Ethnomusicology & Avant-Garde: The Chimurenga Ensemble

Chimurenga Electroacoustic Ensemble

Today we are confronted with these recordings by this Canadian electroacoustic ensemble—composed of musicians Cabral Jacobs, Léon Lo, Nicolas Dion, Anne-Françoise Jacques, John Brennan, and Nimalan Yoganathan—possessing evident talent and strong impact. Released on September 22, 2011, for the net label No Type & Panospria(Ref. 1), which has specialized in electronic and experimental music since 1998.

Starting from the provided image (Ref. 2) depicting an Mbira—an idiophone instrument of African origin central to the group's lineup—this work refers, on one hand, to a sense of purely folkloric acoustic research and, through the conjunction of opposites, to the foundational meanings of technological development and electroacoustic use in music. It is an investigation into sound in order to articulate it in new or rediscovered ways, starting from the sonorous substance itself as it reveals itself beyond the logical constructs of codified Western language. In this sense, the work of the Chimurenga Electroacoustic Ensemble represents an experience that places itself at the origins of electroacoustic music; it is focused, through a mixture of genres and diverse instrumental sonorities, on timbral exploration and the boundaries of the thresholds of audibility. Furthermore, as the ensemble states, it experiments within the relationships between microtonality, rhythmic ballads, and free jazz (Ref. 2). Even the chosen name is quite explanatory, connected to the aforementioned image: the word “chimurenga,” from the Shona language in the Zimbabwean context, means “struggle” or “popular struggle.” This meaning has expanded over time to refer generally to human rights struggles and to a musical style of popular matrix, initially spread by Thomas Mapfumo (Ref. 3).

The recordings are the result of a single improvisation session recorded in December 2010. Below we list the credits, which, given the singular nature of this work and its lineup, are more significant than ever: Nicolas Dion (electronics, contact microphone, object manipulation, cassette recorder); Anne-Françoise Jacques (cassette recorder, electronics); Nimalan Yoganathan (Mbira, Vietnamese xylophone, pedal effects, synthesizers); Cabral Jacobs (acoustic guitar, wind chimes, voice, pedal effects); Leon Lo (violin); John Brennan (drums, electronics); with technical supervision by John Brennan and Nimalan Yoganathan themselves.

The six tracks range in duration from approximately 7 to 17 minutes, while Track 5 reaches roughly 25 minutes. The musicians state they used "very little editing" during the mastering phase, a fact any trained ear can verify upon listening. Conversely, someone unaccustomed to research within the depths of sound might assume electronic manipulation was used; we wish to point out that, to our ears, the only such interventions involve the skill of the recording supervisors who presumably handled the editing. Moreover, it is precisely for this reason that the definition of "electroacoustic" here should be referred back to the historical origins of the category, in relation to the musicians' stated interests.

The oscillation between the actual object (and its use for musical ends) and the sound object (as a concept dear to electroacoustic musical theory) is very strong in this work, which bears personal and intense characteristics. Simultaneously, however, both the drum rhythms—however "free" they interpose themselves into the sonorous flow—and the chords that sound like actual patterns create atmospheres and sometimes stand out in the foreground due to volume or inharmonicity (Track 1).

The tension between phlegmatic, ambient atmospheres contrasts with the crescendo of sound masses sculpted across a wide spectrum. From these masses, even with cavernous deep bass and similar extremisms, the concept of musicalityremains very strong—that is, a continuity with not only folkloric tradition but with Western music.

Short, minimal musical phrases repeat in an atmospheric sense, intertwining with noise effects that evoke a clear, transparent, and natural sound concept. The ensemble is of fundamental importance in this work’s folkloric traits, where a single percussive strike or the repetition of minimalisms represents a vital structural and structuralizing part. Broad musical paths are traversed, from seemingly undefined noise to a 4/4 drum beat (Tracks 2 and 3).

Noise, whistling, crackling, and even the gestural agitation of the performers seem to transpire through these tracks; we again affirm with certainty the great skill of the recording technicians (Track 4). Percussion, from crackling to striking, alongside the drums, can be defined as the predominant elements in a constant dialogue with the folkloric instruments. When the rhythm becomes evident, the aura of the sound-noise mass surges, alternating moments of sonic emphasis (alternating harmonic and inharmonic moments) with high-impact noise masses from the perspective of the sound spectrum, which nevertheless impose themselves through clarity and brilliance. Western-inflected circuits and paths seem characterized by a tension toward a dialectical relationship with the skillfully proposed rhythms, eventually interacting with the violin interventions—possessing an extremely contemporary sound (and noise)—which then takes the foreground (particularly in the second half of Tracks 4 and 5), finally giving way to the laughter of the participating musicians. Track 5 begins with other fragments of purely occasional human voice—female, perceptibly pronouncing "somehow"—where pure chance, due to the moment of recording within the truest concept of the sound object, becomes a work: an electroacoustic uniqueness. The track seems dedicated to the possibilities offered by a frantic, insistent, almost mechanical striking, at the dawn of the birth of the concept of noise itself in its relationship with musicality, alongside early approaches to the electronic possibilities of sound, presented here with the benefit of hindsight and the undeniable experience of these musicians. [S. Bacon / R. Daniele] 

Riferences:

1. http://www.notype.com/

2. http://www.notype.com/drones/cat.e/pan_059/

3. http://www.absolutepoetry.org/Il-movimento-dei-poeti-bloggers