Audio file
Title: Conrad Arensberg and Alan Lomax discuss correlation of ethnomusicology with Murdock and White's cultural classifications (part 4)
Date recorded: July , 1963
Contributor(s): Contributor: Vizedom, Monica; Contributor: Arensberg, Conrad; Contributor: Lomax, AlanBelongs to: Arensberg/Lomax, 1963-1968
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Date recorded: July , 1963
Contributor(s): Contributor: Vizedom, Monica; Contributor: Arensberg, Conrad; Contributor: Lomax, Alan
Genre: interview/commentary
Location:
Physical form: Reel to Reel
Tape number: T1266
Track Number: 1
Archive ID: T1266
Note: Mnong Gar of Vietnam have slash and burn agriculture. When they get together and play instruments, it's every man for himself. No polyphony. Arensberg: They have networks but not stable groups. Lomax: Rice cultures of Philippines have little coordination musically. Gongs aren't even tuned to each other. Arensberg: Dionysian cultures are networking, come together infrequently and have big blowout when they do. Lomax: Micronesia has striking polyphony. Arensberg: Reef fishers have endless collaboration. Arensberg's approach receives a lot of corroboration. Scales are crude but do represent a universal range of variations. We can say, "Probably polyphonic people are like this." Alan Lomax: Cantometrics is on a regional level. So is Murdock. Extreme situations, pygmies, Western Europeans, yield beautiful results. Where results are vague, we need more musical and cultural evidence. Key variables include seamless group versus diffuse group, male-female dimension, structural dimension. Music as symbolization. Alan Lomax: "If it's not that, what is it?" Arensberg: Anthropologists will call some results (complexity associated with orchestras) truisms. But it is worth a try. What are the variations in the human experience that will explain man's activities? Network people turn out to have no polyphony. Mnong Gar have no special children's music. Children are completely integrated into adult activities. Compare to backwoods of Central Europe. Most music is made by young people. Choruses are young men. Older men stop making music. Among Africans music is made by young men and women. Old people dance.
About the session: Conrad Arensberg and Alan Lomax discuss varied ethnomusicology and performance style and culture topics. Some conversations include Victor Grauer.
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