What does this research mean for the field?

Speculative xenomusicology can generate imagined alien music by altering human memory constraints and linking sound organization to the generation of an alien language. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.NOVEL_FINDING. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.ESTABLISHES_NEW_DIRECTION.

What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to explore the cognitive and physical aspects of fictional alien music and its implications for human understanding.

February 19, 2026Open Access

Xenomusicology

NCNick CollinsDurham University

Key Points

The aim is to explore the cognitive and physical aspects of fictional alien music and its implications for human understanding.
Developed a generative system to create imagined xenomusic based on altered human memory constraints.
Examined connections between sound organization and the generation of a theoretical alien language.
Considered microtonal pitch, complex rhythms, and timbral aspects in the context of alien environments.
Proposed that xenomusic can inspire new musical concepts and experiences.
Suggests insights into the possibilities of music theoretical space can arise from this speculative analysis.

Abstract

Abstract Speculative xenomusicology explores alternative music theories, imagining the physical and cognitive affordances of alien musical life. Exoplanets are actively studied in astronomy, and though there is no direct evidence of xenobiology, particularly of more advanced musical intelligences, potential alien music may still be considered in advance in the same way that exobiologists speculate on the conditions for alien life. In particular, a generative system is presented which creates imagined xenomusic based on altering human memory constraints and links the organisation of the sound to the parallel generation of an alien language. Microtonal pitch, complex rhythm, timbral material and spatialisation within putative alien architectures are all considered. This alien ‘analysis by synthesis’ can provide new musical adventures and new understanding of the possibilities of music theoretical space, regardless of any eventual ontological resolution of xenocultures.

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