MUSIC 6312 - Synthesizing Pop: Electronics and the Musical Imagination

(crosslisted) FGSS 6312, LGBT 6312, STS 6312

Fall. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

Co-meets with FGSS 4312/LGBT 4312/MUSIC 4312/STS 4312 .

R. Moseley, J. Peraino.

From Switched-On Bach to Synthpop and EDM, since the late 1960s electronic synthesizers have expanded the sonic palette and identity formation of popular musicians, leading to new concepts of sound and performance as well as communal, technological, and human interfaces. This course will explore the cultural history of analog synthesizers and their progeny of digital devices (samplers, sequencers, drum machines) and desktop technologies that revolutionized popular music soundscapes and embodiment. Synthesis will be considered as both a musical technology and theoretical concept that together spark imagined cyborg identities and post-human futures, challenging and resynthesizing categories of gender, sexuality, and race. Student will also have the opportunity to engage with Cornell’s Robert Moog Archive and develop research, creative, or curation projects that may be featured in the spring 2020 exhibition and programming to celebrate this collection. This course is open to graduate students and fourth-year undergraduates by permission. Undergraduates should contact the instructor before enrolling.