Digital Recording and Catalogue for Elderly Musicians

PAUSE!

South Sulawesi, Indonesia, is the home of four ethnic groups and extensive lists of musical works. The songs are passed down from one ‘folk master’ to another. The youngest remaining masters are now in their 50s, and some of them are simply too old to continue playing or teaching. A handful of those songs are written in the form of monophonic notation, consisting only the main melody and lyric. We do not have a musical system or grammar to construct a comprehensive notation for the younger generation.

RECORD!

We cannot bring the folk masters into the recording studio, so we are planning to bring the studio to them. We wish to travel around the state (approximately 2,430 km or 1518 miles in total) within 22 weeks to record 14 folk songs in high-quality multitrack audio files. These audio files will later be transcribed into a combination of musical staves, drum tablature, and Surakarta notation for microtonal instruments. We aim for both audio recording and musical transcription.

PLAY!

The money will be used to purchase recording equipment (portable recorders, microphones, cables, etc) and travel cost for two. The program will start on May or when the campaign reaches 1,000 Euros. We are now in the process of translating our proposal into English, so anyone may request the actual budget estimation. We would like to thank anyone in advance, especially for those who donate and wish us luck.