Matt Gillan
Biographic Data
| ID | 233563 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Matt Gillan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Matt |
| FAMILY NAME | Gillan |
| SIGNATURE | GILLAN M |
| AFFILIATIONS | International Christian University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 4 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 10 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Sankyoku Magazine and the Invention of the Shakuhachi as Religious Instrument in Early 20th-Century Japan
The early 20th century was a period in which understandings of music, religion, and the nation-state underwent rapid change in Japan. In this article I examine Japanese cultural discourse from the first decades of the 20th century in which the shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute, was frequently portrayed as a religious instrument. In some cases, this discourse referenced pre-20th century historical affiliations of the shakuhachi with the Fuke-sec…
Listening to the Voice in Kumiudui
The Ryukyuan kumiudui musical theater uses a variety of codified vocal techniques to identify the gender and social class of each character. Degrees of musicality, variation in timbre, and pitch inflection are all understood as emblematic of particular character types. In this article I analyze these vocal techniques and consider the ways in which they are constructed within Ryukyuan society with reference to the Ryukyuan language, class system, …
Song Monuments in Okinawa
Songs from the Edge of Japan
Since the early 1990s, Okinawan music has experienced an extraordinary boom in popularity throughout Japan. Musicians from this island prefecture in the very south of Japan have found success as performers and recording artists, and have been featured in a number of hit films and television dramas. In particular, the Yaeyama region in the south of Okinawa has long been known as a region rich in performing arts, and Yaeyaman musicians such as BEGI…
Intimate Distance
Journal Article Intimate Distance: Andean Music in Japan Get access Intimate Distance: Andean Music in Japan, by Michelle Bigenho. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2012, xii + 230 pp., $79.95 (hardcover ISBN 978-0-822-35220-4), $22.95 (paperback ISBN 978-0-8223-5235-8) Matt GILLAN Matt GILLAN International Christian University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Social Science Japan Journal, Volume 17, Issue…
Dancing Fingers
In this paper I examine the use and meanings of body movements in the performance and teaching of Okinawan classical music. I draw on an extended period of participant-observation in Okinawa itself, as well as a series of recorded interviews and demonstrations by performers, made in 2010 and 2011. I present these results in the context of a number of recent studies of physical gesture from the ethnomusicological and music psychology literature, a…
An Introduction to Japanese Folk Performing Arts
Drumming Out a Message
Drumming Out a Message: Eisa and Okinawan Diaspora in Japan. 2005. Directed by Yoshitaka Terada. Produced by National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka. In Japanese with English subtitles. 75 minutes, colour, DVD. Not distributed commercially, but can be rented free from the National Museum of Ethnology (Information System Department), 10-1 Senri Expo Park, Suita, Osaka 565-8511, Japan. Tel. +081-6-6876-2151. - Volume 41
Imagining Okinawa
Since the early 1970s, Okinawan styles have become popular throughout Japan and, to some extent, the rest of the world. This music has been performed both by native Okinawan musicians, and also by musicians from the Japanese mainland, drawn partly by the exoticness of this ‘Japanese other’. While modern-day Okinawan music has been considered from the perspective of Okinawan identity within a Japanese framework, the role of Japanese musicians in t…
Treasures of the Island People
Treasures of the Island People:Tradition and Modernity in Yaeyaman Pop Music Matt Gillan (bio) The warm breeze blew in from far away in the south-west. If you listened carefully you could hear the sounds of a sanshin. Whatever else happens in the world, the beauty of this island will never change, as long as the island people (shimanchu) are living there. (From Bagajima nu Panasu [Stories of My Island], Ikegami 1994, 5)2 Introduction Traveling do…
Dancing Fingers
In this paper I examine the use and meanings of body movements in the performance and teaching of Okinawan classical music. I draw on an extended period of participant-observation in Okinawa itself, as well as a series of recorded interviews and demonstrations by performers, made in 2010 and 2011. I present these results in the context of a number of recent studies of physical gesture from the ethnomusicological and music psychology literature, a…
Treasures of the Island People
Treasures of the Island People:Tradition and Modernity in Yaeyaman Pop Music Matt Gillan (bio) The warm breeze blew in from far away in the south-west. If you listened carefully you could hear the sounds of a sanshin. Whatever else happens in the world, the beauty of this island will never change, as long as the island people (shimanchu) are living there. (From Bagajima nu Panasu [Stories of My Island], Ikegami 1994, 5)2 Introduction Traveling do…
Treasures of the Island People
Treasures of the Island People:Tradition and Modernity in Yaeyaman Pop Music Matt Gillan (bio) The warm breeze blew in from far away in the south-west. If you listened carefully you could hear the sounds of a sanshin. Whatever else happens in the world, the beauty of this island will never change, as long as the island people (shimanchu) are living there. (From Bagajima nu Panasu [Stories of My Island], Ikegami 1994, 5)2 Introduction Traveling do…
Drumming Out a Message
Drumming Out a Message: Eisa and Okinawan Diaspora in Japan. 2005. Directed by Yoshitaka Terada. Produced by National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka. In Japanese with English subtitles. 75 minutes, colour, DVD. Not distributed commercially, but can be rented free from the National Museum of Ethnology (Information System Department), 10-1 Senri Expo Park, Suita, Osaka 565-8511, Japan. Tel. +081-6-6876-2151. - Volume 41
Imagining Okinawa
Since the early 1970s, Okinawan styles have become popular throughout Japan and, to some extent, the rest of the world. This music has been performed both by native Okinawan musicians, and also by musicians from the Japanese mainland, drawn partly by the exoticness of this ‘Japanese other’. While modern-day Okinawan music has been considered from the perspective of Okinawan identity within a Japanese framework, the role of Japanese musicians in t…
An Introduction to Japanese Folk Performing Arts
Dancing Fingers
In this paper I examine the use and meanings of body movements in the performance and teaching of Okinawan classical music. I draw on an extended period of participant-observation in Okinawa itself, as well as a series of recorded interviews and demonstrations by performers, made in 2010 and 2011. I present these results in the context of a number of recent studies of physical gesture from the ethnomusicological and music psychology literature, a…
Intimate Distance
Journal Article Intimate Distance: Andean Music in Japan Get access Intimate Distance: Andean Music in Japan, by Michelle Bigenho. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2012, xii + 230 pp., $79.95 (hardcover ISBN 978-0-822-35220-4), $22.95 (paperback ISBN 978-0-8223-5235-8) Matt GILLAN Matt GILLAN International Christian University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Social Science Japan Journal, Volume 17, Issue…
Songs from the Edge of Japan
Since the early 1990s, Okinawan music has experienced an extraordinary boom in popularity throughout Japan. Musicians from this island prefecture in the very south of Japan have found success as performers and recording artists, and have been featured in a number of hit films and television dramas. In particular, the Yaeyama region in the south of Okinawa has long been known as a region rich in performing arts, and Yaeyaman musicians such as BEGI…
Song Monuments in Okinawa
Listening to the Voice in Kumiudui
The Ryukyuan kumiudui musical theater uses a variety of codified vocal techniques to identify the gender and social class of each character. Degrees of musicality, variation in timbre, and pitch inflection are all understood as emblematic of particular character types. In this article I analyze these vocal techniques and consider the ways in which they are constructed within Ryukyuan society with reference to the Ryukyuan language, class system, …
Sankyoku Magazine and the Invention of the Shakuhachi as Religious Instrument in Early 20th-Century Japan
The early 20th century was a period in which understandings of music, religion, and the nation-state underwent rapid change in Japan. In this article I examine Japanese cultural discourse from the first decades of the 20th century in which the shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute, was frequently portrayed as a religious instrument. In some cases, this discourse referenced pre-20th century historical affiliations of the shakuhachi with the Fuke-sec…
Asian Culture and Media Studies (8 works) · Art (7 works) · History (6 works) · Japanese History and Culture (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Aesthetics (4 works) · Literature (4 works) · Musical (4 works) · Visual arts (3 works) · Acoustics (2 works)