| Another Idea of Mine |
Music has always fascinated me; how it can influence us emotionally, create a certain atmosphere or bring together people of various backgrounds. Whether it is classical music (which I enjoy very much), or modern music even in form of videogames (there’s a great variety too, from Minecraft to Doom, Pokémon to Zelda, etc.). It is prevalent in countless cultures around the world and modern means make it easier to listen to almost all of them. Given these many facets of music and access to modern technology, we could perhaps do something new – or rather old-new, because this concept already exists virtually.
Introduction
As stated above, it is not new in the sense that it is an innovation of my own after combining two separate things follwed by an „Eureka!“. It was less exciting: I was listening to music, or to be more precise: I listened to a city theme of Pokémon Black and White (not the Driftveil City theme, but it is certainly my favourite) when this idea suddenly emerged.
Each city got their own unique tune and it plays as soon as you enter it. So I asekd myself: could each village (or several who come together), city and region in our world adopt it too? Not blasting it 24/7, but on special events, public festivals or other events.
A theme that characterizes the chosen area, made by the people for the people. From the landscape to the people who live there (e.g. multi-cultural, multi-religious or emphasizing the sounds of the landscape throughout the seasons). Those who visit for the first time would get an idea of the general atmosphere and those who made it could express themselves how they feel about their region, who lives there (by using different instruments, varying speed or lower and higher tunes) and so on. A major project where the local community gets together workings towards this one goal.
Elaboration
Naturally, it is a big project for the community and it only increases with the size of the area (when it is several villagers or towns, for instance, combining their forces for this creative music project) or city. Before you start, remember that it requires close coordination (time for brainstorming, when to practice (meetings), deadlines if necessary, music/instruments/singers/choirs and recording equipment, etc.) and planning in advance (e.g. perhaps composing three songs/melodies which are then voted on, production of copies (CDs or sharing it digitally), a person or group that is responsible for social conflicts that may arise aka conflict management). Organizing is key!
If my idea finds any resonance, it is very likely that you’ll work with people who have experience with organizing projects to some extent or another – perhaps you are already good at organizing, conflicht management or something else.
Now to the musical instruments, both the conventional and unconventional ones.
In case your community, or group when the tasks are separated and it is combined later in a final product, wants to do something new that better describes your area/place and the conventional ones such as the violine, piano, cello, flute or guitar are too familiar – possibly even boring to you or others -, then you should feel free to be unconventional.
The link leads you to an article of CMUSE to give you an idea of what I mean.
It was invented by Léon Theremin who patented it in 1928.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be instruments either. If you are surrounded by nature or nature is important to your community, then why not record the sounds and either have them as your background ambience, digitally altered to make it faster or slower to fit the melody you are creating or even recording it entirely in this surrounding. From mountains to canyons, the acoustics will give it an unique signature as well!
That’s why brainstorming in the beginning, with this in mind, can always turn out to be quite helpful. Everyone contributes their ideas and later on you can still tweak this or that.
It is team work through and through, won’t be always easy but worthwile in the long-term!
Some of you may live in multicultural or ethnically/religiously diverse areas, so communication is even more important (starting with being aware of their holidays for planning, if they differ from the majority for instance). It could be more difficult, depending on the degree of exchange that already exists (or doesn’t exist), but at the same time it also allows for new experiences to be gathered (choirs, musical instruments, rhythms, etc.).
Regular meetings come in handy to solve problems, it doesn’t always have to be formal.
Back to musical instruments. Besides the conventional and unconventional ones, there’s also the alternative of settling in a niche. It ranges from self-made musical instruments (to make a certain sound that couldn’t be created otherwise) to using voice banks (e.g. Vocaloid, CeVio, Voiceroid) or settle on remixing composed pieces. So, there’s plenty to choose from! It is likely that I have missed something, but I think you get a good impression of the variety that is available to us.
Now it is up to you and your community or group what to choose, how to compose it (there’s always the option to make one general theme that describes the area or city/town/village and then themes for specific places, imagine it like having a miscroscope: first you see the cell itself and when you zoom in you see the cell organelles) and how you want to use and distribute it.
Online archivists and librarians could turn it, in consultation with those who made it or the creators allowing it through Creative Commons, into a large virtual music library.
Concluding Sentence
Music has always brought people together – whether they are fans listening to the same band/singer/composer, a choir, the band itself or an orchestra. This power behind music, to unite and inspire and stimulating imagination, has great potential. It won’t end conflicts in an instant or make problems disappear, but it is a bridge in an ever polarizing world.
Sources
Mosaik
https://de-academic.com/dic.nsf/dewiki/976834
The World’s Most Unusual Music Instruments
https://www.cmuse.org/most-unusual-music-instruments/
Creative Commons
https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/cclicenses/
Driftveily City Theme (Pokemon Black & White)
https://youtu.be/xc_0wfIuuzw?si=DiWdgl7Cf7mXkS0-
Baroque 