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All Outputs (39)

Real Sounds, Real Instruments: Discourses of Fidelity and Authenticity in the Design and Use of Digital Sampling Technologies (2016)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Harkins, P. (2016, December). Real Sounds, Real Instruments: Discourses of Fidelity and Authenticity in the Design and Use of Digital Sampling Technologies. Paper presented at Art of Record Production (ARP) conference, University of Aalborg

This paper explores how an ideology of realism was central to the designers of early digital synthesizer/sampling technologies and how discourses of authenticity remain important to the contemporary users of digital technologies in the production of... Read More about Real Sounds, Real Instruments: Discourses of Fidelity and Authenticity in the Design and Use of Digital Sampling Technologies.

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.

The Art of the Loop: JJ Jeczalik and the Fairlight CMI Series II/III (2015)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Harkins, P. (2015, June). The Art of the Loop: JJ Jeczalik and the Fairlight CMI Series II/III. Paper presented at Over and Over: Exploring Repetition in Popular Music, University of Liege, Belgium

The socio-musical practice of sampling is closely associated with the quotation of sound recordings, the technological processes of looping, and an aesthetic based on appropriation and repetition, primarily within the genres of hip-hop and Electronic... Read More about The Art of the Loop: JJ Jeczalik and the Fairlight CMI Series II/III.

Replies to the Critics: The Grounded Theories of Simon Frith (2014)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Harkins, P. (2014, April). Replies to the Critics: The Grounded Theories of Simon Frith. Paper presented at Studying Music: An International Conference in Honour of Simon Frith, The University of Edinburgh

No abstract available.

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.

Appropriation, Additive Approaches and Accidents: The Sampler as Compositional Tool and Recording Dislocation (2010)
Journal Article
Harkins, P. (2010). Appropriation, Additive Approaches and Accidents: The Sampler as Compositional Tool and Recording Dislocation. Journal of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, 1(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.5429/2079-3871%282010%29v1i2.3en

Brian Eno describes the recording studio as a compositional tool that has enabled composers to enjoy a more direct relationship with sound. This article will explore the use of the digital sampler as one of the studio tools that forms part of this cr... Read More about Appropriation, Additive Approaches and Accidents: The Sampler as Compositional Tool and Recording Dislocation.

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.

Todd Edwards & the microsample: speed & spirituality in UK Garage. (2007)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Harkins, P. (2007, October). Todd Edwards & the microsample: speed & spirituality in UK Garage. Paper presented at Mediation, Movement and Microrhythm in Groove-Based Music Workshop, University of Oslo, Norway

My paper will examine the role of New Jersey producer Todd Edwards within the development of UK Garage by focussing on his use of microsamples which Simon Reynolds describes as a “technique of cross-hatching brief snatches of vocals into a melodic-pe... Read More about Todd Edwards & the microsample: speed & spirituality in UK Garage..

‘Have you tried fixing it?’ Repairing (and not Repairing) the Fairlight CMI
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Harkins, P. (2024, June). ‘Have you tried fixing it?’ Repairing (and not Repairing) the Fairlight CMI. Paper presented at Innovation in Music Conference, Kristiania University College, Oslo, Norway

In his study about the continued importance of old technologies, David Edgerton writes that ‘the majority [of scientists and engineers] have always been mainly concerned with the operation and maintenance of things and processes; with the use of thin... Read More about ‘Have you tried fixing it?’ Repairing (and not Repairing) the Fairlight CMI.

Frictions and Restrictions: Domestic Music Making and the Case of Girls Rock School
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Harkins, P. (2024, September). Frictions and Restrictions: Domestic Music Making and the Case of Girls Rock School. Paper presented at IASPM UK & Ireland Conference, University of Newcastle, UK

The use of digital technologies, such as MIDI, Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs), Virtual Studio Technologies (VSTs), sampling software, web-based platforms, and music-making apps, have been implicated in deep changes about how and where popular musi... Read More about Frictions and Restrictions: Domestic Music Making and the Case of Girls Rock School.