John Garzoli

Khon Kaen University, Music, Visiting International Scholar

Monash University, Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music, Research Fellow

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I am a musicologist, performer and ethnographer. My primary interests are in Thai music, history and culture, and the study of 'Western' music and culture, including aesthetics, pedagogy and analysis. I am particularly interested in the processes involved in intercultural musical synthesis. A full list of publications is in my CV

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Papers by John Garzoli

Kayanapussana Satipatthana and the Buddhist practices of Samadhi and Sati as foundational practices in the development of Thai musical skills

International Journal of Music Education, 2024

The Buddhist Vipassana technique of Kayanupassana Satipatthana is used to develop samadhi (concen... more The Buddhist Vipassana technique of Kayanupassana Satipatthana is used to develop samadhi (concentration) and sati (awareness) in the practices of Thai classical music (dontri Thai) teachers working in a Thai primary school and the specialist music school in a Thai university. While previous studies have explored the use of mediation as a means of alleviating stress or spiritual progress, the techniques described here are adapted in this dontri Thai pedagogy to help musicians optimize learning and performing through the cultivation of concentration, awareness, and bodily control. Within this pedagogy, sharpened concentration leads to heightened awareness which allows greater insight into the students’ state of mind, musical sounds, and sensory feelings in their bodies. This enable performers to reproduce what is conceptualized as the “ideal” sound. Students commence musical training by practicing meditation while producing a single note, a short melody, or a technical skill. The task is repeated until the tripartite goal of mental and physical immersion and the production of the ideal sound is achieved. The four key components of the method are integrated within a holistic and iterative learning process in which the student progressively develops the ability to focus on all relevant elements in a single moment.

Photogrammetry for dish concentrator construction

Phleng Thai Doem and the myth of 7-tet: The questionable origins of the theory of Thai tuning

Mawlam and Jazz in Intercultural Musical Synthesis

This paper discusses contemporary practices of synthesising musical elements associated with trad... more This paper discusses contemporary practices of synthesising musical elements associated with traditional Isan music, especially the khaen and pin instruments, with Western derived musical elements. It is based on extensive fieldwork and draws on the contemporary musicological insight that musical meaning arises in the performance of music rather than residing in a &#39;score&#39;. This places the emphasis on the performers&#39; concepts and practices which are understood through ethnographic fieldwork. The process of intercultural musical synthesis raises a variety of musical and extra-musical questions about established orthodoxies in music. The objectives, processes and outcomes of Isan musicians who use traditional performance practice in contemporary musical forms demonstrates that the task of bringing into alignment musical elements from disparate musical systems is but one of the challenges faced by musicians working towards music-cultural hybridity. There are also a range of cultural and ethical factors involved in the combination of Isan and Western derived musical elements. The concept of improvisation that has grown up in jazz and &#39;world music&#39; understands it to be a practice

The myth of equidistance in Thai tuning

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Intonational, idiomatic, and historical factors that shape contemporary Thai fusion music

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Thai musicology in context: epistemic disparities in Thai and western ways of knowing Thai music

Ethnomusicology Forum

Relatively little has been published in English about dontri Thai (Thai classical music) and due ... more Relatively little has been published in English about dontri Thai (Thai classical music) and due to the absence of Thai scholars from English language musicological scholarship, most of what has been published was written by non-Thai scholars who have relied upon terms and concepts developed for explaining music with roots in the European tradition. The importation of extrinsic categories conceals indigenous explanatory models and blocks paths connecting Thai musical performance and thought to other areas of Thai culture and social life. This article frames the silence of Thai voices and their ways of knowing as the epistemological dimension of the colonising enterprise, the effects of which have made their way into Thai universities where they have transformed intellectual life and dontri Thai pedagogy. The disciplinary reorientation suggested here aims towards a pluralist model of musicological thought and method. This will open a space for different ways of musical knowing, creating, and theorising to enter from where they may decentre and reshape Western musicological discourse and practice. A rethink of musicology will help align its disciplinary goals with the aims of addressing equality of representation and allow unheard Thai voices to explain their own music in their own terms.

Thai musicology in context: epistemic disparities in Thai and western ways of knowing Thai music

Ethnomusicology Forum, 2023

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Phleng Thai Doem and the myth of 7-tet: The questionable origins of the theory of Thai tuning

MV Wissenschaft, 2016

Mawlam and Jazz in Intercultural Musical Synthesis

Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, 2019

Music, the media and the Thai state following the death of King Bhumibol: Popular music’s role in orchestrating certainty in Thailand’s existential crisis

International Journal of Community Music, 2019

Following the death of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej on 13 October 2016, the country entered... more Following the death of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej on 13 October 2016, the country entered an official period of mourning. In an attenuation of existing practices rather than a departure from them, the unelected military government assumed control of all media and used it to curate the tone of national mourning. Music was then enlisted in the process to help shape the emotional register of the grieving process. Government-controlled media’s actions were exemplified in the broadcasting practices of the police-run radio station in the north-eastern city of Khon Kaen. It repeatedly played only a small number of structurally and aesthetically similar popular songs that shared hagiographic narrative themes of praise for the late king and emphasized national solidarity. The government’s use of its power, the importance of the king in the Thai imagination and the maintenance of societal equilibrium following his death are briefly explained through Bunn’s concept of ‘new censorship’.

Competing Epistemologies of Tuning, Intonation and Melody in the Performance of Thai Classical Music on Non-Fixed-Pitch Instruments

Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, 2020

Differences between Thai fixed-pitch and non-fixed-pitch musical practice have been described, bu... more Differences between Thai fixed-pitch and non-fixed-pitch musical practice have been described, but there has been no accepted explanation of these differences in relation to the accepted Thai tuning theory. This theory maintains that the Thai scale is equidistant, but it was not formulated to explain the practices and concepts of musicians who sing or play non-fixed-pitch instruments. The absence of an explanation for these practices is attributed to the tendency among scholars to accept assumptions about tuning that were developed for European rather than Thai music. This article is relevant to Southeast Asian studies as it deals with the problem of imported extrinsic theory displacing indigenous explanatory models.

Improvisation, Thang, and Thai Musical Structure

Musicology Australia, 2018

Despite its centrality to Thai musical thought and practice, Thai and English-language scholars h... more Despite its centrality to Thai musical thought and practice, Thai and English-language scholars have been reluctant to use the term 'improvisation' to describe Thai music. This reluctance stems from a number of interrelated factors, including the incommensurability of terms and concepts in the Thai and Western musical systems, scholars' lack of familiarity with Thai and/or Western musical structure, and the improvisatory practices associated with them, especially jazz, which is thought to exemplify improvisation, and lack of clarity in understanding the Thai musical concepts of prae, plae, and thang that underpin Thai musical thought and provide the context in which improvisation can, and in some cases must, occur. By laying out some general principles associated with improvisation, especially Pressing's concept of the 'referent', and describing how these relate to Thai musical structure, thought, and practice, we clarify uncertainty about Thai music's structure and performance processes. We show that in learning to perform, Thai musicians develop intimate knowledge of their musical system and the stylistic qualities of all instruments. Their training teaches them to think in terms that mirror the logic of the musical system and enables them to improvise in stylistically appropriate ways.

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Who Told You That? Musical Knowing as Mediated Epistemology

Proceedings of the 6th Symposium of The ICTM Study Group on Performing Arts of South East Asia, 2020

English language descriptions and analysis of Thai music are typically presented in terms that re... more English language descriptions and analysis of Thai music are typically presented in terms that reflect Euro-American theoretical, aesthetic and analytical categories derived from semantic and analytical traditions remote from Thai musical practice and thought. Given the background of the researchers, it is perhaps inevitable that the conceptual tools and processes developed for European music are applied to Thai music. But these processes and tools and the technical jargon that surrounds them are not functionally neutral or ‘objective’ but are fundamentally predetermined. Aside from being developed to isolate harmonic, timbrel, melodic, rhythmic and textural elements not part of Thai music they tend to cloak the subjective nature of interpretation. So when presented in English language scholarship, the typology of the analytical process and its epistemology has already been preconfigured to search for and describe certain elements and traits as primary types; a condition that predetermines not only what analysis produces, but also what comprises description. Through processes of transmission, some of these practices have made it into Thai modes of analytical thought thereby crowding out indigenous explanatory models and interpretation. To enable English language portrayals of Thai music to more faithfully represent it; such that go beyond descriptions of musical elements, forms and instruments, it is crucial to understand the principles which condition its creation and interpretation. This includes an interrogation of presuppositions that determine the categories by which music is conceptualized as an object for analytical and aesthetic theorizing. This presentation attempts to clarify Thai musical practice and thought by seeking out Thai analytical categories and root metaphors used to foreground aspects considered essential in Thai musical thought. It will explore the histories and dependencies of musical ideas and trace them to the socio-cultural factors that are their sources and ensure that these predetermined norms end up as musical rules.

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Pitch and Tuning Systems

The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture, 2019

Many building assessment tools exist for guiding building facilities toward sustainability. Some ... more Many building assessment tools exist for guiding building facilities toward sustainability. Some tools are internationally recognized while others are for specific countries based on local needs. This study endeavored to develop a building sustainability assessment framework for Kazakhstan. The framework was developed based on the review of building performance assessment methods such as leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED), building research establishment environmental assessment methodology (BREEAM), comprehensive assessment system for building environmental efficiency (CASBEE), and international initiative for sustainable built environment (SBTool), and considering the local conditions in Kazakhstan. A two-round Delphi survey was employed to develop the assessment categories and indicators by local experts from the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. Mean and standard deviation values were used to analyze the survey data and to make the decision on the level of agreement amongst the Delphi panelists. The proposed framework consists of nine assessment categories, 46 assessment indicators, and 142 parameters covering the four climatic regions in Kazakhstan and considering the environmental, social, and economic perspectives of the country's sustainable development goals. The introduction of the framework is expected to serve as a reference for establishing the regional building sustainability assessment tool that will aid to increase the awareness of the public and help policymakers to solve sustainability-related issues in Kazakhstan.

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Victorian Chapter Newsletter Interview with Professor Peter Tregear

MSA Victorian Chapter Newsletter. Interview with Prof Peter Tregear , 2022

Australian universities find themselves tossed by turbulent political and ideological winds and t... more Australian universities find themselves tossed by turbulent political and ideological winds and there is discontentment everywhere. These troubles have drawn the attention of concerned stakeholders who are unwilling to remain silent about what they see as the steady degradation of the sector. A thumbnail sample of this sentiment can be found in Raewyn Connell's The Good University: What Universities Actually Do and Why It's Time for Radical Change, and her piece in The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/remaking-universities-notes-fromthe-sidelines-of-catastrophe-175920), John Hewson's What does the prime minister have against universities,? in the Saturday Paper (Oct 23-29 2021) and Julian Meyrick's Drama in hell; The descent of creative arts at Australia's universities in The Monthly (Oct 2021). This edition of the MSA Vic Chapter Newsletter presents an interview with Professor Peter Tregear who discusses problems in universities with a focus on what he see as declining standards of research, teaching and knowledge-work in music departments.

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Photogrammetry for dish concentrator construction

Photogrammetry has been used to control the assembly of a convex paraboloidal jig, used in the co... more Photogrammetry has been used to control the assembly of a convex paraboloidal jig, used in the construction of a 500 m dish concentrator. The photogrammetric measurement precision was ~ 1:175,000, corresponding to an accuracy of better than 1 mm at the jig reference points. Equipment (camera, flash and retro-reflective film) and software are discussed. Photogrammetry was also used to characterise the dish mirror panels: the rear surface of the panels was mapped, as it made possible a denser target array and quicker image capture than if the reflective surface was used. The targets were produced with a digital projector, and the measurement precision attained was ~ 1:150,000.

Can a Globally Integrated Cultural and Artistic Perspective Help Hold Together a Dissolving World

Journal of Urban Culture Research, 2019

Editorial

Mawlam and Jazz in Intercultural Musical Synthesis

Photogrammetry for dish concentrator construction

Photogrammetry has been used to control the assembly of a convex paraboloidal jig, used in the co... more Photogrammetry has been used to control the assembly of a convex paraboloidal jig, used in the construction of a 500 m² dish concentrator. The photogrammetric measurement precision was ~ 1:175,000, corresponding to an accuracy of better than 1 mm at the jig reference points. Equipment (camera, flash and retro-reflective film) and software are discussed. Photogrammetry was also used to characterise the dish mirror panels: the rear surface of the panels was mapped, as it made possible a denser target array and quicker image capture than if the reflective surface was used. The targets were produced with a digital projector, and the measurement precision attained was ~ 1:150,000.

Kayanapussana Satipatthana and the Buddhist practices of Samadhi and Sati as foundational practices in the development of Thai musical skills

International Journal of Music Education, 2024

Photogrammetry for dish concentrator construction

Phleng Thai Doem and the myth of 7-tet: The questionable origins of the theory of Thai tuning

Mawlam and Jazz in Intercultural Musical Synthesis

The myth of equidistance in Thai tuning

Download

Intonational, idiomatic, and historical factors that shape contemporary Thai fusion music

Download

Thai musicology in context: epistemic disparities in Thai and western ways of knowing Thai music

Ethnomusicology Forum

Thai musicology in context: epistemic disparities in Thai and western ways of knowing Thai music

Ethnomusicology Forum, 2023

Download

Phleng Thai Doem and the myth of 7-tet: The questionable origins of the theory of Thai tuning

MV Wissenschaft, 2016

Mawlam and Jazz in Intercultural Musical Synthesis

Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, 2019

Music, the media and the Thai state following the death of King Bhumibol: Popular music’s role in orchestrating certainty in Thailand’s existential crisis

International Journal of Community Music, 2019

Competing Epistemologies of Tuning, Intonation and Melody in the Performance of Thai Classical Music on Non-Fixed-Pitch Instruments

Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, 2020

Improvisation, Thang, and Thai Musical Structure

Musicology Australia, 2018

Download

Who Told You That? Musical Knowing as Mediated Epistemology

Proceedings of the 6th Symposium of The ICTM Study Group on Performing Arts of South East Asia, 2020

Download

Pitch and Tuning Systems

The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture, 2019

Download

Victorian Chapter Newsletter Interview with Professor Peter Tregear

MSA Victorian Chapter Newsletter. Interview with Prof Peter Tregear , 2022

Download

Photogrammetry for dish concentrator construction

Can a Globally Integrated Cultural and Artistic Perspective Help Hold Together a Dissolving World

Journal of Urban Culture Research, 2019

Editorial

Mawlam and Jazz in Intercultural Musical Synthesis

Photogrammetry for dish concentrator construction

Photogrammetry has been used to control the assembly of a convex paraboloidal jig, used in the co... more Photogrammetry has been used to control the assembly of a convex paraboloidal jig, used in the construction of a 500 m² dish concentrator. The photogrammetric measurement precision was ~ 1:175,000, corresponding to an accuracy of better than 1 mm at the jig reference points. Equipment (camera, flash and retro-reflective film) and software are discussed. Photogrammetry was also used to characterise the dish mirror panels: the rear surface of the panels was mapped, as it made possible a denser target array and quicker image capture than if the reflective surface was used. The targets were produced with a digital projector, and the measurement precision attained was ~ 1:150,000.

John Garzoli

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