Reconstructing Digitally Instruments and Scales in the Synchrony and Diachrony of Music

Abstract

The capabilities of modern computers to visualize in a realistic and constructive manner how ancient musical instruments performed gives contemporary musicologists an unprecedented insight on how music evolved through the centuries. Collecting evidence from museological exhibits, reconstructed physical instruments from antiquity have been performing around the globe. Based on these, Computer Music scientists create virtual environments that allow experts to experiment and interface with cultural worlds that flawlessly revive the timeline of music through the centuries. Even further, computer systems can synthesize melodies based on the notation used in antiquity, providing scholars with a vivid reflection that echoes humanity's collective memory through the centuries.