Electronic Music: Home

Describes digital musical instruments, industries that supply & promote them, & the meanings they have for musicians.

The rapid pace of technological development in electronic music has led to a plethora of instruments and systems. Until now, there has been no book to survey this burgeoning field objectively and insightfully or explain the transformations in instruments and the technology behind them. Assuming no prior knowledge on the part of the reader, Dobson introduces and explains this mass of technical information in clear, comprehensive entries dealing with common principles and techniques, such as those on the computer, electronic components, and synthesis. Specific products are then referred to as examples of a particular approach. This allows not only the links between instruments such as the sampler, synthesizer, sequencer, and signal processor to be examined, but also ensures that the text will not quickly become out-of-date. The DECMT thus works both as a reference work and as a tutorial text, moving from basic principles to specific examples. Included are entries on major commercial instruments and historical information on companies and individuals whose work has been central to the development of electronic instruments. Supplemented by three appendices, a general index, and one of instruments and manufacturers, A Dictionary of Electronic and Computer Music Technology will be indispensable for all composers, teachers, and performers in classical and popular music.

This updated and expanded third edition of Peter Manning's classic text, Electronic and Computer Music, deals with the development of the medium from its birth to the 21st century. The first section of the book, which remains essentially unchanged in this edition, covers electroacoustic music from its beginning at the turn of the century to 1945, the development of post-1945 'classical' studios, development of voltage-controlled technology, and its commercial exploitation in tape works, live electronic music, and the early use of electronics in rock and pop music. Section two, Computer Music, is heavily revised and significantly expanded and treats the digital revolution from the early experiments during the late 1950s and early 1960s to the advanced systems of today. Emphasizing the functional characteristics of emerging digital technologies and their influence on the creative development of the medium, Manning covers key developments in both commercial and the non-commercial sectors.

Michael Nyman's book is a first-hand account of experimental music from 1950 to 1970. First published in 1974, it has remained the classic text on a significant form of music making and composing which developed alongside, and partly in opposition to, the post-war modernist tradition of composers such as Boulez, Berio, or Stockhausen. The experimentalist par excellence was John Cage whose legendary 4' 33'' consists of four minutes and thirty three seconds of silence to be performed on any instrument. Such pieces have a conceptual rather than purely musical starting point and radically challenge conventional notions of the musical work. Nyman's book traces the revolutionary attitudes that were developed towards concepts of time, space, sound, and composer/performer responsibility. It was within the experimental tradition that the seeds of musical minimalism were sown and the book contains reference to the early works of Reich, Riley, Young, and Glass.

The contributors to this collection of essays are all composers, who focus on the various technological media of electroacoustic music while keeping sharply in sight their role as creative musicians.