
In The lan-
guages of Ghana
published
in 1988, M. E.
Kropp
Dabuku and K.C. Ford use the term
'Central-Togo'.
Russell G. Schuh, writing
on 'Avatime noun classes and concord' in
Reply
to review: The
following
is
excerpted
from a letter
by
Prof. Kofi
Agawu
(Department
of Music, Yale
University)
in
reply
to the review
by
Dr
Roger Blench of
his book
African rhythm:
a northern Ewe
perspective (BJE
4:
158-60). As a matter of
policy,
we include
primarily
his comments
on
points
of fact; reviews
by
their nature are
full of
opinion. Prof.
Agawu can be
contacted at
<kofi.agawu@yale.edu> and/or
<kagawu @pantheon.yale.edu>.
"... Blench
might have checked the latest
research
by linguists
on Ghanaian
languages
before
telling your readers that I 'incorrect-
ly'
call Siwu a
'Central-Togo'
rather than a
'Togo
Remnant'
language.
In The lan-
guages of Ghana
published
in 1988, M. E.
Kropp
Dabuku and K.C. Ford use the term
'Central-Togo'.
Russell G. Schuh, writing
on 'Avatime noun classes and concord' in
Reply
to review: The
following
is
excerpted
from a letter
by
Prof. Kofi
Agawu
(Department
of Music, Yale
University)
in
reply
to the review
by
Dr
Roger Blench of
his book
African rhythm:
a northern Ewe
perspective (BJE
4:
158-60). As a matter of
policy,
we include
primarily
his comments
on
points
of fact; reviews
by
their nature are
full of
opinion. Prof.
Agawu can be
contacted at
<kofi.agawu@yale.edu> and/or
<kagawu @pantheon.yale.edu>.
"... Blench
might have checked the latest
research
by linguists
on Ghanaian
languages
before
telling your readers that I 'incorrect-
ly'
call Siwu a
'Central-Togo'
rather than a
'Togo
Remnant'
language.
In The lan-
guages of Ghana
published
in 1988, M. E.
Kropp
Dabuku and K.C. Ford use the term
'Central-Togo'.
Russell G. Schuh, writing
on 'Avatime noun classes and concord' in
Studies in
African linguistics,
vol.
24,
1995
follows Dabuku and Ford and
explains
that
'most earlier literature on these
languages
uses the term
"Togo
Remnant
Languages"
in
English
...'
(my emphasis).
"... Mr. Blench finds it 'somewhat
puzzling'
that I include a number of
transcriptions
made
'by
other hands' in the
fourth
chapter.
He thinks that this 'qualifies
somewhat
[my] analytic
stance.' I had
hoped
in a small
way
to
acknowledge
unpublished research done in
Africa by
indigenous
scholars
('other hands') instead
of
reinforcing
the common view that as late
as 1995 Africans remain informants, not
theorists.
Perhaps
I should have made the
point
more
explicitly
.... I was
puzzled by
Mr. Blench's remark that 'the
transcriptions
are
clearly by
a "Western"
musicologist.'
What, I wonder, would an 'African'
musicologist's transcriptions
look like?"
Studies in
African linguistics,
vol.
24,
1995
follows Dabuku and Ford and
explains
that
'most earlier literature on these
languages
uses the term
"Togo
Remnant
Languages"
in
English
...'
(my emphasis).
"... Mr. Blench finds it 'somewhat
puzzling'
that I include a number of
transcriptions
made
'by
other hands' in the
fourth
chapter.
He thinks that this 'qualifies
somewhat
[my] analytic
stance.' I had
hoped
in a small
way
to
acknowledge
unpublished research done in
Africa by
indigenous
scholars
('other hands') instead
of
reinforcing
the common view that as late
as 1995 Africans remain informants, not
theorists.
Perhaps
I should have made the
point
more
explicitly
.... I was
puzzled by
Mr. Blench's remark that 'the
transcriptions
are
clearly by
a "Western"
musicologist.'
What, I wonder, would an 'African'
musicologist's transcriptions
look like?"
Studies in
African linguistics,
vol.
24,
1995
follows Dabuku and Ford and
explains
that
'most earlier literature on these
languages
uses the term
"Togo
Remnant
Languages"
in
English
...'
(my emphasis).
"... Mr. Blench finds it 'somewhat
puzzling'
that I include a number of
transcriptions
made
'by
other hands' in the
fourth
chapter.
He thinks that this 'qualifies
somewhat
[my] analytic
stance.' I had
hoped
in a small
way
to
acknowledge
unpublished research done in
Africa by
indigenous
scholars
('other hands') instead
of
reinforcing
the common view that as late
as 1995 Africans remain informants, not
theorists.
Perhaps
I should have made the
point
more
explicitly
.... I was
puzzled by
Mr. Blench's remark that 'the
transcriptions
are
clearly by
a "Western"
musicologist.'
What, I wonder, would an 'African'
musicologist's transcriptions
look like?"
Erratum Erratum Erratum
Frans
Buisman, "Melodic
relationships
in
pibroch", BJE
4: 17-39
The Editors extend their
apologies
to Frans Buisman for
omitting part
of the final sentence
of
paragraph
3 on
p.
26 of his article. The sentence as a whole should read as follows
(readers might photocopy this
passage
and affix it to
p. 26):
Conversely: melodic correlation is the
exploitation
of the fact that two notes two
steps
away
from each other in a
particular scale can both be contrasted with the note that lies in
between them in the scale of the mode that is established or that is
being
established.
Frans
Buisman, "Melodic
relationships
in
pibroch", BJE
4: 17-39
The Editors extend their
apologies
to Frans Buisman for
omitting part
of the final sentence
of
paragraph
3 on
p.
26 of his article. The sentence as a whole should read as follows
(readers might photocopy this
passage
and affix it to
p. 26):
Conversely: melodic correlation is the
exploitation
of the fact that two notes two
steps
away
from each other in a
particular scale can both be contrasted with the note that lies in
between them in the scale of the mode that is established or that is
being
established.
Frans
Buisman, "Melodic
relationships
in
pibroch", BJE
4: 17-39
The Editors extend their
apologies
to Frans Buisman for
omitting part
of the final sentence
of
paragraph
3 on
p.
26 of his article. The sentence as a whole should read as follows
(readers might photocopy this
passage
and affix it to
p. 26):
Conversely: melodic correlation is the
exploitation
of the fact that two notes two
steps
away
from each other in a
particular scale can both be contrasted with the note that lies in
between them in the scale of the mode that is established or that is
being
established.
187 187 187