ABSTRACT
“The origins of electronic music lie in the creative imagination,” claims musicologist Andrew Hugill. The imagination is often cast by composers and musicologists as the origin of new developments in music such as instruments, genres, or even technological regimes. The field of science and technology studies, on other hand, stresses materiality, networks, users, and institutions as the key explanans in the origin of new musical developments and instruments. Hugh Davies’s sonic imaginary entered its incipiency in the early 1960s, when he first encountered the sound world of experimental electronic music. In November 1964, Davies traveled to Germany to work as a personal assistant for Karlheinz Stockhausen, where his imaginary took a different turn. Upon arrival in Cologne, Davies found Stockhausen rehearsing with his ensemble. Davies encountered other new sounds and performance techniques during his time in Cologne. In inception phase of sonic imaginary, it is important not only to solve problems but also to receive validation and inspiration from others.
