The Mafa language doesn’t have a word for music because music is always intertwined with specific rituals, such as preparing for the harvest. Men will stand in a circle and play repetitive melodies on wooden flutes. Playing a Mafan flute requires a lot of energy and rapid exhalation. Some of the men will dance and run while playing, and the rituals often last several hours. “It’s physically very exhausting — they achieve this musical ecstasy,” Fritz says. “It got me interested in how one could translate something like that to our western culture.” Fritz’s version of that musical ecstasy debuted yesterday in a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He rigged up several pieces of gym equipment to a computer so that using the machines produces electronic music. It’s hard to explain in words, so here’s a video of Fritz showing off his system:
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 15:28:25 +0000
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