PRINCIPLES AND VALUES INFLUENCING HANDS PERCUSSION MALAYSIA COSMOPOLITAN MUSICAL CREATIONS IN COLLABORATION WITH GLOBAL ALLIANCE

Abstract

Hands Percussion is a percussion ensemble formed by
the Chinese of Malaysia in 1997. In their early days of
formation, Hands Percussion focused on Chinese drumming
patterns and choreography related to Chinese festivals and
cultural traditions. In the early 2000s, Hands Percussion
recreated music and incorporated their interpretations of the
music of the different ethnic groups in Malaysia into their
concerts. In recent years, Hands Percussion began to explore
global soundscapes through their musical alliances with performing
artists and drummers around the world. In ‘Wind of
Nomads’ (2017), Hands collaborated with Dafra Drums from
USA and Burkina Fasa to introduce sounds from the djembe
and kora of the Manding Empire (West Africa). They
synchronised the complex rhythms of the African talking
drum with the Indian tabla and the newly invented Swiss
hang drum into their musical creations. This paper explores
Hands Percussion’s identity from local to cosmopolitan musicians,
whose opportunities for musical alliances are enhanced
through international networking and collaborations. While
Hands is exposed to many different musics from around the
world, I argue that Hands Percussion’s choices for international
musical alliances are not random but determined by
several principles and values including 1) Malaysian Chinese
values and virtuosic skills in drumming 2) openness, flexibility
and desire to learning new musics 3) artistic quality and
philosophical values. Through interviews with Hands Percus34
International Seminar on Innovation and Creativity of Arts (ISICA) #1
sion artistic directors and performers, this paper examines
the choices for global musical alliances made by Hands
choreographers in the construction of new pieces.