Here is a methodological approach that I find intruiging both for philosophical and personal reasons. I think that the whole article deserves reading but I will include only an excerpt.
LL
The Pulse of Life: Music of Our World and Beyond
The Pulse of Life: Music of Our World and Beyond
Thu Sep 12, 8:20 AM ET
By Douglas Vakoch, SPACE.com
As the deep, rich drone of a didgeridoo continued to emanate from a portable CD player, American composer Andrew Kaiser wrapped up his argument for the role of music in interstellar communication. Speaking at a recent workshop in Paris, Kaiser echoed the sentiments of others at the meeting, stressing the fruitful interplay of art and science in constructing interstellar messages.
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The meetings provide advance preparation for one of the most critical decisions that would face humankind if the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence ( Web sites )(SETI) should some day succeed: should we reply, and if so, what should we say?
In Kaiser’s view, the structure of terrestrial music might provide clues to creating interstellar messages that could be understood by extraterrestrial intelligence. In the process, he suggests that music may provide a means of communicating "something of our consciousness that is essentially human, regardless of the civilization from which it emerges."
Kaiser is building upon an ongoing discussion about whether music would be understood by extraterrestrials. For example, astronomerSabastian Von Hoerner argued that extraterrestrials could even have music similar to Earth’s—so similar that we shouldn’t be surprised to find them using the same musical scales that we do!
Indeed, ever since the Pythagoreans of ancient Greece, we have known that there is an innate connection between music and math. Musical notes can be described in terms of precise frequencies, and harmonic combinations of these notes occur when their respective frequencies are in a precise ratio to one another. To the mathematician, the result is a simple fraction. To the listener, it is a harmonic sound.
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Kaiser stresses the importance of avoiding ethnocentric biases when creating interstellar messages inspired by music. He notes that those from a Western tradition can easily assume that the conventions of classical music are equally applicable in non-Western cultures. And in many cases, they are not. Though concepts of harmony and melody are seen throughout the world, the forms they take may be radically different. In designing interstellar messages based on music, he contends, we should be careful in deciding which musical concepts to emphasize.
