Tuesday, May 18, 2010

adventures in technomusicality

So, the end of the semester has finally arrived and I'm embarking on a year of research leave -- hallelujah! This is when I get to tie together the threads of my research on Grand Theft Auto, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and my new project about online music lessons (full refs here for my videogame work). The book doesn't have a set-in-stone title yet, but I've tossed around some ideas with my editor -- right now the working title is Technomusicality: Digital Games, YouTube, and Virtual Performance.

I'm starting to keep track of media coverage about YouTube-based music lessons, and I've already interviewed some teachers and students at sites like Next Level Guitar and OnlineDrummer (as well as talking with a fiddle teacher who offers private lessons via video chat). Just this morning a friend tipped me off that this topic will be discussed today on WNYC's Soundcheck -- on the "Smackdown" segment, so that promises to be juicy!

I'd love to hear from anyone who'd like to share their thoughts about online music lessons -- please comment on this post. I'm excited to dig into this topic this summer (and to post here more frequently).

1 comment:

Humingway said...

Hi Kiri! This sounds like a great topic. According to Kelefa Sanneh in the New Yorker, the openly gay gospel singer TonĂ©x is trying to supplement his income by broadcasting his voice lessons online, now that he's more or less blackballed from the mainstream gospel circuit. It's an awfully interesting article…

Best,
Peter at UChicago