The Kachamba Brothers Band: A Study of Neo-Traditional Music in Malawi

»Two musicians from the south-east African country of Malawi who play an ‘acculturated’ form of African music were under constant observation by me, first in 1967 in their own country, and, since January 1972, in the context of a further study during concert tours together in East Africa and Europe. As an investigating musicologist I became part of the band. On side 2 of the record, I join in as a vocalist and rattle player. In this approach is demonstrated a contemporary form of musicological research: a kind of participating musicology in which the researcher is a member of the music group to be studied, not only as an occasional student but also as a fully functioning and recognised musician. In this way the musicologist is no longer an external observer who learns some of the elements of the music to be studied for research purposes, and then returns to his normal academic career upon conclusion of his ‘field work’. Participating musicology means real involvement. One studies the music by learning and playing it, but one does not play it merely in order to study it, but because it 1s a source of enjoyment. In this way artistic integration of all those concerned is achieved, yet scientific observation is maintained. From my viewpoint as a member of the band with a specifically defined musical task, I observed the behaviour of my partners, their teaching methods, their way of communication, their reactions to new situations, and I observed myself. All this I systematically wrote down. [...] A further experimental aspect arose from the composition of the group in the course of the concert tours. It was very valuable to observe the reaction of the audiences to the unusual music, as well as to the fact that one member of the band originally came from another culture, belongs to a certain academic profession and is different in some physical characteristics from the African musicians. Significant data concerning intercultural relations, i.e. Western cultures versus African cultures, were obtained. In particular, I was able to collect material relating to unconscious processes of projection from one culture to another and to heterostereotypes. During our lecture and concert tours I observed first the substantially African audiences of East Africa (Nairobi, Kampala, etc.) and then the audiences of different European countries (Austria, West Germany, England, etc.).« [Excerpt from the introduction]