Andrew Killick. 2020. Global Notation: Visualizing the World’s Music. In English. http://globalnotation.org.uk.

Abstract

Global notation is a system designed by Andrew Killick to create visual representations of any kind of music, for transcribing and analysing recorded sound or as a foundation for collaborative performance. Killick explains that global notation “seems increasingly needed in a world where music from all cultures circulates freely and inspires endless cross-cultural collaborations and fusion styles. A notation that can represent all this music on an equal basis should facilitate the exchange of musical ideas and promote a fuller appreciation of the world’s musical diversity.” He developed the system in 2016 so that students in world music classes could analyse music sound and compare structures and styles across genres, communities, and historical eras. He updated and expanded the website in July 2019, suggesting that global notation could also be useful as an alternative to staff notation for music transcription, and for performers and composers working “beyond the bounds of a single established tradition.” Killick, a professor in the Department of Music at the University of Sheffield (UK), constructed and manages the site. The website has two parts: a manual for the global notation system, which assumes no knowledge of Western staff notation or music theory, and recent posts and comments. The manual contains ten sections, several with one or more ancillary pages. The first two sections, the home page and introduction, explain that global notation will continue to develop as website users find solutions for additional complex notational problems. Killick encourages users to provide feedback using comment boxes at the end of each page. The introduction has links to two professionally produced videos that demonstrate the system briefly and concisely. In particular, the video posted on Skillshare, an online learning platform, is fun, fast-paced, and engaging. Section three, a quick guide printable in PDF format, is useful for those who know staff notation or who have worked through the entire manual and want a handy refresher. Sections four through ten constitute the manual’s core. These sections explain how to specify details of performance and musical style, such as vibrato and rubato, not available in traditional Western notation; onset timing; specified pitch; dynamics and articulations; writing by hand; pitch combinations; and using sound analysis software. The system involves establishing layers of lines onto which users can graph components of sound. Killick’s examples use horizontal lines read from left to right, but the system can be set up to read right to left or vertically, to accommodatemultiple cultural norms. Layers are Yearbook for Traditional Music (2020), 52, 271–284