Lit+Review

Coleman Wadsworth SYP D-block

Lit review

My topic is electronic, progressive, and experimental music, with a specific regard to how music is labeled under these categories. The question is, what about the music encompassed in this genre makes it progressive and how and why did popular music evolve to exclude these themes. My thesis, experimental music is defined by originality and obscurity and that popular music is what the mind is used to hearing and is rooted in what people are brought up listening to. The literature written on this topic was sparce and difficult to find, but after hours of research, I was able to come up with several sources. The sources I found are split in to a couple of topics, A) Music culture, B) Music Technology and C) Experimental music. My sources ended up being very useful and informative about my topic and I feel now that I am more qualified for my project. My sources in topic A consisted of books discussing popular music and progressive music culture. I learned about the formulas that define the modern pop song as well as the ways people are influenced by the media to like certain music. One book even revealed how popular music is often produced as a product with a specific audience in mind and that experimentation is often rejected by producers so popular music can only progress as fast as the consumer rebels from the norm. other sources talked about how experimentation and progress in music almost always is rooted in the youth. The younger generation rebels against the old and promotes modern new music and as a result popular music evolves. My sources in Topic B, Music technology, discussed the relationship between the progress of technology and the progress of music, as well as how technology can be used to discover things about music that were previously unknown. One such technology was comprised of a program that simulated a population. The population can then be introduced to certain music and over time can help us to understand how music is related to culture. One source talked about how popular music today is dependant on modern technology and how technology has redefined what it means to be a musician. Modern Technology can be used to create music without any instruments or practice and as a result a musician could be a guitarist or a DJ. In Topic C, my sources described the history of experimental music and its evolution over time. They discussed early and modern methods of experimentation and the people who conducted it. One source described how the synthesizer was born and how it came into popular use. Other sources described a new experimental instrument called an Eagan harp that enables the player to restrict the notes available to only those in the key. The sources I have been using as a whole have proved valuable and I will continue researching, but the sources are limited. I hope to discover more information about experimental music and I will continue to search for valuable sources. In conclusion the literature on my topic is limited yet rich of information.