Siberian shamanism and improvised music
Contemporary Music Review 1996 DOI: 10.1080/07494469600640161 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Citations | 21 |
| Key points | Argues that shamanic music is best understood as a negotiation between voluntary and involuntary aspects of cognition, and that the most important element Western musicians can draw from shamanic culture is the close connection between the natural environment, considered as sound, and inner states of being. The account is based on the experiences of improvising musicians Tim Hodgkinson and Ken Hyder, including travel to Siberia and meetings with shamans. |
Abstract
Mysticism appears in music either as musical content or as an intervention into the process of music-making. This article discusses the latter in terms of the experience of the improvising musicians Tim Hodgkinson and Ken Hyder. During their search for a method of improvising without predetermined structural constraints they began to look at the state of mind of performers, and this led them to investigate shamanism. They began to use a ritual preparation for performance. Travelling to Siberia and meeting shamans, they tried to discover the basis of the fluctuating tempi typical of shamanic music. Forced to abandon preconceptions about shamanic performance being like Western artistic performance, they were led to understand shamanic music as a negotiation between voluntary and involuntary aspects of cognition. The most important element they as Westerners were able to draw from shamanic culture was the very close connection made between the natural environment — considered as sound-and the inner states of a person's being.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Shamanism as the Original Neurotheology | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Cognitive Neuroscience, Shamanism and the Rock Art of Native California | 1998 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From Culture to Experience: Shamanism in the Pages of the Soviet Anti-Religious Press | 2020 | Historical analysis | |
| Anthropology, Shamanism, and Alternate Ways of Knowing–Being in the World: One Anthropologist's Journey of Discovery and Transformation | 2010 | Reflective essay or personal narrative |