Since the late twentieth century, the development of cybernetics, physical computing and robotics has led artists and researchers to create musical systems that explore the relationship between human bodies and mechanical systems. Anthropomorphic musical robots and bodily integrated ‘cyborg’ sensor interfaces explore complementary manifestations of what we call the ‘anthropomorphic analogy’, which probes the boundary between human artificer and artificial machine, encouraging listeners and viewers to humanise non-musical machines and understand the human body itself as a mechanical instrument.These new approaches to the anthropomorphic analogy benefit from historical contextualisation. At numerous points in the history of Western art music, philosophers, critics, composers, performers and instrument designers have considered the relationship between human musician and musical instrument, often blurring the line between the two. Consideration of historical examples enriches understandings of anthropomorphism in contemporary music technology.This article juxtaposes the anthropomorphic analogy in contemporary musical culture with manifestations of anthropomorphism in early seventeenth-century Europe. The first half of the seventeenth century witnessed a flourishing of instrumentality of all sorts. Musical instruments were linked with the telescope, the clock, the barometer, the paintbrush, and many other instruments and machines, and these came to be understood as vehicles for the creation of knowledge. This flourishing of instrumental culture created new opportunities for contemplation and aesthetic wonder, as theorists considered the line between human being and machine – between nature and artifice. Manifestations of the anthropomorphic analogy in seventeenth-century conceptions of musical instruments help to contextualise and explain similar articulations of the anthropomorphic analogy in the present day.

中文翻译：

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拟人化的类比：现代和当代早期的人性化音乐机器

自 20 世纪后期以来，控制论、物理计算和机器人技术的发展促使艺术家和研究人员创造了探索人体与机械系统之间关系的音乐系统。拟人音乐机器人和身体集成的“半机械人”传感器接口探索了我们所谓的“拟人类比”的互补表现，它探索了人类艺术师和人造机器之间的界限，鼓励听众和观众将非音乐机器人性化并了解人体本身作为一种机械工具。这些拟人化类比的新方法受益于历史语境化。在西方艺术音乐史上的许多点上，哲学家、评论家、作曲家、表演者和乐器设计师考虑了人类音乐家和乐器之间的关系，经常模糊两者之间的界限。对历史实例的思考丰富了对当代音乐技术中拟人化的理解。本文将当代音乐文化中的拟人化类比与 17 世纪早期欧洲拟人化的表现并列。17 世纪上半叶见证了各种工具的蓬勃发展。乐器与望远镜、时钟、气压计、画笔和许多其他仪器和机器联系在一起，这些被理解为创造知识的工具。器乐文化的蓬勃发展为沉思和审美奇迹创造了新的机会，正如理论家所考虑的人类与机器之间的界限——自然与人工之间的界限。17 世纪乐器概念中拟人化类比的表现有助于将拟人化类比的类似表达置于当今的语境中并加以解释。