The research department was founded with the intention of extending research beyond documentation, transcription, and analysis to include and action; it is built around the belief that merely capturing music and dance on an audio or audiovisual carrier of some for is but a first step rather than an end. A large portion of our research is carried out with the aim of integrating different musical styles and traditions into teaching materials for a national curriculum.
Though only four months old, the research department has seen no shortage of action. Recently, sarangi players from Pokhara and Dhan were recorded; the transcription of this material is already underway, with the intention of learning (and eventually teaching) the nuances of these musicians’ styles. Kartik dance, created by Siddi Narsing Malla some four hundred years ago, has also recently been recorded by our research team over seven nights in Patan. After the dance and accompanying music is transcribed, Kartik dance will be incorporated into teaching material which will hopefully make this tradition accessible to those in areas where it is not performed. Other musicians who have been recorded in Chitwan and Terai have also been invited to Kathmandu as part of a National Exchange Program, ensuring that those we do research with have an opportunity to share their expertise with a wide audience.
Another activity the research department has taken charge of is the organizing of concerts to showcase and honor musicians with whom we have conducted research. After research was done with Neku players, a program was held at NMC to celebrate their contribution to their musical tradition. This also falls under our goal to work towards the promotion of local artists.
These examples make clear the department’s belief that research should entail action. To ensure that this commitment endures, an NMC research methodology is currently being developed in order to make the work of the department “goal-oriented”. In the near future, research on the music of some forty-nine communities will be conducted, and teaching materials will be drawn up using these findings. We will also be beginning an archive at NMC in the near future, taking cues from Music Nepal, who have been archiving the musics and dances of Nepal for the last four years. In these ways, the research department looks to fulfill academic goals with an added dimension of action aimed at celebrating and disseminating the many musics and dances of Nepal.