In-Music · Interactive Tools for the Study and the Enhancement of Music Iconography

While music is undoubtedly a primary expression of any civilization, Western society seems to have moved further and further away from the music of its past, thus missing a great wealth of its own identity. Rethinking how we approach historical music is essential to bridge this gap and IN-MUSIC intends to make an innovative contribution in this direction. The project will focus on a particularly interesting yet little-addressed branch of cultural heritage, music iconography, addressing it through a multidisciplinary approach that combines iconological methodology with the application of digital technologies.Due to the very nature of music iconography, digital technologies represent a tool with enormous potential for both its study and enhancement. In fact, only in a virtual context is it possible to reconstruct the original ideal multi-sensory nature of musical images while digital means allow the socialization of highly specialized music-related contents in a dynamic and engaging way. Nonetheless, little has been done to fully explore this potential, especially in terms of interactivity. IN-MUSIC will address Early Modern Spain music iconography and will delve into different digital approaches and communication strategies, in order to devise replicable and versatile instruments. A semantic database, based on CIDOC-CRM, and a set of prototypes of digital devices will be elaborated, resorting to the use of different open-source software. All the prototypes will be submitted to different targets of public who will be asked to fill out a specifically designed survey to collect useful data for the evaluation of the effectiveness of such tools in communicating knowledge.The success of the action will therefore increase our knowledge on Spanish musical imaginary in a crucial historic context while providing scholars and cultural stakeholders with efficient means to study, teaching, and enhance an unconventional heritage.