Following the Instruments, Designers, and Users: The Case of the Fairlight CMI (2015)
Journal Article
Harkins, P. (2015). Following the Instruments, Designers, and Users: The Case of the Fairlight CMI. Journal on the Art of Record Production,

The focus of this article is the Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument (CMI), which is generally regarded as the first commercially available digital sampler. However, its designers, Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie, were primarily interested in the use of... Read More about Following the Instruments, Designers, and Users: The Case of the Fairlight CMI.

Reframing popular music composition as performance-centred practice (2015)
Journal Article
Moir, Z., & Medbøe, H. (2015). Reframing popular music composition as performance-centred practice. Journal of Music, Technology and Education, 8(2), 147-161. https://doi.org/10.1386/jmte.8.2.147_1

This article reports on a qualitative study of four undergraduate students specializing in popular music composition, and examines links and overlaps between three related areas: participants’ interpretations and definitions of the term ‘composition’... Read More about Reframing popular music composition as performance-centred practice.

Contextual incongruity and musical congruity: the aesthetics and humour of mash-ups (2012)
Journal Article
Brøvig-Hanssen, R., & Harkins, P. (2012). Contextual incongruity and musical congruity: the aesthetics and humour of mash-ups. Popular Music, 31, 87-104. https://doi.org/10.1017/S026114301100047X

The academic literature on mash-ups has been dominated by discussions about issues relating to their illegal nature and infringement of copyright. We aim to appraise this musical style with a socio-musicological approach to focus on its aesthetics.... Read More about Contextual incongruity and musical congruity: the aesthetics and humour of mash-ups.

Extending the Term: The Gowers Review and the Campaign to Increase the Length of Copyright in Sound Recordings (2012)
Journal Article
Harkins, P. (2012). Extending the Term: The Gowers Review and the Campaign to Increase the Length of Copyright in Sound Recordings. Popular Music and Society, 35, 629-649. https://doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2012.709664

After the UK government commissioned a review of intellectual property in 2005, a campaign to “Extend the Term” of copyright in sound recordings was orchestrated by trade magazine Music Week on behalf of the recording industry and performing artists.... Read More about Extending the Term: The Gowers Review and the Campaign to Increase the Length of Copyright in Sound Recordings.

La Transmission Perdue et Retrouvee : Le Sampler Comme Outil de Composition et de Decontextualisation de L’Enrigistrement (2012)
Journal Article
Harkins, P. (2012). La Transmission Perdue et Retrouvee : Le Sampler Comme Outil de Composition et de Decontextualisation de L’Enrigistrement. Réseaux, 172, 92. https://doi.org/10.3917/res.172.0092

According to Brian Eno, the recording studio is a composition tool that enables musicians to enjoy a more direct relationship with sound. This article examines the role of the sampler as a technology that is tightly interlinked with the creative proc... Read More about La Transmission Perdue et Retrouvee : Le Sampler Comme Outil de Composition et de Decontextualisation de L’Enrigistrement.

Transmission Loss and Found: The Sampler as Compositional Tool (2009)
Journal Article
Harkins, P. (2009). Transmission Loss and Found: The Sampler as Compositional Tool. Journal on the Art of Record Production, 4,

This article explores the use of the digital sampler as one of the studio tools that forms part of this creative process and focuses on interviews with a group of Edinburgh musicians called Found who successfully combine the writing of pop songs with... Read More about Transmission Loss and Found: The Sampler as Compositional Tool.