IV Seminar Music Science Technology: Frontiers and Ruptures

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Continuing the earlier editions (2004, 2005 and 2008) this IV Seminar aims to expand the space for discussion in the interdisciplinary area of studies that in Brazil has been called Sonology. The term encompasses disciplines that gravitate around music and other creative practices that have the sound as a central element. Thus, sonology does not define an aesthetic, much less a repertoire, but an approach in which aesthetic, technical and sociocultural aspects converge. While technology is a recurrent feature of research in sonology, it does not constitute neither a center nor the foundation of the area.

For this IV Seminar we chose the theme Frontiers and Ruptures to stimulate reflection and debate about the consequences and ramifications of experimental musical practices that have developed and consolidated in recent decades: from electro-acoustic music to circuit-bending; from the manifestations of sound art to the music made by (and on) the Internet. Such practices suggest an extension of the methods of music creation and spaces for broadcasting and musical enjoyment. Also change the social relations of music, breaking the boundaries between composing, playing and listening. These changes, as fast as ephemeral, consist of a fertile field of research and debate.

The initiative for this IV Seminar comes from the exciting work done in the last three years by the group MOBILE, a research group based in the Music Department at the University of Sao Paulo. This multidisciplinary group has been specifically dedicated to research of current musical practices from the perspective of Sonology and the collaboration of its participants has been fundamental in this event.

Fernando Iazzetta