呵呵的BLOG

 

a)      they usually only produced records when they had reason to expect them to be sold in quantities; in other words, they usually pandered completely to the – often regrettable – taste of the larger public and fought shy of the rarer musical expression-forms which are important by virtue of their being ancient, but (possibly for that very reason) no longer generally current, let alone popular. They also avoided, if possible, making records exceeding the limit of one side of a disc. There are but sporadic exceptions: Columbia has recorded Javanese vocal plays (langendrya) at Surakarta in the Mangku Nagaran in their entirety; the Karl Lindström Concern published an album of records, selected and with a commentary by Von Hornbostel, containing examples of Japanese, Chinese, Balinese, Siamese, Javanese, Sundanese, Indian, Persian, Egyptian and Tunesian music. And if the war had not intervened to spoil my own plans, I should have been given the opportunity to produce, in collaboration with the Netherlands Indian Radioi Omroepmaatschappij (Niron), 60 large, double-sided records with examples of all the musical scales used in Java and Bali, of the sound produced by, and the manner of playing all instruments used by the native musicians in these islands, and of all types of orchestras and all forms of compositions.

If the gramophone companies had only heeded the examples mentioned above, they might have rendered inestimable services to the science of ethnomusicology. Now, they will have to hurry: for as fast as the recording processes are being perfected, the musical expressions eligible for reproduction are, under the influence of western civilization and the intensification of world traffic, declining in purity and musical value. In the course of the years much that was once beautiful and remarkable has gone to perdition, without a trace or record remaining. Moreover, instead of giving (or selling) to a scientific institution the matrices of recordings which, after some years, have been deleted from their catalogues (often containing music that can no longer be found, even by field-workers), these companies usually have destroyed them, and so, also in this way, much irreplaceable material is lost for ever.[1]

Further, the gramophone companies should always assure themselves of the cooperation of a specialist who is familiar with the music to be recorded – as Odeon, very luckily, did at the time, in Bali, where the gifted painter-musician Walter Spies acted as their advisor. This measure would not only ensure a correct and varied choice of recordings, but would also lead to a greater likelihood of the records turning out truer to reality. To give an example of this latter point: existing records of Javanese gamelan music which include the vocal element often allow the voice to be far too prominent, as if it were a solo with accompaniment, while in reality the solo and choral voices are nothing more than equivalent elements in an otherwise instrumental tonal texture; in other words, the singers ought not to have been placed right in front of the microphone. 

By utilizing the knowledge and advice of a musical specialist it will also be possible to prevent the titles on the records from containing such annoyingly large number of spelling mistakes.

Fortunately, in this regard also, the last years have shown a noticeable improvement. We have already mentioned the widely known album ‘Music des Orientes’, issued by the Karl Lindström Concern, Berlin. Erich von Hornbostel chose for it from among the records, published in previous years (more for commercial, rather than musicological purposes) by Odeon and Parlophon.[2]

After Worldwar II, however, there resulted, in the nick of a time, from the fertile collaboration of ethnomusicologists with gramophone – or broadcasting companies a number of splendid collections. Of those I will cite the following:

[… - pp. 24-35 give a list of records]

 

       Also a number of scientific institutions have, during the past few years, issued some collections of exotic records.

[… - pp. 35-36 give a list of institutions releasing records of music from different parts of the world]

 

With regard to recordings of Asiatic music I may also refer to the Survey of recordings of Asiatic music in the United States and the Catalogue of recorded classical and traditional Indian music; for South African recordings to the large collection brought together under the auspices of the African Music Research, since 1946, by the Hon. Secretary of the African Music Society, the indefatigable Hugh T. Tracey; for Negro music in general to Gay’s recent discography, for the Belgian Congo to Pierre Denys’ discography and for Australia and New Guinea to the article in ‘Oceania’ by A. P. Elkin.

In recent times the number of ethnic records has increased in such a way, that is has become almost impossible to mention them all in a booklet like this one. Fortunately, they are for the greater part incorporated in the catalogue made for the International Folk Music Council and UNESCO by Norman Fraser. For the Americas see also Duncan Emrich.

Starting with No. 8 of September 1956, the Society for Ethnomusicology regularly gives in its periodical lists of recently issued ethnic recordings.

 

 

 

1.       Jaap Kunst in this article describes the situation of sound recording and records in the 1950s. After more than fifty years, which are the major technological developments that have changed the field of sound recording? How do they affect ethnomusicological research? What is their impact on today’s traditional/folk music?

 

2.       The study of exotic music based on recordings and written description by travelers or other witnesses which was prevalent during the late XIX century and the early XX century has been described as “armchair ethnomusicology” (von Hornbostel seems to have been an example of this type of homemade research). Give a personal assessment of “armchair ethnomusicology”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some  Glossary

 

Exotic music:  异国音乐

phonographic material: 用留声机录音的音响资料

phonogram-archives: 用留声机录音的音响资料保存处

cylinders: 留声机使用的圆筒

by means of: 用，凭借

apparatus: 设备，装置，机器

meritorious: 有功，有功绩的，有价值的，可称赞的

impetus: 动力,推动力

university chair: - a working position in the university as a professor

boast: - 吹牛，但这里的意思为：can proudly say to own/possess

As far as … is/are concerned: 就… 而言 

without the slightest chance: 一点可能性也没有

at the instigation of…  在…的鼓动下

live on:  continue to live: ex. He died three years ago, but his spiritual legacy lives on in the memory of his students.

facile princeps (拉丁语)：easily the first; so good that it is very easy to point him out as the best among many scholars;

scatter: 散开，撒播，分散

wellnigh (also well-nigh): almost, nearly

unattainable: 难得到

put forward a theory: 提出一种理论

untenable: 支持不住的

level criticism at: 特别批评

elaborate 深沉的，详细描述，精细的

dependable 可依赖的, 具有参考价值

reckon 视为,

it is indeed to be regretted that特别遗憾是

the man to whose lot it falls… 谁有…的运气

unfeigned 真实的

attach credence to something 相信某个事情

lacuna pl. lacunae 欠缺

bare fact 单纯的事实，最低限度的事实真相

the late: 最近逝世的 dead, especially if only recently deceased

“Iron curtain”: 铁幕(阻隔消息,思想交流的)无形屏障。1945年至1989年，铁幕将欧洲分西欧和东欧两个对立的政治范围。

the authority  – “the” in italic stresses the uniqueness of this authority, or K. is the authority par excellence.

run (a business, a company, a school, …): vt. 经商, 管理

pander to 受勾引，迎合：pandered to the regrettable taste迎合低级趣味

fight shy of 避开、逃跑对峙

by virtue of 依靠、由于

heed 注意，留心

go to perdition 失去，消失

matrix of recording唱片模版：用于复制唱片的电镀留声机唱片

in the nick of a time正当紧要关头；正及时，恰好地

under the auspices of…  由...主办（在...保护下）

indefatigable 不屈不挠的、不疲倦的