Music and the computer: Some anthropological considerations

Abstract

To outsiders it can often appear, with some justification, that those of us working in the field of computers and music are less interested in making discoveries about music itself and much more interested in the programming and internal workings of that ever more conspicuous electronic box of tricks. It would therefore seem appropriate to examine momentarily our directions and objectives, for if that criticism is even only partly true then we risk losing the power to communicate about general issues amongst ourselves, let alone with sceptics who view computational approaches with unease and suspicion. The anthropological approach to studying music as a human cognitive phenomenon reminds us of two things: one, that music is not an acoustical fact, but a social one; and two, that the investigative process is one that sheds as much if not more light on our own knowledge and expectations than it does on our subject. So, simply, do we pay enough attention to social factors in the construction of our computer models of music, and are we aware of the specific effects our methodologies have on the results we obtain? Or is our fascination with the computer as a toy likely to obscure these issues and relegate them to insignificance? The computer has the potential to be that third brain that can help bridge the gap in knowledge and perception between ourselves and the objects of our study. If we ignore these central questions of social meaning and methodology, then we risk developing a machine that is a fast and efficient processor, but ultimately of little more practical use than other modem machines like the typewriter or the phonogram with which we used to be equally fascinated.

Keyword:

• Epistemology
• methodology
• anthropological approaches