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Séance and technology: intermundane communication as a methodology for contemporary music

Abstract:
This article examines compositions that stage communion with spirits via technological means. Through analysis of four works, it proposes ‘séancing’ as both a framework for interpreting performances of technologically focused contemporary music, and as a credible methodology for new music composition. In Francesca Fargion’s Louise, gently falling (2023), Vochlea’s Dubler 2 conjures a spectral vocalist that energises both rehearsal and performance. In Laurence Osborn’s Counterfeits (Siminică) (2023), Augmented Instruments Lab’s TouchKeys help stage a theatrical séance that blurs intermundane boundaries. Nwando Ebizie uses Google’s LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) to explore questions of sapience, pedagogy, and possession in I Will Fix Myself (Just Circles) (2022). Zubin Kanga’s Metamemory (2023) makes use of PriSM SampleRNN to blur distinctions between real recorded performances and techno-hallucinogenic fictions.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Publisher copy:
10.1080/14794713.2024.2412507

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Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
HUMS
Department:
Music
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0003-2620-0935


Publisher:
Taylor & Francis
Journal:
International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media More from this journal
Volume:
20
Issue:
3
Pages:
464-483
Publication date:
2024-10-16
Acceptance date:
2024-09-30
DOI:
EISSN:
2040-0934
ISSN:
1479-4713


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
2078532
Local pid:
pubs:2078532
Deposit date:
2025-01-14
ARK identifier:

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