Tracking the creative process in music: New issues, new methods

Abstract

Introduction to Musicae Scientiae special issue entitled 'Tracking the Creative Process in Music'. An increasingly complex image of the creative process in music has emerged in recent years. Composition remains, of course, a major part of the study of the creative process, but equally performance, improvisation, sound engineering, as well as many other areas and roles, are key to its understanding. Creativity is not just the stuff of western art music: virtually any genre or culture can be rich terrain for its study. We also need to investigate the psychology of musical creativities instead of thinking of creativity as a monolithic category. Moreover, the boundaries between disciplines, objects, and methodologies have been blurred. The present issue is intended to reflect, at least partially, on how the aforementioned changes, especially current developments in the study of performance as and in the creative process, affect the very definition of our objects and methods. It draws on empirical research presented at the 2nd Tracking the Creative Process in Music conference that was held jointly at the Faculty of Music, Universite de Montreal, and the Schulich School of Music, McGill University, in September 2013.