Meipsy Shackleford: Golden Record
- How has your colleague’s experience differed from yours? And how do you know?
Personally, I loved this activity. I had no idea the Golden Record even existed before this course. I am fascinated by the purpose behind this endeavour and how Carl Sagan and the other contributors narrowed down music, sounds, and images to represent Earth. The enchanting notion that this record would be humanity’s introduction to extra terrestrial life is overwhelming and yet captivating.
Our task was to narrow down the 27 tracks on the record to 10. Not surprisingly that Meipsy and I have several tracks in common. It seems we were both striving to have our tracks represent global diversity. Meipsy commented, “When I finally selected my 10 pieces I kept in mind the original intent that this is, “Music from Earth.” I then tried to make sure my list provided a global diversity of music from around the world while also trying to show the various temporal diversities of sound of voice and types of instrumentation” (Meipsy Shackleford). I also chose tracks to represent global diversity, however, my perspective was more focused on instrumental versus lyrical. I categorized my tracks by musicality, mathematics, language, and instruments. One track represents different rhythms and time scales, others have words from different languages, and lastly, some are instrumental and include melodic sounds while others have more jarring sounds. Meipsy categorized her songs according to, “continent to show a diversity of locations from around the world. The song choices also show the varied types of instrumentation, sound rhythms, beats and of course lyrical influences” (Meipsy Shackleford). I appreciate her laying out the tracks and connecting them to a continent. This really hits the point home that the music is from all over the world. I also like the quote by Einstein that Meipsy mentions in her reflection from the Twenty Thousand Hertz (2019) podcast, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Meipsy and I shared the same objective while working on this assignment, but our interpretation ended up being so different! To me, this proves how interpretation creates diversity.
- What web authoring tool have they chosen to manifest their work?
Meipsy decided to use a UBC Blog for this course.
- How does their tool differ from yours in the ways in which it allows content-authouring and end-user interface?
I am able to leave a comment on every post which provides Meipsy with specific, instant feedback. Under each tab at the top, her tasks are organized with the most recent first. My blog is organized by numerical order, but I can see the benefits of having them ordered by date.
- What theoretical underpinnings are evident in your/your colleague’s textual architecture and how does this affect one’s experience of the work?
I really like the way Meipsy’s blog is formatted. It is easy to navigate with clearly labeled tabs at the top. She has also included images and background information about herself. For me, this shows she is proud of her work and has made it personal.
Reference:
McDonald, L. (Executive Producer). (2019-present). Voyager Golden Record [Audio podcast]. Defacto Sound. https://www.20k.org/episodes/voyagergoldenrecord