From the ashes: A case study of the Re-development of local music recording in Rabaul (Papua New Guinea) following the 1994 volcanic eruptions

Abstract

Over the last decade, a series of publications - such as, most notably, Steve Jones's Rock Formations (1992),1 Michael Chanan's Repeated Takes (1995)2 and Paul Théberge's Any Sound You Can Imagine (1997)3 - have offered accounts of the impact of various technological innovations on contemporary music culture. Almost without exception, they have advanced their analyses with near-total reliance on examples drawn from the North Atlantic core of the Western music industry. To date, the impact of various technologies on the music cultures and industries of the rest of the planet have been little examined. While these cultures and industries may 'lag behind' their better-facilitated western counterparts in terms of provision of new equipment and associated creative and industrial practices, the impact of new technologies on these territories is just as marked and complex as it is in the West.