Instrumental Ambient Music and Musical Entertainment in Sri Lankan Tourism

Abstract

This research explores how instrumental music has been used as ambient music in selected popular tourist places in Sri Lanka. The domain of the study is confined within the coastal areas in Western Province where tourism is active at present. The places of catering, fast food, and various eateries and drinks have facilitated certain ambient music which is mostly chosen purposefully to attract and to entertain the guests. There must be a certain joint feature of opinions among food entertainers on matching food taste with instrumental music. The main purpose of this study is to explore how Sri Lankan food entertainers facilitate instrumental music to attract and to entertain their guests while consuming food and other attractions. Under the given circumstances of fading large scale tourist business, local business is still flourishing. The choice of entertainment might have been changed. Also, many online possibilities were created by using ambient music. All these current changes need to be considered while analysing collected material. This short-term research is seeking answers to the following questions: How are tourist demands assessed? Who is involved in decision-making about the repertoire, presentation, and arrangement? How is quality output controlled? Which kind of feedback from various participants (audience/ musicians/ organizers) may lead to corrections? The main method is interviewing and surveying. The surveys have to be carefully created and they have to include basic elements about formal and informal music education, peer behavior, and expectations of supervising companies or institutions.