Sociomusicology: Malay Nobat: Vol. III of Deep Soundings

7/26/22

Malay Nobat: Vol. III of Deep Soundings

Volume III of our Deep Soundings book series has now been published by Lexington Books (of Rowman & Littlefield Press). This volume is an insightful monograph on the Southeast Asian tradition of Nobat court music: The Malay Nobat A History of Power, Acculturation, and Sovereignty, authored by Raja Iskandar Bin Raja Halid.

We continue to seek book proposals for the Deep Soundings series that promise to offer unique knowledge regarding the musical past, and would welcome high quality contributions that address any genre or location worldwide. Below are a few examples of what prominent scholars have to say about Halid’s book …

“This book takes the reader to a fascinating musical soundscape in the royal courts of Malaysia that is unimaginable to most music lovers today. Raja Iskandar Bin Raja Halid skillfully describes the history and significance of nobat and explains why and how it still has symbolic meaning today.”

— Margaret Kartomi, author of Performing the Arts of Indonesia: Malay Identity and Politics in the Music, Dance and Theatre of the Riau Islands

"Raja Iskandar Bin Raja Halid’s detailed and erudite study of the nobat of the Malay world is also a study of a neglected, but vital, facet of Islamicate culture – the trumpets, pipes, and drums that have served as accoutrements of the ruler’s spiritual and temporal power since early times. The author approaches both the local and the colonial historical sources with a keen eye and sharp ear in this consistently engaging, well-researched volume."

— Martin Stokes, King's College, London

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Welcome to Sociomusicology

For a decade (since 2007), this website has offered musings on contemporary society and its music by David G. Hebert, PhD. He is a sociomusicologist specializing in global music education who has held academic positions with universities on five continents. Dr. Hebert is now a tenured full Professor with Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen. There he leads the Grieg Academy Music Education (GAME) research group and manages the multinational government-funded Nordic Network for Music Education, which organizes annual intensive Master courses and exchange of teachers and students across eight countries. He is also a Visiting Professor in Sweden with the Malmo Academy of Music (Lund University), and an Honorary Professor in China with the Education University of Hong Kong.

Professor Hebert's research applies an international-comparative perspective to issues of pluralism, identity, and cultural relevance in music education, as well as processes by which new music traditions emerge and change - both sonically and socially - as they are adopted into institutions. Born in the 1970s, he is among the most widely-published and globally-active music scholars of his generation (h-index:20; i10-index:28), with professional activities in an average of 8 countries per year across the past decade (2008-2020).