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Tagg: Musics Meanings

7.Interobjectivity

Intro

Fig. 7-1. Black box:

escape route 1

IN CHAPTER 6 we started trying to unpack the

blackboxofmusicalmeaning(Figure71).Ethno
graphicobservation,receptiontestsandataxon
omy of VVAsled totheestablishmentofshared
subjectivity of response, as evidence of other
thingsthanjustmusicthatdemonstratetheexist
enceofsemanticfieldslinkedtomusicalstructure
inananalysisobject(AO).Thoseotherthingsare
called paramusical fields of connotation, or PMFCs
forshort.Thelinksarenotextrabutparamusical
because they exist alongside or in connection with
themusic,asanintrinsicpartofmusicalsemiosis
inarealculturalcontext,notasexternalappend
agestothemusic.1TheVVAsinChapter6all
verbalisedintermsofmovement,location,mood,
feeling and people, all those library music titles
anddescriptionsetc.areintrinsicallyparamusical.Theyareessential
to the establishment of PMFCs, i.e. of particular semantic fields con
nected to particular sets of musical sound in particular cultural con
texts.Now,thePMFCsinChapter6derivedmainlyfromintersubjective
observationsofresponseinrelationtoparticularstructuralconfigura
tionsinparticularpiecesofmusic.Thischapterfocusesonaninterobjec
tiveapproachtomusicalsemiosis(Figure72,p.238).

Interobjectivityclearlyhassomethingtodowithrelationshipsbetween
objects.Itpresupposesthatobjectsconsistofstructuralelements,and
thatoneobjectcanbemoreorlesslikeanotherdependingontheele
1.

(para)=beside,alongside,issuingfrom,etc;extra(Latin)=outside.

230

Tagg: Musics Meanings 7. Interobjectivity

ments,ifany,theyshareincommon.Now,ifanyofmusicsstructural
elementsare,asweveargued,capableofcarryingmeaningwellneed
firsttohavesomeideaofwhatismeantbythreeconcepts:[1]amusical
object;[2]amusicalstructure;[3]amusicalstructurethatcarriesmean
ingormuseme.Withthoseworkingdefinitionsbehinduswellbeable
tofocusmoreclearlyoninterobjectiveprocedures.

Basicterminology
Objectandstructure
Intheexpressionanalysisobject(AO),objectisnotusedinthePeircean
sense(p.156).Hereitjustmeansanidentifiablepieceofmusicinaudible
form,theobjectofanalysis.2Itcanbeapopsong,aclassicalsymphony
movement,ajingle,afilmmusiccue,aTVthemeetc.,anditusuallyhas
anameortitleofsomesort.Whenusedinthissense,amusicalobject,if
storedasrecordedsound,willtypicallyoccupyoneCDtrackorconsti
tute a single audio file. Therefore, the interobjective procedures ex
plained later in this chapter involve the establishment of sonic
relationshipsbetweenananalysisobject(AO)andatleastoneothermu
sicalobject(piece,song,movement,track,etc.).Therecurringproposi
tion ininterobjective analysis is that somethingin musical object A (the
AO)soundslikesomethinginmusicalobjectB(orCorDorZ).
Now,thatSOMETHINGTHATSOUNDSLIKEcouldbealmostanything.It
mightbeaturnofmelodicphrase,ariff,asonority,arhythmicpattern,
aharmonicsequenceortypeofchord,aparticularuseofparticularin
struments, of vocal timbre, of acoustic space, any of which could be
presentedataparticularspeedinaparticularregisterataparticular
levelofintensityandsoon.Anysuchsomething,canbepoetically
identifiedasaparticularconfigurationofdifferentparametersofmusical
expressionofthesortjustmentioned(rhythm,pitch,timbre,etc.).Itwill
alsousuallybeacombinationofseveralsuchsomethings.Itcouldbe
aparticularharmonicsequenceplayedbyparticularinstrumentsusing
aparticularrhythmicpattern,oraparticularmelodicturnofphrasede
liveredwithaparticularvocaltimbreataparticularpitchandvolume
inaparticulartypeofacousticspacetowardsthefront,back,left,right
2.

Pieceofmusicisdefinedonpage272.

Tagg: Musics Meanings 7. Interobjectivity

231

orcentreofthemix.Mostofthesesomethingswillbeshortenoughto
fitintotheextendedpresentbuttheycanalsobeprocessual,compris
ingtheorderandmannerinwhichdifferentsections(episodes)inthe
AOarepresented,varied,extended,shortenedorrepeated.3
Whatever the exact structural characteristics of the possible types of
somethingmaybe,Ijustusedpoeticratherthanaesthesictermstoex
emplifythoseconstituentaspectsofamusicalobject,i.e.Iusedterms
derived from the processof constructing the sounds rather from how
theyre perceived as communicating anything else than themselves.4
Thesomethingsofthepreviousparagraphareinthatsensequalifiable
asstructuralbecauseanyonethemcanbeconceptualisedasamusical
structure regardless of semiotic potential. Just like these words typed
into my computer, written to disk and useless until they are read or
heard,musicalideasalsohaveasemioticallydormantmodeofexist
ence,whetherstoredasanaudiorecording,orasascore,orinthebrain
cells of individuals constituting a musical community: they are also
useless until they are reproduced and heard inside the head or out
loud.5Inotherwords,amusicalstructure,asapoeticallydeterminable
entityandsetofsoundsinphysicalform,alwayshasthepotentialto
becomeasigninPeircesprimarytrinityofsemiosis.6Inthatcaseitssta
tusassignpresupposesthatthestructuralentitymaterialisesaninitial
ideaorintention,and,moreimportantly,thatitslinkedtoaninterpre
tant.Ifsuchastructureisnotconsideredsemioticallyitremainsjustthat
amerestructurebutifitsconsideredalongwithintendedorper
ceivedmeaningitalsobecomesasign,astructuralitemofmusicalsigni
fication.Astructuralitemwithsemioticpropertiesinmusicwillbecalleda
MUSEME.Ifonlythingswerethatsimple
3.
4.
5.

6.

SeeGlossaryandpp.272273forexplanationoftheextendedpresent.Parametersof
musicalexpressionarediscussedinChapters812.
Forexplanationofpoeticandaesthesic,seeGlossaryandp.115,ff.
Thisdormantstatecanbecomparedtoaparkedcar.Tobeofanyuseasavehicle,it
hastobedesigned,itspartsproducedandassembled.Youhavetoknowhowto
driveit,butunlessyoureamechanic,youwontthinkofthecarinthesamewayas
thosewhomadeit.Parkedmotionlessitstillexistsandcanbethoughtofasaphys
icalobjectaswellasofintermsofitspotentialuses.
Peircesprimarytrinity:object,sign,interpretant(pp.156158).PleasenotethatIm
notusingobjecthereinthePeirceansense.

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Museme
ThetermmusemewascoinedbyCharlesSeeger(1960:76).7
[Itisa]unitofthreecomponentsthreetonebeats[which]cancon
stitutetwoprogressionsandmeettherequirementsforacomplete,in
dependent unit of musiclogical form or mood in both direction and
extension.Itcanberegardedasamusicalmorphemeormuseme.

The last part of this statement is clear enough: if a morpheme is the

smallestlinguisticunitthathasmeaninginandofitselfthenamuseme
isthesmallestunitembodyingmeaninginmusic.8Ifthatisso,Seegers
explanationofthetermisproblematicforseveralreasons.
Tone,as in tone beat, isthefirstproblemwithSeegers definitionof
museme.Iftonemeansanoteofdiscerniblefundamentalpitch,thena
musical structure consisting of three notes without discernible funda
mentalpitch,asinadrumpattern,wouldhavenomusiclogicalform
ormoodandwouldcarrynomeaning.Sincethatconclusionisboth
falseandaninsulttodrummersletsassumethatSeegermeantthree
notes, using note in the MIDI sense of the word, i.e. a single, discrete
soundoffinitedurationinapieceofmusic,whetherornotthesoundis
tonal.9 At least that definition caters for the connotative distinction
most Western listeners are capable of making between, say, a sym
phonictimpanirollandaFUNKYDRUMMERloop.Itwouldalsoletususe
thetermmusemetohorizontallyidentifymeaningfulunitsofrhyth
micandmelodicstructuration,i.e.intermsofatleastthreeconsecutive
notesandtothinkaboutsuchunlayeredmusemesasconstituentele
mentsinsinglestrandunitsofmusicalmeaningmusemestrings,as
evidencedinmusicalmotifs,phrases,ostinatopatternsorriffs,etc.10So
far,sogood.Thetroubleisthatmusicalmeaningisnotsolelydepend
entonnotesequences(thediachronic,horizontalaspect).Itis,aswell
7.

Seeger(18861979),UScomposer/musicologist,andfatherofPeteandPeggy,took
pioneeringstepstobridgethegapbetweenmusicologyandotherdisciplines.
8. SeeGlossaryforexplanationsofmorphemeandphoneme.
9. Seepp.273276andGlossaryforexplanationofnote,pitch,toneandtonal.
10. SeegersATLEASTTHREENOTESrule,questionedonpage235,isperhapsbetter
understoodasanATLEASTTWOCHANGESrulebecause:[1]thechangefrommusical
silencetonoteatthestartofapieceorafterapauseisalso(quellesurprise!)amusical
change;[2]thefinalnoteofasinglestrandmusemeisoftenelidedintothefirstnote
ofthesubsequentsinglestrandmuseme(Tagg,1982:5458).

Tagg: Musics Meanings 7. Interobjectivity

233

see,atleastasmuchamatterofsimultaneouslayering(thesynchronic,
verticalaspect)ofnotes.11
Thisisneitherthetimenorplacetodiscusstheepistemologicalback
groundtoSeegerspioneeringideasaboutmusicalmeaning,exceptto
saythatitsproblemsmayderivepartlyfromthetypeoflinguisticthe
orycirculatinginhisday,partlyfromconventionalmusicologysfixa
tionwithnarrativeform(diataxis)andanapparentreluctancetodeal
withsemanticsorpragmatics.12ManylinguistshavesinceSeegersday
argued that prosodic aspects of speech timbre, diction, intonation,
volume,facialexpression,gesture,etc.aresemioticallyatleastasim
portantasthewordstheyaccompany.13Ifsuchlayeringofsonicstruc
turation is important to the mediation of meaning in speech, its
absolutelyessentialandintrinsic tomusicbecausenotescannotexist
withoutthesoundcarryingthem,bethatsoundanditsnote[s]imag
inedinsideyourheadorheardoutloud.Toputitinsimpletermsfrom
themusiciansstandpoint,thesoundyouputwiththenoteshowyou
play or sing them is semiotically at least as important as the notes
youputwithyoursound.Neithercanexistasmusicwithouttheother
and,whenitcomestomusicalsigns,thehow(notesorsound)isinevi
tably an intrinsic and inseparable part of the what (sound or notes).
Theseideasmaybecomeclearerwithabitofconcretisation.
The two statements DONT WORRY ABOUT ME said nonchalantly and
DONT WORRY ABOUT MEspokenwithbitterresentment14quiteclearly
sendnomorethesamemessagethandothefirstlineofyournational
anthemplayedbyaprofessionalsymphonyorchestraaccompanyinga
11. Forfurtherdiscussionofmuseme,seeTagg(1982:45,ff.,2000a:106,ff.,2005b:10379).
Forexplanationsofnote,seefootnote9,p.273,andTagg(2009:17,ff.).
12. Seepp.145148underSemioinChapter4;seealsoChapter11(p.383,ff.).
13. Likeotherscholarsofhistimewhosoughttoexplainhowmusicrelatestoother
symbolicsystems(e.g.Nettl(1958),Bright(1963)),Seegerreferredtolinguisticmod
elsthatstillaccordedsemioticprimacytothewrittenword,todenotationandtothe
arbitrarysign.Suchattemptstoalignmeaningfulelementsinmusicwiththoseof
languageweresubsequentlycriticisedbymusicologists(e.g.Nattiez(1975,1987),
Imberty(1976,1979),Lerdahl&Jackendoff(1977)andKeiler(1978)).Amongrepre
sentativesofmorerecentlinguistictheoryareBolinger(1989),Cruse(1988),Eco
(1990)andKress(1993).
14. Seep.345ff.formoreonprosodicmeaningsofDontworryaboutme.

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Tagg: Musics Meanings 7. Interobjectivity

largechorusoftrainedvoicesandthesamepassagesungoutoftune,
withthewrongwords,bysomeonewithaforeignaccentaccompanied
bytwodrunksmistreatingaconcertinaandabatteredoldacousticgui
tar.Ofcourse,thedifferencebetweenthefirstthreesungnotesofone
nationalanthemandanotherissemioticallysignificant,howeverthey
areperformed,becausethatdifferenceallowslistenerstomusicallydis
tinguishonenationfromtheotherduring,say,TVcoverageoftheOl
ympics. That said, the way those notes are sounded is at least as
important,forwhilethesymphonyorchestraversionofyournational
anthemmaywellbeheardintermsofnationalprideanddignity,the
foreigndrunksaremorelikelytocomeacrossasdisrespectful,asper
formingamusicalequivalenttoburningtheflag.Thatcardinaldiffer
ence between pride and ridicule is just as much a matter of musical
structure (volume, timbre, instrumentation, intonation, accentuation,
phrasing,etc.)asthenotes(pitchandrhythmprofile)tellinguswhich
nationspatriotismisbeingextolledordraggedthroughadungheap.
All such structures and their connotations are in other words deter
minedbydifferentuseofmusicsvariousparametersofexpressionas
wellas,ofcourse,byculturallyspecificconventionsofmusicalpercep
tionandinterpretation.
Now,assuming,atleastforthetimebeing,thatmusememeansamini
malunitofmusicalmeaning,itcouldbearguedthatthefirstnotesinthe
tuneoftheStarSpangledBannerandoftheMarseillaiseeachconstitutea
musemeifneitherofthemcan,asasequenceofnotesproducingapar
ticularprofileofrhythmandpitch,bebrokendownintosmallerunits
thatcarryanymeaninginthemselves.15Butitwouldalsoimplythat
the OFFICIAL SYMPHONYand RAUCOUS DRUNKSrenderingsofthosetwo
nationalanthemsmeanthesamething.Thatwouldbeabsurdbecause
15. Forexample,thefirstthreenotesofthetuneinthechorusofGranada(Lara,1932)
areidenticaltothoseatthestartoftheMarseillaise(threesprightlynotes,allonthe
fifth).BothhaveastirringABOUTTOGETUPANDGO/ALLONS,ENFANTS!characterfol
lowedbyarisingmelodicline.Ifthisparticularsetofthreenotescanoccurwiththe
samesortofeffectinatleasttwodifferentpiecesofmusicconceivedwithinthe
samegeneralmusicalidiom(TheMarseillaiseandGranada),andifitcannotbebro
kendownintosmallermeaningfulunits,i.e.ifthelinkbetweenthemusicalstruc
tureanditsinterpretantisconsistentandrepeatableinsidethesamebroadmusical
culturaltradition,thenitsclearlyqualifiableasaminimalunitofmusicalmeaning.

Tagg: Musics Meanings 7. Interobjectivity

235

bothversionsofthetwonationalanthemsclearlycontainotherstruc
turalelementsthatsemioticallylinknottoFRANCEorTHEUSAbuttoin
terpretantswhichcanbereferredtointermslike PATRIOTIC PRIDEand
NATIONALRIDICULErespectively,regardlessofwhichnationistheobject
of eulogy or derision. Moreover, both those types of other musical
signcanbebrokendownintosmallermeaningfulunits, forexample
whatthesymphonyorchestrasstringsectionplaysonitsown,orthe
soundofthedrunksconcertinawithouttheraspyforeignvocals.And
eventhosesmallerbutmusicallymeaningfulunitsmayintheirturnbe
reducibletoyetsmallermeaningfulentitiesuntilthepointwhereonly
onemeaningfulnoteisleft,likethesinglenotemusemestruckontubu
larbellat0:04inthetitlemusicforMontyPythonsFlyingCircus.16
Ifamusemecanconsistofaslittleasonesinglenote,Seegersthree
note criterion for qualification as a museme doesnt work. Indeed, a
onenote museme can exist because its semiotic charge relies more
(though not exclusively) on how its constructed vertically by the
wayitsstruckonwhichinstrumentatwhichvolumeoverwhichchord
playedbywhichotherinstrument[s]inwhichregisterinwhichtonal
idiomandsoonthanonitsimmediatehorizontalcontext(byitsre
lationtowhateverprecedesandfollowsit).17Thisclearlymeansthat
explanationsofmusicalsemiosisneedtoconsiderseveralindividually
meaningfullayersthatsoundsimultaneouslybutwhichdonotneces
sarilyoccupythesamedurationaseachother.Thesecompositelayers
of simultaneously sounding musemes are called MUSEME STACKS and
constitutenowsoundformorSYNCRISIS(Chapter12).Theyreparticu
larlyusefulwhenforminghypothesesaboutwhichstructuralelements
inanAOmaybelinkedtowhichsortofinterpretants.
Returning to the initial melodic notes of your national anthem per
formed in two different ways, Table 71 (p.236) identifies the first
museme(1a)asthefirstpartofitsfirstmelodicline(e.g.theALLONS,
ENFANTS part of ALLONS, ENFANTS DE LA PATRIE in the Marseillaise, or
justtheOH,SAYbitofOH,SAY,CANYOUHEAR?atthestartofTheStar
SpangledBanner)inboththesymphonic(A)anddrunk(B)versions.18
16. SeeTLTT:413414forfurtherdiscussionofthatsinglenotemuseme.
17. SeethenoteparametersofMIDIcodeinfootnote9,p.232.

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Tagg: Musics Meanings 7. Interobjectivity

As suggested above, the most obvious interpretant for museme 1 in

bothversionsistheofficialidentityofthenationinquestion.Museme
2,ontheotherhand,isactuallyamusemestack(orsyncrisis)consisting
ofthreeconstituentmusemesforversionA(2a2c)andfiveforversion
B(2a2e),someofwhichcanintheirturnalsobeunderstoodassubsid
iarymusemestacksbrokendownintoyetmoreconstituentmusematic
entities.Thatsortofmusematichierarchyisillustratedbymuseme2in
theBsectionofTable71andcanbeexplainedasfollows.
Table 7-1: National anthem musemes: symphony orchestra and foreign drunks
museme

musemesigndesignation

feasibleinterpretants

A.Symphonyorchestraandchorus
1a

firstpartoffirstmelodicline

mynationalidentity

2a

professionalsymphony
orchestrainclassicalvein.

official,organised,classical,quality,
polished,dignified,impressive,etc.

2b

professionalchorus

as2a+largecollective,synchronised
individuals,commongoal

2c

bigconcerthallwith
longreverbtime

largeofficialvenue,spaceforlotsof
peopleandabigsound

1+2

TOTAL=THENATION,ITSVALUESANDINSTITUTIONSAREBIG,STRONG,
HONOURABLE,ETC.IMAYBESMALLBUTIAMPROUDTOBEONEOFITS
CITIZENS.UNITEDWESTAND.IBELONG.TOGETHERWEAREJUSTGREAT.
B.Foreigndrunksinginginapub

1a

firstpartoffirstmelodicline

mynationalidentity

2a

singleforeignvocalist

notoneofus,alien,inappropriate;
justoneperson

2b

raspyvoice

unpolished,crude,unsophisticated

2c
(stack)

[2c1]outoftuneguitar
[2c2]simpleirregularstrum
[2c3]simplifiedchords

unpolished,unofficial,careless,messy,
disrespectful;popularportablesoundfor
partiesorcampfires

2d

concertina(diatonic)

simple,portable,oldtime,proletarian

2e

backgroundnoise:glasses,
chatter,raucouslaughter

disrespectful,inappropriate

1+2

TOTAL=EitherTHENATION,ITSCITIZENS,ITSVALUESANDINSTITUTIONS
AREBEINGVILELYRIDICULEDANDDEMEANED;orTHEBLOATEDPOMPAND
ARROGANCEOFTHOSERUNNINGMYCOUNTRYISBEINGRIGHTLYDEBUNKED.

18. Museme1bwouldhavebeenthedelapatrieand[say,]canyouhear?partsofthe
firstmelodiclineintheMarseillaiseandtheUSnationalanthemrespectively.The
SAYnoteinTheStarSpangledBanneriselidedandpartofbothmusemes1aand1b.
Foranexplanationofelisioninmusemestrings,seeTagg(2000a:107).

Tagg: Musics Meanings 7. Interobjectivity

237

The single foreign vocalist (museme 2a) does not represent the same
thingashisraspyvoice(2b)becausearaspyforeignvoice,araspyna
tivevoice,awelltrainednativevoiceandawelltrainedforeignvoice
allsounddifferentandembodyfourdifferentinterpretants.Nordoei
ther museme2a or 2b mean the same thing as theoutoftune guitar
strummed irregularly with simplified chords (2c) which, in its turn
doesnothavethesameeffectonitsownastheconcertinawithoutthe
guitar(2d).Thetotaleffectoftheseconstituentmusemeswouldalsobe
slightly but significantly different without the background noise of
museme 2e. Moreover, museme 2c (guitar) contains three subsidiary
structuralelements,eachofwhichcontributestoitsoverallmeaning:it
isntproperlytuned(2c1);itsstrummedsimplyandirregularly(2c2);
andthechordsplayedonitaremuchmorerudimentarythaninanof
ficialversionofthesamepiece(2c3).Alterorremoveanyofthosethree
structuralelementsandboththeoverallstructureandprobableinter
pretantsofmuseme2cchangetoo.Finally,addmuseme1totheequa
tionandyouhavequiteacomplexmusemestackcapableofgenerating,
insideameresecondorso,thetworadicallydifferentsetsofinterpre
tants (PMFCs) shown at the bottom of each section in Table 71. To
quoteMendelssohnagain:
Thethoughtswhichareexpressedtomebyapieceofmusicarenot
tooindefinitetobeputintowords,butonthecontrarytoodefinite.19

Althoughthisdiscussionofthetermmusemewillhavehopefullypro
videdafewinsightsintohowmusicalsignsmaybeconstructed,iden
tifiedanddeconstructed,Ivegiventhetermnoconclusivedefinition,
simplybecauseIcant.Itwouldafterallbefoolhardytotryanddistil
thetheoreticalessenceofmusemewithoutprovidingmuchmoreexten
siveevidenceofhowtheconstruction(poesis)andreception(aesthe
sis) of individual musical structures are demonstrably and
systematicallylinkedtothingsotherthanthemselveswithinthesame
broad music culture. Initial steps in the investigation of those links
19. FelixMendelssohn(180947),quotedbyCooke(1959:6).Iveintentionallymis
quotedMendelssohnthistimebecausethewordswhichIlovehavebeenreplaced
byanellipsis().Thewordsappearcorrectlyonpage171.

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Tagg: Musics Meanings 7. Interobjectivity

weresuggestedinChapter6Intersubjectivity.Still,wearenow,af
terdiscussingthetermsobject,structureandmuseme,inabetterposition
toexpandanalyticalmethodintotherealmofinterobjectivityasweseek
toidentifyandinterpretstructuralelementsthatcarrymusicalmean
ing,betheymusemes,musemestacksormusemestrings.

Interobjectivecomparison
Fig. 7-2. The alogogenic black box: two escape routes

Ifproceduresestablishingsharedsimilarityofresponsetomusicbetween
severalhumansubjectsarecalledintersubjective(verticalarrowonthe
left inFigure72), thenthose establishingshared similarityofstructure
betweentwoormoremusicalobjectscanbecalledinterobjective.Inter
objectiveprocedureisintertextual.Itfirstentailsfindingstructuralele
ments in other music that sound like structural elements in the AO. That
process of establishing musical intertextuality is called interobjective
comparison.Theothermusiccontainingstructuralresemblancetothe
AOiscalledinterobjectivecomparisonmaterialorIOCMforshort.That
typeof SOUNDSLIKElinkisrepresentedinFigure72bythehorizontal
arrow(structuralsimilarity)betweentheAOandtheIOCM.
Now,itmayseemoddtosuggestthatreferringtoothermusiccanhelp
usescapefromtheblackboxof MUSIC IS MUSIC:itslikeadvocatingre
gression into musical absolutism and to the notion that music refers

Tagg: Musics Meanings 7. Interobjectivity

239

onlytoitself.Thatswhyitsessentialtounderstandthatinterobjective
comparisonisonlythefirstoftwostepsinaprocedurerelatingtheAO
tothePMFCsappearingbottomrightinFigure72.Interobjectivecom
parison simply exploits the nonantagonistic contradiction between
musicsintraandextragenericcharacteristics,combiningthepotential
of both. Considering first the intrageneric aspect, its worth recalling
partofthesecondtenetinChapter2sdefinitionsection.
[M]usical structures often seem to be objectively related to either: [a]
their occurrence in similar guise in other music; or [b] their own context
within the piece of music in which they (already) occur.

AsshowninFigure72,interobjectivecomparisonexploitsthisintrage
neric side of the contradiction as a first step (horizontal arrow AO
IOCM)inopeningupasecondstoreofparamusicalinformation(verti
calarrowbetweenIOCMandPMFCtotherightinthediagram).Afic
tionalexamplemayhelpconcretisethislineofthinking.
Lets say your AO is a short extract of film music containing sounds
reminiscentofalibrarymusicpiececalledMysteriesoftheLake.Since
thatpiecesounds,inpartorwhole,likeyourAO,youcanassumeit
sharessonicstructuraltraitsincommonwithyourAO.Ifthatisso,the
librarymusicpiecequalifiesaspotentialinterobjectivecomparisonmate
rialIOCMlinkedtotheAObythestructuralsimilarityarrowin
Figure72.Atthesametime,thelibrarymusicpiecessuggestivetitle,
MysteriesoftheLake,isanobvioushintataparamusicalfieldofconno
tation(PMFC)belongingtothatpieceofIOCM(step2,verticalarrow
on right in Figure 72). Noting also that library music company staff
characterisethesamepieceasEERIEandICY(alsostep2),itspossibleto
summarise the pieces PMFCs so far as MYSTERY, LAKE, EERIE, ICY. The
point of this simple twostep process is that if, as in this fictional in
stance,theconcepts MYSTERY, LAKE, EERIE and ICYare linkedto music
sounding like something in your AO, thenits conceivable that those
paramusicalconceptsmayalsoapplytotheAO,inshortthatyourex
tractoffilmmusicmaybelinkedtoaPMFCembodyingnotionsofMYS
TERY,LAKE,EERIEandICY.Thatisatleastbynomeansunreasonableasa
hypothesis.Theonlytroubleisthatoneswallowdoesntmakeasum
mer,or,lesspoetically,thatonesinglepieceofIOCManditsconnota

240

Tagg: Musics Meanings 7. Interobjectivity

tionsdonotprovethattherelevantsoundsintheoriginalAOactually
connotewhatever MYSTERY, LAKE, EERIEand ICYtogethercreatebyway
ofaPMFC.
Thereareseveralwaysofverifyingorfalsifyingindividualoccurrences
of paramusical connotation deduced through interobjective compari
son.OnewayistousethesortofreceptiontestsdiscussedinChapter6
tocheckiftheVVAstheyproduce(theverticalarrowofintersubjectiv
ity in Figure 72) show any consistency with those deduced using
IOCM.Putsimply,dothetwosetsofPMFCatthebottomofthedia
grammatchup?If,forinstance,stayingwiththe MYSTERY LAKEexam
ple,receptiontestrespondentsassociatetonotjustMYSTERY,LAKE,EERIE
andICYbutalsotothingslikeSWIRLINGMIST,DARKFORESTandMEDIEVAL
MYTH,allwellandgood;butifresponsesincludesignificantamounts
of, say, SUNSHINE, AIRPORTS, FASHION SHOWS, HAPPINESS and COWBOYS
youllneedtothinkagain.20Butthereareotherwaysoftestinginitial
hypothesesofparamusicalconnotation.
Themoreinstancesofinterobjectivesimilarityyoufind,thebetteryour
chanceswillbeoffindingPMFCsrelevanttoyourAOandofexamin
ing degrees of consistency between the PMFCs to all those different
piecesofIOCM.Forexample,stillusingthefictionalMYSTERYLAKEAO,
themoreIOCMyoufindconnectedtoPMFCslikeMYSTERY,LAKE,EERIE,
ICY,SWIRLINGMIST,DARKFORESTandMEDIEVALMYTH,themoreplausible
yourinitialhypothesiswillbe.Ontheotherhand,perhaps LAKEonly
occursinconjunctionwithyourinitialpieceofIOCMandwithnoneof
theotherswhosePMFCsveermoretowards,say,MIST,MYTH,MEDIEVAL,
LORDOFTHERINGSorHARRYPOTTER.Ifso,youmighthavetotweakyour
initialhypothesis,thatisunlessyourrespondentsmention,oryoufind
IOCMlinkedto,particularmedievalmythelementslikeMERLIN,KING
ARTHURor EXCALIBUR,inwhichcase LAKE(asintheladyofthelake)
would still be significant. Of course, in the unlikely event of other
IOCMbeingconnectedtoPMFCsverbalisableintermslike SUNSHINE,
AIRPORTS,FASHIONSHOWS,HAPPINESSandCOWBOYS,youdeitherhaveto
abandontheinitialhypothesisortocheckhowmuchthoseHAPPYSUN
SHINE AIRPORTpiecesofIOCMactuallyresembleyourAOinmusical
20. SeealsoReverseengineering1and2(p.249,p.251).

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structural terms.21 You might also need to ask if the HAPPY SUNSHINE
AIRPORTpiecesareconceivedinthesamebroadsetofmusicalidiomsas
thefilmmusiccuewhosemessageyouretryingtoexplaininwords.
The collection of IOCM necessary for the sort of procedure just
sketchedcanseemlikeadauntingtask,especiallyifyouarentamusi
cologist or practising musician. There are three practical ways, ex
plained next, of overcoming this difficulty: ASK A MUSICIAN (with
caveat),DIGITALRECOMMENDERSandREVERSEENGINEERING.

CollectingIOCM
1.Askamusician

One of the distinct advantages of interobjective comparison is that it

treatsmusicasmusic.Puttingnottoofineapointonit,youcouldsay
thatituses(other)musicasasortofdirectmetalanguageformusic.The
onlytroubleisthat(verbal)languagetrumpsallothersignsystemsin
ourtraditionofknowledgeandthatIOCMcanonlybeusedasafirst
stepinthesemioticanalysisofmusic.Thatsaid,thedirectstructuralin
tertextualityofinterobjectivecomparisoncan,asweshallsee,produce
validinsightsaboutthemeaningofanAO.Musicians(instrumental
ists,composers,singers,studioengineers,etc.)areveryusefulwhenit
comestotrackingdownIOCMbecauseoftheiraudiomuscularmemory.
Fig. 7-3. Numerical keypads Onewayofconceptualisingmuscularmem

ory(withouttheaudio)istoimagineyoureat
acashmachineandtotapyour PINcodeon
thenearestflatsurface.Youprobablyhavea
spatialkinetictactile memory of your code
reinforcedeachtimeyouwithdrawcashand
youwould,ifyour PINincludesothernum
bersthan4,5,6and0,beconfusedifnum
bers19werearrangedasshownontheleft(A)ofFigure73because
muscularmemoryofyour PINisbasedonlayoutB.Youmayevenre
memberthegesturalpatternofthephonenumbersyoumostoftencall
and I bet, if youre not French and youre confronted with a French
21. Youmightalso,aswellshortlysee,havetocheckiftheHAPPYSUNNYAIRPORT
piecesofIOCMareconceivedinthesamebroadmusicalidiomasyourAO.

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computerkeyboard,thatyoullcurseeverytimeyouneedtotypeA,M,
Q,WorZbecauseyourhandsandfingersareusedtomakingpatterns
onaQWERTY,notAZERTY,keyboard.Andwhatismoreannoyingthana
new DVDplayeror TVwhoseremotecontrolbuttonsareplaceddiffer
entlytothoseonyouroldremotesothatthesetupmenuappearswhen
yourfingerspresswherethemutebuttonusedtobeortheTVchanges
channelinsteadofturningdownthevolume?Inthesecasesyousimply
recallandunconsciouslyrepeathandandfingermovementsthatare
reinforced by the rewards they regularly produce money from the
cashmachine,phonecontactwithyournearestanddearest,yourown
wordsonthecomputermonitor,TVadvertswithnosound,etc.
Its very similar with musicians and their physical relation to the
soundstheyvelearnttoproduce.Toillustratethispointinteachingsit
uationsIoftenaskkeyboardplayersintheclasstogivemeanoctave
onthenearestavailableflatsurface.Regardlessofhandsize,theyinfal
liblypresentahandshapespanningjustover16cmbetweenthepoints
atwhichthumbandsmallfingertouchtheflatsurface.22Theaudioas
pectofmuscularmemoryisevenclearerinthecaseofcoverbandmu
sicians who start work on a song they dont know by playing along
witharecordingoftheoriginalversion(directaudiogesturalmimick
ingoftherelevantparts).Anotherexampleofthephenomenoniswhen
musicianstryingtotranscribewhattheyhearusegesturalpatternspe
culiartotheirinstrumenttocheckthattheyrehearingthemusiccor
rectly. Even if they produce no audible sound, they hope that their
gestureswillcorrespondtowhattheyhearintheirhead.23
Airguitarprovidesanotherillustrationofaudiomuscularmemoryat
workinmusic.AstheVirtualAirGuitarprojectwebsiteputsit,you
dontreallyneedtoknowanythingaboutguitarsolos,exceptforhow
rockguitaristsperformonstage.Theprojectteam,likeconventional
airguitarists,haveobservedandmimickedparticulargesturalpatterns
22. Theoctavespanofmostpianokeyboardsis164165mm.
23. AsastudentattendingauraltrainingsessionsatCambridgeinthe1960sInoticeda
cellistslidingherhandupanddowntheneckofherimaginaryinstrumentanda
hornplayerpursinghislipsindifferentwaystofindtherightnotestoputdownon
paper.Asakeyboardplayer,Ifoundmyselfdoodlingwithhandsandfingersto
maketheshapesandpatternsIthoughtmightproducethesoundsIwashearing.

Tagg: Musics Meanings 7. Interobjectivity

243

inconjunctionwithparticularrockguitarsounds;buttheyhavethen
reversedtheprocesssothatparticulargesturestriggerparticularsorts
ofsoundwithouttheperformerhavingtoplayanyinstrumentatall.24
Theseexamplesofaudiomuscularmemory,nottomentiontheprac
ticeofspeechshadowinganditsimplicationsformusicmaking,25illus
tratethathearingmusicalstructuresisintimatelylinkedwithgesture
producingthosesoundsandthatthisconnectionalmostneverinvolves
verbalreasoningforittowork.Exploitingthisphenomenonmakesthe
collectionofIOCMmoredirectandmoreefficient.
LetssayyouveidentifiedasnippetofmusicinyourAOwhoseconno
tationsyouwanttoinvestigate.Allyouneeddoistoaskmusiciansif
theyveeverbeforeplayed(orsung,orcomposed,etc.26)anythinglike
thatsnippetand,ifso,inwhatotherpieceofmusicitoccurs.Themusi
ciansyouaskwillusuallybeabletorecallandcreateorimagineages
ture that produces something resembling the musical structure in
question.Iftheyareabletoisolateandidentifythatstructure,theymay
evenbeabletoimagineitinotherpiecesofmusic,perhapsabithigher
or lower, or a bit faster or slower, with a different before or after,
maybeinadifferentkeyoronadifferentinstrument,or,ifsung,with
differentwords,etc.,etc.Inanycase,thatshowIworktofindmyown
IOCMandifImunabletocomeupwithanythingbecauseImunfamil
iarwithrepertoirerelevanttothesnippetorsoundinquestion,Illnot
hesitatetocontactthosewhoknowitbetterandtoasktheminstead.
Forexample,IveneverbeenabrassplayerandIneededtotestmygut
feelingthatthehornwhoopsinthethemeforthe1970sTVseriesKojak
wereheroic.ThatswhyIaskedafriendwhoplayedFrenchhorninthe
local symphony orchestra to tell me if, and if so where, hed played
suchwhoopsbefore.HeimmediatelycameupwithlicksfromRichard
StrausssEinHeldenlebenandtheHaupttemadesMannesfromDonJuan,
aswellaswiththemainStarWarsthemeallhighlyheroic.27
24. See)airguitar.tml.hut.fi/formore.
25. Speechshadowing:repeatingspeechimmediately(c.200ms)afterhearingit(aver
agedelaydurationofaspeechsyllable);seeWikipediaquotingMarslenWilson
(1973)LinguisticstructureandspeechshadowingatveryshortlatenciesinNature,
(5417):5223;seealsoWORKINGMEMORYandPHONOLOGICALLOOP(pp.272273).
26. Youcouldaddorconducted,orrecordedtothelistbecausebothconductorsand
recordingengineersuseparticulargesturestoproduceparticularmusicaleffects.

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Thegreatadvantageofinterobjectivecomparisonisthatitbypassesthe
frustratingexerciseoftryingtodescribemusicinwords.Itarrivesatits
approximateverbalhintsofmusicalmeaning(thePMFCslowerright
inFigure72,p.238)interobjectively,i.e.primarilythroughdemonstra
blemusicalstructuralconnection.ThesecondsteplinkingtheIOCMto
itsverballydenotablePMFCsismerelyamatterofregisteringprevi
ously established connections between particular musical structures
andparticularwords(e.g.titles,lyrics),orparticulartypesofpeople,
action,space,energy,location,mood,movementandsoon(PMFCson
rightinFigure72).Suchpatternsareofcourseculturallyspecificand
warrantanimportantcaveat.
Caveat
Sincethenotionofmusicasauniversallanguageissodubious(pp.47
50),SOUNDSLIKEconnectionsofthesortjustdescribedshouldasarule
bemadeusingonlyIOCMthatispartofthesamebroadmusicculture
asthatoftheAO.Justas,say,themorpheme[wi]can,dependingon
variousculturalfactors,beunderstoodaswe,oui,wee,Wiiorweee!,the
samemelodicfigureorinstrumentalsoundortexturalsonorityisun
likelytohavethesameconnotativechargein,forinstance,bebopjazz,
rap, Italian opera and Balinese gamelan music.28 Therefore, if the
sound,whoseconnotationsyouguesstobe,say,weird,isfromare
centcomputergame,thenthe EERIE, ICYMYSTERIES OF THELAKElibrary
musicpiececouldwellberelevant;butiftheAOisapieceoftraditional
courtmusicfromCambodiaitwouldalmostcertainlynot.29
27. ThankstoMalcolmPage(Tagg,2000a:186200).Heldenleben=HerosLife;Haupttema
desMannes=mainmaletheme.
28. Formoreonthisissue,seeTagg(2000a:112114).SeealsounderCodalincompetence
inthisbook(pp.179182),especiallyaboutdissonanceinfilmmusicandBulgarian
harvestsongs.Eventhesimplepronounwecanonitsowncarryarangeofmean
ings,forexample:[1]wellarriveonTuesday(normal);[2]inChapter6wesaw
(authorsimaginedcollusionwithreaders);[3]howarewethismorning?(medical
staffpatronisingapatient);[4]wearenotamused(QueenVictoriasroyalwe),etc.
Asfor[wi]:[1]ouiisFrenchforyes;[2]weeisScottishEnglishforsmall;[3]theverb
toweeisoftenusedinEnglishmothereseinsteadofpissorpee(urinate);[4]Wiiis
Nintendosgamingconsole;[5]weee!isachildlikeinterjectionofgiddydelight.
29. Try,forexample,RoeungTippSangvar(SamAngSam,1999).

Tagg: Musics Meanings 7. Interobjectivity

245

The sort of cultural incompatibility just alluded to can occur when a

musicianyouveaskedtoprovideIOCM,havingfirstmanagedtore
producethemusicalstructurewhoseconnotativechargeyoureinves
tigating,thenplacesthatstructureinamusicalcontextirrelevanttothe
broadmusicculturetowhichyourAOanditslistenersbelong.Forex
ample,Irememberhearingsomethingresemblingthehooklineofan
AbbasonginanorchestralworkbyBartk.Althoughthehandshape
andmovementrequiredtoproduce(poesis)boththeAbbaandtheBar
tksnippetsarequitesimilartheyjustdontsoundthesame.Thisaes
thesicimpression(notsoundingthesame)isduepartlytodifferences
betweenthetonal,orchestralandrhythmiccontextsoftheAO(Abba)
andthepotentialIOCM(Bartk),partlytothefactthatAbbaandBar
tk audiences tend more often than not to inhabit different sociocul
turalspaces.AlthoughthismeantIhadtodiscardtheBartkreference
inmydiscussionoftheAbbahookline,itdidseemrighttouseIOCM
fromtheclassicalandRomanticperiodsintheeuroclassicaltradition,
aswellastwentiethcenturypopularsongfromEurope,NorthAmerica
and Latin America because: [1] the AO itself belonged to the same
broad musical culture as those repertoires; [2] those musical idioms
werenotunfamiliartoAbbalistenersinSwedeninthemid1970s.30
ThisissueoflocatingIOCMinrelevantmusicalcontextsis,aswellsee
later,amatterofprecisionaboutparametersofmusicalexpression
thesametuneplayedfirstoncathedralorgan,thenonkazoowillnot
soundthesameanddoesnotproducethesameeffect,sotospeak.This
meansthatthesamestructurewithadifferentbeforeandafter,ina
differentmetre,withdifferentinstrumentation,etc.,etc.cannotbeex
30. ImreferringtothetritonemotifinAbbasFernando(1975;Tagg,2000b:50,ff.)and
thetritonefigureinthelastmovementofBartksConcertoforOrchestra(1943).
AmongthepiecesofIOCMculturallyrelevanttotheAbbamotifwereSwedishRhap
sody(Alfvn,1903),Osolemio(Capua,1898),anariafromBachsMatthewPassion
(1727),YouveLostThatLovinFeelin(RighteousBrothers,1964),andQuizsQuizs
Quizs(Farrs,1947).Allthosepiecesarefromabroadrangeofrepertoiresfamiliar
enoughtoAbbalistenersinthelatetwentiethcentury.Ishouldaddthatmanyindi
viduals,includingmyself,inhabitboththeAbbaandBartkspheresbutthatweare
inthisrespectmorelikelytheexceptionthantherule.

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pected to sound the same, let alone produce the same effect. As the
AbbaBartk incident suggests, a poetically determined musical ele
mentinonepiece,isolatedandrepeatedwithslightvariationsinthe
hopes of discovering IOCM, is by definition decontextualised: it as
sumesthequasiautonomousstatusofpoeticstructureinadormant
stateandnothingelse.31Thatisclearlyunsatisfactoryiftheaimofsem
ioticmusicanalysisis,howevertautologicalitmaysound,toexplain
musical semiosis because that in its turn demands the existence of a
musematiclinkbetweensign(thesonicallyconcreteencodedpartofthe
process)andmusicalorparamusicalinterpretant(whateverisdecoded
from the sign). This implies that a meaningful musical structure a
museme,amusemestackormusemestringshouldideallybedeno
tableinaesthesicaswellaspoeticterms.Thetroubleis,aswesawin
Chapter3,32thatstructuraldescriptorsare,inWesterninstitutionsof
musicallearning,overwhelminglypoetic,aesthesicdescriptorsmuch
rarerandmorevernacular.Itsforthisreasonessential,especiallyifus
ingmusicianstotrackdownIOCM,tobeawareofthepoeticrisksin
volvedintheprocess,eventhoughinstancesofmusicallyorculturally
incompatiblereferencesarethankfullyrare.Butthereothersolutionsto
theproblemsofidentifyingmusicalsignsinyourAOandofcollecting
piecesofIOCMthatcontainsuchsigns.
Recommendersystems

DigitalmusicrecommendersystemslikeiTunes,Last.fmandPandora
havebeenunderdevelopmentsince2000andcanbeausefulstarting
pointwhenhuntingforIOCM,aslongastheirlimitationsareunder
stood.Thesesystemsarecurrentlydesignedtomakemoneyinvarious
waysbyusingmusicyoualreadylistentoasabasisforsuggestingsim
ilarmusictheymightbeabletosellyou.iTunes,forexample,takesrat
ings from your playlists and compares those with ratings given by
otheriTunesusers.Byidentifyingandcrossreferencingyourtastesin
31. Forexplanationanddiscussionofpoeticandaesthesic,seeChapter3underStruc
turaldenotation(pp.115120),
32. Seediscussionofminormajorninechordv.spychord(p.116)andofVanEycks
Arnolfinimarriageportrait(p.117).

Tagg: Musics Meanings 7. Interobjectivity

247

thisway,iTunestriestopredictwhatelseyoumightliketohearorbuy.
Last.fmworksinasimilarway.However,insteadofusingratings,the
softwareinstalledbyLast.fmonyourcomputerlogseverypieceofmu
sicyoulistentoandbuildsupadetailedprofileofyourpreferences.
YoursonglogdataissenttoLast.fmscentraldatabaseandcrossrefer
encedwithlogdatafromotheruserslisteningtosimilarsortsofmusic.
Itsonthatbasisthatthesystemtellsyouwhatelseyoumightenjoy.
UnlikeiTunesandLast.fm,thePandorasystemdeterminesitsrecom
mendationsonthebasisofmusicalstructuraltraitsinthemusicyoulis
tento,aslongasthemusichasalreadybeenanalysedbyamemberof
Pandorasteamofmusicianscrutineers.33SincethePandorasystemre
liesoninterobjectivecomparison(onsimilaritiesofmusicalstructure
observedbymusicians)ratherthanonmetamusicalinformation(rat
ings,playlistlogs,etc.),itshardlysurprisingthatitcurrentlyreceives
so many positive online reviews as a reliable SOUNDS LIKE recom
mender system. However, whatever the relative merits of these sys
tems,itshouldberememberedthattheirfunctionisnottoidentifyand
compareindividualitemsofmusicalstructurewithinapieceofmusic
buttoidentifythecharacteristicsofanentirepiecewithaviewtosell
ing you more pieces of music exhibiting similar characteristics. That
said,thesesystems,particularlyPandora,oughttobeabletoprovide
youwithenoughtitlesofenoughmusicinrelevantstylesthatyoucan
thentestforstructuralsimilaritiesusingyourownears.34

33. Theanalysisofonesong/piece/tracktakesbetween20and30minutesandinvolves
locatingwhichofbetween150and500structuraltraitsapplytothepieceandto
whatextent(onascaleof05)(see)help.pandora.com/ [2010-10-16]).Thisanalysissys
temseems,judgingfrominformationavailableonline(e.g.)en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
List_of_Music_Genome_ Project_attributes [2010-10-16]),tobequiteexhaustiveforrock,
pop,jazz,rap,CountryandotherEnglishlanguagetypesofpopularmusic,lessso
forothers.PandorawillprobablybecomelessUSAnglocentricandothermusic
structurebasedsystemswilldoubtlessprovidemoresophisticatedtoolsofanalysis
inthenearfuture:seeMacDormanetal.(2007),Meyers(2007),Williamson(2007).
34. Pandoraisforreasonsofcopyrightlegislationcurrently(October2010)onlyavaila
bletoUSresidents.NoraretunerecognitionappslikeShazamcurrentlyconnected
toanypublicSOUNDSLIKEtypeofIOCMdatabase(seeendoffootnote33).

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Themorethemerrier
Before continuing with other possible procedures of interobjective
comparison,itsworthemphasisingthefollowingfourpoints.
1. ThemoreinformantsyouasktoprovideIOCM,themorepiecesof
relevantIOCMyouarelikelytofind.
2. ThemorepiecesofrelevantIOCMyoufind,thegreateryour
chanceswillbeoffindingPMFCsrelevanttoyourAO.
3. ThemoreyourIOCMstructurallyresemblesyourAO,themore
reliableyourargumentationwillbeaboutconnectionsbetweenthe
AOandthePMFCslinkedtotheIOCM.
4. ThegreaterconsistencythereisbetweenPMFCslinkedtoyour
IOCM,theclearerwillbeyourpresentationofmusicalmeaning.
Thesefourpointsareonlyguidelines.Youjustcantexpecteverymusic
analysistoinvolveastatisticallyreliablesampleofinformants,noran
exhaustivebankofaccurateIOCMforeveryrelevantmusicalstructure,
noranunequivocalsetofPMFCsforeverypieceofIOCMrelatingto
everymusicalstructureinyourAO.Butthereareafewsimplesteps
thatcanbetakentoimproveanalyticalreliability:oneisexplainedin
the next paragraph, two more under Reverse engineering 1 and 2
(pp.249253)andanotherinthesectiononCommutation(p.253,ff.).
Ifareceptiontestispartofyouranalysis(Chapter6),youcanalways
askyourrespondentstoprovidenotonlythesortofconnotationsal
ludedtointheinstructionsonpage207:youcanalsoaskthemtojot
downthenameofanyothermusic,artist,composer,styleorgenrethe
test piece reminds them of. That extra information may increase the
sizeofyourIOCMand,consequently,thenumberofPMFCsassociated
with it. As mentioned earlier, a crosscheck between the two sets of
PMFCatthebottomofFigure72(p.238)canhelpverifyorfalsifyyour
hypothesesaboutthemusicalmeaningofyourtestpiece(AO).
YoucanalsoswitchthedirectionofthearrowsinFigure72.Thatgives
two more useful ways of testing hypotheses about the meaning of
soundsinyourAO.Bothproceduresconstituteasortofreverseengi
neeringbywhichyoutheoreticallyreconstructsoundsinyourAOon
thebasisofPMFCsyouthinkmayberelatedtoit.Thefirstofthesetwo
procedures even lets you collect IOCM relevant to your AO without
havingtoaskamusician.

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249

Reverseengineering1:fromIOCMtoAO

IfyourehavingtroublecollectingIOCMforanAOyouthinkcommu
nicates a certain mood or gives rise to certain connotations, you can
startwiththatmoodorwiththoseconnotationsashypothesesandtry
findingpiecesofothermusicwithtitles,lyrics,onscreenaction,moods
andsoon,thatcorrespondtoyourhypotheses.Forexample,ifyourAO
isapopsongwhoselyricsrecurrentlyincludethewordsteenandangel,
you can start by entering those words in the YouTube search box.
AmongcountlessversionsoftheactualsongTeenAngelandinnumera
bleepisodesofthehomonymousTVseries,youllalsofindrecordings
ofsongslikeTeenagerinLove,AngelBaby,TellLauraILoveHer,andDevil
Or Angel, some of which may well contain passages sounding like
somethinginyourAOwithallitsTEENSandANGELS.Ifthatsearchfails
toturnupanythingofrelevance,youcanalwaysuseasearchengine
likeGoogletolookforsongslyricscontainingteenorangel.Ifyoufind
any(youwill!35),youcangotoiTunesorYouTubeandsearchbyname
fortherelevantsongsyoufoundinGoogle.Ifthesongsyoufindeither
waysoundmusicallylikeyourAO,youcancountthemasIOCM.
YoucanofcoursealsousethesortsofsearchjustexplainedifyourAO
remindsyouofmusicbyanotherartistorcomposer.Listeningtoshort
extractsfromtheirmusicwillsoontellyouhowviableanySOUNDSLIKE
hunchmightbe.Youcanthencheckifanyofthemusicyoursearches
produceislinkedtoparticularlyrics,moods,situationsoraudiences.If
aparticularextractfromthemusicofanotherartistorcomposerbears
structuralresemblancetosomethinginyourAO(rememberingthecul
turalcaveat,ofcourse),thenthoseparticularlyrics,moods,situations
oraudiencesbecomePMFCsofpotentialrelevancetothediscussionof
meaninginyourAO.
Hunting for IOCM does not necessarily entail online work. You can
alsoscouryourownoryourfriendsmusiccollections.Inmyownanal
ysisworkIoftenformulatehypothesesaboutmusicalmeaningaskey
wordswhichIthenshamelesslyusetolookforlikelytitlesofCDand
LPtracksoffilmmusicandpopsongs,or,ifappropriate,ofclassical
35. Asearchfor|song lyrics teen teenager angel|produced1,200,000hits[100902].

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Lieder,ofBaroquearias,Romanticprogrammemusicandsoon.Ialso
searchforthesamekeywordsinthefilenameandtitlemetadataofme
diafilesonmycomputer.Ifthosesearchesproduceresults(theyusu
allydo)Ithencheck,eitheraurallyorinthescore(ifIhaveit),whether
theresanythinginanyofthepiecesImanagetolocatethatsoundslike
anythinginmyAO.Ifthereis,Inotethelocationoftherelevantmusi
cal structure within each of those pieces, along with the name of the
pieceand,ifany,thepiecespublishingdetails.Ithenaddthepieceto
mybankofIOCM.
ButwhatifyourehavingdifficultiesfindingIOCMforanAOwithno
obviousverbal,visualordramaticconnectionsofitsown?Perhapsit
doesntevenhaveadescriptivetitle.Noproblem,aslongasyouhavea
viablehypothesisaboutitsPMFCs.
Letssaythatourfictitious MYSTERY LAKEAOhasnotitle,thatitsjust
listedasanumberedcueonalimitededitionCDforfilmmusicbuffs.
AslongasIhaveahypothesisaboutitsmood(itstheMYSTERIOUSLAKE)
Imnotlost.Infact,havinggoogledthesearchstring|+"library music"
+mystery lake|Iwasable,inacoupleofminutesandgoingnofurther
thanthefirstfewofthe16,500hitssupposedlyansweringtomysearch
string, to hear sample demos from three library music pieces corre
spondingwellwithsonicparticularitiesintheAO.36TheIOCMIwas
able to locate so quickly consisted of two atmospheric synthesiser
tracks called Secrets and Unseen, and a symphonic piece entitled Ap
proaching Unknown. This third piece was described by library music
staff as CAUTIOUS, INTENSE, SURREAL MOVING, OMINOUS, EMOTIONAL,
SOARING ATMOSPHERIC, HAUNTING MYSTERIOUS, SUSPENSEFUL, APPRE
HENSIVEEERIE,[giving]asenseoftheUNKNOWN,APPROACHINGTROU
36. Thesearchstring|+"library music" +mystery lake|meansthattheexactwordpair
librarymusicandthesinglewordmysterymustbothappearinthesearchresultsand
thatthosealsoincludingthewordlakeshouldbepresentedbeforethosethatdont.
SecretsandUnseenarebyStephanSechi,fromthealbumDronesVol.2Mysteriousin
theRoyaltyFreeMusicLibrary(RadicalA.Publishing))royaltyfreemusiclibrary.com/
cds/view/id/106.ApproachingUnknownisintheMYSTERYsectionontheStockMusicsite
andisbySteveE.Williams)stockmusicsite.com/stockmusic/summary/play.cfm/
sound_iid.367165 [both sites 2010-08-26].Ishouldmaybehavedelvedfurtherinthe
Googlelistingandinvestigated,say,musicforDisneysMysteryLake(Prod.8201
049)orforSuperMarioatthemysteriouslake.Ididnot!

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BLE, MYSTERY[andcontaining]hypnoticflute,celeste,pianoandharp

ostinato. No actual LAKE, admittedly, but I still thought the descrip

tionssoundedaboutright,asindeeddidtheactualdemorecordingan
sweringtothosedescriptions.
Thepointofthesebriefsortiesintocyberspaceistoshowhowsimpleit
canbetofindandhearmusicwhoselyrics,titleordescriptionstally
withyourhypothesisaboutwhatparticularstructuraltraitsinyourAO
may be connoting. If something in the music of the piece[s] you dis
coverthroughthissortofreverseengineeringsoundslikesomethingin
yourAO,allwellandgood:yourhypothesisissubstantiated,atleastin
part.Ifnot,yourhypothesismightbefaulty,oryourIOCMmightbe
conceivedinadifferentmusicalidiomtothatofyourAO.
Whetheryouveaskedamusician,useddigitalrecommendersystems
orappliedthesortofreverseengineeringjustdescribedtohuntdown
piecesofIOCMandtheirPMFCsforyouranalysis,yourfindingscan
be crosschecked with results from the reception test you may have
conducted (see Chapter 6). They can also be crosschecked using an
othersortofreverseengineering.
Reverseengineering2:recomposition

Another control mechanism for checking the validity of the PMFCs

youvecollectedintersubjectivelyorinterobjectively,orthatyouresim
ply putting forward as a hypothesis, is to provide musicians with a
summaryofyourPMFCsandaskthethemtocomeupwithideasfor
musictheythinkwouldfitthosefieldsofconnotation.Ofcourse,the
musiciansshouldnotknowtheidentityofyourAO.Thereversearrow
in this recomposition procedure goes from either of the two PMFC
boxesinFigure72(p.238)uptotheAObecauseyoureaskingmusi
cianstoreconstructtheAOonthebasisofitssupposedconnotations.
The obvious point here is that if your musicians suggest structural
traitssimilartothoseoftheAO,yourPMFCswillhavegreatervalidity
thaniftheirsuggestionsdontsoundlikeit.Thereis,however,onema
jorproblemwiththisprocedure.Ifyourmusicianscantverbalisetheir
suggestionsintermsyouunderstand,ifyoureunabletodecipherjar
gonlikeasawtoothclusterat110dBwithmaximumdistortionat3k
(ouch!),andifyoucantpersuadethemtoplayorrecordtheirsugges

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tions,thenthistypeofreverseengineeringwontwork.However,ifyou
dont stumble on this sort of problem, composing back towards the
AOfromasetofPMFCscanbeaveryusefulandconvincingtoolof
semioticanalysis.
Forexample,duringapostgraduatemusicologyseminarinGteborg
(Sweden)intheearly1980s,apsychologistfromLundtoldparticipants
whatapatienthadsaidwhenlisteningtoaparticularpieceofmusic
underhypnosis.Theinstructionstothepatienthadbeentosaywhat
the music made him/her see, like in a daydream. The seminar knew
neithertheidentityofnoranythingelseaboutthepieceofmusicthat
evoked the hypnotised patients associations which were recounted
roughlyasfollowsbythevisitingpsychologist.
Alone,outinthecountrysideonagentlyslopingfieldormeadownear
sometreesatthetopoftherisewheretherewasaviewofalakeandthe
forestontheotherside.

Using this statement as a starting point, seminar participants were

askedtomakearoughsketchofthesortofmusictheythoughtmight
haveevokedsuchassociations.Theseminarscollectivesketchsugges
tion, which took about thirty minutes to produce, consisted of very
quiethighnotessustainedintheviolinsandaveryquietlownotesus
tained in the cellos and basses. These two ongoing, extremely calm
pitchpolaritieswereinconsonantrelationtoeachother.Aratherunde
cided, quiet but slightly uneasy melodic figure appeared now and
againinthemiddlebetweenthetwopitchpolarities.Asolowoodwind
instrument(eitherflute,oboeorclarinet)playedsmoothly,inafolk
vein,awistfulbutnotunpleasanttunethatwanderedquietly,slowly
andabitaimlesslyovertherestofthebarelyaudiblestaticsounds.
Theseminarsquicksketchprovedtocorrespondonmanycountswith
theoriginalmusicalstimulusthelastpostsectionatc.4:20inthe
slow movement from Vaughan Williams Pastoral Symphony (1922).
Thisbriefexperimentsuggeststhatpeoplewithsomemusicaltraining
are able to conceive generalities of musical structure linked to given
paramusicalspheresofassociation,notmerelytoperceivethem.The
recomposition exercise also suggested that the seminar participants
andthepatientfromLundmadeverysimilarconnections,albeitinop

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253

posite directions, between specific musical structures and a specific

paramusical field of connotation. The patients connotations and the
seminarparticipantsmusicalideasreinforcedeachother.
Whichever methods of IOCM collection and PMFC verification you
use,onethingiscertain:themorepreciselyyouindicatewhichmusical
structuralelement[s]intheAOsoundlikewhichstructuralelement[s]
intheIOCMthemoreconvincingyouranalysiswillbe.Besides,amu
sicalstructurecantbetreatedasasign(museme)ifitisntalsoidenti
fied as a structure. This structural imperative is usually enough to
makenonmusosnervous,unnecessarilyso,asIllexplainunderStruc
tural designation (p.256,ff.). First, though, Ill present the last of the
procedures(Commutation)allowingyoutocheckthevalidityofcon
clusionsyoumayhavedrawnaboutwhichstructuralelementsinyour
AOrelatetowhichPMFCs.

Commutation
Inlinguistics,commutationmeanssubstitutingoneelementamongsev
eralinagroupwithsomethingelsetocheckifthemeaningofthewhole
groupofelementschanges.Forexample,replacingtheUsound/Y/in
southern UK English [lYk] (luck) with the oo sound /U/ in [lUk] (look)
changesthemeaningoftheword,butmakingthesamechangefrom
[bYs]to[bUs]doesntbecause[bs](southern)and[bUs](northernUK
English)areacceptedregionalvariantsofthesamewordmeaningthe
same thing: bus.37 Commutation is useful in the analysis of musical
meaning for determining which structural elements are semiotically
moreorlessoperativethanothers.
Returningoncemoretotheofficialanddrunkversionsofyourna
tionalanthem,itsclearfromthediscussionoftheirmusemesandfea
sible interpretants (Table 71, p. 229) that some structural elements
makeformoreradicaldifferencesofattitudetowardsyournationand
itsflagthandoothers.Forexample,replacingtheraucousforeignvoice
withkazooorexchangingtheconcertinaforaukelelewouldprobably
notmakeasmuchdifferencetothedrunkversionaswouldreplacing
37. NorthernEnglishluck[lUk]andlook[lu:k]soundlikelookandLuketoLondoners.

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theraucousforeignsingerwithanequallyforeignclassicalbaritoneor
theconcertinaplayerwithaproficientpianistonawelltunedconcert
grand.Similarly, it wouldchange thecharacter ofthe official version
quitenoticeablyifevenonememberofthechoirororchestrawereto
performtheirpartoutoftimeortune,whileconsiderablylessdiffer
ence of attitude toward your nation and its flag would result from a
completechangeofpersonnelfromprofessionalsymphonyorchestra
toaproficientandwellrehearsedmilitaryband.
This sort of commutation is also called hypothetical substitution and
moreoftenthannotitstaysatthe WHAT IF?stage.Butthesubstitution
cansometimesmakeyouthinkofothermusicthatsoundssimilarto
thenewvariantyoujustimaginedorcreated.Thatnew IOCMmayor
maynotbesimilartothatofyourAO.IfthenewIOCMisdifferentandif
thePMFCslinkedtoitdontalignwiththoseofyouranalysisobject,then
thestructuralelementsubjectedtocommutationinyourAOcanbecon
sideredoperativeinproducingthe PMFCsyoufoundtobelinkedwith
yourAObecausechangingthatstructuralelementtosomethingelseled
todifferentmusic(thenew IOCM)andtodifferent PMFCs.Conversely,if
yourcommutationleadstothesamesortofIOCMandPMFCsasthoseof
yourAOyoullknowthattheelementyoureplacedwithsomethingelse
wasnotsoimportantinproducingthe PMFCsinquestion.Anepisode
fromananalysisclassclearlyillustratesthisprinciple.
At a pop music analysis session devoted to finding IOCM for a 1990s
electrodancetrackIwassureIwashearingachordshuttleresembling
thatunderthehooklinesofwellknownpoptuneslikeMySweetLord,
HesSoFineandOhHappyDay.38ButwhenIstartedplayingalongwith
thetrackIdiscovereditwaspitchedinanunusualkeyandthatIhadto
force my hands and fingers into unfamiliar shapes. Luckily my stu
dentsdidntnoticehowmucheffortIhadtoputintomakingitsound
likeoneofthemostfamiliarchordshuttlesinthepoprepertoire.The
38. MySweetLord(Harrison,1971),HesSoFine(Chiffons,1963),OhHappyDay(Edwin
HawkinsSingers,1969).Formoreonthehappytechnotrack,see Source(1997).
Chordshuttlemeanschangingrepeatedlytoandfrobetweentwochords.

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255

pointisthatIdhadtodosomethingthatwaspoetically,frommypoint
ofviewasakeyboardplayer,quitedifferent:itwashardtomakethe
musicsoundlikethesamething.TheconclusionmystudentsandI
drew from that episode was that significant changes from the musi
cians poetic standpoint dont necessarily lead to changes of musical
messagebecausethefactthatIdhadtostruggleatthepianomadenot
ablindbitofsemioticdifference.Furtherdiscussionensuedand,asked
whatstructuralfeatureswouldhavemadeadifferencetothemusical
message,thestudentsmentioneddifferentrhythmicandaccentualpat
terning,adistinctlyslowerorfastertempo,playingthechordsatano
ticeably different pitch, or on an detuned piano or some other
instrument. We all agreed that making simple changes to rhythm,
tempo, articulation and instrumentation definitely made a difference
whiletransposingthemusicupordownasemitonemadevirtuallyno
differenceatall.Bytheendofthelessonwehadlearntthatwhatmusi
ciansproduceusuallydoesmakeadifferencetothemessagebutthat
thedegreeofsemioticdifferenceatthereceivingenddoesntnecessar
ilycorrespondtothedegreeofstructuraldifferenceperceivedbymusi
ciansatthetransmittingend.
Thelastexampleofcommutationprocedurecomesfromthefictitious
MYSTERYLAKEpiece.Letssayweveidentifiedsoundsinitthatwethink
maysomehowconnotewater,thatnoneoftheIOCMwefoundhasany
thingaqueousamongitsPMFCs,andthattheIOCMcontainsnoneofthe
structuralelementsweveidentifiedaspotentiallywateryintheAO.We
canfirstimaginethe AOwithoutthesoundswethinkmaybewatery
(i.e.takethemoutandreplacethemwithnothing).IfourAOwiththat
omissionsoundsmorelikeallthe IOCMwhose PMFCsdidnotinclude
water,thenourhypothesisaboutthewaterysoundsintheAOmayhave
somemileage.Butitslesslikelytobeaquestionofwhetherthestruc
turalelementisitselfincludedoromittedasawholebecauseitswater
iness could depend on any number or combination of factors on
volume/intensity,register,timbre,articulation,phrasing,tempo,metre,
periodicity, tonal vocabulary, acoustic staging, etc. In fact its in con
junctionwiththoseparametersofmusicalexpressionthatcommutationis

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mostusefulbecausewecantest,atleasthypothetically,howdifferent
themusicwouldsoundifthevaluesofany(combinationof)thosepa
rametersweretobechanged.Inshort,youhavetoask WHAT IFstruc
tural element x is played faster, slower, higher, lower, smoother,
choppier, using different notes, in waltz time, with a bossa nova
groove, by strings or brass, with lots of reverb or dry, with the tune
moreupfrontorfurtherback,withoutthebassline,etc.,etc.?

Structuraldesignation
Thestructuralimperativeininterobjectivecomparison,Iwroteafew
pages ago, is usually enough to make nonmusos quite nervous. In
deed,how,youmaywellask,cansomeonewithlittleornoformalmu
sicaltraining,someonewhocanttelladiminishedseventhfromahole
inthewall,beexpectedtoaccuratelyidentifymusicalstructures,espe
ciallygiventhepredilectioninconventionalmusicstudiesforpoetic
descriptorsofstructure?39Well,thatobjectionmayoncehavehadsome
validitybutithasinmyview,atleastsincethemid1990s,becomemore
ofanexcusefornotconfrontingmusicassoundinthestudyofmusic.In
factIthinkthereistodayverylittleapartfromepistemicslothandin
stitutionalinertiathatpreventsnonmusosfromaccuratelyidentifying
musicalstructures.Istatethatopinioncategoricallybecausethereare
atleasttwocomplementarywaysofconfrontingtheissueofstructural
designation,neitherofwhichinvolvesanymusoskillorjargon:time
codeplacementandparamusicalsynchronicity.

Unequivocaltimecodeplacement
CDtracks,filmson DVD,audiofiles,videofiles,etc.allincludetime
codeaspartofthedigitalrecording.Thattimecodeiseitherdisplayed
ordisplayableonstandalone CDand DVDplayers;itsalsopresentin
mediaplaybacksoftwareforcomputers,tabletsandsmartphones.As
long as the piece is digitally recorded or rerecorded, the real time
elapsedsincethestartofthepieceyoureanalysingiscontinuallyup
datedandshownasitisplayed.Thismeansthatyoucanhitthepause
39. SeeunderStructuraldenotation,p.115,ff,

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257

buttonwhenyouhearanymusicaleventofinterestandnotethetiming
atthatpoint.Standaloneplayers(CD,DVD,MiniDisc)andnormalplay
backsoftwareoncomputersandsmartphonesletyoupinpointevents
tothenearestsecond,standardaudiovisualrecordingandeditingap
plicationstothenearestfractionofasecond.40Currently(2012)thebest
solutionistomakesureyouhaveyour AOasasoundfileonthecom
puterandtoopenitusingaudioeditingsoftware.Thatwayyoucansee
pointsofrelativequietandloudness,changesinsoundwaveshape,etc.
thatmakeiteasiertofindyourwayaroundthepiece,asshowninthe
toppartofFigure74onpage258.
ThetoplineofFigure74isascreencaptureofthewholeoftheoriginal
1962versionoftheJamesBondThemeasdisplayedbytheaudiorecord
ingandeditingsoftwareIuse.*41Usingthelinetoolinanimageedit
ingapplication,Ivemarkedupthestartingpointsofthetunessections
asIhearthem.Icanlabelthemwithvernaculartermsliketwangyguitar
tuneandspychordbecauseIcandesignatethesoundImreferringtoby
indicatingtheexactpoint,tothenearestsecond,inthetunestimecode
wherethatsoundfirstoccurs,forexamplethetwangyguitarat0:07(for
the entrance of 007 himself), the danger stabs at 1:33 and the final spy
chordat1:40.42Thosestructuraldesignationsareallaccurateandune
quivocal. No reader with access to the same recording can be in any
doubtaboutthesoundsImreferringto.43
40. Resolutionisinmillisecondsforaudiosoftware,inframespersecondforvideo.
41. SteinbergWaveLabStudio.Forsoftwarecredits,seeinsidefrontcover.Thescreen
dumpisconvertedtogreyscaleandmadelessblacktosaveonprintingcosts.Its
alsoreducedsoitfitsonthepage.Ifyoudontownorcantaffordaudioediting
software,dontworry:themusicdepartmentatyourschool,college,universityor
locallibrarymaywellhaveasitelicenseforthatsortofapplication.
42. Imnotsuggestingthatthetiming0:07isintentionalfortheentranceof007!For
moreaboutthefamousSPY,CRIME,DANGERorDETECTIVECHORD,seep.116,ff.
43. ThedurationoftheJamesBondThemeatYouTube/iTunesis1:48,not1:45asinFigure
74(myversion).Thisdiscrepancyisduetothefactthattheaudiofileonwhich
myversionisbasedisananaloguetodigitaltransferofanLPtrackandthatI
trimmeditsinitialandfinalsilencesto0.6and1respectively,whereastheiTunes
filestartswith1.3andendswithalmost3ofsilence.Thismeansthattimingsin
Figure74are0.7(1)earlierthanintheiTunesfile.

Screen capture of four points from VLC display of same MP3 as above

Fig. 7-4. Screen capture of James Bond Theme (Norman, 1962) in audio editing software display

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259

ThefoursmallscreenshotsinFigure74showdisplaysatfourpoints
inthesameMP3fileoftheJamesBondTheme,thistimeusingafreelyand
widelyavailablemediaplayer.44Pleasenotethatthetotaldurationof
thepieceis1:45andthatthescreenshotshavebeentakenat(a)0:07,
when,appropriately,the007tuneisfirstheard;(b)0:33,whentheintro
returns,notlongbeforethebrassfirstenterswithitsangulardanger
tuneat0:40;(c)1:17,apointunmarkedinthetoplineofFigure74;(d)
1:39forthefamousfinalspychord.Thetiming1:17(c)marksthestart
ofthelastreturnoftheintro,exceptthatitsupanddownpatternonly
occursoncebeforethetwangyguitarkicksinforthelasttime.45
Simplemediaplaybacksoftwareisusuallyenoughforsimpleanalysis
tasksbutithasseveraldrawbacks.[1]Thepausebuttoncanbeslowto
reactandyoumayfindyourselfnotingtimingsthatareasecondtoo
late.[2]Timeresolutionisntperfectanditcanbedifficulttostartplay
ingthemusicfromexactpointsinsidetherecording.[3]Youcannotex
tract individual minifiles or construct loops of particular sounds or
passagesyouneedtolistentorepeatedly,orwhichyouneedtodrawto
the attention of those providing you with PMFCs or IOCM without
themhearingwhatcomesjustbeforeorafter.[4]Youcannotdisplay
enoughofyourAOonscreenatonetimetouseasvisualbasisfora
graphicscoreorfordiscussionofoverallformandnarrativeprocess.46
BycreatinganoverviewofyourAOwithprecisetimingsofimportant
eventsanditsdivisionintosections(seetopoffigure74,p.258,andthe
tableofmusematicoccurrenceforAbbasFernando,p.387),youcanalso
start referring to musical structures relatively, for example the danger
loopsjustbeforethefinalchord,orthelastfivenotesofthetwangyguitartune
justbeforeitrepeats.Itis,however,bestwhenindoubttoprovideanac
curatetimingsoastoavoidanyconfusionaboutwhichsoundyoure
referringto.
44. VLCMediaPlayer,seesoftwarecreditsinsidefrontcover.
45. ItsunmarkedinthetoplineofFigure74toavoidcluttering,asistheeventat1:13,
thepointatwhichdramaticbrassstabsfirstpunctuatethemusicsotherwise
unstoppableflow.Observationslikethisareimportantbecausehalvingthedura
tionofpassagespresentingdifferentmaterialoneaftertheotherdoublestherateof
changeandcancreateanimpressionofstressandurgency.
46. Feedbacksessionsandgraphicscore,seeChapter14(pp.562564,568572).

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Paramusicalsynchronicity
Paramusical synchronicity sounds much fancier than what it actually
means,butitsalsomuchshorterthanitsexplanationwhich,however
brief, runs as follows. If, unlike the solely audio version of the James
Bond Theme, your AO features lyrics, moving images, stage action or
dance, its musical structures can also be designated by referring to
paramusicaleventsoccurringsimultaneouslywithorincloseproxim
itytothosestructures.Threefictitiousexampleswillsufficetoillustrate
thissimpletechnique:[1]thesingerscontentedgrowlonthelastoh,baby!
inverse1(at0:31inapopsong);[2]thedistantscreechingsoundjustbefore
shepourspoisonintohiswhiskey(at1:02:15inafeaturefilmonDVD);[3]
thedrumpatternthatsynchroniseswiththequickzoominontotheleadvo
calistslips(at2:20inamusicvideo).Itsusuallyadvisabletosupple
ment this type of structural indication with timecode designation to
ensurethatwhoeverreadsyouranalysiscanfindtherelevantmusical
structure in the recording without wasting time waiting for the mo
menttoarrive.

Summaryofmainpoints
[1]Structuralelementsinmusiccanbeconsideredaseither:[i]dormant
structuresregardlessofsemioticpotential;[ii]structuralelementsthat
canbeshowntocarrysomesortofmeaningmusematicstructures.
[2]Amusemeisaminimalunitofmusicalmeaningbutitsoftenmore
usefultoconsidermeaningfulmusicalunitsintermsofmusemestacks,
musemestrings,orassyncrisis(Chapter12).
[3]InadditiontotheintersubjectiveproceduresdescribedinChapter6,
a musical analysis object (AO: an identifiable and usually nameable
pieceofmusic)canbesubjectedtointerobjectiveinvestigation.
[4]Interobjectivecomparisonmaterial(IOCM)ismusicotherthantheAO
thatsoundslike(bearsstructuralresemblanceto)theAO.
[5]ThecollectionofIOCMisthefirstoftwostepsintheprocedureofin
terobjectivecomparison.ThesecondstepinvolvesrelatingtheIOCMto
itsownparamusicalfieldsofconnotation(PMFCs).

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[6]PMFCsrelatedtotheIOCMcanbepositedasPMFCsrelatingtotheAO.
[7]IOCMcanbecollectedbyexploitingtheaudiomuscularmemoryof
musicians.Thismethodisdirectandreliablesinceitisintrinsicallymu
sical,avoidingthemediationofwordsandusingothermusicasasort
ofinitialmetalanguageforthemusicunderanalysis.
[8]IOCMcanalsobegatheredbysearchingformusicwhosetitle,lyrics,
accompanying images, connotations, including hypotheses you may
haveyourself,arerelevanttothe AO.Onlinesearchesusuallyresultin
quickaccesstorelevantpiecesofIOCM(Reverseengineering1).
[9]Conclusionsaboutmusicalmeaningdrawnfrominterobjectivepro
cedurescan,ifapplicable,becrosscheckedforviabilitywithreception
testresults(seeChapter6).Theycanalsobeverified/falsifiedusingthe
techniques of recomposition (Reverse engineering 2) and commuta
tion(hypotheticalsubstitution).
[10]Accuratestructuraldesignationisessentialininterobjectiveanaly
sis.Digitaltimecodeplacementandparamusicalsynchronicityaretwo
simplewaysinwhichanyonecanunequivocallydenotemusicalstruc
tureswithouthavingtouseanymusojargon.

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