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Abstract
Music serves as a powerful tool that shapes societies primarily through entertainment and, more importantly, through communication and the preservation of culture. Identifiers play a crucial role within cultures, influencing composers' perspectives on music. African thought leaders like Ngugi wa Thiong’o urge African writers to view themselves in relation to their identity, rather than through the various colonial experiences faced across the African continent. This recording project investigates the clicks of two South African languages, isiZulu and isiXhosa, aiding me in repositioning myself within cultural identities. Moreover, exploring clicks through modern technologies opens up the potential for creating large works from simple building blocks. African musicians have retained these clicks within the text, ensuring that meaning persists in the language. I produced, recorded, and manipulated the clicks utilized in this project at various stages of the composition process, using electroacoustic tools available in the digital audio workstations, Logic Pro X and Audacity, to explore meanings that extend beyond language. The clicks are categorized in three ways: within text, within expressions, and apart from text. Additional themes encompass affirmations of identity, declarations of existence, and assertions of independence. The clicks often heard as soundscapes in southern African languages can be contracted and expanded to serve as instrumental textures in a composition. This research underscores the potential for African composers to delve into their cultures and discover the myriad sonic elements available, highlighting what African thought leaders advocate: a need to explore their African identity.