Sound i historisk perspektiv: oppdagelse, naturalisering, kanonisering

This chapter addresses technological development as a driving force of musical development during the history of recorded music. The study is organized around three moments, which in various ways have contributed to forming new ways of producing music, and thereby also have left their audible marks on the sound of the music. The first example demonstrates how the development of the electric microphone contributed to new vocal expressions already in the 1930s. The second example takes up how magnetic tape technology has affected the status of recording, the possibility of multitrack recording and for experimenting with the sound of new, virtual spaces in recordings. The third example is the gated reverb on drums, which left a definitive mark on the sound of the 1980s. The overall aim of this chapter, then, is to provide an inroad to understanding the concept of sound in a historic perspective, through processes of discovery, naturalisation and canonisation.

Teaching Aesthetics – A Case Study of One-To-One Tuition in Popular Electronic Music in Higher Education

Research regarding informal learning over the last few decades has shown how popular musicians acquire skills and knowledge through informal learning, suggesting new methods for formal music education compared to the structures of western classical music. Today, the realm of popular electronic music education faces some similar challenges that popular music education initially did; new ways of informal learning, and a different and diverse knowledge base for the students entering popular music programs. Related to these challenges is the question of how to teach one-to-one tuition in higher electronic music education, and this article seeks to address this challenge. We present a case-study of the practice of a teacher at the University of Agder in Norway that teaches electronics in one-to-one tuition, where the research data is based on interviewing this teacher and his students. An important aspect of the practice in question is the process of listening to and discussing the student’s original recorded music. We discuss some of the challenges of one-to-one teaching in electronic music education, and argue that this particular teaching approach accommodates some of these challenges. Bringing in the educational framework of Biesta, we argue that this form of teaching practice also facilitates subjectification by addressing both uniqueness and expression. Further, we argue that this practice, which focuses on the teaching of aesthetics instead of technicalities, combined with the development of the students’ unique artistic expression can open some interesting possibilities related to addressing subjectivity in higher music education. One of these is how the students need to articulate both the objectives and aims within their music, and the objectives and aims of their music, which in turn develops a terminology to talk about and beyond aesthetics.

Gamification and Formal Practice: A Pilot Study on Gamification’s Contributions to Kindergarten Students’ Musical Practice

Practice is, and will always be, one of the fundamental ways of attaining musical skills. However, the efficiency of skill acquisition will be dependent on the quality and quantity of musical practice. On the one hand, a learner can be dedicated in their practice, seeking guidance to improve their own weaknesses and strategize their practice time, reminding us of formal practice. On the other hand, a learner can lack dedication or even be amotivated by practicing without effort or goals, reminding us of informal practice. This pilot study explores how gamification can potentially contribute to formal practice and song acquisition, incorporating game elements like reward systems, level gaining, competition, cooperation, storytelling, and goals into a ukulele and song course. This intervention design tested kindergarten teaching students (n = 60) at Queen Maud University College (DMMH) of Early Childhood Education.

Knowledge for the Future Music Teacher: Authentic Learning Spaces for Teaching Songwriting and Production Using Music Technology

This study explores the challenges of the increasing impact of technology on music teaching in secondary and upper secondary school in Norway. Using the TPACK framework, we expand on earlier research where teachers’ lack of technological competence has been highlighted as a main problem. Therefore, we ask: what knowledge characterizes teaching informed by music technological expertise? With understandings of authenticity, authentic learning and learning spaces as a backdrop, we present three narratives derived from ten summer school workshops, where university students specializing in music technology instructed pupils from age 11–16. Based on these narratives, we argue that a central part of these university students’ teaching was their aspiration to create authentic learning spaces; a place where the physical environment, the technological tools, and the relationships between instructor, pupil and content together created premises for learning in a relevant, real-world context. Our findings highlight, among others, listening and facilitation as characteristic forms of knowledge. We believe this project is relevant for teachers and teacher educators working with music and music technology.

Loop Station Conducting (LSC): A Study on Live Looping as an Ensemble Conducting Approach

This practice-oriented self-study is motivated by an apparent gap in the literature on music technology research in both performative and pedagogical practices. Thus, the aim is to investigate live looping as a style of ensemble conducting guided by the following research question: “What perspectives relevant to conducting can live looping offer as an ensemble conducting approach?” Using three contexts of hermeneutic meaning interpretation to analyze empirical material collected during interviews with a nine member focus group of music teacher students at a Norwegian university, I find that live looping through loop station conducting as an ensemble conducting approach offers several perspectives relevant to conducting, in that it can achieve the following: Create anticipation, evoke a sense of mastery and a sense of feeling secure, serve as an efficient supplement to conducting, create an immediate and holistic impression of the end result, and serve as a creative and/or pedagogical approach.

Balancing Educational Purposes Within Higher Electronic Music Education – A Biestaian Perspective

The massive invasion of electronic dance music in the popular music scene in combination with accessible and affordable technology has created a large group of young musicians having acquired their skills and experience via online resources, often in solitude. This, in turn, creates challenges for the teachers regarding what the expected knowledge base is for the students entering the programs, how to maintain a balanced program, and how to relate to ever-evolving technologies, just to mention a few. In an educational system such as the Norwegian system, based on learning objectives and effectivity, some aspects of the broader educational purpose tend to get downsized. Based on the framework of Biesta’s educational purposes, this article proposes that educators in higher electronic music education emphasize subjectification in addition to qualification and socialization, and the objective of this article is to address questions pertinent to how teachers and curriculum-makers in popular electronic music might create balanced programs for their students. It is argued that subjectification might be approached through the emphasis on the students’ unique artistic expression, and that this opportunity is distinct in art education in general and in electronic music education in particular. Further, it is argued that electronic music students might benefit from having a conscious relationship to the technologies they are immersed in, in order to see alternative ways of making (popular) electronic music.

The Notion of Presence in a Telematic Cross-Disciplinary Program for Music, Communication and Technology

This chapter examines how students in a two-campus, cross-disciplinary program in Music, Communication and Technology (MCT) experience the sense of presence of peer students and teachers, some physically co-localized while others are present via an audiovisual communications system. The chapter starts by briefly delineating the MCT program, the audiovisual communications system and the learning space built around it, named the Portal, and the research project SALTO which frames the current study. We then review research literature on presence relevant to this particular context and use this as a basis for the design of an online survey using a combination of Likert items and free text response. Our main findings, based on responses from the 16 students who participated in the survey, are that the mediating technologies of the Portal affect the experience of presence negatively, but that formal learning scenarios are less affected than informal scenarios that require social interaction.

I en snårskog av traditioner – musikproduktion och musikteknik i den högre musikutbildningen utifrån ett svenskt perspektiv

The purpose of this study is to identify traditions that can be valued as important in Swedish higher education in music production and music technology, to explore what characterizes such traditions and how they can be important for students in music production education. The research material consists of a selection of previous research and other literature that concerns music production and traditions in higher education. A knowledge-critical analysis method and a pedagogical model for higher education with a focus on what the students do and how they relate to teaching and education have been used to analyse the research material. The analysis shows that there are many different traditions in higher music education. Some traditions are very old, and some are also difficult to interpret and therefore the understanding of such traditions can be challenging for both students and teachers in higher education in music production and music technology.