The 10 pieces of music I chose:
Please click on the red interactive icon (left of the title) to view the full music list, and click on the country flags to watch individual videos.
Parameters and criteria
Human voices
Human speech and the human voice are primary forms of communication on earth. If extraterrestrial life forms have the capacity for vocal communication, including human voices could serve as a point of connection. Also, human voices can express a wide range of emotions and intentions, potentially helping more efficient message passing. Therefore, I included pieces 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7.
Universality
Universally understood music may have a better chance of being comprehensible to a wide range of potential recipients. This means choosing relatively simple and intuitive music unrelated to specific linguistic contexts. So I added pieces 2, 3, 6, 8, and 10 to my list. Additionally, adding music with universal mathematical foundations enables communication with creatures who don’t have hearing or live in different time scales (Taylor, 2019). Since mathematics was highly incorporated into Beethoven’s music (Chang, 2007), I included the number 9.
Human diversity
In order to present a more comprehensive representation of human creativity and culture, I chose to add songs with different types and backgrounds. My list included Jazz & Blues (number 3), Rock and Roll (number 4), popular music (number 4 and number 5), and classical music (number 9). Moreover, I added pieces tied to specific cultural contexts, emphasizing our cultural diversity. For example, the second song shows the culture of Navaja Indians, and piece 6 represents Chinese culture.
Human values
Incorporating aspects of human values, such as love, cooperation, and empathy, can help represent the best aspects of humanity and convey the idea that we aspire to live by these principles. Expressing peaceful intent may serve as a foundation for building a positive and cooperative relationship. Therefore, I selected songs that beautifully depict highly abstract terms. In detail, pieces 1 and 7 tell about marriage, love, and memory; number 2 is about healing; and pieces 6 and 10 depict the nature of the earth.
References
Chang, C. C. (2007). Fundamentals of piano practice. https://fundamentals-of-piano-practice.readthedocs.io/about.html
Taylor, D. (Host). (2019, April). Voyager golden record. [Audio podcast episode]. In Twenty thousand hertz. Defacto Sound.