Electronics in New Music

New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century Vol. 4
Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, and Wolfram Schurig (ed.)
253 pages, pb., with musical examples

As technical progress increasingly affects music, the role of electronics is becoming ever more important. The studio, the equipment and the computer are increasingly becoming a fixed part of artistic self-identity, even among those composers who do not see themselves as straddling medial boundaries. The spectrum has meanwhile expanded notably. It extends from works with live electronics and electronic pieces to music and sound installations, from interactive models and mixes-media projects to newly-developed instrumental resources; algorithmic composition and sound synthesis have become at least as important as tape music.

Twelve artists – from composers to creators of sound installations – present their work in this volume. These pieces were all created in recent years, and represent the current state of technological options and their musical and artistic potential. Mark Applebaum, Sidney Corbett, Frank Cox, Georg Klein, Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Chris Mercer, Christoph Ogiermann, João Rafael, Alexander Stankowski, Steven Kazuo Takasugi, Ian Willcock, and Gerhard Winkler offer detailed analyses primarily of the technical aspects in relation to their respective poetic intentions.

TOC (pdf)