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The groove in the box: a technologically mediated inspiration in electronic dance music

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2009

AKSEL H. TJORA
AKSEL H. TJORA
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway E-mail: akselht@svt.ntnu.no
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Abstract

Even though electronic and computer-based technologies are commonly used in music composition, performance and recording, this field of technology use has, with a few exceptions, remained fairly unexplored within social studies of technology. In this article, the role of technology in music production is investigated by applying the notion of script (Akrich 1992) to an empirical study of users of the Roland MC303 Groovebox, a self-contained instrument for making techno, rap, jungle, hip-hop, acid and other styles of electronic (dance) music. The study focuses especially on individual differences between users' perceptions of the musical-stylistic directedness of the Groovebox and how they construct different user scripts and more advanced needs as they become more familiar with the instrument. The latter observation highlights the relevance of a user trajectory, the notion that enthusiast technology users may keep on using a specific technological artefact through various usage modes or scripts over time.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , May 2009 , pp. 161 - 177
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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