Explore the boundaries and potential infinity of music in this comprehensive lecture. Delve into historical efforts to catalog musical materials, from Carnatic melacarta to Arabic maqam wazn, and contemporary attempts to pre-copyright melodies. Investigate the simplification of tempos, lyrics, and chord progressions in popular music over time. Examine the concept of infinite music through examples like the Shepard tone and works by Bach, Schubert, and John Coltrane. Learn about musical morphospace, the intricacies of blues organ playing, and the controversial idea of copyrighting all possible melodies. Engage with thought-provoking questions about the limits of musical perception and imagination, concluding with a discussion on the Musical Library of Babel and its implications for the future of music creation.
Is Music Infinite? Exploring the Limits and Possibilities of Musical Creation
Overview
Syllabus
Introduction
Tempos getting simpler James Brown to 70s disco
Lyrics getting simpler From Pink Floyd to Justin Bieber
Pop songs using the same four chords
Pitch/timbre getting simpler
Classic songs that were covers/sampled other songs
From rock'n'roll to death metal
The shortest note
Infinite music
Shepard tone
Bach's 'The Musical Offering'
Schubert's 'Sonata in B-flat Major'
The Andalusian Muwashahat
Morgenstern & Barlow's Dictionary
Forte numbers
Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns
John Coltrane's 'Giant Steps', 'A Love Supreme'
Morphospace
How Jimmy Smith played the blues organ
Damien Riehl copyrighting all melodies to protect artists
The Musical Library of Babel + Conclusion
Q&A Session
Taught by
Gresham College
