A bi-musical approach to composition: explorations of immersion in Balinese musical culture

The increased access to worldwide musical cultures through globalisation brings an increased need for ethical conduct from the contemporary composer, one that addresses issues of appropriation. This talk examines how composers can effectively and respectfully write for cultures unfamiliar to them, using my lived experience as an Australian practitioner working within a Balinese musical space. Collaborating is becoming more common due to globalisation processes, such as the rise of pre-recorded sample libraries which bring traditional instruments to the MIDI keyboard and exoticist practises in mainstream film scoring which extract from musical traditions in an individualist approach to novelty. This research directly examines methods and approaches of writing and making music through a process of immersion and bi-musicality. Expanding Geoffroy Colson’s methodology of compositional ethnomusicology (2016), this research aims to demonstrate the impact of immersion through ethnomusicological techniques such as participant observation on creative practice outputs. I present a portfolio of seven works which begin within my own familiar culture, before moving into a hybrid space that demonstrates the results of my reflexive practice. This illustrates how immersion can lead to compositions that are both appropriate and respectful, benefiting both composer and community as the composer is able to write works specifically for the community’s ability and context.

Joshua Robinson is a Canberra-based composer who focusses on writing music for a variety of contexts; in particular, film, television, and theatre. His work explores pure musical concepts with a view of further exploring cultural contexts. He has played in the Canberra gamelan group Sekar Langit since 2020 and has a particular interest in the respectful representation of musical traditions within the popular culture space. In 2018, he was a participant of the Fusion Film Scoring Workshops held in Thessaloniki, Greece, and later that year he was invited to the International Film Festival held in Thessaloniki. He specialises in composing music under time pressure and to budget, having scored multiple short films for competitions such as "40 Hours of Film" or "Lights, Canberra, Action!" where participants have only a few days to create an entire short film.