Let s make a record! Contemporary repertoires of the ngombi harp by Mitsogo artists in Gabon
Authors
Jadinon, R.
Discipline
Arts
Subject
Culture & Society
Audience
Scientific
Date
2024Publisher
Four Courts Press
Metadata
Show full item recordDescription
Everyone must find each other urged the harpist Monss in 2013 while we were recording his songs with artists from the village of Mokabo (Ngounié province, Gabon). In this collaboration, I was no more a musicologist who came to study a given repertoire, but a musical producer for a record that claimed to be a commercial success. Thank to this experience of field recording and the profile of the harpists involved in this project, I will describe the composition processes of the ngombi harp contemporary repertoires. I will approach the issue of musical creativity as the ability of musicians to mobilize musical knowledge orally transmitted in a way to mix it in their personal compositions and thus express the extent of their musical knowledge and their ability to vary them. I distinguish creativity from creation in musical composition. The latter is related to innovation while creativity is rather a combination of existing material. In the context of broadcasting of ngombi harp repertoires, the idea of find each other perfectly translates the musician's intention to please a large audience by anticipating expectations on his personal creativity but also his consciousness of the ritual uses that could be made with his recordings if they integrate the local digital market.
Citation
Jadinon, R. (2024). Let s make a record! Contemporary repertoires of the ngombi harp by Mitsogo artists in Gabon. , Harp Studies II: World Harp Traditions, Vol. 2, 366, Four Courts Press,Type
Book chapter
Peer-Review
Yes
Language
eng