- 期刊
Musical Organization in Traditional East African Cultures: A Case Study of the Embaire Xylophone
並列摘要
The embaire log xylophone is used among the Busoga of southeast Uganda. It is still popular today in this region, reflecting certain cultural and aesthetic preferences. In practice, the Basoga gather together and celebrate various events involving singing, dancing and xylophone playing. This paper takes a closer look at musical organization in selected East African traditional societies with special reference given to the musical organization in the embaire playing tradition of the Basoga.The first part of the discussion provides a short overview on East African xylophones, their types and their geographic distribution. This will be followed by the portrayal of Ugandan xylophones. In due consideration of past and present-day Busoga the embaire will be discussed in terms of its use, method of its set-up, its playing technique, the order of its keys in accordance with the traditional tuning as well as the allocation of keys among musicians belonging to the xylophone group.The second part of the assessment dwells with musical analysis that is based on recorded audiovisual material. It will thus specifically refer to melodic-rhythmic structures of separate embaire patterns and of the resulting tone bank when all patterns interlock1. In accordance to this matter, aspects of pattern perception and recognition will be reviewed both from intra- and inter-cultural viewpoints.