MUSICAL EFFICACY: MUSICKING TO SURVIVE—THE CASE OF THE PYGMIES

This study is based on a series of musical recordings made in 1946 among the BaBinga Pygmies of the Upper Sangha (Republic of the Congo) by the Ogooué-Congo Mission, as well as on published works on Pygmy ethnomusicology dealing with Pygmy groups scattered east to west across the great equatorial rainforest, from Ituri to Gabon. These materials were gathered and studied in order to answer the enticing question: “Why do the Pygmies ‘music’ so much?” The answer is “to survive.” “Musicking” (as opposed to “making music”) seems to be for them a social body technique, a veritable technique for living together as a group. The effects that the Pygmies expect are seen as resulting from—even blending—two kinds of efficacy. The first is “symbolic musical efficacy,” at work during their hunting rituals and tied to their magical-religious practices. The second is “socio-somatic efficacy,” at work during all musical activities (both song and dance) that they carry out almost daily. The end of the paper includes abundant notes on a number of issues concerning Pygmy music and musicking, in particular yodelling and polyphony.