MUSICVIM: Musical Instruments as Conveyor of Visual Messages. The case of Ancient Near Eastern Lutes

Descripción del proyecto

Escuchar el legado de los laúdes mesopotámicos

A medida que los instrumentos electrónicos y digitales dominan cada vez más la música, a menudo se omite el papel de los instrumentos acústicos tradicionales. Con el apoyo de las acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, el proyecto MUSICVIM pretende cuestionar esta tendencia y hacer hincapié en que estos instrumentos implican otros sentidos además del oído. Centrándose en los laúdes del Antiguo Oriente Próximo, en particular la «tigidla» de Mesopotamia, el proyecto examina el significado cultural y acústico del uso de cuero teñido de negro para sus resonadores. Mediante la creación de réplicas con distintos tipos de cuero y el análisis de su sonido, el proyecto explora el impacto sociocultural y acústico de estos materiales. Combinando conocimientos de filología, etnomusicología, arqueología experimental y acústica, el equipo de MUSICVIM arroja luz sobre las antiguas tradiciones musicales y el valor de la artesanía sostenible en el mundo actual.

Objetivo

At a time when electronic and digital musical instruments are increasingly replacing acoustic musical instruments, this project will show that acoustic instruments are complex objects that have historically appealed to multiple senses beyond hearing, suggesting that they cannot easily be excluded from performance. The case of Ancient Near Eastern lutes will be used to explore this idea. While modern long-necked lutes have a resonator covered with rawhide, the cuneiform texts from the 'Craft Archive' in the Mesopotamian city of Isin during the second millennium BCE specifically describe the use of black-dyed leather to make the cover for the resonator of a tigidla ('lute' in Sumerian). This project will explore the acoustic and socio-cultural implications of this particular fabrication by combining ANE Philological & Material Studies, Ethnomusicology, Experimental Archaeology, and Acoustics, and by bringing together academic and non-academic expertise (tanners, dyers, and instrument makers). Four tigidla replicas with covers of rawhide, black-dyed rawhide, undyed leather, black-dyed leather will be made using the extant ANE evidence. The sound of these replicas will be analysed by considering different textures, playing techniques, and recording spaces. The information from these recordings will be finally used to shed new light on many aspects of musical traditions and societies in the ANE region and beyond. This project will scientifically impact the fields of Musicology, most notably Sound Archaeology, and ANE Studies on economy, society, music, and colour. The value of traditional tanning, dyeing, and instrument-making will also be highlighted. They currently lack guaranteed generational handover but can contribute to the climate emergency, since they use eco-friendly products. Under the guidance of leading sound archaeology expert Rupert Till, the experienced researcher will be trained in tanning, dyeing, instrument making, and sound recording and analysis.