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Styles of Transcription in Ethnomusicology

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Durham E-Theses Styles of Transcription in Ethnomusicology Ciantar, Philip How to cite: Ciantar, Philip (1996) Styles of Transcription in Ethnomusicology, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2024/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk STYLES OF TRANSCRIPTION IN ETHNOMUSICOLOGY by Philip Ciantar Thesis for the degree of MA in Music University of Durham February 1996 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the written consent of the author and information derived from it should beGedged. 0.9 MAY 1997 Abstract Styles of Transcription in Ethnomusicology by Philip Ciantar MAin Music February 1996 Transcription has to do with the writing of musical sou'nds. In the field of ethnomusicology, transcription has long been considered as an important skill which should lead the ethnomusicologist toward the analysis of folk music, non-Western art music and contemporary music in oral tradition. The objectives behind a musical analy­ sis will determine the style of transcription to be applied. The objective of this work is to evaluate what has already been said about the various styles of transcription that have been applied in ethnomusicology. This evalu­ ation takes place within a wider context that may vary from the philosophical, socio­ logical, historical, and technical point of view. Apart from this, the work attempts to provide a practical aspect by applying two styles of transcription to a genre of Maltese folk singing called gliana (pronounced: 'ana'). The first chapter provides a brief historical survey of ethnomusicological tran­ scription spanning from the earliest efforts of European missionaries in Eastern coun­ tries to recent attempts in computerized transcriptions. This chapter also attempts to introduce the reader to a number of terms frequently used in the ethno-transcription debate. The second chapter·focuses on aurally made transcriptions in Western nota­ tion. This chapter examines the advantages and the limitations of both the aural tech- nique and Western notation when applied to Western and non-Western oral musical traditions. The third chapter evaluates the advantages and the disadvantages of three notation systems which have been proposed and used as an alternative to Western staff notation; these are: the cipher notation system (as applied in Javanese gameJan stud- ,.-.- ies); hand and electronic graph notations; together with indigenous notation systems . The fourth chapter attempts to combine, as far as is possible, a transcription with the ethnographic data elicited during the musical performance under investigation. The fifth chapter seeks to examine the limitations and advantages of collaborating in the process of ~ranscription and analysis with a performer unfamiliar with the written as- pect of music and with the academic enquiry in general. To Tania and Claire Contents Preface ......•.............................................................................................•........................•........... vi Chapter 1 The History of Ethnomusicological Transcription : a Short Survey .................................... 1 The Re-Evaluation of Western Musical Concepts and Tools ............................... :.:-..-.:-: .......... 2 The Phonograph ................................................................................................................... 10 Phonetic and Phonemic Transcriptions ................................................................................ 14 Mechanical Devices in Ethnomusicology .................... :: ...................................................... 16 The SEM 1963 Symposium on Transcription ...................................................................... 18 Javanese and African Musical Studies ................................................................................. 20 Chapter 2 Aural Transcription Using Western Staff Notation .............................................................. 24 Aural Transcription in Perspective ....................................................................................... 25 Behind a Transcription in Western-Staff Notation ............................................................... 28 Opinions, Reactions and Counter-Reactions ........................................................................ 31 Establishing and Reaching the Aims ............................................... :.................................... 35 Chapter 3 Alternative Forms of Musical Notations for Transcription ................................................... 52 The Cipher Notation System in Javanese Gamelan Studies ................................................. 53 Graph Transcriptions ............................................................................................................ 67 Indigenous Notation Systems (or the Hipkins Solution) ...................................................... 79 Chapter 4 Transcription and the Ethnography of Musical Performance .............................................. 90 Malta: an Island in the Mediterranean .................................................................................. 94 The Spirtu Pront: Style and Performance Practice ............................................................... 97 An Ethnographic Account of Two Musical Events ............................................................ 102 Ethnographically Designed Transcriptions ........................................................................ 108 Chapter 5 The Involvement of the Performer in Transcription and Analysis ..................................... 120 The Performer's Profile ...................................................................................................... 122 The gliana tal-fatt .. ............................................................................................................. 123 The Method Adopted .......................................................................................................... 129 The Elicited Transcriptional and Analytical Information ................................................... 132 What did He Learn from this Experience? ......................................................................... 157 Appendix .................................................................................................................................. 160 References ................................................................................................................................ 161 Preface Ethnomusicology is the branch of musicology in which special emphasis is given to the study of music in its cultural context - the anthropology of mu~i~<::·. For the ethnomusicologist, the analysis of a musical sound should take place within the di­ mension of cultural complexity. To arrive at an empirical study of music in its cultural context the ethnomusicologisthas access to the world's music. The ethnomusicologist's ) .. sources may vary considerably: from written to oral music; from Western music to non-Western musical traditions and from art to folk music. Ethnomusicology is a broad discipline which incorporates a whole variety of academic musical interests. This wide range of interests brought a considerable innovation in ethnomusicological analytical methods. An important stage in musical analysis, as applied in ethnomusicology, is transcription - the subject of our concern. The term transcription, as used in this work, only refers to the ethnomusicologist's task to reduce sound from recordings to visual form. This work excludes transnotation which refers to the process by which music in one system of notation is translated into another system. In ethnomusicology the term transcription is sometimes used for transnotation. The word style, used in the title, leaves space for the distinction be- tween: the technique of transcription and the system of notation. For example, one can do a transcription aurally using different systems of notation. Throughout this work I paid attention to make as clear as possible this distinction. This work consists of five chapters. The first chapter seeks to present a short survey of the role of transcription in the history of ethnomusicology. This first chapter also attempts to define a couple of terms commonly used in the ethno-transcription .. debate. The second chaptePconcentrates on ethnomusicological transcription made aurally in Western staff notation. This chapter does not treat the subject merely on a Vl technical basis but it attempts to evaluate cultural and/or sociological implications be­ hind a transcription made aurally in Western notation. The third chapter focuses on alternative systems of notation for Western notation which have been, and are still, used
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