Rituals with Music and Food, Food with Music and Rituals

Abstract

There is a number of human rituals that are accompanied by sacrifices of food and drinks. Ritual practices of different people are a huge resource of these habits that are found all over the world. This research paper will focus on the role of instrumental music in guiding these sacrifices among selected communities inhabiting Southeast Asia’s mainland. Through a multi-perspective observation this research aims at showing order principles, musical requirements, and their variability, which will be analysed and discussed. Long term field work and participant observation over a specific period of time are the basic preconditions for this research. In addition, this research is also to question basic principles of conveying research outcomes and the use of well-established research tools in order to categorize and identify types of musical and ritual behaviour. The perspective of food offerings may shift the focus from musicality within rituals to the focus on social digestion in the context of sustaining communities.