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Avoiding Extinction in the Instrument Zoo: A taxonomical and ontological approach to developing an understanding of the ecosystem of electroacoustic instruments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2010

Bill Vine*
Affiliation:
School of Music, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK

Abstract

This paper explores the dangers of electroacoustic instruments being lost, from the orphaning of compositions to technological innovations in the field going unnoticed, and presents a case for developing a knowledge base as part of an effort to address these issues. Building in particular on the work of Davies and projects such as EARS, ARiADA and SARA, it explains how taxonomical (hierarchical classification systems) and ontological (more general and in-depth methods for formally collecting information on a domain) approaches should be deployed in this work and outlines some emerging ideas that should be considered when taxonomies and ontologies are developed.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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