Paper to be presented at the conference Rhythm and Micro-rhythm: Investigating musical and cultural aspects of groove-oriented music 2005, hosted by the project Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction, September 22-24, University of Oslo, Norway Interpreting micro-rhythmic structures in Norwegian traditional fiddle music Mats Johansson Department of Musicology University of Oslo P.b. 1017 Blindern N-0315 Oslo, Norway Phone: 22854768 E-mail: [email protected] This paper sets out to explore some questions regarding the interpretation of micro rhythmic structures in Norwegian traditional fiddle music. It is sort of a report from work in progress where I am trying to develop some analytic tools and models for interpretation that can capture the rhythmic flexibility in the performance of the older dance tunes in triple meter.1 My work with these questions is based on the work of Ingemar Bengtson, Tellef Kvifte, Jan-Petter Blom and others who in one way or the other have tried to account for the rhythmic structure in this music. What could be said about this style is, first of all, that the distribution of beats within the measure often is not even. In other words, the basic rhythmic structure is asymmetric, usually with a short-long-medium or long-medium-short division. These patterns are also manifested in dance movements and should not be considered accidental. In addition, there is elasticity in the treatment of the rhythmical units, which means that one beat can be stretched or contracted from its average position so to speak. Even at the measure level there can be variations, and regularity may not 1 These tunes are named pols, springar, springleik and other local terms, and correspond with a set of dances with different but related movement patterns. occur until on a higher level. So, even if the basic patterns mentioned seem to be intact in most performances, it is problematic to define a static or normative meter. This phenomenon can be interpreted in different ways. My approach here is to investigate the connection between the variable asymmetry and different kinds of melodic-rhythmic phrases, the placement of these phrases within a melodic-rhythmic context, and the variation and improvisation mechanisms inherent in the style. The historical construction of this performance practice can to a certain degree be understood by giving attention to the fact that the music usually were performed by a solo fiddler and that it should function as dance music. This meant that the melody alone should be able to carry all the rhythmical information necessary for the music – dance interaction. In theory, this could indicate a musical practice were a predictable rhythmic scheme would be favored. In practice, however, there is a great freedom in shaping the melodic phrases, also in relation to the time aspect.2 This seems reasonable if one looks at the rhythmic variability as an expressive potential constituted by the fact that the need of synchronization with other instruments is absent. But if dance is the point of departure, it is more complicated to understand or explain the connection. Here one has to recognize that the relationship between music and dance is constantly changing and that the consolidation and highlighting of certain style features is related to performance contexts where this music is treated almost exclusively as concert music. At the same time it is necessary to point out that the variability does not necessarily mean that the rhythm loses its predictability. It rather calls attention to the relatively large tolerance for what melodic-rhythmic qualities that could constitute the beats as different time-value categories. Following this line of thought the rhythmic scheme, or meter, could be seen as representing a periodic continuity in the sense of recognition of a general pattern and information about structurally relevant attack points or accents. In other words; this scheme does not define exactly where or how these accents are to be articulated, it only tell us where to focus our attention. This echoes a point made by Anne Danielsen (2001:93) when 2 The feature that distinguishes this style is rather the high density of sound events, i.e. the large amount of rhythmical information within a short period of time achieved through “fill-ins”, ornaments and accentuations with the bow, and a corresponding lack of long “dead” notes. To what extent this principle is a central aspect of the performance is one of several possible criterions when discussing distinctions between similar styles. In the related, but clearly different style “gammeldans”, rhythmic accentuation usually also is carried out by a backing section whose primary function is to provide the basic groove (for example the typical ohm-pa-pa rhythm in waltz). In this case, long notes, not perceptually divided by accentuation in the melodic voice, is both common and stylistically acceptable. This would be explained partly by the fact that in contrast to the older solo tradition, where the dense melodic-rhythmic pattern is necessary as information to the dance floor, structurally important rhythmic information is provided elsewhere. discussing the funk grooves of James Brown. She argues that the correct location or core of a beat could be seen as a center of gravity rather than as a specific point in time. In relation to my material, this is not just about tolerance in the sense that the physical representation could be articulated within a rather large area. As I will comment on later on, it is also a question of the potential for higher resolution, where this center of gravity could be narrowed in accordance with a higher degree of attention and knowledge. Given a certain degree of improvised variation in the beat lengths, perfect synchronization between musicians, or between musician and dancer, seems impossible. But even if it is to be regarded as a utopia as an actual achievement, it very well may be an ideal and as such demonstrating an almost limitless scale of potential virtuosity or mastery in the musical interaction. Here I would like to posit that even if there are no possible objective measurements of musically meaningful rhythmic accents in dance or music, or in the correspondence between the two, there certainly is a perfectly real subjective experience of synchronization and non- synchronization.3 And regardless of what kind of relationships that constitutes this experience, the fact stands that both different degrees of variation in the beat lengths and different degrees of in- synch-ness between musicians and between music and dance movements, are possible and stylistically acceptable outcomes of this form of music making. In other words; the point of departure for further analysis and interpretation is that the musical norms of the style include a 4 certain amount of rhythmic variability. 3 Tellef Kvifte (1999) is addressing the problem with dancers experienced rhythm in relation to vertical movement and muscle tension, and how it may be possible to observe and theorize the correlation between music and dance. He posits that the observable up and down movements does not provide reliable clues to experienced rhythm and that it would be desirable with measurements of the muscle use synchronized with the dance music. He also problematizes the relationship between physical contrasts in the music and experienced beat, and seems to conclude that it can be no exact and definitive connection that can be measured. Here I would like to add that there are several possible synchronization-points between music (physical contrasts), movement and experienced beat, and that these points could suggest potentially different levels of resolution. As an example, one could mention the difference between putting the foot down on a beat and moving down on a beat. As an expression of perceived important sound contrast the foot against the floor immediately seem to be more distinct and definite than some phase in the up-down movement. Considering the body movements required, one could also hypothesize that the foot has a shorter reaction time and therefore could respond more in synchrony with an unpredictable rhythmic structure. This remains to be investigated further, but it certainly seems reasonable to consider how dancers actually might be able to use different synchronization-points simultaneously, thus representing or expressing different layers in their conception of rhythm (for example by synchronizing the foot-floor impact with a perceived attack point and a general feeling of heaviness by how the following vertical movement of the body is articulated). 4 This kind of reasoning presupposes that there are some correspondence between physical contrast in the music, and structural units such as beats and measures. On the other hand, it would be hard to argue that there is no such correspondence. The melody as rhythm carrier – methods and interpretations I think some music examples will be a good starting point for exploring these problems further. I am going to use two tunes here. The first one is a so called springleik performed by the fiddler Leif-Inge Schjølberg from Vågå in Gudbrandsdalen. The second one is a similar kind of tune (a springar) played on hardanger fiddle by Bjarne Herrefoss. Both examples are traditional dance tunes in triple meter with a clear asymmetric character. We will start by listening to a part of the hardanger fiddle tune and then look at my analysis of the distribution of rhythmical units. Sound: “Igletveiten”, springar from Telemark played by Bjarne Herrefoss, hardanger fiddle (long-medium-short asymmetry)5 I have been using a sound editing program where I start by listening and looking at longer melodic sequences, represented by parts of a sound graph, to get a feeling of where the division should be musically.