Inventing New Marimba Performance from the African Balafon Music Practice 1 2 The Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts (ARIA) Thesis for the degree of Doctor in Arts at the University of Antwerp to be defended by Adilia On-ying Yip Inventing New Marimba Performance from the African Balafon Music Practice Supervisors: Prof. dr. Kathleen Coessens & Prof. dr. Henk de Smaele Antwerp 2018 3 4 The Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts (ARIA) Proefschrift voorgelegd tot het behalen van de graad van doctor in de Kunsten aan de Universiteit Antwerpen te verdedigen door Adilia On-ying Yip Nieuwe Marimba Performance Uitvindingen vanuit de Afrikaanse Balafoon Traditie Promotoren: Prof. dr. Kathleen Coessens & Prof. dr. Henk de Smaele Antwerpen 2018 5 6 To my parents 7 8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study was funded by the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp (Koninklijk Conservatorium, Artesis Plantijn Hogeschool Antwerpen). Although it is impossible to thank everyone who has helped me in the completion of this dissertation, I must acknowledge the unique contributions of certain individuals, to whom I am indebted: my artistic supervisor, Kathleen Coessens, for encouragement and patience throughout, and for the sharpness of perception in cutting the Gordian knot of my conceptual and organizational complexities. My academic supervisor, Henk de Smaele, provided the unceasing support and precise criticism on my work. Committee member Bart Quartier offered stimulating, detailed and useful suggestions on mallet performance. External jury member Valerie Naranjo spent uncountable hours of editing my manuscript till the last moment before sending the file to print. Coordinator Kevin Voets gave practical advice over various matters of doctoral trajectory. I am grateful to my balafon teachers and friends in Mali, Burkina Faso and Europe. They have, in great measure, created this dissertation. Gert Kilian, my first balafon teacher, gave me valuable information and helped me to gain access to the balafon world. Youssouf Keita, my African balafon teacher, taught me the balafon practice and the repertoire. Paul Nas was always there to answer my questions at anytime. Moussa Dembele gave me the invaluable experience of jamming with a balafonist in several performances. I would like to thank Anya, Eric, Carl, Jan, Frieder and Renauld, who have taken care of me during my adventurous trips in Africa. My gratitude to composers Michiel de Malsche, Enric Riu, Juan Albaraccin, Cornelia Zambila and Cheong Li for their artistic contributions in this project. I appreciate your talent and professionalism. And my friends and colleagues, who graciously shared tips in writing and reviewed the dissertation. Finally, and most profoundly: to my boyfriend Kenneth, who shared his artistic views and opinions towards my dissertation, and endured the tensions and deprivations of an almost drawn-out doctoral candidate. His daily new findings and jokes have kept my spirit up during the monotonous, lengthy revision period. And to my parents, who resolved my worries not passively, but by sharing their life-experience via countless long-distance calls over these years. I humbly offer my love and gratitude. 9 10 ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH The aim of this practice-based project is to search for new performance perspectives for the marimba (invented in the 1910s) by inquiring into the West African music tradition— the balafon of the Bobo and Bamana peoples living in Mali and Burkina Faso. Through a triangulation of research methodology—participant-observation (lessons with local musicians and interviews), literature (African ethnomusicology, phenomenology in music and music embodiment) and artistic practice (analyses and experiments in music)—I have gained insights into the artistic experience of stepping into the "unknown" balafon world. The written result is a discussion of how I have overcome the obstacles of learning, performing and listening to balafon music, and how these experiences have renewed and enriched my original artistic practice and ideas. Due to the music’s oral tradition, the balafon polyrhythm and melodic materials are embodied in forms of bimanual (two-hand) coordination patterns rather than symbolic representation. Music-making is largely informed by the performer's motoric sensory, and body movement is given a crucial role in music communication and sensory perception. The second purpose of this research is, therefore, to apply these balafon practices to Western performance. Many preceding Western contemporary and classical musicians have initiated music projects to adapt African musical materials to their creative processes, e.g. "Drumming" (Steve Reich, 1971), but barely a work grows out of an inquiry into the embodied performance practice of the non-Western genre. This yields as artistic outcome—five commissioned compositions for the marimba and a concert program "In the Heat of the Moment". Keywords: marimba, balafon, body movement, music embodiment 11 ABSTRACT IN DUTCH Het opzet van dit op de praktijk gebaseerde artistieke onderzoeksproject is om op zoek te gaan naar nieuwe perspectieven in de uitvoeringspraktijk van de marimba (een instrument uitgevonden in de jaren 1910) door een studie van West-Afrikaanse muzikale tradities, meer bepaald in het balafonspel van de Bobo en Bamana in Mali en Burkina Faso. Door een triangulatie van onderzoeksmethoden—participerende observatie (lessen met lokale muzikanten en interviews), literatuurstudie (Afrikaanse enthnomusicologie, fenomenologie van muziek en muzikale belichaming) en artistieke praktijk (analyse en muzikale experimenten)—verwierf ik inzicht in de artistieke ervaring om de onbekende wereld van de balafon te betreden. Het geschreven resultaat is een beschrijving en bespreking van hoe ik de obstakels heb overwonnen in het leren, het bespelen en het beluisteren van de balafonmuziek, en hoe deze ervaringen mijn artistieke praktijk en ideeën hebben verrijkt. De orale traditie maakt dat de polyritmie en melodische materialen in de balafonuitvoering belichaamd zijn in vormen van tweehandse coördinatiepatronen, veeleer dan in symbolische weergave. Muziekuitvoering is in belangrijke mate bepaald door het motorische aanvoelen en lichaamsbeweging krijgt een cruciale rol in muzikale communicatie en zintuigelijke waarneming. De tweede bedoeling van dit onderzoek is daarom gericht op het toepassen van deze balafoonpraktijken binnen Westerse opvoeringen. Heel wat Westerse hedendaagse en klassieke muziekanten hebben muzikale projecten opgezet waarin Afrikaanse elementen werden aangepast en ingezet in het eigen creatieve proces (bijvoorbeeld “Drumming”, Steve Reich, 1971), maar zelden of nooit groeide zo’n werk vanuit de belichaamde uitvoeringspraktijk van niet-Westerse genres. De artistieke output van dit project resulteerde in vijf nieuwe composities die in opdracht werden gecreëerd voor de marimba en in het concertprogramma “In the Heat of the Moment”. Trefwooden: marimba, balafoon, lichaamsbeweging, muzikale belichaming 12 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of figures .............................................................................................................................. 15 List of videos ............................................................................................................................... 17 List of paper presentations, lecture recitals and performances ............................................... 19 CHAPTERS Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 21 1. In the dawn of change .................................................................................................... 43 Adapting to the performance practice of the West African balafon 1.1 The balafon workshops: learning how to play the instrument 1.2 The instrument and playing technique 1.3 The experience of learning the balafon practice 1.4 Reflections on my artistic practice 2. The performer's body is present .................................................................................... 65 Musical motion versus music-producing movement in performance 2.1 The primordial perception of motion in listening and performing 2.2 The artistic idiosyncrasy in different music cultures 3. The praxis of African rhythm .......................................................................................... 87 3.1 Understanding African polyrhythm from a pragmatic perspective 3.2 The social-cultural implications in African rhythm 4. The idiom of body movement in performance ............................................................ 121 4.1 Mapping movement patterns to the shape of the instruments 4.2 Mapping the musician's concepts and intentions to the shape of the instrument 4.3 Embodying the movement idiom 5. The movement idiom in balafon music ........................................................................ 153 An analysis using movement representation graphs (MRG) 5.1 Movement Representation Graph as the analytic method and tool 5.2 The purpose of Movement Representing Graph 5.3 Analysis 6. Artistic outcomes .......................................................................................................... 171 Five commissioned works Sound Portrait V | Enric Riu (2014) De Perjulio de la Nieve | Juan Albaraccin (2016) Mal/oxin Suite | Michiel de Malsche (2016) 13 Inner Sight Etudes | Cornelia Zambila (2016) Transposons | Li Cheong (2017) 7. Oral tradition in contemporary ensemble practice ....................................................