Sonic Writing: Technologies of Material, Symbolic, and Signal Inscriptions - Softcover

"Thor Magnusson's Sonic Writing: Technologies of Material, Symbolic, and Signal Inscriptions is one of those rare reads that manages to connect, to clarify, and to serve as a great starting point for conceptualizing what we're up to even as we're doing it. What Thor's up to is something which is different and thought-provoking - he's interested in looking at some of the ways in which technology has always conditioned our musical expression, even as it modifies and redefines it." - Interference Journal

“In this kaleidoscopic synthesis of history, theory, and organology, Thor Magnusson offers not only a groundbreaking interpretation of digital musical instruments but also bracing new perspectives on instrumentality as such.” ―Thomas Patteson, Professor of Music History, Curtis Institute of Music, USA, and author of Instruments for New Music: Sound, Technology, and Modernism (2015)

“This is a fascinating and giddy sprint through the long history of our digital present. Magnusson tells the history of 20th- and 21st-century music through the lens of inscription--capaciously understood to encompass musical instruments, controllers, interfaces, notation, and recording. By turns breathlessly ambitious in his broad historical sweep and revelatory in his detailed attention to individual technologies, Magnusson gives his readers a host of critical tools to think through the challenges and affordances of our musical tools.” ―Emily I. Dolan, Gardner Cowles Associate Professor of Music, Harvard University, USA, and author of The Orchestral Revolution: Haydn and the Technologies of Timbre (2013)

“There are books on new digital instruments and technologies, or on electronic music practice and sound design, but Magnusson's book is unique in its exploration of how technology conditions our musical expression. By focusing on the conditions on which current digital technologies are redefining musical practices, and through a rigorous analysis in the three domains of musical instruments, notation, and recording, Magnusson has authored an essential book for understanding the musical paradigm shifts that are emerging in our early 21st century.” ―Sergi Jordą, digital luthier, music technology researcher and Professor, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain; creator of the Reactable music instrument and founder of Reactable Systems