Stephen Bezzina writes: The soundtrack to my learning space during the MSc in E-learning is composed of different artists and genres, from Kitaro (new age) to The Bloody Beetroots (electro house), from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (classical) to Dj Rush (hardtechno), from Kraftwerk (early electronic music) to Plastikman (techno). Yet, all influence me and inspire me, in different ways. My chosen playlist, which incidentally I managed to mix, is my first contribution to this interesting project. It is entitled “Roots” and contains the very top ten tracks, in the early electronic music genre, which I played during the last year, since I enrolled on the programme. Having been for the past ten years in the techno and hardtechno business, both as a dj and producer, I feel that these tracks are representative of the roots to which I belong.
Reading
During my reading activities, I prefer to listen to music with a higher BPM (beats per minute) as I find such tracks to be more uplifting and help me to push myself further. Most of the time I try to match the pace of my reading to the track. In fact I look for tracks with a 127+ BPM for my usual reading activities. Tracks like Living On Video (Trans-X) and Blue Monday (New Order) are the ideal backing music whilst enjoying some Dreyfus or Gee. Yet, if a text is particularly difficult to follow or must be read thoroughly throughout, I could also change playlist and go for a more slow, sluggish, down-tempo track. Writing Whilst writing, I also opt for faster music, but prefer instrumental versions over vocal accompaniment, reason being that such tracks carry an empty vacuum which brings about the necessary space and time for me and my writing. Tracks like The Chase (Giorgio Moroder) and Tokyo Jam (Moskwa TV) were the soundtrack to my blog-writing activities during GBL. Again, the fast-paced music helps me in keeping focussed and on track. Thinking Most of the time on the MSc is spent thinking. Jean Michel Jarre and his album Oxygene (with the second part being my favourite track and thus mostly played) set an inspiring context with rhythms and patterns that guide my creative thinking. I feel inspired by and identify with the sounds of the synths and the nature of the hook lines. Stephen Bezzina is a DJ, producer, record label owner and participant on the MSc in E-Learning.
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Inspiration
At different times during my participation on the MSc in E-Learning I’ve sought albums that in some way represent the digital and experimental nature of the course itself. My hope has been that by listening to the likes of Air, Sebastien Tellier and The Advisory Circle I would somehow think more digitally and creatively. I’m still hoping that some of Sufjan Stevens' genius and imagination might rub off on me. I particularly took this approach during the E-Learning and Digital Cultures course where I spent an implausibly large amount of time watching Daft Punk videos whilst trying to convince myself that it represented valid research into posthumanism. Omnipresence There are some artists who accompany me wherever I go, whether that's wandering through the different digital landscapes of the MSc in E-Learing, walking into work or sitting on a train (and I acknowledge that these different spaces can overlap). If there was a way of retrospectively aggregating all of the tracks I've played on vinyl, cassette single and CD I think Saint Etienne would be top of my 'most popular' list, marginally ahead of The Beach Boys. In a way these constantly-played artists - and Ennio Morricone and Serge Gainsbourg fall into the same category - could easily be described as offering me inspiration as they certainly do that. My point however is that they feature in my E-Learning space not because I have sought them out, but because they are present in all of my spaces, educational or otherwise. Disruption One of the pleasures of listening to tracks on a digital library is that, depending on how you choose to organise your music, you don’t necessarily know what's going to come next. So when Manu Chao interrupts my calm learning space it's a sign that I need to take a break, get up and move around. And then there are tracks by Emmy the Great and High Llamas that I can't listen to without becoming totally absorbed in. Similarly unsettling is when a song begins to play that I didn’t even download: at these times I'm grateful that my wife has good taste in music, such as Erlend Oye. Nevertheless, the unpredictable arrival of these tracks disrupts my digital learning, albeit in a pleasant way. In soundtracking my E-Learning playlist in an authentic way, the inclusion of disruptive tracks seemed important. Concentration During the early stages of the Introduction to Digital Environments for Learning course, I struggled to concentrate on some of the recommended reading. I found some of it heavy going and it was hard to stay focused. In an attempt to remain focused I did the usual things – finding a dedicated study time and place, switching off my mobile, putting my Mac out of sight, adding an extra shot of espresso to my cappuccino. Meanwhile to block out aural distraction I would stack up a pile of ambient and orchestral CDs to assist my afternoon reading. In practice, this went beyond simply blocking out 'external' sound. With help from mum and Erik Satie I was able to construct a space where I could confront complex theories. I've followed this approach ever since and it has helped keep me on track. So, if you’re ever wandering through EH10 on a Friday afternoon and hear Amiina or Yann Tiersen, that’ll be me. Just don’t break my concentration by ringing the buzzer. James Lamb is a Research Associate and participant on the MSc in E-Learning. Jen Ross writes: Only in very rare circumstances can I bear music playing while I read or write. I'm more likely to have a 'white noise' track playing in the office than music. The bus journey to and from work is usually the only time I'm offline during the day, and the regular time I listen to music (though on the way home I'm equally likely to listen to This American Life podcasts). Music bookends my working day, and on rare musicless days I am restless and unhappy.
Over the years, via this method, I've discovered I have a real liking for scandinavian pop and scottish indie bands, and that quirkily-named songs are a mixed bag, but irresistible to me… thanks, interwebs.
This mix was selected from what's in that playlist tonight that originated serendipitously, from strangers online. A few are tracks I heard for the first time tonight (whitman, uncles, st vincent & the national). A few are from musicians I now adore (joanna newsom, bright eyes, meursault, dan mangan). The others are songs I especially like, from singers and bands I mostly just have this one track from and know little or nothing about. It's sort of a special, web-sourced edition of my commute. Dr Jen Ross is a lecturer on the MSc in E-Learning at The University of Edinburgh
Kraftwerk's 'Tour De France'. Since acquiring a mountain bike in 2011, three nights a week I can be found plugged into such tunes, thinking about the previous teaching day, or using the pastoral surroundings to think anew; often I am listening to ‘spoken word’, lectures on astronomy (which help my interest in interdisciplinary learning) or technology podcasts. You can almost feel the chords - taste the keyboards: a somewhat synaesthetic experience from what may be a surprising choice from such a back-catalogue; I first heard 'Model' and it still fills me close to tears, the juxtaposition of human frailty against cold, uncaring machine melody. I remember watching the needle touch down upon the 'Man Machine' album. They provide a blueprint for many modern artists.
M.A.R.R.S. 'Pump up the Volume': For me this marks a turning point. Such as Punk cleared the detritus that was Prog, ballad, and you-had-to-own-a-mansion-and-drive-around-in-a-Bentley-Rock-And-Roll-Lifestyle. This ENDED the banality of The Eighties: Goodbye Mr McKenzie, Numan flailing between Top 30 and 40. Just like Sigue Sigue Sputnik shortly before, this uses samples from a variety of media, but it includes ‘cuts’ from the emerging Hip Hop and Rap – there’s even an Indian section. This was - and still is for me – the song that marked a change. Resist the current - seek the new. John Lydon’s 'No Fun' (Peel Session featuring The Orb (The House Generation's 'Floyd'): We salute you, caustic, sneering, irreverent, antagonist, obstinate! Challenge! Use the energy of anger to change - create anew! Transcend hierarchies! I admire the Punk Phoenix rising from the ashes that was social, political and musical Britain 1976, paving the way for the 'ordinary' musician, but also providing a vehicle for Numan, the Ska and 2-Tone movement; ‘blends’ like The Police, The Jam - Reggae and Mod-influenced, respectively. Yes, 'No Fun' is a clarion call to ME as an educator that every child - every learner is a fresh new mind that will seed the future. Rage against the bland - change, abhor inertia and laziness - innovate or stagnate. Arise, Sir John! D Kay & Rawfull – ‘Directions’: Born from Electronica and the jazz and funk upon which Rap and Hip-Hop were nurtured and allowed to fly the nest, this is - for me - the music that suits any endeavour that aims at pushing boundaries: Drum and Bass - aka Jungle. There's often a sadness that underpins such tracks (especially this one) and I think that this is a reminder of mankind's lot, against which many barriers - physical, emotion and intellectually - we as a genus are trying to forever break. When I listen to this music I feel positive; I feel positive for mankind, I relish the blood-pumping reality of our part in this immense 'grand plan'. I am positive. This music evinces our achievements, our desires to integrate cultures and races, to push technology to the limits - to use it for good. Aphex Twin, ‘Tha’ (track 2 from 'Selected Ambient Works 85-92'): This was our 'Floyd'; the anti-thesis to the emerging dance and techno which was fast augmenting and replacing the Acid House ... We played it originally at 45rpm, but when I popped the tape into the E-Reg Ford Escort … well, somewhat slower. Beautiful, haunting atmosphere, soundscapes and eerie backgrounds that seem to stretch far into Richard D James' imagination: a pioneer at the time; creator of music that … unnerves through dissonance. ‘Call Me’, Blondie (Moroder 7” instrumental mix): I still remember watching Blondie's 'Heart of Glass' on Top of The Pops, and I seem to remember Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love'. Just as the Nexus-6s grasp their photographs that represent their memories, these tracks remind a once 7-year-old about his past and how far he has progressed. 'Beat the Clock' by Sparks was another masterpiece from Giorgio Moroder... This track returns to minimalist beginnings, the guitar licks wrapping around the un-relenting synth. … But we must return to Themes from Vaporspace, which – to me – creates the image of both Pioneer and Voyager probes silently slipping out of our solar system, never to return; mankind’s only creations to have ventured so far; a culmination of the evolution from fire, tools and language – the result of innate learning. And the image uploaded with my mix? This is where my young mind ran free, tasted the world, and began… Hugh O'Donnell is a high school teacher of English and graduate of the MSc in E-Learning Michael Sean Gallagher writes: My first contribution to this project is the following playlist, one I have used in some construction over the course of my entire time on the MSc in Elearning programme at the University of Edinburgh, from September 2009 to my graduation in July, 2011. Judging by the play counts of these individual tracks from my iTunes library, I was quite enthralled by this music, the reasons for which I will describe below. This playlist includes the following artists:
Despite the fact they are ethereal, calm-inducing, voiceless (I prefer music that doesn't have actual singing as the voice distracts me from cognitive tasks) tracks, they are purpose-driven. I have used and continue to use them whenever I participate in elearning programs or activities. It is music that I use primarily for any of the following:
Multimedia work: whether I am editing, uploading, arranging, or curating my images, videos, or audio, I listen to these types of tracks to focus my concentration. However, sometimes this multimedia work can be less cognitively intensive (manually intensive, just not intellectually so) so I will often come off this music in favor of something more upbeat with a faster pace. My mind is then allowed to get lost in music as my reflexive/ process-oriented work is being performed. But in the early stages of multimedia editing, when the whole of the thing has yet to take shape, I rely on this type of music to let me conceptually explore the space.
This music, being without vocals, doesn't distract but rather focuses me. It is like a pulse that I can keep time to as I work. Music, for some, is a distraction, a competing facet of our attention. For me, it is like a primer, a key in which I use to organize my thinking, my activities, my pursuits. It offers a lot of clarity in the world of infinite distraction and has me thinking about the nature of reduction. Traditionally, I have always thought that reduction, removing these competing areas of attention, was the path to clarity. Hence, no music is better than music. Now as I have advanced through several online programs, where I as the learner am forced to create whole worlds of process, of analysis, and reflection (almost from scratch), I find this reduction to not be effective. I add a layer of complexity (the music) to filter the noise. It all makes sense intellectually and feels right emotionally. Music unlocks something for me in this process. This is music I listen to when time dissolves and when I break from this focus, hours and hours have passed. Time becomes a bit irrelevant in these fits of focused intellectual attention. Frantic inspiration, perhaps? Ultimately though, aside from what music offers for organization and clarity, it is really about the inspiration. To take unlikely variables and pair them in meaningful, creative ways. To create knowledge constructs from chaotic space, to problem solve without identifying the problem, to create. I hope you enjoy. Michael Sean Gallagher is a research associate and graduate of the MSc in E-Learning In this project we will explore, in an informal way, the influence that music and sound have upon our learning spaces. The idea grew out of a conversation that originally took place in autumn 2010 between participants on the E-Learning and Digital Cultures course, part of the MSc in E-Learning at The University of Edinburgh.
Since then, Jeremy, Michael and I (the self-appointed 'curators' of this project) have regularly returned to the idea of 'soundtracking' our engagement with the E-Learning programme. We've talked about how we might discuss and share the impact and influence that music has upon the spaces in which we learn. Elektroniches-Lernen-Muzik is our attempt to create a place where members of the E-Learning community - and other interested parties - can share ideas, resources and playlists, and engage in discussion. To begin, we're going to return to our original conversation from 2010 and will be compiling and sharing playlists to accompany and inspire our learning. We hope you enjoy listening and participating in this project. James Lamb |
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