The role of musical instruments in the globalization of music

Abstract

In recent years, the term «globalization» has become a catchword in many languages. It is an open-ended process that implies dif- ferent levels of unification. In music, attempts have been made by individual and collectively by artists from different cultures in the world. In each case, the process has been focused on the unification of musical sounds that can be identified within the global community. Technology is successful with the duplication of sounds of musical instruments for computer games, but the creation of zones of cultural interaction as defined by actual musical instruments is presenting challenges with the unification of cultural values into one global community. In music, globalization implies «world music» that is articulated as a hybrid product. The process of globalization is readily realized electronically, with sounds of musical instruments, but the creation of zones of cultural interaction, with the same musical instruments, will require a mixture of configuration of factors ranging from ecology to language and cultural manifestation. The objective of zones of cultural interaction is not to unify style of music, but through globalization is the sharing of actual musical instruments. To accomplish this objective, geographic spaces will have to surmount the globalization of the world ecology, language, and culture.