Igbo Speech Surrogacy: Preliminary Findings Based on the Oja Flute

This research report presents analyses of recordings from the Ìgbò culture of southeastern Nigeria of an ọ̀jà flute player, a female speaker, and a male speaker. After a prepared performance, the participants completed two tasks: (1) mapping speech to flute playing and (2) identifying phrases played on the flute. Contour analysis is applied to annotated recordings to study the mapping of speech tone and rhythm from voice to instrument in parallel utterances by the three participants (male, female, and flute). Response time between the flute playing and spoken phrase identification indicates each prompt’s relative clarity. Using a limited but not predetermined inventory of related praise epithets, participants successfully converted speech to music and music to speech. In the conversion of speech to music, we found that declination was not part of the mapping, indicating it is a phonetic artifact of speech and does not carry a functional load. In identifying surrogate phrases played on the flute (music to speech), we found that dialectical variation caused some misidentification because idioms known in one area of the Igbo dialect cluster are not necessarily known throughout the region. However, òòjà speech surrogacy is found throughout the region. Possibilities and predictions for further research are presented.

Exploring the Development of Contemporary Chinese Flute Art Through Heavenly Tune of Chinese Flute and The Ancient Call

In the 21st century, the development of the flute follows the steps of modernization closely, and a batch of outstanding works with novel genre and innovative theme appear. This paper will focus on two new national art funded projects in China. One is the large humanity art epic The Ancient Call by Chinese Flute music college professor Zhang Weiliang from China Conservatory of Music, and the other is Tang Junqiao’s Chinese Flute stage play Heavenly Tune of Chinese Flute. This paper aims to explore the motivation that China’s performance composers create and promote the innovation of the traditional music, innovate the artistic features of Chinese Flute works, and analyze the improvement of the Chinese Flute performance art as well as the possibility of future development.

Some Observations on Flute Playing in Malaysia

Surviving in an environment that seems to be not encouraging music performances for entertainment or for mental contemplation, Malaysian musicians have to strive very hard in order to earn a living. The situation gets worse when it comes to a particular group of musicians who have no choice but share the similar job opportunities. Apparently, the market is not offering enough opportunities for flautists compared to pianists and string instrument players. This eventually leads to a very competitive situation in both the performing and teaching scene. The time frame of this observation reaches back to the time between 2011 and 2016, a cut in cultural market matters caused by the last general election. By and large, watching pure instrumental performances is yet a new controversy for local audiences. This is the major reason stopping potential sponsors to support local arts though musicians have no way to showcase their passion for music without funding. The situation is more frustrating when focussing on flute performance alone as there is no commonly organised major flute event in Kuala Lumpur. For instance, "The Flute Festival in Malaysia" in 2007 was the first and only flute festival so far, in Malaysia. It was organized by the Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur (JFKL) together with The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac), the Embassy of Japan and the Flute Festival in Malaysia Organizing Committee. The flute festival opened the eyes and ears of the local flute lovers by giving flute masterclasses, bringing in different kinds of flute brands and models for free trials on the spot and having a flute orchestra to perform. It consisted of 60 professional and amateur musicians from Malaysia, Japan and other countries, who came hoping to inspire each other and to purely enjoy flute music. Not to forget the famous saxophone ensemble from Japan, the “Mi-bemol Saxophone Ensemble” that gave a marvellous performance which was greatly inspiring Malaysian audiences of wind instruments. However, this also shows that flute performances alone might not get to stand resolutely in the local market.

Flute archetypes of sounds in Chinese Tang era poetry

Tang epoch trains (618–907) – an important source of judgments about expressive possibilities and sound archetypes of the Chinese flute, preserved in the music of the Celestial Empire composers of the XX – XXI centuries. The purpose of this investigation is to establish sound archetypes of the flute in the Chinese poetry of the Tang epoch. The methods of investigation are historical, semantic, genre and comparative approaches. The scientific novelty of the study is to introduce the concept of «flute poetry» of the Tang era into the musicology context, to establish its characteristic properties (spiritualization of the desolate time space with a magic melody, the reflection of the state of the soul of a lonely hero, the presence of the image of the listener-poet, connection with the elements of the wind, the nocturonal semantics of the natural landscape, signs of the palace style, the embodiment in the sounds of the flute - the mediator between the earthly and celestial worlds – philosophical ideas), the formation of the thesaurus of flute affects (moaning, sadness, sadness, state of waiting, experiencing loneliness). The samples of «flute poetry» by Li Bo, Du Fu, Wang Wei, Zhao Gu are considered. The image of the jade flute from Li Bo's poem symbolizes the priceless in human life. In Li Bo's poem about the Qiang Maiden, the flute music takes on the meaning of a leitmotif that accompanies the drama of love and separation. In Du Fu's work, the limits of earthly time and space contrast with the boundless celestial chronotope associated with the flute's sound image. In Wang Wei's poetry, the flute's crying accompanies the suffering of an abandoned woman and finds a response in the soul of a lonely traveler. Zhao Gu's poem includes the names of mythical flute artists Huan Tzu and Ma Rong, contributing to the sacralization of time and space in the work. Conclusions. In «flute poetry» of the Tang era, there are typical features of a common creative method inherent to the masters of the word «golden age»: the sound image of the flute is inscribed in a common artistic continuum based on the reflection of the poet's surrounding nature in a lyrical-philosophical landscape.

Instrumental Balinese Flute Music Therapy Improves Cognitive Function and Serum Dopamine Level in the Elderly Population of West Denpasar Primary Health Care Center

BACKGROUND: Musical artwork using Balinese flutes made from bamboo (timing buluh) by Agus Teja Sentosa, S.Sn is a combination of music played with flute as the main instrument which contains certain components resembling music therapy such as in western classical music by Antonio Lucio Vivaldi. AIM: This study aims to determine the improvement of cognitive function and increase in serum dopamine in the elderly after listening to music with Balinese flute as the main instrument. METHOD: The current study allocated 18 subjects in the control group listened to western classical music by Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, while 18 subjects in the intervention group listened to western classical music and music from Balinese flute as the main instrument by Agus Teja Sentosa, S.Sn. MoCA-Ina assessment and examination of serum dopamine levels were carried out initially and 21 days after listening to music intervention. RESULTS: The mean increase in cognitive function score was higher in the intervention group (5.22; p < 0.001) than in the control group (4.67; p < 0.001), this increase was not statistically significant with a value of p = 0.562 (p > 0.005). The mean increase in dopamine levels in the control group (3.60) was greater than in the treatment group (3.56), but the mean increase was not statistically significant (p = 0.085). CONCLUSION: There was a significant relationship between listening to the main instrumental Balinese flute music and the improvement of cognitive function, especially in the memory domain in all study subjects, but the mean increase in cognitive function and serum dopamine level did not reach statistical significance.

Therapeutic Uses of the Flute Within Music Therapy Practice

The purpose of this study was to describe flute usage among current, professional music therapists. The broad term “flute” included any instrument with sound created by blowing air across or into an aperture hole. Members of the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) were sent an electronic survey consisting of 25 questions pertaining to the flute and music therapy. Descriptive statistics describe how flutes were being used in music therapy sessions, and chi-square tests were used to determine whether music therapists who studied flute as a primary instrument used the flute as an instrument within a music therapy setting more frequently. Results showed that 42.4% of the 387 respondents were actively using flute music in some way within music therapy sessions while 67.8% of respondents reported using flute music at some point in the past. Flute-playing music therapists reported using flutes more frequently in a music therapy context than music therapists who did not study flute as a primary instrument. It appears that the flute is a viable instrument for music therapy practice.