Constructing music culture

Abstract

This essay explores the creative possibilities of worldbuilding applied to music. It presents anthropological approaches to analysing music culture, and settles upon four main factors (meaning – situation – performance – content) as a basis for a creation of a fictional culture. Through the course of the essay, an example culture will be created, with very brief musical examples, as a demonstration of possible end results and uses of this method of composition. It is simultaneously a response to a lack of authenticity in fantasy music, and a study of how to apply anthropological conclusions to a compositional process.