Documentaries about music tent to favour the sweeping narrative, but sometimes specifics tell a m... more Documentaries about music tent to favour the sweeping narrative, but sometimes specifics tell a more interesting tale
In August 1969, the music documentary series Workshop focused on electronic music in a film title... more In August 1969, the music documentary series Workshop focused on electronic music in a film titled The Same Trade as Mozart. Produced and directed by David Buckton, the film included interviews with composers Karlheinz Stockhausen, Tristram Cary and Justin Connolly; BBC Radiophonic Workshop staff Desmond Briscoe, David Cain and John Baker and the Workshop’s founder, Daphne Oram; and Peter Zinovieff, director of EMS (Electronic Music Studios). It presented electronic music in a number of contexts, such as education, pop production and live performance. Technological change in music has often provoked hostility among the public and critics, and the rapid advancement of electronic music post-World War II was no exception. Adopting a mode of analysis more commonly encountered in studies of the public communication of science, this paper considers The Same Trade as Mozart as an attempt by electronic music’s advocates, such as those listed above, to convince sceptics of its value. While s...
The study of the institutional electronic music studio has become a popular way of framing histor... more The study of the institutional electronic music studio has become a popular way of framing historical narratives of postwar electronic music. Recent studies of sonic and musical devices from a material cultures perspective likewise construct histories of electronic music through its technologies. My investigation into Electronic Music Studios (EMS), which was both a studio and an electronic instrument company, starts from a reading of this literature. It also combines archival research with readings from philosophy of technology and science and technology studies (STS) to critically explore the multiple temporalities, discontinuous narratives, and wider cultural significance of electronic music histories. Founded in London in 1969 by Peter Zinovieff, EMS was set up during a period of exciting developments in music, art, design and technology in the UK. It was unique in being both a private studio which hosted prominent composers, and a manufacturer of commercial synthesisers under t...
The Alternative Histories of Electronic Music conference in 2016 reflected a rise in research tha... more The Alternative Histories of Electronic Music conference in 2016 reflected a rise in research that explores new and alternative directions in electronic music historiography. Accordingly, attention has been focused on practitioners previously either ignored or thought to be marginal; a significant number of these figures are women. This fact has caught the attention of print and online media and the independent recording industry and, as a result, historical narratives of female electronic musicians have become part of the modern music media discourse. While this has many positive aspects, some media representations of the female electronic musician raise concerns for feminist scholars of electronic music history. Following the work of Tara Rodgers, Sally MacArthur and others, I consider some new media representations of electronic music’s female ‘pioneers’, situate them in relation to both feminist musicology and media studies, and propose readings from digital humanities that migh...
The soundtrack to Performance is a guide to the late -1960s countercultural soundscape- and a not... more The soundtrack to Performance is a guide to the late -1960s countercultural soundscape- and a notable feat in its own right
Lizzie Borden's Borden's Born in Flames is noted for its post-punk music but its soundtra... more Lizzie Borden's Borden's Born in Flames is noted for its post-punk music but its soundtrack's array of female voices is just as fascinating.
The Source Family�s soundtrack and audio recordings give the documentary a rawness that cuts thro... more The Source Family�s soundtrack and audio recordings give the documentary a rawness that cuts through the Age of Aquarius cliches.
Documentaries about music tent to favour the sweeping narrative, but sometimes specifics tell a m... more Documentaries about music tent to favour the sweeping narrative, but sometimes specifics tell a more interesting tale
In August 1969, the music documentary series Workshop focused on electronic music in a film title... more In August 1969, the music documentary series Workshop focused on electronic music in a film titled The Same Trade as Mozart. Produced and directed by David Buckton, the film included interviews with composers Karlheinz Stockhausen, Tristram Cary and Justin Connolly; BBC Radiophonic Workshop staff Desmond Briscoe, David Cain and John Baker and the Workshop’s founder, Daphne Oram; and Peter Zinovieff, director of EMS (Electronic Music Studios). It presented electronic music in a number of contexts, such as education, pop production and live performance. Technological change in music has often provoked hostility among the public and critics, and the rapid advancement of electronic music post-World War II was no exception. Adopting a mode of analysis more commonly encountered in studies of the public communication of science, this paper considers The Same Trade as Mozart as an attempt by electronic music’s advocates, such as those listed above, to convince sceptics of its value. While s...
The study of the institutional electronic music studio has become a popular way of framing histor... more The study of the institutional electronic music studio has become a popular way of framing historical narratives of postwar electronic music. Recent studies of sonic and musical devices from a material cultures perspective likewise construct histories of electronic music through its technologies. My investigation into Electronic Music Studios (EMS), which was both a studio and an electronic instrument company, starts from a reading of this literature. It also combines archival research with readings from philosophy of technology and science and technology studies (STS) to critically explore the multiple temporalities, discontinuous narratives, and wider cultural significance of electronic music histories. Founded in London in 1969 by Peter Zinovieff, EMS was set up during a period of exciting developments in music, art, design and technology in the UK. It was unique in being both a private studio which hosted prominent composers, and a manufacturer of commercial synthesisers under t...
The Alternative Histories of Electronic Music conference in 2016 reflected a rise in research tha... more The Alternative Histories of Electronic Music conference in 2016 reflected a rise in research that explores new and alternative directions in electronic music historiography. Accordingly, attention has been focused on practitioners previously either ignored or thought to be marginal; a significant number of these figures are women. This fact has caught the attention of print and online media and the independent recording industry and, as a result, historical narratives of female electronic musicians have become part of the modern music media discourse. While this has many positive aspects, some media representations of the female electronic musician raise concerns for feminist scholars of electronic music history. Following the work of Tara Rodgers, Sally MacArthur and others, I consider some new media representations of electronic music’s female ‘pioneers’, situate them in relation to both feminist musicology and media studies, and propose readings from digital humanities that migh...
The soundtrack to Performance is a guide to the late -1960s countercultural soundscape- and a not... more The soundtrack to Performance is a guide to the late -1960s countercultural soundscape- and a notable feat in its own right
Lizzie Borden's Borden's Born in Flames is noted for its post-punk music but its soundtra... more Lizzie Borden's Borden's Born in Flames is noted for its post-punk music but its soundtrack's array of female voices is just as fascinating.
The Source Family�s soundtrack and audio recordings give the documentary a rawness that cuts thro... more The Source Family�s soundtrack and audio recordings give the documentary a rawness that cuts through the Age of Aquarius cliches.
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