Area of Inquiry 4

This area focuses on music created, performed and/or produced using electronic or digital technologies. Such technologies are an important aspect of contemporary musical experiences, often transforming some of the ways that we understand and engage with music.

Examples of relevant musical materials may include the following genres.

• Electronic dance music

• Elektronische Musik

• Technology in popular music production

Specific prompts for students might include the following:

• To what extent do personal, local and global contexts affect the creation, performance and consumption of music?

• To what extent has music technology had an impact on our concept of sound and instrumental colour?

• To what extent does electronic music have aesthetic value?

• Can electronic music be considered as “art music”?

• To what extent has music technology changed the process of creating (composing)?

• If I use the music of others to make a “mashup”, to what extent is the composition my own work?

• To what extent are there similar aesthetic responses from audience members (consumers of music) to a particular piece of music? (For example: Did everyone have a similar emotion/feeling when listening to electronic dance music (EDM))?

• To what extent should technology be used to imitate music and musical sounds? (For example, recreating a Bach concerto on a synthesizer using “traditional” instrument sounds versus creating sounds that are only available using music technology (synthesizers))