Friday, November 4, 2011

Doctor Who Theme

I would make the argument that the theme from Doctor Who is music, and not sound art. I can understand how one might assume this, because the piece was not composed using orthodox instrumentation, and would therefore lead us to assume differently about it. I would say that, although it is an organization of sounds from a laboratory, all of the sounds used were chosen because they are tonal. There is distinguishable melodic, harmonic and rhythmic content, as well as form, which together set it apart from sound art as music. I would also argue that the ability to cover the song with melodic, harmonic and rhythmic instruments makes the argument that all three are present in the original production, as well as noting that the modern rendition of the theme does the same by containing all of the information found in the original score.

Original Theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvKezE1hZeI

Modern Theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co_AcU01X9w

All Themes to Date:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnKNupdSH8g

Cover Theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvL9Qkgub9E

Does it follow from my argument that this is music, and not sound art?

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