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Arts & Communication Music and sound in Greek TV commercials

and represent musical performance. In musical notation, This capability proves that music is multidimensional and
certain elements serve as iconic representations of auditory polysemic. The ability to capture and reproduce sound
phenomena. For instance, the upward and downward directly has transformed our understanding and analysis of
movement of notes on a staff visually depicts the rise music, allowing for a more immediate and comprehensive
and fall of a melody (from higher to lower pitch). Indices approach to musical semiotics and interpretation.
are signs that bear a connection to what they represent The correlation between language and musical structure
based on spatiotemporal proximity or causal relevance. is a common scientific practice for analyzing the influence
A corresponding representation for musical composition and function of music. Music, like language, follows
could be the common perception of minor scales and a specific syntax to convey meaning from performer
chords as conveying sadness or melancholy, whereas major to listener. That musical meaning extends beyond the
scales and chords are frequently interpreted as expressing sequence of notes, encompassing elements such as genre,
happiness or joy. All types of musical signs (indices, icons, esthetics, tonality, and instrumentation. For example,
and notations) can be considered indicative. 2
just as a speaker chooses specific words and syntax to
In other cases, music has been organized to follow communicate his thoughts, music follows “harmonic
conventional patterns and genres in which notation, syntax” to transition from performance to listening. 11
either iconic or indexical, is always clear. For example, the Furthermore, the concept of the “musical work” is
monophonic sound of four French horns in a relatively crucial in understanding musical meaning, significantly
high position above the middle range of the register has amplifying human contribution and engagement. This
been associated with a sense of heroism, although the term connects music to the world of commerce as an
sound of horns was initially used in hunting or other male economic product, giving it objective characteristics
activities in the European countryside. The association beyond subjective interpretation. This objectivity differs
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with male activities may have been lost in modern times, from that of absolute music as it attributes to music
but the general attribution of heroism through the sound qualities that can be analyzed scientifically by humans,
of horns has persisted as a remnant of a stylized social similar to other positive sciences, rather than treating
convention. 2 it as a self-existing product that implies an element of
In our practical, analytical approach, we will treat randomness. The economic dimension also highlights
musical symbols and semiotics as a unified whole, the intentionality behind music. Musicologist Oscar
interpreted through the logical progression of audiovisual Hernandez Salgar expanded on this idea, asserting that
material. Combined with imagery, music becomes an music has always been intertwined with society, religion,
indicative symbol that is both read and heard in the and economics. He proposed a three-category model for
3
present moment, with notations presented in real-time, the interdisciplinary analysis of music:
without the need for translation into sheet music. This 1) Cognitive/bodily: This category examines the
approach is particularly relevant in our current context. conditions under which the listener/receiver
The intertwined forces of globalization and technological encounters music, along with their bodily reactions.
advancement have fostered a global landscape of unified These conditions include space, time, cultural context,
communication systems and standards, primarily content, individual knowledge, and the type of music.
through the proliferation of media, the Internet, and Finally, it considers individual characteristics of the
social networks. Our interconnected world has created an music and the emotions it evokes.
unprecedented opportunity for emerging scholars, as the 2) Social/interpretive: This category focuses on the
task of decoding evidence is no longer rooted in entirely structural material of the musical genre, such as
unfamiliar contexts, particularly in Western civilization tempo, timbre, and instruments, while highlighting
and its far-reaching influence. the impetus and motivation for creating or listening to
Until the 19 century, in the Western world, sheet music in relation to extramusical elements and social
th
music was the primary method for reproducing acoustic conventions.
material, which was quite restrictive. The symbols had to 3) Cultural/political: This category investigates how music
convey the “meaning” in musical representation. However, genres contribute to cultural meaning and potentially
from 1900 onward, with the invention of the gramophone challenge existing norms to create new ones.
and the possibility of recording, the actual reproduction Salgar’s model is a common analytical tool for various
and transmission of sound became possible. Recordings disciplines, emphasizing the multifaceted nature of
2
and sheet music are tools of study and interpretation that musical meaning and its impact on human experience. In
can be used “after the fact” and not in real-time creation. essence, the meaning of music extends beyond its internal

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 4 doi: 10.36922/ac.4374