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Tony Tony Timothy Timothy Europe Europe Global Perspectives Straw of the authentic. World music is revered because it is age-old and traditional even For any deeper consideration of their meaning or expressive power, however, we as it is recommended to those in search of the new and millennia!; it is music are inevitably invited to go back to the set of cultural and social relations present at expressive of a stronger sense of self or identity even as it lends itself to a background the founding of these forms. Set against this set of relations, our own national function in which it does not intrude upon our surroundings; it invites our attention contexts will always seem socio-politically impoverished or quaintly innocent. We to the distinctiveness of local traditions while being marketed as a widely diverse may, as we often do with non-American jazz traditions, regard them as interesti~;tg range of sounds and origins presumed to interest us in equal measure. While Taylor fodder for social history but of no possible significance whatsoever in the history does not cite the work of Toby Miller, his own analysis of the aura of worthiness of jazz as a form. with which world music comes laden evokes the latter's discussion of the sense of "ethical incompleteness" (1993: 96) which leads us to seek out cultural experiences For Mitchell, this is a problem with great pertinence for the analysis of non-US rap. deemed ameliorative. In contemporary musical culture, he notes, it is both acknowledged that rap music unfolds within national borders, but presumed that it is "subject to continuous Taylor's book deals with performers who, in a variety of ways, have been removed assessment in terms of American norms and standards" (38). How, then, does one from their places of emergence and pulled into international circuits of collaboration account for the political effectivity of the rap produced by Italian hip-hop posses? and appropriation. Tony Mitchell examines the national musical cultures in which Mitchell writes: US-based forms are perpetuated and remade. As a result, Popular Music and Local [m J ost Italian rap, though taking the form of hybrid 'stylistic exercises ' Identity is less focussed on individual artists than Taylor's book, and more attentive influenced by African-American rap, is also an alternative mode of to the insinuation of ostensibly US-based musical forms, such as rap and rock, within social and political discourse which speaks out about local social complexly organised national musical cultures. The examples studied here include problems such as homelessness, unemployment, and police repression, Italian hip-hop, Czech rock, and the Anglo/Maori bicultural music of Aotearoa/New and attacks targets such as political corruption, the mafia and the Zealand. At the very least, Popular Music and Local Identity is a useful and Northern League. The use of regional dialects and instrumentation comprehensive survey of these various cases, all of which might be taken as serves as a cultural repository for tribalized local cultural forms, and instances of particular forms of globalism. More fundamentally, however, gives Italian rap a folkloric dimension which distinguishes it from rap music in many other Western countries. (167) Mitchell's book left me convinced of the persistent, determining power of national networks of influence, political histories and contexts of critical polemic. What, then, is the status of the category 'rap' within a set of internationally proliferating musical practices? Throughout his analysis, Mitchell sketches the thorny elusiveness of an answer. To suggest rap is simply a language or style, in The richness of Mitchell's book is nourished, I am convinced, by his unflagging itself empty of the content with which local circumstances will supply it, is to curiosity about innumerable local musics, and the histories and variations thereofl. disingenuously overlook the ways in which Italian and other national versions of As someone whose music collection contains dozens of unheard, unwrapped rap play and resonate with the political expressivity rap has acquired in the US. cassettes and CDs, purchased with the best of intentions in other countries, I am Nevertheless, rap, in Italy, Quebec or elsewhere, will develop within social net impressed by Mitchell's appetite for national variations of form and style. Each of works, traditions of political discourse, and socio-economic structures of musical the case studies here is built from comprehensive listening, an extensive investiga practice whose dependence on similar phenomena in the US is weak and of little tion of local music criticism, and, most usefully perhaps, a tracing of the twists and explanatory power. To privilege the autonomy of national \fevelopments in rap turns of performer careers as they confront the tensions between international forms means ignoring the importance of that world-historical event by which African and local circumstances. Americans have become models of social resistance for a range of groups across the globe. To see rap as an expressive force born in one context and merely adapted Popular Music and Local Identity offers several self-contained studies of national or extended elsewhere typically means believing that its strength, like a radio signal, styles, but there is a polemical thrust, particularly to his discussion of rap, which must necessarily wane with distance from the point of origin. invites consideration and discussion. Alongside the question of US music's status within the global cultural industries, there is the much more delicate one of the Rappers from outside the US commonly respond to dismissal with an insistence privileging of contexts of origin within aesthetic and political debates. As a that their own contexts provide their own political urgencies. This is very often true, Canadian who occasionally attends US conferences in popular music studies, I am but what if it were not? If the rest of the world is not convinced of the urgency familiar (and often complicit) with the tendency to treat our own developments of confronting Italian rappers, is this because that urgency is illusory, nothing like that music derived from African-American and rock traditions almost exclusively in confronting Compton or the South Bronx, or because more is at stake, in determining terms of the global patterns of musical circulation which brought them there. We the legitimacy ofhip-hop music, than oppressive circumstances. If a rebellious spirit may evaluate Quebecois hip-hop (or Mexican rock) through the prisms of a political produced good rock music, a hundred countries would be more likely sources of economy, casting them as instances of resistant appropriation or slavish imitation. such music than Canada or Sweden, who have had more success than most in
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Perfect Beat v4 n 1 July 1998 genesis in a particular, and comparatively recent, western vocal tradition which suppressed and obscured previous, more heterogenous and poly-timbral ap proaches. One such tradition was the bel canto vocal style which flourished in 17th and 18th Century Italy.
~ In his book The Singing Cure: An Introduction to Voice Movement Therapy (1993), Newman asserts that bel canto (an Italian term literally meaning 'beautiful song') MISPLACED ACAPELLA encouraged tonal multiplicity and mirrored the full range of human emotion: ... bel canto was the particular art of singing and vocal training which flourished ... in response to the need for emotional authenticity... The Musical Purism and Cross-Cultural special art of the bel canto singers consisted in their ability to commu nicate a genuine expression of human emotion ... the range of timbres Comfort Zones was born out of the spectrum of human emotions. (ibid: 45) Newman contends that it was only later that singers sought a more singular quality CORALIEJOYCE of voice as a result of the (inter-related) imperatives and dictates of composers and the Roman Catholic church: [w]hile the bel canto singers were intent on extending the different his short article addresses aspects of the performance of particular ("dis emotive qualities and phonic images of each note, later singers have placed"1) styles and genres in the contemporary Australian acapella scene. sought to perfect a single quality of voice and have been loath to try TResponding to debates initiated in recent Perfect Beat articles by Gibb and and extend its range... 3 Loader (1997) and Rickwood (1998), I address pre-occupations with specific vocal-tonal ideals; issues of cultural appropriation and 'political correctness'; and In Western European history the more the expressive JUnction the the causes of types of physical discomfort vocalists performing such repertoires of human voice became an adjunct of music and the more in tum music may experience. became subject to the rules of aesthetics, the demands of the Church and the cravingfor all things bright and beautiful, so the more the voice In one thread of her analyses, Rickwood identifies the bodily discomfort which lost its fUndamental capacity to give expression to the foil range of many acapella performers reported to her (when singing specific repertoires) as psychological experience that it had once possessed. .. (ibid) resulting from their "singing from a repertoire that questioned their relationship to I quote Newham's account at length since it provides a useful cameo description of others" (ibid: 81). While this may well have been a contributory factor, my own the process of vocal-tonal standardisation which has come to dominate western 4 research2 leads me to offer another interpretation- namely that the bodily discom musical aesthetics • It is these "rules of aesthetics" and "church demands" that are fort, tension and/or ambiguity discussed by Rickwood principally derives from the fundamental to the contemporary preoccupation with a highly specific vocal-tonal preoccupations of a modem western classical vocal tradition which has limited ideal. This preoccupation remains fundamental to most modem western practices5; relevance to the emerging Australian acapella scene. As this short 'riff' will argue, and exerts a powerful influence on the perceptions and ideals of the va5t majority singing the music of 'others' is not necessarily a physically problematic activity. of singers I have encountered in the Australian acapella scene over the past decade. Indeed this is not limited to singers but to almost all musicians within this particular western musical tradition where finn "aesthetic rules" abound6. BODILY DISCOMFORT/LIMITED TONALITIES Rickwood notes that "both the rapid turnover of the repertoire and its displacement As recently as the 1960s, science was still being invoked to provide validating created bodily discomfort" for local acapella singers (ibid: 81 - my emphasis). aesthetic principals for assertions of western cultural attainment and supremacy: Bodily tension when singing has multiple and occult causes (by which I mean causes [vjocal research, with its exact investigations, the voice trainer through hidden from view and thereby not readily apparent). One major cause is the western his experience with the living object, even the interested amateur from preoccupation with a highly specific vocal tonality- a fixation which is at odds with the innate feeling for singing he has in his ear- all these belonging to contemporary acapella's multiple and inclusive philosophy. This is exemplified in our circle of culture are able in their own way to recognize fairly Rickwood's report that "when referring to these [ie non-western] songs, some of precisely when something in the singers performance is physiologically the women spoke of their difficulty in attaining the same sound" (ibid: 79 - my right or physiologically wrong. Those 'exotic' races referred to earlier emphases). The women's perception of (and attempts to match) a tonal ideal has its are in error if they really believe ... that each of them has a valid ideal
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xviii)
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As
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tended (culturally)
have
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value alone
acappella While Misplaced Acapella Joyce
The choirs were a positive opportunity to use their voice and, indeed, in some cases largely premised on the exercise of expressivity within its highly specific vocal at least, singing in the choir itself made a major contribution to improving the vocal tonal parameters. health of new singers9.
5. The characterisation of 'western' I am using here does not- of course- include DISCOMFORT AND THE MUSIC OF 'OTHERS' those various, principally folk/ethnic traditions which survived attempts to homog enise vocal-tonality-such as Gaelic-Hebridian, Bulgarian, Estonian, Macedon ian To summarise, I contend that one major explanation for the discomfort experienced (etc.)-due to various (fortunate) factors. in vocalising the music of others derives from underlying purist attitudes to vocaVmusical performance and concerns to ensure that interpretation does not vary 6. And also non-musicians (understood here in the traditional sense of the term) who too greatly due to accent and tone colour. This is considered 'uncomfortable' and are nevertheless inculcated with the idea of musical purism, a singular concept of unacceptable as a performative reference to a- notional, singular- original. Such vocal performance aiming towards singular tonal perfection. perceptions, in tum, reflect the existence of a cultural elite who assert themselves 7. as having some claim to authority over performance practices. This is contrary to See Rickwood, 1998: 70-71 for further discussion. the communally inclusive definition of the Australian acapella scene. I contend that 8. where there is a perceived 'right' and singular prescription of vocal performance, Who, in my experience in 1982 at the New South Wales Conservatorium ofMusic, bodily tension results, to the detriment of the music being presented. Such funda disagreed vehemently with each other over the presentation and interpretation of particular scores and their required tonal qualities- without ever questioning the mental paradigms need to be addressed if the vocal mediation of specific acapella singular tonal ideal. traditions- and the tuition, individual skills development and group experience of choral singing- is to progress beyond the anxiety barrier which clouds enjoyment, 9. It is perhaps interesting to speculate that the perceived vocal advantages of "big, fulfilment and performance of the music of 'others' locally enacted as the music of ourselves. black women" from non-western cultures may reside more in their constant singing from infancy than any innate cultural and/or biological factors.
Thanks to Jon Fitzgerald and Philip Hayward for their comments on an earlier version of this article. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Benn, V (1993) 'Samples, Synthesis and Cultural Heritage' Perfect Beat vi n3, July ENDNOTES Gibb, A and Loader, M (1997) 'Displaced Acapella', Perfect Beat v3 n2, January I. To repeat the term used in the title ofGibb and Loader's (1997) article.
2. Huster, F and Rodd-Marling, Y (1965) Singing: The Physical Nature of The Vocal Organ, The analyses presented here draw on my own personal experience in twenty years London: Faber and Faber of vocal study; contact with singing pupils involved in acapella groups in Sydney; from observing the (Sydney) Solidarity Choir and The Sydney Welsh Singers; and my experience in recording and performing in the Estonian-Australian acapella Miller, R (1977) English, French, German and Italian Techniques of Singing: A Study in National Tonal Preferences And How They Relate to Functional Efficiency, Metuchen (NJ): group Kiri-uu, the Australian Gaelic Singers and Clarsach. Scarecrow Press 3. Newham also adds: Muska, M (1992) This is Kiri-uu (Unpublished mimeo) Furthermore, the increasing complexity of musical composition has led to a Newham, P (1993) The Singing Cure: An Introduction to Voice Movement Therapy, London: process of training operatic singers which has become more influenced by the Rider technical demands of the music and less connected with the primal and fUndamen tal role of the voice as the expression of emotion and experience. There are of course some exceptions to the composers' demandfor strict adherence to the score Rickwood, J (1998) 'Embodied Acapella', Perfect Beat v3 n4, January and concentration on the production of a beautifUl sound .. . but these remain exceptions buried amid an array of rules. (ibid)
4. This characterisation should not be taken to imply any lack of expressivity within western aesthetic vocal-tonal standardisation itself. Indeed, western opera is
Perfect Beat - v4 n1 July 1998 Perfect Beat DD v4 n1 July 1998 Cole and Hannan
Perfect Beat v4 n 1 July 1998 support for this approach, particularly in the work of Shepherd and Wicke ( 1997) which has even been endorsed by Cultural Studies luminaries such as Lawrence Grossberg (on the book's rear cover). The difficulty with this position is that the training (and mindset) required to encompass both approaches is not often found in one researcher. It is timely for popular music researchers to work together at integrating the two broad approaches. In any case it is counter-productive to dismiss musicology just because its focus is on the text rather than the context. This is what musicologists do .. In this regard, we applaud the editors of Perfect Beat for being courageous enough to include work with a music( ological) focus in a journal with THE PLACE OF (MUSIC)OLOGY IN a readership likely to be hostile or threatened by this approach. THE STUDY OF MUSIC Chan contends that we "focus on local Australian artists as source material [missing] PRODUCTION crucial global contexts" (95). He seems ignorant of the fact that the local DJs referred to are also international DJs who were (and are) central to the Goa Trance movement, even though a close reading of our text would have revealed this to be the case1• A A Reply To Chan number of the DJs and recording artists interviewed (as part of about one hundred interviews for Cole's doctoral research on Australian techno music) were involved in organising and DJing at parties in Goa from 1981 to 1996. Fred Disco (a French FRED COLE AND MICHAEL HANNAN national) was given his name by Goan locals because he was the first -to put on parties with the electronic 'disco' beat. In 1991, Ray Castle (a New Zealander), Note: Before we give our response to Sebastian Chan's riff 'Music(ol organised and played at an event every two days. The various Internet sources used ogy) Needs a Context' in Perfect Beat v3n4, a critique of our article on by us were checked for accuracy by these two DJs, as well as others with prolonged Goa Trance published in Perfect Beat v3n3, we feel compelled to point experience of the Goa scene (such as Paul Chambers and Nick Taylor2). out that many of the problems and ommissions identified by Chan were addressed in the original (lengthier) version of the article submitted to the journal. We were required to cut several detailed sections at the It is a coincidence that a lot of the originators of the Goa scene have gravitated to behest ofthe journal's referees, and agreed to these in order to have the the North Coast ofNew South Wales, a coincidence that led us to agree to write the article published. Readers interested in comparing the published article article in the first place. We reject the idea that we are uncritical of the claims of our with the submitted (unrefereed) text may view the latter on the web site informants, whose authority Chan doubts because of their vested interests as
Pertect Beat IIIII v4 n1 July 1998 Perfect Beat 1111v4 n1 July 1998 -=-· A Reply To Chan
Perfect Beat readers who were interested in hearing the music could stand a reasonable chance of tracking it down; and, secondly, because the tracks referred to reflected the choice available to us in the "authentic" DAT format. - Furthermore, Chan suggests that Australia is such an isolated site for techno-related Jonas Baes is a composer- and ethnomusicologist. He has published a number of music that new tracks are only available in mass-marketed formats. This is clearly articles on Iraya-Mangyan music in Mindoro island and has also composed envi contradicted by our experience. The NSW North Coast Goa DJs referred to in our ronmental music utilising large numbers of indigenous instruments and voices. He article travel extensively to play at parties, particularly in Japan, and a variety of is presently taking his Doctorate in Philippine Studies at the University of the European countries. Their days are taken up copying and exchanging as many new Philippines. DAT tracks as possible. Their appetite for new material is just as urgent and insistent as that of the inner city House DJ for the white label and the dubplate. As an example of the extensive movement of new techno DAT tracks, one of us (Cole) recently Amapola Baes graduated in Music Education. She is currently completing a produced a track in DAT format that was played in London three days after first Master's Degree in Psychology at the University of the Philippines. being played on the NSW North Coast. A few weeks later the same track arrived back on the North Coast via a visiting Israeli DJ who had received it from a German Fred Cole has been an electronic musician, soundscape artist and composer for over DJin Tokyo. 20 years. His BA Honours thesis examined house music composition and he is currently completing a PhD on Australian techno and electronic dance music at Southern Cross University, Lismore (Australia). Finally it should be stated that our interest in this research was primarily focused on the creative and production practices of Goa Trance, not the reception of the Murray Garde is a PhD student at Queensland University, Brisbane, researching music. In our article we were purposely not concerned with the matters Chan deems topics in linguistic anthropology in languages spoken in the Maningrida region, as of key importance: "the issues of communality among dancers, or philosophies Northern Territory. For the past five years he has also conducted research on the of liberation through dance" (96). This is not to say that we consider these aspects traditional music of north-central and western Amhem Land. of music study to be unimportant. We merely focused on a different stage of the cycle of production and consumption. Michael Hannan is leader of the program in Contemporary Music at Southern Cross University, Lismore (Australia). His main areas of research are Australian contemporary classical music and popular music terminology.
ENDNOTES Shane Homan is a former rock musician completing a doctoral thesis on the 1. This was more obvious in the original (un-edited) version of the article. regulatory history of rock music venues in New South Wales at Macquarie Univer sity, Sydney. 2. Nick Taylor is the other half ofPrana, along with Tsuyoshi Suzuki, an artist Chan 'knowingly' refers to in his riff. Coralie Joyce is a lecturer in music production at Macquarie University, Sydney, who has worked with various community choirs, recorded and toured with the 'desktop acapella' ensemble Kiri-uu and released her own solo album Seajoy BIBLIOGRAPHY Celtic Sea Songs (1997). Chan, S ( 1998) 'Music( ology) Needs a Context', Perfect Beat v3 n4, January Sam Sampson is a freelance writer based in Auckland. In the period 1994 -1997 Cole, F and Hannan, M (1997) 'Goa Trance', Perfect Beat v3n3, July he completed a Masters degree in Philosophy and tutored on the Musics of The World course at at University of Auckland. He is the author of numerous articles Shepherd, J and Wicke, P ( 1997) Music and Cultural Theory, Cambridge: Polity Press and reviews on the music of Oceania.
Will Straw is associate professor and acting director of the graduate Program in Communications at McGill University, Montreal.
Jill Stubington is a senior lecturer and currently head of school at the School of Music and Music Education at the University of New South Wales, Sydney.
Perfect Beat 111&'1v4 n1 July 1998 Perfect Beat 1m v4 n1 July 1998