Ethnomusicology Today

In this episode, we discuss performative ecology with Brian Dietrich, whose article, “’Summoning Breadfruit’ and ‘Opening Seas:' Toward a Performative Ecology in Oceania” was published in the Winter 2018 issue of the journal, Ethnomusicology. Diettrich explores the concept of performative ecology in his discussion of ótoomey (summoning breadfruit) and ocean wayfinding and voyaging songs in the islands of Chuuk. Through his study of both historical and present-day musical performances in Chuuk, Diettrich explains how knowledge about social, spiritual, and environmental connectivity is bound up in musical performances.

Brian Diettrich is a Senior Lecturer in Ethnomusicology at Victoria University of Wellington. His research and scholarship is based on the music cultures of the Federated States of Micronesia and Micronesian migrant communities residing in Hawaii. Brian’s article “’Summoning Breadfruit’ and ‘Opening Seas’: Toward a Performative Ecology in Oceania,” was published in the Winter 2018 issue of the journal, Ethnomusicology.

Brian would like to express gratitude for the generosity of knowledge shared by his collaborators in Chuuk, especially Rewi, John Sandy, Elias Sandy, Joakim Peter, and many others.

In this episode we talk with two scholars, Sydney Hutchinson and Byrd McDaniel, whose respective articles on competitive air guitar were recently published in the journal Ethnomusicology. Hutchinson, whose article, “Asian Fury: A Tale of Race, Rock, and Air Guitar” was published in the Fall 2016 issue of Ethnomusicology, explores themes of race, gender, and embodiment as it relates to individuals involved in elite air guitar competitions, specifically focusing on the way Asian American and female competitors have used air guitar as a platform for social and cultural critique. McDaniel, whose article “Out of Thin Air: Configurability, Choreography, and the Air Guitar World Championships” was published in the Fall 2017 issue of Ethnomusicology, examines how embodiment, media manipulation, and aesthetics function within the world of national and international air guitar competitions. We also interviewed Fatima Hoang, a competitive air guitarist, who in 2005 won the U.S. Air Guitar Championships under his stage name, the Rockness Monster.

In this episode we talk with two scholars, Sydney Hutchinson and Byrd McDaniel, whose respective articles on competitive air guitar were recently published in the journal Ethnomusicology. Hutchinson, whose article, “Asian Fury: A Tale of Race, Rock, and Air Guitar” was published in the Fall 2016 issue of Ethnomusicology, explores themes of race, gender, and embodiment in air guitar competitions. McDaniel’s article “Out of Thin Air: Configurability, Choreography, and the Air Guitar World Championships” was published in the Fall 2017 issue of Ethnomusicology and examines how embodiment, media manipulation, and aesthetics function within national and international air guitar competitions. We also interviewed Fatima Hoang, a competitive air guitarist, who in 2005 won the U.S. Air Guitar Championships under his stage name, the Rockness Monster. Sydney Hutchinson is an Associate Professor of Music History and Cultures at Syracuse University. Byrd McDaniel is a doctoral candidate in ethnomusicology at the Department of Music at Brown University.

In this episode we talk with Marié Abe, whose article "Sounding Against Nuclear Power in Post-3.11 Japan: Resonances of Silence and Chindon-ya," was published in the Spring/Summer 2016 issue of the journal, Ethnomusicology. Abe explores the Japanese musical advertisement practice chindon-ya and how it has become politicized as the sounds of anti-nuclear street protests after the 3.11 nuclear disaster. Abe examines the tensions between chindon-ya’s role in street protests and the socially mandated practice of the silence of jishuku.

In this episode we talk with Marié Abe, whose article “Sounding Against Nuclear Power in Post-3.11 Japan: Resonances of Silence and Chindon-ya” was published in the Spring/Summer 2016 issue of the journal, Ethnomusicology. Abe explores the Japanese musical advertisement practice chindon-ya, and how it has become politicized as the sounds of anti-nuclear street protests after the 3.11 nuclear disaster. Abe examines the tensions between chindon-ya’s role in street protests and the socially mandated practice of the silence of jishuku.

In this episode we talk with Juan Diego Diaz Meneses, whose article “Listening with the Body: An Aesthetics of Spirit Possession Outside the Terreiro” was published in the winter 2016 issue of the journal, Ethnomusicology. In his investigation of the aesthetics of spiritual possession, Juan Diego compares the ritualistic practices of Candomblé and the musical performances of Orkestra Rumpilezz to highlight the similarities and differences between spiritual possessions in the context of Afro-Bahian music.

In this episode we discuss the aesthetics of spiritual possession with Juan Diego Diaz, whose article "Listening with the Body: An Aesthetics of Spirit Possession Outside the Terreiro," was published in the Winter 2016 issue of the journal, Ethnomusicology. In his investigation of the aesthetics of spiritual possession, Juan Diego compares the ritualistic practices of Candomblé and the musical performances of Orkestra Rumpilezz to highlight the similarities and differences between spiritual possessions in the context of Afro-Bahian music.

In this episode we talk with Allen Roda, whose article “Ecology of the Global Tabla Industry” was recently published in the journal, Ethnomusicology. Roda examines the global tabla industry as a complex ecosystem involving many contributors, including instruments, the artisans who make them, and the musicians who play them. Roda explores the material culture of the tabla and the complex craftsmanship that goes into manufacturing it. Allen Roda is an adjunct lecturer at New York University and works in the Department of Musical Instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In this episode we discuss the complex ecosystem of the global tabla industry with Allen Roda, whose article "Ecology of the Global Tabla Industry," was published in the Spring/Summer 2015 issue of the journal, Ethnomusicology. Roda examines the global tabla industry as a complex ecosystem involving many contributors, including instruments, the artisans who make them, and the musicians who play them. Roda explores the material culture of the tabla and the complex craftsmanship that goes into manufacturing it. Allen Roda is an adjunct lecturer at New York University and works in the Department of Musical Instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In this episode, we discuss post-1990’s Indian dance culture with Anna Morcom, whose article “Terrains of Bollywood: (Neoliberal) Capitalism and the Transformation of Cultural Economies” was published in the Spring/Summer 2015 issue of the journal Ethnomusicology.