Instrumentalom

Instrumentalom is a cross-disciplinary field that studies instruments as artifacts, technologies, and social actors. It encompasses musical instruments, scientific devices, and everyday tools, examining their design, use, performance, and cultural significance. Scholars from musicology, anthropology, engineering, design, and science-and-technology studies contribute to its inquiry.

Etymology and scope: The term is a neologism and used variably; it does not denote a single, established discipline. Instead, instrumentalom denotes an approach that treats instruments as objects that shape human practice, constraining and enabling actions, and as sites of technical and aesthetic negotiation.

Core topics include instrument design and ergonomics; acoustics and sound production; manufacturing and material culture; the history and pedagogy of instruments; and the study of digital or virtual instruments, including software interfaces and simulation tools.

Methodologies emphasize context and use: ethnography of makers and players; usability studies; experimental physics and acoustics; reverse engineering; prototyping and digital fabrication; and archival research. The field foregrounds social life, performance, and user experience alongside technical specification.

Relation to related fields and institutions: instrumentalom overlaps with instrumental studies within ethnomusicology, the anthropology of technology, and design research. There are journals and conferences that publish work on instruments and tooling, though the term itself remains informal and evolving.