Ethnomusicology

A series of pictures depicting Frances Densmore

 at the Smithsonian Institution in 1916 during a 

session with Blackfoot chief Mountain Chief for 

the Bureau of American Ethnology.

I am currently reading a book called 'Sound and Sentiment' by Steven Feld. It is the study of sound as a cultural system among the Kaluli people of New Guinea. Felds intention is to uncover the codes of sound communication and how this relates to the quality of life in the Kaluli community.

This started me thinking about 'ethnomusicology' which is defined by the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts, or the study of people making music. If we were to have a sound cultural system in London what would it be and what historical and mythical references would we draw from.