Ancient Music - Conference Presentations by Dylan L Gibson
Save Ancient Studies Alliance (SASA): Texts-In-Translation Reading Groups, 2022
This document contains information that was shared as part of an online "Text-in-Translation ... more This document contains information that was shared as part of an online "Text-in-Translation Reading Group" (Seminar) hosted by Save Ancient Studies Alliance (SASA) and funded by a grant from the Society for Classical Studies (Ancient Worlds, Modern Communities)
Save Ancient Studies Alliance (SASA): Texts-In-Translation Reading Groups, 2022
The following PowerPoint presentation (slides) contains information that was used as part of an o... more The following PowerPoint presentation (slides) contains information that was used as part of an online "Text-in-Translation Reading Group" (Seminar) led by Dylan Lawrence Gibson and hosted by Save Ancient Studies Alliance (SASA). It was funded by a grant from the Society for Classical Studies (Ancient Worlds, Modern Communities).
This was the first session from a series of 3 dedicated to discussing Ancient Near-Eastern music 'theory' cuneiform tablets:
Full Series Title: "An Introduction to Ancient Near-Eastern Music ‘Theory’: Understanding Musical Inscriptions"
Session 1 Title: "UET VII 126: String Names and Order of an Unknown Instrument"
This is ideal for students interested in the field of Archaeo-Musicology.
Save Ancient Studies Alliance (SASA): Texts-In-Translation Reading Groups, 2022
The following PowerPoint presentation (slides) contains information that was used as part of an o... more The following PowerPoint presentation (slides) contains information that was used as part of an online "Text-in-Translation Reading Group" (Seminar) led by Dylan Lawrence Gibson and hosted by Save Ancient Studies Alliance (SASA). It was funded by a grant from the Society for Classical Studies (Ancient Worlds, Modern Communities).
This was the second session from a series of 3 dedicated to discussing Ancient Near-Eastern music 'theory' cuneiform tablets:
Full Series Title: "An Introduction to Ancient Near-Eastern Music ‘Theory’: Understanding Musical Inscriptions"
Session 2 Title: "CBS 10996: Numbered String ‘Pairs’ / ‘Sets’"
This is ideal for students interested in the field of Archaeo-Musicology.
Save Ancient Studies Alliance (SASA): Texts-In-Translation Reading Groups, 2022
The following PowerPoint presentation (slides) contains information that was used as part of an o... more The following PowerPoint presentation (slides) contains information that was used as part of an online "Text-in-Translation Reading Group" (Seminar) led by Dylan Lawrence Gibson and hosted by Save Ancient Studies Alliance (SASA). It was funded by a grant from the Society for Classical Studies (Ancient Worlds, Modern Communities).
This was the final session from a series of 3 dedicated to discussing Ancient Near-Eastern music 'theory' cuneiform tablets:
Full Series Title: "An Introduction to Ancient Near-Eastern Music ‘Theory’: Understanding Musical Inscriptions"
Session 3 Title: "UET VII 74: Re-Tuning/Modulation Instructions for the Sammú (Harp Instrument)"
This is ideal for students interested in the field of Archaeo-Musicology.
Ancient Music - Conference Abstracts by Dylan L Gibson
The 17th Annual Congress of the Society for Research in Music (SASRIM), Aug 27, 2023
The Hurrian H6 cuneiform tablet holds significant value for Musicologists, Assyriologists, and Ar... more The Hurrian H6 cuneiform tablet holds significant value for Musicologists, Assyriologists, and Archaeomusicologists because it is the oldest known example of a 3400-year-old music notation system. The method of interpreting and translating these ancient cuneiform music instructions into standard Western/European sheet music, often with the implied intent of performance, can lead to a distorted impression about the ambiguous nature of the ancient Near-Eastern/Western Asian instructional notation. Existing interpretations, rendered within a Western notation frame (five lines of the music stave), with some reluctant against using Western music theory/systems, come with minor disclaimers concerning the performance of the notation. This is because the provided pitches are considered "relative" examples. The term "interpretation" also implies it is an inexact rendition. Despite these reservations, some scholars, most notably a recording by Anne Draffkorn Kilmer (1979) 1 and a performance by Richard J. Dumbrill (2011) 2 , have attempted to sonically realise their interpretations to bring validity to their theories. This can be referred to as "sound/performance scholarship" and by playing these interpretations to an audience the music becomes confined and placed into a "problem space" which distorts how new knowledge about the ancient instructional notation can be produced. This paper will present the ancient instructional notation of the Hurrian H6 tablet in a more accessible, visual/digital tablature format that is open-ended. The objective is to "decolonise" and shift the perspective from the West to the East (Syria), circumventing reliance on the Western notation system/frame. The aim is to make this ambiguous musical information more accessible not only to Musicologists but also Assyriologists and other scholars interested in ancient music studies. The motivation is to challenge existing interpretations and explicitly address the problems and shortcomings of interpreting and performing/hearing this anci ent instructional music notation.
The 13th Annual Congress of the South African Society for Research in Music (SASRIM) - 4-7 September, 2019, Sep 7, 2019
The most complete and oldest example of an ancient Near-Eastern musical notation system discovere... more The most complete and oldest example of an ancient Near-Eastern musical notation system discovered thus far, can be found inscribed on the Hurrian H6 cuneiform tablet (circa 1400 BCE), excavated in Ras Shamra (present-day Syria). This specialised term-based notation is believed to be intended for a seven-stringed instrument, presumed to be an ancient lyre or harp. Efforts to translate the notation are divided. 'Westernalist' scholars such as Kilmer (1971) and West (1994) interpret the tablet using the Western art music-theoretical practice of intervals-two notes/strings played simultaneously as dichords (or dyads). 'Orientalist' scholars, Wulstan (1971), Duchesne-Guillemin (1984), and Dumbrill (2005), in strong opposition, advocate for the use of middle-Eastern theoretical musical practices that reveal melodic pitch set interpretations (sequenced single notes/strings). The focal issue concerning these scholars' work is providing performance-ready interpretations. These interpretations include suppositions in place of information that is unknown or damaged (theorists, therefore, recreate information that does not appear on the physical evidence). This paper will argue for the need for a new tablature-based interpretation of the H6 tablet, as we may only be able to translate the ancient notation, as with most other notation, only approximately and not accurately. The intention is to reveal that standard Western constructs, such as tritones and intervals of fifths or fourths, when used by other cultures may be microtonally different to our modern-day Western conceptions.
International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL): Ugarit and its World, 2023
A collection of cuneiform tablets/fragments from the Hurrian culture serve as examples of the ear... more A collection of cuneiform tablets/fragments from the Hurrian culture serve as examples of the earliest form of music instructional notation that has been discovered thus far. These tablets, a product of the Mittanian empire, dated to circa 1400 BCE, were found at different locations within the ancient city of Ugarit, Ras Shamra. This paper hypothesises
Ancient Music - Articles (Abstracts) by Dylan L Gibson
TELESTES: An International Journal of Archaeomusicology and Archaeology of Sound (2.1), 2022
Cuneiform Studies - Articles & Presentations by Dylan L Gibson
Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds, 2022
Save Ancient Studies Alliance (SASA) - Master Class, 2022
PowerPoint presentation for the SASA Master Class presented on the 11th of April 2022.
Metal Music Studies - Call for Papers by Dylan L Gibson
Metal Music Studies (9.3) - Special Issue, 2023
This document is a "call for papers" for the journal Metal Music Studies (MMS). This special issu... more This document is a "call for papers" for the journal Metal Music Studies (MMS). This special issue will be titled "Fade to Black: Philosophy and Psychology Through Metallica".
Metal Music Studies - Articles (Abstracts) by Dylan L Gibson
Metal Music Studies (8.1), 2022
Remaining true to its origins, the survival-horror video game film adaption, Resident Evil: The O... more Remaining true to its origins, the survival-horror video game film adaption, Resident Evil: The Original Motion Picture released in 2002, retains its core foundational game-like qualities. The film is heavily influenced by the video game franchise and it appears as if the audience is treated the same as the player. This is because the viewers are forced to 'participate' from fixed camera angles. As expected, the music contained within the moving image also borrows wellestablished compositional techniques from horror films and survival-horror video games. The music, therefore, serves to provide information to the viewers and acts as an auditory trigger. This type of music is defined as 'process music'; music that appears to imitate a process of actions. An additional function of the music is to create immersion. The most prominent soundtrack cues from the film, visually and musically ('synchronically' matched), hint at overarching medical, artificial and mechanical themes. This immersive link is achieved through the use of the related music genres of industrial metal and nü-metal. The resultant combination of industrial/nü-metal sounds with horror imagery can effectively be termed 'nü-horror metal'. In this article the genre label of 'nü' takes preference over 'industrial'. The focus of this article will, therefore, demonstrate how the aforementioned medical, artificial and mechanical themes are effectively portrayed and heightened by the use of industrial/nü-metal music and techniques. This article will also
Metal Music Studies (5.2), 2019
The 2011 collaborative album Lulu (by Lou Reed and Metallica) presents one with what can be clear... more The 2011 collaborative album Lulu (by Lou Reed and Metallica) presents one with what can be clearly identified as a 'clash' between highbrow and lowbrow culture. This 'clash', as will be demonstrated in this article, attempts to 'blur' what the media tries to enforce by revealing that Metallica and Lou Reed in actuality cannot be exclusively defined by one coherent label. The intended implication is that the album should not be dismissed as its impact, as Metallica's first postmodern album, ought to be remembered and formally recognized as such-a postmodern experimental metal album.
Research & Teaching - Certificates by Dylan L Gibson
South Africa Council of Educators (SACE) - Special Category: Performing Arts (Music) Educator Certificate, 2021
Web of Science Academy (Clarivate), Dec 21, 2022
University of South Africa (UNISA), 2020
Web of Science Academy (Clarivate), Dec 2, 2022
Web of Science Academy (Clarivate), Jul 14, 2021
African Music - Articles (Abstracts) by Dylan L Gibson
Compositions by Dylan L Gibson
A technical classical guitar study composed for students (grade 6-7 level)
A technical classical guitar study composed for students (grade 6-7 level).
Uploads
Ancient Music - Conference Presentations by Dylan L Gibson
This was the first session from a series of 3 dedicated to discussing Ancient Near-Eastern music 'theory' cuneiform tablets:
Full Series Title: "An Introduction to Ancient Near-Eastern Music ‘Theory’: Understanding Musical Inscriptions"
Session 1 Title: "UET VII 126: String Names and Order of an Unknown Instrument"
This is ideal for students interested in the field of Archaeo-Musicology.
This was the second session from a series of 3 dedicated to discussing Ancient Near-Eastern music 'theory' cuneiform tablets:
Full Series Title: "An Introduction to Ancient Near-Eastern Music ‘Theory’: Understanding Musical Inscriptions"
Session 2 Title: "CBS 10996: Numbered String ‘Pairs’ / ‘Sets’"
This is ideal for students interested in the field of Archaeo-Musicology.
This was the final session from a series of 3 dedicated to discussing Ancient Near-Eastern music 'theory' cuneiform tablets:
Full Series Title: "An Introduction to Ancient Near-Eastern Music ‘Theory’: Understanding Musical Inscriptions"
Session 3 Title: "UET VII 74: Re-Tuning/Modulation Instructions for the Sammú (Harp Instrument)"
This is ideal for students interested in the field of Archaeo-Musicology.
Ancient Music - Conference Abstracts by Dylan L Gibson
Ancient Music - Articles (Abstracts) by Dylan L Gibson
Cuneiform Studies - Articles & Presentations by Dylan L Gibson
Metal Music Studies - Call for Papers by Dylan L Gibson
Metal Music Studies - Articles (Abstracts) by Dylan L Gibson
Research & Teaching - Certificates by Dylan L Gibson
African Music - Articles (Abstracts) by Dylan L Gibson
Compositions by Dylan L Gibson
This was the first session from a series of 3 dedicated to discussing Ancient Near-Eastern music 'theory' cuneiform tablets:
Full Series Title: "An Introduction to Ancient Near-Eastern Music ‘Theory’: Understanding Musical Inscriptions"
Session 1 Title: "UET VII 126: String Names and Order of an Unknown Instrument"
This is ideal for students interested in the field of Archaeo-Musicology.
This was the second session from a series of 3 dedicated to discussing Ancient Near-Eastern music 'theory' cuneiform tablets:
Full Series Title: "An Introduction to Ancient Near-Eastern Music ‘Theory’: Understanding Musical Inscriptions"
Session 2 Title: "CBS 10996: Numbered String ‘Pairs’ / ‘Sets’"
This is ideal for students interested in the field of Archaeo-Musicology.
This was the final session from a series of 3 dedicated to discussing Ancient Near-Eastern music 'theory' cuneiform tablets:
Full Series Title: "An Introduction to Ancient Near-Eastern Music ‘Theory’: Understanding Musical Inscriptions"
Session 3 Title: "UET VII 74: Re-Tuning/Modulation Instructions for the Sammú (Harp Instrument)"
This is ideal for students interested in the field of Archaeo-Musicology.