Uploaded August 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
crosstowntraffic2018.wordpress.com
This presentation took place as part of the conference Crosstown Traffic: Popular Music Theory and Practice, which was hosted by The University of Huddersfield from September 3 - 5 2018. This event combined the IASPM UK&Ireland Biennial Conference, the 13th Art of Record Production Conference (ARP), an ISMMS conference, and the additional participation of Dancecult.
A recurrent theme within popular music studies has been discussion of how the field can integrate different disciplines and professions, for example exploring both music and its context; involving both practitioners and researchers; and encouraging interdisciplinary and collaborative work. Many different issues make such approaches challenging, and various different popular music focused subject organisations have developed somewhat independently of one another. This conference brought four such groups together, to exchange knowledge, collaborate, and encourage crosstalk.
/// SUPPORT
Popular Music Studies Research Group (PMSRG), University of Huddersfield research.hud.ac.uk/pmsrg/#
Centre for Music, Culture and Identity (CMCI), University of Huddersfield
research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/cmci
The International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK and Ireland Branch (IASPM UK & Ireland)
iaspm.org.uk
Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production (ASARP)
artofrecordproduction.com
Dancecult Research Network (DRN) studies into electronic dance music culture
dancecult-research.net
International Society for Metal Music Studies (ISMMS)
metalstudies.org
/// ORGANIZERS
IASPM UK&I: Rupert Till
ARP: Katia Isakoff, Shara Rambarran
ISMMS: Karl Spracklen
Dancecult: Graham St. John
University of Huddersfield: Jan Herbst, Austin Moore, Lisa Colton, Toby Martin, Catherine Haworth, Mark Mynett
/// CREDITS
This online project was edited, collated, and made available online by Chris McConnell, Jack Zissell, and Colin Frank.
/// PRESENTATION DETAILS
The Ecological Approach To Analysis: subverting musical narratives through production technologies in case studies by Radiohead and Portishead
Gittit Pearlmutter (Bar Ilan University) & Simon Zagorski-Thomas (London College of Music, UWL)
/// ABSTRACT
In this paper we will explore one of the ways in which the ecological approach to perception and cognition (Gibson, 1979; Clarke, 2005; Moore, 2012) can be used in musical analysis. Through discussing expectations in terms of perceived invariant properties and affordances we will look at the creative process of record production as an interaction between listening expectations and ‘tool-use’ or activity-based expectations. Within that context Radiohead and Portishead provide specific details that demonstrate a more general shift in the tools of musical agency (BrøvigHanssen and Danielsen, 2016; Osborn, 2016): from voices and musical instruments to also include production technologies and the DAW (Théberge, 1997). The particular way these ensembles operate in the studio (O’Brien, 2000; Pizzo, 2014) stimulates a fresh range of disruptive behavior. Thus, ironically a main characteristic of this musical agency is the way it subverts story telling mechanisms. We will elaborate on this point and exemplify tool-uses that result in subverting musical narratives and their relationship to genre and style-focused listening expectations (Burns, Woods and Lafrance, 2016). Our analysis will include the following main categories: • Utilizing left-right panning, fade in / fade out, and deliberately bad edits as means for generating disorientation. • Vocal staging that challenges intelligibility and additionally subverts the human / machine dichotomy. • Internal structural functionality which undermines hierarchical relationships that propel musical energy. • Cases of rhythmic ambiguity.
crosstowntraffic2018.wordpress.com
This presentation took place as part of the conference Crosstown Traffic: Popular Music Theory and Practice, which was hosted by The University of Huddersfield from September 3 - 5 2018. This event combined the IASPM UK&Ireland Biennial Conference, the 13th Art of Record Production Conference (ARP), an ISMMS conference, and the additional participation of Dancecult.
A recurrent theme within popular music studies has been discussion of how the field can integrate different disciplines and professions, for example exploring both music and its context; involving both practitioners and researchers; and encouraging interdisciplinary and collaborative work. Many different issues make such approaches challenging, and various different popular music focused subject organisations have developed somewhat independently of one another. This conference brought four such groups together, to exchange knowledge, collaborate, and encourage crosstalk.
/// SUPPORT
Popular Music Studies Research Group (PMSRG), University of Huddersfield research.hud.ac.uk/pmsrg/#
Centre for Music, Culture and Identity (CMCI), University of Huddersfield
research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/cmci
The International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK and Ireland Branch (IASPM UK & Ireland)
iaspm.org.uk
Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production (ASARP)
artofrecordproduction.com
Dancecult Research Network (DRN) studies into electronic dance music culture
dancecult-research.net
International Society for Metal Music Studies (ISMMS)
metalstudies.org
/// ORGANIZERS
IASPM UK&I: Rupert Till
ARP: Katia Isakoff, Shara Rambarran
ISMMS: Karl Spracklen
Dancecult: Graham St. John
University of Huddersfield: Jan Herbst, Austin Moore, Lisa Colton, Toby Martin, Catherine Haworth, Mark Mynett
/// CREDITS
This online project was edited, collated, and made available online by Chris McConnell, Jack Zissell, and Colin Frank.
/// PRESENTATION DETAILS
The Ecological Approach To Analysis: subverting musical narratives through production technologies in case studies by Radiohead and Portishead
Gittit Pearlmutter (Bar Ilan University) & Simon Zagorski-Thomas (London College of Music, UWL)
/// ABSTRACT
In this paper we will explore one of the ways in which the ecological approach to perception and cognition (Gibson, 1979; Clarke, 2005; Moore, 2012) can be used in musical analysis. Through discussing expectations in terms of perceived invariant properties and affordances we will look at the creative process of record production as an interaction between listening expectations and ‘tool-use’ or activity-based expectations. Within that context Radiohead and Portishead provide specific details that demonstrate a more general shift in the tools of musical agency (BrøvigHanssen and Danielsen, 2016; Osborn, 2016): from voices and musical instruments to also include production technologies and the DAW (Théberge, 1997). The particular way these ensembles operate in the studio (O’Brien, 2000; Pizzo, 2014) stimulates a fresh range of disruptive behavior. Thus, ironically a main characteristic of this musical agency is the way it subverts story telling mechanisms. We will elaborate on this point and exemplify tool-uses that result in subverting musical narratives and their relationship to genre and style-focused listening expectations (Burns, Woods and Lafrance, 2016). Our analysis will include the following main categories: • Utilizing left-right panning, fade in / fade out, and deliberately bad edits as means for generating disorientation. • Vocal staging that challenges intelligibility and additionally subverts the human / machine dichotomy. • Internal structural functionality which undermines hierarchical relationships that propel musical energy. • Cases of rhythmic ambiguity.
