It’s Not (Just) About History and, by the Way, Which History?

This chapter offers the view that the teaching of electroacoustic (or sound-based) music, which possesses its own paradigm, should ideally be presented holistically by introducing relevant aspects of theory and practice with regard to any given subject simultaneously. It further supports the view that creating electroacoustic music without a broad knowledge of its various disciplines, its technologies, techniques, and histories indicates a pedagogical flaw, as does the notion of undertaking analytical and other musicological studies of electroacoustic composition without hands-on experience of sonic creativity. This chapter suggests that collaborative musicking, as it is relevant to both sampling and do-it-yourself electronics (hacking) cultures, should be integrated into any twenty-first–century electroacoustic curriculum, as should socio-cultural awareness regarding the place of sonic creativity in today’s and tomorrow’s world. Finally, the scope of making music with sounds is very broad these days. Histories tend to be selective. Holism is a means of avoiding that.