- Part of 'A topology of musical encounter' (summary) -
A material level of connection means a collective of musicians that are actually working with the same musical materials, although coming from various backgrounds. This thrives on the parallel existence of the same sound objectives like chords, beats and themes within totally different musical practices. As opposed to personalistics, where the apparent distance from the personal to the actual musical matter limits the possibilities of such an individualistic to serve as basis for collaboration, the chances to find connections between materialistics is pretty big. Just think about a basic musical object like a 4/4 bar or a ‘major triad’. These are very concrete musical means, but have such a general widespread usage that it could almost connect everybody together. We need a more specified idea around materialistics, for them to become applicable.
If we think about the concept of a Clave – the rhythm that serves as an underlying pattern for the compositions in the field of Latin-American music - we already become more specific. since we have a concrete rhythmic structure and a clear method around the usage as well. In that sense we already dive into the existence of the ‘clave’ as a concept. We investigate the connection of this material in the conceptual field to understand more about its application in a new musical context. And interestingly, the ‘clave’ is a musical idea that exists in a nearly similar way in the musical traditions of West-Africa and the Middle-East. Only they are not called a clave, but Iqa’at or Doun-doun. If we step beyond this most basic level of language there is a strong familiarity that could bind musicians with a practice in this field together.
What is essential in this collective is the conceptual background of the connection which firmly supports working with the actual rhythms. If there is not this second layer of awareness, the problem could occur that there are concrete musical means to work with, but very little clue in which direction to go with a creative collaboration. In that case the encounter needs a strong musical leader who can analyze the musical situation and pre-structure many ideas around the material. In this case, where African, Latin-American and Persian approach of the clave concept come together, with the best intentions from all sides there needs to be a mediator who guides the process of cross-investigation. When everybody can agree on the roles that are to be taken in the game, I would judge such a musical encounter to be promising.
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