This section examines how defamiliarization and improvisation influence electronic music composition through the lens of Actor-Network Theory (ANT). By exploring the dynamic interactions between musicians, unconventional instruments and the broader community, this review highlights how these factors contribute to musical practices.
2.1. Theoretical Framework
ANT is used to examine how defamiliarization and improvisation influence musical composition and performative methods. Developed by Bruno Latour, ANT redefines the relationships between humans, technologies and non- human entities by proposing that the ‘social’ is a series of associations between these actors (Latour, 2005).
By examining contributions from historical and contemporary figures along with specific technologies, the dynamic interactions within the electronic music network are illuminated. ANT reveals how musicians, instruments, designers and the community both shape and are shaped by the evolving practices in electronic music.
2.2. Deliberate Disruption
This study focuses on the PULSAR-23 and LYRA-8 from SOMA Labs, which inherently encourage improvisation and exploration as modes of operation. Unlike conventional DAW-centric workflows, drum machines or synthesizers, these instruments abandon fixed architectures in favor of “organismic” synthesis principles, promoting complex feedback loops and hands-on interaction, mirroring a living organism (SOMA, 2024).
Derek Bailey’s Improvisation: Its Nature and Practice in Music examines improvisation across various musical contexts, providing insights relevant to contemporary instruments like the PULSAR-23 and LYRA-8. Bailey illustrates that improvisation is fundamental to musical creativity, allowing musicians to explore and expand their sonic frameworks (Bailey, 1993, P. 1-7).
The PULSAR-23, primarily a drum machine, consists of 23 modules, and supports live circuit bending and body conductivity, facilitating spontaneous sound creation. The LYRA-8, with its eight non-linear voice generators, offers unconventional sound design opportunities and harmonic interactions. These instruments defamiliarize the music-making process by moving away from fixed scales and structures, grids and divisions, and fostering real-time improvisation and exploration upfront and with immediacy. This approach encourages musicians to think creatively and engage with the instruments in new ways, leading to innovative musical outcomes.
2.3. Community Insight
Engagement with the PULSAR-23 and LYRA-8 extends beyond individual creativity, fostering a vibrant community of SOMA instrument users who share innovative practices. Platforms like Discord, YouTube and Instagram serve as hubs for exchanging ideas, techniques and performances, creating a flowing network of influence and learning. This community interaction demonstrates how shared knowledge and collective experimentation contribute to the evolution of electronic music and emphasizes the importance of individual practice.
Community interactions among SOMA users shape the evolution of musical practices and innovations. Bailey’s exploration of collaborative improvisation highlights how exchanging ideas within musical communities fosters new techniques and styles. Bailey’s work with the group Joseph Holbrooke exemplifies how collective improvisation can lead to significant musical advancements (Bailey, 1993, P. 86-92). The collaborative nature of SOMA communities fosters an environment where shared experimentation and experience drives the evolution of electronic music practices.
The SOMA community’s diversity is noteworthy; some members are producers and artists, others are audio-visual performers, and some are active members of SOMA events, participating in workshops or demonstrations of the instruments. This variety highlights the adaptability and broad appeal of SOMA instruments, enhancing their role within the electronic music network. Participation in this community exposes musicians to different improvisational techniques and defamiliarization processes, enriching their creative practices and informing discourse.
2.4. Historical and Contemporary Context
The history of electronic music is highlighted by pioneers who embraced experimentation, improvisation and exploration, transforming experimental technologies into essential tools for modern music production. Early innovators like the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and practitioners of musique concrète employed tape manipulation and sampling, leading to standardized techniques employed by contemporary producers.
In the 1960s and 70s, the free jazz revolution as documented in Val Wilmer’s As Serious As Your Life (1977), saw musicians like John Coltrane and Sun Ra rejecting conventional structures in favor of real-time, improvisational creation. Their work exemplifies how relinquishing control can lead to groundbreaking innovations, aligning with ANT’s view of fluid, dynamic networks of interactions (Latour, 2005).
Henry Cow, a progressive rock band formed in 1968, exemplifies the use of improvisation and defamiliarization to drive musical innovation. The band’s members, including Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson, often incorporated spontaneous and experimental techniques like tape manipulation and unconventional instrumentation, significantly diverging from mainstream music of their era. Their work was influenced by avant-garde figures like Bela Bartok, John Cage and Frank Zappa, helping them create a unique sound. Their innovative approach is evident in their albums, like Unrest where they used studio improvisation to develop new material, setting a precedent for future musicians (Kitching, 2014).
This approach to music-making aligns with the research focus of how instruments like the PULSAR-23 and LYRA-8 facilitate improvisation, exploration and influence creative processes. Henry Cow’s history of community-driven innovation and their defiance of musical norms reflect the broader impact of improvisation in expanding the possibilities of electronic and experimental music. The band’s practices illustrate the importance of historical and contemporary figures in utilizing improvisation and defamiliarization to push creative boundaries, demonstrating how these techniques can foster new musical practices and innovations (Kitching, 2014).
Modern figures have continued this tradition, with artists such as Aphex Twin and the late SOPHIE expanding the borders of electronic music through experimental sounds and digital manipulation, often leveraging the technology available to its limits. These musicians show how defamiliarization and improvisation remain central to the genre’s evolution, continually reshaping the network of influences and technological advancements.
2.5. Pioneers and Key Figures in Electronic Music
Examining the contributions of key figures in electronic music, from historical pioneers to contemporary innovators, reveals how defamiliarization and improvisation have continually driven the genre’s evolution. By exploring their practices and innovations, a continuous thread of creativity and technological advancement and its impact on the electronic music landscape can be traced.
Historical and contemporary figures in electronic music, as discussed by Bailey, have significantly utilized improvisation and experimentation to drive innovation. The emergence of free improvisation in the 1960s, informed by composers like Earle Browne and Karlheinz Stockhausen, displays a radical departure from traditional musical forms, emphasizing spontaneous creation and collective experimentation. This era’s practices demonstrate how improvisation serves as a catalyst for expanding musical boundaries and fostering new genres (Bailey, 1993, p. 70-75). These lessons are crucial for contemporary musicians using unconventional instruments like the PULSAR- 23 and LYRA-8, as they can draw inspiration from these historical precedents to further their own creative practice.
John Cage’s Music of Changes (1951) employs aleatoric processes, using the ancient Chinese divination text I Ching to introduce randomness and chance into his compositions. This approach treats ambient sounds as active participants within the musical network. Cage’s integration of environmental sounds and periods of silence highlights a significant shift from traditional compositional control to real-time improvisation (Wilkinson, 2008). Cage’s radical ideas laid the groundwork for subsequent innovators who further explored the boundaries of sound and composition, including Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis, who were at first critical of the work.
Building on Cage’s legacy, Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Gesang der Jünglinge (1955-1966) pioneers the integration of vocal and electronic sounds, blending sung verses with electronic timbres to create a new sonic landscape. Stockhausen’s work exemplifies the dynamic interactions between human creativity and the affordance of technological tools, expanding the boundaries of electronic music (Smalley, 2000). These early experiments in combining traditional and electronic elements inspired countless composers who continued to expand the possibilities of electronic music.
Halim El-Dabh’s work at Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in the 1950s exemplified a unique approach to combining electronic and acoustic elements. His compositions, such as Meditation in White Sound, emphasized letting the material guide the creative process. El-Dabh’s influence extended to other key figures like Frank Zappa and Alice Shields (Moore, 2024, p. 165).
At the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Delia Derbyshire and Daphne Oram epitomized the intersection of human creativity and technological innovation. Derbyshire’s advanced tape manipulation techniques in the Doctor Who Theme (1963) and Oram’s “Oramics Machine”2 highlight how defamiliarization through new technologies can lead to groundbreaking methods in electronic music production (Butler, 2014; Hutton, 2003). Oram’s 1948 orchestral work Still Point is now recognized as one of the earliest examples of electroacoustic music, though it was initially rejected by the BBC and remained unheard for seventy years due to the sexism that regularly minimized and rejected the acknowledgement of female composers (Moore, 2024, pp. 167, 169).
Brian Eno’s ambient music, particularly Music For Airports (1978), emphasizes the fluidity of the musical network by integrating soundscapes with environmental elements. Eno’s approach to ambient music transforms spatial perception, highlighting how sound and environment interact to shape auditory experiences (Roquet, 2009). Designed to be played in Airports to induce calmness, Eno’s innovations in ambient music continued the tradition of redefining musical boundaries, influencing contemporary electronic music artists.
Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (1992) from Aphex Twin re-shapes the Ambient style and embodies the principles of ANT by blending individual creativity with technological tools to expand the boundaries of electronic music. His innovative production techniques have influenced a diverse range of artists and genres, including Thom Yorke, Björk, Kevin Parker, Daft Punk and Billie Eilish, highlighting the fluidity and complexity of the network where technological and creative processes continually interact (Potter, 2023). Innovations by artists like Aphex Twin fostered even more radical forms of experimentation in the scene.
As highlighted by Inglis (2022), the late SOPHIE’s Hyperpop music, characterized by experimental sounds, digital manipulation and voice transformation, expands the music network into digital realms further. Her work with tracks such as Nothing More to Say (2013) and collaborations with Charli XCX shows how modern technology can create fresh, influential genres, illustrating the continuous expansion and reconfiguration of the electronic music network.
The contributions of these key figures reveal how innovative techniques, instruments and ideas interact with and influence the broader landscape of electronic music. These examples serve to highlight key actors in the electronic music network, revealing the continuous expansion of the field, and provide insights into the foundational contributions that have shaped contemporary music practices, highlighting how specific tools and approaches can inform innovation and inspire new artistic directions.
2.6. Unconventional Instruments: PULSAR-23 and LYRA-8
In the continuously evolving landscape of electronic music, SOMA Labs’ PULSAR-23 and LYRA-8 stand out as significant nodes within the creative network. Designed by musician and radio engineer Vlad Kreimer, these instruments challenge conventional approaches to design and music creation, promoting experimentation, improvisation and defamiliarization.
Kreimer’s concept of “Romantic Engineering” reflects his philosophy that these instruments are not tools but interactive entities with which musicians must engage. He contrasts conventional synthesizers, which he likens to obedient tools under control, with the LYRA-8, describing it as a living organism that demands cooperation from the musician. Kreimer explains, “If usual synthesizer is based on control, it means you are Emperor, Dictator… but Lyra is like a living organism, you cannot just tell it what to do. You have to listen to it. You have to cooperate with it and it will surprise you.” This perspective aligns with ANT principles, highlighting the active roles that non-human actors (the instruments) play in the creative process (ALLFORDJ, 2019).
SOMA Labs’ design ethos emphasizes intuitive hands-on play over menu- driven programming, countering the trend of DAW-centric production. This approach fosters real-time creativity and spontaneity, which are essential elements of improvisation. As Elias Bates (2019) notes, ANT “preserves the messiness inherent in technological invention and adoption, rather than presenting a sanitized account.”
Vyacheslav Grigoriev, founder of VG-Line, and a partner at SOMA Labs, elaborates on the influence of Soviet-era synthesizers, noting that these older instruments provided ground for innovation. He states that SOMA’s workshop became a space where ideas could be realized by somebody without the resources, allowing creators to develop their visions without the backing of large-scale companies. Despite lacking the resources of giants like KORG or Roland, SOMA has established itself as a leading producer of innovative musical instruments (ALLFORDJ, 2019).
The impact of these instruments on contemporary music practices is evident in their adoption by various artists. British techno DJ Surgeon praises the PULSAR-23 for its “strong character and versatility in live performances,” while American artist Freddy Fresh describes it as a “Swiss army knife of analog capabilities.” German electro artist Anthony Rother emphasizes its unique position, stating, “Pulsar cannot be compared to an 808 or 909. Pulsar is in a league of its own” (SOMA, 2024, pers. comm.). Similarly, Amon Tobin has incorporated the PULSAR-23 into live performances (2023), further displaying its versatility and impact on modern electronic music.
The integration of these instruments into mainstream music production, as seen in Charli XCX’s album Brat (2024), demonstrates their potential to influence broader musical trends. Producer A.G. Cook integrated the PULSAR-23’s distinctive sound artefacts into the album, evident in tracks like Club Classics (Tape Notes Podcast, 2024).
These instruments disrupt traditional compositional frameworks by defamiliarizing the music-making process, moving away from scales, keyboards and fixed signal paths. This shift fosters improvisation, allowing musicians to explore new sonic landscapes in real-time, free from the constraints of predefined structures. Embracing these methods challenges musicians to think creatively and engage with their instruments in novel ways, leading to innovative musical outcomes.
Theoretically, these instruments embody principles of Rhizome Theory, encouraging non-hierarchical, interconnected interactions in composition. Their semi-modular, and organismic characteristics contrast with fixed architectures, allowing composers to explore non-traditional pathways and connections in their work (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987). This aligns with ANT’s emphasis on network fluidity and reconfiguration.
Historically, these instruments continue a tradition of innovation exemplified by devices like the Theremin. SOMA’s latest creation, FLUX (2024), extends this legacy with its touchless magnetic interface, offering “high levels of expressive possibilities” that build upon Leon Theremin’s pioneering work in touchless interaction (SOMA, 2024).
The long-term impact of the PULSAR-23 and LYRA-8 on electronic music remains to be seen. However, their design philosophy, user engagement and artistic integration highlight how unconventional instruments can act as catalysts for innovation. They challenge traditional musicianship and foster innovative approaches to composition and performance, encouraging a nuanced approach to creating music that recognizes the agency of all elements involved in the creative process.
As nodes in within the electronic music network, the PULSAR-23 and LYRA-8 exemplify how these unconventional instruments influence and are influenced by musicians and cultural contexts, demonstrating the complex interactions between human creativity, technological capabilities and cultural trends that drive the evolution of electronic music.
2.7. The Role of Play and Art in Creative Processes
Ellen Dissanayake’s anthropological perspective sheds light on the intrinsic connection between art and play, offering a compelling argument that these activities are not merely cultural constructs but fundamental, universal human behaviours. She argues that both art and play are characterized by their freedom from social rules and their emphasis on “making special,” a process she deems central to human evolution. This process of “making special” involves imbuing ordinary objects or actions with significance, a practice observed in various forms across cultures and throughout history. By examining premodern societies, Dissanayake illustrates how art and play were deeply intertwined with daily life and communal rituals, serving essential functions in social bonding and cohesion. In this light, the creative methodologies employed in electronic music composition, such as defamiliarization, can be seen as modern extensions of these age-old practices, where the act of making music becomes a form of “making special,” fostering a sense of connection and community for both creators and audiences (Morrow, 2013; Crain, 2001).
Dissanayake’s insights suggest that the role of play in artistic expression is not just about creativity but also about sustaining social harmony and cultural continuity. In electronic music, where experimentation and the breaking of conventional boundaries are often celebrated, this perspective reinforces the idea that such practices are deeply rooted in human nature. The integration of play into the compositional process, much like in premodern societies, helps in creating a shared experience that transcends individualism and resonates with a collective identity. As music technology continues to evolve, the underlying principles of art and play remain constant, a reminder that, despite technological advancements, the essence of creativity is about making things special—an effort that connects us to our past and to each other in profound ways (Morrow, 2013; Crain, 2001).
2.8. Mapping Creativity: ANT in Electronic Music
Actor-Network Theory (ANT), developed by Bruno Latour, provides a strong framework for understanding the complex dynamics of innovation in electronic music. By viewing the field as a network of interconnected human and non-human actors, ANT reveals the varied processes driving creative and technological advancements.
Core to ANT is the principle of generalized symmetry, which treats human and non-human elements as equally essential actors within a network. In music, this principle is exemplified by John Cage’s 4’33” (1952), where the absence of intentional sound transforms ambient noise and environmental acoustics into integral components of the musical experience. The audience’s reactions and the environment become active participants, highlighting how silence and chance events shape the piece, and that all sounds can be framed as music (Gann, 2022).
Similarly, Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Kontakte (1957) advances this idea through electronic composition and spatialization, integrating timbre, pitch, intensity and duration under unified control. His innovative use of a four- channel speaker system and spatial techniques, including a rotatable loudspeaker, redefining sound interaction within performance spaces, merging technical and spatial dimensions in the compositional process (Worby, 2017).
Another fundamental ANT principle, translation, is evident in the work of pioneers like Delia Derbyshire and Daphne Oram. Derbyshire’s extensive tape manipulation and experimentation, and Oram’s experimental “Oramics Machine” illustrate how ideas and sounds are translated across different media, reshaping electronic music’s creative process and cultural perceptions (Latour, 2005).
This tradition of innovation continues with instruments like SOMA’s PULSAR- 23 and LYRA-8. These instruments embody Kreimer’s “Romantic Engineering” philosophy, which aligns with ANT by recognizing the agency of non-human actors in shaping creative outcomes. Artist testimonials highlight how these unconventional instruments act as influential nodes within the network, shaping creative processes and outputs of musicians.
ANT’s emphasis on heterogenous engineering is particularly relevant to electronic music’s evolution. Kraftwerk’s synthesis of traditional musical structures with electronic innovations exemplifies how disparate elements can be combined to create new sonic landscapes (Seago, 2004). This process of assembling diverse components-human creativity, technological capabilities and cultural influences-into coherent wholes is a hallmark of innovation in the field (Latour, 2005). As ANT posits, the fluidity and continuous reconfiguration of networks are evident in more recent electronic music developments. Artists like Aphex Twin and SOPHIE demonstrate individual nodes within the network can instigate far-reaching changes, influencing various genres and artists. Their work shows how technological advancements, and creative vision can expand and reshape the electronic music landscape.
Instruments like the PULSAR-23 and LYRA-8 exemplify how the complex interactions between human creativity, technological capabilities and cultural trends drive innovation in electronic music. By acting as mediators, these instruments shape and are shaped by the musicians and communities that engage with them, embodying ANT principles and fostering a dynamic and evolving musical network.
Defamiliarization and improvisation are influential techniques that significantly alter the creative process. Defamiliarization, as discussed by Asaf Peres in his analysis of popular music, involves presenting familiar musical elements in unfamiliar or strange ways, compelling listeners to engage with the music from fresh perspectives (Peres, 2016). This technique allows composers to rethink and recontextualize everyday musical elements, leading to innovative and unexpected compositions (Shklovsky, 1917). Improvisation introduces spontaneity and real-time creativity into the compositional process, fostering a dynamic and interactive exploration of musical ideas. Together, these methods push the boundaries of traditional music composition, fostering an environment where innovation and creative exploration thrive.
2.9. Conclusion
This literature review has examined the evolution of electronic music through the lens of Actor-Network Theory, emphasizing the influences of experimentation, defamiliarization and improvisation in music performance and composition. ANT principles, including generalized symmetry, translation, and heterogenous engineering, provide valuable insights into how technological advancements and creative processes shape the field (Latour, 2005).
By exploring the contributions of key figures and contemporary innovators in electronic music, this review has highlighted the dynamic interactions within the network of human and non-human actors. These interactions reveal the intricate networks of people, ideas and technologies that drive ongoing innovation in electronic music.
Defamiliarization, as articulated by Viktor Shklovsky and further discussed by Asaf Peres, involves making the familiar appear strange to renew perception and challenge conventional understanding. This technique compels composers to rethink and recontextualize everyday musical elements, leading to innovative and unexpected compositions (Shklovsky, 1917; Peres, 2016). Improvisation introduces spontaneity and real-time creativity into the compositional process, fostering a dynamic and interactive exploration of musical ideas. Together, these methods demonstrate how moving away from conventional frameworks and embracing new, exploratory approaches can lead to significant creative breakthroughs.
Instruments like the PULSAR-23 and LYRA-8 exemplify this process, acting as mediators that facilitate innovative musical practices and expand the boundaries of the genre. These devices disrupt traditional compositional frameworks, encouraging musicians to engage in hands-on, intuitive play rather than menu-driven programming. This shift fosters real-time creativity and spontaneity, essential elements of improvisation, and compels musicians to think creatively and engage with their instruments in novel ways.
Understanding these networks and the principles of ANT provides an appreciation of the dynamic nature of musical innovation and the continuous reshaping of the field. The insights gained from this review provide a foundation for future research in electronic music, offering new perspectives on the roles of human and non-human actors in driving creative and technological advancements.
In conclusion, the principles and frameworks explored in this review emphasize the importance of defamiliarization and improvisation in fostering an environment where innovation and creative exploration can thrive. By tracing the intricate connection and transformations within the electronic music network, this review offers a deeper understanding of how human creativity, technological advancements and cultural trends interact to shape the evolving landscape of electronic music. These insights contribute to a more nuanced appreciation of current practices and suggest new directions for future research into the dynamic forces driving the genre’s continuous evolution.
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