Speculative Sound Circuits

Alternative approaches to electronic music through speculative sound circuits are discussed. These approaches borrow from emerging theories in speculative design and the work of designer/theorist Anthony Dunne. Dunne’s post-optimal technological object is also discussed along with slow tech and the slow movement. George Brecht’s Water Yam and the absurdist creative strategies of the Fluxus movement are seen as prototypes for speculative design. With particular reference to electronic music and speculative sound circuits, the instruments of Percy Grainger and Gijs Gieskes are considered. Speculative sound circuits are viewed as part of a broader theoretical framework in relation to critical making, as referred to by Garnet Hertz, John Cage’s ‘music of objects’ and David Tudor’s ‘composing inside electronics’. Finally, a specific example of the author’s work as Dirty Electronics, Making for Radio and Speculative Circuit, are offered up to illustrate speculative sound circuits along with spontaneous and intuitive approaches to circuit building, rapid prototyping strategies, and making as a processual part of performance. Indeterminate and chance-based music, models for extended instrumental techniques, and questions arising concerning physiologies in performance and human-machine interaction are also reflected upon.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

John Richards

Conference

Publication date: May 2018

Publication date (Print): May 2018

Pages: 1-6

Affiliations

[1 ] Music, Technology and Innovation

Research Centre, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/EVAC18.33

SO-VID: 0fe61b50-6812-430d-9d7c-ff93ebe96466

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Politics of the Machines - Art and After

Conference acronym: EVA Copenhagen

Conference number: 7

Conference location: Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark

Conference date: 15 - 17 May 2018

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Digital arts and culture

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/EVAC18.33

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

References

P Archer 2007 Clip Art Leonardo Music Journal 17 29 30
J BowersJ. Richards et al 2016 One Knob To Rule Them All: Reductionist Interfaces for Expansionist Research Proceedings of the international conference on new interfaces for musical expression (NIME) Brisbane Australia 2016 433 438
G Brecht 1963 Water Yam New York Fluxus
J CageD. Charles 1981 For the Birds: John Cage in Conversation with Daniel Charles Boston, MA and London Boyars
N Collins 2006 Handmade electronic music: the art of hardware hacking New York Routledge
A Dunne 2005 Electronic Products, Aesthetic Experience, and Critical Design Cambridge, Massachusetts The MIT Press
A DunneF. Raby 2013 Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming Cambridge, Massachusetts The MIT Press
B EnoP. Schmidt 1975 Oblique Strategies: Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas S.l s.n.
G Gieskes 2018 http://gieskes.nl/ 18 6 18
L. HallnäsJ. Redström 2001 Slow Technology - Designing for Reflection Personal and Ubiquitous Computing 5 3 201 212
G Harman 2002 Tool-Being: Heidegger and the Metaphysics of Objects Chicago Open Court
G Hertz 2012 Critical Making Hollywood, California Telharmonium Press
C. Honoré 2004 In Praise of Slowness: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed San Francisco Harper
R Kuivila 2004 Open Sources: Words, Circuits and the Notation-Realization Relation in the Music of David Tudor Leonardo Music Journal 14 17 23
B Latour 1993 We Have Never Been Modern Cambridge, Massachusetts Harvard University Press
J Richards 2013 Beyond DIY in Electronic Music Organised Sound 18 274 281
J Richards 2017 DIY and Maker Communities in Electronic Music N. CollinsR. J. Escrivan (eds) The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Music 2nd ed. Cambridge Cambridge University Press
J Richards 2017b Making for Radio Czech Radio http://prehravac.rozhlas.cz/audio/3957494
D T Suzuki 1927 Essays in Zen Buddhism London Luzac

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Comment on this article

[1] P Archer 2007 Clip Art Leonardo Music Journal 17 29 30

[2] J BowersJ. Richards et al 2016 One Knob To Rule Them All: Reductionist Interfaces for Expansionist Research Proceedings of the international conference on new interfaces for musical expression (NIME) Brisbane Australia 2016 433 438

[3] G Brecht 1963 Water Yam New York Fluxus

[4] J CageD. Charles 1981 For the Birds: John Cage in Conversation with Daniel Charles Boston, MA and London Boyars

[5] N Collins 2006 Handmade electronic music: the art of hardware hacking New York Routledge

[6] A Dunne 2005 Electronic Products, Aesthetic Experience, and Critical Design Cambridge, Massachusetts The MIT Press

[7] A DunneF. Raby 2013 Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming Cambridge, Massachusetts The MIT Press

[8] B EnoP. Schmidt 1975 Oblique Strategies: Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas S.l s.n.

[9] G Gieskes 2018 http://gieskes.nl/ 18 6 18

[10] L. HallnäsJ. Redström 2001 Slow Technology - Designing for Reflection Personal and Ubiquitous Computing 5 3 201 212

[11] G Harman 2002 Tool-Being: Heidegger and the Metaphysics of Objects Chicago Open Court

[12] G Hertz 2012 Critical Making Hollywood, California Telharmonium Press

[13] C. Honoré 2004 In Praise of Slowness: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed San Francisco Harper

[14] R Kuivila 2004 Open Sources: Words, Circuits and the Notation-Realization Relation in the Music of David Tudor Leonardo Music Journal 14 17 23

[15] B Latour 1993 We Have Never Been Modern Cambridge, Massachusetts Harvard University Press

[16] J Richards 2013 Beyond DIY in Electronic Music Organised Sound 18 274 281

[17] J Richards 2017 DIY and Maker Communities in Electronic Music N. CollinsR. J. Escrivan (eds) The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Music 2nd ed. Cambridge Cambridge University Press

[18] J Richards 2017b Making for Radio Czech Radio http://prehravac.rozhlas.cz/audio/3957494

[19] D T Suzuki 1927 Essays in Zen Buddhism London Luzac

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