Principal Investigator Leila Adu-Gilmore’s research in Ghana is part of the AFRINUM https://afrinum.hypotheses.org/about, a four-year research insight project in collaboration with professors in four West-African countries, Ghana, Mali, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire. This research proposal within the larger collaborative was funded to do fieldwork in Ghana. Critical Sonic Practice Lab’s latest submission uses MIR and interviews to analyze microtonal scales in Ghanaian popular singing. In her summer trip, Dr. Adu-Gilmore was able to visit the Nketia archive at the, University of Ghana, which is partially digitized. The archive has a wealth of information on signing that the lab can analyze, in collaboration with the archivists in Accra. Music Technology MI-focused PhD student Daniel Faronbi is planning to visit Accra in early 2023.
Focusing on analyzing music studio production process and community in Accra, this publication and analysis examines studio process and harmony, instead of examining solely rhythm and cultural analysis previously favored in research on black musics in the Americas and the global south. Prior findings uncovered a lack of female music producers in Accra, reasons behind this lack and opportunities and interest for growth in the area. The new research investigates ways that music could be taught in this underrepresented community in Accra.
This innovative research is also a radical archive of Ghanaian popular music, as early findings through MIR analysis show that Ghanaian traditional scales and tuning are changing through globalization. Moreover, the research aims to benefit both decolonizing radical archiving and culturally-sustaining pedagogy in the region.
Funding: L’ANR (the French National Research Association) led by Dr. Emannuelle Olivier of CNRS and EHESS (The University of Social Sciences, Paris).