EMS Proceedings and Other Publications
Musings on the Democratic Potential of Fixed-Media electroacoustic music
Felipe de Almeida Ribeiro
Felipe de Almeida Ribeiro, Universidade Estadual do Paraná, Brazil
felipe.ribeiro@unespar.edu.br
Abstract
Although electroacoustic music was known in the first half of the 20th Century for its liberation of sound, not much has been stated about its social impacts. This research focuses on some singularities of the creational and reception processes in electroacoustic music. Since composers have the potential to become performers as well as instrument designers, electroacoustic music is perhaps the first genre that blends its compositional process with performance practice and instrument design into the same structure, which can be modular, mutable, and custom designed for each piece. In terms of reception of artworks, Fixed-Media works (aka Acousmatic Music) in particular resignify the concepts of copy and reproduction in electroacoustic music. The theories and studies of Walter Benjamin, especially his understanding of the theories underpinning film and photography, are central references for this research as they can be applied to electroacoustic music. Thus, this text focuses on the political, social, and cultural changes found in Fixed-Media musical works, from independent composers’ music creation to todays audience’s access to the original work.
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