Introduction

I first made electronic music in the mid-1980s when I was about twelve years old, using an Apple IIe computer that my father brought home from work. I was absorbed in it for months, coaxing melodies out of programs I wrote in the basic language. As a self-taught musician who had played piano for years without formal lessons, for me the computer was simply a new means of working with sounds. As I had with the piano, I would figure it out mostly by trial and error. Today, I still play the piano, and I also compose with midi instruments, digital audio, and the programming language SuperCollider (Rodgers 2006; MacDonald 2007). I often attribute my facility with electronic music to my father’s interests and support. He is a self-described audiophile and early adopter of computer technologies, and he shared with me his record collection, enthusiasm for home recording, and knowledge about hi-fi audio systems and computers. It came as a surprise, then, when recently I unearthed in a closet an old 78 that my mother recorded as an amateur pianist in high school. Mom cut a record? I asked a few more questions and found out that in the early decades of the twentieth century, my great-aunt was a pianist for silent films in Al- bany, New York, and my grandmother used a stenotype machine in her work as a secretary. In a small town in western New York, my other grandmother was a Morse telegrapher and teletypist at her job with an agriculture company in the 1940s. So while my father’s audiophility was an obvious lineage for me to identify and claim, it turned out there were clear precedents for music and computing experience in generations of women before me in my family.1 Even after I had conducted dozens of interviews for this collection and its online predecessor Pinknoises.com, I still defaulted to stereotypical assumptions about gender, audio, and computer technologies in my personal history.

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Introduction Waterman 2006, 4). 2006, Waterman and (McCartney music electronic in converge fields these when force gain to seems stereotypes gendered associated of trenchancy the and of critical and aesthetic analysis, can offer can and analysis, aesthetic to critical of feminist concerns. category a as sound, what proposes it cultures—and music electronic fordo feminisms can what historiography—suggesting in tervention of differently. gender, sound, technology and endeavorsIt relationships a in- feminist imagining for possibilities open and assumptions knowledge circulated—primarily music stores and online discussion discussion online and stores music circulated—primarily knowledge I began to research production methods, I found that the spaces where late 1990s when I set up a home studio for making electronic music. As all the women disappear. if she had landed on a planet where something had happened to make felt as electronicmusic of world the entréeinto her remarkedthat ist author, with art- 2004). 25, Another September composers(interview women about info” no of hole black a hole, great “this it called wood we’re living in a secretive Masonic society or something.” Annea Lock- have been making the drums and beating them as well, you realize that women the cultures many how at look you “When says: Mutamassik have conjured this absence d analogies. with wonderful, experiential working with sound as a creative medium over the last century. Others women by expressions of diversity and presence the underestimates profoundly that representation of lack curious a encountered have I contexts these all In again. around and middle the to Waters—back Crystal by classic house a quote and—to Montreal, in student toral Oakland, to a professor of sound at an college arts in Boston, to a doc- to a graduate electronic student in music an programexperimental in York, New in producer music dance electronic an being from moved have I decade, past the During scholar. and musician a as trajectory my in affinities political and connections, social interests, technical of out emerged project This work. their inform gender of issues how and methods, creative their histories, personal artists’ the vestigate are who women with interviews twenty-four of collection a is book This Project Overview I first ventured into this so-called black hole or alien planet in the in planet alien or hole black so-called this into ventured first I The terms The terms D Js, electronic musicians, and sound artists. The interviews in- interviews The artists. sound and musicians, electronic Js, and technology 2 This book attempts to disentangle these potent these disentangle to attempts book This aremusic often marked as male domains, 3 j Introduction 5 (McDonnell and Powers and Powers (McDonnell Rock She Wrote 6 Black Noise (1994), and an article by Ann Powers 4 Thewebsite and book have evolved using “friendship asmethod” In 2000, I established Pinknoises.com to promote the work of My My own impulses to learn electronic music production and start (Tillmann-Healy 2003, 734), because with many of the artists my re- friendships build to efforts mutual with blended have methods search support. and professional cultivate I the devote majority of the pages women women making electronic music, to make resources online an on provide to and girls, and production women to accessible more methods to Curiousdiscussed. be could gender and music of issues where space various to e-mails sent I field, the in women other with talk and locate online forums and soon heard from six artists. I interviewed them about their music backgrounds, creative methods, and ideas about gender and electronic music culture. Thoseinterviews primary formed content for the Pinknoises.com’s launch, along with essays and links about studio setup and production techniques. With the help of our web designer, Karen Choy, and occasional contributions from interviews and new with site the updated we writers, and artists other articles for about three years and, after that, much of the content re- online. mained archived the the website Pinknoises.com felt quite different. Inaddition to my established curiosity with music and computers I was inspired by the legacy of Riot Grrrl, the grassroots movement in the early 1990s that catalyzed feminist art making and States United political the in pervasivespirit the by motivated was activism also I 1997). (see Kearney transcend could that communities online creating for 1990s late the in hip- and pop, rock, on writing feminist by boundaries, and geographic fer- gained politics cultural to relationship music’s in interest My hop. the anthologyafter I vor read 1995), Tricia Rose’s (1994) (1994) that encouraged more work by women as instrumentalists— which I took up as a call to arms. And, along with some other women of my who generation make electronic music, I beenhave inspired by political music and activism. of women’s traditions forums—were often populated by men who boasted about technical knowledge and were unhelpful to newcomers in the field.Many men were supportive, but electronic music cultures overall seemed to dis- courage or deny women’s participation. Thiswas made clearby the lack of substantive of coverage women in electronic music magazines historyand books. 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Introduction MCs; Pamela Z, whose music combines bel canto and experimental experimental and canto bel combines music whose Z, Pamela MCs; hip-hop by inspired partly is fragments, vocal with soundscapes tal digi- dense, crafts who (agf), Greie Antye directions: all in run ence practices can destabilize binary categories of gender. of categories practices binary destabilize can music electronic how of theorization including technology, and der, gen- sound, of areasresearch in further encourage will book this that material realms (see Riley 1988; Scott 1988; Young 2005, 12–26). I hope resourcesrelated in of distribution the and histories music electronic affect significantly categories these thesocial because organization of on the notoriously unstable terms rely I interviews. their of transcriptions edited approved and revised artists the but decisions, my reflect organization the and the questions, interviews, of selection The artists. the of those with spectives per- my balance toorder in interviews extended-form to book this in flyer, launchparty 2001. Pinknoises.com D as roles between move them of many as methods, their by egorized cat- be easily cannot Artists music. electronic of genres popular and experimental, academic, distinct more formerly among pollination cross- significant is There xiii). 2004, Warner and (Cox sound of ties scholars, and listeners are actively engaged with the creative possibili- half-century, artists, inthe last that emerged has inwhich musicians, Js, electronic producers,music artists. and/or sound Js, The material in this book is emblematic of a “new audio culture” culture” audio “new a of emblematic is book this in material The women and D esign by Karen Karen by esign men to frame the project 7 8 C Lines of influ- of Lines hoy. Introduction The 10 Sounds are points of 9 to to electronic music historiography is not to advocate This collection will contribute the sounds and stories of some The interviews areorganized thematically because juxtapositions themes themes also depart from familiar tropes like “noise” and “experimen- argue,will histories,I have music which, electronic existing in talism” writers. of and a canon male composers conjured thus far women to historical accounts which have thus far left them out. Yet its relationship an unattainable completeness in historical accounts but to be con- movements in contested and contained are histories how withcerned critique broad a out lay necessary thusto is It present. the in sound of departure to realms of personal history, cultural memory, and political struggle. At stake, questions on of one level, are to who has access tools and opportunities for creative expression, and how women artists are represented in mainstream media. Moreover, the interviews show how women engage sound to work creatively with structures of time and space, or voice and language; to challenge distinctions of nature and culture using sound and audio technologies; to question produc- for needs their balance to and practice; technological of norms tive solitude with collaboration and community. The section themes situate the artists’ work since (provisionally, their work is multiface ted and changing) within categories such as time, space, nature, and embodiment. Thesetopics are basedon resonances among the inter- music betweenelectronic connections forge and section each viewsin practices and feminist philosophy, media, and cultural studies. vocal vocal techniques with digital sampling and effects,attended one of agf’s performances with (interviewinterest with October 31, author, feminist electro-pop band2004). The from Le inspiration Tigre draws Ono Yoko and Laurie Anderson. Eliane Radigue, who for thirty years style ofsubtly signature a developedhas changing analog synthesizer drones, collaborates with a younger generation, including agf and the electronics improviser KaffeToMatthews. take stock of thisnew audio culture, this book offers glimpses ofcontemporary electronic music practices through stories of several generations of women, all manuscript’s this of time the at producers cultural active are whom of assembly. It provides a genealogical investigation of a present moment, tracing lives and careers that intersect with each others’ and field. in the historical developments with broader of genre and generation can reveal how sound and audio technologies connect otherwise divergent experiences. Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 on 01 October 2021 by guest Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf

Introduction munications that addressed these issues shared with early electronic early with shared issues these addressed that munications Postwarcombat. municationin research psychoacoustics in com-com- and effective safeguard to sound, controlling for methods new of as tomagnitude motivate researchextended toward the development such of were II WarWorld in technologies new of Noises plications. ap- military potential their for funded were or expenditures wartime quent amplification and recording technologies emerged directly from conjunction with investmentmilitary around World War I, and subse- in developed radio Broadcast 1920s. the by established well were gies past. In the United States, links between audio technolo-and military “mediums,” they are an interface to ghosts of technoscientific projects music-productionrary terminology. contempo- inflects that language militaristic the and vertisements, ad and covers album music electronic many characterized has that imagery sexist the culture, popular War Cold in sounds electronic to articulated discourses colonialist the into naturally flow to seem ings writ- Futurist in themes Indeed, 56–67). 1999, Kahn also see 4; 1991, stained with such things as violence, misogyny, and racism” often (McClary [is] aestheticians by celebrated beauty “the music, electronic in and follow, that practices cultural hegemonic normalize to stories tend Origin war. and industry, modern machines, of sounds the manifesto, Futurist Russolo’s Luigi was there goes, story the beginning, the In century. twentieth early the in Futurists the of noise origin avant-garde the prominent story, a with begin often music electronic of Histories 2004). Warner and Cox to 1999; Kahn according (see silence and structured noise of and tropes imagined been have histories music electronic practice, music electronic in used technologies like Much Histories Music inElectronic Noise Silencing and counts insuchmatters invention, as production, noise. and making what and who delimiting by histories haveelectronicmusic informed factors these Together obsolescence. planned privileges that culture and practices, and the politics of electronics manufacturing in a music technologies, a logic of reproduction that operates in audio discourses audio of evolution the in militarism with affiliations including herits, in- music electronic that histories multiple across issues gender of The tools formaking electronic music are notsound innocent: true (1913), a bold celebration of of celebration bold a (1913), Noises of Art The Introduction ” Js “battle”; a producer “triggers” a sample with D takes, it’s fetishized as a glitch . . . takes, it’s thing. an intentional or ment During the Cold War, electronic sounds became firmlylodged in This persistent militaristicterminology andaesthetic priorities of Johanna Fateman: It really struck us that, when men make mis- KathleenHanna: Something beautiful. . . . like it, do Johanna: And when women it’s Kathleen: . . . a hideous mistake. state a or innovation artistic an considered not it’s Right, Johanna: music music many of the same historical actors, machines, and institutions 220–21). 210–13, 1996, (Chanan 8; Edwards 1995, the public imagination, especially in association with space age and exoticized por- racially agefeatured pop music Space research. atomic trayals of women on album covers and used electronic sounds to sig- 87–93). 2001, (Taylor exploration space of anxieties and allure the nify In 1962, the composer Herbert Brün recounted how stereotypes and fears of atomic warfare affected hisaudience’s opinions of electronic music: “Throughout the population, in all social circles, people, when speaking of electronic music, use phrases like unabashedly:pletely ‘Electronic ofElectronsmusic is made electrons. the following com- split atoms and a split atom is in some way part of the atom bomb, and one doesn’t fool with such things. Above all, it shows complete death’ of weapons with music make to want tact,to and taste of lack (Brün 2004, 126). These associations persisttoday in theterminology of electronic music: a “controller,” “executes” a programming “command,” types “bang” to send a signal, and tries to prevent a “crash” (Katz 2004, McCartney 1995; 114–36; Peebles 1996, 12). Thevery act of making electronic music to high-techthus withunfolds reference combat, shot through domination. and with symbols of confrontation violent rationalistic precision and control epitomize notions of male technical competence and “hard” mastery in electronic music production. These have produced and been constituted theirby opposite: non- technical or “soft” knowledges and practices that are coded as female Oldenziel 1984; Turkle also see 156–57; 1993, Bradby 2002; (McCartney stan- how explains Tigre Le collection, this interviewin their In 1999). dards of male-definedtechnological innovation do not apply equally women: to Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 on 01 October 2021 by guest Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf

Introduction feel we can fix them.But we think, we media, through course of that Except fixable. not tially “ corded audio with technologies, sounds re- “fixing” resists Lockwood Annea instruments. wooden unique of sounds the record and collect to prefers instead and developments software latest the in interest little has She compositions. her into incorporates she sounds environmental and acoustic, electronic, of new computer liketape recorder” fora “big compiling the mix eclectic technoscientific priorities.Mira Calix, for example, ishappy touse her thisstandard on their define own do,terms. they but they project every for innovation” “technical of goal a maintains Tigre Le the theremin, a new electronic musical instrument in the 1920s. The 1920s. the in instrument musical electronic new a theremin, the of virtuoso recognized widely most the wasRockmore futures. better toward point may that one music, electronic for story origin native isallthe morecrucial. technoscientific priorities death (see Haraway 1991, 149), work that challenges electronic music’s an be can ity real- lived and fiction between boundary the Because soundtracks. electronic their without realistic so seem not would games video and film in war of simulations extension, by war—and, with of associations technologies their for not it were compelling so be not might sounds electronic practice.Indeed, and technologies music electronic andrelevant metaphorsorigins in of given the military pervasiveness remains above, quote Brün Herbert the in exaggerated death,”while of precision and control priorities scientific as endsinthemselves. techno- dominant using to counter out run that positions stake philosophical but work, their in sophistication technological cultivate artists These there?” be should it know I do how . . . time particular a to sound a commit to have would you me—that terrifies mitment com- of idea “The hand: her of gestures through voice her transforms dislikes making recordings of her performances, in which she digitally stronglySonami fixity,pressing dissatisfaction with similar a Laetitia constraints the recording of are on which the sounds medium stored. the Ex- defying place, of memories transitory evoke and water of movements shifting relay rivers of recordings Lockwood’s they?” are uh ok y rit i ti cleto i lkws ufihu to unfaithful likewise is collection this in artists by work Much Clara Rockmore’s performances on the theremin provide an alter- an provide theremin the on Rockmore’sperformances Clara of weapons with music make “to means it what of question The illusion that masks real struggles over life and life over struggles real masks that illusion auditory sounds sounds in their natural state ’Cause essen- I think they’re . . . are not fixable, Introduction Washington Post ’s ’s Post commentary living tone-quality” (“Novelty critic wrote: “Stunningin Times criticwrote: Rockmore opened an “elsewhere” within electronic music discourses discourses music electronic within “elsewhere” an opened Rockmore implies implies that she encroached on a phallic domain of technical virtuositymastery—reaching for the “vertical and “penetrating”rod,” the area—but that these transgressions were justifiableby thenovel and A sound. the of transportivequalities . . . sounds evoked and instrument the over stood she dress, crimson a By moving her hands and fingersin the air sheachieved tonal agility comparable to that of a singer, and a Feature” emphasis1947, added). The spellboundaudiences were pre- sented with a performance of electronic music as embodied, affective care. and characterized nuance by engagement with technology, (de Lauretis 1987, 25): a space for mutual motithat otherness, and familiarity between encounters technologies, and mans between hu- combat rhetoricsofof possibilityinstead ofsense a and wonder vates and domination. In her work on the cultural politics of emotion, Sara bod- moves it how to crucial is wonder surprise of “The writes: Ahmed ies . . . wonder involves the radicalisation of our relation to the past, which is transformed into that which lives and breathes in the present” (2004, 180). Electronic music can move bodies by way of tech- nologically mediated or generated sounds that provoke a wonder. Laetitia sense Sonami describes of the first time sheheard a Putney vcs3 synthesizer as a student in the 1970s: “I was like, what Wow, is that? I was hearing sounds that were very crude, but still there was noted noted that the theremin “plays as if by magic . . . it Toward advances a young artist, Miss Clara Rockmore. Her right hand reaches toward, the penetrated has doing, she so In rod. vertical the shortof stops but 1936). World” the (“Around results” tone beautiful a and sound, of area Rockmore was authoritative in performance; the theremin theremin consists of two metal antennas that sense the position of the player’s hands; by moving each hand in proximity to the antennas, the player controls an oscillator’s frequency (pitch) and ampli- tude (volume). Rockmore’s performances, including a showcase in of 1934, helped the Hall in instrumentNew to establishYork at Town electronic and experimental music as a viable art form in the public recital Hall Town Her Martin2001). 8–11; imagination(Chadabe1997, “left the audience spellbound that such artistic music floatedon air from a source seemingly uncontrolled by human effort” (Darter and Armbruster 1984, quoted in Montague 1991, 21). The Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 on 01 October 2021 by guest Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf 10 Introduction could not fathom.” couldnot I ways in sounds producing electricity of magic, of sense whole this kind of silence is being broken? being is silence of kind is, poem any ask might we question first the and silence, existing an of breaking the is poem begins—often terribly and fearfully—in a tunnel of silence. Every real create to impulse “The said, Rich Adrienne identity.As of aspects ing foreground- by silences, breaking of acts within empowerment cated formsposed of silencing and erasure. Indeed, feminists have often lo- im- of effects the suffered have who of groups marginalized historically artists for aesthetic desirable universally a be not may this tity; iden- of negation a as interpreted be can music resulting the on tent in- composer’s a of influence the reduce or erase to seek that Cage by others. hadof silencing the effect often has histories music experimental and electronic subsequent in work his of centrality the silences, hegemonic disrupt to efforts own Cage’s despite Thus, 47–51).1984, Oliveros also see 1996; (Lewis color of people and women by practices music innovative comparably of influence the deny to worked has This sense. broadest the in music “experimental” constitutes what define to journalists and academics some by up taken been has it but traditions, compositional rological (Chadabe 1997, sounds 24–26). Cage’s body of work was innovative in of the context of Eu- range wider to music Western open to helped arguably and silence absolute of notions troubled piece This piece.” ure in electronic is music histories, and experimental centrala fig-is who JohnCage, by composed works noteworthy most the of One attention. critical deserves discourses music electronic in death” of to fromevocationsin emphasis living. of “weapons with and technology difference now and in thefuture. It enacts a shift encounters ethical and imaginative more for possibilities express to) failed has (or can music electronic how of forscrutiny calls history. It the navigate to way different a later—suggests decades experiences others’ and Sonami’s in wonder—resonant of mobilization more’s Rock- noise, violent with music electronic toward orientation one’s infuses Futurists the of story origin the while So control. “macho” of expression an to .”reduces. technology that desires. one rather than that respects is how “a technology projection of our dreams, illusions, Moreover, the process-oriented compositional strategies advanced Like noise, the function of silence as a privileged aesthetic category 11 Sonami was motivated to develop an instrument instrument motivatedtodevelopan was Sonami What kind of voice is breaking silence, and what and silence, breaking is voice of kind What ” (Rich 2001, 150; emphasis in original). original). in emphasis 150; 2001, (Rich ” 4’33”, the “silent Introduction 11 noise 12 s that feature only one woman com- CD 13 , electronic music, and sound art cultures; that they have have they that cultures; artsound and music, electronic , j cultures as “distinctly masculine” with relative inattention inattention masculine”relative with “distinctly as cultures j There are other rhetorical approaches that have marginalized wom- marginalized have that approaches rhetorical other are There Just as recording engineers use the processing tool known as a as known tool processing the use engineers recording as Just Js is absence female, from to the explaintext women’s (Fikentscher not made significantcontributions to thesefields tothe extent that men have; or that gender categories ultimately pose restrictions on survival.professional en’s work en’s in electronic music histories. The electroacousticcomposer and scholar Andra McCartney has noted that Pauline Oliveros is often isolated as the only woman in textbooks that otherwise cover a variety work in of detail.men’s Recognition of Oliveros is crucial and repre- as work her positioned times at has isolation her but admirable, sentative of an essentialized, “feminine” aesthetic (McCartney 2006, 31). Pamela Z, in her interview here, discusses a similar problem in the context of compilation 2000, 124 n. 3). Another study that discusses women artists reached some unfortunately reductive conclusions—for example, that composer Suzanne Ciani was like “a woman world who in a wanted man’s to have it all” (Pinch and Trocco 2002, 170). All the above studies are formidable works of scholarship for the accounts that they provide, rarely are women that impression the gives effect cumulative their but d in present com- women’s that means often representation tokenistic Such poser. positions are not analyzed in liner notes and album reviews with the Maria and Z interview, their In receives. work men’s that rigor of level Chavez also comment on the politics of stylistic comparisons, noting that journalists tend to compare their work reductively to other women artists (simply because they are women) or trace their musical aesthetics to well-known men (whose influence theywould not to to women’s participation in these cultures (Reynolds 1998, 274–75); or used observational statistics, such as that fewer than one in ten D to mute audible signals below a defined threshold of volume (like volume of defined threshold a signalsbelow audible mute to gate the hum of a guitar amp that would interfere with the relative purity of the guitar’s sound in the mix), arbitrary thresholds have often si- Some of most impor- the in historical accounts. work women’s lenced tant contributions to the study of electronic music and sound have positioned women as outside the scope of study (Kahn 1999, 13–14); defined d This is a useful question to put toward the politics of noise and silenc- and noise of politics the toward put to useful question a is This music histories.ing within electronic Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 on 01 October 2021 by guest Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf 12 Introduction tions of passivity, of tions receptivity, maternality.and no- age-old to women ties relatedtechnologies—that in materialized and reproduction sound of discourses in reproduction —perpetuated of logic a with entwined already always are they that be may culture representations, reductiveone obstacle to thinking women as and oversights these of surface the Beneath Reproduction Sound Technology of and inDiscourses Gender that’sof the truck the mud flaps of thesymbol female form.” on woman the “like symbol: palatable a to otherness reduce to tend media music in representations racialized and gendered that cludes con- Z Pamela aesthetic. their exclude to seem regimes stylistic and technical formal but music, electronic “real” be to considered is what narrative. Le Tigre likewise discusses how they would like to fit in with master this to other as together womengrouping and male, as ments develop- stylistic important gendering lineage, male music’s tronic claim). necessarily This pattern enacts a double reinforcementof elec- workings of (male)culture.workings of the reproduce to employed surface inscriptive (feminized) passive a music, electronic for background enabling of kind a is in It 2000). Sofia quoted 141; 1966, (Mumford sound by meaning and form given be to matter receptive a as coded technology, container such one is tape Magnetic 185). 2000, (Sofia women by done traditionally labor formetaphors female storage of organs supply, and of types with and with associated forms technological “containertechnologies”—those of functions active the overlooked routinely have technology of ries Histo- controlled. and devalued systematically been have maternal or female as coded culturally are that processes and forms nological 2006,71;Irigaray Ahmed 1985; also Spivaksee 1981, 183). receptacle, or nurse of being rather than a coproducer” (Grosz 1994, 5; housing, mere “a be to considered was mother a father: the by shape given matter, formlessbe to contributed mother a which processin a founding texts of In Western 128). philosophy, 2005, reproduction Young was 121; established as 1995, Grosz 10–12; 1993, (Irigaray emerge subjects all which from space maternal the to owe they debt the ing cultural worlds are built, and male modes of thought operate by deny- which upon foundations material the provide women that onstrated In dominant discourses and practices reproduction, sound of tech- 16 producers of electronic music 15 Feministshave dem- 14 Introduction 13 ing ups r k Control Control of this medium of reproduction—and faithfulness to an In other discourses of audio technologies, male claims to creation hands of Hispanic women workers, who meticulously pic wound interview). Rylan also see 69; 1995, (Smith could machines than tighter Despite the crucial role of these workers, a biographer attributes the unique tone of the guitars to Leo innovations Fender’s as “an Ameri- simi- does that rhetoric With 283). 1995, (Smith original”inventor can lar work, stories of male birth have functioned throughout histories of technology to confer value upon inventions by men. Thomas Edi- son, Samuel Morse, and Alexander Graham Bell proudly referred to their inventions as their children, a strategy by which they claimed a full role in the creation of an artifact (Sterne 2003, 180–81). In fact, at the turn of the twentieth century, women were central to how the “original” sound—has informed technical and aesthetic priorities in discourses of sound fidelity.These values, elaborated on in popular prac- common in implemented and beginningmagazines 1950s the in of the self-containedhi-fi spaces to positionedtice, as threats women that men sought to define in middle-classhomes. Women embodied the very potential for loss of sound qualityreq- by men’s threatening uisite privacy to inhabit a controlled, domestic space in which they could cultivate an aesthetic appreciation of sound (Keightley 1996, 161). “Loss” was technically defined as thedegradation in qualitysimilar or a In medium. the through passes it as sound recorded of clarity settingshi-fi of control men’s to threat a represented women that way in the home, the (feminized) medium of sound reproduction constituted an interference with the purity of the signal. Hi-fi discourses advocated maximizing sound fidelityby guarding the signal against loss and making the medium as transparent 2000, 13–47; Sterne as 2003, 215–86). A possible classic, masculinist (Morton technological fantasy is at work in this example: male attempts to appropriate the maternal function with technology typically exhibit a conflicting, nostalgic investment in the figure of themother, and an antagonism and desire to overcome it (Doane 1999, 23, 29). While the medium of rela- their certify to subjects male necessaryfor is reproduction sound are creation to claims male origin, imagined an to fidelity and tionship ofasserted this medium. erasure and/or through masterful control have been bolstered by stories of male birth and a concealed depen- bodies.dence on laboringIn the mid-twentieth women’s the century, labo the on relied guitars electric Fender of tone prized distinctive, Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 on 01 October 2021 by guest Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf 1 4 Introduction “the father of ambient” (Lee 1998; father Vaziri“the ambient” (Lee of 1998). the film, the director,positionsEno Iaraas Lee, John Cage over Brian about interview an in and Kraftwerk; group pop-electronic German the to successors” “the as described areproducers techno Detroit the electronica”; of grandfather “the as Stockhausen Karlheinz hails title sub-whomarea of men.Patrilineality inevitability: takesof air onan versal electronic sound.” the posthuman technoand sound” identifies the emergenceof a “uni- d and Squarepusher like the experimentalists sonic contemporary to techno and Detroit of “pioneers” Kraftwerk, Moog, Robert from moves and Cage John and Futurists the with begins that music electronic of narrative torical a his- presents film The internationally. screened and 1998 in leased re- was century, twentieth the in music electronic of evolution the Ear the for Cinema Modulations: ten redirecting (Gitelman theirintended 2006,60–62). designs of- contexts, social in defined were records and phonographs of uses on women’s bodies more literally, to establish a male subjectivity in subjectivity male a establish to literally, more bodies women’s as on well as maternal, and feminine the of metaphors on relied have electronic music of discoursestechnical andnarratives historical how cultural power are lost in the mix. the in lost are power cultural and agency, gender, of differences critical diversity; cultural of tage mon- celebratory a into marshaled are economy global the in borers culturalinnovation.producers as aesthetic Womenarbiters of and la- positioned are men while goods, mass-produced of reproduction the with aligned are Women sound. electronic of universal—experience floor pleasure along thesame continuumof aglobal—and supposedly dance and production, studio labor, factory of economies disparate structures and the seamless flowof aclub d musical repetitive by characterized music, dance electronic upbeat by male experts in the surrounding scenes. Thesescenes are accompanied individual the of treatment star and angles close-up the with sharply contrasts laborers female anonymous many of shot wide The sizers. synthe- keyboard testing and assembling labor repetitive in engage where women in Japan factory Roland a of glimpse fleeting a thereis the Roland T framed before and after by men’s testimonials about the significanceof Electronic music historiography continues to follow this pattern. this follow to continues historiography music Electronic In one of the only scenes where women appear in the film,which is B -303 bass of in electronicsynthesizer the history music, 17 j Thecredits list nearlyeighty informants, all Spooky. It celebrates “the nomadic drift of of drift nomadic “the celebrates It Spooky. , a feature-length documentary about about documentary feature-length a , 19 All the above examples suggest suggest examples above the All j ’s mix. The audio connects 18 5

Introduction 1 hasbeen reproducible within is a starting point for do- startinga for is point

reproduced in multiple reflections by bodies,produced technologies, environments, What is important is to take that away the public face 20 Js and composers number one in ten or fewer (Fikentscher D , productive by generating multiple meanings in various contexts. To think To against the grain of cultural ideologies that have aligned Alongside such moves to expand the scope of existing histories, Throughout the history of electronicmusic, women have been in- sound and reproduce priorities of a male-defined culture. A patrilineal A culture. male-defined a of priorities reproduce and sound history of electronic music production is normative, and ideologies of sound reproduction circulate unmarked for a particular politics of gender. women with normative modes of heterosexual and capitalist reproduction, and to construct electronic music histories differently, we can consider how sounds themselves are reproductive. Reproductive soundsvariously are and their accompanying histories; off reverberant surfaces or in recording media; spaces of memory and storage that hold sounds for future playbacks; and To account for reproductive sounds in all their temporal depth is to challenge the patrilineal lines of descent and the universalizing male claims to creation that have thus far music. in electronic characterized courses dominant dis- there is still some consistency women among surveys that suggest that 2000, 124 n. 3; Bosma 2003, 9; McCartney and Waterman 2006; Katz 2006, 580–81). Thequestion of who is counted electronicin historiography music is inevitably informed by the politics of professional networks, social and and by limited definitionsand standards of achievement. of electronic music—on cd releases, magazine covers, international festivals, scholarly publications—is typically male and does a certain “tell forums these out, points Bosma Hanna As work. symbolic of kind a tale of a world of and expertscreators of music,electroacoustic and thethis influences andprobably behaviour thoughts of listeners, students, would-be composers and experts” (2003, 7–8). Another strat- that work of diversity and egy substance emphasizethe to is collection this and women, by accomplished ing just that. fluential asconsumers and users ofaudio technologies; instrument academic at students and teachers, directors, assemblers; and builders electronic music studios; composers, instrumentalists, vocalists, and sound poets; producers, audio engineers, and software developers; Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 on 01 October 2021 by guest Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf 1 6 Introduction their voluptuousfigures. their to attention by overshadowed are producers as skills whose azines, mag- production music and hip-hop in machines” drum with quettes now.”is it than ploitative d were better for women in the ’80s or ’90s. It was certainly a lot less ex- “things that comments Rylan Jessica attest. interviewed I artists the of many as music, electronic of accounts mainstream in common are representations Postfeminist advancement. individualist and ment enjoy- own their for choice, personal of out act to claim frameworks exploitative or objectifying Womenin (8). necessary” longer no be to feminist when “feminism is ‘taken into account,’ but only to be shown Por- movement. post are culture Western feministpopular contemporary in women trayals of to undertow formidable a be can which 6), 2004, (McRobbie postfeminism” of space cultural “the in offeminist politics the relevance book demonstrate in this interviews The NoisesFeminist and Pink Waves the sky.” holdof two-thirds practices, up sounding “women and innovations technological myriad their with (1983): technology of history revised Stanley’s Autumn cueing by perspective the frame ten in one only comprise may women gotiations of thisatmosphere of gotiations Passamonte (see and Maslen). addresscollection women’sthis in ne- appearance.Severalinterviews their cultivate pressure to proficiency, face renewed technical women (La Ferla 2007). After working hard to gain public recognition for their able to blend records is not enough anymore. You have to have a look” cal skills have been taken into account. As one woman says, “Just to be embracing their role as arbiters of urban fashion now that their musi- women several showcasing contradictions, postfeminist hlspes n critics. and and philosophers participants; and organizers events labels; record of founders group improvisation, and even the timbral qualities of sound. Some Some sound. of qualities timbral the even and improvisation, group of dynamics competence, technical and musical inform about significantly expectations gender about ideas cultural that argue others played a memorable role in their artistic and professional experiences; different not has gender that feel Some well. as among individuals within and women opinions contradictory are There cultures. music The artists express a range of opinions about gender in electronic in gender about opinions of range a express artists The 22 21 A recentA ahr hn igr n bevtos that observations on linger than Rather j Mutamassik critiques the images of “co- of images the critiques Mutamassik NewYork Times D Js or composers, we can re- can we composers, or Js article epitomizes epitomizes article D Js who are who Js 23 7

Introduction 1 The artists adopt range a strategies of addressing for perceived Theinterviews here also explore intersectionality the gender of feel that women have been marginalized have women throughbiased that media feel representations and employment discrimination; some acknowledge that women can redirect these sexist stereotypes in their favor, capitaliz- ing on them for career advancement. Some claim that women make music and communicate about technologies in ways that are essen- tially different frommen, and that these differencesshould be vali- dated. Other artists’ experiences point toward the myriad configura- example, for indicating,identities, gendered and bodies sexed of tions of theories to integral be should identifications gender masculine that musical practices. women’s gender issues in electronic music cultures. Some enthusiastically organize women and girls through community-oriented projects. educational Many of them attest that music production offers women and girls a way to gain confidence in theirconceptual andtechnical abilities—skills that are also applicable in other areas of life. Others say that it is unfortunate, although necessary, that women continue Some not prefer to discussto organize or in emphasizethis way. gen- in progress their from detract to this becauseconsider theyissues der gaining recognition as an “artist” than a rather marginalized “woman Some artist.” claim not to think about gender issues at all unless others confront them with questions. Many artists harbor feelings conflicting within themselves and adopt various strategies in different contexts. For example, an artist’s attention to and interest in gender issues may change over her lifetime and may also shift situationally from the relative privacy of the home studio to the more public contexts of performances media and appearances. sex- and class, ethnicity, race, including identity, of aspects other with ual orientation. Some artists delineate particular gender stereotypes that emerge in culturally specificmusic traditions. Somedescribe the joint operations of reductive and exoticizing racial, ethnic, and gendered stereotypes, which generate multiple axes of discrimination in media and professional contexts. For some artists, early experiences of racial and/or class discrimination motivated them toward creative expression; these motivations may have facilitated their capacity to challenge traditionally gendered relationships to gies music and performance. Some technolo- artists have been leaders in organizing queer communities and/or communities of color around electronic Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 on 01 October 2021 by guest Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf 18 Introduction aube prah De Lseig s lf patc o cultivating of practice life a is Listening Deep approach. valuable another constitutes Listening Deep of philosophy Oliveros’sPauline forward by listening closely to gain understanding 2000). (McCartney way a finds one which by practice waters,”a unfamiliar through tion Westerkamp. Sounding evokes “the mariner’s slow and careful naviga- Andra McCartney uses to describe the work of the composer Hildegard relative power or position. their by augmented or masked are claims some how and selectively, depends upon one’s orientation toward how an one argument, listens debates How spaces. discursive shared in reverberate to continue but away go not do them to reac- tions the and feminisms Likewise, interactions. ongoing in matter physical as waves sound other of trajectories the influence and with intersect to indefinitely, continuing space reverberatesthrough wave the but generation, sound’s a of beginning the near occur may sion work. as of thought be can Sounds Feminist waves might better be conceived as interacting sound waves. identifications. complex women’s of representations inadequate are interests, other’s each with odds at irrevocably as women of erations gen- defined strictly posit to tend and progression, historical linear a in temporally other each succeeding as movements feminist describe culture. and models of feminism,contemporary Typical “wave” which practice music electronic to speaks and documents book this how of feminist challenge and movement. fortify organization—can collective and achievement individual of combinations and strategies various as well differences—as such how demonstrate will book the work and how andIframe politics here. the project ismy It that hope their situate artists the how between differences important be well may There inception. its from project this animated has that ference title the said, That be. tofeminism understand they whatfrom excludedforfeeling reasons cultural or personal of because feminist, as identify not may artists Many identity. artistic gender-neutral a to aspire others der; gen- of politics specific a in than identity of aspects other investedin primarily more or equally be may artists cases, many In music. dance Feminist debates are sounding practices, to borrow the term that term the borrow to practices, sounding are debates Feminist Perspectives of different generationsof women areaspect acrucial 24 In the propagation of sound waves, the most audible impres- audible most the waves, sound of propagation the In encapsulates an energy of productive dif- productive of energy an encapsulates Noises Pink and pressure within and across these spaces these across and within sound , doing cultural doing movements, 9

Introduction 1 pink noises: sonic inter- “Pink noise” is a term in term a is noise” “Pink 25 serves as a marker of differ- female pink as a site of disturbance and productive potential.noise Pinkas and productive ofa site disturbance On the historical formation of “technology” as a seemingly neutral On women’s involvement with electronic information technologies in technologies information electronic with involvement women’s On ness eness of all sounds across all of spacetime, formulated through 2. 1. In the title of this project, physics physics and audio engineering referring to variations of white noise, or unstructured sound that contains every audible frequency. Pink noises have been filteredto emphasizelow frequencies,resulting in equal distributions of energy per octave. Pink noise generators are commonly used in professional recording studios as test signals for sound systems; but while it plays a critical role in the operation equipment, pink of noise is typically kept out of the audible mix. Noise also has metaphoric connotations of discord and dissonance. In cy-or- which from source information chaotic a is noise theories, bernetic dered patterns can be formed, as well as a disturbance that interferes agfasked whether I when spirit, this In signal. a of transmission with she thinks the term “glitch” is appropriate for describing her music, she replied that “glitch” implies only a temporary disturbance, while: “i hope i am disturbing for a life time / ;).” Drawing on these defini- tions, I introduce the following interviews as ventions from multiple sources, which destabilize dominant gendered gendered dominant destabilize which sources, multiple from ventions discourses and work equaltoward power distributions in the cultural sounds reverberate. where arenas Notes and and universal term, through highly contested processes of gender, racial, and class seedifferentiation, Oldenziel1999, 1–50. SeeWajcman also 2004 the United States during and after World War II, see Balsamo 1996, 152–53. 152–53. seeBalsamo1996, II, War World after during and States United the For other relevant histories of women and computing, see Light 1999 and Plant 1997. On gender and technologies in officework, seeMorton 2000, 74–107. awar own feminist Oliveros’s consciousness and techniques of meditation. mindful more enables sounds all to carefully attending that suggests It and constructive intersubjective experience (Oliveros 2005; Oliveros negotiation continual a is then, movement, Feminist 1994). Maus and of sounding deep and listening. ence, and ence, socializing for culture consumer Western pervasivein most hue the is femininity. of modes acceptable toward girls Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 on 01 October 2021 by guest Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf 20 Introduction 52; Halberstam 2005, 1–21; Massey 2005, 4, 10–11; Young 2005, 130; Har- 130; 2005, Young 10–11; 4, 2005, Massey 1–21; 2005, Halberstam 52; , may consult Chadabe 1997. Noises, may inPink consult Chadabe artists the of some on information includes which history, music experimental read and Waterman as a feminist (McCartney sound aesthetics of 2006, 7). be position,” can aesthetic or method one any than rather stance, dialogic Le Tigre interview ). interview Tigre Le (see musicality and signing of relationships on as well as touch, and tion vibra- of themes on build might feminists cultures, deaf of inclusive are that ways in sound theorize To hearing. of cultures addresses also Noises 2003. Truax 1997;Straw 94; 57–58, 2004, Schloss Perlman2004; 1996; Keightley 2006; and 131–36, 2004, Katz 83–109; 1999,Pearson and Gilbert 114–23; 1995, Born see cultures, audio in gender On 1993. al. et Crafts see life, daily in music On gender-queer–identified. or trans- are who artists women who work in orindustrial commercial rather than contexts; artistic nonprofessionally; technologies audio use who women example: For ume. make social and professionalmake social connections inelectronic musiccultures. to networks online used have women how of discussion for 2004 Farrugia also See Awards. Webby 2003 the at Site Web Music Best nominated was publications (see Neset 2001; “Separate and Equal” 2001; Warren 2003) and Common women’s peace movement). well as engineers sound women (Sandstrom 2000; of see also Matthews generationinterview on music and the early Greenham an for ground ing train- the were Festival Womyn’s Music Michigan the like events but sic, mu- folk acoustic with associated be to tends 1970s the Women’sin music tion inelectronic musiccultures inthe 1990s. participa- women’s of assessment an for 1997 Owen and 1998 McDonnell think the norms of gendered of think the norms subjectivity. re- and difference, social of axes multiple across relations power unequal contest oppression, sexist end to movements and strategies various mean “composition,”and “sound.” favorterm in the of understandfeminismtoI “music” terms the with associate they masculinism or constraints formal the of some that however, noting, worth is It forms. many takes that experimentation sonic diated me- electronically to inclusively refer to music” “electronic term the use for an overview of debates in feminist technology studies, and McClary McClary inWestern gender1991 of and sexuality on constructions music. and studies, technology feminist in debates of overview an for 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. Unless it is tonecessary refer to a more specificcreative practice, Iwill Other ethnographies would complement the perspectives in this vol- this in perspectives complementthe would ethnographies Other Readers interested in a more chronological narrative of electronic and A notable exception is Joel Chadabe’s Women may do this as a strategy of professional of flexibility, “this strategy and a Women as this domay Pinknoises.com was reviewed in various music and general interest general and music various in reviewed was Pinknoises.com e Hlesa 20; n L Tges yis o Ht oi” (1999). Topic” “Hot to lyrics Tigre’s Le and 2007; Halberstam See The section themes are informed by passages in Grosz 2005, 1, 43– 1, 2005, Grosz in passages by informed are themes section The artists have turned away from the from away turned have artists Noises Pink Electronic Electronic Sound (1997). See also Pink Pink Introduction 21 That’s it!” (Ra- Pink Noises interviews verbalize their this is what I’ve been looking for” (Matthews); “ Z’s Z’s comment was allusive, but such iconic female figures appear Many Many other women in the Another example of an audio technology coded as female form is For For a more thorough analysis of the relationship between post Such Such examples abound in electronic music cultures, and these pro- Feminist Feminist work on the uneven effects of silenceand its disruptions, In a commentaryrelevant on academic ofaccounts electronic dance To be clear, in this section I am taking issue with how electronic mu- electronic how with issue taking am I section this in clear, be To 13. 13. 12. 11. 14. 16. 16. 15. 15. 17. 17. 18. especially across differences of race and sexuality, has much offerto thinking for the politics of noise and silence tal in music (see electronic Cixous 1976, and 880–81; hooks experimen- 1984, 12–15; Hammonds 1997; Fishkin and 1994). Hedges digue); “Whoa! . . . This is it” (Chavez). away 1991, 195; 178, Doyle 2005, away 1–9; Sterne 2003, 287–92; Lee and LiPuma 16–18; 1994, Cusick 5; 1994, Grosz 118; 1999, Pearson Gilbert and 192; 2002, 11. 2004, 1–2; 2005, McRobbie and 1–4;Woolf 1999, Hayles early encounters with electronic music as a kind of “bang . epiphanic . moment: . music, Angela McRobbie summarizes how scholars have constructed it as “virtually a female-free zone”: a domain in which recreational new drug technologies that dissolve human-machine boundaries, use, and a general sensibility of subcultural abandonment converge to offer“an escape from to tended botherthe whole of gender” have 145–47). accounts These (1999, exhibit—and normalize—a lack of critical inquiry into how gender continues to inform the production and distribution of knowledge in cultures. these sic discourses produce gendered subjects and technological forms. The per- technologicalsubjectsThe forms. and gendered produce discourses sic petuation or contestation of hegemonic cultural practices can be enacted gender. individualby people of any throughout visual cultures of electronic music (Taylor 2001, 88–89; Sher- artists experimen-Canadianwomen an featuring at burneevent An 2002). tal music festival in 2004 displayed the infamous mud-flap woman on its materials (Annapromotional Friz, April 18, 2008). author, e-mail to liferating liferating lines of descent rather comically begin to knots. tie themselves Kim into Cascone (2000, 14) identifies Luigifather’ of contemporary ‘post-digital’ Russolomusic”; the ascomposer and “theengineer ‘grand an early version of the phonograph, which required singers to direct their voice down the horn—a “curious gaping orifice”—when John folklorist The men. some recording.for experience unsettling an apparently was This Avery Lomax, who traveled across America recording music in the the like didn’t cowboys the because years singers many lost “I reported: 1908–10, 40). looks 1999, of it” (Brady humanism, music technology, and Afro-diasporic cultural politics, see We- 2002. heliye Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 on 01 October 2021 by guest Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf 22 Introduction countries. Women who are philosophers and critics, as well as composers, composers, as well as critics, and philosophers are Womenwho countries. fifty-one from members 970 lists currently artists, visual and producers, Female Pressure2001. (2008), Pellean online database and of women Walker 2004; Snapper 2000b; 1994, and Rose 2000a 2003; Siegler 146–82; Rodgers 1999; Raimist 2004; Park 2008; Hebert Halberstam 2007; 1996; Guevara 2003; Dove 1995; Cooper 2005; Bridges 1993; D vocalists, are who women about Resources 2000. Sandstrom 1994; Potts see Pease 1970s, 1978. On the women in audio in engineering professions, see components Peterson 1987; audio hi-fi of uses women’s of account an For 2007. Waterman 2008; Greenham” “Lily 1994; Sawchuk 2007; Morris and techniques vocal 1995; Hume 2006; Malloy Duckworth 2003; 2003; Bosma poetry,sound see experimental art, radio art, performance in women’swork of overview an For 2005. Schaub 1999; Licht 2001; Landi 2004; Grant 2000; Gercke 2002; D’Souza 2006; Bodle 2004; 1994, Amacher ists: art- installation sound are who women On volume. this in interviews ami Hutton 2003; Oliveros 1984, 36–46; Ptak 2008; Young 1982; Rylan and Son- electronic and electroacoustic instrument builders, see Fullman 1994, 2003; are who women On 2004. Zvonar 2005; Wierzbicki 1982; Sherman 155–70; Trocco2002, and Pinch 1979b; 1979a, Milano 2001; 1974;Hodgson Epstein 1997, 66; Chadabe see advertising, for music and soundtracks fiction ence sci- through popularization music’s electronic facilitated who women On 1998. Spiegel 2002; Scaletti 2006; Rodgers 2006; 2005, Polli 297–332; 1993, Gagne 265–67; 334–36, 1997,158–63, Chadabe see software, art sound and music computer developing women about information more For music. electroacoustic of composers and/or software,computer music of velopers de- 1960s, the in beginning studios music electronic academic of founders were who women on 2006 Hinkle-Turner and 2003 McCartney See 2004. Wilson 2000; Scott 1997; Morris 2003; Gammel 2000; Cuddy-Keane 2002; Cotter aurality, see and sound with concerned artists avant-gardeand ers writ- modernist as women On 2003. Lockheart 1997; Goldstein 2006; man Gitel- see century, twentieth early the in technologies electrification and often gendered (Gitelman 2001). 2006,63–64; Pini ground dance music culture to the extent that as producers arefloor onthedance under- of those not Edison; recognized Thomas as extent same the to phonograph the invented have to sidered Ehrenreich 1983; Grossman 1980; 2005. Pilar andFuentes interview; Rylan the see communities, World Third labor- and of women ers safety and health the affects disproportionately waste (Fikentscher 2000,137). house” of and “the great-grandfather of techno”; d music” computer of father “the both called been has (2008) Mathews Max Js, or producers of electronic dance music and hip-hop include Bradby include hip-hop and music dance electronic of producers or Js, 21. 20. 19. On On women’s roles in defining theuses of phonographs, microphones, For example, consumers of audio typically aretechnologies not con- For further discussion of how electronics manufacturing and toxic and manufacturing electronics how of discussion further For j Frankie Knuckles, “the godfather D Js are—andJs these roles are D Js, Js, electronic music Introduction 23 event that exemplifies j encodes an active, progressive force force an encodes active, progressive movement (Atlantic, Volta 2007): “Part of it was having a little I am echoing bell hooks’s use of the phrase “feminist movement,” See Verini 2003 for another review of a d See Peril 2002. As Björk put it when discussing motivations behind These are variants of the machine-woman figure who has long served long has who figure machine-woman the of variants are These 23. 22. 24. 25. daughter and what we realizing are telling girls? [All] they want to do is be pretty and find theirprince, and I’m like, what happenedfeminism?to . . . There areactually other things thanpink jars andlosing a glass 2007). (Stosuy slipper” to to market audio technologies; see 123–24,Théberge1997, for arepresenta- advertisement 1989. tive from the emphasizedwhere term the lyrics in her album include include Amacher (2004); Oram (1972); Oliveros (1984); Spiegel (2008); and 2002). and (2000 Westerkamp postfeminist discourse. For views of other artists and journalists on post- 2000, Rabinovitch 1998, Romano see cultures, music electronic in feminism CepedaMaloney 2000, and 2001. that resists the exclusionary connotations of “a” or “the” feminist movement (see hooks 1984, 17–41). I also follow McCartney’s and Waterman’s sounds that (claiming sounds agencyto of attribution the observation that do cultural work) atooffers way examine how gender “symbolically is pro- jected” (2006, 14–15; see also Diamond 2000, 107–8). a For pertinent anal- ogy see Garrison waves, 2005. radio and of feminist Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/chapter-pdf/653777/9780822394150-001.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021