The Musical Archeologist

Episode 9: A Dreadful Hullaballoo Why did one nineteenth-century French musician describe military bands as producing "a dreadful hullaballoo"? In this episode of The Musical Archeologist , Craig Dabelstein explores Frédéric Berr's criticism of the bewildering variety of instruments found in military bands of his day. With every regiment assembling its own combination of players, no two bands soun...

How can you be responsible for a band if you have no power to lead it? In this episode of The Musical Archeologist , Craig Dabelstein explores Frédéric Berr's surprising criticism of nineteenth-century French military bands: bandmasters were expected to produce excellent performances, yet often lacked the authority to choose their musicians, enforce discipline, or shape the musical standards of th...

What happens when an army's musicians are hired one day, gone the next, and loyal only to whoever pays them? In this episode of The Musical Archeologist , Craig Dabelstein explores Frédéric Berr's colourful account of the problems caused by freelance musicians in nineteenth-century French military bands. With players constantly moving between regiments, standards became inconsistent, rehearsals su...

Episode 6: Why Good Bands Need Good Systems What makes a great band? Talented musicians? Inspiring conductors? Good instruments? According to nineteenth-century French bandmaster Frédéric Berr, none of these is enough without good organisation. In this episode of The Musical Archeologist , Craig Dabelstein explores Berr's passionate argument that successful musical ensembles are built on clear sys...

Episode 5: Why Do So Many Cultures Invent the Same Instruments? Why do people separated by thousands of kilometres—and sometimes thousands of years—often invent remarkably similar musical instruments? In this episode of The Musical Archeologist , Craig Dabelstein explores one of the most thought-provoking ideas from Belgian musicologist Ernest Closson. Is it because musical ideas travelled with mi...

Episode 4: The Strange Story of the Bone Flute Why would anyone make a musical instrument from a human bone? In this episode of The Musical Archeologist , Craig Dabelstein explores one of the most unsettling—and fascinating—stories in the history of music. Drawing on the writings of Belgian musicologist Ernest Closson, he uncovers historical accounts of flutes fashioned from human bones and asks w...

Episode 3: Can Musical Instruments Reveal Human Migration? Can a musical instrument tell us where people have travelled? In this episode of The Musical Archeologist , Craig Dabelstein explores one of the most intriguing ideas of Belgian musicologist Ernest Closson: that musical instruments are more than tools for making music—they are historical witnesses. Their shapes, materials, playing techniqu...

Episode 2: Why Do Bagpipes Exist All Over the World? Most people think of Scotland when they hear the word "bagpipes." But why do remarkably similar instruments appear across Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, India, and beyond? In this episode of The Musical Archeologist , Craig Dabelstein explores a fascinating idea from Belgian musicologist Ernest Closson. Rather than treating the bagpipe a...

Episode 1: What Was the First Musical Instrument? What was the very first musical instrument? Was it a flute carved from bone? A drum? A bow-string? Or did music begin with something even simpler? In the first episode of The Musical Archeologist , Craig Dabelstein explores a fascinating idea from Belgian musicologist Ernest Closson. Rather than searching for a single "first instrument," Closson as...

Welcome to The Musical Archeologist: Forgotten Ideas from Music's Past . In this trailer, host Craig Dabelstein introduces a podcast devoted to old books, forgotten composers, vanished musical worlds, archive discoveries, and the strange, moving, and sometimes funny stories music history left behind. Music by Jeffrey A. Young.