When Literacies Collide The Role of Translation in Music+Coding Activities

Cameron L. Roberts, Michael S. Horn

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

The integration of computer programming and music-making has a rich history dating back to the 1950s. While there has been substantial prior work on the creative and cognitive affordances of programming languages for engaging in musical tasks, there is less work that attempts to understand the theoretical implications of music and code as literacies in collision. In this paper, we report on a study in which five undergraduate students with experience in both music and coding completed two creative musical tasks: one using conventional instruments and tools and one using Python code in an online music-coding environment. In combining representational infrastructures from music and code, both undergo transformations. We introduce semiotic theories of translation and transcription to make sense of the music-coding process and describe strategies that participants devised in their creative process.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings of 2023 Symposium on Learning, Design and Technology, LDT 2023
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages21-28
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9798400707360
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 23 2023
Event2023 Symposium on Learning, Design and Technology, LDT 2023 - Evanston, United States
Duration: Jun 23 2023 → …

Publication series

NameACM International Conference Proceeding Series

Conference

Conference2023 Symposium on Learning, Design and Technology, LDT 2023
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityEvanston
Period6/23/23 → …

Funding

This research was supported by grants DRL-1612619, DRL-1451762, DRL-1837661, and DRL-2119701 from the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF. The second author is co-owner of a commercial entity established to generate revenue to support the ability to continue to offer TunePad as a free platform available for anyone to use.

Keywords

  • Computational Literacy
  • Computer Science Education
  • Music

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
  • Software

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'When Literacies Collide The Role of Translation in Music+Coding Activities'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this