Creativity, Cultural Improvisation, and Flutes: Moldovan Naiists and Irish Flute Players Make Their Way in the World
Creativity, Cultural Improvisation, and Flutes: Moldovan Naiists and Irish Flute Players Make Their Way in the World

Summary/Abstract: In order to begin to understand human musical creativity, musicologists and anthropologists must examine the ways that individual musicians subjectively ”improvise” in all aspects of their daily lives. The common assumptions that creative thinking or action belong to special individuals at specific times are misleading since every human being has to constantly live creatively in emergent social settings. This paper analyzes the creative acts of two general groups of musicians as a form of cultural improvisation shaped by social and material constraints in their particular settings and styles. Traditional Irish musicians, who play flutes, and Moldovans, who play a wide variety of musical styles with the Pan flute called ”nai”, participate in cultural improvisation processes to make their way into the complicated world of music of the XXI century. In both cases, these musicians have taken on the task of performing on instruments that are outside of the realm of more common musical practice and are very difficult to learn. The undertaken creative actions in response to various musical and social settings reveal their developing experiences, expectations for sound, and the nature of their respective instruments. These depend on decision-makers and specialized instrument traders, thoughtful teachers and collaborators, and their own love for their instruments, as they negotiate complicated situations at home and abroad.

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