British Forum for Ethnomusicology

Review: [untitled]
Author(s): David W. Hughes
Reviewed work(s):
Voices of the World: An Anthology of Vocal Expression
Source: British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 5 (1996), pp. 185-186
Published by: British Forum for Ethnomusicology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3060885
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British Journal
of Ethnomusicology,
vol. 5
(1996)
British Journal
of Ethnomusicology,
vol. 5
(1996)
"Teruna
Jaya",
one of the
pieces
that
launched
kebyar
in 1914.
Through
the works of I
Nyoman Windha,
and aided
by Vitale's vital notes, volume 2
provides
an introduction to the
phenomenon
of kreasi baru.
Literally
"new
creations",
this term
designates
loosely
those instru-
mental
compositions
since the 1950s or so
which one
might
call "neo-traditional":
they
are of a
piece
with earlier works but
contain
significant
innovations in form and
technique. Windha, still in his thirties, has
been a
leading
force in kreasi baru since the
mid-1980s. This
quasi-genre
is to be distin-
guished
from
pieces
classed as kontem-
porer-"contemporary"-which,
as Vitale
says,
"break too
many
rules to be called
kreasi baru
[and]
are
truly
'free'
compo-
sitions".
(In
this
category
would fall,
presuambly, pieces
such as one
by Pande
Made Sukerta which adds to a Balinese
ensemble the sound of a dozen or more
motorbike
engines.)
Vitale shows how kreasi baru have, over
the decades, largely coalesced around a
particular
formal
structure, albeit still a
fairly
loose one (vol. 2, pp. 11-19). The elements
of this structure are
mostly
traditional and
could be
given
familiar sectional
names,
but
they
are cobbled
together
in often
surprising
ways, thus
catering
for Bali's
joint passion
for tradition and
creativity.
The
seemingly inexhaustible creative
energy
of Bali is both cause and result of the
ubiquitous
music and dance
competitions.
Intense
competition
between
groups (rather
than
individuals) is "a natural
complement
of this
overtly
communal
society" (vol. 2,
p.
22). Track 1 of volume 2,
"Jagra Parwata",
was recorded at the 1991 Bali Arts Festival in
Denpasar, "face-to-face with the
competing
orchestra, a crowd of about 6000
cheering
spectators,
and the
panel
of
judges".
As the
piece ends, a
supporter
of the rival ensemble
is heard
yelling "Mulih!"-"Go home!".
This
particular
track takes the listener
halfway
to Bali. Such
competitiveness
is
hardly
new and cannot be attributed
facilely
to tourism or colonialism.
With these two discs, Vital Records is off
to a vibrant start.
DAVID W. HUGHES
School
of Oriental and
African Studies
University of
London
dh6@soas.ac.uk
"Teruna
Jaya",
one of the
pieces
that
launched
kebyar
in 1914.
Through
the works of I
Nyoman Windha,
and aided
by Vitale's vital notes, volume 2
provides
an introduction to the
phenomenon
of kreasi baru.
Literally
"new
creations",
this term
designates
loosely
those instru-
mental
compositions
since the 1950s or so
which one
might
call "neo-traditional":
they
are of a
piece
with earlier works but
contain
significant
innovations in form and
technique. Windha, still in his thirties, has
been a
leading
force in kreasi baru since the
mid-1980s. This
quasi-genre
is to be distin-
guished
from
pieces
classed as kontem-
porer-"contemporary"-which,
as Vitale
says,
"break too
many
rules to be called
kreasi baru
[and]
are
truly
'free'
compo-
sitions".
(In
this
category
would fall,
presuambly, pieces
such as one
by Pande
Made Sukerta which adds to a Balinese
ensemble the sound of a dozen or more
motorbike
engines.)
Vitale shows how kreasi baru have, over
the decades, largely coalesced around a
particular
formal
structure, albeit still a
fairly
loose one (vol. 2, pp. 11-19). The elements
of this structure are
mostly
traditional and
could be
given
familiar sectional
names,
but
they
are cobbled
together
in often
surprising
ways, thus
catering
for Bali's
joint passion
for tradition and
creativity.
The
seemingly inexhaustible creative
energy
of Bali is both cause and result of the
ubiquitous
music and dance
competitions.
Intense
competition
between
groups (rather
than
individuals) is "a natural
complement
of this
overtly
communal
society" (vol. 2,
p.
22). Track 1 of volume 2,
"Jagra Parwata",
was recorded at the 1991 Bali Arts Festival in
Denpasar, "face-to-face with the
competing
orchestra, a crowd of about 6000
cheering
spectators,
and the
panel
of
judges".
As the
piece ends, a
supporter
of the rival ensemble
is heard
yelling "Mulih!"-"Go home!".
This
particular
track takes the listener
halfway
to Bali. Such
competitiveness
is
hardly
new and cannot be attributed
facilely
to tourism or colonialism.
With these two discs, Vital Records is off
to a vibrant start.
DAVID W. HUGHES
School
of Oriental and
African Studies
University of
London
dh6@soas.ac.uk
Voices
of
the world: an
anthology of vocal
expression.
3-CD set. Le Chant du
Monde, CMX 374 1010-12; 1996. Book
in
English
& French,
188pp.
This is one of those rare
recordings
that
every ethnomusicologist
should own. In fact,
it should be in the collection of
anyone
creatively
involved in music, including
especially
teachers of voice. A
superb
teaching tool, it will
lay
to rest forever the
notion that bel canto
singing
is somehow
"natural".
Only
the most cretinous and
narrow-minded listener could fail to feel
joy
at the
possibilities
the human mind has
found for the human voice.
The 103 tracks on these three discs
introduce a
startling range
of vocal
techniques
and
polyphonic styles
from 56
countries and
many
more ethnic
groups.
This set was conceived as a
sequel to the
useful Musical instruments
of
the world
(CNRS/Musde de l'Homme, CNR 274675)
but is far
longer
as well as more ambitious,
unique, valuable and successful. The
only
vaguely
similar resource is Alan Lomax's
seven-cassette set of cantometrics
training
tapes (Cantometrics: an
approach
to the
anthropology of music, Berkeley:
U.
Califomia Extension Media Center, 1976),
but those
excerpts
are
generally
shorter and
acoustically inferior, and the
accompanying
book is
largely
in the service of cantometric
theory
rather than vocal
technique per
se.
Physically,
this is a hardback book the
size of a fat CD case, with three CDs in
sleeves inside the covers. The first two discs
introduce a
variety
of vocal
"Techniques",
under the
headings "Calls, cries and
clamours", "Voice and breath", "Spoken,
declaimed, sung", "Compass
and
register",
"Colours and timbres", "Disguised
voices", "Ornamentation", "Voices and
musical instruments" and "The
employ
of
harmonics". The third disc deals with
types
of
"Polyphony" including heterophony,
echoes, overlapping, drone, ostinato, parallel
motion, oblique
or
contrary
motion, chords
and
counterpoint.
A
10-page
introduction
explains
the terms and links them to
specific
tracks. This section is
supported
and often
amplified by
a
very
useful
6-page glossary
of technical terms and a
4-page appendix
on
"phonation".
The
glossary attempts
to
give
unitary
definitions of often
vague
or
poly-
semous terms such as
homophony,
trill vs.
vibrato vs.
tremolo, etc.; where these are hard
Voices
of
the world: an
anthology of vocal
expression.
3-CD set. Le Chant du
Monde, CMX 374 1010-12; 1996. Book
in
English
& French,
188pp.
This is one of those rare
recordings
that
every ethnomusicologist
should own. In fact,
it should be in the collection of
anyone
creatively
involved in music, including
especially
teachers of voice. A
superb
teaching tool, it will
lay
to rest forever the
notion that bel canto
singing
is somehow
"natural".
Only
the most cretinous and
narrow-minded listener could fail to feel
joy
at the
possibilities
the human mind has
found for the human voice.
The 103 tracks on these three discs
introduce a
startling range
of vocal
techniques
and
polyphonic styles
from 56
countries and
many
more ethnic
groups.
This set was conceived as a
sequel to the
useful Musical instruments
of
the world
(CNRS/Musde de l'Homme, CNR 274675)
but is far
longer
as well as more ambitious,
unique, valuable and successful. The
only
vaguely
similar resource is Alan Lomax's
seven-cassette set of cantometrics
training
tapes (Cantometrics: an
approach
to the
anthropology of music, Berkeley:
U.
Califomia Extension Media Center, 1976),
but those
excerpts
are
generally
shorter and
acoustically inferior, and the
accompanying
book is
largely
in the service of cantometric
theory
rather than vocal
technique per
se.
Physically,
this is a hardback book the
size of a fat CD case, with three CDs in
sleeves inside the covers. The first two discs
introduce a
variety
of vocal
"Techniques",
under the
headings "Calls, cries and
clamours", "Voice and breath", "Spoken,
declaimed, sung", "Compass
and
register",
"Colours and timbres", "Disguised
voices", "Ornamentation", "Voices and
musical instruments" and "The
employ
of
harmonics". The third disc deals with
types
of
"Polyphony" including heterophony,
echoes, overlapping, drone, ostinato, parallel
motion, oblique
or
contrary
motion, chords
and
counterpoint.
A
10-page
introduction
explains
the terms and links them to
specific
tracks. This section is
supported
and often
amplified by
a
very
useful
6-page glossary
of technical terms and a
4-page appendix
on
"phonation".
The
glossary attempts
to
give
unitary
definitions of often
vague
or
poly-
semous terms such as
homophony,
trill vs.
vibrato vs.
tremolo, etc.; where these are hard
185 185
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,