Instrumentation and Instrumentalization of Sound

The instrumentation of sound is an inseparable part of music making processes in traditional cultures. It has to do not simply with the combination possibilities of components within a musical ensemble, but a lot more with the formation and perception of a common sound familiar to a certain community. This process is crucial particularly for multipart music or - as they are often called - polyphonic traditions. It is not a coincidence that their carriers` impression of "belonging together" is remarkably strong. In spite of the intensive research carried out, multipart music traditions have hardly been investigated from the viewpoint of the sound instrumentation. The common sound of an ensemble produced through the simultaneous performance of several instruments and/or human voices differs from the sound each member of the ensemble produces separately. Therefore its formation and perception should be investigated independently. Both processes and their continual transformations are closely connected with physical, psychoacoustical and cultural phenomena. Research into performers` sound instrumentation strategies accompanied by computer-supported analysis of sound characteristics would be one of the approaches to obtain answers on the topic. Especially enlightening in this context are shared musical traditions of communities of different languages and ethnic belonging, which is often the case in cross border areas in Europe. Research on sound instrumentation and its perception leads inevitably to questions of power relations in the processes of music making and music performance. Through this approach primarily the politics within and outside the community would be focused upon. In this context the understanding of communication as a category of the claim of validity of rules and as a strong factor in processes of legitimating and power is of essential significance. Conducting research on these questions would allow furthermore obtaining a better perspective on "universals" and "locals" of instrumentation and instrumentalization of sound.

The instrumentation of sound is an inseparable part of music making processes in local musical practices. It obtains a special role in the formation and perception of sounds familiar to the performers and their communities. This process is crucial, particularly for multipart music traditions. They can be understood as a specific mode of music making and expressive behaviour based on the intentionally distinct and coordinated participation in the performing act by sharing knowledge and shaping values.In spite of the intensive research carried out, multipart music traditions have hardly been investigated from the viewpoint of the sound instrumentation. The common sound of an ensemble produced through the simultaneous performance of several instruments and/or human voices differs from the sound each member of the ensemble produces separately. Therefore the making and the perception of these two different sounds should be investigated independently, also with respect to the role the performers and their communities play in its formation. This perspective leads inevitably to questions of politics in the processes of music making and music performance within the ensemble as well as at local, national and international level.The research project was realised firstly through individual research in two different border regions of southern and central Europe, namely Albania-Republic of Macedonia-Greece and France-Italy-Switzerland. Furthermore, the study group of the Research Centre for European Multipart Music was also integrated into the investigations via a symposium on the topic. The investigations from the local to the universal led in the very spirit of revival and soteriology (the study of religious doctrines of salvation) to the mechanisms according to which multipart music practices in Europe lead to the instrumentalisation of community. At the centre of the analysis were questions about Sound and Community, Performance as Instrumentation as well as Tradition, Revival, Practice. Of particular importance were explorations of questions on sound emblems and soundscapes as identifiers of cultural expression, of musical features like those about musical tunings as social markers, of the phenomena and concept of sound formation and perception, such as amalgam, dirty playing, haphazard polyphony as well as of self-presentation strategies of the performers, also in the sense of territories in human geography. In this way the crucial role of the instrumentation and instrumentalisation of sound in the establishment of local musical practices could be expounded in multifaceted ways. Beyond that, new insights on their role in and impact on the everyday life of communities were obtained.