Music and Media

Sprachbezug als Werkzeug zur Wirklichkeitsbefragung. Zu einer kompositorischen Fragestellung im Schaffen Peter Ablingers

by Stefan Drees

in: Musik | Kultur | Wissenschaft, hrsg. von Hartmut Möller und Martin Schröder (= Rostocker Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft und Musikpädagogik 1), Essen: Die Blaue Eule 2011, S. 133-150

Der Aufsatz befasst sich schwerpunktmäßig mit der seit 1998 entstehenden, bislang noch unabgeschlossenen Werkfolge... more Der Aufsatz befasst sich schwerpunktmäßig mit der seit 1998 entstehenden, bislang noch unabgeschlossenen Werkfolge »Voices and Piano« von Peter Ablinger (*1959), in der die kompositorische Auseinandersetzung mit Sprache auf der Basis eines computergestützten Analyse- und Transkriptionsverfahrens zum Ausgangspunkt einer spezifischen Erfahrung und Durchleuchtung von Realität - in diesem Fall repräsentiert durch historische Sprachaufzeichungen bekannter Persönlichkeiten - gemacht wird.

Zwischen Dokumentation und Vermittlung: kritische Bemerkungen zu einem Genre der Musik-DVD

by Stefan Drees

in: Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 171 (2010), H. 2, S. 42-45

Der Aufsatz befasst sich mit den Aspekten von visueller Realisierung und Musikvermittlung bei DVD-Produktionen aus dem... more Der Aufsatz befasst sich mit den Aspekten von visueller Realisierung und Musikvermittlung bei DVD-Produktionen aus dem Bereich der klassischen Musik.

An empirical study of normative dissociation in musical and non-musical everyday life experiences

by Ruth Herbert

Now available online,  in advance of publication in Psychology of Music

Dissociative experiences involving music have received little research attention outside the field of ethnomusicology.... more Dissociative experiences involving music have received little research attention outside the field of ethnomusicology. This paper examines the psychological characteristics of normative dissociation (detachment) across musical and non-musical experiences in ‘real world’, everyday settings. It draws upon a subset of data arising from an empirical project designed to compare transformative shifts of consciousness, with and without music in daily life, and the ways in which use of music may facilitate the processes of dissociation and absorption. Twenty participants kept unstructured diaries for two weeks, recording free descriptions of involving experiences of any kind as soon as possible after their occurrence. All descriptions were subsequently subjected to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA).

Results suggest that dissociative experiences are a familiar occurrence in everyday life. Diary entries highlight an established practice of actively sought detachment from self, surroundings or activity, suggesting that, together with absorption, the processes of derealization (altered perception of surroundings) and depersonalization (detachment from self) constitute common means of self-regulation in daily life. Music emerges as a particularly versatile facilitator of dissociative experience because of its semantic ambiguity, portability, and the variety of ways in which it may mediate perception, so facilitating an altered relationship to self and environment.

Same tune, different words: The creative destruction of the music industry

by Sergio Sparviero

Rogers, Jim and Sergio Sparviero. 2011. Same tune, different words: The creative destruction of the music industry, Observatorio (OBS*) Journal, vol.5 - nº4 (2011), 001-030.

In this paper, we experiment and adopt „new‟ economic approaches to interrogate some of the fundamental changes and... more In this paper, we experiment and adopt „new‟ economic approaches to interrogate some of the fundamental changes and continuities in the music industry „system‟ that have been produced as a result of digitalisation. In this experiment, we also include established techniques of media industries‟ analysis like a value-chain analysis (e.g. Küng, Picard and Towse 2008) and the distinction between audience and users markets, following the seminal work by Picard (1989). However, not only we consider the music industry as composed by three segments: (1) the digitalisation of content production in the music industry stage; (2) the distribution and marketing stage; (3) the delivery and exhibition stage, but we also attempt to provide a map of the increasing variety of activities in each segment. Moreover, we embrace a service activity perspective and pay particular attention to changing relationships between these activities. Our account of the main changes to the music industry relies on evidence derived from the findings of a recent empirical research study of the music industry in Ireland, and in the conclusions we discuss the significance of the effects of unauthorised downloads of music and provide arguments on how the industry could deal with this issue.
http://obs.obercom.pt/index.php/obs/article/view/514/471

Attuned to Engagement: The effects of a music mentoring programme on the …

by Douglas Lonie

This paper presents final quantitative findings from phase two of the Youth Music Mentors (YMM) Programme. Evaluation... more This paper presents final quantitative findings from phase two of the Youth Music Mentors (YMM) Programme. Evaluation tools were embedded in the programme and participants were asked to complete self-assessment scales of musical ability, knowledge of music opportunities and three measures of agency (feeling respected, able, and in control) at the beginning and end of the project. Paired sample tests indicated a significant increase across all scales, with particularly strong effects observed for increased musical ability, knowledge of musical opportunities and a combined measure of agency. All results are considered in the context of the theoretical design of the programme, (i.e. increasing agency and encouraging greater levels of active citizenship amongst disengaged children
and young people through music mentoring). These findings suggest the aims of the programme were convincingly achieved, whilst reiterating the need for continued research investigating the effects of mentoring programmes, and music mentoring specifically. This quantitative based paper is intended to
complement the full qualitative external evaluation conducted by Deane et al. and published by Youth Music in May 2011.

Understanding innovation in communication industries through alternative economic theories The case of the music industry

by Sergio Sparviero

With Jim Rogers, International Communication Gazette November 2011 vol. 73 no. 7 610-629

This article argues that communication scholars should collaborate with pluralist economists rather than traditional... more This article argues that communication scholars should collaborate with pluralist economists rather than traditional ones, as alternative economic theories are better suited to understanding the complex process of innovation in communication industries and to integration into multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks. In order to illustrate this point, first the main features of traditional economics that are incompatible with the study of the communication sector are outlined, then, a selection of theories and concepts from complexity economics, modularity and service innovation studies are presented. Moreover, as an illustration of the value of alternative economic theories in explaining change in the communication sector, these concepts are used to outline some of the most important changes and trends that have affected the music industry as a result of its digitization.

The Birth of kd lang’s Hallelujah out of the ‘Spirit of Music’: Performing Desire and ‘Recording Consciousness’ on Facebook and YouTube

by Babette Babich

published online, including YouTube links, in Perfect Sound Forever. online music magazine – Oct/Nov 2011.

This essay offers a discussion of what musicologists would call k.d. lang’s performance practice not by way of the... more This essay offers a discussion of what musicologists would call k.d. lang’s performance practice not by way of the influence of performance on art on k.d. lang’s musical persona but rather more theoretically in terms of what Nietzsche (similarly technically) named the “spirit of music” using the example of her several interpretation(s) of Leonard Cohen’s composition, Hallelujah. I also discuss, with some necessary reference to Adorno and others, music and the new media in addition to new social styles of interaction, as well as and beyond Adorno, the objectification of women (as opposed to men). In the second half, I further develop the question of what Nietzsche analysed as the role of the chorus and of music in ancient Greek tragedy as well as what he called the “problem” of the artist.

See a video version of this lecture: http://digital.library.fordham.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/VIDEO&CISOPTR=214

Propaganda and Music Greek and Yugoslav Public Radio in the 1940s and 1950s

by Vlasis Vlasidis

Paper presented at the conference, The soundtrack of conflict,
Goettingen 15-17 Sept.2011 (in print)

This study focuses on a very important side of Cold War, the non-declared war of radio stations. From 1948 and up to... more This study focuses on a very important side of Cold War, the non-declared war of radio stations. From 1948 and up to the decade of 1990 the two camps had been attributed in a fight of propaganda via the radio. From the one the Voice of America (VOA), the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) and Radio Luxembourg - Radio Free Europe (RL/RFE) and from the other Radio Moscow and the radio stations of other communistic states had begun a war in radio waves.
The situation was similar in Balkan peninsula. In 1948-1953 and because of the special circumstances arising from the outbreak of civil war in Greece, between the left and right wings of the political spectrum, and the creation of a new national state within the borders of Yugoslavia, the mass media in Greece and in the Yugoslav Socialist Republic of Macedonia (SDM) were used for purposes of propaganda and counter-propaganda both within the country and abroad, anticipating by several years the battle of ideas between the opposing ideological camps which was conducted over the radio waves throughout the Cold War period.

Playing Second Fiddle: A History of Technology and Organisation in the Australian Music Economy (1901-1990)

by David Rooney

This thesis is a socio-economic history of the relationship between music technology and organisational practices in... more This thesis is a socio-economic history of the relationship between music technology and organisational practices in twentieth-century Australia. It argues that the history of technology in the Australian music economy is dependent not only upon the changing technical characteristics of musical instruments and electronic consumer goods but also upon government policy-making, management practices in music technology manufacturing firms and patterns of music technology consumption. The thesis examines economic statistics regarding the import, export and local production of music technology in Australia. The economic statistics have not previously been examined in relation to the history of music technology in Australia. The historical analysis is structured according to a four-part periodisation which includes the Electric Age (1901-1930), the Electronic Age (1930-1950), the Transistor Age (1950-1970) and the Information Age (1970-1990). This periodisation enables the analysis to continually be refocussed as the key technological and socio-economic dynamics change. With this perspective, the history of the relationship between technology and organisation in the Australian music economy has been demonstrated to be dependent on a number of key technological changes. The thesis examines changes including the shift from acoustic to electric recording; the development of transistor-based consumer electronics goods; and the advent of digital information technology. However, a number of key social determinants, particularly organisational modes, are examined including changes from protectionist to more deregulated trade policy; lack of business skills in areas such as marketing, manufacturing technique and industrial research and development; and the development of a sense of popular modernity which is expressed in the consumption of new, technically advanced and glamorous music technology. In addition to the new perspectives on the history of music technology provided by the analysis of empirical economic data, this thesis contributes to the historiography of technology. The analytical framework it proposes locates music technology within what is described as an assemblage of technologies: technologies of production, technologies of sign systems, technologies of power and technologies of the self. This approach makes clear the interdependence of technological and social factors, and the inadequacy of narrow technological determinist and social constructivist accounts. The notion of an assemblage of technologies is further embellished by drawing upon key elements of recent theories of systems analysis: the seamless web, evolution and chaos theory. Through this analytical framework and the socio-economic analysis of the relationship between music technology and organisational practices, the thesis demonstrates that the history of technology cannot be understood unless it is seen as part of a complex and interacting technical, social, economic and institutional system.

Subversive Technologies: Web Radio and Cultural Change

by Alexandros Baltzis

Baltzis, Alexandros
Paper at the conference: "Radio Content in the Digital Age"
European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) - Radio Research Section, Cyprus University of Technology
Limassol, October 14-16, 2009

Like any other medium, radio has been - and in certain ways still is - a major cultural agent, an articulator and at... more Like any other medium, radio has been - and in certain ways still is - a major cultural agent, an articulator and at the same time a developer of values, attitudes, preferences, and ideologies in general, regardless of its organizational and operation model (public service, purely commercial, government controlled, or some hybrid).

This paper focuses on the social and cultural aspects of radio exploring the impact of the Internet on its qualities and functions that turned it into one important component of the music industries and a significant cultural force through its familiar programming practices as a content gatekeeper. The occasional use of the RF broadcast radio to establish social networks and promote alternative cultural expressions through innovative content, especially among young people, seems to be reinforced in the digital environment.

Based on an exploratory study of the Greek case and on previous research, the paper holds that there is a long distance between mere RF webcasting and taping the potential of the Internet it this direction. The paper outlines from this point of view some of the major changes brought about by the Internet radio. Lowering the barriers for audio broadcasting, loosening the ties with the recording industry, enabling new business models, introducing innovative practices and content, and finally favoring new types of radio culture, as well as forms of critical culture and even counterculture, Internet radio might succeed where the RF broadcast radio has failed - at least in the Greek case - namely in promoting content diversity.

Finally, in discussing the potential of the Internet radio as a cultural agent, the paper outlines the directions of the future research.

From RF to the Internet: Radio and Musical Culture in the 21st Century

by Alexandros Baltzis

Baltzis, Alexandros
In the collective volume "Digital Media: The Culture of Sound and Spectacle" (In Greek), pp. 305-335.
Editors: M. Kokkonis, G. Paschalidis, Ph. Bantimaroudis.
Athens: Kritiki, 2010.

This is a review of the web radio and the research in this field from a perspective focused on the specific relation... more This is a review of the web radio and the research in this field from a perspective focused on the specific relation between radio and musical culture. The review identifies the main issues and presents the debates and the rationale of the empirical research on internet radio developed since the mid '90s. It underlines the subjects open to inquiry and suggests future directions of research. It also argues that the range of the issues, the number of the disciplines involved, the permanence of the debates and the inquiries, and the multiple directions in which future research might develop, show that the web radio is not a passing or circumstantial field. This is valid especially for those who maintain that the content specificity, the mode of its production, and a specific relation with the musical culture, define what radio is rather than transmission technologies.

The study highlights the cultural importance of the RF radio, its catalytic impact on musical culture, and outlines the peculiarities of the Greek case from this point of view. It argues that this might be a framework for analyzing internet radio. In the same line of argument, the study includes also a critical review of several sociological approaches concerning the construction of culture by the RF radio as well as its construction by the culture (Adorno, Hirsch, Peterson, Hennion, and Negus). It concludes that the web radio challenges these approaches while its relation with the musical culture is still open to exploration.

The analysis arrives at the conclusion, that while several studies have identified new trends and possibilities in this direction, the research has not yet gone far enough. As a result, although the internet radio does not seem to disrupt the relation with the musical culture, the peculiarities and extend of its impact have not been clarified yet while a re-examination and eventually a revision of the approaches challenged is still absent. Finally, the paper argues that research in this direction is crucial because it might lead to an enrichment of major theories and basic assumptions about both the production of culture and the culture of production.

Musical Life and Commodity Relations

by Alexandros Baltzis

Baltzis, Alexandros
In the collective volume: "The Value of Music Today. Music Between Humanism and Commercialization", pp. 153-166.
Athens: Orfeus Publications/Journal Musicology, 2003.
International conference proceedings.

The article analyses and discusses certain functions of commodity relations in musical life. Research on the... more The article analyses and discusses certain functions of commodity relations in musical life. Research on the implications and significance of these relations represent nowadays a serious challenge for the sociology of music that has provided in the past exemplary elaborations and critical approaches.

The analysis focuses on the fact that the modification of the commodity relations has a strong impact on every section of musical life and in several of its aspects. This impact seems to be reinforced in a multiplicative way in the context of a global economy, where time and space limitations - specific for the previous status quo - are removed. From this point of view, the form of globalization, that is dominant for the time being, takes on a special importance for musical life. It plays a part in the development of new patterns of musical culture in general.

In these unprecedented circumstances musical education acquires particular significance. It may function in a decisive way not only - and not mainly - as an autonomous form of education, but rather as an organic component embedded in a system of education that takes seriously into account aesthetics and art. This course involves a thoroughly elaborated reconsideration of musical education in its entirety. It also involves the kind of rearrangements that inescapably are tied up with political decisions.

Etendre la perception? Biofeedback et transferts intermodaux en danse

by Armando Menicacci

Extending perception. Biofeedback and intermodal exchange is a paper result of an experiment in Monaco Dance Forum (December 2004) about using wireless sensors in dance.

We brought together a few researchers in order to bring the experience of wireless sensors for biofeedback inside... more We brought together a few researchers in order to bring the experience of wireless sensors for biofeedback inside pedagogy of dance in order to extend the proprioception. The results of the experiment went beyond that and led to a possible way to mesure body response according to change in space perception and to different way define proprioception.

O Ensino da dança frente as tecnologias: algumas refleções

by Armando Menicacci

Proceedings of the Joinville Dance Festival Symposium in 2008. The whole symposium was about techniques in dance

Having taught relationships between digital technologies in dance since 1999 in Paris 8 University Dance Department... more Having taught relationships between digital technologies in dance since 1999 in Paris 8 University Dance Department inside the Lab I founded there with Emanuele Quinz I'm relating about the experiences and my thought about them.

Nouvelles espèces d'éspaces

by Armando Menicacci

Published in "Quant à la danse", Paris, Images en Manoeuvres Editions/Le Mas de la Danse, n.3, Février, 2006, pp. 27-32

I'm trying to describe how performance space is changed when it is integrated by digital technologies and new media I'm trying to describe how performance space is changed when it is integrated by digital technologies and new media

Diva Redux - the modern home of enterprise and agency: powerpoint slides to go with conference paper

by Richard Witts

Slides to go with my paper 'Diva Redux' presented at 'Diva - an interdisciplinary conference' at Hope University, Liverpool, 5-8 July 2011. I see that the tables on the slides have become mis-aligned in places. I'm not sire how to tackle that, but I will make an attempt to replace these slides with correctly-aligned ones in the near future.

Agency, Determinism, Focal Time Frames, and Narrative in Processive Minimalist Music

by Joshua B. Mailman

To appear as Chapter 6 of the book:
Music and Narrative Since 1900.
Michael Klein and Nicholas Reyland, (Eds.) Indiana University Press. Forthcoming in November 2012.
http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?cPath=1037_3025_3988&products_id=806644

Intermedialität im Schaffen von Alvin Lucier

by Stefan Drees

in: Seiltanz. Zeitschrift für aktuelle Musik 1, Oktober 2010, S. 24-31

Sobald man Musik nicht nur als akustische Reizstruktur (und damit losgelöst von den Bedingungen ihrer Produktion),... more Sobald man Musik nicht nur als akustische Reizstruktur (und damit losgelöst von den Bedingungen ihrer Produktion), sondern im Kontext ihrer Entstehung und Wirkung betrachtet, lässt sich auch die essenzielle Bedeutung nichtakustischer Informationen erkennen. Als Bestandteile der performativen Ebene wirken sie sich ganz entscheidend auf die Wahrnehmung von Musik aus, weil Mimik und Gestik der Spieler, aber auch besondere Arten der Tonerzeugung, dem Publikum über den Klang hinaus wesentliche Informationen zum intentionalen Kontext oder zum emotionalen Gehalt des Gehörten vermitteln. Durch visuellen Nachvollzug instrumentaler oder vokaler Darbietungen kann die Ausdrucksqualität der jeweiligen Musik sowie die zu ihrer Erzeugung aufzubringenden performativen Anstrengungen ein höheres Maß an Transparenz erhalten und der Rezipient dadurch an zusätzlichen Informationen vermittelt, die in die ästhetische Erfahrung und Bewertung von Musik einbezogen werden. Hiervon ausgehend untersucht der Aufsatz mit Blick auf zwei Arbeiten des Komponisten Alvin Lucier - "Music for a solo performer" (1965) und "I am sitting in a room" (1970) - die Bedeutung der Intermedialität am Beispiel des Zusammenwirkens von Klang und visuellen Elementen. (Autor)

Im Dialog mit dem Bild: zu den musikalischen Konzeptionen des Komponisten Michel van der Aa

by Stefan Drees

in: Seiltanz. Beiträge zur Musik der Gegenwart 2, April 2011, S. 16-27

Die Konzeptionen des niederländischen Komponisten Michel van der Aa (*1970) begreifen bestimmte Arten des... more Die Konzeptionen des niederländischen Komponisten Michel van der Aa (*1970) begreifen bestimmte Arten des musikalischen Agierens und die daraus resultierenden visuellen Informationen mit ein und definieren sie als essenzielle Elemente einer künstlerischen Arbeit, die nicht bei der Musik haltmacht, sondern immer auch dem Sichtbaren eine tragende Rolle innerhalb des ästhetischen Diskurses zuweist. Da diese Haltung mit einem natürlichen Verhältnis zur zeitgenössischen Medientechnologie gepaart ist, wird der Einsatz von elektronischen Zuspielungen oder Filmen zum organischen Bestandteil der Kompositionen. Anhand einiger ausgewählter Kammermusikwerke verdeutlicht der Aufsatz, mit welcher Konsequenz Michel van der Aa jeweils unter Rückgriff auf solche Verfahrensweisen die Etablierung eines mehrdimensionalen Erlebnisses vorbereitet und die einzelnen Komponenten seiner Arbeit im Hinblick auf die Schaffung eines inter- oder gar transmedialen Wahrnehmungsvorgangs zusammenführt. Der analytische Blick auf die Kompositionen muss daher das unauflösliche Zusammenwirken der verschiedenen Gestaltungselemente ebenso berücksichtigen wie die Überlagerung und gegenseitige Beeinflussung damit verbundener Wahrnehmungsmodalitäten.

Islamic Roots of Hip-Hop

by Naeem Mohaiemen

published in "Sound Unbound", DJ Spooky ed., MIT Press, 2008

Honorable Mention runner up for Villem Flusser Theory Award, Transmediale, Berlin. Honorable Mention runner up for Villem Flusser Theory Award, Transmediale, Berlin.