Researcher ORCID Identifier
0009-0007-1202-974X
Graduation Year
2026
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Music
Reader 1
Cándida Jáquez
Reader 2
Ming-Yuen Ma
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2026 Benjamin T Connolly
Abstract
Hear & Now: Culturally Responsive Music Education Through Digital Audio Workstations & Musique Concrète is a two-part ethnomusicological study of how the capacities and affordability of modern electronic instruments could be utilized within school curricula as an affordable alternative to traditional music classes. I explore the musique concrète movement from mid-20th century France, aiming my examination towards the movement’s emphasis on the materiality of sound production and utilization of modern technology during the composition process. From there, the paper transitions into a study on the affordances of contemporary music technologies through a series of interviews with electronic composers, tracing the evolution of their respective methodologies and musical perspectives as they pertain to the current state of electronic music. This portion contains interviews with Mike Simpson of the Dust Brothers production duo, a Pitzer graduate, best known for his work with the Beastie Boys and on the movie Fight Club, as well as electronic musician and professor Dani Dobkin.
My assertion in favor of electronic music does not aim to replace traditional music courses where they are already present, but rather to uplift an affordable alternative for under-resourced schools lacking music programs. The project aims to illustrate how radical changes in the musical landscape have gone relatively unaccounted for within academic spaces. The second part of my thesis project is a self-composed album following the written guidelines of Pierre Shaeffer, founder of the musique concrète movement. Each of the songs is exclusively composed of prerecorded sounds found in nature, processed and arranged in a digital audio workstation.
Recommended Citation
Connolly, Benjamin T., "Hear & Now: Culturally Responsive Music Education Through Digital Audio Workstations & Musique Concrète" (2026). Pitzer Senior Theses. 240.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/pitzer_theses/240
Included in
Art Education Commons, Composition Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Educational Technology Commons, Education Economics Commons, Ethnomusicology Commons, Higher Education Commons, Music Education Commons, Music Pedagogy Commons, Music Theory Commons, Online and Distance Education Commons
