Showing papers by "Trevor Pinch published in 2016"
01 Sep 2016
TL;DR: In this article, an ethnographic investigation of the electronic music practice of circuit-bending is presented, based upon the author's own experiences with bent and broken circuits and upon interviews with circuit-benders.
Abstract: This paper presents an ethnographic investigation of the electronic music practice of circuit-bending. It argues that circuit-benders use sonic skills in rendering desirable sounds from old, discarded and broken devices. The paper is based upon the author’s own experiences with bent and broken circuits and upon interviews with circuit-benders. The paper argues that the interest in circuit-bending lies in its double challenge to conventional meanings of technology and to conventional meanings of musical instruments. It shows how circuit-benders share the aspirations of fields such as Science and Technology Studies (STS) in deriving new meanings of technology, in challenging linear and deterministic views of technological development, and in wrestling with the agency of non-humans. It explores the contradictions and paradoxes in using circuit-bent devices as musical instruments given conventional musical notions of control and the prerequisites of live performance. It contrasts and compares the arti...
4 citations
01 Jan 2016
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe how sound engineers can be as important in the production of 'the sound' as are the musicians themselves, and what these changes mean for listeners and for science and technology studies (S&TS).
Abstract: Developments in sound technologies over the last 50 years have dramatically changed the way that music is produced and consumed. In the 19th century most music was experienced as live performance. Today most music is listened to individually through technologically mediated devices, such as a personal stereo or a personal computer that enables the downloading of MP3 files over the Internet, and in the past few decades music has been produced with new electronic instruments such as the Theremin, the Hammond Organ, the electric guitar, the synthesizer, and the digital sampler. Technologies such as the phonograph, tape-recorder, and compact disk have enabled 'sound' to be produced, controlled, and manipulated independently from musicians. In today's recording studios the sound engineers can be as important in the production of 'the sound' as are the musicians themselves. But how can such changes be understood and what do they mean for listeners and for science and technology studies (S&TS)?
2 citations
01 Jan 2016
TL;DR: This paper examines one such attempt by means of a detailed textual analysis of 'The Essentials of Health Economics', a major series of articles written for doctors by two leading health economists.
Abstract: Health economists see their practice as the application of economics to the field of human health. One of the forms that the practical application of health economics takes is the attempt to persuade professionals in health care to accept and implement economists' recommendations for changes in their practice. This paper examines one such attempt by means of a detailed textual analysis of 'The Essentials of Health Economics', a major series of articles written for doctors by two leading health economists. The 'dilemma of application' faced by these authors is that if they are to persuade doctors to accept the positive benefits of economics, they must also persuade doctors to accept deficiencies in their current practice. This dilemma encourages the use of textual strategies such as 'avoiding confrontation' and 'criticism without offence'. This kind of rhetoric of application is seen to stem from the authors' skilful deployment of two distinct, though intertwined, programmes for health economics - namely, the 'strong' and the 'weak'.