The Elephant in the Baithak: Tabla and Audio Technological Discourse

<p>This thesis discusses how power, status, and performance practices play out between performers of <em>tabla</em> (North Indian hand drums) and audio engineers. To do so, I analyze engineer, performer, and music critic discourse surrounding <em>tabla</em> performances and technology to place it within a broader scholarly debate regarding recording technology, cultural/technological capital, technological determinism, and agency. I extend Christopher Scales’s (2012) concept of “recording culture” to “live sound culture,” or the behaviors, power struggles, and labor surrounding <em>tabla</em> mic’ing and amplification. I argue that audio technology separates the artist’s sound into several domains of control (stage, hall, recording, playback), each controlled by various human and non-human actors. These multiple sound fields produce various disruptions in collaboration between performers and engineers but also the opportunity for co-construction of sound and meaning.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A. in Music

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters Thesis

Year

2024

Author dc:creator

• Thom, Tyler

Contributors dc:contributor

• Sarah Morelli
• Jack Sheinbaum
• Aaron Schneider
• Dheepa Sundaram
• Aleysia Whitmore

• Amplification
• Audio
• Hindustani
• Live sound
• Tabla
• Technology
• Arts and Humanities
• History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology
• Music
• Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology
• Other Music

Statement dc:rights

• <p>Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.</p>

Language dc:language

English (eng)

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2441

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.du.edu:etd-3436