Negotiation of Tradition and Modernity in the Composer’s Perspective on Processing Nusantara Sound for Contemporary Dance Music

Abstract

This research is entitled Negotiation of Tradition and Modernity in the Perspective of Composers in Processing the Sounds of the Archipelago for Contemporary Dance Music. This research aims to examine the conceptual depth and also the composer's technique in making contemporary dance music. In this study, the specification of the creation of works revolves on the work of composers who have a foundation in working with the use of the sound of the archipelago with the use of technology. The main word in the title is the word ‘negotiation’ which can be interpreted as a dialogue process that presents bargaining between composers and their various relationships during the journey of creating contemporary dance works. The focus of this research is on the analysis of the creative process of artists, who use and utilize traditional instruments of the archipelago but combined with work activities that use digital audio technology systems. The blend results in new musical constructions that are relevant to the context of contemporary dance. This research has urgency because there is still a lack of specific scientific studies related to the practice of creating contemporary dance music. This has resulted in the emergence of contemporary dance music that is stagnant and tends to follow the style of previous composers, a lack of musical exploration, and also a lack of approach between tradition and technology. In fact, the production of contemporary dance works is developing very rapidly and fast, but it is not accompanied by the conceptual and methodological development of the creation of contemporary dance music. In this study, the method used is a descriptive qualitative method using a theoretical practice approach and a constructivist paradigm. In addition, the research applies a multi-case study method, which involves several composers from different regional backgrounds in Indonesia such as Bandung, Yogyakarta, Bali, Padang and Banjarmasin. The results of the interviews were then analyzed by reducing data based on Bruno Nettl's theory, techno-aesthetic analysis, and triangulation. The final synthesis refers to the post-digital framework of Andersen, Cox, and Papadopoulos (2014) who positions post-digital aesthetics as a way of reading research-based practice. It is hoped that this research will be able to produce a new understanding related to the negotiation of the deconstruction of the sound of the archipelago in the practice of contemporary dance music, as well as form a framework and methodology that can be a reference for the development of contemporary dance music based on the sound of the archipelago in Indonesia.