PRESET – Principles of Electronic Sound Production: Systematization and Elaboration of a Terminology

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Michael Oehler
• Subject Area: Musicology
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 424734041

There is a striking disproportion between the omnipresence of electronic sound, both in all art forms and everyday life, and the shortage of terminological tools capable of apprehending this phenomenon in a suitably scientifical way. The aim of the proposed project is therefore to carry out a clear and resilient systematization of this field that substantially exceeds the scope of previous approaches. This will allow the development of a refined terminology which in turn will provide new tools for a discourse on electronically produced sounds. To this end, fundamental work will be carried out in examining the evolution of technologies and concepts of electronic sound production from a musicological as well as from a (musically) practical perspective. The key element of this approach is an in-depth survey of several electronic music studios: a large proportion of the innovations and impulses that defined a new type of musical practice originated here, however a vast number of their informational resources have not yet been explored (Package 1). Besides the detailed discussion of the structure and nature of the studio as the "instrument of electronic Music", the focus of this approach will be an examination of the actual working processes of each studio as well as the interdependencies between studios. This relates to the transfer of knowledge and technology as well as possible interconnections between composers, technicians, scientists etc. The information gained will be collated in a database using a newly defined classification, which should elucidate lines of development that aren’t immediately obvious from the raw data (Package 2). A synoptic analysis of the collected data will then serve as a foundation for refining the basic terminology concerned with electronically produced sound (Package 3). This new vocabulary should prove very useful in musicological discourse, especially as it will represent progress that is independent of musical genre boundaries. Besides the presentation of the raw data within the framework of the developed database, the results of this project will be published in journals and conference papers (in English) and in the form of a monograph (in German).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Austria
• Co-Investigators: Professor Dr. Bernd Enders; Professor Dr. Christian Kehrt; Professor Dr.-Ing. Dieter Leckschat
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Christoph Reuter