English Electronic Music: Delve into the Digital Archives

Trace the history of electronic music

Electronic music is the backbone of contemporary musical culture. We owe the studios and pioneers of the mid-20th century for laying the foundations of the electronic music we listen to today.

On this four-week course from the University of Huddersfield, you’ll trace electronic music back to its origins in the 1950s and 1960s. You’ll explore the lives and experience of the genre’s early trailblazers, the techniques they used, the attitudes they met with, and the impact they had on musical history.

Discover the origins and ideologies of early electronic music

Before homing in on the specifics of English electronic music, you’ll investigate the genre’s global roots.

You’ll compare different the philosophies and ideologies that helped to shape electronic music in Europe and America.

Understand Roberto Gerhard’s role in shaping the genre

In the third week of the course, you’ll learn more about the composer and musical scholar Roberto Gerhard.

You’ll explore Gerhard’s legacy on English electronic music, and ask why his pioneering contribution to the genre has largely been forgotten.

Master processes, techniques, and approaches in digital music archiving

In the final week of the course, you’ll discover how digital archiving can inform our understanding of musical history. You’ll get to grips with digital archiving processes, and identify the challenges of archiving analogue materials.

By the end of the course, you’ll know where electronic music came from, and how we can document it in the future.

This course is designed for anyone interested in the history of English electronic music, or in the process of archiving analogue music.

It will be particularly valuable to high school students completing coursework in music and music technology, or undergraduates studying electronic music at university.

• The Origins of Electronic Music
• Welcome
• France and the Groupe de Recherches Musicales (or the GRM)
• Germany and the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (or the WDR)
• Other Electronic Music Studios
• Week 1 Roundup
• English Cultures of Electronic Music
• Techniques of electronic music
• The BBC Radiophonic Workshop
• Tristram Cary & RCM Studios
• The lost voices of English electronic music
• Week 2 Roundup
• Roberto Gerhard
• The person
• The composer
• Gerhard's electronic music
• A 'Third Way'
• Week 3 Roundup
• The Roberto Gerhard Digital Archive
• An overview of archiving
• Converting from Analogue to Digital
• The digital archive
• Discoveries in the archive
• Week 4 Roundup