Autechre Autechre related dissertation

[Food]

Banging around the web I came upon this, but I have no access to the full-text. Anyone currently getting an education have access to proquest dissertations and theses database feel like some light reading?

 

Title: Listening to repetitive music: Reich, Feldman, Andriessen, Autechre

 

 

by Gibson, John, Ph.D., Princeton University, 2004, 96 pages; AAT 3151061

Abstract (Summary)

This essay offers my personal responses to pieces of repetitive music by composers Steve Reich, Morton Feldman, Louis Andriessen and the electronica duo Autechre. The essay engages issues such as the disorienting effect of repetition, the role of repetition in shaping large-scale continuity, and the surprising fact that literally repeating patterns may sound different as they continue. These issues, and others, are considered in the course of reporting and investigating my listening experiences, through detailed analyses of specific musical passages.

 

I elaborate a notion of meditative listening, which stands in contrast to narrative listening. A narrative listener follows a developing musical story, understands how current events emerge from previous ones, and sometimes makes predictions about future events. A meditative listener focuses on the present moment, appreciating its qualities without thinking about the connection of this moment to the surrounding music. I show how Feldman's Piano and String Quartet encourages meditative listening, while making narrative listening a somewhat frustrating experience. By contrast, I claim that narrative listening is ultimately appropriate for Andriessen's De Materie, Part IV , even though it begins, just as the Feldman piece does, with a series of repeating gestures.

 

While analyzing several selections from Autechre's Chiastic Slide and Tri Repetae , I explore my perceptions of foreground and background repetitive layers. In Reich's early tape-loop piece, Come Out , ambiguity arises between actual change in a repeating pattern and change taking place only in the mind of a listener.

 

 

 

It is probably a bit I know but it does sound quite interesting to me.

[Guest extherium]

I had a search, but only found a handful of recently published books/journals on electronic music, with only a slight nod toward Autechre. Other than that all I could find were reviews.

[goDel]

my listening experiences

 

First person research at Princeton? What? I'm sure the N=1 statistics are flawless. Narrative listening versus meditative listening does seem to make sense though.

[soundwave]

music academia really needs to pull its head out of its ass and get into the 20th century

[Guest sickboy]

lol it doesn't 'need' to do anything except turn up for work once in a while and look like it knows what its doing

[Guest Hanratty]

it's funny that someone with so much education and likely student loans would spend their education writing about repetitive music. I could have done that in high school (poorly i should add)

[Guest Hanratty]

correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Autechre not really well respected in high-brow music circles? Shouldn't we be listening to Morton Feldman or Luc Ferrari or something?

[markedone]

my listening experiences

 

First person research at Princeton?

Aye, that line made me raise an eyebrow as well.. especially coming out of Princeton

[Food]

Well, I had a read, at least of the Ae bits. Seemed to make sense to me, I have no official music education, let alone at University level. Kind of interesting.

 

I'm not gonna hate on the quality or point of the paper tho, see above. It is a little odd that it is all based on personal experience (for a phd) but he probably covers his bases, I'm guessing there are theories of listening and what have you in regards to this sort of thing and it slots into some framework...

 

I guess you can whine about this guys choice of education, but it sounds more fun than accounting or marketing etc to me. Hope he isn't unemployed and on watmm.

[apriorion]

Sorry to be such a noob, food, but you got a copy? How'd you get a full copy? I'd like a full copy.

[Food]

providing member, praise for that man.

[Guest jacobg]

Hi All,

Apologies for being late to the party. I've used this article in the class I've been teaching on Autechre this year, I've found it to be quite helpful. Here's a link to a PDF in case anyone's still interested: http://mypage.iu.edu/~johgibso/files/gibson_listening.pdf

[Guest extherium]

Hi All,

Apologies for being late to the party. I've used this article in the class I've been teaching on Autechre this year, I've found it to be quite helpful. Here's a link to a PDF in case anyone's still interested: http://mypage.iu.edu/~johgibso/files/gibson_listening.pdf

 

How's that class going for you?

[Guest jacobg]

It's going quite well -- we're nearing the end of the term so they're all doing final papers/projects, but it's been a really fun class to teach.

 

Hi All,

Apologies for being late to the party. I've used this article in the class I've been teaching on Autechre this year, I've found it to be quite helpful. Here's a link to a PDF in case anyone's still interested: http://mypage.iu.edu/~johgibso/files/gibson_listening.pdf

 

How's that class going for you?

[Guest EleminoP]

Oh wow, I wish I had seen this thread earlier. John Gibson taught a music class I was in this semester. Cool guy.