scholarly journals Synthesizers, Virtual Orchestras, and Ableton Live: Digitally Rendered Music on Broadway and Musicians’ Union Resistance

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (03) ◽  
pp. 273-304
Author(s):  
LIAM E. GIBBS
Keyword(s):  
Hip Hop ◽  
Electronic Music ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Production Values ◽  
Downward Pressure ◽  
Acoustic Instruments ◽  
Union Local ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Industry Professionals ◽  
Previous Scholarship

AbstractAs Broadway musicals embrace contemporary popular music styles, orchestrators must incorporate the digital technologies necessary for producing convincing simulations of genres like hip hop and electronic music. At the same time, as production values soar, producers work to minimize their budgets, often putting downward pressure on the size of the orchestra. Although digital and electronic music technologies can expand the sonic register of the Broadway orchestra, they can also replace traditional acoustic instruments and save money. The Broadway musicians’ union, Local 802, has regularly sought to control the use of digital technologies and ensure that live musicians produce as much music as possible. Thus, Local 802's advocacy for the employment of their members can limit the sounds heard on Broadway.The following narrative considers three digital technologies—synthesizers, virtual orchestras, and Ableton Live—and examines case studies and controversies surrounding their use in Broadway orchestras and implications for liveness in performance. Informed by interviews with industry professionals, author observation of pit orchestras in rehearsal and performance, archival research, popular and industry media, and previous scholarship, I argue that the union's entrenched interests and antiquated regulations can stifle musical innovation on Broadway by resisting the use of digital music technologies.

scholarly journals Imaginary Soundscapes: Electronic Music Culture and the Aesthetics of the Virtual

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Wei-Ming Chan
Keyword(s):  
Digital Technology ◽  
Electronic Music ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Production Performance ◽  
Dance Music ◽  
Music Culture ◽  
Electronic Dance Music ◽  
Composition Methods ◽  
Unique Manner ◽  
And Performance

This study is an exploration into how dance music cultures (better known as "rave" or "club" cultures) find ways to straddle the divide between human and machine through their incorporation of both of these oft-competing elements. Electronic dance music and its digital composition methods represent what Mike Berk calls "a new sonic paradigm." The different modes of production, performance and consumption within this paradigm require alternative ways of thinking about originality, creativity, and authenticity. While I do look briefly at issues of consumption and performance within dance music cultures, I focus specifically on how electronic music producers are bound by a unique vision of musical authenticity and creativity, borne out of their own "technological imagination" and the sonic possibilities enabled by digital technology. To use the concepts employed within my paper, I contend that dance music cultures make evident what Michael Punt calls the "postdigital analogue"--a cultural condition in which the decidedly more "human" or "analogue" elements of felt experience and authenticity coexist and converse with the predominance of the digital technologies of simulation and artifice. Dance music cultures are an emergent social formation, to use Williams' term, revising and questioning the typical relationships understood between digital and analogue. This postdigital analogue manifests in a number of ways in the cultural, aesthetic, and technological principles promoted by dance music cultures. In terms of production in particular, signs of digital and analogue coexist in a form of virtual authenticity, as the sound of the technological process engaged to make electronic dance music bears the mark of musical creativity and originality. This study reveals the unique manner in which dance music cultures incorporate both analogue and digital principles, bridging a sense of humanity with the acceptance of the technological.

scholarly journals The BlipVert Method

Intonations ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
William Northlich
Keyword(s):  
Structural Analysis ◽  
21St Century ◽  
General Public ◽  
Electronic Music ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Acoustic Instruments ◽  
Movement Building ◽  
And Performance

The confluence of composition and performance is a compelling phenomenon which confronts many 21st century electronic music artists, brought about primarily through an independent “DiY” ethos to creativity and the ubiquity of advanced musical, and non-musical, technology. Techniques of software programming, improvisation, reconstitution of electric and acoustic instruments, sampling, and manipulation of audio in a live setting (to name a few) may all find a place in an artist’s methodology regardless of style. It may be even be said that the techniques employed by an artist delineate the style itself, e.g. “controllerism,” “turntablism,” “live PA,” etc. The following paper offers an in-depth structural analysis of the composition and performance fundamentals of BlipVert, a pseudonym under which I have been presenting electronic music to the general public for almost two decades. The BlipVert composition “New Choomish,” from BlipVert’s 2010 release “Quantumbuster Now” (Eat Concrete Records, NL), is examined as a construct which manifests an expressive faculty in both live and studio environments, consequently demonstrating a profoundly synthesized framework of sonic and gestural principles. Keywords: composition, performance, improvisation, movement, building-blocks, Northlich, BlipVert, New Choomish

scholarly journals Imaginary Soundscapes: Electronic Music Culture and the Aesthetics of the Virtual

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Wei-Ming Chan
Keyword(s):  
Digital Technology ◽  
Electronic Music ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Production Performance ◽  
Dance Music ◽  
Music Culture ◽  
Electronic Dance Music ◽  
Composition Methods ◽  
Unique Manner ◽  
And Performance

This study is an exploration into how dance music cultures (better known as "rave" or "club" cultures) find ways to straddle the divide between human and machine through their incorporation of both of these oft-competing elements. Electronic dance music and its digital composition methods represent what Mike Berk calls "a new sonic paradigm." The different modes of production, performance and consumption within this paradigm require alternative ways of thinking about originality, creativity, and authenticity. While I do look briefly at issues of consumption and performance within dance music cultures, I focus specifically on how electronic music producers are bound by a unique vision of musical authenticity and creativity, borne out of their own "technological imagination" and the sonic possibilities enabled by digital technology. To use the concepts employed within my paper, I contend that dance music cultures make evident what Michael Punt calls the "postdigital analogue"--a cultural condition in which the decidedly more "human" or "analogue" elements of felt experience and authenticity coexist and converse with the predominance of the digital technologies of simulation and artifice. Dance music cultures are an emergent social formation, to use Williams' term, revising and questioning the typical relationships understood between digital and analogue. This postdigital analogue manifests in a number of ways in the cultural, aesthetic, and technological principles promoted by dance music cultures. In terms of production in particular, signs of digital and analogue coexist in a form of virtual authenticity, as the sound of the technological process engaged to make electronic dance music bears the mark of musical creativity and originality. This study reveals the unique manner in which dance music cultures incorporate both analogue and digital principles, bridging a sense of humanity with the acceptance of the technological.

scholarly journals Macho Buddhism: Gender and Sexualities in the Diamond Way

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-103
Author(s):  
Burkhard Scherer
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Buddhism ◽  
Gender Stereotyping ◽  
Sexual Ethics ◽  
Tibetan Buddhist ◽  
Historical Source ◽  
The West ◽  
Cultural Attitudes ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Previous Scholarship

Western Tibetan Buddhist movements have been described as bourgeois and puritanical in previous scholarship. In contrast, Ole Nydahl’s convert lay Karma Kagyu Buddhist movement, the Diamond Way, has drawn attention for its apparently hedonistic style. This article addresses the wider issues of continuity and change during the transition of Tibetan Buddhism from Asia to the West. It analyses views on and performances of gender, sexual ethics and sexualities both diachronically through textual-historical source and discourse analysis and synchronically through qualitative ethnography. In this way the article demonstrates how the approaches of contemporary gender and sexualities studies can serve as a way to question the Diamond Way Buddhism’s location in the ‘tradition vs modernity’ debate. Nydahl’s pre-modern gender stereotyping, the hetero-machismo of the Diamond Way and the mildly homophobic tone and content of Nydahl’s teaching are interpreted in light of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist sexual ethics and traditional Tibetan cultural attitudes on sexualities. By excavating the emic genealogy of Nydahl’s teachings, the article suggests that Nydahl’s and the Diamond Way’s view on and performance of gender and sexualities are consistent with his propagation of convert Buddhist neo-orthodoxy.

“You're Only Ever A Block From The ‘Hood”

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 152-170
Author(s):  
Alex Blue V
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Automobile Plant ◽  
Original Intent ◽  
Spatial Reorientation ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Forms Of Violence ◽  
The City

This article explores the use of sound, lyrics, and performance as tools for spatial reorientation and reimagining, identity formation and affirmation, and counternarrative or counterarchive in a rapidly gentrifying contemporary Detroit, Michigan. Two discrete, yet discursively linked case studies are presented—performances by the same artist in two different spaces—that exhibit various modes of “flipping,” slang that can refer to multiple transformative practices in contemporary Detroit. These practices include the use of overdetermined spaces, or spaces that have been declared abandoned or vacant, for something other than their original intent—i.e. using a decommissioned automobile plant as a music video set; sampling, which can be understood as using sonic components from previously recorded songs in the creation of new hip-hop beats; buying homes in a state of disrepair, fixing and reselling them at large profits; and inverting meaning itself, via slang or coded language. Additionally Black techniques of sounding and performance are illuminated, with a focus on echo as a mode of co-creation. These various practices are all responses to the growing wave of gentrification that gains momentum in the city daily. The analysis draws primarily from ethnographic research conducted from 2016 to 2018, culling data from participant observation, recorded interviews, informal conversations, field notes, lyrical and video analysis, and the analysis of mediated accounts, both print and online. As the analysis shows, the strategies utilized by artists in Detroit ensure that no matter how much the spaces in Detroit continue to change, and no matter how much an attempt is made to provide racially curated space through various forms of violence, you’re only ever a block from the ‘hood.

scholarly journals Sounds familiar(?): Expertise with specific musical genres modulates timing perception and micro-level synchronization to auditory stimuli

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Danielsen ◽  
Kristian Nymoen ◽  
Martin Torvik Langerød ◽  
Eirik Jacobsen ◽  
Mats Johansson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Timing Perception ◽  
Nature And Nurture ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Musical Genres ◽  
Perceptual Systems

AbstractMusical expertise improves the precision of timing perception and performance – but is this expertise generic, or is it tied to the specific style(s) and genre(s) of one’s musical training? We asked expert musicians from three musical genres (folk, jazz, and EDM/hip-hop) to align click tracks and tap in synchrony with genre-specific and genre-neutral sound stimuli to determine the perceptual center (“P-center”) and variability (“beat bin”) for each group of experts. We had three stimulus categories – Organic, Electronic, and Neutral sounds – each of which had a 2 × 2 design of the acoustic factors Attack (fast/slow) and Duration (short/long). We found significant effects of Genre expertise, and a significant interaction for both P-center and P-center variability: folk and jazz musicians synchronize to sounds typical of folk and jazz in a different manner than the EDM/hip-hop producers. The results show that expertise in a specific musical genre affects our low-level perceptions of sounds as well as their affordance(s) for joint action/synchronization. The study provides new insights into the effects of active long-term musical enculturation and skill acquisition on basic sensorimotor synchronization and timing perception, shedding light on the important question of how nature and nurture intersect in the development of our perceptual systems.

scholarly journals Pertunjukan Teater Karo Hip Hop Kontemporer KAI

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Anggreni Purba
Keyword(s):  
Hip Hop ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Training Process ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Aesthetic Form ◽  
Hybrid Culture ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Different Cultures

Pertunjukan ini berawal dari sebuah ide untuk mengkolaborasikan tradisi Karo dengan budaya populer. Dengan cara seperti ini pertunjukan bisa dinikmati tanpa batasan bahasa dan budaya. Proses menggabungkan dua budaya yang berbeda merupakan bentuk budaya hibrida dan terjadi akibat proses globalisasi. Melalui proses pengendapan pengamatan dan kesan yang kuat, pertunjukan ini dibawa ke dalam bentuk Hip Hop. Pertunjukan ini merupakan bagian dari sebuah tragedi modern dengan karakter destruktif, mengeksplorasi emosi dan menyampaikannya kepada penonton. Eksplorasi budaya Karo dan tari Hip Hop sebagai bahasa simbol mampu memperkuat kata-kata. Gerak tidak diungkapkan dengan kata lisan tetapi disajikan melalui gerak tari Hip Hop. Penafsiran legenda dan teks ke dalam gerak, melalui proses pelatihan di laboratorium sebagai proses pencarian dan eksperimentasi diwujudkan dengan mempertimbangkan unsur-unsur dasar dari Hip Hop, unsur budaya Karo dan tontonan. Karo Hip Hop diharapkan menjadi bentuk estetika teater modern yang diinginkan tanpa kehilangan tradisi.Kata kunci: Tari Karo kontemporer, Hip-hop, budaya hibridaABSTRACTPertunjukan Teater Karo Hip Hop Kontemporer KAI. The performance of Karo Theater collaborated with Hip Hop stems from a simple idea to collaborate Karo cultural traditions with popular culture. The performances can be enjoyed without having limitation on the language and culture. The process of combining two different cultures is a form of hybrid culture, and it may occur due to the globalization process. Through the process of deposition of the observations and strong impression, this performance is then brought into the form of Hip Hop as a preferred form which is energetic, personal and global. This performance is part of a modern tragedy with its destructive character which has explored the emotion and has presented it to the audiences. The exploration of Karo cultural tradition and Hip Hop dance as a language of symbols is able to reinforce words. The movement is not revealed by the verbal phrase but is presented through the movement of Hip Hop dance. The interpretation of the legend and texts into movement is carried out through the training process at the laboratory as a searching process and experiment, and afterward can be realized by considering the basic elements of Hip Hop, Karo cultural elements and performance. Karo Hip Hop Theatre is expected to become a preferred aesthetic form of a modern theater without losing its tradition form.Keyword: a contemporary Karo theater, Hip Hop, hybrid culture.

Electronic Music and the Problem of Electricity

2021 ◽  
pp. 253-273
Author(s):  
Gavin Steingo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Electronic Music ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Black Population ◽  
Electricity Supply ◽  
Material Constitution ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Electricity Infrastructure

For the past twenty years, South African popular music has been dominated by electronic genres such as house, kwaito, and hip-hop—especially among the Black population living in and around major urban centers. Based on fieldwork in the townships of Soweto, this chapter focuses on a fundamental condition of possibility for any kind of electronic music: electricity. Since 2008, South Africa has experienced massive problems with its electricity infrastructure. These problems resulted in widespread rolling blackouts between 2008 and 2009, and since 2014 the situation has worsened. The chapter asks what becomes of electronic music in a context where access to electricity is radically unreliable, if not completely absent. What do musicians do when the electricity supply stops? What kinds of affect become impossible, and what kinds of affect are generated? How do power outages impact a musician’s relationship to citizenship and to the state? The chapter traces the lines of connection between informal home studios and Eskom (South Africa’s state-owned electricity utility) as way of listening to and for infrastructure—developing a critique regarding the tropes of invisibility and breakdown in infrastructural research along the way. It further illuminates the ways that electronic musicians in South Africa are compelled to engage the very material basis of their activities. With this approach, the meaning of the term “electronic music” is revealed to be much more than a generic or stylistic description. In South Africa, electronic music refers first and foremost to its material constitution as electrical energy.

scholarly journals Development and Performance Evaluation of a Computer Program Based on Neural Network Mathematical Models for Forecasting By- Product Yield

2020 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 03023
Author(s):  
Yelena Vasileva ◽  
Aleksandr Nevedrov ◽  
Sergey Subbotin
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Neural Networks ◽  
Mathematical Models ◽  
Design Method ◽  
Coal Tar ◽  
Product Yield ◽  
Production Values ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Crude Benzene ◽  
By Products

Process performance of coking plants are based on data on the yield of by-products of coking coal and their quality, therefore, much attention is paid to the issues of their analysis. In view of the complexity and insufficient knowledge of the relationship between these parameters, mathematical modeling of this dependence using neural networks is of great interest. Based on a mathematical analysis of experimental data on the quality indicators of coal, coal concentrates and the by-product yield, neural network mathematical models have been developed to forecast the parameters under study. The neural network is based on the Ward’s network. Based on the results of the research, the application “Intelligent Information System for Forecasting By-product Yield” was created, which implements neural networks [1]. The relative forecasting error for the parameter “coke” is 0.64±0.23%, “coal tar” is 19.53±5.25%, “crude benzene” is 10.02±2.83%, and “coke gas” is 5.11±1.34%. A comparative analysis of the data obtained using the developed design method is carried out, with the simulation results using existing methods, as well as with the production values of by-products yield.

Killing Me Softly or on the Miseducation of (Love and) Hip Hop

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 785-789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin M. Boylorn
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Informal Education ◽  
Personal Narrative ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Rural South ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Poetic Prose

In this bluesy poetic prose, the author engages poetry, personal narrative, and performance to reflect on how hip hop served as a soundtrack for her transition to womanhood in the rural south. She uses lyrics from Killing Me Softly (originated by Roberta Flack in the 70s and repopularized by The Fugees in 1996) and other songs from the 90s to tell stories about growing up, love, loss, depression, and abuse situated within her race, culture, sex, and social class. She muses how the cadences of sound and the words of songs helped her become a writer and feminist. She also reflects on how her formal and informal education has informed and been informed by her relationship to hip hop, which at times has fluctuated from fixation to disillusionment.

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