Onderzoek
Theoretisch en artistiek onderzoek naar de symbiose van Westerse en niet-Westerse muzikale idiomen
(Theoretic and artistic research studying opportunities of symbiosis of Western and non-Western musical idiom)
Promotor: Ghent University: Prof. Dr. Marc Leman
University College Ghent: Lucien Posman
Phd in Arts, including artistic production and scientific research, at University College Ghent (Conservatorium Gent) and Ghent University.
Traditionally ethnomusicology has been using Western musical concepts and terminology to determine and describe characteristics and parameters of ethnic music. However most of these studies were aware of the specific differences between ethnic and Western music, only few succeeded in developing techniques that could allocate and annotate these specific characteristics. Challenge of this PhD is a reinterpretation and or adaptation of the Western musical idiom in order to describe traditional ethnic music in a context of lesser Western cultural impact. Especially African music will be studied with MIR (Music Information Retrieval) tools to obtain more and accurate descriptions of its musical characteristics, steering the traditional Western musical concepts and definitions towards a proper music theory for African and other ethnic music. The results of studying ethnic music such way, could also open up new opportunities for composers and musicians in using timbres, scales, instruments, vocal techniques that are not common in our Western cultural society and that are provided with a better description.
In my
scientific research I want to analyse ethnic music (in this case African music) with MIR-techniques in order to describe the specificities of ethnic music, disconnected from fixed Western musical concepts.
The
artistic part of the research will focus on music composition. In an experimental context the compositions can be closely related to the scientific research, where these approaches will have constant mutual interference, in comparing results of both approaches and in opposing top-down and bottom-up methodology of composing. In later phase, compositions will be more substantial and opportunities for performance will be searched.
Additional aspect is the use of new technologies for music creation/production: i.c. wireless accelerometers that create the possibility for performers to transfer their movements registered into sound and music. For example altering (ethnic) music samples with sound effects, filters and also digital created sound by moving the sensors. These sensors allow people to move in an ecological environment with their specific behaviour, and even with influence of social interactions.
Keywords
The proposed research exists of plural disciplines: Music Information Retrieval, Ethnomusicology, Composition, Music Production, Hardware implementation, Digitalization.