by Hei-Yeung (John) Lai
Track #11 from Wolfgang Laade’s 1964 field recordings, released in 1971 as Music of South New Guinea.
From the Smithsonian Folkways website and liner notes: “Music from South New Guinea presents the music of tribes settled between the Fly River and the West Arian. Included are songs and dances such as the badara, a traditional dance performed at social events and holidays that is characterized by an “elastic syncopation…created by the drum being slightly faster than the metre of the song… Badra from Buzi, performed by a mixed group (including children) led by Amadu (with drum). Guiga and Yabba are among the singers. This song is composed by Amadu. Giri is a place name. The composer once dreamed he was at Giri and saw the Giri people standing and talking. In this song a terrific “swing” is created by the placing of 26 drum beats against 20 of the song.”
John Lai’s transcription of Track #11, Badra Song from Buzi
Transcription key
- Each measure represents a sub-cycle, which together forms a super-cycle (marked by the repeating signs).
- Letter “x” stands for the drum strokes (the red “x” stands for the very first drum stroke (00:18)). The drum strokes mostly adhere to an alternation of quarter/dotted-quarter note beats suggested by the melody. They sometimes come slightly off the beat, and I feel that the drummer wants to keep a more constant pulse than the singers. Nevertheless, I think those deviations are minimal, and they still conform to the beats suggested by the melody.
- This transcription also includes the temporal quality I perceived as I listen to the recording (annotated above the score). For example, “|” represents “beginning,” “\” stands for “continuation,” while “/” suggests “anacrusis.” These temporal qualities are arranged hierarchically, and they correspond to events in both of the systems.
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- Clarifying the temporal qualities explains why the very first drum stroke (the red “x”) sounds like an anacrusis leading to a downbeat A4 at the local level, and that specific sub-cycle (after the first drum stroke) sounds like a continuation (or an ending) leading to the very beginning of the super-cycle.
Metric expectations in the Badra song’s cycle
Analytical Observations
- This representation suggests a uniform structure of the cycle. The dotted quarter notes keep fixed throughout. The first system features the “longer” quarter notes (the E5s and the last A4), while the second system plays the “shorter” eighth notes.
- As the cycle repeats, the cycle “wraps around” in terms of metric formation. The fixed dotted quarter notes serve as reference points of metric formation. As the cycle begins (first system), it projects and realizes a duration of ten eighth notes consistently (green arrows). Upon the midpoint of the cycle (the beginning of the second system), the new rhythmic events (the E5 eighth notes) and the early arrival of the tied C#5 reset the durational projection—it initiates a shorter projection (duration of eight eighth notes) (orange arrows). This new shorter projection is then realized consistently in the second half of the cycle. However, as the cycle repeats, there is a reset again—the tied C#5 arrives too late for the shorter projection, and the E5s resume to quarter note here. As a result, it initiates a new longer projection—the original duration of ten eighth notes. These durational resets continue as the cycle repeats; neither the two projections assume a higher metric position. This shifting metric projection keeps the cyclic momentum.