The politics is in the drums: Producing and composing in the music classroom | Intellect Skip to content
1981
Volume 7, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2397-6721
  • E-ISSN: 2397-673X

Abstract

Music technology courses are increasingly common offerings in university and secondary music programmes. Curriculum standards, subject matter and classroom practices of these courses are still very much in flux. The music education field therefore has a unique opportunity to shape and define music technology as a subject before it becomes fully standardized. Teaching this subject in the context of European-descended ‘art’ music traditions will perpetuate the white racial frame of school music. The author argues that educators should critically examine the racialized split between ‘art’ and ‘popular’ forms of electronic music, and should consciously centre ‘the Black Electronic’ in their curricula. This includes the techniques of beatmaking and sampling, as well as their cultural and political contexts and meanings. An example project drawing on hip hop methods and values is presented.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/jpme_00070_1
2023-05-16
2024-04-27
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Adkins, M.. ( 2007;), ‘ Schaeffer est mort! Long live Schaeffer!. ’, in Proceedings of the Electroacoustic Music Studies Conference, pp. 16, https://montyadkins.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/schaeffer-est-mort-long-live-schaeffer.pdf. Accessed 29 March 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Agawu, K.. ( 2003), Representing African Music: Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions, New York:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Aigen, K.. ( 2002), Playing in the Band: A Qualitative Study of Popular Music Styles as Clinical Improvisation, New York:: New York University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Cavicchi, D.. ( 2009;), ‘ My music, their music, and the irrelevance of music education. ’, in T. A. Regelski, and J. T. Gates. (eds), Music Education for Changing Times, Berlin:: Springer;, pp. 97107.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Chadabe, J.. ( 1997), Electric Sound: The Past and Promise of Electronic Music, Upper Saddle River, NJ:: Prentice Hall;.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Collins, N.,, Schedel, M., and Wilson, S.. ( 2013), Electronic Music, Cambridge:: Cambridge University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Coltrane, J.. ( 1965), A Love Supreme, LP, New York:: Impulse!;
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Cutler, C.. ( 2004;), ‘ Plunderphonia. ’, in C. Cox, and D. Warner. (eds), Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music, New York:: Continuum;, pp. 13856.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Danielsen, A.. ( 2006), Presence and Pleasure: The Funk Grooves of James Brown and Parliament, Middletown, CT:: Wesleyan University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Davis, E.. ( 2008;), ‘ “Roots and Wires” remix: Polyrhythmic tricks and the Black Electronic. ’, in P. D. Miller. (ed.), Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture, Cambridge, MA:: MIT Press;, pp. 5372.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Davis, M.. ( 1969;), interviewed by D. DeMichael. , Rolling Stone, 13 December, n.pag.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Deleuze, G., and Guattari, F.. ( 1987), A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, Minneapolis, MN:: University of Minnesota Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Delpit, L.. ( 2013), ‘Multiplication Is for White People’: Raising Expectations for Other People’s Children, New York:: The New Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Doyle, J. L.. ( 2014;), ‘ Cultural relevance in urban music education: A synthesis of the literature. ’, Applications of Research in Music Education, 32:2, pp. 4451.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Elpus, K., and Abril, C. R.. ( 2011;), ‘ High school music ensemble students in the United States: A demographic profile. ’, Journal of Research in Music Education, 59:2, pp. 12845.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Elpus, K., and Abril, C.. ( 2019;), ‘ Who enrolls in high school music? A national profile of US students, 2009–2013. ’, Journal of Research in Music Education, 67:3, pp. 32338.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Emdin, C.. ( 2020;), ‘ A ratchetdemic reality pedagogy and/as cultural freedom in urban education. ’, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 52:9, pp. 94760.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Ewell, P. A.. ( 2020;), ‘ Music theory and the white racial frame. ’, Music Theory Online, 26:2, https://mtosmt.org/issues/mto.20.26.2/mto.20.26.2.ewell.html. Accessed 22 March 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Fink, R.. ( 1998;), ‘ Elvis everywhere: Musicology and popular music studies at the twilight of the canon. ’, American Music, 16:2, pp. 13579.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Flanagan, L.. ( 2016;), ‘ How teachers are using Hamilton the musical in the classroom. ’, KQED, 14 March, https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/44137/how-teachers-are-using-hamilton-the-musical-in-the-classroom. Accessed 22 March 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Folkestad, G.. ( 2005;), ‘ Here, there and everywhere: Music education research in a globalised world. ’, Music Education Research, 7:3, pp. 27987.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Gann, K.. ( 2000;), ‘ Electronic music, always current. ’, New York Times, 9 July, p. 21.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Gates, H. L.. ( 1988), The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism, Oxford:: Oxford University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Gibbs, M.. (@melvingibbs) ( 2021;), ‘ Making music for communities (that need to bond together and move en masse) vs making music for patrons (that need to differentiate from each other and be amused). ’, Twitter, 2 June, https://twitter.com/melvingibbs/status/1400156879301578753. Accessed 17 March 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Gilroy, P.. ( 1993), The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness, New York:: Verso Books;.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Give A Note Foundation ( 2017;), ‘ The status of music education in United States public schools. ’, Give A Note Foundation, https://www.giveanote.org/content/uploads/2017/09/The-Status-of-Music-Education-in-US-Public-Schools-2017_reduced.pdf. Accessed 17 March 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Gluck, R. J.. ( 2009;), ‘ Electroacoustic, creative, and jazz: Musicians negotiating boundaries. ’, in Proceedings of the 2009 International Computer Music Conference, ICMC 2009, pp. 14148.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Green, A. R.. ( 2018;), ‘ What the optics of new music say to Black composers. ’, New Music USA, 14 November, https://nmbx.newmusicusa.org/what-the-optics-of-new-music-say-to-black-composers/. Accessed 17 March 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Gustafson, R.. ( 2008;), ‘ Drifters and the dancing mad: The public school music curriculum and the fabrication of boundaries for participation. ’, Curriculum Inquiry, 38:3, pp. 26797.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Hein, E.. ( 2021;), ‘ Ableton Live 11. ’, Journal of the American Musicological Society, 74:1, pp. 21425.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Hess, J.. ( 2017;), ‘ Equity and music education: Euphemisms, terminal naivety, and whiteness. ’, Action, Criticism and Theory for Music Education, 16:3, pp. 1547.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Hill, S. C.. ( 2018;), ‘ A “sound” approach: John Cage and music education. ’, Philosophy of Music Education Review, 26:1, p. 46.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Kallio, A. A.. ( 2015), Navigating (Un)Popular Music in the Classroom: Censure and Censorship in an Inclusive, Democratic Music Education, Helsinki:: The Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki;.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Karvelis, N.. ( 2018;), ‘ “That’s not real music”: Problematizing the resistance to hip-hop in music education. ’, Topics for Music Education Praxis, 3:1, pp. 6883.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Katz, M.. ( 2012), Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip-Hop DJ, Oxford:: Oxford University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Knapp, D.,, Powell, B., and Smith, G. D.. ( forthcoming;), ‘ Soundtrap during COVID-19: A machine-learning approach to assess the effects of the pandemic on music education. ’, Journal of Research in Music Education.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Koza, J. E.. ( 2009;), ‘ Listening for whiteness: Hearing racial politics in undergraduate school music. ’, Philosophy of Music Education Review, 16:2, pp. 14555.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Kuhn, W., and Hein, E.. ( 2021), Electronic Music School: A Contemporary Approach to Teaching Musical Creativity, Oxford:: Oxford University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Ladson-Billings, G.. ( 2015;), ‘ You gotta fight the power: The place of music in social justice education. ’, in C. Benedict,, P. Schmidt,, G. Spruce, and P. G. Woodford. (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Social Justice in Music Education, Oxford:: Oxford University Press;, pp. 40619.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Landy, L.. ( 2012), Making Music with Sounds, New York:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Lewis, G. E.. ( 1996;), ‘ Improvised music after 1950: Afrological and eurological perspectives. ’, Black Music Research Journal, 16:1, pp. 91122.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Lightstone, A. J.. ( 2012;), ‘ The importance of hip-hop for music therapists. ’, in S. Hadley, and G. Yancy. (eds), Therapeutic Uses of Rap and Hip-Hop, New York:: Routledge;, pp. 3956.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Mahnkopf, C.-S.. ( 2015), Von der messianischen Freiheit: Weltgesellschaft – Kunst – Musik, Weilerswist:: Velbrueck GmbH;.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Margulis, E.. ( 2013), On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind, Oxford:: Oxford University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. McClary, S.. ( 2004;), ‘ Rap, minimalism, and structures of time in late twentieth-century culture. ’, in D. Warner. (ed.), Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music, New York:: Continuum;, pp. 28998.
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Middleton, R.. ( 2000;), ‘ Musical belongings: Western music and its low-other. ’, in G. Born, and D. Hesmondhalgh. (eds), Western Music and Its Others: Difference, Representation, and Appropriation in Music, Berkeley, CA:: University of California Press;, pp. 5985.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Moten, F.. ( 2003), In the Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical Tradition, Minneapolis, MN:: University of Minnesota Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Moten, F.. ( 2008;), ‘ The case of Blackness. ’, Criticism, 50:2, pp. 177218.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Neill, B.. ( 2002;), ‘ Pleasure beats: Rhythm and the aesthetics of current electronic music. ’, Leonardo Music Journal, 12: May, pp. 36.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Owen, F.. ( 1988;), ‘ Hip-hop bebop. ’, Spin, October, pp. 6061.
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Patrick, J.. ( 2016;), ‘ A guide to Pierre Schaeffer, the godfather of sampling. ’, Fact, 23 February, https://www.factmag.com/2016/02/23/pierre-schaeffer-guide/. Accessed 17 March 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Peters, D.. ( 2012;), ‘ Touch: Real, apparent, and absent: On bodily expression in electronic music. ’, in D. Peters,, G. Eckel, and A. Dorschel. (eds), Bodily Expression in Electronic Music: Perspectives on Reclaiming Performativity, New York:: Routledge;, pp. 1734.
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Pressing, J.. ( 2002;), ‘ Black Atlantic rhythm: Its computational and transcultural foundations. ’, Music Perception, 19:3, pp. 285310.
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Prince. ( 1991;), ‘ Joy in Repetition. ’, Graffiti Bridge, LP, Chanhassen, MN:: Paisley Park;.
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Puckette, M.. ( 2007), The Theory and Techniques of Electronic Music, River Edge, NJ:: World Scientific Publishing Company;.
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Rodgers, T.. ( 2003;), ‘ On the process and aesthetics of sampling in electronic music production. ’, Organised Sound, 8:3, pp. 31320.
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Rose, T.. ( 1994), Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America, Middletown, CT:: Wesleyan University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Sarath, E.,, Myers, D., and Campbell, P. S.. ( 2016), Redefining Music Studies in an Age of Change: Creativity, Diversity, and Integration, New York:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Saunders, J. A.. ( 2010;), ‘ Identity in music: Adolescents and the music classroom. ’, Action, Criticism & Theory for Music Education, 9:2, pp. 7078.
    [Google Scholar]
  60. Schloss, J. G.. ( 2013), Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop, Middletown, CT:: Wesleyan University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Scruton, R.. ( 1999), Aesthetics of Music, Oxford:: Clarendon Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Shapiro, B.. ( 2019;), ‘ Zuby: The Ben Shapiro Show Sunday Special Ep. 68. ’, YouTube, 15 September, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSxoLJujM-k. Accessed 17 March 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Small, C.. ( 1998), Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and Listening, Middletown, CT:: Wesleyan University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  64. Snead, J. A.. ( 1984;), ‘ Repetition as a figure of Black culture. ’, in H. L. Gates. (ed.), Black Literature and Literary Theory, , 3rd ed.., New York:: Taylor & Francis;, pp. 5979.
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Sofer, D.. ( 2020;), ‘ Categorising electronic music. ’, Contemporary Music Review, 39:2, pp. 23151.
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Stanton, B.. ( 2018;), ‘ Musicking in the borders: Toward decolonizing methodologies. ’, Philosophy of Music Education Review, 26:1, pp. 423.
    [Google Scholar]
  67. Sterne, J., and Rodgers, T.. ( 2011;), ‘ The poetics of signal processing. ’, Differences, 22:2&3, pp. 3153.
    [Google Scholar]
  68. Tagg, P., and Clarida, R.. ( 2003), Ten Little Title Tunes, New York:: Mass Media Music Scholars Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  69. Taruskin, R.. ( 2009), Oxford History of Western Music, Oxford:: Oxford University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  70. Taruskin, R.. ( 2010), The Danger of Music and Other Anti-Utopian Essays, Berkeley, CA:: University of California Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  71. Thompson, M.. ( 2017;), ‘ Whiteness and the ontological turn in sound studies. ’, Parallax, 23:3, pp. 26682.
    [Google Scholar]
  72. Tobias, E.. ( 2013;), ‘ Composing, songwriting, and producing: Informing popular music pedagogy. ’, Research Studies in Music Education, 35:2, pp. 21337.
    [Google Scholar]
  73. Turino, T.. ( 2008), Music as Social Life: The Politics of Participation, Chicago:: University of Chicago Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  74. Unterreiner, J.. ( 2020;), ‘ Socially responsive music education. ’, Jacob Unterreiner, 20 October, https://jacobunterreiner.podbean.com/. Accessed 17 March 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  75. Walser, R.. ( 1992;), ‘ Eruptions: Heavy metal appropriations of classical virtuosity. ’, Popular Music, 11:3, pp. 263308.
    [Google Scholar]
  76. Wang, J.-C., and Humphreys, J. T.. ( 2009;), ‘ Multicultural and popular music content in an American music teacher education program. ’, International Journal of Music Education, 27:1, pp. 1936.
    [Google Scholar]
  77. Whitelaw, T.. ( 2008;), ‘ Karlheinz Stockhausen: Electronic music pioneer. ’, Sound on Sound, March, https://www.soundonsound.com/people/karlheinz-stockhausen. Accessed 17 March 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  78. Wright, R.. ( 2021;), ‘ Countering anomie and alienation: Music education as remix and life-hack. ’, in R. Wright,, G. Johansen,, P. A. Kanellopoulos, and P. Schmidt. (eds), The Routledge Handbook to Sociology of Music Education, New York:: Routledge;, pp. 31224.
    [Google Scholar]
  79. Young, R.. ( 2000;), ‘ Roll tape: Pioneer spirits in musique concrète. ’, in P. Shapiro. (ed.), Modulations: A History of Electronic Music – Throbbing Words on Sound, New York:: Caipirinha Productions;, pp. 1123.
    [Google Scholar]
  80. Zagorski-Thomas, S.. ( 2007;), ‘ The study of groove. ’, Ethnomusicology Forum, 16:2, pp. 32735.
    [Google Scholar]
  81. Zwerin, M.. ( 1991;), ‘ A lethal measurement. ’, in R. Kostelanetz. (ed.), John Cage: An Anthology, New York:: Da Capo Press;, pp. 16168.
    [Google Scholar]
  82. Hein, Ethan. ( 2023;), ‘ The politics is in the drums: Producing and composing in the music classroom. ’, Journal of Popular Music Education, 7:1, pp. 724, https://doi.org/10.1386/jpme_00070_1
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/jpme_00070_1
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error