“Put simply, information theory is a mathematical theory of how to optimize a signal for communication in a noisy channel and of how communication degrades in such a medium.”

The starting line of this article immediately caught my attention. There is something about the way the definition was so precise, and the way that the author portrayed it so confidently. As a reader, it draws me in and intrigues me, making me want to explore what exactly they mean by the phrase above. As I continued reading, I quite enjoyed the way that the author slowly built up to their point, the same way a musician would slowly build up to the final composition of their song. Instead of directly introducing their point, the broke it down into smaller pieces, which when put together, mended together to form the whole point. It felt familiar in a way, and it is something I quite enjoyed.

Another thing that stood out to me was when the author asks the question “Is it musical?”. Although mentioned in different context, it is a phrase that was mentioned quite a few times in the text. It felt as though they are echoing their thoughts and ideas. As a reader I felt included in the process. Not only that, but I felt validated, in the sense that I felt like I was not the only person who has these questions in their head. When it comes to composition, you are relying on your own sound. What makes this so difficult and intimidating is that every person has a sound that is unique to them. That is why when it comes to sharing your work, you become intimidated by the fact that your work may not resonate with people, because it may not meet a certain standard. We even saw this in during our latest live coding performance in class. Although the content that we learn is the same, the way that each person approached their project was completely different. To link it back to the main point, by saying “is it musical?”, the author is in a way confiding in the readers, showing that while each person has a different process, there is comfort in knowing that there is somewhat of a shared and common struggle when it comes to the composition of a piece. I am not quite sure how relevant it is to the reading, but it is a correlation that immediately came to mind, one that I wanted to share. That is why when the author also casually and consistently mentions this question, and outwardly expresses their thought process, I feel even more connected to the work.