DIGITAL LIBRARY
SOUNDING OFF: MUSIC AS METHOD
Composer/Performing Artist (CANADA)
About this paper:
Appears in: ICERI2011 Proceedings
Publication year: 2011
Pages: 4423-4431
ISBN: 978-84-615-3324-4
ISSN: 2340-1095
Conference name: 4th International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation
Dates: 14-16 November, 2011
Location: Madrid, Spain
Abstract:
The socio-historical significance of music making has long traditions of practice in aural and non- western cultures, yet there is little theorizing of music’s place within critical discourse and research practices of western knowledge production. Given music’s pervasiveness across time, place and technologies, music making would seem to be an ideal method of investigation into social and cultural inquiries. This paper addresses this gap in knowledge/methodology and positions music as a major source of social data within praxis oriented research practices.

The paper builds upon formative Western theories of sound, noise and organized noise (music) referenced in the early works of Schafer (1977), McLuhan (1964), Attali (1985), and Gilroy (1987) as their ideas still tend to be some of the most radical (as in root) sources of theorizing both music and sound. McLuhan felt that “in the electronic age we are living entirely by music” (Edmunds, 2008, p.107). Although I do not go that far in my estimation of our cultural makeup, I do feel music has long been overlooked, not only as means of representing research data but also as a legitimate form of cross-cultural research.

My research moves beyond the traditions of text-based methodologies to produce praxis-based research through a more performative, participatory methodology. In drawing links between and among research traditions and historical evidence, I suggest that music making is an efficient methodology that can contribute to the twenty-first century multimedia discourse. It is within this multimedia context that educators and social researchers have much to gain from the application of music to research inquiries. By expanding upon the inclusion of aural data within the discourse of qualitative research methodologies, I suggest that music making has an untapped potential to be a research tradition within its own right. This paper discusses how music is not only a medium and a message but also has the potential to be a praxis-based method of inquiry.
Keywords:
Music, methodology, praxis, performance.