Teaching with Technology

EARS

The Electro Acoustic Resource Site (EARS) is designed to provide guidance to anyone involved in the field of electroacoustic music studies, regardless of experience.   Electroacoustic music currently falls within the music and music technology curricula.  According to Landy, this is problematic for two reasons:

                 …the difficulty one encounters in finding sources related to a musical area within       electroacoustic music studies and the fact that the discipline has not yet been properly delineated nor been provided with a widely accepted framework (p. 70).          

EARS was created to compensate for these shortcomings, and fill a niche in music technology education that addresses the electroacoustic components that are often neglected in the broader field of music education. 

Six main subheadings were created to organize the material on the site and initiate a common language to which its users could refer: (1) Disciplines of Study (DoS); (2) Genres & Categories (G&C); (3) Musicology of Electroacoustic Music (MEM); (4) Performance Practice and Presentation (PPP); (5) Sound Production and Manipulation (SPM); and, (6) Structure, Musical (Str).  The first heading refers to the interdisciplinary nature of electroacoustic music studies, and serves as an introductory section to provide background and context to its users.  The second and third subheadings refer to the listening experience associated with electroacoustic music including sound properties and components of analysis.  The final three categories refer to the actualization of sound production and the electronic manipulation of sound with a focus on creative practice and application. 

The site, http://www.ears.dmu.ac.uk/, features a plethora of information on electroacoustic music, in an accessible manner that allows its users to navigate easily within the six subheadings.  To access these subheadings, simply click the “Instructions” tab and it will direct you to the various categories.  The main features on the site seem to be the “Glossary” and the “Links” tabs as they direct you to concrete information on the field of electroacoustic music.  The “Links” tab, for example, directs users to a page containing several resources about information on electroacoustic music that can be found in various handbooks, research guides, and dictionaries.  Perhaps an initial search in the “Glossary” will initiate a curiosity among users to refer to the “Links” page for a more thorough investigation of the terminology as well as more contextual support for understanding how the terms work within the field. 

For users who want to go a step further in understanding the role of electroacoustic music its practical phases, the “Online Publications” page seems most useful.  Several articles refer to electroacoustic projects that have been carried out and the challenges of having completed them are discussed in great detail.  One particular article, “Three Techniques for Measuring Audience Reactions” measured the audience’s reaction through electroacoustic instruments about electroacoustic music, thus providing insight into how the technology works and the impact it is having on the audience.  I found this to be interesting because of the discussion of the audience with regard to a field that is not as well known or regularly discussed in the general music education curriculum. 

A final project of interest is the EARS program reaching out to younger students in music education.  The “Future” tab refers to projects that will take place to educate the younger population on the components of electroacoustic music.  This particular projects hopes to build awareness of this field at the pre-college level and in doing so create more structure within the music education and music technology curriculum for studies related to electroacoustic music. 

Landy, L. (2007).  The Electro Acoustic Site (EARS).  The Journal of Music, Technology, and Education.  (1)1, pp. 69-81.  doi: 10.1386/jmte.1.1.69/1