Measuring the Musical Vocabulary of the Traditional Nzakara Harpists

Year: 2004 Authors: Barbra Gregory

Core claim

Nzakara harp tunes can be counted and analyzed as cyclic word patterns in Z_5, revealing a much smaller set of valid cores than all possible word combinations.

Topics

ethnomusicology, cyclic word patterns, modular arithmetic, combinatorics

Domains

combinatorics on words, finite algebra, modular arithmetic, music, ethnomusicology, oral tradition

Methods

mathematical analysis, word counting, recursive formulas, translation factorization

Media

traditional harp, 5-string bichords, chant and dance

Source status

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