Date of Award

6-15-2024

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in Music

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Lamont School of Music

First Advisor

Sarah Morelli

Second Advisor

Jack Sheinbaum

Third Advisor

Aaron Schneider

Fourth Advisor

Dheepa Sundaram

Fifth Advisor

Aleysia Whitmore

Keywords

Amplification, Audio, Hindustani, Live sound, Tabla, Technology

Abstract

This thesis discusses how power, status, and performance practices play out between performers of tabla (North Indian hand drums) and audio engineers. To do so, I analyze engineer, performer, and music critic discourse surrounding tabla performances and technology to place it within a broader scholarly debate regarding recording technology, cultural/technological capital, technological determinism, and agency. I extend Christopher Scales’s (2012) concept of “recording culture” to “live sound culture,” or the behaviors, power struggles, and labor surrounding tabla mic’ing and amplification. I argue that audio technology separates the artist’s sound into several domains of control (stage, hall, recording, playback), each controlled by various human and non-human actors. These multiple sound fields produce various disruptions in collaboration between performers and engineers but also the opportunity for co-construction of sound and meaning.

Copyright Date

6-2024

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Tyler Thom

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

71 pgs

File Size

465 KB



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