Rupert Till

ANCIENT MUSIC CULTURES: OUR COMMON HUMANITY

Talk by Rupert Till

Human musical culture reaches back to at least 43,000 BC, is found in all cultures, and is a core element of all spiritualities, religions, and ritual cultures. We can learn something about what it fundamentally means to be human by exploring the similarities between the music and sound of today and of our ancestors.

In this talk, Sound Archaeologist Rupert Till traces the development of human musical cultures. It starts with vulture, swan bone, and mammoth tusk flutes played in caves in Prehistory, showing video and playing music from replicas of these flutes being played alongside Palaeolithic cave paintings. You will hear the sound of chanting in the tuned reverberation of the Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni in Malta, a 7000 tomb with a 40+ second reverberation that is tuned harmonically.

It will explore giant Bronze age trumpets of northern Europe like the boar-headed Carnyx, the music and instruments of Greek and Roman rites, as well as the raw musical styles of the Vikings. It will also feature the giant seashell trumpets of ancient Mexican site Teotihuacan.

JOINED Q&A

Join Sound Archaeologist Rupert Till and Moog Wizard Amos Gaynes for a joined Q&A about their talks about Ancient Music Cultures and the Future of Sound.