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Article
Orchestra Machines, Old and New
Organised Sound (2018)
  • Jonathan De Souza, Western University
Abstract
What is ‘orchestral’ about a networked laptop orchestra? And what is network-like about a classical orchestra? This article juxtaposes orchestras, nineteenth-century music machines, and twenty-first-century network music projects. Drawing on organology and cybernetics, it asks how these systems connect people and instruments. It considers interaction and coordination in particular networks, from the panharmonicon to PLork, but also their abstract informational topologies. Ultimately, orchestra machines, old and new, involve both technical and social organization—and, as such, they can be used to problematize the ontological separation of technology and society.
Disciplines
Publication Date
August, 2018
Citation Information
Jonathan De Souza. "Orchestra Machines, Old and New" Organised Sound Vol. 23 Iss. 2 (2018)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jonathan-desouza/7/