Nardi, C. (2011) The cultural economy of sound: reinventing technology in Indian popular cinema. Journal on The Art of Record Production. 5(1) 1754-9892.
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Abstract:
Scholarship on record production has largely neglected non-Western music practices and their products. In particular, the countries in which most technological devices are invented and patented still exert hegemony over the music market and over discourse about music; consequently, alternative sound aesthetics are often disregarded. More recently, ethnomusicology has paid some attention to marginal areas of production, especially in relation to digital technology; in order to fill this gap in the scholarship, however, it is necessary not only to recognise the role of user agency but also to acknowledge that technology is better understood as a process rather than an object. For this purpose, I will focus on the use of the Clavioline by the Indian musician Kalyanji in the film ‘Nagin’ (1954), as an instance in which the potential of an instrument is redefined according to local aesthetics, arguing that regional record production practices are more noteworthy than conventional theories about them seem to imply. More precisely, I will analyse the microeconomic context in which Kalyanji operated, and then propose a cultural explanation of his aesthetic choices from the point of view of the participants (desi) and within the specific mode of production of the Hindi film
Subjects:
T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) > TA365 Acoustics in engineering. Acoustical engineering
M Music and Books on Music > ML Literature on music > ML459 Instruments and instrumental music
M Music and Books on Music > ML Literature on music > ML2075 Motion picture music
M Music and Books on Music > ML Literature on music > ML3544 Folk, national, and ethnic music
M Music and Books on Music > ML Literature on music > ML459 Instruments and instrumental music
M Music and Books on Music > ML Literature on music > ML2075 Motion picture music
M Music and Books on Music > ML Literature on music > ML3544 Folk, national, and ethnic music
Creators:
Nardi, C.
Publisher:
Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production (asarp)
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes:
Date:
July 2011
Date Type:
Publication
Journal or Publication Title:
Journal on The Art of Record Production
Volume:
5
Number:
1
Language:
English
ISSN:
1754-9892
Status:
Published / Disseminated
Refereed:
Yes
Related URLs:
References:
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