SavedAdd your journal

Journals / Konservatoryum / 2023 / Cilt: 10 Sayı: 1 Özel Sayı

Microtiming Analysis of Two Dance-Songs from the Pirin-Macedonia Region of Bulgaria

Nathan Bernacki

Pages
76–86
Publication Date
2023-11-30
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗

Abstract

The non-isochronous meters of the Balkan Peninsula are traditionally described in ethnomusicological literature through notation indicating a 2:3 beat ratio underlain by a series of isochronous subdivisions. Within the Balkans, this theory of meter can be traced back to early twentieth century Bulgarian musicology and possibly even before, yet has not been revised or amended until relatively recently. However, recent microtiming studies nuance representations of meter that surpass the capacities of traditional Western notation through IOI (interonset interval) analysis. Through an IOI analysis of two dance-songs from villages in the Pirin-Macedonia region of Bulgaria, I show that the presumptive fixed proportions of the 3-beat ‘long-short-short’ meter (7/8, 3+2+2 in musicological terminology) of both songs do not align with and cannot be described by a 2:3 beat ratio. These quantitative findings are then contextualized in the metric perspectives of both conservatory-trained musicians and village musicians in order to assess possible epistemological obfuscation, and theorize potential revisions to theories of Balkan non-isochronous meters.

Keywords
🔖

Cite This Article

Bernacki, N. (2023). Microtiming Analysis of Two Dance-Songs from the Pirin-Macedonia Region of Bulgaria. Konservatoryum, Cilt: 10 Sayı: 1 Özel Sayı, 76–86. https://doi.org/10.26650/CONS2023-1245746

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

References (26)

  1. Angelov, D. (2018, June 9). “Ginka” Horo Dance [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zALN6LcVQII. google scholar
  2. Bozhilova, V. (2017, March 2). Малка мома вада копа - женска гр. от Лъжница [Malka moma vada kopa - ženska gr. ot Lužnica] ˘ [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Ho_GMs_f0. google scholar
  3. Bozhilova, V. (2017, September 30). У Радине госте дойде - мъжка група Десилица [U Radine goste doide – mužka grupa Desilica] ˘ [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI-NWbL0w5s. google scholar
  4. Buchanan, D. (2006). Performing Democracy: Bülgarian Müsic and Müsicians in Transition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. google scholar
  5. Bulg Folk. (2012, June 26). ШИРТО - SOUTHWEST BULGARIA [Širto - Southwest Bulgaria] [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT0ss1tYt5s. google scholar
  6. Chasmakov, A., & Dzhambazov M. (1959). Makedonske Horo (Dance). On World Library of Folk and Primitive Müsic - Volüme XVII [Vinyl]. New York City: Columbia Masterworks. google scholar
  7. Dzhudzhev, S. (1970). Bülgarska narodna müzika: Uchebnikza bülgarskata dürzhavna konservatoriya [Bülgarian FolkMusic: Textbookfor The Bulgarian State Conservatory]. Vol. 1. Sofia: Durzhavno Izdatelstvo “Muzika” /in Cyrillic/. google scholar
  8. Goldberg, D. (2015). Timing Variations in Two Balkan Percussion Performances. Empirical Müsicology Review, 10(4), 305-328. google scholar
  9. Goldberg, D. (2019). What’s the Meter of Elenino Horo? Rhythm and Timing in Drumming for a Bulgarian Folk Dance. Analytical Approaches to World Müsic, 7(2), 69-107. google scholar
  10. Hristov, D. (1913). Ritmichnite osnovi na narodnata ni muzika [The Rhythmical Bases of Our Folk Music]. In Sbornik za narodni ümotvorenie i narodnopis 27. Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences /in Cyrillic/. google scholar
  11. Johansson, M. (2017). Non-Isochronous Musical Meters: Towards a Multidimensional Model. Ethnomüsicology, 61(1), 31-51. google scholar
  12. Karapachov, M. (2018, February 14). Ой ле, Кале [Oi le Kale] [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JcJ2HU1TaA. google scholar
  13. Kirilov, K. (2015). Bülgarian Harmony in Village, Wedding, and Choral Müsic of the Last Centüry. Farnham, UK: Ashgate. google scholar
  14. Kremenliev, B. (1956). Types of Bulgarian Folk Songs. The Slavonic and East Eüropean Review, 34(83), 355-376. google scholar
  15. Kvifte, T. (2007). Categories and Timing: On the Perception of Meter. Ethnomüsicology, 51(1), 64-84. google scholar
  16. Levy, M. (1985). The Bagpipe in the Rhodope Moüntains of Bülgaria (Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles). google scholar
  17. London, J. (2012). Hearing in Time: Psychological Aspects of Müsical Meter. Oxford: Oxford University Press. google scholar
  18. Moelants, D. (2006). Perception and Performance of Aksak Metres. Müsicae Scientiae, 10(2), 147-172. google scholar
  19. Peninta, K., Campouropoulos, A., & Papadelis, G. (2008, October). Quantitative Investigation of Temporal Microdeviations in Greek Asymmetric Meters. Paper presented at the Foürth Conference of the Hellenic Institüte of Acoüstics. Xanthi. Retrieved from http://users.auth.gr/emilios/papers/elina2008.pdf. google scholar
  20. Polak, R. (2010). Rhythmic Feel as Meter: Non-Isochronous Beat Subdivision in Jembe Music from Mali. Müsic Theory Online, 16(4). Retrieved from http://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.10.16.4/mto.10.16.4.polak.html. google scholar
  21. Rice, T. (1980). Aspects of Bulgarian Musical Thought. Yearbook of the International Folk Müsic Coüncil, 12, 43-66. google scholar
  22. Rice, T. (1994). May It Fill Yoür Soül: Experiencing Bülgarian Müsic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. google scholar
  23. Rice, T. (2000). Bela Bartok and Bulgarian Rhythm. In Elliott A., Victoria F., & Benjamin S. (Eds.), Bartok Perspectives: Man, Composer, and Ethnomüsicologist (pp. 196-210). Oxford: Oxford University Press. google scholar
  24. Silverman, C. (2012). Romani Roütes: Cültüral Politics and Balkan Müsic in Diaspora. Oxford: Oxford University Press. google scholar
  25. Singer, A. (1974). The Metrical Structure of Macedonian Dance. Ethnomüsicology, 18(3), 379-404. google scholar
  26. Trio Karadzovska - Topic. (2014, March 6). Kostadine Sine [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9xnlV8Njhw. google scholar