Investigating acoustic properties, playing techniques and live-electronics potential of traditional Southeast Asian musical instruments

Framework: ASEA-Uninet
Project lead mdw: Alex Hofmann (IWK)
Project lead UP: LaVerne David C. de la Peña (UPCE)
Project lead UM: Hanafi Hussin (DSEAS)

Timeframe: 01/2025-12/2025

Project Description:

Southeast Asia has a rich musical history, where traditional instruments con tinue to influence the contemporary music scene. Therefore we aim to investigate the potential of traditional Southeast Asian instruments in the collection of the Uni versity of the Philippines for use in live-electronic performances and seek contact with experts in Malaysian Instruments at the Universiti Malaya. The mdw project staff will visit the collection at UP for measurements and interviews with experts in the field. In the laboratory of the Department of Music Acoustics we will conduct an investigation of the live-electronics potential of bamboo instruments. Later, a research phase with the UP and UM project staff will be conducted in Vienna, where the outcomes of the project will be discussed with mdw members.

Partners:

The following ASEA-UNINET members and external partners actively contribute to this project:

• Austria (ASEA):
  • The Department of Music Acoustics (IWK) at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw), is specialized in fundamental and applied research on the acoustics of musical instruments and musician-instrument interaction. This involves the development of physical models of musical instruments to predict their quality and behavior, as well as using empirical methods to understand musician-instrument interactions.
  • Prof. Alex Hofmann, Ph.D.
  • M.Sc. Tim-Tarek Grund
• Malaysia:
  • The Department of Southeast Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences was established in 1975 in accordance with one of the objectives of the 1967 ASEAN Declaration, namely to promote Southeast Asian studies. The department's program is dedicated to the advancement of teaching and learning, with a strong emphasis on an in-depth study of the region, encompassing its politics, economy, culture, maritime affairs, environment, and security.
  • Prof. Dr. Hanafi Hussin
• Philippines:
  • The name, "U.P. Center for Ethnomusicology" was established in 1997 by the U.P. Board of Regents, in recognition of Professor Jose Maceda's visionary work and authorship of putting together an ethnomusicological collection of about 2500 hours of recorded music in open reel and cassette tapes, field notes, music transcriptions, song texts, photographs, music instruments, music compositions, personal files, about 2000 books and journals, all of which he personally initiated and developed as a unified institutional resource for music research. The UP centre now has as a digital collection of audio recordings, texts, videos and images stored in external hard-drives. Data is catalogued and this metadata information is available in a online public access catalogue. Accessing the actual material would require researchers to either visit the centre or request for access per letter or email, sending a research proposal which will be evaluated by the management. The process of digitizing old material is currently ongoing.
  • Prof. Dr. LaVerne David C. de la Peña
  • Roan May Opiso

 

Actions:

• The 1st Research Meeting Week will be held at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna June/July 2025
• The 2nd Research Meeting will be held at the University of the Philippines, Center for Ethnomusicology in Diliman, Quezon City