Themes and Tags in the Improvisations Library

or How is music categorised on this website?


themes_tags_explained
In the Improvisations section, apart from the title, description and the “Listen to” link, each entry is decorated by themes and tags. You might wonder: what are they for? What do they do? What to they mean?


Purpose of Categorisation


The example image above depicts an actual improvisation entry with themes that describe it highlighted in blue. The entry was also tagged with keywords highlighted in green. The whole point of describing every improvisation by means of themes and tags is to provide the listener with a way to discover the music in different ways. Categorisation offers an answer to the question: “What is this particular improvisation like?”

Themes


themes
The image shows a part of the theme list as seen on the sidebar in the Improvisations section. The number next to the name is the number of improvisations that use the theme. The Themes facility could be more accurately named: “Musical Themes, Inspirations and Series” but this would be way too long for a catchy name. Nevertheless, this is precisely what this way of categorisation is about. Themes describe:
  • wilful third party melodies used in the improvisation; most often they are used in a very slight manner, rarely without modifications. Still, I wanted to make musical influences clear.
  • other inspirations for the improvisation, often beyond musical at all
  • the weight of the improvisation (e.g. whether the most important aspect is rhythm or melody, or the improvisation is purely freeform)
  • if the improvisation is a part of a series
By providing theme categorisation, DailyImprov.net enables you to:
  • search for improvisations based on a specific melody or inspired by other means
  • find all improvisations of a given series by clicking on the series theme link

Tags


tags
The image shows a part of the tag cloud as seen on the sidebar in the Improvisations section. The size of the tag reflects the frequency of its usage. While themes described inspirations, influences and weight: things which caused the improvisation, tags describe all other aspects of a performance: things which are the effect of the improvisation, most notably:
  • genre of the improvisation (e.g. jazz, ambient, metal, etc.)
  • mood of the piece (e.g. sentimental, witty, dreadful, etc.)
  • tempo of the song (e.g. slow, snappy, fast, etc.)
  • volume of the song (e.g. peaceful, heavy, etc.)
  • metre of the composition (e.g. waltz, 5/4, etc.)
  • duration of the track (e.g. short, long, etc.)
  • the metronome speed set while recording (e.g. 120 BPM, stands for beats per minute)
By providing tagging, DailyImprov.net enables you to:
  • have a rough estimate of the improvisation feel before you listen to it
  • filter your browsing to music of a certain genre or mood
  • know more about the technical side of the performance which lets you understand it better

An open framework


While already useful, categorisation on this site and the way it is done, is not closed and established. It might changed in the future (in which case I will also update this document) and I’m looking forward to any comments you might be having on the subject.


Thanks


Aeter, for giving the idea for this document.