The guest lecture series of the musicology department will take place online this semester via Zoom. All are invited to attend. Please register for the "Collegium musicologicum" Moodle and you will then receive a password for the upcoming Zoom lectures. Zoom sessions open at 17:45 and guest lectures begin at 18:00.
 

ABSTRACT. Vibe is a well-known phenomenon in research on dance music cultures, including dub/reggae, hip hop, house and techno. It can be construed as an affective atmosphere that is collectively shaped by the rhythmic interlocking of its different elements, such as the DJ, the music, the dancers, the space, the lights and the temperature. Ethnographic and phenomenological accounts of dance music consciousness are filled with subjective reports of feelings of oneness, unity, ego dissolution, ecstasy and oceanic experience. However, such dissolving of subjectivity during dancing, clubbing and raving has been treated largely as metaphor. This talk advances the notion of affective distribution by suggesting how the cognitive processes of dancing, clubbing and raving extend across the materiality of the beat and the body. I consider vibe from the phenomenological perspective of socio-affective Extended Mind and focus on its musical properties. I illustrate how the temporal structure of syncopation opens up spaces or gaps in the rhythmic surface that invite the body to ‘fill in’ through synchronised body-movement, thus providing the body with opportunities to physically occupy the musical beat. The talk thus asserts that the breakdown of boundaries between body, brain, music and environment is not just metaphorical but also material and physiological. In doing so it argues for a non-anthropocentric view of music and affect, where vibe is distributed between both human and non-human actors.

 Maria Witek is Senior Birmingham Fellow at the Department of Music, School of Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music, University of Birmingham. Her research addresses the psychology, cognitive neuroscience and phenomenology of musical rhythm, body-movement and affect, using methods such as brain imaging, motion-capture and music analysis. She also writes about musical embodiment and dance music experience. Dr Witek is also a live coder, under the artist name mxwx. She performs and makes algorithmic dance music at Algoraves and other live coding events, using TidalCycles. These performances are often collaborative with other live coders making music and visuals.