This is the tenth of our instructor-led online discussions for Mu 101 (Fall 2019). Refer to the handout you received the first day of class (click on this highlighted text to go to that page our class website) which describes the amount and kinds of contributions you’re expected to make to these online discussions — they’re all the same parameters of good conversation that happens offline, too!

The approximate reading time of this post is 1 minute, not counting any audio media.

The Voyager spacecrafts were launched in 1977 and have traveled beyond the edges of our solar system, carrying information about life on Earth. Both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 contained a phonograph record of sounds and music selected by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan. The phonograph is nicknamed “The Golden Record.”

The recordings include the greetings in 55 languages; sounds of ocean surf, wind, thunder, footsteps, laughter, trains, and animal noises; and 90 minutes of music.

The plaque which is attached to the spacecraft includes a message from President Jimmy Carter:

This is a present from a small, distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours.

 

Sample of recordings included in the Golden Record (in the order they appear)

The entire list of music (27 recordings) included on the spacecraft is available here: http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/music.html What criteria do you think Sagan and his team used in 1977 to choose the recordings that represent humanity in space? How would those criteria be updated if a similar project were launched in 2019?

Johann Sebastian Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, in F Major, BWV 1047, I. Allegro (1718)

Mangkunegara IV, Puspawarna (Kinds of Flowers) [Indonesia; gamelan ensemble]

Lorenzo Barcelata, “El Cascabel” (1941) [Mexico]

Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode” (1958)

Tsuru no Sugomori (Nesting Cranes), performed by Yamaguchi Goro [Japan; shakuhachi]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, “Die Holle Rache” from Die Zauberflote, K. 620 (1791)

Igor Stravinsky, “Sacrificial Dance” from The Rite of Spring (1913)

Johann Sebastian Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, book 1, Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C Major (1722)

Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, I. Allegro (1807-08)

Izlel ye Delyo Hajdutin [Bulgaria]

Blind Willie Johnson, “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground” (1927)

Ludwig van Beethoven, String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130, V. Cavatina: Adagio molto espressivo (1826)

 

Sample of images included on the spacecrafts

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Voyager 2019!

Each of you should add your own piece of music to a playlist to be included on a space craft launched by Mu 101 in 2019 and explain why you think your chosen piece needs to be on the space craft.

Continue the conversation as usual: ask each other questions and respond to each other’s ideas to receive Credit for your participation.

-Dr. J.

67 thoughts on “Voyager 2019 (Online Discussion Nov 25-Dec 1)”

  1. Actually I never imagined learning all this when I was signing up for this class . I wasn’t even educated before now that space was exposed to music .
    Amazing isn’t it ?

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    2. Likewise, when i signed up, i thought it was going to be a regular class as always. Contrary to my thoughts, this class as been a railroad of informations, good and usable knowledge that others pay lots of money to acquire. I have been great full for all the information thus far. With that being said, i think the “Golden Record” idea was wrong. If we make any contact with alien lives, their views of us will be deceiving. life as we know it now is not 1977 anymore. Our soundscapes has change and continues to do so. We have different values and different likes of people. Most o of the musics on board have been outdated by now. How about sending a live stream camera of our daily lives?

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        1. Yes but on a bigger scale. Whomever made contact would be able to see different camera screens of anywhere around the planet as they choose. Live feeds 24/7.

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    4. I can agree I think that’s pretty incredible that somewhere millions of miles away were exposed to the sounds and music we were too.

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    6. It’s cool to learn things that you just never thought you’d be learning about. I thought that we would just be learning about different instruments and that’s it.

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      1. I agree Melissaarce23, I also thought we would just learn about instruments and a couple of old artists, but it’s been way more in depth, I feel like this class has helped with my social skills a bit. I’m typically shy and our group activities have helped me come out of my shell a bit. Do you feel like this class has helped with anything other than learning about music?

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        1. I have to say that I agree with what you all have said about not learning only about instruments and such but I also relate to what you experienced through the group activities, I was also able to actually develop some social skills and I also feel that this class has allowed me to be more confident by letting me voice out my opinions without fearing to be shut down or being judged by my beliefs or preferences. Before, I was always scared to comment on something because I feared rejection or being looked down upon but I have learned not only new things about the world that surrounds music but also some useful daily life skills.

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    7. Me too, I never expected to learn all this stuff. I never knew about this. I thought it will be a normal music class, so I took lightly. But it was stressfull but won’t complain, got to learn a lot of things in this then my other classes.

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    8. I agree I never thought I was going to learn this much. Reason I felt that way was because I didn’t know music had this much components and had history that we can trace.

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  2. Based on all of the pictures they all could involve music . For example. The picture at the supermarket music would be in the background while she is shopping. We could all interpret this differently so I’d love to hear what everyone else thinks .

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    1. I agree. Maybe something relaxing and interesting to attract customers to stay and buy lot of food. Most of the music played in these stores are probably picked by psychiatrist.

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  3. It’s astonishing how impactful classical music is. Many songs made in the 16th and 17th century are still being used in films in the 21st century. Although classical music is not a genre I would choose to listen to for pleasure, it does make for great background music with movement in a film.

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    2. Interesting, how did it begin? who decided that classical music were conversation pieces? remember “impressionism and expressionism”. Classical music is talking to us. It is like having a conversation. Different notes and different keys are like asking questions and giving answers. An orchestra can take you off your feet and bring you in another dimension.

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      2. can’t other musical genres do that too? take you to another place? I feel like classical music isn’t the only genre of music that can sweep me away to another time period.

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  4. Why do you guys think it is easier to distinguish a music from a non European country than a European country. For example, the Puspawarna (Kinds of Flowers) from Indonesia, just from the first 15 sec of listening I already had assumptions this piece was from a non European country. But a piece like String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130, V. Cavatina: Adagio molto espressivo (1826), it hard to say which country it could have originated from.

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    1. Maybe it has to do with the style that people from different countries use, and the way they move their instruments and play. It’s for the same reason you can tell what kind of language a person might be speaking even if you don’t understand what they’re actually saying.

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  5. Would i be wrong for saying that Disco Music was not part of the “Golden Record”? Disco was big in the late 70’s!

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  6. Here is a piece of music that should be added to the list. The piece and the artist will forever lived on. So the aliens should know about him and his culture. . Yes, Barb Marley “No Woman No Cry” Don’t cry, more like empowering women when times are hard. especially his wife when he was away playing music to make a living. it is a son that empowers the good qualities of women not the negative aspects as many misconstrues. the song is powerful. I think it deserves to be on The Golden Record.

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      1. This is a quote from Dr. Jones post for the discussion. “Each of you should add your own piece of music to a playlist to be included on a space craft launched by Mu 101 in 2019 and explain why you think your chosen piece needs to be on the space craft”

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    2. I agree with you Bob Marley song would be a great addition to the list because he was an influential artist.

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  8. Before vehicles were popular, people would have to carry their music records around, and use boats if they wanted to travel the ocean to bring their music to other countries. Now we have the internet to help with all of that, and we also have much more advanced methods of transportation, like airplanes.

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      1. LOL. “Boombox”, That is so true. They even had rap battles and dance contest everywhere with it. On the train or in the street corners.

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    1. One song that I think should be added is John Lennon’s “Imagine” it’s a song about a beautiful world he envisions full of happiness and peace. A timeless song that to this day has such a strong and beautiful message. I agree with you Meliss102g, this class has been nothing like I imagined and I’ve learned more than I ever thought I would. The biggest thing I took away from this class, is how important participation during class really is and how it helps to actually Get a good idea of what is being taught in class. Did anyone else learn this from this class? And going back to the voyager, I see a lot of people add great choices of songs, any artists or songs from 2019?

      Liked by 1 person

      1. “Man In the Mirror” by Michael Jackson is a song that could follow up the one you mentioned and even though it isn’t from 2019 or close to it, I think that it can also give an impact by letting them know that in order to make that peaceful and joyful world that we envision come to life you have to “take a look at yourself, and then make a change” in order “to make the world a better place”.
        .

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    3. You are more open to different types of music because of the different time periods we’ve covered in class form the medieval era to the romantic era of music. We listened to music to which we never would of thought of listening to before.

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  12. This sound track for space included many different cultural backgrounds. If we even listen a lot of these instruments took years of practice or even raw talent. I looked and if I’m not mistaken this probe was launched in September 5, 1977 and they could have included songs from Michael Jackson/Jackson 5 (which would have been a great addition), but in a sense I guess they wanted to show the groundwork for work or music. If we listen all the songs on the track was basically groundwork for our music today.

    The song I would include would be Lenny Kravits Fly Away. This song actually added some diversity to my playlist and opened up my taste! Also, the song kind of fits where the sound track is going!

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    1. Nice, i just listened to it. It is a pretty cool song. We have talked about “expressionism”, this song is a perfect example of that. Moreover, i like the idea of having the female drummer in the video. It appeared that everyone wanted to escape and fly way. Good choice, good for the list.

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      1. The 2 artist were awesome in this piece. The live performance was super dope. And I didn’t even realize that the song does have a form of expressionism! Thank you for helping me realize that!

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  13. The songs that I believe should be included into the spacecraft would be Beres Hammond Rockaway and Buffalo soldier by Bob Marley . The reason behind these two songs would be that both tell great stories. I admire music like this especially ones that expose culture and authenticity. The items that were included in the spacecraft in my eyes tended to tell stories and experiences without words.

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    2. i agree because these music do indeed give a back story for many people even if they didn’t create it.

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  15. I believe that the criteria is based on most listened to music and images from around the world that caught his eye . For today’s criteria it would be based on top hits of music like bad guy by billie eilish and an highly watched moves like frozen. And if there were a new criteria made any anita baker songs will or should be put in.

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    1. Anita Baker music is a song you can listen to when you want to be in your feelings and to listen to her calming tone of singing.

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    2. When it comes to modern music, it’s all about pleasing the masses for most people. That, however, leaves people who are not part of the masses left out, since they have nothing to appeal to them. For example, if a lot of the people liked rock music, but some people like classical music, the music industry would be over-saturated with rock music instead of balancing between different kinds of musics.

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      1. well there are a lot of different genres of music that is currently available to a lot of different people. Because of this I don’t think anyone really feels left out, rather there’s something for everyone despite if your part of the masses or not.

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      2. One can’t really say that modern music is all about pleasing the masses because we are not the artists, so we don’t really know what they are thinking.

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      3. I agree with you on that statement because nowadays artist make music to what’s hype at the moment. For example right now in the hip
        hop genre trap music is very hot right now and rappers are coming out with this style of music.

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  16. I find it really extraordinary that both voyagers were able to contain a piece of evidence of how music evolves through culture from space. “Kind of Flowers” is one of my favorites.

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  17. All the music chosen are very different styles. From classical to Spanish to Bulgarian. I think the music was chosen to represent different people, different cultures. Maybe Represent people would had an influence on the Voyager or who traveled in it .

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    1. Yes I like this! It just shows how great and grand the community is and how many people love different types of music.

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  18. One of the songs that I would add to the list would be “ni bien bi mal” by bad bunny from the x100pre album. It’s a great breakup song and I believe it’s timeless.

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  19. I think The Beatles songs will always be timeless and it was hard to pick just one song since I love them all, but I finally chose the song “we can work it out” by The Beatles since its a song with a simple message which is; there is no time to fight with each other, life is short, just try to see it from my perspective and ill try to see it from yours and eventually, “we can work it out”. Again its a very short song with a very simple message but I think initially trying to see things from the opposite perspective is a difficult thing to do for anyone, and I believe we should always make an effort to see things through someone else’s eyes.

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  20. If we would launch the Mus 101 2019 voyager you would definitely hear Drake, Billie Eilish, Dababy, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and the list can go on.

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  21. I don’t really have a clear idea of what would my playlist to the space would look like, but I am pretty sure I would put the music from the movie “First Man” on my playlist. Anymore songs you guys recommend?

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  23. My playlist would consist of a variety of songs from various artist like Mario, Joe, Jordan Spark and a few others for these are artist I listen to from time to time, and I also find their music to be relaxing.

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  24. One question I have is after taking this class how often do you guys think of listening to “Classical music?”

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  25. Well it was lunched in the 70s. So if we launch one is 2019. It would be a lot different. The music changed and people chnaged. Lots of thing came in this years teachnology upgraded music style changed sports changed a lot of new sports came. It will look way different then the one that was launched in the 70s.

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  26. I think that a song that could have been included is “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke which tells his personal experience of facing discrimination which could show that although our world isn’t perfect nor near it, we all can make a change, even if it is small and no matter if we are surrounded by wicked feelings and treatment we can still have good in our hearts and no one is born evil. Let them see that the beauty of our world doesn’t lay on the masses but instead, on each individual and their willpower.

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  27. I was thinking of “The final countdown”. If we just sit down and imagine a space craft lifting off would you guys play that in your head?

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