Uploaded August 2019 | Updated September 2026, 5 hours 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 use of keyboard technology in progressive rock between 1968 and 1980. A musicological analysis of Keith Emerson and Thijs van Leer.
Martin Quinn
Email: mquinnm123@gmail.com
/// ABSTRACT
There is a large amount of journalistic and musicological work on progressive rock, highlighting its importance as a sub-genre in rock music, its counterculture, and the social class differences towards other sub-genres. When it comes to published work about the use of keyboard technology and the importance of keyboardists such as Keith Emerson and Thijs van Leer, far less is known. Even though books such as Heavy Metal Music in Britain (Bayer, 2009) and Rocking the classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture (Macan, 1997) cover the subject in passing, a detailed understanding of the equipment that was used, how and why such equipment was used by keyboardists is still missing.
The main interest of this study will explore why the choice of keyboard technology differs between musicians such as Keith Emerson and Thijs van Leer, as both are similar and very different when it comes to choice and usage of keyboards in their music.
What technological advances and changes happened to such keyboard instruments between 1968 and 1980? And how these changes affected the sound of the instruments and the music? Such advances like polyphonic synthesizers meant that such consoles like the Yamaha GX-1 can reproduce orchestral like sounds and organ sounds which can be played together using different manuals and settings. For example Keith Emerson used a Yamaha GX-1 from 1977 onwards which was highlighted as an expensive purchase by Brackett (2005), meant that less equipment was needed to produce such sounds.
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 use of keyboard technology in progressive rock between 1968 and 1980. A musicological analysis of Keith Emerson and Thijs van Leer.
Martin Quinn
Email: mquinnm123@gmail.com
/// ABSTRACT
There is a large amount of journalistic and musicological work on progressive rock, highlighting its importance as a sub-genre in rock music, its counterculture, and the social class differences towards other sub-genres. When it comes to published work about the use of keyboard technology and the importance of keyboardists such as Keith Emerson and Thijs van Leer, far less is known. Even though books such as Heavy Metal Music in Britain (Bayer, 2009) and Rocking the classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture (Macan, 1997) cover the subject in passing, a detailed understanding of the equipment that was used, how and why such equipment was used by keyboardists is still missing.
The main interest of this study will explore why the choice of keyboard technology differs between musicians such as Keith Emerson and Thijs van Leer, as both are similar and very different when it comes to choice and usage of keyboards in their music.
What technological advances and changes happened to such keyboard instruments between 1968 and 1980? And how these changes affected the sound of the instruments and the music? Such advances like polyphonic synthesizers meant that such consoles like the Yamaha GX-1 can reproduce orchestral like sounds and organ sounds which can be played together using different manuals and settings. For example Keith Emerson used a Yamaha GX-1 from 1977 onwards which was highlighted as an expensive purchase by Brackett (2005), meant that less equipment was needed to produce such sounds.
