Dub techno as orphic experience: Auditory aesthetics, spatiality, and sound

Abstract

Techno music has experienced significant transformations in stylistic, practical, social, political, and cultural aspects over the past 40 years. One example of this transformation is dub techno, which has broken free from the paradigms and stylistic hegemony of sub-genres, representing a multifaceted transformation that extends beyond a mere musical shift. Dub techno sets itself apart from the context in which techno music is consumed and utilized more broadly. Orphic media is a new form of media consumption that allows individuals to isolate themselves from the sonic environment and achieve sonic self-control, based on the neoliberal self. The concept of orphic remediation occurs through two modes: intramodal remediation and crossmodal remediation. Dub techno can be used as a musical example to examine the orphic experience of individual music consumption from a musicological perspective. The aim of this thesis is to explore the transformation and evolution of techno music since its inception, particularly with regard to the individualization of music consumption across genres, using dub techno as a case study. The research consists of four fundamental themes: orphic experience, dub music, techno music, and dub techno music. All of these debates have been conducted to illuminate the communal experience of the relevant music genres. Dub music's default context was large, handmade sound systems, which caused the collision of sub-frequencies with the individual's body on the dance floor and internalization of physical activity. Dub and techno music both use amplification devices to increase the volume of music. Performance techniques in both genres transform sound engineers into artists and DJs into modern shamans. Dub techno, however, has shown a breakaway movement from this origin, testing the idea of orphic experience with technological devices and changing media characteristics.