For this task, we needed to curate a list of 10 songs from the 27 musical pieces which exist in the Golden Record (NASA, n.d.)
My method for curating the final list focused on Rumsey’s question of what we can “afford to lose” (2017) which was the central thesis of her talk at Brown University. In a mere 10 songs, there is no true way to ensure that we can embody the sheer diversity of culture on Earth. Therefore, I looked at the sounds which each piece on the Golden Record (NASA, n.d.) contained; although I do play many instruments, I am in no way able to completely identify each individual sound placed within this playlist. In lieu of that, I used the brief synopsis provided by Taylor (2019) for each song and my own ear to try and curate a list of songs containing the largest variety of discreet rhythm, pitch, tonal quality, and style, as opposed to looking at culture. Below is a table of my notes, as well as the final 10 songs chosen.
|
Song |
Unique Aspect of Earth, Sound, or the Human Experience |
| Wedding Song – Peru | Raw vocals (young girl) |
| Ugam – Azerbaijan bagpipes | Wind instruments (bagpipes) |
| Bach – WTK 2, no 1, Glenn Gould | String/keys (piano solo) |
| Mozart – Queen of the night – Eda Moser | Opera (orchestra and soprano vocalist) |
| Tchakrulo – Choir – Georgia | Men’s choir (lower chants, layered vocals) |
| Men’s house song – Papua New Guinea | Wind instruments (traditional pipes) |
| Morning Star and Devil Bird – Australia | Raw vocals (deeper male), percussive strings |
| Navajo Night Chant – America | Chorus (soprano), percussion (beads?) |
| Panpipes and drum song – Peru | Wind instruments (panpipes), drums |
| Sacrificial Dance – Comp & Cond Stravinsky | Symphony (ballet) – very jarring (lots of sforzandos) |
| Melanesian panpipes | Wind instruments (traditional panpipes in chorus) |
| Melancholy Blues – L Armstrong & His Hot Seven | Wind instruments, jazz ensemble (Trumpet solo) |
| Johnny B Goode – Chuck Berry | Rock ensemble, vocals |
| Jaat Kahan Ho – India – Surshri | Vocals, pizzicato strings, strings bowed |
| Iziel je Delyo Hagdutin – Bulgaria | Wind instruments (pipes in chorus), vocals |
| Dark was the night – Blind Willie Johnson | Strings (guitar), vocals |
| Fairie Round – cond David | Wind instruments (flutes) |
| El Cascabel – Lorenzo Barcelata & the Mari | Strings (guitar, violin, harp), wind instruments, mariachi, vocals (chorus) |
| Flowing Streams – China | Traditional Chinese strings |
| Bach – Gavotte en Rondo – A Grumiaux | String duet (violins) |
| Bach – Brandenburg no 2, part 1 | Orchestra (mainly wind and strings) |
| Kinds of Flowers – Javanese | Bells, mallet percussion, vocals, strings |
| Tchenhoukoumen, percussion | Mallet percussion |
| Beethoven 5th, part 1, Otto Klemperer | Symphony |
| Cranes in their nest – Japan (Shakuhachi) | Wind instruments (traditional flutes) |
My final 10:
- Wedding Song – Peru
- Bach – WTK 2, no 1, Glenn Gould
- Mozart – Queen of the night – Eda Moser
- Tchakrulo – Choir – Georgia
- Melancholy Blues – L Armstrong & His Hot Seven
- Johnny B Goode – Chuck Berry
- Jaat Kahan Ho – India – Surshri
- Iziel je Delyo Hagdutin – Bulgaria
- Kinds of Flowers – Javanese
- Beethoven 5th, part 1, Otto Klemper
References
Brown University. (2017, July 11). Abby Smith Rumsey: “Digital memory: What can we afford to lose?” [Video]. YouTube.
Music from Earth. (n.d.). NASA.
Taylor, D. (Host). (2019, April). Voyager golden record. [Audio podcast episode]. In Twenty thousand hertz. Defacto Sound.
Amazingly well thought out post Anne. I went through a bit of a similar process when trying to cull the list of songs down to a meager 10; I really like your process of working out the different sounds and the tonal compositions of the different songs and trying to differentiate between them in that manor. I also really appreciate your note on the inability to embody all of earth’s culture, as that was something that weighed heavily on my decision making process as well. I am curios to hear your thoughts on whether there were any musical genres or tonal “soundscapes” that you found to be over-represented in the original list of tracks that you would have liked to see replaced with something more unique, or did you find the original selections diverse enough? If you had the opportunity to add in a few songs of your own choosing, what would they be and what would be your criteria/ justification for these choices?
Hi Cody,
Thank you! It was definitely quite a process. In regards to your questions, yes, I did definitely find that there was overrepresentation in tracks from European artists, especially with having two tracks from Beethoven and two from Bach. While I understand how monumental those tracks are in what we refer to as classical music today, the majority of the Earth’s diverse population and culture are not actually represented by those artists without the influence of colonization. I was surprised as well to see two tracks from Peru. I would have loved to see more music from southeast Asia or from Canadian Indigenous groups, although that also comes from my own biases. I think it would also be wonderful to have another modern song as well, considering how much music has evolved in the last century. I don’t have any particular songs in mind, however.