by Paul Klemperer

High and Low Tech Signifiers

At the most recent DiverseArts Sunday Salon, I was treated to a happening presented by Nomadic Festival, a ragtag band of cultural rebels. As the sun slowly melted into an orange glow, the young nomads applied circus makeup, set up their assemblage of high and low tech musical instruments (Australian digiridoos, an African djembe, a European accordian, an effects module hooked through a small PA system), unravelled their oil-soaked chains and batons, and prepared for their evening firedance.

I could talk about the costumes, the fire breathing, the fire eating, the hoola hoops, and of course the nubile, scantily clad, undulating fire dancers, but the focus of this column is more specifically about music, so I'll just say: Seek them out, wherever they perform. Get close; get singed.

The eclectic and self-invented approach of the nomads carries over into their music. A rhythmic pulse to accompany the dancers was provided by a mix of African drum and pre-recorded samples. On top of this, two digiridoo players aimed their tubes into a microphone which went through the effects processor to create a throbbing aura at once ancient and very modern. Finally the accordian player sent popular melodies (evoking traditional circus music), along with surreal dissonances through the effects processor to create a complex musical texture. The result was a striking and moody sonic frame for the visual ritual.

What gives musical accompaniment its emotional meaning? Clearly not all music fits with all visual presentations. That's why movie soundtracks are so carefully assembled (and why some of them are glaringly wrong). The answer to this question has to do with what the music signifies for its listeners. Musical sounds are culturally encoded, that is, they have ready-made meanings attached to them. Madison Avenue figured this out a long time ago. Just listen to the music accompanying TV ads and you will notice clear cultural markers. This is why advertisers avoid music which is too ambiguous or too socially marginal. Its cultural meaning hasn't been firmly established yet and so cannot be readily exploited.

Technology within music is also a cultural marker. If we hear traditional instruments like hand drums and wooden flutes, we think "tribal" or "ethnic." If we hear acoustic guitars we think "folk." If we hear sampled drumbeats and electric bass we think "urban" or "contemporary." Some musicians use these markers in predictable ways, others in more experimental ways.

The proliferation of ethnic-sounding electronic samples in New Age music is a good example. The music is supposed to be about relaxation, meditation, healing. Traditional cultures have ancient, time-tested approaches to these goals involving various rituals, and music accompanies these rituals. Now this music has been sampled and put on computer chips. Press a button and out comes a sound that evokes traditional culture. Some might say this is a bit hypocritical, or at least flakey.

On the other hand, some musicians use cultural markers in unpredictable ways, to comment on preconceived ideas, or to create new blends of sounds which transgress set cultural boundaries and open up the ears and the mind to new conceptions. Thus we have new musical sub-genres like "tribal chant," "urban jungle" and "progressive country." Some, like genetically engineered fat substitutes, can cause nausea and other internal disorders. But some can point the way to new musical heights.

All this was running through my mind as I listened to the eclectic mix of high and low tech musical sounds produced by the nomads. They were playing nothing very earth-shattering or new, but they were able to create a mood which complemented the dance ritual, playful yet intense, a little sexy, a little dangerous, and in some ways connected to an ancient spirit which has inspired so many human rituals.