Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0265 - Encapsulating Sounds: Introduction to Critical Organology

Every culture bears unique sensibilities to sounds. People cultivate distinctive ways of hearing, understanding, and relating to them in their everyday life. These sensibilities are also reflected in the processes of sound- and music-making. Different instruments are devised to encapsulate distinctive cultural values not only acoustically but also visually in their material forms. This course explores diverse music cultures of the world through the lens of critical organology (the study of musical instruments). We examine a wide range of sound-making devices broadly defined as "musical instruments" in their sociocultural and historical contexts. Our investigation encompasses topics such as social functions and significations of the instruments, e.g., ritual objects, status symbols, and exotic commodities; myths and symbolism attributed to the instruments; technology and craftsmanship involved in the fabrication, and ecological and ethical concerns for the use of certain materials, e.g., exotic wood, tortoise shells, and ivory. (keywords: world music, ethnomusicology, material culture, organology)

Environments and Change This course includes both in-person and remote elements, but can accommodate fully remote students. In this course, students can expect to spend 6 to 8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.