ABSTRACT
Frank Zappa's ability to amalgamate popular music styles alongside musique concrete, electronic, and serial techniques make him a fascinating case study on the interdisciplinary roles of performer, composer, arranger and producer. One of the earliest musicians to consistently experiment with fusing these skill bases, his resultant stylistic fusion is also arguably one of the most prolific and original in the history of popular music. Zappa's working practices can be seen to concur with Paul Theberge's hypothesis that technology has facilitated a studio environment where producers are driven by economic efficiency and technical control, and as a result 'enter directly into musical practice'. Zappa initially used studio technology to create 'virtual studio performances' and to a lesser extent 'virtual live performances', by using both his musicians and emerging technology as creative tools. Most importantly, he also used technology to remediate or rearrange his music within his Project/Object philosophy, or more subliminally within the repetitions of Conceptual Continuity.
