‘Keeping the Machines Alive’: Repairing and Maintaining the Fairlight CMI.
Presentation / Conference
Harkins, P. (2023, June)
‘Keeping the Machines Alive’: Repairing and Maintaining the Fairlight CMI. Paper presented at Innovation In Music Conference 2023, Edinburgh, UK
The story of the Fairlight CMI is a story of misuse. Designed primarily as a digital synthesizer for the imitation of acoustic instruments, it was used in the worlds of popula...
Beyond Sustainability: The Music Industries Declare Emergency on Planet Earth – or do they?
Presentation / Conference
Harkins, P. (2022, August)
Beyond Sustainability: The Music Industries Declare Emergency on Planet Earth – or do they?. Paper presented at IASPM UK and Ireland Conference, University of Liverpool
In December last year, a number of record labels based in the UK signed the Music Climate Pact in which they committed to reducing the emission of greenhouse gases by 50% by 2...
(Dis)locating Democratisation: Grime, Digitalisation, and 'The PlayStation Generation'
Presentation / Conference
Harkins, P. (2021, May)
(Dis)locating Democratisation: Grime, Digitalisation, and 'The PlayStation Generation'. Paper presented at Annual Symposium of Music Scholars in Finland, Online
For many commentators over the last two decades, digitisation represents nothing short of a watershed moment in how music is produced, stored, and consumed. In this paper, I a...
(Dis)locating Democratisation: Grime, Digitalisation, and ‘The PlayStation Generation’
Presentation / Conference
Harkins, P. (2020, May)
(Dis)locating Democratisation: Grime, Digitalisation, and ‘The PlayStation Generation’. Paper presented at London Calling IASPM UK & Ireland Conference, Online/University of West London
For many commentators over the last two decades, digitisation represents nothing short of a watershed moment in how music is produced, stored, and consumed. Just as the era of...
Following the Auteurs: Kate Bush and the Fairlight CMI
Presentation / Conference
Harkins, P. (2019, December)
Following the Auteurs: Kate Bush and the Fairlight CMI. Paper presented at This Woman's Work: A Kate Bush Symposium, Edinburgh College of Art
I’m a big fan of Kate Bush’s music but my priority in this paper is not to praise her many achievements. Instead, I want to look at how she was using music technologies in the...