Abstract
This paper investigates the ways in which new sonic identities begin to emerge through a dialogue between cultures, artistic disciplines and technology. Musicians worldwide commonly shape their identity and forms of musical expression through the lens of the environment they grow up in. Ideas about desirable sonic aesthetics vary drastically across musical traditions and cultures globally. Whilst one musician may strive for a sound that is clear, pure and unaltered, another may strive for a distorted, inharmonic sound, for example. The article examines what happens when a musician from a given sonic tradition is exposed to and interacts with a diversely different approach to producing sound. It puts forward the case of an Australian double bass player with a long immersion into Tanzanian musical culture, carving out a personal approach to double bass playing via a synthesis of traditional western techniques, extended techniques influenced by Tanzanian sonic aesthetics, as well as mechanical preparations and electronic augmentation of the instrument. The combination of these diverse elements allows for the emergence of a distinctive sonic identity, illustrated by excerpts from three pieces composed and performed within this specific aesthetic framework. The article’s discussion on sonic identity formation holds relevance as an example case of artistic creation within the current globalised context, where finding the distinct quality of one’s expression needs to be negotiated through layers of transcultural and technological elements.
Highlights
Music is a central catalyst for the formation of identity at all levels of social organisation, from transnational feelings of shared meaning and belonging, to national cohesion, to the self-identification of specific cultural, sub-cultural and ethnic groups, and down to the distinct sonic identity of an individual musician
Through a case study in two parts, combining transcultural immersion and technological development, this article has outlined the process of musical identity formation of a double bass player
The merging, processing and appropriation of heterogeneous elements into a coherent aesthetic framework arguably reflects the commonplace situation of artistic research in the current globalized context: how to find one’s own voice – or sound – in an overflow of information and influences originating from way beyond one’s initial cultural setting
Summary
Music is a central catalyst for the formation of identity at all levels of social organisation, from transnational feelings of shared meaning and belonging, to national cohesion, to the self-identification of specific cultural, sub-cultural and ethnic groups, and down to the distinct sonic identity of an individual musician This text discusses the formation of a musician’s personal sound in the current context of widespread transcultural influences and the profound impact of audio technologies on music making. It brings forward the case of an Australian-born double bass player with substantial experience of immersion in Tanzanian musical culture, weaving a synthesis of his heterogeneous musical influences into a personal approach involving extended playing techniques and mechanical as well as electronic augmentations of the instrument. The case study presented in this article holds larger relevancy in the heterogeneous and globalised contemporary context where artistic identity often needs to be negotiated through multiple layers of cultural and technological influences
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