DESMA 9 Week 1 | Two Cultures

C.P. Snow talks about how the education system in England helped propel the separation between the two cultures. This resonated with me since growing up in India, the education system was similar to what Snow described, with people having to make a choice between the sciences and humanities/arts in high school, helping enforce the two culture system. I was exposed to technology at a young age and this led to me being interested in science, and I chose to major in Mathematics of Computation here at UCLA. 


The traditional "streams" of study in India, separated into Science, Humanities (also called Arts), and Commerce (Economics/Business)

Parallel to being interested in the sciences academically, I gained an interest in music and music production, particularly modern hip-hop/rap. This allowed me to be involved in both the sciences and the creative arts. As I started to learn more about music production, I noticed that a parallel could be drawn between music production and computer programming. Since modern music can be created with just a computer without the use of real instruments, it felt like the music was being created by just programming a computer to do certain things, reflecting the confluence of music (and thereby art) and technology. 

Modern music production software makes music production seem like music programming

As I learnt more about the history of hip-hop, I learnt that the genre was always closely linked to technological developments. For instance, the advent of digital audio production applications led to a boom in the number of artists that are able to create music, and early developments in systems such as turntables and synthesizers also played a role in hip-hop's growth. This intertwining continues today, with the creation of innovative products like the Stem Player. This concurs with the idea of a "third culture" that transcends the two culture divide and also the idea a of triangular bridge that links art, science, and technology. This does not align with John Brockman's ideas, but is slightly in line with Kelvin Kelly's ideas, because we see technology, which can and has become mainstream far easier than traditional science, forming a link between the traditional two cultures.

The Stem Player, created in association with Kanye West, allows users to easily dissect and experiment with songs, and is an example of the integration of technological developments and art

As someone with a deep interest in technology and music, I have always been fascinated when these realms work together to create things that are considered unconventional, and I hope to one day contribute to such products and ideas.


Sources:

1. Snow, C.P. The Two Cultures and The Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1961.

2. Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo 34, no. 2 (2001): 121–25. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1577014.

3. Graham-Rowe, Duncan. “John Brockman: Matchmaking with Science and Art.” WIRED UK. February 3, 2011. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/matchmaking-with-science-and-art. 

4. DX Staff. “Digitally Divided: Technology's Impact on Hip Hop Music & Culture.” HipHopDX, May 17, 2013. https://hiphopdx.com/editorials/id.2109/title.digitally-divided-technologys-impact-on-hip-hop-music-culture. 

5. Kelly, Kelvin. “The Third Culture.” Edge.org, February 27, 1998. https://www.edge.org/conversation/kevin_kelly-the-third-culture. 

6. Kaur, Sarvpreet. “Stream Choice in Class 11: A Detailed Look into All 3 Streams.” Mindler Blog, May 24, 2018. https://www.mindler.com/blog/which-stream-to-choose-in-class-11/.  (Image 1 Source)

7. “Use the Beat Sequencer in GarageBand for IOS.” Apple Support, January 10, 2018. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208196. (Image 2 Source)

8. “How to Use the Stem Player.” YouTube. Stem Player, February 19, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZaPrVyUMdM. (Video Source)


Comments

  1. Akhil RastogiApril 3, 2022 at 1:17 PM

    The example of music being created via software is really interesting. Being ‘good’ at producing music would now require being adept at both the tech and the musical knowledge required. It would be cool to know how these softwares were created - were more musicians involved or programmers or people skilled in both fields?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hannah PalmerApril 3, 2022 at 4:21 PM

    It is awesome that you have been able to get a taste of both of the two cultures. If you had to pick just one, which one would you choose? I agree with you that music production has become more and more technological over recent years. Have you ever been able to use a stem player?

    ReplyDelete

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