Introduction

The introduction to the book begins with the Fairlight CMI and explains how its designers have been quick to claim credit for the ways it transformed the technological processes of making music. However, users were not always sure what to do with this technology. The chapter introduces readers to the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) and the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) approach before explaining how the concept of interpretative flexibility is helpful for understanding the ways music technologies such as the Fairlight CMI were used in a variety of contexts and in ways unforeseen by their designers. Arguing against a narrow definition of sampling as a form of appropriation, the chapter outlines how sampling is the use of digital technologies to record, store, and reproduce any sound.