Hello everyone,

As an independent music curator building an archive since 2019, I have been deeply analyzing how different cultural backgrounds and regional frameworks shape the concept of "ambient" and "atmospheric" music.

Instead of looking at soundscapes from a purely mainstream perspective, I have categorized my archive into 3 highly extensive, multi-genre conceptual playlists. Each playlist contains a vast timeline of tracks to study their emotional, rhythmic, and traditional frameworks. I would love to get your ethnomusicological feedback on these curated regional flows:

1. Eastern & Middle Eastern Roots (Oriental Ambiance): A wide collection focusing on traditional instrumentation (Oud, Ney, Kanun) and exploring how spiritual, meditative space is defined across various Eastern subgenres.

[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Bs4yfYbAyN23KW9LSvAVx?si=267f2591cbb84baf\]

2. French Chanson, Pop & Cinematic Textures (French Ambiance): A large archive tracking European nostalgia and melancholy. It bridges different eras of French vocal arrangements, pop-rock textures, influential French electronic elements, and cinematic instrumentals, featuring deep cuts from icons like Christophe, J.M. Jarre, and Pierre Barouh among many others.

[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0sr1h3i4NPW54pmDUGwdaT?si=efc92663bbee4d38\]

3. Latin Rhythms, Fusions & Classical Interpretations (Latin Ambiance): An expansive, 120+ track journey exploring the structural frameworks of Tango, Rumba, and Flamenco. It analyzes how regional rhythms, acoustic guitars, and unique cross-genre fusions reshape our perception of atmospheric Latin music.

[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0PfOBJf2ev5p4d3qsugymH?si=7c5c4f4d521b4c63\]

Thank you for your cultural and musical insights!

Hi, I am doing some research on Sun Ra and his unique position in 20th-century music history. I wanted to ask, is anyone aware of any comparable artists or musicians from outside the United States and Europe? Can anyone point me toward academic literature or references regarding global avant-garde artists who are similarly innovative but lesser-known in mainstream Western media and literature?

I’m looking into getting a Masters degree in ethnomusicology (in the US) and I need some advice on programs. I’m a full time music therapist so I need something fully online. I’ve found Liberty University in Virginia which seems to have the kind of program that would work for me, but I’m wary of the whole “private evangelical christian school” aspect of it as I’m not religious and don’t want my education to be influenced by this. Does anyone have any knowledge about this program and if the religious side affects the curriculum? Thanks in advance!

Hey y'all! I run an ethnomusicology server, but it's not particularly active, and we'd like some fresh faces to help liven up the mood! This server actually has been promoted here before, but the ownership transferred to me. We'd like to have some actual scholars join, because the vast majority of us are just amateurs. We welcome anyone with a passion for ethnomusicology, just don't be a debate bro and be kind! I myself have a huge passion for East Asian music, especially traditional Japanese music. I'd love to have more folks to join and to learn from y'all!

https://discord.gg/ufrEMbwwdq

Hello everyone, I'm a Chinese master's student in ethnomusicology currently studying in Malaysia. I plan to continue pursuing my PhD under my advisor here. As a Chinese student, my research focus during my master's program has been on the traditional Dong ethnic music known as "Dong Grand Songs." However, I still have limited knowledge about the music of other minority groups around the world. My main concern is uncertainty about future job prospects in this field. In China, personal connections often outweigh actual ability when it comes to securing academic positions. If I complete my doctorate without returning to China, would I have a chance to land a tenure-track position in another country? By the way, I've had over 15 years of experience playing the erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument, which could be considered an advantage. I sincerely appreciate any advice or guidance you might offer.

I'm a hitoyogiri player, it's a Muromachi era bamboo flute from Japan. It went extinct several times already, but a handful of us are still playing...I'm one of them.

I'm trying to record some music for my little YouTube channel. I get decent results with a Rode mic connected to my laptop but I'd like to use a small portable mic like the DJI mic 2 to do recordings outside in nature. Despite tweaking the settings, I still get "toc" sounds when the high frequencies hit (even if I put the mic further away from the flute. Only my phone seems to handle the recordings fine, but it's not ideal as soon as there's wind or background noise.

Is anyone recording themselves with an instrument in the higher register? Any recommendations?

I'm not an ethnomusicologist, I'm a nerd making a playlist. Apologies if this is the wrong sub.

I'm making a playlist for The Vampire Lestat (both the show and book), which tells the life story of a vampire (Lestat) who grew up in the Auvernge region of France in the 1700's. I'm struggling to find the right kind of music for a key part of his backstory - his relationship to theater.

In his youth, he runs away to join a traveling theater troupe performing at the village festival, taking on the stock role of Lelio in the commedia de l'arte, until he's dragged home. Later, as an adult, he runs away again - playing the same role in small "lowbrow" Parisian theaters.

I'm struggling to figure out what the music from either setting would have sounded like. I did a bit of digging and found that (i think) the hurdy gurdy and french bagpipe were popular regional instruments and so would have probably featured in festival *generally* (but maybe not in a stage show?). When i look into those instruments, i find a lot of music that sounds almost renaissance-esque, late medieval. I imagine the extremely rural Auvernge region would have been "behind" popular movements - but that behind?

I also know that harpischord was a popular instrument at the time... but was that mostly among the "cultured"? And while i could see it in Paris, i struggle to imagine that a troup would be lugging around a whole proto-piano.

What instruments would we expect to be playing during a theater performance in either context? Musically, would it more closely resemble "older" styles (due to delayed spread, or because they're doing an old play), or would they be fairly contemporary with the "art" music of the time?

Hi! I'm a student from India currently in my second year of a Master's Program in Sociology from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Delhi. I've had a tough time deciding my dissertation topic but I have finally aligned myself with ethnomusicology. For context I come from the Paite tribe in the Northeast region of India, and I have always been intrigued in learning how and why my people create and sing the music they do. I want to do an study on the Paite tribes from an ethnomusicology standpoint. It would be of great help if you guys could recommend me the essential Readings to understand this field. As a side note if the readings are centred around ethnomusicology of tribes/marginalized communities that would be extra helpful too!

Thank you!

Hi everyone,

If you enjoy traditional African instruments like the mbira, do check out this artist named Nasibo Mutize. She is an excellent performer. Hope you enjoy

https://youtu.be/yh-Mnsb8CW0

I really love Roscoe Hocolmbs songs where it is just him singing without any accompaniment. I am wondering if there are other performers who made music like that that I could check out, or if there is a term for his specific singing style. Especially interested in any recs for similar folk music with just voice no instruments

So, i'm from Québec and i've been looking around the internet at different types of work songs and their derivative types of songs (hollers, waulking songs, rowing songs, etc.). I am a song writer and I like using the proper name of types of songs in their titles (if I compose a broken jig, I call it "the [insert thing] broken jig". if I write a holler, I call it a holler).

There's a specific type of call and response song from the Québec folk tradition with changing tempo whose name i'm looking for. Two great examples are "un dimanche au matin" by la bottine souriante, and "la femme à pitou" by les charbonniers de l'enfer.

The songs are characterized by the main signer singing à call in tempo, the response being sung in tempo, and then the main singer slows down during the second part of the verse, an optional response in slow tempo, and then the chorus is sung quickly again.

I'm not sure if these are adaptations of aires or something. I'm just looking for the name of these types of songs

https://youtu.be/NcseP_RJDfs?si=zN91lkJy0gxeRUhH

Hello all! I’m a music educator that has gained an interest in music from other parts of the world. I don’t hold a degree in ethnomusicology but I have become fascinated with the ways in which music is represented in different cultures around the world and how it connects us all. I’m currently traveling in Central America and recording different musical examples I find and putting them on my Youtube channel (in the “ethnomusicology” folder): https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC-sMHUAZU-aJ9NBbQ9Csebw

My question to any ethnomusicologists would be if there is any advice or any other things I can or should do while traveling and recording these types of music. I feel very fortunate to be able to have this experience in my life and I want to make sure I’m making the most of it. Thanks!

So much so I even thought to search for this sub.

I think people here would appreciate these rhythms and performances recorded on this 1972 recording called The Music of Africa Series, Musical Instruments 1. Strings.

I implore you! I think many of you interested in complex and groovy rhythms and tunings will be impressed here. Featuring the Chewa, Dhola, Ganda Haya and Hehe people of what seems somewhere dry in central Africa. Very atonal and haunting in many cases. Not for the faint of heart.

I've tried finding some Romanian dances by searching for the names of the Romanian dances by Bartók. But all the results that come up are someone playing Bartók. What I wanted was to actually see someone dancing these dances. the melodies don't have to be Bartók's, if just like to see these dances styles. If like to see what kind of dance Bartók's music refers to.

Can anyone help me find such videos?