Non-human beings play a crucial role in understanding inspiration, especially in music and religion. The concept of inspiration, rooted in the idea of 'breathing in,' highlights a relationship with the divine or supernatural. Educators can honor diverse religious and musical experiences by acknowledging the presence of non-humans. A course titled "Music, Sound and Research with Non-Humans" was designed to explore human knowledge alongside non-human entities. Relationships between humans and non-humans, explored through Actor-Network Theory, demonstrate how both can influence and shape experiences in music, science, and spirituality.
Musicians can be inspired by great artists, living and dead; by technologies that expand their experience, like artist Brian House's macrophones that capture low-frequency infrasound; by plants and animals; and by the unseen, unheard presence of the supernatural.
The "with" in the course title is key: I want students to learn about how human knowledge exists in relationship with non-humans. To do this, we read and listen widely.
In research using Actor-Network Theory, for example, relationships between humans and non-humans are central: musicians, scientists and their instruments; you and your smartphone; humans and gods.
Some of the sung poetry used for semah is inspired by sacred animals, such as cranes.
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