Discovering music cryptograms in the works of Viorel Munteanu through computer aided methods

This analytical approach aims to demonstrate the connection between music and technology in the creation of composer Viorel Munteanu. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse the music cryptograms in Symphony No. 1 “Glossa” using digital analysis tools. Viorel Munteanu is a modern composer characterised by avangardist tendencies, but with a desire to revive the past. In his creations, the composer uses folkloric themes and byzantine chant, while evoking important personalities of Romanian culture. In Symphony No. 1 “Glossa”, Munteanu uses the music cryptogram of poet Mihai Eminescu and composer George Enescu, these structures being used as thematic material and cyclic motifs. For graphical illustration of the music cryptograms we used the digital library LibRosa and for the identification process we use a musical software which identifies these structures in a MIDI score. Also, we would be analysing the cryptograms’ functions, rhetorics and aspects influencing the form and genre of the symphony.

Max/Msp sebagai Medium Perluasan Perspektif Komponis pada Karya Musik Masa Kini

Purpose: This study is to understand the integration of music and technology that has broadened various perspectives in representing experiences into musical works. Research methods: This article is a literature review about Max/Msp. It is a software based visual programming language for music and multimedia. Results and discussion: The emergence of Max offers a variety of possibilities related to the space of creativity, as well as having an impact on the loss of the boundaries of the creativity process. On the other hand, from the many possibilities that can be offered, access and availability of books related to Max are still very limited in Indonesia. Implication: Max contributes in expanding musical works through various new perspectives.

Folk theories of algorithmic recommendations on Spotify: Enacting data assemblages in the global South

This paper examines folk theories of algorithmic recommendations on Spotify in order to make visible the cultural specificities of data assemblages in the global South. The study was conducted in Costa Rica and draws on triangulated data from 30 interviews, 4 focus groups with 22 users, and the study of “rich pictures” made by individuals to graphically represent their understanding of algorithmic recommendations. We found two main folk theories: one that personifies Spotify (and conceives of it as a social being that provides recommendations thanks to surveillance) and another one that envisions it as a system full of resources (and a computational machine that offers an individualized musical experience through the appropriate kind of “training”). Whereas the first theory emphasizes local conceptions of social relations to make sense of algorithms, the second one stresses the role of algorithms in providing a global experience of music and technology. We analyze why people espouse either one of these theories (or both) and how these theories provide users with resources to enact different modalities of power and resistance in relation to recommendation algorithms. We argue that folk theories thus offer a productive way to broaden understanding of what agency means in relation to algorithms.