Musical Case Study Two: 

Berimbau and Double Bass Duo

 

This musical case study examines new pieces created by Adriano Adewale and Nathan Riki Thomson for berimbau and double bass. Drawing on the conceptual framework of third space, these intercultural duets seek to explore the liminal space between fixed identifications (Bhabha, 1990), searching for a sound that bears traces of the unique qualities of each instrument and musical identity, but is neither one nor the other. After a lengthy period of experimentation and exploration of this hybrid space, the pieces were spontaneously improvised during an all-night live recording, which took place outside in the forests and coastlines close to Helsinki, Finland, during the longest summers night of the year, midsummers eve, 2020. This recording forms part of the album Sonic Poems from an Unknown Land, released by the Global Music Centre in 2022.  

 

Three excerpts from this recording are documented and unpacked, namely: 

 

1) Sonic Poem 00: Harmonics (Adewale / Thomson)

2) Sonic Poem 02: Distortion (Adewale / Thomson)

3) Sonic Poem 05: Contrast (Adewale / Thomson)

 

In each of these cases, Bhabha’s notion of third space is actively explored through artistic experiments and lengthy discussions both authors had during the artistic processes. These discussions often carried on well after they stopped playing and have contributed strongly to the continual development of their artistic collaborations. They grappled with questions of how to create this sense of an emerging space that bears traces of each of their identities and musical approaches, but is not dominated by one or the other. Particularly focusing on the creation of their own musical language and not following Western sonic aesthetics was an important part of this process, which also involved paying constant attention to the need to decolonise themselves and any pre-conceived ideas they might have about our instruments. 

 

Furthermore, through the duo collaboration, they seek to destabilize the historical injustices and power relations of colonialism in their process. For example, the acknowledgement that Adriano and Nathan did not have the same opportunities, starting points, and access to music education in their different contexts of Brazil and Australia. On one hand, as mentioned earlier, Adriano was not able to study the berimbau or Brazilian popular music within his home institution, and it was not given high status or value within the institution. Instead, he was offered studies within the Western art music framework. On the other hand, Nathan was afforded the privileges that have inherently and disproportionately been given to white Western musicians, as long as he adhered to the requirements of studying instruments associated with a Western classical context, which were given high status within his home institution. In this context, non-Western forms of musical expression were not considered within the institution at the time (1992). Moreover, mirroring the example of the berimbau not being present within Adriano’s institution in Brazil, the Aboriginal yidaki was also not present in Nathan’s institution in Australia, for example. This connects strongly back to the issues of colonialism, the dominance of Western classical music, the need for equity, and deconstructing the imbalanced systems of the past. Steps in this direction are beginning to unfold in different regions of the world, including at Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts, Helsinki, where both Adriano and Nathan have been able to undertake doctoral studies based on non-Western approaches, and are currently involved in developing an intercultural music education programme titled Global Music, as mentioned earlier. 

 

As with many other current artist-researchers and those who have come before us (see Beyer, 2022, 2016; Hiller, 1979; Powell, 1964, Vasconcelos, 1973, for example), we therefore actively seek for ways of breaking apart the imbalances of the past and turning them upside down through our artistic work, giving the dominant voice and power to the berimbau as the core starting point for our collaboration. The unique characteristics and approaches of the berimbau are centred and deepened, enabling the exploration of new sounds and ways of playing both and berimbau and double bass. The central aim is to highlight and lift the non-Western approaches of the berimbau as the core material for artistical exploration, rather than the berimbau being consumed by having to fit into Western frameworks. In terms of Nathan’s approaches to double bass playing, this gives rise to new explorations and experiments inspired by Adriano’s berimbau playing. For example, what happens if the double bass is explored in the same way as the berimbau in terms of the subtleties and intricacies found on the surface of the gourd of the berimbau? Can this be translated through exploring the subtle textures on the wooden body and bridge of the double bass? How does this affect the way Nathan plays and the emerging musical ideas? This process is then in turn explored the other way around, with the berimbau drawing ideas and inspiration from the double bass.   

 

This artistic exploration connects back to both conversations related to decolonisation and Bhabha’s framing of third space, in relation to breaking apart colonial systems and Bhabha’s critique of norms given by dominant Western cultures that seeks to locate other cultural perspectives within their own grid, rather than entertaining difference without imposed or assumed hierarchies (Bhabha in Rutherford, 1990). Once this is achieved, we enter the possibility of a new, artistic third space, where all voices are acknowledged equally and begin to merge and interact in new ways. 

Sonic Poem 00 (harmonics)


The framework for Poem 00 is the exploration of the harmonics played on the strings of the double bass and the berimbau as the starting point. In addition, one of the playing techniques of the berimbau is transferred to the double bass with the use of a berimbau stick on the strings of the double bass. This approach thereby highlights the ingenious approaches of the berimbau and reconstructs ways of playing the double bass inspired by the berimbau. In doing so the dominance of Western approaches is destabilized and we are able to explore what it might mean to decolonise the double bass and the players themselves. Asking questions such as, what happens if Nathan strips away Western playing techniques, harmony, and melody, and rather focus on the idiosyncratic approaches of the berimbau as the dominant frame of reference and driving force for the discovery of new sounds and musical expression on the double bass? For example, as can be seen and heard in the musical example, the berimbau stick is being played on the strings of the double bass, which generates new percussive and textural possibilities, and the decision to avoid harmonic and melodic language is inspired by the berimbau. Using these approaches and improvisation as a starting point for intercultural dialogue, new sounds and vocabularies are created through the mutual exploration of a new sonic environment. 

Sonic Poem 02 (distortion)


In this sonic poem, both double bass and berimbau interact through a driving rhythmic pattern, energetic and syncopated. This rhythmic approach is characteristic of berimbau playing and works in this context as the central element for the exploration and dialogue to take place. The distortion of the berimbau is created by the stone loosely touching the string proposing a unique sonic environment with no defined pitch, which allows for great interaction between the two instruments. This distorted element is echoed on the double bass with the use of custom-made buzzing attachments on the bridge of the bass, which were developed earlier as part of Nathan’s doctoral work (Thomson, 2021). Working with acoustic distortion techniques and buzzing attachments had the knock-on effect of generating new ways of approaching the instruments and new musical ideas inspired by this aesthetic. Sonically, this creates a form of third space (Bhabha) in that the sound bears traces of the distinctive characteristics of the instruments but transforms into a hybrid sonic aesthetic that merges old and new elements. As these elements merge, the instrument inhabits a new space that is no longer one thing or the other. As a result, they started to play our instruments in new ways and discovered newly found sounds and ways of interacting. 

Sonic Poem 05 (contrast)


The starting point for this musical case study explores the core aspect of contrast, creating a dialogue through juxtaposing different musical roles and elements. For example, the melodic approach of the double bass contrasts with the drone played by the berimbau, which provides the root note of the piece. The drone and the melodic lines are delivered through an intense and cyclical rhythmical pattern, which is the basis for the dialogue to take place. Furthermore, the double bass takes inspiration from the berimbau both in terms of rhythmic impulses and the use of a limited set of pitches constantly creating calls and responses sonic gestures, found in berimbau playing, through primarily working with the interval of a semi-tone. The emphasis on the core aspect of a single note drone played by the berimbau and the interaction with the double bass shifts the focus of the sonic vocabulary, exploring the subtleties of different timbres and rhythmic intensions, rather than being dominated by harmonic structures that are often imposed by Western frameworks. The dialogue draws on these central elements in the search for a decolonised, hybrid, third space (Bhabha, 1994).

Additional full length live audio recording of Sonic Poem 00 from the album Sonic Poems from an Unknown Land

Sonic Poem 00