6. the songs I wrote using the data ; index ; 8. bonus features
I've refrained from making sweeping statements about the nature of popular music criticism in this project, and that's because my interests lie in making music, not criticizing critics. My database remains open to the public, and others are welcome to study the wordlists, concordances, word classes, and songs and come to their own conclusions.
All that said, it's much harder for me to read the Pitchfork website and other music review publications now, since words from my word lists keep popping up in positive reviews. Perhaps that's a testament to the validity or thoroughness of my project...I'm not sure.
It's my final project for a BA in Interdisciplinary
Studies in the Humanities at the University of Chicago. My program
is a self-designed combination of computer science and music, and I'm
very interested in finding new ways to make music using computers,
hence the nature of this project. I have no background in statistics or
content analysis, but I learned a lot about them along the way.
I'm doing this project because I find it entertaining, and I'm
interested in the results of the study more as trivia than anything
else. I'm also doing it to demonstrate alternative ways to spark
musical creativity using computers, and after writing these songs I can
safely say that this compositional method is flexible, stimulating, and
a lot of fun.
My BA advisor is William Sterner in the Computer Science department.
I've also been working with Matthew Hofer from the English department,
who served as the BA preceptor for ISHUM during the 2003-04 school year.
David Bevington, the Director of ISHUM's inclusive option, and Lewis
Fortner, the ISHUM college advisor, have both helped a lot in hooking
me up with the right people.
Yes, all the statistical analysis is really dry. But that's why the main
goal of the project was to write new songs based on the data. You can
download and listen to the songs I wrote in chapter 6.
No. I have a good full-time job that I enjoy, and I spend all of
my free time making music and
running a label. I don't
have time to write reviews of other people's music. Also, I don't
really like to write. That's why it took me a year to write
this paper you're reading. :)
No. I'm just trying to graduate from college. I've had the idea for
this project for a long time, and it's been very exciting to see it
through to completion. I don't want or need “the fame.”
No, I'm not convinced that this process (or any process) is a surefire
way to make music that Pitchfork critics (or any critics) actually
like. All that's provided by my project is a set of compositional
guidelines tied to past Pitchfork reviews. You can make a lot of
different-sounding music using those same guidelines depending on
how you apply them to your music, but will all of it be good? No, of
course it won't.
There's no such thing as “perfect” pop music, and you
couldn't generate it using a computer if there were. Music is a very
human thing, and that's what makes it great.
No...I actually didn't find out about that band or their book until
somebody at WHPK told me about
it (he brought it up after I told him about this project). I'm a big
fan of the KLF now, though. Their book is an interesting read and they did
a very different kind of study from my own; I highly recommend
reading it if you can find
a copy online. (The KLF book is called The Manual: How to Have a
Number One—The Easy Way, and I'm pretty sure it's out of
print.)
The KLF's music is fantastic. Go pick up a copy of their album called
"The White Room"...I bought mine from the dollar bin at a used CD store
that I stopped at while driving down the coast of California. The KLF
had no day jobs and a large budget to make their album, and so far I
haven't had the opportunity to make music under similar circumstances.
Any established record labels out there want to take a chance on me? ;)
I'm slowly becoming aware of similar projects as people send them to me.
Here's what I know about already:
No. I read Pitchfork from time to time and find it a useful place to
learn about new music. I'm also a big fan of Epitonic because you can actually
download and listen to samples of music there, and I like Dusted too. I don't hate
Pitchfork at all, and I don't think less of them after doing this
project (although honestly I wish female pronouns got better wordscores...
look at the end of chapter 4 for that).
Of course not. Popular music is an extraordinarily complex cultural
phenomenon, and it's hard to write and produce a good song—some people
spend their whole lives trying to do it right. If pop music weren't as
complex as it is, then this project wouldn't be as interesting as it
is. A few thousand lines of code could never master such an intricate art
form; so far, the best pop songs have all been written by people, with
computers serving a supporting role at best.
In chapter 6, I discuss in detail the
compositional decisions that I made as a result of the data that I
collected. The music that I normally make is very different
from the music I made for this project in a number of key ways. In
particular, the data made me do these things that I wouldn't otherwise
consider doing:
I also found it very disorienting to be forced into compositional
decisions against my will, and that disorientation probably affected
the songs (and my relationship to and feelings towards the songs during
the writing process) as well.
Yes, please do! And send them to me so I can hear them. I'll make an
area on this webpage and post them there if you don't mind.
6. the songs I wrote using the data ;
index ;
8. bonus features
Frequently Asked Questions