Between Sound and Sight: Framing the Exotic in Roysten Abel's The Manganiyar Seduction

Roysten Abel’s The Manganiyar Seduction is perhaps the most popular performance of Indian folk music on the global festival market today. This performance of Rajasthani folk music is an apt exemplification of an auto-exoticism framed as cultural commodity. Its mise en scéne of musicians framed, literally, by illuminated red square boxes ‘theatricalises’ Rajasthan’s folk culture of orality and renders such a tradition the quality of strangeness that borders on theatre and music, contemporary and traditional. The ‘dazzling’ union of the Manganiyar’s music and scenography of Amsterdam’s red light district engendered an exotic seduction that garnered raving reviews on its global tour. This paper then examines the production’s performative interstices: the in betweenness of sound and sight where aural tradition is ‘spectacularised’, and the shifting convergences of tradition and cultural consumption. It further interrogates the role of reception in the construction of such ‘exotic’ spectacles.

Creating a Circus of Words, Music, and Sound: From Roaratorio to Owenvarragh

This article documents the creation of a work by the authors based on a score written by the composer John Cage entitled 'Owenvarragh: A Belfast Circus on The Star Factory.' The article is part of a documentary portfolio in the journal which also includes a volume of the poetry created by Dowling in accordance with the instructions of the Cage score, and a series of documentary videos on the creation of the work and its first performance. Cage's score is based on his work 'Roaratorio: An Irish Circus on Finnegan's Wake' (1979) and it provides a set of detailed instructions for the musical realisation of a literary work. The article documents this first fully realised version of the score since Cage first produced 'Roaratorio' in 1979. The work, which was motivated by the Cage centenary year in 2012, musically realises Carson's book 'The Star Factory' (1998), a novelestic autobiography of Carson's Belfast childhood. The score required the creation of a fixed media piece based on over 300 field recordings of the sounds and places mentioned in the book, a volume of poetry created from the book which is recited to form the rhythmic spine of the work, and the arrangement of a performance including these two components along with live musical performance by the authors in collaboration with three other musicians under their direction, and a video installation created for the work. The piece has been performed three times: in association with the Sonorities 2012 Festival at Queen's University of Belfast (March 2012), at The Belfast Festival at Queen's (October 2012), and in the Rymer Auditoium of the University of York (June 2013).

Additional information:

The work which the article documents was conceived by Monaghan and Dowling, and the project was initiated by Monaghan after a she received a student prize to support its development and first performance. Elements of the project will be included in her PhD dissertation for which Dowling is a supervisor. Monaghan created the fixed media piece based on over 300 field recordings, the largest single aspect of realising Cage's score. Dowling was responsible for initiating the collaboration with Ciaran Carson, and for two other components: the creation of a volume of poetry derived from the literary work which is recited in the performance, and the creation of and supervision of the technical work on a video which accompanies the piece. The co-authors consulted closely during the work on these large components from May 2011 until March 2012 when the first performance took place. The co-authors also shared in numerous other artistic and organisational aspects of the production, including the arrangement and performnance of the music, musical direction to other performers, and marketing.

Jazz in Athens: Frustrated Cosmopolitans in a Music Subculture

This paper presents an ethnographic account of jazz music in Athens. The small scene under scrutiny is mainly populated by professional session instrumentalists of the Greek popular music scene who perform jazz as a side activity for their own pleasure. In the process, they construct a conceptual dichotomy between ‘work’ and ‘play’. Drawing on the author’s extended involvement in this scene, and focusing on private interviews with musicians, this article unveils the discourses of cosmopolitanism invoked through local jazz music making. The ethnographic material presented aims to illustrate how even a small subculture can serve as a terrain for contesting cosmopolitan imaginaries.

Banished to the Barn - John Doherty and 'Bonnie Kate'

John Doherty (1900-1980) was one of the most influential Irish musicians of the twentieth century. His music has had a lasting impact on Irish traditional music making around the globe. This paper traces the development of his setting of the canonical reel 'Bonnie Kate'. Using transcription historical investigation Doherty's style is examined in comparison to his contemporaries.

Belfast's Traditional Music Scene: A Narrative of Change and Development

Today Belfast is home to a vibrant traditional music scene. There have never been more sessions, concerts, classes or lectures devoted to traditional music in the north's biggest city. A complex system of promoters, performers and listeners has emerged in a city that is growing in confidence as it moves away from the dark days of the Troubles. But how does this system function? While Dowling (2014) has examined the development of traditional music-making in Belfast as it shifted from a pre-conflict to conflict ridden environment, little research has been carried out into the reasons behind the boom in traditional music-making in a post-conflict setting.

This paper examines the impact upon the traditional music scene of the first wave of students to arrive in Belfast after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. These musicians, such as Donal O'Connor, Ruadhrai O'Kane and Aidan Walsh have had a lasting impact upon the lives of musicians native to Belfast, helping to bring traditional music to new venues and audiences.

The work of Belfast-based music schools with varying remits, such as Belfast Trad., and the Andersonstown School of Traditional and Contemporary Music, is also examined for the purpose of illustrating how both adults and young people are being educated about their musical heritage.

Playing free: an ethnography of Brazilian free improvisers

In this article I investigate the practice of free music improvisation in Brazil. The reflections and findings presented here are derived from research conducted as part of a four months Higher Education Academy (HEA, UK) Fellowship, carried out between February and June 2014. The aim was to enquire whether or how the practice of free improvisation is taught in the Brazilian higher education system.
As part of this ethnographic study visits to the following universities were scheduled:
The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ
The Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO)
The University of São Paulo - USP
The Federal University of Minas Gerais – UFMG
The Federal University of Bahia – UFBA.
The Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Natal (UFRN) and
The ELM, the Escola Livre de Música in Unicamp.

I discuss here some general background thinking to the research process, specifically recalling the work of French composer and educator Alain Savouret. I proceed to examine the improvisational spirit, the improvisatory worldmaking approach (the ‘jeitinho brasileiro’) that is often considered to be integral to the Brazilian way of life. In the final part of the article I discuss applied ethnographic methodologies, including the design of questions that were used for over 50 video interviews with Brazilian musicians during the research. I conclude with a final reflection on the video interviews with a specific focus on whether free improvisation can be taught, and the importance of listening in the context of free improvisation practices.

Cidade Museu

Through the concept of sonic resonance, the project Cidade Museu – Museum City explores five derelict or transitional spaces in the city of Viseu. The activation and capture of these spaces develops an audio- visual memory that reflects architectures, stories and experiences, while creating a sense of place through sounds and images.

The project brings together musicians with a background in contemporary music, electroacoustic music and improvisation and a visual artist focusing on photography and video.

Each member of the collective explores the selected spaces in order to activate them with the help of their respective instruments and through sound projection in an iterative process in which the source of activation gradually gives way to the characteristics of each space, their resonances and acoustic characteristics. The museum city (a nickname for the city of Viseu), in this performance, exposes the contrast between the grandeur and multi-faceted architecture of Viseu’s Cathedral with spaces that spread throughout the city waiting for a new future.

The performance in the Cathedral (Sé) is characterised by a trio ensemble, an eight channel sound system and video projecting audio recordings and images made in each of the five spaces. The audience is invited to explore the relations between the various buildings and their stories while being immersed in their resonances and visual projections.

The performance explores the following spaces in Viseu: the old Orfeão (music hall), an old wine cellar, a mansion home to the national road services, a house with its grounds in Rua Silva Gaio and an old slaughterhouse.

Composing with Graphics: Revealing the Compositional Process through Performance.

The research presented here is product of a practice-based process that primarily generates knowledge through collaboration and exchange in performance situations. This collaboration and exchange with various musicians over a period of five years that constitutes a body of practice that is here reflected upon. The paper focuses on non-instructional graphic scores and presents some insights based on performances of works by the author. We address how composition processes are revealed in graphic scores by looking at the conditions of decision making at the point of preparing a performance. We argue that three key elements are at play in the interpretation of these types of graphic scores: performance practice, mapping and musical form. By reflecting particularly on the work Cipher Series (Rebelo, 2010) we offer insights into the strategies for approaching the performance of graphic scores that go beyond symbolic codification.

The Royal Dublin Society Concert Archive

This research project documents the occurrence of the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) classical music recitals which were established in 1886 for the promotion of chamber music. Some 120 years of recitals spanning from 1886 to 2006 are recorded in the archives extant in the RDS Library and Archives, Ballsbridge, Dublin. The year 1925 marked the opening of the current concert hall (The Members’ Hall) and the initial phase of this research project focuses on the period 1925 to 1950. The archive documents appearances in Dublin by internationally renowned musicians in addition to the first Dublin performances of several twentieth-century works. Examination of the archive contributes to knowledge of chamber music performance in Dublin from the late nineteenth to the early twenty-first century and facilitates analysis of networks, repertory and reception.

Characteristics of Corticospinal Projections to the Intrinsic Hand Muscles in Skilled Harpists.

The process of learning to play a musical instrument necessarily alters the functional organisation of the cortical motor areas that are involved in generating the required movements. In the case of the harp, the demands placed on the motor system are quite specific. During performance, all digits with the sole exception of the little finger are used to pluck the strings. With a view to elucidating the impact of having acquired this highly specialized musical skill on the characteristics of corticospinal projections to the intrinsic hand muscles, focal transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to elicit motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in three muscles (of the left hand): abductor pollicis brevis (APB); first dorsal interosseous (FDI); and abductor digiti minimi (ADM) in seven harpists. Seven non-musicians served as controls. With respect to the FDI muscle–which moves the index finger, the harpists exhibited reliably larger MEP amplitudes than those in the control group. In contrast, MEPs evoked in the ADM muscle–which activates the little finger, were smaller in the harpists than in the non-musicians. The locations on the scalp over which magnetic stimulation elicited discriminable responses in ADM also differed between the harpists and the non-musicians. This specific pattern of variation in the excitability of corticospinal projections to these intrinsic hand muscles exhibited by harpists is in accordance with the idiosyncratic functional demands that are imposed in playing this instrument.

Tools and Environments for Networked Electronic Performance

A collection of software and hardware tools and environments that facilitate collective networked performance between electronic musicians. Tools include 'Chat Monkey', a live chat tool for performance, 'DMA Sequencing', a step sequencer using open sound control messaging and multi nodal control, 'tutti, duet, trio, solo, quartet', an ensemble management environment, and 'Por Larrañaga', a cigar box based electro-acoustic instrument with embedded sensors and controllers. Notable performances: w/BLISS, NCAD, Dublin, 1 March 2015; w/BLISS, NI Science Festival, Belfast, 21 Feb 2015

‘At First I Saw It as a Toy’: Life Stories, Social Consciousness and Music Ethnography

This article examines the role of life narratives as discursive spaces for the performance of individual resistance. Through the inspection of three interviews with professional musicians in Athens, the essay will illustrate how the recounting of nodal events in their lives and careers facilitates an assertion of their current social ideology and their disillusionment with the popular music industry in which they operate. Ultimately, what follows will suggest a mode of listening to individual utterances and narratives as discursive forms of resistance that need to be appreciated as social acts as opposed to mere ethnographic data.

"No Encores" The Royal Dublin Society Concert Archive Recitals in Retrospect: 1925-50

A large archive of sources for the RDS classical music recitals is extant in the Society’s Library, Ballsbridge, Dublin. The recitals were established in 1886 for the promotion of chamber music and in order to expose Dublin audiences to the works of the great composers. Extant in the collection are minute books; autographed programmes; newspaper cuttings which include previews, reviews and advertisements; correspondences with artists and agents; promotional material; selections of photographs; records of attendance, artists fees and takings; and volumes of printed music.
This paper will document the organisation, management and occurrence of the RDS classical music recitals for the period 1925 to 1950 and will encompass the opening of the current concert hall (The Members’ Hall, 1925), the Society’s bi-centenary celebrations (1931) and the continuance of the recitals within the context of the Second World War (1939- 45). The paper will examine and analyse the following: networks, repertoire and reception.
The RDS music committee established significant links with many performers and UK-based classical music agents. Recitalists include musicians of international renown; Myra Hess, Isolde Menges, Lili Kraus, Joseph Szigeti, Leon Goossens, Sir Hamilton Harty and The Hallé Orchestra, The Catterall Quartet and many local, Dublin-based musicians; Raidió Éireann Orchestra, Dublin String Orchestra, Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra and Culwick Choral Society. The compromises and collaborations in evidence between the music committee, agents and performers resulted in the presentation of varied and well-balanced programmes featuring sonatas, quartets, trios, concerti, overtures, symphonies and songs by composers including Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn and Brahms. Works by contemporary composers including Bax, Dohnanyi, Szymanowski and Suk were also regularly performed, as were works with an Irish influence or flavour. Audiences mainly consisted of members of the Society, music students were encouraged to attend at a reduced rate and reviews were regularly published in the Irish Times, Irish Independent and Irish Press.

Documental 103 nuestra música en radios

El documental aborda el artículo 103 de la ley de comunicación desde la visión de músicos cuencanos de géneros independientes, alternativos a la música tradicional y convencional cuencana ecuatoriana, su acogida dentro de las radios, la opinión de los públicos a una nueva ley, y los organismos encargados de velar por el cumplimiento de la ley.

Para uma sistematização do método transcricional guitarrístico

O presente trabalho apresenta um levantamento de processos transcricionais usados por músicos, desde compositores do período barroco até músicos contemporâneos. Este conjunto de técnicas permite encontrar alternativas às eventuais problemáticas levantadas durante a transcrição e simultaneamente, processos para manter inalterada a significação proposta pelo compositor. Seguidamente, apresenta-se um conjunto de obras transcritas com apoio nas técnicas anteriormente observadas.