Loop Work & Accomplices: Groove and digital aesthetics within collaborative musical works

Abstract

This PhD presents two distinct sets of musical works and an accompanying commentary. Loop Work is a set of open score instrumental compositions grounded in the technique of looping. Accomplices is a series of electronic fixed-media compositions made through a collaborative process with other musicians. Both projects are underpinned by an interest in loops and groove, and digital aesthetics, and, in addition, all the works presented here engage with distributed creativity in some way.

The commentary is in two parts: contexts and exegesis. In ‘Contexts’, theoretical frameworks are presented for understanding loops, groove, and digitally engaged acoustic music in order to contextualise my practice and to provide a foundation for discussing it. Relevant historical, philosophical, musicological and psychological background is presented in both areas and existing frameworks which facilitate discussion and understanding of the works in the project are described. Where frameworks do not already exist or are not specific enough to the work in the PhD, new ones are developed or expanded upon. Examples are given from music other than my own to clarify concepts and to give wider context to my work, and case studies are used to demonstrate a more thoroughly worked application of the concepts expounded.

The exegesis describes the composition processes of some of the musical works contained in the PhD. The two projects - Loop Work and Accomplices - are examined separately through technical information about their construction, discussion of artistic aims, and ways in which research impacted the compositional outcomes. Selected works are singled out for more in-depth enquiry and the frameworks elucidated in the contexts section are used as lenses through which to critique aspects of the work. Finally, the conclusion returns to research questions posed in the introduction and discusses the overarching themes and concepts of the PhD.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Jamie Howell: orcid.org/0000-0003-4081-0596

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