Hello 313-ers,
Recently a friend forwarded me some emails from the list about my
book Unlocking the Groove: Rhythm, Meter, and Musical Design in
Electronic Dance Music. I was pleased to see it discussed, and
motivated to send a brief announcement of my own. This is something
I've been meaning to do since it was published in March, but work-
related craziness has kept me distracted.
First, a brief description: Unlocking the Groove explores the
rhythmic organization of electronic dance music from the measure to
the complete DJ set. It employs musical analysis, current theories of
rhythm, and field research with musicians to reveal the diverse ways
in which EDM shapes time.
As Fred Heutte mentioned, this research began as my Ph.D.
dissertation at Indiana University. The book is a significantly
revised and expanded version of that work. The work is broadly about
"electronic dance music," but much of the music I discuss in detail
is techno. I was in contact with a number of musicians in Detroit and
Indiana while working on it and attended the festival annually from
2001 on. The cover photo is in fact of Kenny Larkin's 2004 Movement
set (good call!). I took the picture myself, and Kenny Larkin knows
about it and has seen it.
The paperback version of the book is the most affordable; it's
available through online stores such as Amazon and includes a CD.
I've subscribed to this list intermittently over the last 5 years or
so, though most of the time I'm not on since it's difficult for me to
keep up with large amounts of email. Several people on the list
responded helpfully to inquiries I posted while working on the book,
and I included a shout-out in the acknowledgments. Anyway, thanks
again for providing a great resource!
Best,
Mark Butler
*********************
Mark J. Butler
Assistant Professor
Department of Music
University of Pennsylvania
201 S. 34th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 215-898-4524
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Begin forwarded message:
From: Fred Heutte <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: May 23, 2006 3:09:41 AM CDT
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: (313) Unlocking the Groove
I may have missed earlier discussion on this one -- has anyone
seen the new paperback version of "Unlocking the Groove,"
Mark Butler's Indiana University Ph.D. dissertation. I happened
to find a copy of it tonight and am already pretty impressed.
No credit for the cover photo but it looks like Kenny Larkin's
2004 set at the DEMF (a real stormer, as those who were there
will recall), the first paragraph of the introduction namechecks
this list -- take a bow, y'all -- and the first page of the book sets
the
scene with Stacey Pullen's ground-breaking set at the first DEMF
in 2000. A pretty good way to start :)
The transcriptions that underpin the book harken back to the
classicist tradition of academic ethnomusicology but Mark Butler
extends way beyond that conventionally very dry approach.
So there is the presentation in proper music notation form
of "How to Play Our Music" and lots of other stuff that provides
a good academic context without being stuffy.
The basic thesis is about the rhythmic structure of electronic
dance music and how that functions with complexity and
ambiguity rather than monotony. Which of course we all
know but it's good to see that in print :)
I'm only three pages into this and already it looks excellent,
maybe a classic.
http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/catalog/product_info.php?
products_id=22615
fh
