MUSICKING
Zheqin Li
Musicking (with qin) is a podcast project inspired by a live concert of ADOY band that I went to in March 2022 (spring break) in Los Angeles. During the concert, I had the feeling of “I’m alive again” because it’s been a while since the last time I went to a live concert.
The term “musicking” was coined by the scholar Christopher Small (1998). Here, “music” is treated not just as a noun but also a verb. Small argued that music is more than an object – it is also a process, which has an underlying logic that puts more focus on people. His attitude towards the use of this term is also open and inclusive, arguing that judgements concerning whether an activity is musicking or not “come later, if they come at all.” Small includes dancers, ticket collectors, piano movers, and more of a musical performance as people who are musicking.
I want to stick to Small’s attitude of using the term and argue that we’re musicking here in this podcast talking about music and musical events. Our ways of musicking include but are not limited to listening to music, attending live performances, creating music, reading and discussing music concepts (from ethnomusicology or musicology), and more.
This is an open space to share our musicking experience and experience musicking together. By musicking, we are all connected in some ways.
Please click here to read about my process of creating a podcast and making an episode
Episodes
please feel free to click into the page of each episode for more information. The video version is highly recommended!
EP.1 BeIn aLive | ADOY
In episode 1, I invited my friend Shiying (@shiying0511), who went to the live concert of ADOY in Los Angeles (Lodge Room Highland Park) with me on March 12th 2022, to reflect on and talk about this meaningful experience.
Cover: the CD cover of ADOY’s EP CATNIP that we bought before the concert; photo taken at the venue with its beautiful blue lights.
Please click here for more info on EP.1, including a video version.
