The game and the dialogue: composing with devices
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2447-7117.rt.2024.229940Keywords:
Electronic music, electroacoustic music, apparatus, analog, digitalAbstract
This paper examines the issue of musical creation within the context of new forms of information and communication in contemporary society. The reflection is based on my professional experience at the historic Electronic Music Studio of Radio Cologne, Germany (1990-99). The text explores the production processes of electronic (or electroacoustic) music from the early analogue era to the transition into the digital age, with a focus on the role of apparatuses. The concept of “apparatus,” as proposed by Flusser, is central to understanding the new communicative complexity of telematic society, which is driven by the automation of apparatuses and media. Apparatuses provide a universe of symbols through which we project our thoughts, emotions, and desires. They program human behavior, automate thinking, and thereby inhibit critical thought. The production methods developed at the Cologne Electronic Music Studio, based on collaboration between composers, technicians, and artists, are analyzed as an example of “dialogical creation,” capable of fostering critical awareness of the role of apparatuses. This essay demonstrates how electronic music interacts with apparatuses in unconventional ways — as in a game. Such a game can subvert the alienating functions of apparatuses and promote dialogue, leading to the creation of new information and concepts that help society decode the programs of these apparatuses.
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