Composing in the Internet Age of Post-Auratic Art Christopher Leary Ph.D. Thesis Submitted in part for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music February 2012 ii Abstract This thesis argues the emergence of problematic issues arising from the dematerialisation of studio music technology and its compositional output, compounded by increasingly technically homogenised means of production and distribution. The thesis contends that optimistic claims of democratisation and emancipation surrounding computer music, in addition to proclamations extolling the virtues of the decentralised, distributive opportunities of the web, obscure the effects of such technologies, inviting critical inquiry. An understanding of the origins of techno-romanticism, and the technical processes that inform such utopian viewpoints, are therefore essential in addressing these issues. Using Jacques Attali’s Noise, with his Adorno-influenced ‘Repeating’ and utopian ‘Composing’ chapters in particular as a starting point, this thesis illustrates how the critical stances of Adorno and Benjamin are reflected in Attali’s chapters, and how their respective ideas translate to the imbalances between modes of production and reception present in our fragmented cultural music economy. The thesis argues that the emancipatory affordances that arise within the quotidian use of music, resulting from an unprecedented access to portable music, are at odds with the increased technical demands placed upon musicians within such a system. Additionally, via Heidegger’s modes of revealing and the work of McLuhan, this thesis attempts to articulate the polarising, quasi-deterministic effects of hardware and software technology involved in music production, plus the myriad activities pertaining to its distribution and promotion, as indicative of the subsuming nature of a technological monolith. The existence of contemporary techno-romanticism, resulting from such technical modes of revealing, is posited as driving the mythological dialectics at the core of technological progress, with Platonic dualism at its foundation. Conclusively, I proposed several practical means of addressing the concerns raised by my research, by rematerialising my own practice and music, including the creation of auratic artefacts, site-specific works, and physical mechanical instruments. iii Acknowledgements Firstly, I wish to offer my deepest thanks to my personal supervisor, Dr. Bennett Hogg, for his invaluable guidance, encouragement and support, at every stage of my research. Benet Walsh deserves my heartfelt gratitude for his inspirational performances during our creative collaboration, fruitfully aiding me in the creation of four tracks on my album, Like Dust of the Balance. I am hugely indebted to Nathaniel Reeves for his tirelessly professional design expertise and generous assistance in helping me realise my Auratic Artefacts. I would also like to thank Frank Merritt at The Carvery, for patiently assisting Nathaniel and myself, cutting my music onto the Auratic Artefacts. Finally, I wish to thank the Arduino community for helping me develop the necessary programming code to breathe life into my ‘Poietic Plug-in’. iv v Contents Table of Figures ........................................................................................................... viii List of Included Media .................................................................................................. ix Introduction .................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1. The Dawn of Dematerialisation.................................................................. 1 1.1 Noise: Violence and Order ................................................................................ 2 1.2 Composing: A Positive Refinement of Repetition? .......................................... 5 1.3 Death in Repetition: The Dematerialised Commodity ...................................... 8 1.4 Composing vs. Repeating: From Disintermediation to Recentralisation ........ 13 Chapter 2. Post-Auratic Dematerialisation ................................................................ 21 2.1 The Adorno-Benjamin Debate: Mapping Modes of Production and Reception ..................................................... 26 2.2 Aura and Re-Ritualising Repetition ................................................................ 32 2.3 Splitting Binarisms: Ubiquitous Listening ...................................................... 36 Chapter 3. The Democratisation of Discovery ........................................................... 39 3.1 Plundering the Long Tail ................................................................................ 41 3.2 The Human Touch........................................................................................... 46 3.3 One Thousand True Fans ................................................................................ 48 Practical Rematerialisation (Part A): Auratic Restoration ...................................... 54 A.1 Death of an Aura (download EP) ................................................................... 54 A.2 Like Dust of the Balance (CD album) ............................................................ 54 A.3 The Auratic Artefacts Series .......................................................................... 58 A.3.1 Laser-Etched Dubplates ..................................................................... 61 A.3.2 Veneered Dubplates ........................................................................... 63 A.4 Site-specific work: Reception......................................................................... 68 Chapter 4. Determining the Techno-Romantic ......................................................... 70 4.1 Composing and Technological Determinism .................................................. 71 4.2 The Delegation of Techne ............................................................................... 77 4.3 The Mind-Body Dualism: Creative and Technical Modes of Engagement .... 83 vi Practical Rematerialising (Part B): A Reclamation of Techne ................................ 87 B.1 Poietic Plug-Ins .............................................................................................. 89 B.2 Prototyping ..................................................................................................... 91 B.3 Circuitry and Carpentry .................................................................................. 93 B.4 The ‘Poietic Plug-In’ Glockenspiel ................................................................ 97 Chapter 5. Platonic Origins: Faith of the Techno-Romantic ................................. 100 5.1 The Platonic Space Shuttle ........................................................................... 107 5.2 Cartesian Refinement of Platonic Dualism ................................................... 108 5.3 Technical Modes of Revealing the Body ...................................................... 111 5.4 Social Revelations through a Technical Lens ............................................... 113 5.5 The Techno-Romantic In Extremis: Digital Transcendence and Posthumanism ......................................................... 114 5.6 Understanding the Techno-Utopia ................................................................ 124 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 130 Appendix ..................................................................................................................... 134 Arduino Code for the Poietic Plug-in Glockenspiel ........................................... 134 Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 137 vii Table of Figures Figure 1. The Auratic Artefacts emblem ................................................................................. 58 Figure 2. The design for Alpha ................................................................................................ 58 Figure 3. The design for Beta .................................................................................................. 59 Figure 4. The design for Gamma ............................................................................................. 60 Figure 5. The raw design as sent to the laser-etching machine ............................................... 61 Figure 6. The rear design for the maple wood veneer on Gamma .......................................... 63 Figure 7. Close-up detail of the wood veneer for Alpha ......................................................... 64 Figure 8. The finished, veneered Auratic Artefact (Alpha) ..................................................... 65 Figure 9. Close-up detail of the grain and grooves on Alpha .................................................. 65 Figure 10. Beta, completed ...................................................................................................... 66 Figure 11. Close-up of the recording grooves on Beta ............................................................ 66 Figure 12. Gamma, finished .................................................................................................... 67 Figure 13. Close-up of Gamma ............................................................................................... 67 Figure 14. The Arduino Duemilanove ....................................................................................