Multi-modal recordings of Maracatu

In December 2019, we invited 13 Maracatu performers in Lisbon for a 10 days residence: 5 percussionists, 1 poet, 2 musicians, 4 dancers and 1 director. Several public performances were organized which culminated in a two-part event: a parade in which musicians and dancers moved through the streets, followed by a fixed location, outdoor performance.

During this live performance in a fixed location, we realized a multi-track recording of the terno, placing contact michrophones on the 5 percussion instruments and the trumpet. In this manner, we could balance the optimum location for sound capture while minimizing any impact to each musician’s playing style. We use these recordings for microtiming analysis (see Davies et al. 2020)

In a studio of the Faculty of Human Kinetics of Lisbon University equipped with Motion Capture (MOCAP) technologies, we recorded simultaneously

–       the 5 percussion instruments in separate tracks and in stereo

–       the musicians’ movements with Qualysis Motion capture opitical system

–       the dancer’s movement with Xsens kinematic system

–       standard video with Sony portable camera

We recorded 16 excerpts of 2 different rhythmic genres, and 3 different dancers.

These data will allow us to analyze performers’  behavior, in terms of musicians’ synchronization, musician-dancer interactions, and dancer’s individual  styles and variation.

They should allow as well to analyze people’s reactions to MoCap representations, and eventually to implement a Virtual reality environments for Maracatu music and dance.

Readings:
Davies, M. E. P.; Fuentes, M.; Fonseca, J.; Aly, L.; Jerónimo, M. & Bonini Baraldi F.
2021 (submitted) – “Multi-modal recordings of Maracatu “de baque solto” (Brazil): technical concerns and preliminary analyses”, in Proceeding of The First Symposium First Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Sound, Movement, and the Sciences”, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.