This piece by Feld is a very interesting, and personal view of his expeience among the Kaluli people of Papau New Guinea.
He describes the relationship between weeping/laments, and the rainforest birds, whose voices are considered to be those of spirits by the Kaluli.
He describes his conversion from Ethnomusicologist, to Echo-muse-ecologist because, he says, ethno implies otherness while echo implies presence.
Feld loves his paradoxes (not right term): The language of music and nature are intimately connected with the nature of language and music. (read from text)
He again references the ever-present hiss of water.
These readings have made me re-think my approach to my thesis. Instead of looking solely at the social influence on football-chants, perhaps I should also consider the environmental factors that influence the society I am studying.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Feld, Steven- Waterfalls of Song: An Acoustemology of Place Resounding in Basavi, Papua New Guinea
Feld opens this piece with a simple question: "How is place actually sensed". He states that his "desire is to illuminate a doubly reciprocal motion: as place is sensed, senses are placed; as places make sense, senses make place".
He goes on to reference Drew leder's The Absent Body (1990) which asks "why, if the body is so central to sensory experience, if it so actively situates the subject, might it also be so experientially absent or out of focus."
Feld references many writers in trying to establish what it means to experience a sense of place, and more specifically the role of sound in this establishment.
He defines Acoustemology as "an exploration of sonic sensibilities, specifically of ways in which sound is central to making sense, to knowing, to experiential truth".
He says that "Acoustemology means that as a sensual space-time, the experience of place potentially can always be grounded in an acoustic dimension.
This reminded me of a documentary about blind people who are learning echo-location in order to traverse their world. Some blind people are able to go for walks and even cycle bicycles simply by learning to experience the world acoustically using clicks of their tongue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpxEmD0gu0Q
He goes on to discuss the acoustemology of the Bosavi people. The bosavi use two distinct metaphors to describe their multisensory experiences: "Lift-up-over sounding" and "flow".
He explains the importance of place and placenames to Kaluli life.
He goes on to describe the perpetual presence of water in the tribes life. Much like the water-mills in Schafer's piece, even when it cannot be seen, it can be heard. He says that the acoustic presence of the water changes from season to season. It becomes like a calendar for the Kaluli, much in the same way that the bells were in europe as described by Schafer.
Feld later discusses the song structure and can get very specific at times. His diagrams detailing the structure of the songs, as seen on page 116 is very useful in grasping the structure, just as his lyrics and translations are in understanding the feeling of the songs.
I particularly liked his description of her third song being sung for, to and about the water she is sitting beside, as it demonstrates the important role that place plays in the Kaluli singing tradition.
Another interesting comparison we can draw between Feld's piece and Schafer's piece is that while the sound of the water and jungle directly influenced the type of music performed by the Kaluli, the rhythm of peoples breathing, as well as the repetitive beating of the industrial revolution influenced the music of that time and place too.
He goes on to reference Drew leder's The Absent Body (1990) which asks "why, if the body is so central to sensory experience, if it so actively situates the subject, might it also be so experientially absent or out of focus."
Feld references many writers in trying to establish what it means to experience a sense of place, and more specifically the role of sound in this establishment.
He defines Acoustemology as "an exploration of sonic sensibilities, specifically of ways in which sound is central to making sense, to knowing, to experiential truth".
He says that "Acoustemology means that as a sensual space-time, the experience of place potentially can always be grounded in an acoustic dimension.
This reminded me of a documentary about blind people who are learning echo-location in order to traverse their world. Some blind people are able to go for walks and even cycle bicycles simply by learning to experience the world acoustically using clicks of their tongue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpxEmD0gu0Q
He goes on to discuss the acoustemology of the Bosavi people. The bosavi use two distinct metaphors to describe their multisensory experiences: "Lift-up-over sounding" and "flow".
He explains the importance of place and placenames to Kaluli life.
He goes on to describe the perpetual presence of water in the tribes life. Much like the water-mills in Schafer's piece, even when it cannot be seen, it can be heard. He says that the acoustic presence of the water changes from season to season. It becomes like a calendar for the Kaluli, much in the same way that the bells were in europe as described by Schafer.
Feld later discusses the song structure and can get very specific at times. His diagrams detailing the structure of the songs, as seen on page 116 is very useful in grasping the structure, just as his lyrics and translations are in understanding the feeling of the songs.
I particularly liked his description of her third song being sung for, to and about the water she is sitting beside, as it demonstrates the important role that place plays in the Kaluli singing tradition.
Another interesting comparison we can draw between Feld's piece and Schafer's piece is that while the sound of the water and jungle directly influenced the type of music performed by the Kaluli, the rhythm of peoples breathing, as well as the repetitive beating of the industrial revolution influenced the music of that time and place too.
Schafer- From Town to City
In this exerpt, Schafer gives an account of various urban soundscapes present in Europe up as far as the time of the Industrial Revolution. He gets quite specific when separating the more obtrusive sounds from the general soundscape. He divides them into three categories: Keynotes, Signals and Soundmarks.
He begins by describing the importance and meaning of the church bell from the seventh century onwards. He describes it as both a centripetal force (drawing church-goers in for various ceremonies) and in the past a centrifugal force (driving out evil spirits). These bells took on such an important and present role in early christian society that they were given names, "big Jaqueline, or the bell Roland".
Johan Huizinga hypothesizes that the pealing of the bells must have been intoxicating when rung for extended periods of time to signify the election of a new pope or the end of a war and the declaration of peace.
Schafer goes on to describe how not everybody was happy with the bells. Many critics of the time were irritated by them on their tours around Europe, such as Charles Burney. Example of annoying church bell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFb28LtY4RE
I found the correlation between the spread of Christianity and the use of church bells, especially when compared to the Muslim faith, which also uses signalling devices and is also missionizing, while the Jewish faith does not. I particularly liked the description of the Bell as a type of "acoustic calendar".
He goes on to track the combination of the clock with the bell. I found it interesting that some old clocks are specifically exempted from anti-noise legislation.
My favourite quote from the piece is "Clocks reach into the recesses of night to remind man of his mortality". A very poignant image.
The Water-Wheel, also very common. Many towns built on rivers. An example of a water mill can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rauJq_LTMYI
He describes the sound of Blacksmiths and tinsmiths.
He describes "Keynotes" as being specific to their geographical location. Eg. the cobblestones found in many european cities and the sound of wheels on wood found in many North-American cities.
He mentions the role of nightwatchmen and town criers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYfnzS1exMk
He describes the plight of street musicians who, during the reign of Elizabeth I in England, were supressed by two acts of Parliament. They were seen as irritating and often unmusical, especially by leading composers of the time.
I found it funny that the sound that caused the most irritation was actual music.
Finally, I appreciate his view of noise legislation as an interesting way of gauging social attitudes of the time.
He begins by describing the importance and meaning of the church bell from the seventh century onwards. He describes it as both a centripetal force (drawing church-goers in for various ceremonies) and in the past a centrifugal force (driving out evil spirits). These bells took on such an important and present role in early christian society that they were given names, "big Jaqueline, or the bell Roland".
Johan Huizinga hypothesizes that the pealing of the bells must have been intoxicating when rung for extended periods of time to signify the election of a new pope or the end of a war and the declaration of peace.
Schafer goes on to describe how not everybody was happy with the bells. Many critics of the time were irritated by them on their tours around Europe, such as Charles Burney. Example of annoying church bell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFb28LtY4RE
I found the correlation between the spread of Christianity and the use of church bells, especially when compared to the Muslim faith, which also uses signalling devices and is also missionizing, while the Jewish faith does not. I particularly liked the description of the Bell as a type of "acoustic calendar".
He goes on to track the combination of the clock with the bell. I found it interesting that some old clocks are specifically exempted from anti-noise legislation.
My favourite quote from the piece is "Clocks reach into the recesses of night to remind man of his mortality". A very poignant image.
The Water-Wheel, also very common. Many towns built on rivers. An example of a water mill can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rauJq_LTMYI
He describes the sound of Blacksmiths and tinsmiths.
He describes "Keynotes" as being specific to their geographical location. Eg. the cobblestones found in many european cities and the sound of wheels on wood found in many North-American cities.
He mentions the role of nightwatchmen and town criers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYfnzS1exMk
He describes the plight of street musicians who, during the reign of Elizabeth I in England, were supressed by two acts of Parliament. They were seen as irritating and often unmusical, especially by leading composers of the time.
I found it funny that the sound that caused the most irritation was actual music.
Finally, I appreciate his view of noise legislation as an interesting way of gauging social attitudes of the time.
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