Jon Marius Aareskjold-Drecker

• Brøvig, Ragnhild & Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius (2024). Vocal Chops: Another Human/Machine Hybrid . In Gullö, Jan-Olof; Hepworth-Sawyer, Russ; Paterson, Justin & Toulson, Rob (Ed.), Innovation in Music: Cultures and Contexts. Routledge. ISSN 9781032611167.
• Brøvig, Ragnhild; Sandvik, Bjørnar Ersland & Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius (2022). Influence du traitement de plage dynamique sur le rythme perçu dans l’EDM. In Pierre, Couprie; Gohon, Kévin & Parent, Emmanuel (Ed.), La musique et la machine: Penser l'interaction dans les musiques électroniques. Presses Universitaires de Rennes. ISSN 978-2-7535-8685-7. p. 187–206. Show summary

  La musique concrète, la musique électroacoustique, les musiques mixtes, le Live Electronics et à leur suite les courants populaires de la disco, de la techno, du rap et de l’EDM, désignent des styles musicaux qui ont radicalement changé les manières de faire et d’écouter la musique. En créant des situations nouvelles d’interaction entre les musiciens, les publics et les innombrables machines qui peuplent leur univers, ces répertoires ont modifié en profondeur l’ontologie et l’esthétique du fait musical. Ce livre, qui rassemble des contributions de musicologues français et internationaux (USA, Norvège, Australie, Royaume- Uni), propose ainsi une traversée des musiques électroniques savantes et populaires, de Luigi Nono à David Guetta, de Philippe Manoury à Brain Damage. Si la musique a pu un temps être pensée comme le produit de l’activité d’un compositeur unique, la médiation de l’électronique remet en pleine lumière la nature profondément collaborative et interactive de tout fait musical. Telle est l’hypothèse qui fonde l’ambition théorique de cet ouvrage. Publié avec le soutien de l’UR APP de l’université Rennes 2, de RASM-CHCSC de l’université d’Évry Val d’Essonne et du RITMO de l’université d’Oslo.

• Brøvig-Hanssen, Ragnhild; Sandvik, Bjørnar; Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius & Danielsen, Anne (2021). A Grid in Flux: Sound and Timing in Electronic Dance Music. Music Theory Spectrum. ISSN 0195-6167. 44(1). doi: 10.1093/mts/mtab013. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Researchers have argued that temporal microdeviations from the metric grid, such as those producedby musicians in performance, are crucial to making a musical rhythm groovy and danceable. It is curious, then, that the music currently dominating the dance floor, “electronic dance music” or EDM, is typically characterized by grid-based rhythms. But is such a “mechanistic,” grid-based aesthetic necessarily devoid of microrhythmic nuance? In this article, we aim to show that the microrhythmic component of an engaging groove involves the manipulation of more than simply the onset locations of rhythmic events—the sonic features fundamentally contribute to shaping the groove as well. In particular, we seek to demonstrate that EDM producers, with their preference for a grid-based microtiming aesthetic, are very sensitive to and adept at manipulating such sonic features for expressive effect. Drawing on interviews with EDM producers, we show that producers are often concerned with both sonic and temporal features, as well as their interactions. We argue that sonic features are crucial to shaping groove and feel at the micro level of rhythm. Moreover, such features also tend to introduce an indirect microtiming aspect to the grid-based aesthetic of EDM through the ways in which they shape timing at the perceptual level.

• Brøvig-Hanssen, Ragnhild; Sandvik, Bjørnar Ersland & Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius (2020). Dynamic range processing and its influence on perceived timing in electronic dance music. Music Theory Online. ISSN 1067-3040. 26(2), p. 1–13. doi: 10.30535/MTO.26.2.3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this article, we explore the extent to which dynamic range processing (such as compression and sidechain compression) influences our perception of a sound signal’s temporal placement in music. Because compression reshapes the sound signal’s envelope, scholars have previously noted that certain uses of sidechain compression can produce peculiar rhythmic effects. In this article, we have tried to interrogate and complicate this notion by linking a description of the workings and effects of dynamic range processing to empirical findings on the interaction between sound and perceived timing, and by analyzing multitracks and DAW project files, as well as released audio files, of selected EDM tracks. The analyses of the different EDM tracks demonstrated that sidechain compression affects the music in many possible ways, depending on the settings of the compressors’ parameters, as well as the rhythmic pattern and the sonic complexity of both the trigger signal and the sidechained signal. Dynamic range processing’s impact on groove and perceived timing indicates, in line with previous findings, that sound and timing interact in fundamental ways. Because of this interaction, then, we cannot limit ourselves to technical terms that describe how particular effects are achieved if we want to fully understand the grooves that are characteristic of EDM or other music. We must also consider how listeners experience these effects.

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• Roberts, Rachel; Brøvig, Ragnhild & Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius (2023). Scientific research uncovers why Seeb’s I Took A Pill In Ibiza remix is hugely popular. [Internet]. MusicTech.com.
• Jones, Andy; Brøvig, Ragnhild & Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius (2023). Scientists explain why Seeb's remix of I Took A Pill In Ibiza has racked up 1.7 billion Spotify streams: it's all down to "micro-rhythmic nuances", hard work... and playing left-handed. [Internet]. MusicRadar.com .
• Brøvig, Ragnhild & Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius (2022). Vocal Chops: Another Human/Machine Hybrid. Show summary

  Mainstream popular music has, over the past decade, been characterized by the rhythmic and weird-sounding vocal effect known as vocal chops—short vocal samples that are juxtaposed, rearranged, and repitched to create hooks and effects. The samples are usually manipulated (transposed, formant shifted, or cut up, for example) to create a hybrid human-syntheziser sound and rearranged into a melody with abrupt and often unexpected transitions between the sounds. In this paper, we will first explore the historical origins of vocal chops, framing this effect as the most recent incarnation of producers’ and listeners’ enduring fascination with vocal manipulation. Drawing on ecological affordance theory, we will further speculate on what it is that people find so fascinating about this effect. We will also demonstrate various approaches to creating vocal chops and the various effects that these approaches produce, arguing that the intense exploration of this technique in recent years has led to its normalization, and to its progressively subtler integration into music productions.

• Brøvig-Hanssen, Ragnhild; Johansson, Mats Sigvard; Sandvik, Bjørnar; Jacobsen, Eirik; Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius & Danielsen, Anne (2022). Musical rhythm. Qualitative investigations.
• Bischoff, Friederike; Lien, Lars; Solset, Berit; Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius; Borch, Rolf-Steinar & Eliassen, Ingrid [Show all 12 contributors for this article] (2021). ARcTic Sustain.
• Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius (2021). Nearly Invisible Stitches - Nils Petter Molvær.
• Brøvig-Hanssen, Ragnhild; Sandvik, Bjørnar & Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius (2021). Slow Attacks, Peculiar Accents, and Pumping Grooves: Perceptual Interaction between Timing and Intensity in Music Production.
• Davidsen, Geir; Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius; Lien, Lars; Bischoff, Friederike; Nystabakk, Solmund & Kloster, Jens Christian [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2020). NORTEM. Show summary

  Nortem is the sonic exploration of a journey northward. The source material from which the instrumental and electronics parts are constructed is a series of recordings at each degree of latitude made from my journey between California (lat 38) to Alaska (lat 63). Using software the most important pitch material is extracted. This extracted source material is then shaped into musical lines for the instruments. To the instrumental score, both live and fixed electronic are added. The fixed material blends recorded source material with synthesis. The performative electronics process the live instrumental material and provide an additional instrumental component with a broader timbral range than other instruments. The electronics performer controls his instrument through two cameras and a pad controller with touch and position sensitivity. The ultimate goal of Nortem is the presentation of a series of aesthetic sonic situations that both recount the experience of my personal journey north and provide an acoustic space for the listener to consider and experience the idea of a journey northward.

• Davidsen, Geir; Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius; Lien, Lars; Bischoff, Friederike; Eliassen, Ingrid & Kloster, Jens Christian [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2020). Gæ. Show summary

  Gœ er et gammelnorsk ord og betyr et slags værlag, nysnø eller sporsnø. Nysnø og sporsnø gir mulighet for å lete etter og – dersom de eksisterer – finne og følge spor. Stykket gœ handler om en form for søken der sporsnø kan være til hjelp for å finne.

• Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius (2020). Christel Alsos - Live fra Oslo Konserthus 1.
• Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius (2020). Finn ut hva denne høyttalerriggen og nordlysmålinger fra Kilpis har til felles. [Newspaper]. iTromso.no.
• Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius (2020). Under lyset - musikk og lyddesign.
• Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius (2020). Sound of Light.
• Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius; Wittner, Otto Jonassen & Engum, Trond (2020). Bandøving fra soverommet? Khrono.no. ISSN 1894-8995.
• Bischoff, Friederike; Lien, Lars; Davidsen, Geir; Kloster, Jens Christian; Eliassen, Ingrid & Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2020). ARcTic Sustain under Nordlysfestival - Ideen om Nord.
• Brøvig-Hanssen, Ragnhild & Aareskjold, Jon Marius (2019). Vocal Chops and it's aesthetics.
• Brøvig-Hanssen, Ragnhild & Aareskjold, Jon Marius (2019). Vocal chops and Rhythm.
• Brøvig-Hanssen, Ragnhild & Aareskjold, Jon Marius (2019). Vocal Chops and its Aesthetics.
• Aareskjold, Jon Marius (2018). Sound of Light - Installasjon på Nordlysobservatoriet (NOBS).
• Aareskjold, Jon Marius (2018). Sound of Light.
• Aareskjold, Jon Marius (2018). Torun Eriksen - Luxury and Waste.
• Brøvig-Hanssen, Ragnhild; Aareskjold, Jon Marius & Sandvik, Bjørnar (2018). EDM Producers' Reflections on Groove.
• Aareskjold, Jon Marius (2017). Nils Petter Molvær - Buoyancy.
• Aareskjold, Jon Marius (2017). Studio Assist - App.
• Aareskjold, Jon Marius (2017). Ivnnuguin - Ánte.
• Aareskjold, Jon Marius (2017). Revelation For Personal Use.
• Aareskjold, Jon Marius (2016). Jarrett vs Molvær: Developments in jazz music production.
• Aareskjold, Jon Marius (2015). Everything You Own In The Box: Ontologies of creative ownership in Beyonce's Irreplaceable. Show summary

  In most of the developed world, the music industry acknowledges two types of intellectual property – the composition and the sound recording. This distinction has served creators well for more than a century, but it is based on the assumption that the composition and recording processes are separate creative acts. In the late 20th and early 21st century, record production has frequently merged these practices, and many contemporary ‘songwriters’ create the composition and the sound recording simultaneously. This song/track paradigm leads to potential challenges of identifying creative contributions that has implications for ownership of copyright and authorial attribution. This paper discusses the song/track conundrum through a case study of Beyoncé’s ‘Irreplaceable’ (2007), tracking its creation from an initial sound recording of a guitar chord pattern through to a finished commercial release, complete with six author credits. Creative strategies will be identified through interviews with participants and researcher­practitioner contributions (one of the presenters will share his first­hand experience of the studio sessions in which Irreplaceable was created). Contemporary studio­based songwriting practices such as toplining and beatmaking will be analysed in detail, and participants’ creative roles will be compared to the composer credits and royalty splits that were eventually agreed. This case study will be used to frame the philosophical, moral and commercial questions that arise in situations where composition and production may be creatively indistinguishable from each other, and to discuss ways in which the song/track distinction might be nuanced to enable all creators to receive appropriate reward or recognition for their work.

• Aareskjold, Jon Marius (2015). Rocks & Straws.
• Aareskjold, Jon Marius (2014). Northern Lights.
• Lund, Niels Windfeld; Davidsen, Geir & Aareskjold, Jon Marius (2013). Teknologi i støpeskjeen. Podium. FOU-magasin fra Universitetet i Tromsø, Det kunstfaglige fakultet. ISSN 1890-5005. p. 12–14.
• Bresler, Zack; Hawkins, Stan & Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius (2022). Immersed in Pop! Excursions into Compositional Design. University of Agder. ISSN 978-82-8427-061-6. Full text in Research Archive

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