ABSTRACT
This chapter examines brass bands as they developed in the colonial city and their relationship to the people who invested in their formation. The presence of brass bands in British mining villages as colliery bands by the 1850s and their involvement in miners’ everyday lives led to an enmeshing of their sonic and visual presence with identity – identity as miner, as working class, a union member and as part of a specific community. This enmeshing no doubt was a catalyst for migrants to form such bands in their new and strange colonial surroundings. In order to unpack the complexity of the ways in which the bands and their music were at work within the communities, a sociological approach is taken using affordance as a tool, as developed by Tia DeNora. The chapter also explores more speculative affordances such as the links music might create across the globe through memories embedded in timbral sound and repertoire, its potential to render strange environments safe and to elicit positive emotions, allowing self-care. This chapter is followed by a case study of a significant event, which allows a detailed analysis of the multiple ways in which brass bands and their music represented, enabled and enhanced the event.
