Simon Order

Multimedia production of music and graphical arts using mobile computing while traveling to various geographical locations. The space in between physical geography and the virtual computing interface is considered as a liminal production environment. The synaesthetic influence of place or transient place is a novel lens through which to consider the creative press on media production activities. Much has been written about travelling, place and creativity but less has been written about this unique liminal production space made available by relatively new mobile production technologies. This paper considers two experimental production practices of a music producer and a graphic artist whilst traveling with mobile computing devices. How does their practice of mobility affect their workflow and creativity? Can a model of liminal and mobile creativity be observed from their practice? What trends emerge from their praxis?

Social scientists have long been fascinated about why people volunteer. Volunteers give their time to certain organisations without expectation of reward or compensation for their labour (Snyder and Omoto, 2008). The 2011 ‘National Survey of Volunteering Issues’ suggests that the primary motivations for volunteers are a “sense of purpose” and the “difference they make to the community” (Volunteering Australia, 2011:4). While these two primary motivations may span volunteering generally, older adult volunteer motivation in the community radio sector anecdotally reveals a more complex picture. There are strong resonances between existing theoretical literature on motivations in volunteering (Clary et al., 1998) and community radio (Order, 2014b). Clary et al’s work (1998) focuses on the initial motivation to volunteer and what drives continued participation. Order’s (2014b) study found that the main value for participation in community radio was personal development and empowerment at a personal or group level. The purpose of this paper is to explore these broad themes in more detail. Interview data from volunteers at an exemplar community radio station is considered in conjunction with Clary et al’s (1998) six motivational functions of volunteering. Clary et al’s six functions provide the language and a framework to unpack personal development and empowerment at a personal and group level in the community radio sector using interview data about the participation of primarily older volunteers at Perth community radio station 6RPH (Radio Print-Handicapped). The analysis reveals a more nuanced picture of volunteer motivation for individuals. This paper argues that the development of a purposeful identity through volunteering in a community radio context is a primary motivation and consequence for older adult volunteers.

In the world of music technology where, “music practice is challenged, mediated and redefined through performers’ and composers’ uses of ICT” (Savage, 2005, p. 168), curriculum change is necessary if the world of the classroom is to keep pace with the world outside (Cain, 2004, p. 219). For newcomers to music technology, the glittering array of increasingly sophisticated flashing, emulated, and modulated interfaces can invoke virtual interface dyslexia before giving way to options anxiety. Change is the only constant in the ever-evolving techno-scape of sound and music applications. This paper proposes that the development of an introductory tertiary music technology unit curriculum using loop-based music iPad apps may effectively engage nontraditional music students in both music and technology. The course design was underpinned by two intentions. Firstly, the aim was to stimulate student creativity and secondly, to encourage immersion (focused attention) in sonic composition (Witmer & Singer, 1998). This paper reports on the preliminary usability testing of five loop-based music iPad applications. It is administered to a sample of one, namely the author, using the System Usability Scale (SUS) (Brooke, 1996) and is guided by the following questions: Would this testing methodology be appropriate? What factors specific to loop-based music app design might be pertinent for educators? Would this testing method indicate the potential for student immersion and creativity? While the pilot study, described here, is conducted solely by the researcher to determine the effectiveness of the method, future research intends the study to be administered to a small classroom group if determined appropriate.

The most recent trend in music production is a move away from the work-orientated portable computer as a production tool to the tablet computer. Some have suggested that the emergence of the iPad tablet in the music technology landscape will democratise music making in the same way that the emergence of digital cameras made photography and filmmaking more available (Tough, 2009).This paper emerged from my own creative practice of music production on an iPad tablet whilst travelling, and at various international destinations. In an auto-ethnographic fashion, I felt that the quality of my creative outcomes was significantly enhanced by this mobile music production practice. What factors are at play? Tablets are relatively cheap compared to laptops; they are smaller and still viewed as a novelty. Further, notions of mobility and portability are more culturally attached to tablets than laptops (Goodwin, 2012). How then is the relatively new mobility of music production impacting creativity? This paper proposes there are two significant human interface paradigms at play that impact user creativity when producing music on a mobile tablet device. The first is the human-computer interface (HCI) of the music technology app itself. The culture of app development is moving the technology forward quickly, driving new approaches to interface design and creative engagement with new tablet music technology. Some work on tablet HCI and creativity has been done previously (Order, 2014). It is the second, and less obvious human-environmental interface (HEI), where little research on creativity has been done (Amabile, 1996) where this paper focuses its effort. Music production is now potentially a mobile practice, moving easily between geographic locations which yield a variety of visual, auditory, kinaesthetic and olfactory environmental cues. Such cues can function as cognitive input stimuli. This echoes the seminal work on creativity by Mel Rhodes (Rhodes, 1961) who popularised the term press to describe the multi-factorial impact of environment on human creativity. This human interface with the environment also speaks to definitions of synaesthesia by Simon Baron-Cohen and John Harrison (Baron-Cohen and Harrison, 1997), where “the stimulation of one sensory modality automatically triggers a perception in a second modality” (1). The potential for creative outcomes or provoking creativity via synaesthesia are apparent (Order, 2000). This paper examines approaches to mobile music production from these and other associated fields. Specifically, this paper focuses on the human-environmental interface, arguing that increased connectivity via mobility is a significant contributor to expanded musical creativity.

This paper examines what “value” means in relation to community radio broadcasting, summarising the development of a theoretical framework of value for community radio from the existing literature. As well, this paper provides an outline of the findings garnered from testing that framework at three community radio stations in Perth, Western Australia particularly the perceptions of value by the study participants. Finally, and most importantly, this paper discusses the importance of one key finding from the research: that study participants from all stations perceived the value of participation in community radio, as not necessarily an altruistic activity. This indicates that community radio’s value is significantly more about the benefits of participation for the volunteers rather than the benefits for the listening community.

The community radio sector in Australia is under-funded and under-resourced. Many of the 270-plus stations in Australia (CBAA 2012) struggle to maintain long-term viability and manage their day-to-day financial operations. Practitioners in the sector use a range of strategies to attract funding; however, there are no magic formulas for keeping their heads above water. Approximately 10 per cent of funding comes from government grants (Forde at al 2002: 98–99), most of which are one-off grants for specific projects. If the value of a community radio station could be determined, then surely it would be easier to attract funding from government or other sources. In this paper I examine the concept of value in the context of the community radio station. I explain why the assessment of value is important. Since the value of community radio is a divergent and contested theoretical terrain, a clearer understanding of value would most likely enable stations to attract more funding. I explore the notion of value in relation to community radio through four theoretical lenses. The first lens is the lens of definitions, where the value of community radio can be determined by how it is defined. As a medium, community radio can sit under various umbrella „alternative media‟–type definitions. The definitions can also be entwined with notions of value, obfuscating the theoretical territory. The second lens is the lens of oppositional power. Community radio as a type of alternative media has long been associated with „oppositional‟ stances to mainstream media themes. The value of this oppositional power is questionable and may be overstated. The third lens is the lens of social power. Community radio as alternative media has the potential to empower participants personally or politically. The fourth lens is the lens of participation in media production, where community radio encourages participation in media content production and administration.