Date of Submission
9-2021
Type of Work
Exegesis and Creative Work
Principal Supervisor
Dr. Toby Wren
Associate Supervisor
Lola Montgomery
Second Associate Supervisor
Jodie Taylor
Keywords
Artistic Research; Music Research; Musical Hybridity; Genre; Fusion; Sub-Genre; Music Production.
Audience
General (G) - suitable for everyone
Abstract
This exegesis is an examination of synthetic genre both in culture and in my practice. The research question is “how will the combination of specific techniques from different genres of music stimulate new ideas in the creation of contemporary music?” The objective of this study is to expand my compositional methodologies and to situate my work within the wider discourse of popular music and find a way to create new original work. The project employs a methodology from Mayall used to elicit ideas concerning genre and how these ideas will be used. It includes a schematic for developing hybrid work. Mayall’s schematic uses juxtaposition, synthesis or other means to generate new works. The creative component of this study consists of three original pieces of music created by using Mayall’s methodology for hybrid music creation. This research has shown that the use of Mayall’s methodology has provided an array of different tools to analyse a particular genre. The power to create new music is relative to my current methodologies, taking my ideas a lot further and deeper.
A key finding is that hybridisation is not an uncommon thing or idea. There are many examples of this dating from the onset of the postmodern world. I conclude that Mayall’s methodology (2015) might be a useful tool when I have the time to integrate these ideas into my workflow. The creative artefacts derived from the methodology do not belong to one particular genre. Having used the methodology, the analytical framework has increased the scope of descriptive or analytical questions used such as gesture or sonic design and has taken me out of my comfort zone, even though this might be momentary. This process has given me some more ideas regarding my future compositional processes. I can integrate these into my workflow at a later date.
Recommended Citation
Hay, J. (2021). Hybridising Genre in Contemporary Music Production [Masters dissertation, SAE University College]. Creo.