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[microsound] re: point about music cognition and language



re: am i alone in thinking that music (without a libretto/lyrics) is semiotically empty?

Music isn't semiotically empty - but a tone is. Once tones are sequenced into music, then we can identify "meanings." The tones in sequence signify history, culture, relations of production, etc. Jacques Attali wrote a book some time ago called "Noise: The Political Economy of Music." He says some interesting things about where music comes from, why we make it, etc. The important thing to take away from this book (as the title suggests) is that music is _always_ a cultural practice - and therefore semiotically rich.




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