Digital Data in the Transcultural Music Studies and the Historical Ethnomusicology

In the field of digital music research, the comparatively young disciplines of Transcultural Music Studies and Historical Ethnomusicology are confronted with a specific set of conditions and challenges. Both represent innovative constellations of method and area in which fieldwork and philology are not diametrically opposed but united. The present article addresses opportunities, risks and methodical implications of digitization along the division between written and oral sources. The topic of digital source editions it represented from a transcultura I perspective by the project CMO (Corpus Music ae Ottomanic ae), which combines machine- and human-readable editions of Ottoman music, critical reports and a detailed database. On the side of oral tradition, an evaluation of the ethnomusicological practice of reimporting historical recordings >> back to the field << in the light of restitution and repatriation of intangible cultural heritage is attempted. A survey of >> e-fieldwork << sheds light on a new and promising research method which is not without dangers and drawbacks.