This paper presents a novel theoretical approach for understanding and comparing ensembles on the basis of the number of musicians employed to accomplish the same (or similar) task. It asks what we can learn about the social and musical priorities of ensembles that appear to intentionally include performer/performance redundancies as a means to guarantee the success of a performance that is otherwise riven through with uncertainties that can affect a musician’s ability to play their part. This paper demonstrates the utility of this theoretical perspective by comparing two ensemble-types: 1) the 10 to 13-piece salsa bands that perform on a weekly basis for dancers in Toronto and 2) the 40-plus and fiercely-competitive Panamanian murga bands that perform once a year during carnival season. Drawing on extended ethnographic research, this paper proposes that redundancies are best identified by observing those moments in a performance when a musician does not play their part—whether it be from fatigue or the seemingly-irresistible urge to take a sip of beer—and taking note of their frequency and overall impact on the success of a performance—e.g., are they commented on by onlookers. As the comparative analysis suggests, when lapses in performance are relatively common among band members and perceived to be unproblematic (as is the case with murga), then the observable performance redundancies are likely of greater relative musical-social importance—and vice versa. This paper proposes that this theoretical paradigm of relative performance redundancies can be applied to cross-cultural analyses of other ensemble traditions.

The documentary Devagan (66 min) was completed in 2024, representing the culmination of six years of fieldwork. Devagan explores the Hindu ritual performance of Nava Durgā carried out by the Banmālā caste of the Newar people in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Originating in 1512, the dancers and musicians, known as devagan, are considered human incarnations of the nine manifestations of goddess Durgā. The annual Nava Durgā performance unfolds over approximately nine months, starting from October and culminating in June of the following year.

The documentary delves into the intricacies of the performance through the narratives of three devagans from the same family. The grandfather, serving as the chief devagan overseeing rituals, narrates the myth of Nava Durgā, brought to life through the performances of his son-in-law and grandson.

Devagan sheds light on this ancient living tradition within a contemporary context, addressing themes such as local beliefs, ritual practices, and the challenges faced by this tradition.

The 20-minute excerpt opens with two significant rituals marking the rebirth of the Nava Durgā and the onset of the performance season. The meanings inherent in the performance are unveiled through a specific dance, narrated by the grandfather, and enriched by visual imagery showcasing his son-in-law’s dance. Additionally, pivotal insights into knowledge transmission are provided through interviews with both the son-in-law and grandson. The excerpt culminates with the funeral rites of the Nava Durgā, symbolizing the conclusion of the performance season.

Three languages used in the film - Nepali, Newari, and English – are all subtitled in English.

Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL), also known as Hand Talk, is a Native American sign language that was a lingua-franca among Tribes who spoke diverse languages throughout the Great Plains. PISL later became an endangered language as settler colonization unfolded. While most Native Peoples currently do not conversationally sign PISL, Native performers, most who are hearing and are not D/deaf, commonly use PISL in their music making practices at intertribal powwows in Oklahoma. This paper compares the ways that singers and participants in the Oklahoma powwow circuit sign PISL in their music making to achieve different goals. Deriving from over eleven years of fieldwork with Southern Plains drum groups Ottertrail and Zotigh Singers, I show that powwow singers both sign PISL and gesture to communicate while singing. In contrast, Tribal princesses, young Native women who serve as ambassadors for their community and/or a powwow organization, showcase signed music of the Lord’s Prayer as embodied reflections of cultural values and traditional knowledge. This paper contributes to ethnomusicological scholarship on signed music making, which often emphasizes American Sign Language rather than Indigenous sign languages, as well as Indigenous music scholarship on powwow that has minimally accounted for the use of PISL in powwow performance.

That music is social is one of the foundational assumptions of ethnomusicology. As John Blacking put it, music-making is “a special kind of social action which can have important consequences for other kinds of social action” (1995, 223). The socialities of music are often understood furthermore to be multi-scalar, with what Georgina Born calls the “intimate microsocialities of musical performance and practice” intersecting with other “planes of social mediation” (2012, 267). While ethnomusicologists have often made reference to work in psychology and cognitive science as part of their theorizations of music and the social (e.g. Turino 2008), emerging brain imaging techniques open up new possibilities for understanding how human minds work in ensemble, and for understanding the collective neural processes underpinning interpersonal musical experience. This paper presents ongoing interdisciplinary collaborative research that explores neural synchrony and interpersonal connection during musical performance. By employing functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning of the brains of up to ten musicians and listeners, as well as ethnographic methods including observation and open-ended interviews, this research puts methodologies and theoretical frameworks from cognitive science and ethnomusicology in dialogue in order to explore music as a social phenomenon in new ways. The empirical research presented in this paper offers insights into ongoing interdisciplinary theorizations of “human musicality [as] a coevolved system for social bonding” (Savage et al. 2021), and furthermore instigates broader reflections on possibilities for future collaborative dialogue between ethnomusicology and cognitive science.