Cognitive Continuum of Electronic Music

Anil Çamci is an artist and professor of Performing Arts Technology at the University of Michigan, USA. His research deals with new tools and theories of worldmaking across a variety of media ranging from electronic music to virtual reality. Previously, he held positions at the University of Illinois Chicago, USA, and Istanbul Technical University, Turkey, where he founded the Sonic Arts Program. He holds an MS in Multimedia Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, and a PhD in Creative and Performing Arts from Leiden University, the Netherlands. His work has been featured worldwide in leading conferences and journals and received numerous awards.

The Cognitive Continuum of Electronic Music provides an excellent model for students who wish to integrate perceptual or cognitive listening experiments with their personal practice. The book contextualizes the studies, conveys the necessary details to evaluate the experimental design, and draws conclusions that are driven both empirically and through practice. The extensive bibliography covers subjects and sources that are critical to electronic music scholarship, perception, listening, cognition, and experimental design.

• List of FiguresIntroductionOverview of the Book1. Defining Electronic MusicEarly Years of Electronic MusicThe Electronic MediumNon-musical SoundBirth of the Electronic Music StudioA New FrontierElectronic Music NomenclatureThe Medium is the GenreAcousmatic MusicElectroacoustic MusicBroadening Horizons2. Situating the Electronic Music ExperienceFoundations of Musical BehaviorEvolutionary PerspectivesFrom Biology to CultureThe Material and Language of MusicMusic and EmotionAffect in MusicExperiential Idiosyncrasies of Electronic MusicThe Composer, who is also a ListenerFrom Parameters to InstinctsComplexity of ListeningAn Amalgamation of LanguagesThreads of Communication in Electronic MusicThe Poietic ThreadThe Esthesic Thread3. A Study on Listening ImaginationA Cognitive ApproachExperimental Studies on Electronic Music“Talking about music is like…”StimuliBirdfish (2012, 4’40”)Sound DesignFormElement Yon (2011, 3’45”)Sound DesignFormChristmas 2013 (2011, 2’16”)Sound DesignFormDiegese (2013, 1’54”)Sound DesignFormTouche pas (by Curtis Roads, 2009, 5’30”)Study DesignPreliminary StudiesParticipantsSetupProcedureInitial Listening SessionGeneral Impressions TaskReal-time Descriptors ExerciseReal-time Descriptors TaskResultsData VisualizationsSingle-timeline Dynamic VisualizationMultiple-timeline VisualizationAnalysis MethodsCategorization of DescriptorsComparative AnalysisCorrespondence AnalysisDiscourse Analysis4. The Electronic GestureEvents in the EnvironmentEnvironmental SoundsModels of Mental RepresentationAffordancesGestures in Electronic Music…is a meaningful narrative unit……operates within causal networks……coexists with other gestures in various temporal and spatial configurations……implies intentionality5. Worldmaking in Electronic MusicDiegesisAn Interdisciplinary Contextualization of DiegesisCoalescence of Mimesis and DiegesisPresentationalityNarrativityDiegetic Affordances and AffectMusic as A Diegetic ActorQuoting Music within MusicA Diegetic Actor as Music: Electronic Music and Science Fiction6. Tracing the ContinuumDomains of ExperienceThe Physical DomainAwareness of the Physical SelfStream SegregationHabituationThe Semantic DomainEffects of Semantic ContextSemantic GestaltsSigns of LifeContacts Between the Two DomainsInside and Outside the DiegesisSense of TimeExperienced ListenersPresence of the Composer in the WorkCase Study: Little AnimalsMacro-scale AnalysisGestural LayersOrganic and Environmental SoundsPhysical CausalitiesPitched and Droning ElementsTemporal FlowDiegetic Disposition of the ListenerCodaAcknowledgmentsBibliography