Technology and ontology in electronic music : Mego 1994-present

The Vienna based record label Mego is known for establishing an uncompromising, radically experimental electronic music in the 1990s. This thesis considers the work of various different artists on the label, examining in particular their approaches to technology. The artists discussed appear to share an approach that I describe as pragmatic or experimental, which I contrast with idealist or rational approaches. In the latter, music appears to be understood within the framework of a simplistic model of communication, where technology is seen as a medium that should be transparent, allowing the music to pass unaffected. In the pragmatic approach however, I claim that technology is not seen not as a medium for the communication of ideas, but rather as a source of ideas. Implications follow for the ontology of the music. In the simplistic model of communication, physical sound can be considered merely a representation of something more abstract: musical form conceived by the composer. But if music is materially constructed and based on experimentation with the technology at hand, then the sound should not be considered a representation; there is no preconceived idea for it to be a representation of. This concept, which I refer to as 'literalism', is explored in a number of musical examples, and I link it to a definition of noise

Irreversible Noise: The Rationalisation of Randomness and the Fetishisation of Indeterminacy

This thesis aims to elaborate the theoretical and practical significance of the concept of noise with regard to current debates concerning realism, materialism, and rationality. The scientific conception of noise follows from the developments of thermodynamics, information theory, cybernetics, and dynamic systems theory; hence its qualification as irreversible. It is argued that this conceptualization of noise is entangled in several polemics that cross the arts and sciences, and that it is crucial to an understanding of their contemporary condition. This thesis draws on contemporary scientific theories to argue that randomness is an intrinsic functional aspect at all levels of complex dynamic systems, including higher cognition and reason. However, taking randomness or noise as given, or failing to distinguish between different descriptive levels, has led to misunderstanding and ideology. After surveying the scientific and philosophical context, the practical understanding of randomness in terms of probability theory is elaborated through a history of its development in the field of economics, where its idealization has had its most pernicious effects. Moving from the suppression of noise in economics to its glorification in aesthetics, the experience of noise in the sonic sense is first given a naturalistic neuro-phenomenological explanation. Finally, the theoretical tools developed over the course of the inquiry are applied to the use of noise in music. The rational explanation of randomness in various specified contexts, and the active manipulation of probability that this enables, is opposed to the political and aesthetic tendencies to fetishize indeterminacy. This multi-level account of constrained randomness contributes to the debate by demystifying noise, showing it to be an intrinsic and functionally necessary condition of reason and consequently of freedom

Third International Conference on Technologies for Music Notation and Representation TENOR 2017

The third International Conference on Technologies for Music Notation and Representation seeks to focus on a set of specific research issues associated with Music Notation that were elaborated at the first two editions of TENOR in Paris and Cambridge. The theme of the conference is vocal music, whereas the pre-conference workshops focus on innovative technological approaches to music notation

The music of Tomas Marco: a holistic approach, with particular regard to selected works for violin: volume 1

This
 thesis
 presents
 a
 holistic
 approach
 to
 the
 music
 and
 life
 of
 the
 Spanish
 contemporary
 composer
 Tomás
 Marco 
(b.
1942).
Such 
an
 approach
combines 
a
 number
 of
 interconnected
 perspectives
 (historical,
 sociological,
 philosophical,
 analytical
 and
 performative)
 that
 aim
 to
 provide
 a
 general
 picture
 of
 Marco’s
 music
 and
 intellectuality,
 proposing
 over‐arching
 analytical
 frameworks
 that
 take
 as 
a
 point
 of
 departure,
 but
 go
 beyond,
 the
 consideration
 of
 a
 selection
 of
 Marco’s 
works
 for
 violin. The
 lack
 of
 scholarship
 on
 Marco
 in
 English
 makes
 necessary
 a
 biographical
 introduction,
 presented
 in
 Chapter
 1:
 a
 number
 of
 crucial
 historical
 and
 sociological
 elements
 are 
considered
 in 
order 
to 
develop 
a
critical
 perspective 
on
 Marco’s
 life
 and
 oeuvre.
 Chapter
 2
 analyses
 Marco’s
 relationship,
 during
 the
 1960s,
 with
 the
 avant‐garde
 Spanish
 musical
 movement
 ZAJ.
 It
 traces
 the
 parallelisms
 between
 ZAJ
 and
 Fluxus,
 considers
 its
 political
 dimension
 and
 explores
 its 
influence
 on
 the 
formation
of 
Marco’s 
mature 
musical 
idiom. 
Chapter
 3 examines
 the 
connections
between 
Marco’s 
thinking 
and 
Theodor 
W. 
Adorno’s and
 Henri‐Louis
 Bergson’s
 philosophies.
 Such
 analysis
 seeks,
 ultimately,
 to
 uncover Marco’s
consideration 
of 
time
 and
 its 
relationship 
with 
specific 
elements
 of
their 
philosophical 
worlds,
which 
will 
work 
as 
the 
basis
 for 
the 
development
 and 
application 
of 
a 
number 
of 
time‐related 
analytical 
perspectives, 
in
Chapter 
4,
 on
 Marco’s
 works
 Umbral
 de
 la
 Desolación,
 Dúo
 Concertante
 nº
 3,
 Dúo
 Concertante 
nº
6 
and 
Iris.
 Performance
 plays 
a 
key 
role 
in
 those 
analytical 
perspectives:
 I 
include 
my
own
 recording
 of 
Marco’s 
works, used 
both 
as 
analytical 
material 
and 
to
introduce 
the
 centrality 
of 
the 
performative 
side
 of 
music, as 
its 
realisation
through 
time, 
in 
the
 consideration 
and
 analysis 
of 
musical 
time.
 A
 second
 volume, consisting
 of
 an 
important
 collection
 of
 material
 on
 which
 a
 significant 
part
 of
 the
 arguments
 developed
 throughout
 the
 thesis 
are
based,
 is
 included 
for 
two 
main 
reasons: 
the 
lack 
of 
material 
in 
English, 
and
the 
hope 
that
 this 
research
 project 
might 
ignite 
an 
interest 
in 
Marco’s 
work
and
 the
 world 
of
 Spanish 
contemporary 
music
 to 
which 
the 
annexed
material 
is 
clearly 
relevant