Music and Cats / Book of Abstracts - Catalog - Page 24
Abstracts
Panel 6: Cats as Musicians
16:40 – 16:55
Zoosemiotics,
Zoomusicology and
Musical Creation
Abstracciones gatunas (Feline abstractions), a work
created from the behaviour and sounds of domestic
cats.
Chenyu Xiao / University of Leeds
This paper addresses the intersection of
zoosemiotics, zoomusicology, and contemporary
music composition through the creation of an
experimental musical work inspired by the
behavior and vocalizations of domestic cats,
treating the cat as a generator of meaningful
sound within its own expressive world. The final
work, Abstracciones gatunas, emerged from a
process that includes field recordings, study and
observation of cat’s behaviour, analysis and
transctiption of cat’s sounds, synthactic mimesis,
experimental and electronic music practices, all
grounded in an interdisciplinary approach that
seeks
to
recontextualize
feline
sound
communication within a musical framework;
bringing together music and cats, semiosis and
sound, domestic and wild, sound and silence,
defined and aleatory.
Zoosemiotics
and
zoomusicology
introduce
relatively novel perspectives: analyzing animal
communication through semiotics and animal
sounds through musicology. Both disciplines are
deeply
interdisciplinary,
intersecting
with
semiotics, ethology, communication studies,
musicology,
and
composition.
Like
ethnomusicology—which
studies
musical
expressions beyond the Western canon—
zoomusicology
challenges
traditional
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boundaries
by
considering
the
sonic
expressions of non-human animals as
potentially musical.
This project was carried out in two
interconnected phases: research and creation.
The research phase was interdisciplinary,
encompassing biological aspects and musical
elements, zoomusicology served as a bridge
between the two fields. The creative process
involved direct observation and recording of
cats in various environments. These sessions
produced a bank of 239 feline sound cells,
which were classified and analyzed to generate
musical materials—some were electronically
modified, while others remained unchanged.
The resulting composition includes vocal and
instrumental imitations of cat sounds,
combining graphic and traditional notation,
spatialization, and electroacoustic elements
triggered through multiple speakers. Rather
than seeking definitive answers, this work
aims to inspire ongoing reflection and
exploration.
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