"Embodied Music Cognition and Mediation Technology" by Marc Leman
Bruno H. Repp · 2009
Embodied Music Cognition and Mediation by Marc Leman Embodied Music Cognition and Mediation Technology, by Marc Leman. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008). (ISBN: 978-0-262-12293-1 Hard cover, ?? + 297 pp., $40.00) Marc Leman is well known as a systematic musicologist with strong technological inclinations. Technology is not my thing, and if I had not had a chance opportunity to leaf through a friend's copy of this book, I might never have read it. However, a few glances at its pages suggested to me that it contained lots of interesting ideas but little technology; hence this review. The book turned out to be even more interesting than I had expected. fact, I think it makes a really important contribution to the psychomusicological literature. Leman presents a quite elaborate theory of embodied music cognition that links psychological research on perception-action relationships with musicological and technological concepts and concerns. Although many of the ideas have a pedigree, Leman's detailed and persuasive synthesis, drawing on a variety of sources, represents an impressive achievement. The book is extremely well organized and is divided into chapters, sections, subsections, and paragraphs, all with succinct and memorable headings. Leman rarely delves into empirical or technological data; rather, he keeps a firm focus on the development of concepts and ideas, which he achieves with admirable clarity. Relevant musicological literature and empirical studies are cited where appropriate and sometimes illustrated with examples, but not reviewed in any detail. Studies from his own laboratory are given somewhat more attention, but never so much as to detract from the cumulative impact of the theoretical ideas. Even the last two chapters, which deal with technological issues, do not dwell on technical details but rather serve as illustrations of possible applications of a theory of embodied music cognition. This consistent theoretical focus and technological restraint is particularly admirable because it is quite clear that mediation technology is the alpha and omega of Leman's intellectual journey. His Introduction begins thus: Modern digital media tend to handle music as encoded physical energy, while the human way of dealing with music is based on beliefs, intentions, interpretations, experiences, evaluations, and significations. How can this gap be closed? What kind of mediation is needed to bridge the gap? (p. xiii). It continues a little later with In this mind/matter relationship, the human body can be seen as a biologically designed mediator that transfers physical energy up to a level of action-oriented meanings, to a mental level in which experiences, values, and intentions form the basic components of music signification (p. xiii). These passages state succinctly the theme that is elaborated in the following chapters, the flavor of which I will try to convey below. They also raised the question (in my mind) of why any mediation technology is needed when the human body is already such an excellent mediator. However, it soon becomes clear what kind of technology Leman has in mind. Chapter 1, Musical Experience and Signification, starts out by calling for a transparent mediation technology whose user can be directly involved with music, while being unaware of any mediation. Leman contrasts direct involvement with music, which he also calls behavioral resonance or corporeal immersion, with indirect involvement via a mediator. As one important form of mediation, Leman considers verbal descriptions of music and musical experience. He points out their usefulness but also their ultimate subjectivity, which makes them a poor basis for mediation technology. He contrasts this subjective language-based approach with a nonlinguistic action-based approach, in which body movements play the mediating role. He then hints at how this approach might inform future mediation technologies. …