Percussion
Ethnomusicology
Digital Video
Web Design
bhogan music is the website of Brian Hogan, percussionist, ethnomusicologist, videographer, and web designer.
Here, you can find links to the musical projects I am involved in, the film projects I am working on,
my research as an ethnomusicologist, and my work as a web designer. Be sure to check out the audio and video
sections of the site, as well as a clip of my upcoming film on Lobi Music.
The music on this site features the musical output of contemporary musicians from across the U.S.
whom I have had the pleasure to collaborate with over the years. The purpose of the musical portion of this site
is to amplify the works of these contemporary musicians and myself outside of the channels of the mainstream music industry.
I also want to share our art with you. The ensembles represented here feature myself on drumset and/or percussion, and
the tremendous musical talents that are my friends. You can hear these projects with the audio player on the left, and see them
on the images and video pages. Or just click on any of the percussion links.
My research in ethnomusicology is primarily on West African and African American music, though as a PhD student in UCLA's
Ethnomusicology Department, I have studied many different muscial traditions from around the world. I am currently working
with the Lobi peoples of northwest Ghana to further document their musical traditions, with special attention to their xylophone
repertiores. The Lobi have for generations used xylophone performance and music in general to mark daily and life events, crafting
songs built from narratives of regional history. The relationship between song text and melodic contour in Lobi xylophone music is extremely
close, as the xylophone acts as a speech surrogate for local Lobi languages, as well as national languages. My biographically
oriented research focuses on 6 xylophonists from northwest Ghana, two of whom are blind. You can read more about my research
by clicking on any of the ethnomusicology links above.
As musician and ethnomusicologist, acheiving the highest quality field recordings possible has always been a primary goal.
Recently, I have put these recording and editing skills to use on my own film projects, and those of other folks. You can
see many of these videos on the video page, while some of my larger projects have their own pages, such as The Funeral of Kakraba Lobi.
In additiona to my musical interests, I am also a professional web designer, available for hire. I specialize in multimedia functionality and dynamic user interfaces.
I have worked for large businesses, small business owners, as well as individual artists. You can see my current
projects by clicking on any of the Web Design links.