AGENCY IN COMPOSITIONAL WORKFLOW: HOW YOU WRITE AFFECTS WHAT YOU WRITE. (April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Barclay, Alan
• Is Part Of: Tempo. Volume 75:Number 296(2021)
• Page Start: 71
• Page End: 84
• Publication Date: 2021-04
• Subjects: Music -- Periodicals; Music -- 20th century -- Periodicals; Music -- 21st century -- Periodicals; 780.78
• DOI: 10.1017/S0040298220000960
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0040-2982

Abstract

Abstract: The organising of tools, whether real or virtual, is an essential part of composition that is often overlooked. This article aims to generate a discussion about how a composer's working environment can permeate the compositional process and contribute to or inform their ideations. Central to this understanding, in terms of agency, has been to consider workflow as a subset of Actor–Network Theory. Here, a musical composition is viewed as a multiplicity of relationships between workflow and ideations, and suggests an expanded practice of musical creation that explores the various agencies that shape a composition. Nevertheless, this article is not intended as a comprehensive account, but only, as Bruno Latour would put it, 'to add in a messy way to a messy account of a messy world'.