Riffs – Vol 4 Issue 1

We are pleased to announce the launch of Volume 4, Issue 1 of Riffs! This issue is guest edited by Edmund Hunt (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) and is the first of two issues which consider the relationship between music and technology.

’Technology is something I love and hate at the same time. One one hand the absence of any kind of technology means silence (or an environment of natural sounds which we hear much clearer because of the general silence); on the other hand, you need technology to make art’. 

Christina Kubisch, ‘Artists’ Statements II: Christina Kubisch’, in The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Music, ed. by Nick Collins and Julio d’Escriván, 2nd edn (Cambridge. Cambridge University Press, 2017:176)

 With thanks to all those who contributed to this issue of Riffs, particularly during strange and difficult times. As ever, the editorial team have loved working with you and we are so excited to see the final product. For the first time, this issue is one of two on the same topic, and we look forward to working with Edmund Hunt as our Guest Editor and to continuing with our theme of music and technology later this year. Until then, please explore the newest issue of Riffs!

Editorial – Edmund Hunt

From Text to Sound and Sound to Image – Matthew DF Evans

WAITING FOR GANDHARVA [the ephemeral disembodiment of being] – Matthew Noone

Inhuman, All Too Inhuman: Intrinsic Limits of Computational Creativity in Music – Mattia Merlini & Stefano Maria Nicoletti

Danielle Moore: Talking Tech, Lockdown and the Importance of Live Music – Ian Davies

Push and Pull: Creative Practice and Creating Technologies – Sophie Rose

Sounding Tanzania in the Studios of Dar es Salaam – David Kerr and Hashim Rubanza

The Changing Nature of Jazz Artists within the Recording Technology Space – Lachlan Goold & Sean Foran

Lullaby-Sonic Cradle – Supriya Nagarajan

Riffs in 2021 will be taking a slightly different approach and focusing on particular forms of critically considering issues within popular music. We will be releasing two Calls for Contributions over the next couple of weeks: keep your eye on our socials!