Comparative studies of musical instruments

Abstract

One of the most exciting fields of study to have entered the interdisciplinary forum in recent times has been ethnomusicology. With primary emphasis on unifying musicology with anthropology, the field also touches on such adjunct areas as acoustics, psychology, linguistics, art history, dance, folklore, and religious studies. The research objective which has received the most attention to date has been the identification and description of the manifold music cultures of the world in terms of the music styles involved as well as the socio-cultural contexts in which they are found. A second and more recent focus of interest has been comparative studies. Dependent on the findings of regional research, comparative studies deal with culture sharing and hybridization, larger regional characteristics, and ultimately the development of universal music theory. While methodological tools for descriptive research have been fairly well worked out, the more comprehensive techniques required of comparative analysis are only in the formative stages. A fundamental area in which this disparity is illustrated is the classification of musical instruments.