CHOICE CUT 1 – GOLDEN RECORD PROJECT

There are a number of problems inherent to a project like the Golden Record Project that this class, MUS116 music appreciation, has laid bare. The Golden Record Project seeks to act as a representation of humanity and Earth’s global culture, but cannot hope to succeed at either due to the lack of true global culture, and the innumerable uniquenesses that are discredited by the term “humanity”. In Dr. Munarriz’s lecture on the many musics of Latin America, he addressed the problem with a term as general as Latin American Music. As there are dozens of musical styles and cultures in Latin America, using a blanket term is detrimental to the cogence of one’s argument. With this in mind, it is a fruitless effort to try and represent all of humanity in the contents of two golden records. Any attempt to choose “highlights” of humanity is a dangerous endeavor as well, as it is impossible to make objective choices regarding achievements as the values of different cultures vary wildly. To value the achievements of one culture over another through the lens of one’s own culture creates a canon specific to the perspective of the creators. The narrow cultural frame of reference prohibits the accurate representation of humanity as a whole, therefore failing in its goal of representing a global culture.  These problems are similarly addressed through Adam Neely’s video on the white supremacist reference frame of western music theory (https://youtu.be/Kr3quGh7pJA ), in which the perpetuation of a canon specific to a certain culture molded the global perception and education of music theory.  Even if a global canon was created by delegates from every country on earth, only a minute fraction of Earth’s “global culture” would be represented. Beyond that, there is not a computer powerful enough to house representations of every culture on earth and enough explanation and history to outline the relevance. Even were it possible, as of the creation of this Choice Cut, there is no guarantee that an extraterrestrial would be able to understand or interpret any of the information put forward.  In the nature of this (fantastic) class, the pursuit of opening one’s heart and mind to different types of music and art in general poses a significant obstacle to a project like the Golden Record Project, and before something like the GRP is put together all avenues of human culture should be closely examined.