I would like to experiment with an information-based music making tool. Inspired by writings of T.W. Adorno, Simon Frith, Peter Martin, and Susan McClary, I will contain research regarding the sociology of music into a database, and provide playful interactive exercises meant to guide a user’s navigation. The final goal of each exercise will always be to create new music, although this is not required. Mainly, the tool aims to present to people, new perspectives about music’s existence. It will strive to expand a person’s music-listening capabilities, and encourage innovation within the realms of musical production.

The tool is entitled <DB1>. For the first experiment I will conduct, the excersice will be to answer a question: What might music sound like for a society that doesn’t already exist? Users will be given the option of choosing between four fictional and/or future predicted communities for which cinematic music has not already produced: <society A>, <society B>, <society C>, or <society D>. They will then navigate through the database, recording any relevant text or related ideas they’ve personally formed. Consequently, they will then produce original music to answer the question.

<DB1> will be powered by PHP, mySQL, and Macromedia FlashMX. I will input selected research into the database, but will provide a user’s capability to insert their own. A variety of composers from Toronto will be enrolled into the experiment through a poster campaign of various musical institutions/facilities, word-of-mouth, and email. Instruments and/or recording facilities required will be provided by the user.

The challenge of this experiment is to produce new music with old ideas.