Methods and results in the reconstruction of music history in Africa and a case study of instrumental polyphony

Blench, Roger

doi:10.1080/0067270x.2013.771016

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…However, a remarkable example of a musical instrument which may have been preserved over a long period is the Sosso Bala, a balafon (frame xylophone), kept in the town of Niagassola in modern-day Guinea. It is said to be the original instrument referred to in an episode in the Mande Sundiata Epic, which would make it over 800 years old (Blench 2013 and URL http://www.unesco.org/bpi/intangible_heritage/guinea.htm). Photo 9 shows a xylophone pictured in the manoscritto Araldi (about 1670) from near the mouth of the River Congo and Northern Angola and, given the representational conventions of the period, generally reliable (for details of the manuscript and its recovery see Pistone 1969).…”

Section: Africa Indonesia and Controversymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using Diverse Sources of Evidence for Reconstructing the Past History of Musical Exchanges in the Indian Ocean

Blench

2014

Afr Archaeol Rev

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Although the Indian Ocean has long been recognised as a fertile zone for cultural exchange, reflecting both trade routes and colonisation, it is only now coming into prominence in terms of its significance for the past history of the continents around its rim. It is now accepted that economic plants, animals, diseases, trade goods, languages, religion and cultural elements all moved around and across the Indian Ocean, often transforming the societies and environments into which they were introduced. The paper explores one specific aspect of cultural exchange, music and musical practice in the Indian Ocean. Case studies are used to assess the value and significance of different categories of evidence for the reconstruction of musical history and the resultant chronostratigraphy. These include the history of two types of zither which occur on both sides of the Indian Ocean and which attest to the significance of geographical distributions of material culture. A related issue is the vexed question of the similarities of the xylophone in Southeast Asia and Africa and the role of morphology in resolving the historical direction of transfer. Slavery and the African diaspora in the Indian Ocean have only recently been the subject of in-depth scholarly examination, and the paper summarises current literature and begins the process of categorising the exchange of musical subcultures. This throws into focus an important aspect of maritime transfers in the Indian Ocean: the low profile of some of the great trading nations, such as the Sassanians and the Chinese, in terms of cultural influence, despite their importance in overall trade. The paper suggests that disease and a focus on trade to the exclusion of other activities may account for this disparity.Résumé Néanmoins que l'Océane Indien a été longtemps reconnues comme zone fertile pour les échanges culturelles, réfléchissant les routes du commerce et colonisation, ce n'est que maintenant qu'il commence a devenir plus connu pour son signifiance pour l'histoire des continents autour de sa bassin. C'est reçu que les plantes utiles, les animaux, les maladies, les religions et des éléments culturaux ont étés transferts autour et au travers l'Océan Indien, souvent transformant les sociétés et environnements dans Afr Archaeol Rev (2014) 31:675-703

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Section: Africa Indonesia and Controversymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thanks also to the Kay Williamson Educational Foundation for supporting fieldwork. It is intended to complement a related review of the prehistory of music on the African mainland (Blench 2013).…”

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Using Diverse Sources of Evidence for Reconstructing the Past History of Musical Exchanges in the Indian Ocean

Blench

2014

Afr Archaeol Rev

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“…The word 'Balafon' is derived from the Manding words bála fɔ ́ or 'xylophone talk' (Zemp & Soro 2010). Soso Bala, a 'Balafon' (frame-xylophone), is a remarkable example of a musical instrument (Figure 5) that has been preserved over a long period in the town of Niagassola in modern Guinea (Blench 2013). This artefact is without doubt the most fascinating and best indication of the importance of gourds in Africa and its link to African existence and heritage.…”

Section: Balafon a Unique West African Traditional Heritagementioning

confidence: 99%

Sociocultural relevance of the bottle gourd and selected species of Cucurbitaceae family in West Africa

Fajinmi

Olarewaju

Arthur

et al. 2022

JOMPED

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Background: Since time immemorial, humans have devised means to improvise for survival on the planet earth. The environment has been the source of materials for manufacturing objects that have supported human existence. These materials include plants (plant parts and by-products) such as the Cucurbitaceae species.Aim: To discuss bottle gourd and some selected species of Cucurbitaceae in relation to the history, sociocultural and spiritual lives of the West African people.Methodology: A literature search was conducted on electronic databases such as Google Scholar, Google Books, Scopus, and Web of Science. The search was performed using several terms and free text words, combining them in an appropriate manner. The authors further set inclusion and exclusion criteria to screen for relevant articles.Results and discussion: Plants play crucial roles in the global economic, social, cultural, and spiritual stability. Several plant families have especially played a fundamental role(s) in the spiritual and cultural ceremonies, and history of many tribes and communities in Africa. This is because entertainment tools such as rattles, drums, harps, and lutes used during most of these ceremonies are often by-products of plants. This study revealed that Cucurbitaceae family is a spectacular class of plants with such roles. Traditional musical instruments derived from bottle gourd, Telfairia occidentalis and Momordica charantia, form an integral part of the history, spiritual and sociocultural life of some West African communities.Conclusion: The history of some tribes in West Africa is linked to specific Cucurbitaceae species.

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“… 19 The word “flute” here is used informally: there is not enough archeological evidence to conclude if the earliest instruments were flutes or clarinets. The oldest artifact is a bone fragment from Haua Fteah, Libya, with a single hole, dated 90–110,000 years ago ( Blench, 2013 ). Most archeologists do not recognize it as man-made.…”

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The Pastoral Origin of Semiotically Functional Tonal Organization of Music

Nikolsky

2020

Front. Psychol.

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This paper presents a new line of inquiry into when and how music as a semiotic system was born. Eleven principal expressive aspects of music each contains specific structural patterns whose configuration signifies a certain affective state. This distinguishes the tonal organization of music from the phonetic and prosodic organization of natural languages and animal communication. The question of music’s origin can therefore be answered by establishing the point in human history at which all eleven expressive aspects might have been abstracted from the instinct-driven primate calls and used to express human psycho-emotional states. Etic analysis of acoustic parameters is the prime means of cross-examination of the typical patterns of expression of the basic emotions in human music versus animal vocal communication. A new method of such analysis is proposed here. Formation of such expressive aspects as meter, tempo, melodic intervals, and articulation can be explained by the influence of bipedal locomotion, breathing cycle, and heartbeat, long before Homo sapiens. However, two aspects, rhythm and melodic contour, most crucial for music as we know it, lack proxies in the Paleolithic lifestyle. The available ethnographic and developmental data leads one to believe that rhythmic and directional patterns of melody became involved in conveying emotion-related information in the process of frequent switching from one call-type to another within the limited repertory of calls. Such calls are usually adopted for the ongoing caretaking of human youngsters and domestic animals. The efficacy of rhythm and pitch contour in affective communication must have been spontaneously discovered in new important cultural activities. The most likely scenario for music to have become fully semiotically functional and to have spread wide enough to avoid extinctions is the formation of cross-specific communication between humans and domesticated animals during the Neolithic demographic explosion and the subsequent cultural revolution. Changes in distance during such communication must have promoted the integration between different expressive aspects and generated the basic musical grammar. The model of such communication can be found in the surviving tradition of Scandinavian pastoral music - kulning. This article discusses the most likely ways in which such music evolved.

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Methods and results in the reconstruction of music history in Africa and a case study of instrumental polyphony

Cited by 4 publications

References 32 publications

Using Diverse Sources of Evidence for Reconstructing the Past History of Musical Exchanges in the Indian Ocean

Using Diverse Sources of Evidence for Reconstructing the Past History of Musical Exchanges in the Indian Ocean

Sociocultural relevance of the bottle gourd and selected species of Cucurbitaceae family in West Africa

The Pastoral Origin of Semiotically Functional Tonal Organization of Music

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