music criticism as a creative tool

using computer-based content analysis of popular music reviews to guide the music-making process

loren jan wilson
june 2003 - june 2004

  1. overview and goals
  2. building a database of music reviews
  3. making sense of the data
  4. discussing the results
  5. the word lists
  6. the songs I wrote using the data (including mp3s)
  7. conclusion and faq
  8. bonus features

Abstract

This project combines a computer science background and a songwriting hobby with an unhealthy obsession for popular music reviews. In it, I attempt to come up with a new computer-assisted songwriting method which takes music critics' opinions into account. By writing software to statisically analyze the content of several thousand record reviews from the Pitchfork music website (www.pitchforkmedia.com), I generate a set of compositional guidelines based on the musical preferences expressed by the critics. I then use those guidelines to write and record a couple of original songs, discussing in detail the relationships between the songs and the data that I have collected.

About the Author

I have a new band called The Heaven Seventies, for which I write songs and sing. I am currently a data network engineer at The University of Chicago.

loren@starlister.com, established June 10, 2004, last updated July 9, 2007
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