ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines attempts to develop an integrated conceptual and pedagogical framework for learning and making electronic music in an undergraduate music program. It discusses practical responses to the problems that have arisen during the development and delivery of a second-year undergraduate subject in music technology entitled Machine Musicianship. It addresses the notion of digital literacy as relevant to electronic music performance. The concepts of interactivity and performativity are debated by students and found to be unstable and problematic. Interactivity describes a situation where two elements within a system respond to each other in more-or-less predictable ways. The use of the problematic concepts of performativity and interactivity embedded in the assessment design for the unit aims to signal to students that they are operating in a different paradigm to the one usually signalled by clear actionable assessment criteria with explicit standards of performance. The unit encourages risk taking and expects students to defend and argue for their choices.
