>From: "Philip Gelb" <phil@philipgelb.com>
>Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 10:30:35 -0600
>
>Is there such a thing as "A traditional sound"?
Yes. If there are traditions, and schools that foster those traditions,
then there must be, by definition, a "traditional sound" associated with
those institutions.
>Does this (and most elements of any given culture)
>not change from generation to generation?
There are several issues here. One is that the purpose of any tradition
is to control the change from generation to generation, slowing it as
much as possible, thereby maintaining that traditions forms.
Of course, it will change, again of necessity, because no two humans
are alike.
I had been told to try to exactly copy my teacher to the best of
my ability, and that no matter how hard I would try to duplicate
my teacher's playing, my own performance would inevitably differ,
simply because no two people are alike. Even strictly keeping in mind
the goal, trying to reproduce my teacher's sound, the end result,
over a 30 or 40 year period, would be the subtle transformation of
that tradition.
- Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin (Hogaku, Vo. 1:1, p122-123)
How a tradition changes, and what influences the change is a completely
different issue. Limiting the influence from outside, possibly competing
traditions will be one of the central tasks of the gatekeepers of the
original tradition.
We all know that learning to speak another language or learning to read
a different notation system opens up new ways of thinking about and
interacting with our own world. Takemitsu's advice can be thought of as
an attempt to avoid "polluting" the existing state of the tradition as
represented by Tsurata's incarnation of that tradition. Influences from
outside are subtle and may not even be realized at a conscious level.
To *not* learn a new representation system is to avoid contact with
those ways of being in the world.
>Doesnt it need to change in order to survive and remain relevant?
Not necessarily. Survival is made possible by relevance, and
relevance I would argue, is a link between the artifact and the
human needs and conditions it addresses. The works of Shakespeare
don't change, neither has their relevance dimiminished over time
because humans haven't really changed over that same time.
bj
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