'Need we Say More': Contemporary Responses to the Fairlight CMI
Presentation / Conference
Harkins, P. (2020, December)
'Need we Say More': Contemporary Responses to the Fairlight CMI. Paper presented at Sound Instruments and Sonic Cultures: An Interdisciplinary Conference, National Science & Media Museum, Bradford/Online
Often described as the first digital sampler, the Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument (CMI) was primarily a digital synthesizer and computer workstation. Launched in 1979, i...
Becoming a User? Science & Technology Studies (STS) and the Design/Use of Digital Synthesizer/Sampling Instruments
Presentation / Conference
Harkins, P. (2018, June)
Becoming a User? Science & Technology Studies (STS) and the Design/Use of Digital Synthesizer/Sampling Instruments. Presented at Workshop on Objects of Electronic Sound & Music in Museums
This provocation will give an overview of a research project about the historical and contemporary uses of digital synthesizer/sampling instruments. One of the problems I face...
(Dis)locating Democratisation: Grime, Digitalisation, and ‘The PlayStation Generation’
Presentation / Conference
Harkins, P. (2020, May)
(Dis)locating Democratisation: Grime, Digitalisation, and ‘The PlayStation Generation’. Paper presented at London Calling IASPM UK & Ireland Conference, Online/University of West London
For many commentators over the last two decades, digitisation represents nothing short of a watershed moment in how music is produced, stored, and consumed. Just as the era of...
Following the Distributors: Syco Systems and the Selling of Musical Instruments.
Presentation / Conference
Harkins, P. (2018, September)
Following the Distributors: Syco Systems and the Selling of Musical Instruments. Paper presented at Art of Record Production (ARP)/International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM) UK & Ireland Branch Conference
Since the 1980s and 1990s, scholars in Science and Technology Studies (STS) and, more specifically, those adopting the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) approach have b...
‘Keeping the Machines Alive’: Repairing and Maintaining the Fairlight CMI.
Presentation / Conference
Harkins, P. (2023, June)
‘Keeping the Machines Alive’: Repairing and Maintaining the Fairlight CMI. Paper presented at Innovation In Music Conference 2023, Edinburgh, UK
The story of the Fairlight CMI is a story of misuse. Designed primarily as a digital synthesizer for the imitation of acoustic instruments, it was used in the worlds of popula...
Can Music be Digitised? Samplers, Democratisation, and 'the Digital Age'
Presentation / Conference
Harkins, P. (2018, December)
Can Music be Digitised? Samplers, Democratisation, and 'the Digital Age'. Paper presented at Music, Digitalisation, and Democracy
Rather than an abrupt or revolutionary shift from analogue to digital, I will argue in this paper that the use of digital technologies such as samplers have been part of a mor...
Was the Sampler a Revolution? Continuity and Change in the Design and Use of Synthesizer/Sampling Technologies
Presentation / Conference
Harkins, P. (2018, September)
Was the Sampler a Revolution? Continuity and Change in the Design and Use of Synthesizer/Sampling Technologies. Paper presented at The Sound of the Anthropocene: Materialities Seminar
No abstract available.
(Dis)locating Democratisation: Grime, Digitalisation, and 'The PlayStation Generation'
Presentation / Conference
Harkins, P. (2021, May)
(Dis)locating Democratisation: Grime, Digitalisation, and 'The PlayStation Generation'. Paper presented at Annual Symposium of Music Scholars in Finland, Online
For many commentators over the last two decades, digitisation represents nothing short of a watershed moment in how music is produced, stored, and consumed. In this paper, I a...
Todd Edwards & the microsample: speed & spirituality in UK Garage.
Presentation / Conference
Harkins, P. (2007, October)
Todd Edwards & the microsample: speed & spirituality in UK Garage. Paper presented at Mediation, Movement and Microrhythm in Groove-Based Music Workshop, University of Oslo, Norway
My paper will examine the role of New Jersey producer Todd Edwards within the development of UK Garage by focussing on his use of microsamples which Simon Reynolds describes a...
Appropriation, Additive & Accident: A Case Study of Digital Sampling and Recording Dislocation
Presentation / Conference
Harkins, P. (2010, June)
Appropriation, Additive & Accident: A Case Study of Digital Sampling and Recording Dislocation. Paper presented at ANR Research Workshop, Universite Paris 1
No abstract available.