Ensembles (Continued)
Twelve Muqam
The Uyghur people, who reside mainly in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, are well known for their vibrant music and dance traditions since ancient times. A muqam is the melody type used in the music of Xinjiang-a set of melodic formulas and modes that guide improvisation and composition. The Twelve Muqams are the national oral epic of the Uyghurs. They are a fixed suite of sung poetry and stories, dance tunes, and instrumental sections. Each of them consists of a main section that begins with a long, free-rhythm introduction, followed by pieces with characteristic rhythmic patterns that gradually increase in speed. The main instruments in the Twelve Muqam are the dap (frame drum), dutar (long-necked lute), tämbur (long-necked lute), and ghijak (spike fiddle).
Like numerous other genres In China, the Twelve Muqam have been recognized as a symbol of the nation's intangible cultural heritage, and the subsequent recording of these genres has aroused tremendous pride among its practitioners and admirers. However, the policy also shows how the state has co-opted ethnic minority traditions, claiming them as its own in a political context, when many of them, Uyghurs in this case, do not feel they are treated as equals in the People's Republic of China. Moreover, the dissemination of state-sponsored recordings has led to the canonization of the music examples and performers selected, which may hinder the improvisation aspect of the tradition. For these reasons, some Uyghurs have mixed feelings about their inclusion in the intangible cultural heritage scheme (Harris 2008).[2]Further reading, a short introduction, and video material, can be found at: http://www.uyghurensemble.co.uk/en-html/rh-canon-uy12muqam.html
Yi Rice-Planting Drum
The drum ensemble of the female Yi, also known as the Yi Rice-planting Drum, is another outstanding Chinese musical tradition. The two-headed drum is made from a big, disemboweled tree trunk covered by a bull's skin. Three women play together: one hit's the back of the drum with two finger-sized sticks to indicate the rhythm, while the other two strike the front of the drum with larger sticks performing the main drum beats and dancing meanwhile. There are 24 compositions for this drum ensemble and the performers were normally expected to play them one-by-one without stopping. A short folk song then ends the performance (Example 17: Performed by Pu Meifang, Pu Jiufen, Cha Yongying. Video by Yuansheng Studio). Nowadays, the Yi Rice-planting Drum is only performed in Tuga village, Lüchun county, so it has also been called Lüchun drumming. This illustrates how rural traditions are gradually disappearing in China today and distinct practices are increasingly confined to specific villages as a result (personal communication with Long Chengpeng, 13 July 2018).
Example 17: Yi 'Rice-planting Drum'
Linguistic tone is crucial to understanding spoken Chinese: the sound 'da' could mean either 'big' or 'to beat' (among other meanings) depending on its pitch and contour.
