Matrix Listening: Lessons from the Columbia “T” Series (Argentina, 1912-1923)
A matrix number is a code inscribed in the run out area of gramophone records. They are not relevant to the conventional listening experience and are, in fact, inaudible. Nevertheless, I argue that framing scholarly listening around matrix numbers and other forms of industrial organization can provide valuable insights into directly musical concerns. I make this argument through an examination of the Columbia “T” series, a set of hundreds of 78-rpm discs that the U.S.-based recording company produced for export to Argentina between 1912 and 1923, drawing lessons regarding genre relationality, the materiality of recorded sound, the productivity of recorded sound collections, and listening as a method.
Co-Sponsored by the Musicology/Ethnomusicology Department and the Fine Arts Diversity Committee
Biography
Morgan James Luker is Associate Professor of Music at Reed College. An ethnomusicologist, Morgan's scholarly work focuses on the cultural politics of Latin American music, with special emphasis on contemporary tango music in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His first book on this topic is forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press. Morgan received a B.A. in Music History from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a M.A. and Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from Columbia University. He joined the Reed faculty in 2010, and teaches a wide variety of courses on world music and culture, including the Cultural Study of Music, Music and Politics, Latin American Popular Music, and Musical Ethnography, among many others. Morgan is also the director of Tango For Musicians at Reed College, an intensive summer music program that brings musicians from around the world to Reed to study tango.