Further...

Photo: Chemical Bros. Credit: Gary Friedman / LA Times

This weeks readings investigated genres and the evolution of the diary from that of printed text into online blogging with the emergence of the World Wide Web.  McNeill (2011) argues that over the years, the diary has remained despite the adaption and adoption of various modes that have come with the changing of human society.  I wish to explore the concept of genre evolution but in regards to music and the emergence of the electronic genre, which has made incredible leaps that run parallel with explosion of computer technology.  I believe that changes in medium create change in genre and electronic music is a fine example of this.

Genres are cultural products that can be grouped into classes based on the similarities they hold and it can be said that genre can both enable and restrict the meaning of the product (Van Luyn, 2013).  This is true of music, as an artist decides what 'sort' of music they wish to make and then shapes and creates the music to fit into their chosen category.  Before the emergence of computers, electronic music was technically in the stone ages, though I do believe the essence of it existed just waiting for the right tools to express it.  With the invention and availability of computers and music programs a whole new genre was born! To read up on some electronic history check out this link... http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_timeline-elec.html 

   

Music platforms like Soundcloud give people the opportunity to express themselves musically and freely encourage the pushing of genre boundaries, naturally forming the creation of sub-genres.  For the genre of electronic music these include, but are not limited to, trip-hop, electronica, dance, house, techno, dubstep and ambient but the list goes on. Just like the diary, music has evolved over the years and adapted to the different modes created by a changing society. 

Some argue that electronic music is not 'real' music because the instruments are not the traditional hand held guitar or violin etc, just like a blog is viewed publicly online and not hand written under lock and key, but I beg to differ.  Music is sound, narrative and feeling and this can be achieved by many and varied means, indeed, just like the writing of a blog can be reflection or narrative like a traditional written diary.  Both examples are real cultural products that reflect the society in which they are created and no doubt both will continue to change as we advance ever more into the 21st century.

Over & Out!

Lunar (Vivian Davey).

References:

McNeill, L. (2011). Diary 2.0?: A genre moves from page to screen. In Language and New Media. (C.Rowe & E.L Wyss, Ed.). Creskill, NJ: Hampton Press Inc.

Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 6 Lecture.  

Photo: Chemical Bros. Credit: Gary Friedman / LA Times. Retrieved from

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/08/live-review-the-chemical-brothers-at-the-hollywood-bowl.html#sthash.0i5N5htj.dpuf