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The Role of ICT in Music Research: A Bridge too far?

While the wide spread availability of the computer and Internet undoubtedly has had a major influence on our society, it is less clear what its impact has been on research in the humanities. Critics blame humanities’ scholars for conservatism, preferring paper, pen and handwork over novel technological gadgets. Others see the use of computer technologies in the humanities mainly restricted to, but well put to use, in applications like the digital library. Although the latter is an important example of information and communication technology (ICT), it is unclear what the actual impact ICT has had on the research methods and research questions posed. Given the observation that for most humanities scholars the use of ICT has not progressed beyond word-processing, using email, and browsing the web, one could argue that, apparently, there is no real need for more advanced uses of ICT, and hence its impact on humanities research might well be negligible. However, in some specific areas of the humanities, including archeology, linguistics, media studies and music, ICT has allowed new research questions and new methodologies to emerge. In this paper, I will focus on the role of ICT in music research, especially the influence it had on the development of the fields of empirical and cognitive musicology.