Mooney, J orcid.org/0000-0002-7925-9634 (2022) What constitutes a valid musical instrument? Historic approaches to instruments and instrumentality in studio-based music creation. In: Proceedings of the Electroacoustic Music Studies Network Conference, Leicester, November 2021. EMS21: Future Directions of Electroacoustic Music Studies, 10-13 Nov 2021, Leicester, UK. Electroacoustic Music Studies Network ISBN 978-2-9572144-2-6
Abstract
In this paper I use the concepts of musical instrumentation and instrumentality as a way of placing the development of studio-based electroacoustic music in historic context. Histories of mid-century electronic music have often been framed primarily in terms of compositional philosophy: musique concrète, elektronische Musik, etc. Here, however, I highlight a different aspect of the story by casting the development of studio-based electroacoustic music as a radical shift in musical instrumentation. My core argument is that, with the emergence of studio-based electroacoustic music, tape recorders, digital computers, and electronic music studios became musical instruments. This development was paralleled by a radical rethinking of the very concept of musical instrumentality—albeit one that appears not to have gained traction in the wider public imagination (in the sense that tape recorders, computers, and studios are not widely considered ‘musical instruments’). My aims in this paper are: to revisit this instrumental rethinking from the perspectives of some of those involved in designing and making the new instruments in the 1950s and 60s; and to assess what was radical about it by weighing it against the more conventional criteria of musical instrumentality outlined by Hardjowirogo in her article ‘On the Construction of Instrumental Identity.’
Metadata
Item Type: | Proceedings Paper |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This item is protected by copyright. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY). |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Music (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number British Academy SRG19\190060 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 19 May 2022 12:28 |
Last Modified: | 19 May 2022 12:28 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Electroacoustic Music Studies Network |
Identification Number: | 10.5281/zenodo.6551279 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:187011 |