Before completing the research for this assignment, I did not know anything about NASA’s Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. I had definitely heard their names before but I did not realize that these are spacecraft are on a mission to explore deep space, nor the fact they contain a time capsule in the form of “Golden Record” on-board. I love the fact that the scientists decided to include this account of life of Earth in the event that the Voyagers are found by extraterrestrial life forms. It would have been a challenging task to curate the music that best represented Earth to put on the record. For more information on “Golden Record”, please visit NASA’s website. However, this task and the existence of the “Golden Record” definitely makes one consider whether or not all of the information we currently have recorded on Earth actually represents everyone on Earth equally, and the answer is definitely, no. The people with the power are typically those that are recording our Earth’s history and deciding what perspectives to preserve based upon their preferences, values, and biases.
I would like to think that if this project was taking place now, the scientists and scholars would have actually asked for input from other countries and cultures, as to what music they would want included to represent their part of the world, but it is probably as unlikely now as it was 40 years ago. Thus, in the process of reducing the 27 tracks down to ten, I felt incredibly unqualified to make these judgments, and no one person would be fully qualified, as according to Rumsey (2017), we are all “creatures” of the environment and culture that we grow up in which is why we need to share the curation of our cultural memory (Brown University, 2017).
Nonetheless, I formed a criteria that I felt was somewhat “fair”, and yet it is still based upon my understanding of the world, perspectives, value judgements, and the little understanding that I hold in regards to the cultures of the world. However, my main criteria was that every continent where humans reside be represented. My secondary considerations to help me narrow it down were that I was looking to provide a variety in musical instruments or genres, represent different time periods, and hopefully include songs that represented certain unique aspects about the Earth itself (water, animals) and/or intimate details about the human condition.
A Song for Each Continent (except Antarctica)
For the North and South America, as well as Australia, I felt that it was important to have music that was created by Indigenous peoples from these continents. This is why I chose the three songs listed above to represent the continents of North America, South America, and Australia.
For Asia, I chose “Flowing Streams” because of the fact water is the “life blood” of Earth. This song evokes images of water, which is essential for our survival. Not to mention the fact that the surface of Earth is primarily covered in it.
While I really love classical music, it is hard not to feel that European classical composers are over represented on the Golden Record. However, it was pretty easy to choose Beethoven’s “5th Symphony, First Movement” to represent Europe. The first few bars are so famous and it is such a masterpiece. The fact that Beethoven composed this Symphony with minimal hearing is a testament to the capacity that humankind’s ability to create and overcome obstacles. There is also something about this symphony that is epic, similar to the decision to send the Voyager’s off to explore interstellar space.
For Africa, I chose this piece as percussion instruments are some of the earliest instruments made by humans, so it felt appropriate to have percussion instruments featured in their own piece. Plus, beats and rhythms are essential to life on Earth, and this importance is captured with these instruments.
Bonus Selections
I chose this piece simply because as the only piece of rock music it would be considered one of the more recently composed pieces of music on the Golden Record, so it provides a glimpse of where Earth was at when the Voyager spacecrafts were launched.
I felt that it was appropriate to include a jazz/blues piece as the origin really represents the human condition and the resilience that despite the endless horrible things that happen including the pain that humans have inflicted upon each other, there remains a lot of beauty on Earth and life is precious.
I really like this piece and I feel like you can sense that it is trying to evoke images of a Crane, and thus, provides a sense of the fact that humans are not the only “animals” living on Earth.
The tenth selection was the most difficult, but eventually I realized that the majority of the pieces are quite somber, and I decided to select a piece that represents that there is joy and fun to be had on Earth. I think that this is arguably the most uplifting piece of music on the Golden Record.
References
Brown University. (2017, July 11). Abby Smith Rumsey: “Digital memory: What can we afford to lose?” [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBrahqg9ZMc
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