Music Ecology, Music Sociology, Music Locality - the case of Epirus by Mpiliax Mpiliens

This master’s thesis investigates and interprets locally produced music and particular music traditions of the world that have strong aesthetics and characteristic sounds. Through the concepts of music ecology, music sociology, and music locality, it identifies the link of the music with its place of origin, in an attempt to find the tools to understand how the world works when it comes down to the tiny but hugely important matter of music traditions. Through music examples from different countries, and with a special focus on the music of Epirus, Greece, music ecology, sociology, and locality become the lenses through which answers are sought to crucial questions, such as: How natural and built environments affect, almost dictate locally produced music; what kinds of tools do music traditions become in the hands of communities; and how can communities express, come together, and function through music traditions? Additionally, this thesis explores the effects on music traditions when they are relocated from one environment to another. Finally, this thesis investigates how immersion into any music tradition can affect ones’ personal musical identity, and how this enhances the development of an individual’s personal style, always taking into consideration the aspects of music ecology, sociology, and locality. In the Case of Epirus, Greece I attempt to answer these questions by visiting the birthplace of the music during my field work, which allows me to immerse myself in the environment as well as the music, communicate with the carriers of the tradition, and learn the music directly from them. Findings emerge in terms of a deep connection between music traditions and the triptych of music ecology, sociology and locality, in the example of the music of Epirus but also in general. These triptych influences, shapes and guides locally produced music, to the extent that one, when researching, should acknowledge its connection to local music to deepen the understanding of why things happen as they happen within a music tradition. Awareness of this connection would also be a powerful tool of an individual’s immersion process into new music traditions, empowering them to come to a deeper understanding of it.

In the first case the researcher deals with the input of either residents, who experience music in the local context or have grown up surrounded by it, or local musicians who are active in the tradition of the place. This provides the opportunity to observe and note the connection of the music in everyday life, as much as in special occasions, and the effect of music on these people as well as the depth of meaning and people’s subjective experiences and their meaning-making processes (Leavy, 2017). This approach already constitutes the establishment of a qualitative methodological approach for the research. The approach was purposely chosen to rely on inductive designs aimed at generating meaning and producing rich, descriptive data (Leavy, 2017).
In the case of immersion of the researcher in the local, natural, or built environment, the result remains the same. The data collected surpass the verbal and reaches other levels of sensing, arriving at a non-cognitivist engagement model, requiring immersing and participating in nature as modalities for appreciating it (Holms, 1998). There needs to be a constant willingness to be open to the surrounding environment in a total sensory participation to try and become one with it, passing from being passive observers (…) into dynamic actors whereupon, as multisensory creatures, we re-engage in finding multilayer connections with the natural environment (Casi, 2017). In this multisensory way of coexistence there is again a qualitative approach that sometimes seems stronger, deeper, and more secure than the verbal one. One is given the impression that the environment has been capturing the verbal eternally, and archives it in stone for anyone who is willing to ‘’read and understand it’’.

As a result of this research experience, I remain convinced that for any researcher, when there is the possibility to visit and immerse in the place of the research, this is a must for a more complete comprehension of the topic and a more in-depth research of it. The more extended the time spent on site, the deeper the connection and understanding become.

Here it is important to clarify that I do not dismiss any other methodological approach. On the contrary, it is ideal when any of the qualitative findings are married with and harmoniously coexist with quantitative collected data. Saying this, any attempt to generalise my results will also be based on some quantitative research values. To achieve objectivity, control, and precise measurement, (..) investigating causal relationships, associations, and correlations, quantitative research serves as the optimal tool (Leavy, 2017). Despite this fact, the research is so much based on qualitative data that the methodology leans mainly in that direction, thus the main approach used will be qualitative.

The experience connects with the research in all three main subjects of this thesis.

In terms of music ecology, the emersion of the researchers in the natural and built environment and the collection of qualitative data is the key factor. It is this experience that enlightens the researcher and clarifies the connections between the environment and the local music tradition, initially almost as a one-way interaction from nature to the music tradition. The music tradition is then forever anchored in its relationship with the environment, as the environment remains an unmovable constant, with very few exceptions. From the anchor point it then stretches in the directions that the local communities or individuals give it, according to their level of connection with nature but also the needs of their societies. Finally, it stretches in the direction of the evolution of each society and differs in approaches and styles from place to place. Music ecology will be approached both from the interviewee’s side, but also from the time spent in the local environment with the participation of as many senses as possible.

The way of dealing with the data collected from the interviews had very specific and planned steps. The interviews, with the allowance of the interviewees, were conducted in the form of free discussion over food and drinks in the local environment. The conversations were recorded and transcribed. Upon reflection and revisiting the recorded interviews, there was a process of filtering the interviews and keeping, for presentation, the parts that had to do with music ecology, music sociology and locality. To secure that the interview parts used in the thesis were not used out of context, but also because of the significance and the beauty of the conversations, the entirety of the interviews will be available in the Appendixes section.

The research has been conducted in two 2,5 years (2021-2022), and is based on a trip in Epirus, Greece, including the experiences that emerged from the researchers’ exposure to the strong culture and music traditions, but also the local environment itself. The experience unlocked a different understanding of the way of life, the role of music and the local customs in different localities of the region of Epirus. These localities have surprising similarities but also differences, due to the difference in the local environments, the use of music as a social tool and finally the way of life of communities that live and thrive in the present time very closely, but in another time were more than 200 kilometres from each other with no apparent connection. The field trip provided an immersive experience. This was not only in terms of meeting, interacting with and interviewing musicians and locals, but also in terms of being surrounded by the natural environment, often in the company of the musicians and locals, often alone.

In terms of sociology the researcher gathers data from the interviews and the time spend in the local environments and exposes through analysis or through interviews the way in which the music traditions serve the communities at different levels. From archiving tradition, to maintaining collective memory and all the way to providing tools for expression of the lightest of heaviest feelings of the individual or the group, music tradition is present, while still holding the hand of the natural and built environment. It is this connection that explains the needs of the community and how they are depicted in the music tradition, socially, historically, and politically. It is what marks the difference between a Skaros (Sephardic song in Epirus) and a Miroloi (song of mourning) and Istorika (historical), all from Epirus.

3.0 Methodology

Finally, in terms of locality, the data collected from interviews and confirmed by the researcher’s presence in these areas are analysed and attempt to depict the reason for the differences observed (feeling, rhythm, influences). Why, in neighbouring villages or places that are only some kilometres or tens of kilometres apart, can the character of the music and the music tradition change so drastically and what are the environmental and social differences that have affected all the music traditions locally?

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