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.
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
Recommended Citation
Thom, Tyler, "The Elephant in the Baithak: Tabla and Audio Technological Discourse" (2024). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2441.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2441