ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses music production in relation to specific stylistic and genre-focused contexts—hip hop, metal, classical music, bossa nova and so on. It draws on the basis of their tendency to address specific technological contexts of music production, both old and new. The book presents a stylishly written critique of a seminal work in the vaporwave genre—James Ferraro’s Far Side Virtual—which takes in retro-digital production aesthetics, postmodern theory and ideas concerning record production, place, art and environment. It focuses on creative practice within the Digital Audio Workstation and in particular the workflows of electronic dance music producer-DJs based in Ableton Live. The book offers a timely reflection on the position of research and development into solutions for real-time remote collaboration between musicians and producers.