Sound Actions Conceptualizing Musical Instruments

by Jensenius, Alexander Refsum

• ISBN13: 9780262544634
• ISBN10: 0262544636
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780262372213
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2022-12-13
• Publisher: The MIT Press
• More Book Details

Summary

A techno-cognitive look at how new technologies are shaping the future of musicking.

 “Musicking” encapsulates both the making of and perception of music, so it includes both active and passive forms of musical engagement. But at its core, it is a relationship between actions and sounds, between human bodies and musical instruments. Viewing musicking through this lens and drawing on music cognition and music technology, Sound Actions proposes a model for understanding differences between traditional acoustic “sound makers” and new electro-acoustic “music makers.”
 
What is a musical instrument? How do new technologies change how we perform and perceive music? What happens when composers build instruments, performers write code, perceivers become producers, and instruments play themselves? The answers to these pivotal questions entail a meeting point between interactive music technology and embodied music cognition, what author Alexander Refsum Jensenius calls “embodied music technology.” Moving between objective description and subjective narrative of his own musical experiences, Jensenius explores why music makes people move, how the human body can be used in musical interaction, and how new technologies allow for active musical experiences. The development of new music technologies, he demonstrates, has fundamentally changed how music is performed and perceived.

Author Biography

Alexander Refsum Jensenius is Professor of Music Technology at the University of Oslo.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Prelude xi
Part I Musicking
1 Music as an Active Process 3
2 Music as an Embodied Process 23
3 Musical Instruments 39
Part II Embodiment
4 Music-Related Body Motion 53
5 Functional Aspects 71
6 Representations of Sound Actions 85
Part III Interaction 
7 Action–Sound Couplings 99
8 Action–Sound Mappings 123
9 Spationtemporality 159
Part IV Affection
10 From Ivory to Silicone 177
11 Unconventional Instruments 205
12 Performing in the Air 219
Postlude 243
Bibliography 253
Index 281