Episode 39 - A Cave, A Conch, An Algorithm
Hello, musically curious people
This is a slightly different episode.
Instead of the usual format, I’m sharing an interview I did for the excellent podcast What We Did Before. The original episode was called Before Music: Cave Rituals and Ancient Instruments | Steve Pretty, and it asks a very small, manageable question: where did music come from?
You know. Nothing too ambitious.
We get into prehistoric instruments, including conch shells and bone flutes, the possible role of caves and ritual in early music-making, and why place and environment might have shaped the way music developed long before anybody was arguing about whether something is “technically jazz”.
And because apparently I can’t be trusted to stay in one historical period, we also end up talking about AI-generated music, creativity, technology, and what some of the oldest questions about music might tell us about the newest ones.
So this one moves from caves to conches to algorithms, with a few large human questions scattered about the place.
I also mention a couple of live dates at the top of the episode: Ocean Songs at East Point Pavilion in Lowestoft on Saturday 21st March, the Ocean Songs album launch at Theatreship in London on Tuesday 24th March, and the next live edition of Steve Pretty On the Origin of the Pieces at Wilton’s Music Hall on Tuesday 19th May, featuring Jim Bob. Those are also listed in the Acast episode description.
In this episode
A collaboration with What We Did Before
Where music may have come from
Prehistoric instruments, including conch shells and bone flutes
Music, ritual and early human culture
Why place and environment shape musical traditions
How ancient musical questions loop back round when we think about AI-generated music
Caves, culture, creativity, and the usual big weird human questions
Links & references
Podcast links
Also mentioned
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