Problemáticas de transcrição e análise de música indígena a partir de um canto yanomami: Diálogo Yãimu

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss problems of transcription and analysis of indigenous music based on Diálogo Yãimu (track 3) of the CD Reahu he ã – Cantos da festa Yanomami (2005). Firstly, the transcription in musical score is conceived as a fundamental tool for the analytical process of indigenous music (for both structural and semantic aspects), together with other visual supports offered by listening software. However, the transcription, that is here compared with the translation process (Matos 2006 and Benjamin 2008), is understood as an artisanal elaboration of a type of visual representation influenced by the personal interpretation of the researcher, who during the work takes individual analytical decisions. The question is: what procedures should be observed in the ‘translation’ of music from an oral tradition into musical score, if all aspects involved are considered, including those that the audio does not demonstrate? In this way, we followed the clues suggested by other authors (Piedade 2011; Franchetto - Montagnani, 2011), evaluating strategies and suggesting other procedures. The conclusions point to the importance of musical transcription as a ground for the ethnographic work.