Scalable Compositions: Can We Create Art That is Adaptable to Different Contexts?

One of the central concepts in this project is the idea of a scalable composition, suggested by our team member Sandeep Bhagwati. The starting point is the idea that a musical concept, song or composition can be realised in various instances or versions, each adapted to fit different geographical or socio-cultural contexts. This approach allows the creation of versions that could be more traditional or version that lean towards popular music, or even experimental or avant-garde music, while still carrying the same essential artistic content.

The development of scalable compositions began with experiments in transforming traditional songs. First, the songs and their contexts were translated into versions of the lyrics that could offer non-Tao people an understanding of the full story. Next, various musical genres and styles were explored to test their compatibility with the Tao songs.

The main purpose of this work is not to produce a new work of art by a Western composer but to explore the possibilities of transforming traditional songs. The hope is that these versions and findings might inspire young Tao people to create their own songs – songs they may feel are better suited to their perspective and contemporary life.

It is important to understand that, on Lanyu Island, young people are often too shy or too concerned about breaking taboos or facing criticism from elders. As a result, they usually avoid the task of transforming their traditions into something more relevant to their modern lives. The generation gap between young, middle-aged and elderly Tao people is marked by several factors. One of the most significant factors is the language divide: older Tao people only speak the Tao language (and some may know a little Japanese), middle-aged Tao speak both Tao and Mandarin, while the younger generation exclusively speaks Mandarin. This language barrier means that many young people have no direct access to their Tao traditions.

Foreigners, on the other hand, are not expected to know or follow all the rules and traditions, and their ‘foolish’ behaviour is often tolerated to a greater extent. This means that interventions or gentle provocations from outsiders can help break down some of the social barriers that prevent young Tao people from engaging with and transforming their traditions. In this sense, outsiders’ interventions can serve as a catalyst, enabling developments that might otherwise be impossible due to social constraints.

As a result, questions of authorship or copyright are not central to the involved Western composers. These ‘compositions’ should not primarily be seen as works of art, but rather as tools for social intervention and exploration.

Feeedback Sessions:

Throughout the creation phases, we used feedback loops and interviews to evaluate which musical and extra-musical characteristics, both aesthetic and contextual, played an important role.

Representants of the younger generation of the Tao were more specific regarding their musical preferences, favouring genres such as Korean Pop, Chinese popular music and karaoke. Interestingly, the elder generation proved to be extremely tolerant of different aesthetics, including the combination of traditional songs with various beats and loops. Their primary concern, however, was the clarity and understandability of the original lyrics (or parts of them). For example, they appreciated the addition of environmental sounds, such as the sounds of a typhoon and ocean waves, but were critical of the use of reverb on Tao song elements. In their opinion, this interfered with the clarity of the lyrics, making them difficult to understand in an irritating way.

Remark:

Another challenge is translating the lyrics of the English rap version back into Mandarin, the primary language of the younger Tao people who are often not fluent in the Tao language.

Translating lyrics with specific rhythmic patterns or metric emphasis into another language for musical purposes is not easy, even for native Chinese speakers with a strong background in Chinese literature.

In the example shown here, non-emphasised words in the lyrics are written in green for the verses and blue for the chorus, while emphasised syllables are written in red for Chinese. In the English translation, emphasised syllables are written in bold.

Screenshot of Software Environment by Johannes Kretz:

This software environment allows users to rhythmically align selected traditional Tao songs with various beats and accompaniment loops from the Apple Loops / Logic Pro environment. The patterns of various popular music styles can be combined and automatically synchronised with the Tao’s traditional songs. This setup allows for the quick exploration of the transformation potential across different styles and genres, and it facilitates collecting feedback from research partners about the suitability or unsuitability of these combinations.

Some Conclusions:

While the experiments with scalable compositions have not yet had a direct impact on artistic practices on Lanyu (as far as we know), the collaboration with the indigenous band Wild Thing during the project – both in 2024 at aNOther festival in Vienna, Austria, and in Vilnius, Lithuania – encouraged the band to include lyrics and translations from indigenous repertoires into their songs.

Younger Tao were more specific regarding their musical preferences due to the influence of popular/commercial music. The elder generation proved to be extremely tolerant of different aesthetics. Their primary concern, was the clarity and understandability of the original lyrics.

Presenting a scalable composition is, in a certain way, a challenge since the performance of one of the versions appears to be just a ‘normal’ piece of music. In order to make the nature of scalable compositions understandable, one has to perform them several times, as different versions or – even better – embed them into a lecture performance.