International Computer Music Conference 2021

Part of panel discussion at ICMC2021

Thursday, July 29, 1:30-2:30 PM Eastern Time.

Panel: Diversity

How Diverse is Computer Music?

Notions of pluralism and inclusivity permeate the self-understanding of computer music. Several textbooks and overview statements celebrate the limitlessness of digital audio where the only restriction on what can be produced is your imagination (see amongst others Mathews 1964, Boulanger 2000, Manaris & Brown 2014). Moreover, some of the theoretical literature sees the form as participating in the democratisation of sound itself through the abolition of sonic or cultural hierarchies (Dhomont 1996). Yet many of us will have had experiences that rub against these ideals.

This panel aims to explore those experiences. We ask: How divers is computer music? Has a greater diversity of styles represented at ICMC brought with it a greater diversity of music-makers? Are we able to say that our field (ICMA & its sister organisations, as well as in the wider music academia) truly represents the music and the cultures that computers make possible? How can we as a field take hold of this issue as our own and set about the project of decolonising and diversifying computer music?

Moderators: Miriam Akkermann and Christopher Haworth

On the panel will be (in alphabetical order along first names):

Federico Schumacher (Chile)

Jessie Cox (USA)

Mengi Ji (China)

Patricia Martinez (Argentina)

Ritwik Banerji (USA)

VIRTUAL PRESENTATION FORMAT

Due to the pandemic, the conference will be hosted completely online using the Deck10 platform. This platform allows for scheduled live and pre-recorded presentations, and also on-demand access to the whole content of the conference after the events happen according to the programming of each event. In general, we will present the majority of the content in a pre-recorded fashion, as this allows attendants from different time zones, or with intermittent or partial internet connections, to access all the content of the conference in a more convenient way. Also, this will allows us to control the timing of all events more precisely. The Deck10 platform allows for plenty of ways to interact with other presenters and members of the audience, either according to pre-established timeline or on-demand.