Limits and challenges in the representation of musical information within the Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM)

Abstract

In general terms, the writing of music in the Western tradition is carried out using a set of symbols combined with alphanumeric characters, terms, expressions and/or literary text, along history, have been defining the different types of musical notations including the alphabetical, neumatic, phonetic, mensural, as well as several types of tablatures. With several degrees of limitations and compromises, the majority of musicographical documents can be transcribed into modern notation. Thus, the written musical information of much music’s history can be represented and treated under the Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM). Exploring the history of the RISM project, we discuss its functionalities, strategies and structure of RISM database as well as the inclusion of new repertoires especially the musicographical documents ensemble generated during the last century. In this regard, we point to the expansion of the code currently used in the registry of musical information extracted from the musicographical documentation, eventually adding options that meet the required description of the documental sources or even the development of new systems that allow the encoding and retrieval of heuristically parameterized melodies.