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Changing Musical Instruments and AI; Musical Instruments in Public Life
STUDIA INSTRUMENTORUM MUSICAE POPULARIS, Vol. IX
Gisa Jähnichen (Hrsg.)
ISBN 978-3-8325-5987-8
256 Seiten, Erscheinungsjahr: 2025
Preis: 41.00 €
Did you ever know that eurocentric means also melody-centric? Did you know how to define robots in music, and how much public life is currently determined by the validation of public musicians? How can AI help overcome difficulties in using scores and teach human creativity regarding musical instruments?
More than thirty-five scholars have participated in the 25th Symposium of the ICTMD-SG on Musical Instruments. The best papers were chosen for this volume revolving around the two major areas of interest and the MET was scrutinized. Answers to some questions above can be found in the articles of this volume.
Chapters:
Self-Accompaniment in Hindustani Vocal Performance: A Study of Musical Instrument Use in Sri LankaGeethika Abeysekara
https://doi.org/10.30819/5987.01 pp: 1-16 2025-11-03
Keywords: Self-accompaniment, Hindustani music, vocal performance, habitual effect
Abstract
This research investigated the habitual integration of musical instruments in vocal stage performances, focusing on how self-accompaniments influences technical performance, confidence and artistic execution. The study examined the complex reasons for using instruments such as harmonium, tanpura and swarmandal in Hindustani music. It utilized qualitative data gathered from professional classical vocalists and music educators within the Sri Lankan context. Key findings reveal that self-accompaniment serves not only as a pedagogical and expressive tool, also as a source of psychological comfort and personal identity for performers. Furthermore, the impact of musical idols and stage dynamics significantly shapes the development of these performance habits. This paper contributes to ongoing discussions in music pedagogy and performance psychology, emphasizing the evolving and multidimensional role of instruments in vocal artistry.
From Tradition to Transformation: Trumpet Music and Intercultural Dialogues at the Guča Festival
Jelena Arnautović
https://doi.org/10.30819/5987.02 pp: 17-26 2025-11-03
Keywords: trumpet music, Guča festival, intercultural dialogues, tradition, identities
Abstract
The music festival Guča was launched in 1961 in the small town of Guča in Serbia,
and since then has had a prominent social and cultural role. Originally, the festival
aimed to preserve and promote traditional trumpet music and other segments of Serbian cultural heritage. Gradually, Guča has been transformed into a large-scale
commercial festival of world music that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors
from different countries every year. The former folk music festival of local importance became in the 21st century a postmodern pastiche of folk and popular culture, and a mass spectacle primarily known for its good entertainment and a unique
hedonistic experience usually described by visitors and mass media as ‘Balkan madness’. No matter where they come from, visitors at the Guča festival communicate
through dancing to irresistible trumpet music. In this paper, I will argue that Guča
has been an important platform for developing intercultural dialogues and overcoming war traumas. By analysing intercultural dialogues at Guča, we can also better
understand the roles and power of musical instruments in public life.
Ladies Shingari Melam: Drums, Fun and Dance as Integral Parts of Functions and Festivals in South India
Karin Bindu
https://doi.org/10.30819/5987.03 pp: 27-38 2025-11-03
Keywords: Ladies, shingari melam, Drums, Festivals in South India, Dance
Abstract
Shingari melam is regarded as a secular variety of chenda melam, an orchestra consisting of various chenda drums and cymbal players. Performances of shingari melam
have been integral parts of temple festival processions in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, but
more recently also serve as entertainment during functions such as weddings, school
festivals and inauguration ceremonies. Shingari melam teams consist of male drummers, women-only troupes or gender-mixed groups. One of the first female shingari
melam groups, Sthree Shakthi, was formed in 2006 in Vayalapra, Kannur. Team Rudrathalam, another female shingari melam troupe from Nedumangad block panchayat,
was formed in 2017 to empower women, especially women belonging to scheduled
castes and tribes. Public performances on a regular basis provided female groups with
new possibilities for income and new social roles as performers. They also served as
role models for other female groups and female professionals. The excitement of the
powerful rhythms and dance movements is not only strengthening community engagement and social relations within the country, but also abroad – several booking
sites offer shingari melam for private and official functions. Ultimately, the story of
shingari melam and its gendered dynamics reflects broader tensions between tradition
and modernity, ritual and entertainment, and exclusion and empowerment. While its
trajectory remains uncertain, the presence of women in this space signals an ongoing
negotiation over who gets to perform, where and why. In this sense, shingari melam
serves not just as a musical innovation but as a social dialogue in rhythm.
The Development of Robotic Musical Instruments in Japan: A Historical Perspective
Rinko Fujita
https://doi.org/10.30819/5987.04 pp: 39-54 2025-11-03
Keywords: History, Japanese Musical Instruments, Robots, Development of Musical Instruments
Abstract
Improvements in control theory, image processing and voice recognition technologies
in recent years have broadened the applications of robots from industrial technology
to entertainment purposes. Moreover, as advances in AI technologies have made human–robot interactive communication more feasible, various companies have begun
to release small robots that can be used on a personal level.
The term ‘robotic musical instruments’ or ‘musical robots’ is generally used for a wide
range of musical machines that produce music autonomously using various kinds of
mechanical parts. In the 1980s, a project team at Waseda University in Tokyo/Japan
developed the piano robot, the WABOT-2, a pioneer musical humanoid with the ability to communicate with humans. Since then, various research institutions have been
conducting research and development on robotic musical instruments. In recent years,
the robotic musical instruments have been developed for application in three areas:
entertainment, medical and nursing care, and education.
This article focuses on the development of robotic musical instruments in Japan, particularly in the fields of entertainment and medical and nursing care, providing an
overview of the background and characteristics of their development along with the
creators’ objectives. It also considers questions regarding the relationship between humans, musical instruments and music.
Docerola, Corridos Tumbados and the New Generation of Guitarists
Ramiro Godina Valerio
https://doi.org/10.30819/5987.05 pp: 55-74 2025-11-03
Keywords: Corridos, corridos tumbados, docerola, thick description, guitarists
Abstract
Corridos tumbados are a Mexican musical expression that emerged during the
COVID-19 pandemic and has achieved international fame, to the point of winning a
Grammy in 2024. A fundamental element in the configuration of this music is the 12string guitar, called docerola. The impact of this chordophone is reflected in the taste
of the new generations of guitarists; however, this musical expression has currently
been singled out by the Mexican government due to its lyrics and the ties of some of
its singers and producers to criminal organizations. This ethnographic work, through
thick description, explores the interactions between these young people and their outcomes around this music, where the docerola is the common thread.
Admiring a Re-Materialized Musical Instrument: Kazakh Dombra Sculpture’s Production of Space in Public
Huang Wan
https://doi.org/10.30819/5987.06 pp: 75-94 2025-11-03
Keywords: Dombra sculpture, Re-materialization, Production of space, Thing, Social life
Abstract
Dombra is a musical instrument ubiquitous in Kazakh daily life. In the northwestern
regions of Xinjiang, China, various scales and styles of dombra sculptures are emerging in Kazakh settlements. This raises important questions: Why is there a need for
re-materialized or sculptural representations of musical instruments in public spaces
for people to admire? How do the form and scale of a dombra sculpture interact with
the public consciousness of the space in which it is located? Based on fieldwork conducted since 2018, I have found that, on one hand, local Kazakh communities, fearing
the loss of tradition, are constructing and placing dombra sculptures in authentic or
historical styles in public spaces. This is intended to educate the younger generation
about their cultural heritage and instil a sense of place and ethnic pride. On the other
hand, several gigantic dombra sculptures have emerged, particularly after the concept
of ‘heritagization’ 2 gained traction in 2008, which transcends local appreciation.
These new sculptures help strengthen a sense of community within the Chinese nation.
They reflect the contemporary paradigm of heritagized traditional instruments adapting to the internet-celebrity economy, all within the context of cultural commodification, and resonate with the national Belt and Road Initiative policy. Furthermore, this
paper seeks to offer a new perspective on musical instrument research by arguing that
dombra sculptures in public spaces should merely be regarded as objects, but rather
as ‘hypercode’3. The texture and structure of these sculptures provide viewers with
impressive physical sensory experiences and associative synesthesia that goes beyond
their function as musical instruments. As viewers or admirers engage with the flowing
textures of meaning in shifting contexts, their critical observation and exploration of
the sculptures become a poetic, timeless and insight-provoking rite of admiration,
through which spaces are created.
The Fear of Losing It: Real Dancing to Unreal Music
Gisa Jähnichen
https://doi.org/10.30819/5987.07 pp: 95-104 2025-11-03
Keywords: Instrumental music, dance, AI applications, examples of irreality, Philippines
Abstract
In a number of regions, real dancing is the most common appearance during festivals
and ceremonial opportunities.
This paper will try to consider the possible and fictive ways in which an AI could take
over the production of musical instruments and how AI has an impact on dancing as
an expressive activity coordinated according to instrumentally patterned music. Examples are collected in diverse, relatively isolated territories throughout the world.
This can be a specific analytical step in order to make experiences in media technologies better understandable. Limited local resources may play a specific role in the
discussion. A strict differentiation between mood dancing and ceremonial requirements from staged performances is obviously more important than the previous division into music for one’s own mental and bodily needs of expression and those masscommercial ideas that were often the centre of attention to make some debatable final
suggestions. The investigation will focus on the interplay between real and unreal
things and feelings explored from different perspectives through the interpretation of
data collected during field trips and from accessible and preparatory literature. What
makes musical instruments real, and what adds doubts to this reality? Which functions
have added artificial components? Which result may be felt in the dances? How are
observations used in this regard? This paper might be a step further in the direction of
analysing the connection between instrumentally supported dancing in need of musical communication and manifold technologies of moving.
Reviewing the Boudha Bubble: The Sounds of a Pan-heterotopia
Bernard Kleikamp
https://doi.org/10.30819/5987.08 pp: 105-112 2025-11-03
Keywords: Tibetan-Buddhist musical instruments, heterotopia, Boudha Bubble, Boudha stupa
Abstract
Boudhanath (or Boudha), a suburb of Kathmandu, is a major Buddhist pilgrimage site,
renowned for its stupa, which is the largest on Earth. The area, often referred to as the
‘Boudha Bubble’, is home to around 40 Tibetan-Buddhist monasteries within a 2x2
sq km space.
Visitors can expect to encounter public musical performances on any given day. This
may occur during weddings, funerals, or meditational prayer services (‘pujas’) in the
monasteries, all of which are open to the public. The sounds of these services can
often be heard in the streets, as the monastery doors are always open. Inhabitants of
Boudha carry out their daily circumambulation of the stupa, known as kora, either
before or after work, accompanied by instrumental music and chanting emanating
from the six or so monasteries surrounding the stupa.
These public musical displays often have a religious character and involve various
instruments such as drums, bells, cymbals, telescope trumpets and shawms, which are
here described rather conventionally. These performances play a crucial role in
shaping the social, economic, cultural, temporal, aural, visual and spatial dynamics of
the Boudha Bubble.
Using footage collected during my fieldwork in Boudha and elsewhere from 2012 to
2019, I will discuss examples of the various public musical displays in Boudha and
analyse their functions and impacts.
Instruments of the State Music Ensemble of Sri Lanka and the Ambiguities of Cultural Identity
Lahiru Gimhana Komangoda
https://doi.org/10.30819/5987.09 pp: 113-128 2025-11-03
Keywords: Sri Lanka, indigenous instruments, synthetic instruments, cultural identity, ethnic instruments
Abstract
The State Music Ensemble (SME) of Sri Lanka was founded in 1976, during the
tenure of a socialist-oriented government led by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranayake. The purpose of establishing the SME and the State Dancing Ensemble was
to maintain standards in performances at national and international cultural events.
At the inception, it was guided by William Banda Makuloluwa, who was a keen Sri
Lankan folk music enthusiast cum scholar.
At the commencement of the SME, the ensemble typically included indigenous musical instruments, Indian instruments, and a few Western string and percussion instruments. The addition of the non-indigenous instruments has been occasional and
has depended on the particular musical presentation. Later, the permanent composition of instruments in the SME has changed more widely into synthetic instruments.
In the 1980s, Sri Lanka experienced a trend of utilizing synthetic musical instruments by music bands, which is examined as if the trend has had an impact on the
changes in repertoire and composition of instruments in the SME in this work. One
other concern of the study is that, since the establishment of the SME, no instruments that represent minor ethnicities such as Tamils and Muslims have been included.
The author also proposes a structure on how the SME can advocate better inclusive
compositions of instruments and repertoires of national identity.
The Challenges Faced by the Harmonium Used in Sri Lanka’s Public Musical Life
Chinthaka Prageeth Meddegoda
https://doi.org/10.30819/5987.10 pp: 129-146 2025-11-03
Keywords: Sri Lanka, South Asia, Instrumental sound, Parsi theatre, Indian musicians
Abstract
This paper is dedicated to the use and the distribution of the harmonium, a free reed
musical instrument, in Sri Lanka, where the British heritage item was often applied in
musical dramas, spoken plays, religious and ceremonial contexts. It developed its own
life on the island in comparison to other British colonies such as India, Malaysia, in
some areas of Myanmar or Singapore, where Indian theatre troops travelled. The main
research question might be the questioning of its sustainability throughout time and
the diversity in use throughout history. School curricula and public disseminations
had a big part in keeping the harmonium’s imagination. However, technology allows
for more than this, and one can find the harmonium often as samples or as stage performance supporting items in circumstances other than traditional contexts. Another
interesting observation is the admiration of the harmonium as a musical instrument of
the learned and of the well-trained. All these stigmatizing and labelling ideas have to
be thoroughly scrutinized and investigated with interview and report tools that have
to be made available to everyone.
The Daula in Sri Lankan Public and Its Social Functions
Nishadi Prageetha Meddegoda
https://doi.org/10.30819/5987.11 pp: 147-162 2025-11-03
Keywords: daula, drums, play, Sri Lanka, social life, religious ceremonies, rituals
Abstract
The daula, a drum that represents the Sabaragamuwa dance tradition, plays an
essential role in a variety of cultural, social and spiritual practices in Sri Lanka.
Tracing its historical and cultural roots, the daula has served as a powerful medium
for communication, fertility rites, celebrations and ritualistic expressions. This paper
explores the sociocultural contexts of daula, which is traditionally used to comprehend
its role beyond mere musical instruments.
According to the classification of traditional musical instruments known as
pancatūrya nāda, the home-grown fivefold instrument classification. Accordingly, the
daula belongs to both the ātata, that is struck with hands, and the vitatātata, that is
struck with a stick and a hand. It is a cylindrical-shaped drum, with the shell measuring
about 14–16 inches in length and approximately 45–48 inches in circumference. It is
typically crafted from woods with hard cores, which provides durability and
resonance. The drum heads and straps are often made from animal skins, commonly
goat or cow.
Sri Lanka’s three distinct musical traditions, as described in many writings, each
featuring their own unique drums, shape the artistic and communal identities of their
region. The daula plays an important role across all three regions, especially in hēvisi,
an offering of homage through drums, rituals. Beyond its religious significance, the
daula has been integral to various social functions. It has been used as the rana bera,
a war drum; mala bera, the funeral drum; and for conveying royal commands,
transmitting messages and even accompanying offenders to their executions and some
agricultural rituals.
The study aims to determine the role of the social functions that daula plays beyond
religious and ceremonial contexts, distinguishing it from other drums.
Understanding the specific characteristics of the historical, religious and social
contexts of the daula is essential to appreciating its individuality and the depth of its
contributions to the Sri Lankan stock of musical activities.
Qualitative musical analysis has been used as the main approach in this study. Some
socio-musicological studies are studied in this regard, as well as personal interviews
with experts, scholars and craftsmen were conducted in order to gather information.
‘No Marriages Without It’: Ancient Afro-descendant Tarimba in Costa Chica, Mexico
Carlos Ruiz Rodríguez
https://doi.org/10.30819/5987.12 pp: 163-176 2025-11-03
Keywords: Mexico, Costa Chica, Tarimba, marriages, history
Abstract
Studies of musical instruments and public life generally tend to focus in social processes based on present city settings. However, what happens with musical instruments involved in processes of identity and locality construction which take place
on isolated rural environments of the past? This paper addresses a peculiar and little-known musical instrument called tarimba, which remained in use until the mid20th century in a restricted Afro-descendant area of the Costa Chica region in
southern Mexico. Tarimba was a monochord ground zither, essential to a form of
musical entertainment known as bailes de alambre (wire dances). Tarimba favored
to construct an important public space for meeting persons and the development
of a community sense. According to local testimonies no festivity was possible
without the presence of this musical instrument. Drawing on ethnographical material and organological literature this paper focuses on three issues: 1) instrument
making linked to local natural materials of this isolated area, 2) the way this musical
instrument and its performance practice fostered an important space of community
participation, cohesion and social reproduction in the past, 3) tarimba’s Afrodescendant backgrounds and its relation with other musical instruments of LatinAmerica.
Holographic Voices in the Mexican Public Space: Construction of Commu- nities and Political Corporalities in the Vocaloid Scene of Mexico City
Julio Enrique Vargas López
https://doi.org/10.30819/5987.13 pp: 177-190 2025-11-03
Keywords: Vocaloid, Hatsune Miku, musical instruments, holographic concert, Mexico City
Abstract
This article explores the Vocaloid phenomenon from an ethnomusicological and philosophical perspective, based on fieldwork conducted between 2023 and 2025 with the
Vocaloid community in Mexico City. Beyond its function as vocal synthesis software,
Vocaloid is examined as a musical instrument, a performative entity and a composite
body with agency. Drawing from Baruch Spinoza’s notion of the composite body,
Mark Fisher’s concept of gothic materialism and Paul B. Preciado’s idea of the somatheque, the article analyses how this technology becomes a site for affective, aesthetic and political articulation. The second part focuses on the practices of the local
community, showing how young fans transform Vocaloid into a collaborative space
of resistance and reimagination of public life through music, technology, and digital
embodiment.
Analysis on the Construction of Guzheng Learning Platform and Cultural Inheritance Assisted by Artificial Intelligence
Zhang Yu [张宇], Mao Yue [毛悦]
https://doi.org/10.30819/5987.14 pp: 191-204 2025-11-03
Keywords: artificial intelligence, guzheng education, extended reality (XR), music technology, design-based research
Abstract
In recent years, the application scope of artificial intelligence technology in music
education has gradually expanded. However, in the field of guzheng enlightenment
teaching, there are still practical problems such as limited teaching resources and lack
of instant error correction. The study uses the ‘Yinqu B1’ platform developed by Yinqu
Future Technology Co., Ltd. as the technical basis, conducts A/B group control experiments and semi-structured interviews in teaching practice and analyses its support
effectiveness for beginners and user experience feedback. The experimental data used
in the study were provided by the cooperative unit, and the author conducted teaching
analysis and effect evaluation based on the use of data. The results show that the experimental group is superior to the control group that did not use the platform in terms
of learning time, performance accuracy and user satisfaction. The platform integrates
XR visual feedback, audio recognition and a scoring mechanism, which improves the
practice efficiency while enhancing the autonomy and enthusiasm of beginners. The
interview also shows that the platform is particularly effective in teaching popular
repertoires and basic fingering and is suitable for the self-study needs of zero-based
or young users. The study believes that although the AI platform cannot replace the
in-depth guidance of musical expression and style in traditional master–apprentice
teaching, it is feasible in the popularization stage and provides new ideas for the digital
transformation of traditional musical instrument education and the contemporary expression of guzheng culture.
Beyond Private and Public: The Continuum of Interpretations in Guqin Music
Hoh Chung Shih, Xu Yunheng
https://doi.org/10.30819/5987.15 pp: 205-240 2025-11-03
Keywords: Guqin, multidimensional, movement–timbre–melody, Chinese music, Yuge
Abstract
Guqin was spectacularly re-launched2 into the public limelight at the 2008 Beijing
Olympics, and later endowed with tremendous multimedia exposure, igniting wide
public imagination on the quintessence of Chinese music. Scholars have been trying
to approach the guqin from various aspects, including aesthetics, finger techniques,
hand movements, literary studies, statistical analysis of fingering, temperament studies, timbral analysis and the like. In this essay, we try to focus on the introverted,
private aspect of qin, i.e., the micro-space of music-making. We discovered that for
guqin, the music-making process, instead of the sonic product, is the music itself. The
notation and playing techniques involve kinaesthetics, timbre, melody and aesthetics
related to naturalistic self-realization. In order to reveal the details of the multidimensional process, we devised a transcription of historical scores unpacking the details,
and then observed the details in performance analysis, and referenced discourses on
guqin produced by practitioners since the Mid-Tang Dynasty (ca. 9th CE). We selected the middle part of the work, Yuge, that is rich in annotations and interpretations
in its scores. By comparing the interpretations in corresponding performance recordings, we verify the range of foci on the continuum between unsingability and melodicity in different generations of players. However, these analyses and critiques are
not vague impressions but are discovered through referencing a threefold intraconnected system of movement–timbre–melody. Hence, we arrived at a preliminary conclusion that guqin music-making must be a multidimensional process that brings the
scores, the movements, the melody and the sonic aspects together. through a process
of dialoguing amongst the various dimensions. As we show how the notation indicates
hand movements with fingerings producing unique qualities in addition to the pitchtone, we realize that earlier sonic or melodic analyses do not give us a satisfying picture. The ultimate goal in guqin music-making seems to be to achieve a balance
through interactivity among the qualities involving natural individualities.
- public culture
- music
- dance
- musical Instruments
- artificial intellience
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