Humanity and mechanicity in the music of Nine Inch Nails
Item
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Title
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Humanity and mechanicity in the music of Nine Inch Nails
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:8b83c1b9d94f:11002
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identifier
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10522
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Creator
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Muchmore, Patrick,
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Contributor
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Shaugn O'Donnell | Jonathan Pieslak
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Date
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2010
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Music | album | analysis | industrial | Nine Inch Nails | rock theory | Trent Reznor
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Abstract
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The primary purpose of this dissertation is to provide analyses of the first four albums, spanning 1989--1999, by the American band Nine Inch Nails: pretty hate machine, broken, the downward spiral and The Fragile. In each case an album-level general analysis is followed by close readings of a few select tracks. Many analytical approaches, both traditional and new, are used, but a particular emphasis is placed on the sound of the track itself being the primary artistic object. Stereo spatialization and sonic effects are thus treated equally to melodic, formal and harmonic structures. The analyses are held together by a consistent interrogation of "humanity" and "mechanicity" in the compositional choices made and the resulting senses of agency that such choices often create. A resulting secondary purpose of the dissertation is an attempt to begin codifying the nature of human and mechanical agency, as well as to provide some exegesis on the effect of a variety of compositional choices in the recording studio. Finally, a brief effort to categorize the Nine Inch Nails discography up to 2009 reveals a larger narrative throughout the band's career.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Music
