The Monika music analysis software and the analysis ‘by position’ in the pentatonic universe

Abstract

This article analyses a collection of mouth organ dance pieces from a small Tibetan-Burmese population in Laos (South East Asia). Far from being reducible to their motivic properties, the internal organisation of these pieces is based on implicit but restrictive rules belonging to a real system: pentatonism. The article questions the relevance of the Monika analysis software – in particular the analysis of cumulated pitch durations – for identifying these underlying rules. It will also discuss the software’s role in an analytical process that acknowledges the need for an analysis ‘by position’.