Asian-European music research journal, Dec 12, 2023
This study presents a very small community within the Sinhalese context of Sri Lanka in light of ... more This study presents a very small community within the Sinhalese context of Sri Lanka in light of academic interest: the Kaffirs. Their communal history reaches far back into colonial times, and they did not distinguish clearly from which territories in Africa these Kaffirs, an expression introduced by Portuguese rulers for slaves and servants brought to Sri Lanka from African shores, came and how they identify. Currently, Kaffirs are seen through the gaze of public writings and common biases. They are believed to have their performance styles and their strong association with the drum, dance, and vocal genres integrated into the canon of Sinhalese traditions. One specific vocal expression is the singing of manja songs, which are introduced and roughly analysed in this short paper. Manja songs are not so widely known to all people living in Sri Lanka. A specific study of these songs has not yet taken place. The main methods used are micro-analysis, literature studies, and open interviews with those who are connected to Kaffirs, either as members of the group or as people related to their studies and performing arts. Beyond presenting the exciting text repertoire, it is to connect the musical skills that come with this way of singing with related arts such as dancing and drumming. The Kaffirs' performance potentials are widely underestimated. Many Kaffirs were integrated, through marriage and social subordination, into the current society. Yet, it is important to focus on the snippets in the history of specific performance skills and their relatedness to another continent in order to help understand global issues and their future.
This paper is dedicated to physically moving and emotionally moved singers who combine non-vocal ... more This paper is dedicated to physically moving and emotionally moved singers who combine non-vocal embodiments as an essential content of what their singing conveys. The terms "movement of singers" and the "singers being moved" refer primarily to a physical process that may include the interpretation of the singers’ emotional situation. The main question is how these specific non-vocal embodiments in singers and their apparent outcomes are impacted by various forms of mass media showing a striking intercultural variety. Through three sections, based on participant-observation and audio-visual analysis, this paper contributes to the musicological and educational literature in interdisciplinary ways and through multiple perspectives of surveying movements in singers. Beyond this, it provides some new points to stimulate the discussion about the necessity of "singing bodies" in a world of increasing sound simulation. Methodologically, the authors focus mainly on the agency of the singers, actors, and producers in substantiating the final thoughts of the paper. The authors are interconnected through joint studies on the performing arts in and about Asia.
This paper is to analyze different cases from the Malay world, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar with histor... more This paper is to analyze different cases from the Malay world, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar with historical methods as well as from the perspective of current musical practice. Constructions of historical awareness and some nationalist or religiously motivated thoughts may play an important role in reflecting on musical skills. This practice-based research carried out in contexts of selected urban areas of Southeast and South Asia involves long term field work experiences, archival work, and interviews with key figures. This paper should help rationalize historical developments and their meaning for current performance practices in the region. The further idealization of musical dramas on stage was and is always accompanied by individuation resulting from personal encounters, accidental shifts in arrangements, and the availability of performance knowledge. The paper suggests an open minded and fearless approach to cultural globalization.
Wie wir leben wollen. Kompendium zu Technikfolgen von Digitalisierung, Vernetzung und Künstlicher Intelligenz, 2021
This research explores how instrumental music has been used as ambient music in selected popular ... more This research explores how instrumental music has been used as ambient music in selected popular tourist places in Sri Lanka. The domain of the study is confined within the coastal areas in Western Province where tourism is active at present. The places of catering, fast food, and various eateries and drinks have facilitated certain ambient music which is mostly chosen purposefully to attract and to entertain the guests. There must be a certain joint feature of opinions among food entertainers on matching food taste with instrumental music. The main purpose of this study is to explore how Sri Lankan food entertainers facilitate instrumental music to attract and to entertain their guests while consuming food and other attractions. Under the given circumstances of fading large scale tourist business, local business is still flourishing. The choice of entertainment might have been changed. Also, many online possibilities were created by using ambient music. All these current changes ne...
The maritime routes in and between South and Southeast Asia were the
main routes of the first int... more The maritime routes in and between South and Southeast Asia were the main routes of the first interconnections leading to current globalization effects among different locations in the area using the sea as transportation basis. It is very important to not only follow migration routes, but mainly trade routes to understand these first steps. This joint paper is based on intense field and literature research on the given topic and various examples. It is rather describing the historical outline and gives an overview on existing statements. The main focus is the emerging transcendency between people living in this region and their deriving outcomes over a longer period of time.
espanolEste articulo esta dedicado a las cantantes movidas fisicamente y conmovidas emocionalment... more espanolEste articulo esta dedicado a las cantantes movidas fisicamente y conmovidas emocionalmente que combinan corporeizaciones no vocales como contenido esencial de lo que transmite su canto. Los terminos "movimiento de cantantes" y "cantantes que se mueven" se refieren principalmente a un proceso fisico que puede incluir la interpretacion de la situacion emocional de las cantantes. La pregunta principal es como varios medios de comunicacion de masas impactan en estas representaciones no vocales especificas en las cantantes y en sus aparentes resultados, y como muestran una sorprendente variedad intercultural. A lo largo de sus tres secciones, basadas en la observacion participativa y el analisis audiovisual, este articulo contribuye a la literatura musicologica y educativa de manera interdisciplinaria a traves de multiples perspectivas de investigar los movimientos de las cantantes. Ademas, proporciona alguna cuestiones nuevas que estimulan la discusion sobre ...
In Sri Lanka, the various groups of Tamils are jointly the largest minority group who migrated fr... more In Sri Lanka, the various groups of Tamils are jointly the largest minority group who migrated from different places of South India and in different time periods. South Indian music is widely appreciated and learnt by both the Sinhala including by large parts of the Tamil minority spread over Sri Lanka. Although a number of Sinhala people prefer and practice North Indian music geographically, and probably culturally, they are much closer to South India than to North India. Some historical sources report that Sinhalese are descendants of North Indians who are believed to be Aryans who migrated from Persia to the Northern part of India in the 13th century and later. Therefore, some scholarly authorities believe that the Sinhalese ‘naturally’ prefer North Indian music as they also continue the suggested Aryan heritage. Nevertheless, some other sources reveal that the North Indian music was spread in Sri Lanka during the British rule with the coming of the Parsi Theatre (Bombay theatre)...
International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA) Journal, 2018
Based on several previous studies presented at IASA annual conferences (2001, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2... more Based on several previous studies presented at IASA annual conferences (2001, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017) this paper intends to summarize long-term outcomes with a focus on the innovation needed in the digital era and the possible human failure in small-scale archives such as those the authors work with in Asia. In this paper, all authors[1] follow their specific question with the purpose of contributing to an analytic view on how technology collides with or creates a sense of community. Our emphasis is on sharing positive experiences and encouraging others by honestly discussing possible failures due to various conditions. Embedding these possible failures into a wider context is part of a mutual learning process. At the same time, each author will address a different clientele of stakeholders such as educational institutions, governmental decision makers, academia, occasional users, and the AV archivists themselves. [1] The authors know each other and have networked throug...
Meddegoda, Chinthaka P., Ruwin R. Dias (2012). Interaction of Musicians and Audience during Perfo... more Meddegoda, Chinthaka P., Ruwin R. Dias (2012). Interaction of Musicians and Audience during Performances of Hindustani Classical Music. UPM Book Series on Music Research - Music and Dance Environment. Edited by Gisa Jähnichen and Chinthaka Meddegoda, vol. 5: 83–94.
Drums and Drum Ensembles along the Great Silk Road, 2021
Sri Lanka is an island with prevalently drumming traditions. Each region has its own classified d... more Sri Lanka is an island with prevalently drumming traditions. Each region has its own classified drums, drumming repertoires, and performance practices kept alive over many centuries. Although, there were significant changes in the social structure of these regions, drumming performances always played a major role in the cultural life of the people. It is, therefore, not surprising that in drumming ensembles prevail specific hierarchies among the drummers, as well as between regional drumming traditions and that these hierarchies reflect traditional social structures. This paper is to show these different hierarchies, to set them into the context of social and cultural changes, to define and explain widespread common views about drumming practices, and to let drummers articulate themselves through their performances. Personal observation and fieldwork over a longer period of time allow for some first results. One of the results is the remarkable conclusion that these hierarchies may contribute to the sustainability of drumming traditions. At the same time, these hierarchies also reveal the contradictions of sustaining traditions and recent drum performances. Another result is the clear evidence that drumming traditions with their inherent hierarchies may connect to issues of religious belief systems, ritual practice, royal celebration standards, and practiced shamanism that still resonates in these performances. The paper will provide a number of actual examples of the Kandyan, the Low Country, and the Sabaragamuwa drumming traditions, which can be further differentiated. Some works of the scholars, who had an outsider view on these cultures, are reviewed and presented in this research.
At the 2017 IASA Conference in Berlin, panellists analysed innovation and human failure in small-... more At the 2017 IASA Conference in Berlin, panellists analysed innovation and human failure in small-scale AV archives and asked the question "What do we need to learn from each other?" The many contributions to the discussion helped in overcoming difficulties that were presented. In 2019, the same panellists met again to discuss the outcomes of the learning process and to focus on the future of small-scale audiovisual archives in Asia. What makes small-scale audiovisual archives so special and different from large broadcast and national archives? What types of support networks will the future bring, and how can technical staff, archive users, administrators, and the larger community work towards an effective implementation of standards that will help to make knowledge available to all? The discussion took us to institutions in China, Laos, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, and laid the groundwork to establish continuity in dedicating professional efforts to support audiovisual archive organizations in emerging and developing countries. The panel members intend to engage in further discussion and to draw attention to the weak connections between archival goals and the general understanding of continuity in some Asian institutions. This is also a creative report of the panel organizer's work as IASA Ambassador in this region.
In Sri Lanka, the various groups of Tamils are jointly the largest minority group who migrated fr... more In Sri Lanka, the various groups of Tamils are jointly the largest minority group who migrated from different places of South India and in different time periods 1. South Indian music is widely appreciated and learnt by both the Sinhala including by large parts of the Tamil minority spread over Sri Lanka. Although a number of Sinhala people prefer and practice North Indian music geographically, and probably culturally, they are much closer to South India than to North India. Some historical sources 2 report that Sinhalese are descendants of North Indians who are believed to be Aryans who migrated from Persia to the Northern part of India in the 13 th century and later. Therefore, some scholarly authorities 3 believe that the Sinhalese 'naturally' prefer North Indian music as they also continue the suggested Aryan heritage. Nevertheless, some other sources reveal that the North Indian music was spread in Sri Lanka during the British rule with the coming of the Parsi Theatre (Bombay theatre), which largely promoted Hindustani raga-based compositions. This paper explores selected literature and opinions of some interviewees and discusses what could be the reasons for preferences of North Indian music by the Sinhalese. The interviewees were chosen according to their professional profile and willingness to participate in this research. As a result, this paper will offer insights through analysing various opinions and statements made by a number of interviewees. The research also considered some theories which may relate to the case whether Hindustani classical music is due to these reasons a dominating minority culture or a rather self-imposed musical ideology. The latter would establish an aesthetic hierarchy, which is not reflected in the cultural reality of Sri Lanka. This is a new research scrutinizing a long-term situation of performing arts education in this country taking mainly interviews as a departing point.
Asian-European music research journal, Dec 12, 2023
This study presents a very small community within the Sinhalese context of Sri Lanka in light of ... more This study presents a very small community within the Sinhalese context of Sri Lanka in light of academic interest: the Kaffirs. Their communal history reaches far back into colonial times, and they did not distinguish clearly from which territories in Africa these Kaffirs, an expression introduced by Portuguese rulers for slaves and servants brought to Sri Lanka from African shores, came and how they identify. Currently, Kaffirs are seen through the gaze of public writings and common biases. They are believed to have their performance styles and their strong association with the drum, dance, and vocal genres integrated into the canon of Sinhalese traditions. One specific vocal expression is the singing of manja songs, which are introduced and roughly analysed in this short paper. Manja songs are not so widely known to all people living in Sri Lanka. A specific study of these songs has not yet taken place. The main methods used are micro-analysis, literature studies, and open interviews with those who are connected to Kaffirs, either as members of the group or as people related to their studies and performing arts. Beyond presenting the exciting text repertoire, it is to connect the musical skills that come with this way of singing with related arts such as dancing and drumming. The Kaffirs' performance potentials are widely underestimated. Many Kaffirs were integrated, through marriage and social subordination, into the current society. Yet, it is important to focus on the snippets in the history of specific performance skills and their relatedness to another continent in order to help understand global issues and their future.
This paper is dedicated to physically moving and emotionally moved singers who combine non-vocal ... more This paper is dedicated to physically moving and emotionally moved singers who combine non-vocal embodiments as an essential content of what their singing conveys. The terms "movement of singers" and the "singers being moved" refer primarily to a physical process that may include the interpretation of the singers’ emotional situation. The main question is how these specific non-vocal embodiments in singers and their apparent outcomes are impacted by various forms of mass media showing a striking intercultural variety. Through three sections, based on participant-observation and audio-visual analysis, this paper contributes to the musicological and educational literature in interdisciplinary ways and through multiple perspectives of surveying movements in singers. Beyond this, it provides some new points to stimulate the discussion about the necessity of "singing bodies" in a world of increasing sound simulation. Methodologically, the authors focus mainly on the agency of the singers, actors, and producers in substantiating the final thoughts of the paper. The authors are interconnected through joint studies on the performing arts in and about Asia.
This paper is to analyze different cases from the Malay world, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar with histor... more This paper is to analyze different cases from the Malay world, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar with historical methods as well as from the perspective of current musical practice. Constructions of historical awareness and some nationalist or religiously motivated thoughts may play an important role in reflecting on musical skills. This practice-based research carried out in contexts of selected urban areas of Southeast and South Asia involves long term field work experiences, archival work, and interviews with key figures. This paper should help rationalize historical developments and their meaning for current performance practices in the region. The further idealization of musical dramas on stage was and is always accompanied by individuation resulting from personal encounters, accidental shifts in arrangements, and the availability of performance knowledge. The paper suggests an open minded and fearless approach to cultural globalization.
Wie wir leben wollen. Kompendium zu Technikfolgen von Digitalisierung, Vernetzung und Künstlicher Intelligenz, 2021
This research explores how instrumental music has been used as ambient music in selected popular ... more This research explores how instrumental music has been used as ambient music in selected popular tourist places in Sri Lanka. The domain of the study is confined within the coastal areas in Western Province where tourism is active at present. The places of catering, fast food, and various eateries and drinks have facilitated certain ambient music which is mostly chosen purposefully to attract and to entertain the guests. There must be a certain joint feature of opinions among food entertainers on matching food taste with instrumental music. The main purpose of this study is to explore how Sri Lankan food entertainers facilitate instrumental music to attract and to entertain their guests while consuming food and other attractions. Under the given circumstances of fading large scale tourist business, local business is still flourishing. The choice of entertainment might have been changed. Also, many online possibilities were created by using ambient music. All these current changes ne...
The maritime routes in and between South and Southeast Asia were the
main routes of the first int... more The maritime routes in and between South and Southeast Asia were the main routes of the first interconnections leading to current globalization effects among different locations in the area using the sea as transportation basis. It is very important to not only follow migration routes, but mainly trade routes to understand these first steps. This joint paper is based on intense field and literature research on the given topic and various examples. It is rather describing the historical outline and gives an overview on existing statements. The main focus is the emerging transcendency between people living in this region and their deriving outcomes over a longer period of time.
espanolEste articulo esta dedicado a las cantantes movidas fisicamente y conmovidas emocionalment... more espanolEste articulo esta dedicado a las cantantes movidas fisicamente y conmovidas emocionalmente que combinan corporeizaciones no vocales como contenido esencial de lo que transmite su canto. Los terminos "movimiento de cantantes" y "cantantes que se mueven" se refieren principalmente a un proceso fisico que puede incluir la interpretacion de la situacion emocional de las cantantes. La pregunta principal es como varios medios de comunicacion de masas impactan en estas representaciones no vocales especificas en las cantantes y en sus aparentes resultados, y como muestran una sorprendente variedad intercultural. A lo largo de sus tres secciones, basadas en la observacion participativa y el analisis audiovisual, este articulo contribuye a la literatura musicologica y educativa de manera interdisciplinaria a traves de multiples perspectivas de investigar los movimientos de las cantantes. Ademas, proporciona alguna cuestiones nuevas que estimulan la discusion sobre ...
In Sri Lanka, the various groups of Tamils are jointly the largest minority group who migrated fr... more In Sri Lanka, the various groups of Tamils are jointly the largest minority group who migrated from different places of South India and in different time periods. South Indian music is widely appreciated and learnt by both the Sinhala including by large parts of the Tamil minority spread over Sri Lanka. Although a number of Sinhala people prefer and practice North Indian music geographically, and probably culturally, they are much closer to South India than to North India. Some historical sources report that Sinhalese are descendants of North Indians who are believed to be Aryans who migrated from Persia to the Northern part of India in the 13th century and later. Therefore, some scholarly authorities believe that the Sinhalese ‘naturally’ prefer North Indian music as they also continue the suggested Aryan heritage. Nevertheless, some other sources reveal that the North Indian music was spread in Sri Lanka during the British rule with the coming of the Parsi Theatre (Bombay theatre)...
International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA) Journal, 2018
Based on several previous studies presented at IASA annual conferences (2001, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2... more Based on several previous studies presented at IASA annual conferences (2001, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017) this paper intends to summarize long-term outcomes with a focus on the innovation needed in the digital era and the possible human failure in small-scale archives such as those the authors work with in Asia. In this paper, all authors[1] follow their specific question with the purpose of contributing to an analytic view on how technology collides with or creates a sense of community. Our emphasis is on sharing positive experiences and encouraging others by honestly discussing possible failures due to various conditions. Embedding these possible failures into a wider context is part of a mutual learning process. At the same time, each author will address a different clientele of stakeholders such as educational institutions, governmental decision makers, academia, occasional users, and the AV archivists themselves. [1] The authors know each other and have networked throug...
Meddegoda, Chinthaka P., Ruwin R. Dias (2012). Interaction of Musicians and Audience during Perfo... more Meddegoda, Chinthaka P., Ruwin R. Dias (2012). Interaction of Musicians and Audience during Performances of Hindustani Classical Music. UPM Book Series on Music Research - Music and Dance Environment. Edited by Gisa Jähnichen and Chinthaka Meddegoda, vol. 5: 83–94.
Drums and Drum Ensembles along the Great Silk Road, 2021
Sri Lanka is an island with prevalently drumming traditions. Each region has its own classified d... more Sri Lanka is an island with prevalently drumming traditions. Each region has its own classified drums, drumming repertoires, and performance practices kept alive over many centuries. Although, there were significant changes in the social structure of these regions, drumming performances always played a major role in the cultural life of the people. It is, therefore, not surprising that in drumming ensembles prevail specific hierarchies among the drummers, as well as between regional drumming traditions and that these hierarchies reflect traditional social structures. This paper is to show these different hierarchies, to set them into the context of social and cultural changes, to define and explain widespread common views about drumming practices, and to let drummers articulate themselves through their performances. Personal observation and fieldwork over a longer period of time allow for some first results. One of the results is the remarkable conclusion that these hierarchies may contribute to the sustainability of drumming traditions. At the same time, these hierarchies also reveal the contradictions of sustaining traditions and recent drum performances. Another result is the clear evidence that drumming traditions with their inherent hierarchies may connect to issues of religious belief systems, ritual practice, royal celebration standards, and practiced shamanism that still resonates in these performances. The paper will provide a number of actual examples of the Kandyan, the Low Country, and the Sabaragamuwa drumming traditions, which can be further differentiated. Some works of the scholars, who had an outsider view on these cultures, are reviewed and presented in this research.
At the 2017 IASA Conference in Berlin, panellists analysed innovation and human failure in small-... more At the 2017 IASA Conference in Berlin, panellists analysed innovation and human failure in small-scale AV archives and asked the question "What do we need to learn from each other?" The many contributions to the discussion helped in overcoming difficulties that were presented. In 2019, the same panellists met again to discuss the outcomes of the learning process and to focus on the future of small-scale audiovisual archives in Asia. What makes small-scale audiovisual archives so special and different from large broadcast and national archives? What types of support networks will the future bring, and how can technical staff, archive users, administrators, and the larger community work towards an effective implementation of standards that will help to make knowledge available to all? The discussion took us to institutions in China, Laos, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, and laid the groundwork to establish continuity in dedicating professional efforts to support audiovisual archive organizations in emerging and developing countries. The panel members intend to engage in further discussion and to draw attention to the weak connections between archival goals and the general understanding of continuity in some Asian institutions. This is also a creative report of the panel organizer's work as IASA Ambassador in this region.
In Sri Lanka, the various groups of Tamils are jointly the largest minority group who migrated fr... more In Sri Lanka, the various groups of Tamils are jointly the largest minority group who migrated from different places of South India and in different time periods 1. South Indian music is widely appreciated and learnt by both the Sinhala including by large parts of the Tamil minority spread over Sri Lanka. Although a number of Sinhala people prefer and practice North Indian music geographically, and probably culturally, they are much closer to South India than to North India. Some historical sources 2 report that Sinhalese are descendants of North Indians who are believed to be Aryans who migrated from Persia to the Northern part of India in the 13 th century and later. Therefore, some scholarly authorities 3 believe that the Sinhalese 'naturally' prefer North Indian music as they also continue the suggested Aryan heritage. Nevertheless, some other sources reveal that the North Indian music was spread in Sri Lanka during the British rule with the coming of the Parsi Theatre (Bombay theatre), which largely promoted Hindustani raga-based compositions. This paper explores selected literature and opinions of some interviewees and discusses what could be the reasons for preferences of North Indian music by the Sinhalese. The interviewees were chosen according to their professional profile and willingness to participate in this research. As a result, this paper will offer insights through analysing various opinions and statements made by a number of interviewees. The research also considered some theories which may relate to the case whether Hindustani classical music is due to these reasons a dominating minority culture or a rather self-imposed musical ideology. The latter would establish an aesthetic hierarchy, which is not reflected in the cultural reality of Sri Lanka. This is a new research scrutinizing a long-term situation of performing arts education in this country taking mainly interviews as a departing point.
This volume is dedicated to the topic MUSIC: ETHICS and the COMMUNITY. The topic widely connected... more This volume is dedicated to the topic MUSIC: ETHICS and the COMMUNITY. The topic widely connected to all aspects of music includes expression of or attachment to ethics that are given or modified through normative structures in the community where music is practiced. The contributors are coming from Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Korea, Singapore, Brunei, Germany, Serbia and Iran. Questions of individual or communal ownership of traditions, ways of preservation and revival of specific performing arts, any perspective of the communal music market which is highly based on dynamic normative structures, questions of censorship and permissibility of music as well as related issues regarding the conduct and evaluation of music research and the use of music and sound in therapy fall under this broad topic.
Papers selected and included in this volume embrace a wide range of subtopics that come from the wider cultural picture (chapters 1-6) and narrowing down to the closer Southeast Asian region (chapters 7-13), followed by discussions on legal issues (chapter 14), micro-communal perceptions (chapters 15-17), social issues (chapters 18-20), partly overlapping with discussions on ethical approaches to music therapy (chapters 20-22). The volume concludes with papers on urban developments (chapters 23-24) and a discussion on local gender issues (chapter 25) and offers, as a whole, an interesting horizon of current discussions on music related to ethics and the community.
'A song, so old and yet still famous’ is a Malay expression of admiration for an exotic singing s... more 'A song, so old and yet still famous’ is a Malay expression of admiration for an exotic singing style, a musical contemplation on the beauty of nature, God, and love. The ghazal exists in manifold cultures all over Asia, Africa, and Southern Europe, and is intimately connected to Islam and its periphery. In each region, ghazals have been shaped into other expressions using imported features and transforming them into ‘local art’. In the Malay world, ghazals come in various shapes and with different meanings.
‘The song, so old’ is the song that came before the proliferation of mass media. The first ghazals that were heard in the Malay world might have been those ghazals performed by Hindustani musicians traveling in Southeast Asia. However, later on, the ghazal’s development was additionally triggered by mass media, with technological progress enhancing change in urban entertainment and introducing new sources of further adaptations. In this context, the second half line of the lyrics mentioned, ‘and yet still famous’, means that despite being old, the song is highly regarded as an art in itself. Malay ghazals are still attractive and musically demanding. They were traditionally not performed for mass appeal, but, rather, for a small knowledgeable audience that valued musical refinement and taste.
This programme consists of the schedule and the abstracts provided by the participants of the eve... more This programme consists of the schedule and the abstracts provided by the participants of the event.
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Papers by Chinthaka P Meddegoda
main routes of the first interconnections leading to current globalization
effects among different locations in the area using the sea as transportation
basis. It is very important to not only follow migration routes, but mainly
trade routes to understand these first steps. This joint paper is based
on intense field and literature research on the given topic and various
examples. It is rather describing the historical outline and gives an overview on existing statements. The main focus is the emerging transcendency between people living in this region and their deriving outcomes over a longer period of time.
performances. Personal observation and fieldwork over a longer period of time allow for some first results. One of the results is the remarkable conclusion that these hierarchies may contribute to the sustainability of drumming traditions. At the same time, these hierarchies also reveal the contradictions of sustaining traditions and recent drum performances. Another result is the clear evidence that drumming traditions with their inherent hierarchies may connect to issues of religious belief systems, ritual practice, royal celebration standards, and practiced shamanism that still resonates in these performances. The paper will provide a number of actual examples of the Kandyan, the Low Country, and the Sabaragamuwa drumming traditions, which can be further differentiated. Some works of the scholars, who had an outsider view on these cultures, are reviewed and presented in this research.
main routes of the first interconnections leading to current globalization
effects among different locations in the area using the sea as transportation
basis. It is very important to not only follow migration routes, but mainly
trade routes to understand these first steps. This joint paper is based
on intense field and literature research on the given topic and various
examples. It is rather describing the historical outline and gives an overview on existing statements. The main focus is the emerging transcendency between people living in this region and their deriving outcomes over a longer period of time.
performances. Personal observation and fieldwork over a longer period of time allow for some first results. One of the results is the remarkable conclusion that these hierarchies may contribute to the sustainability of drumming traditions. At the same time, these hierarchies also reveal the contradictions of sustaining traditions and recent drum performances. Another result is the clear evidence that drumming traditions with their inherent hierarchies may connect to issues of religious belief systems, ritual practice, royal celebration standards, and practiced shamanism that still resonates in these performances. The paper will provide a number of actual examples of the Kandyan, the Low Country, and the Sabaragamuwa drumming traditions, which can be further differentiated. Some works of the scholars, who had an outsider view on these cultures, are reviewed and presented in this research.
Papers selected and included in this volume embrace a wide range of subtopics that come from the wider cultural picture (chapters 1-6) and narrowing down to the closer Southeast Asian region (chapters 7-13), followed by discussions on legal issues (chapter 14), micro-communal perceptions (chapters 15-17), social issues (chapters 18-20), partly overlapping with discussions on ethical approaches to music therapy (chapters 20-22). The volume concludes with papers on urban developments (chapters 23-24) and a discussion on local gender issues (chapter 25) and offers, as a whole, an interesting horizon of current discussions on music related to ethics and the community.
‘The song, so old’ is the song that came before the proliferation of mass media. The first ghazals that were heard in the Malay world might have been those ghazals performed by Hindustani musicians traveling in Southeast Asia. However, later on, the ghazal’s development was additionally triggered by mass media, with technological progress enhancing change in urban entertainment and introducing new sources of further adaptations. In this context, the second half line of the lyrics mentioned, ‘and yet still famous’, means that despite being old, the song is highly regarded as an art in itself. Malay ghazals are still attractive and musically demanding. They were traditionally not performed for mass appeal, but, rather, for a small knowledgeable audience that valued musical refinement and taste.