Forming a Collaborative Relationship between a Researcher and the Researched in Contemporary Taiwan: A Case Study from Beiguan Opera (北管戲)

Abstract

In contrast to the practice of one-way collecting and analysing of data from the field as found so far in the beiguan literature, this article presents a role-changing process used in the recording of beiguan opera with the Qinghexuan ensemble (慶和軒) in Taiwan, formed in order to generate bilateral benefits through a collaborative applied project. I discuss both the practical recording skills used in the field and the mixing down skills employed in the studio to demonstrate how the interactive process designed reflects the needs in the community and how the collaboration aspect interfaces with each step of the making and checking of the recording. Firstly, I examine the recording process in the field, including microphone placement and recording strategy. Secondly, I discuss how the utilisation of plug-ins (equaliser, compressor, panning, balance) in the mixing of tracks is similar to, and based off, that seen in popular music and the research collaborators’ opinions, as shared in the fieldwork process. Also presented are details behind the loudness of suona and percussion instruments in this genre, for example the natural frequency arrangement on the spectrum. Thus, this discussion shows how an ethnomusicologist can be responsive to needs shared by the community by applying their professional training in relation to recording; it also reshapes the relationship between researcher and informant in an ethnographic setting, in comparison to previous beiguan research, by engaging the musicians as collaborative listeners in the curation of their own art form.