Tara Rodgers
Education
PhD, McGill University, Communication Studies
MFA, Mills College, Electronic Music & Recording Media
BA with Honors, Brown University, American Studies
Selected Publications
2018 “Approaching Sound,” ch. in The Routledge Companion to Media Studies & Digital Humanities
2016 “Toward a Feminist Epistemology of Sound: Refiguring Waves in Audio-Technical Discourse,” ch. in Engaging the World: Thinking After Irigaray, SUNY Press
2015 “Synthesis,” ch. in Keywords in Sound, Duke University Press
2015 “Tinkering with Cultural Memory: Gender and the Politics of Synthesizer Historiography,” Feminist Media Histories 1:4
2015 “Cultivating Activist Lives in Sound,” Leonardo Music Journal
2012 “How Art and Research Inform One Another; or, Choose Your Own Adventure,” Canadian Journal of Communication 37:1
2011 “‘What, for me, constitutes life in a sound?’: Electronic Sounds as Lively and Differentiated Individuals.” American Quarterly 63:3
2011 “The Poetics of Signal Processing” (co-authored with Jonathan Sterne), differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies 22:3
2010 Pink Noises: Women on Electronic Music and Sound, Duke University Press. (Reviewed in 8 refereed journals and approx. 20 magazines, websites, and blogs.)
2006 “Butterfly Effects: Synthesis, Emergence & Transduction.” Leonardo Electronic Almanac 14
2003 “On the Process and Aesthetics of Sampling in Electronic Music Production.” Organised Sound 8:3
Reprints & Translations
2019 “Cultivating Activist Lives in Sound,” in Ljudkonst anthology on sound art, ed. Andreas Engström and Åsa Helena Stjerna (Stockholm: OEI). (Swedish translation)
2017 “Cultivating Activist Lives in Sound,” in Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music, revised ed., ed. Christoph Cox and Daniel Warner (London: Bloomsbury)
2013 “Om samplingens process och estetik i elektronisk musikproduktion [On the Process and Aesthetics of Sampling in Electronic Music Production, 2003]”, in Mer än Ljud/More Than Sound, ed. Sara Arrhenius and Magnus Bergh (Stockholm: Albert Bonniers Förlag). (Swedish translation)
2012 “Toward a Feminist Historiography of Electronic Music” (reprint from Pink Noises), in The Sound Studies Reader, ed. Jonathan Sterne (New York: Routledge)
2012 “On the Process and Aesthetics of Sampling in Electronic Music Production,” in Electronica, Dance and Club Music, ed. Mark J. Butler, The Library of Essays on Popular Music series (London: Ashgate)
2012 “‘What, for me, constitutes life in a sound?’: Electronic Sounds as Lively and Differentiated Individuals,” in Sound Clash: Listening to American Studies, ed. Kara Keeling and Josh Kun (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press)
2011 “Poetik der Signalverarbeitung [The Poetics of Signal Processing]” (co-authored with Jonathan Sterne), Zeitschrift für Medienwissenschaft 5, no. 2. (German translation)
Edited & Curated Projects
2010 “Sounds Like Now!: Improvisation + Technology,” curated CD with introductory essay, Leonardo Music Journal 20, “Improvisation” issue. With invited music from Nancy Tobin, Val Jeanty, William Fowler Collins, Christina Wheeler, Doug Van Nort, Anna Friz, and more
2006 “Sound and the Social Organization of Space,” special section with introductory essay. Leonardo Music Journal 16. With invited statements by Carrie Bodle, Beth Coleman and Howard Goldkrand, Chris Kubick and Anne Walsh, Trevor Paglen, and Matt Volla
Collections
Tara Rodgers/Pink Noises Archive, The Riot Grrrl Collection, NYU Fales Library and Special Collections (donated June 2016)
Discography
Solo Releases
(self-released unless otherwise noted)
2021 Intents + Purposes (20th Anniversary Reissue)
2021 Slow Time
2021 Dimensions — 1432 R
2020 Spacetime Frequency Departure Portal
2020 At the Switch Hotel (2020 Remaster)
2020 Synthetic Fields — Zeromoon
2020 Upper Limits of Normal (20th Anniversary Reissue)
2018 Sketches with Piano + Analog Noise — VF Industrial
2018 Fundamentals — 1432 R
2017 Analog Tara Mixtape
2017 Sand, Snow, Breeze
2012 Resolutions
2007-09 Sonic Panoramas
2007 Butterfly Effects
2007 Ocean State
2006 Flows
2006 Magnus Harmonica
2002 Upper Limits of Normal
2001 Mothering Sunday
2001 Intents + Purposes
2001 Epiphany
2000 Analog Tara
Remixes
2020 Beauty Pill, Analog Tara remix for vinyl edition of Please Advise EP, Northern Spy
2002 Le Tigre, Analog Tara remix for Le Tigre 12”, vinyl and CD, Mr. Lady/Chicks on Speed
Compilations
2006 Women Take Back the Noise, Ubuibi (US)
2003 Girls In Space, Higher Octave (US)
2002 Le Tigre Remix, Mr Lady Records (US)/Chicks On Speed (EU)
2001 Difficult Music for Difficult People, Raw Research Recordings (Belgium)
2001 File Sound Art Series (UK)
2001 opensource:players, Source Records (Germany)
Recent Performances
2021 Bilgi 12th Annual Electroacoustic Music Fesival, Instanbul (online)
2021 MICA Sound Art Vigil Festival, Baltimore, MD (online)
2016-20 Rhizome, Washington, DC
2018 MUTEK festival, Montréal
2018 Tritriangle, Chicago, IL
2018 Crosstown Arts, Memphis, TN
2017 The Bridge, Charlottesville, VA
2016 Sonic Circuits Festival, Washington, DC
2015 Windup Space, Baltimore, MD
Collaborations & Commissions
2022 Music for Periodically Queer: a podcast on print media and LGBTQ+ community building, One Archives Foundation, LA
2009-18 CANE: a responsive environment dancework by Thomas F. DeFrantz, presented by SLIPPAGE. Music for performances at M.I.T. Department of Music and Theater Arts (2009) and Duke University (2013, 2018)
2015 Insert [coda] Here: Dance/music/video collaboration with Sharon Mansur and Brian Harris. Screenings at Citizen Jane, Tiny Dance, and several other film festivals
2013-14 Insert [ ] Here, a collaborative performance project co-directed by Sharon Mansur and Nick Bryson. Music and sound for events at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, UMD, and Dance Place, DC
2013 Music for Church of Nano Bio Info Cogno, a performance by Praba Pilar, Atomic Centre, Winnipeg, MB
Solo Exhibition
2012 Stamp Gallery, University of Maryland: Patterns of Movement: Data and Sound Works, 2005-12
Selected Group Exhibitions
2015 Sound Acts Festival, Athens, Greece: Gear Demos video installation
2011 SlowFloat/Ear to the Earth, Delaware River: “Wavecycles” sound installation
2009 MAERZ, Linz, Austria, Centrifuge Exhibition: “Places I’ve Lived & Traveled To,” and selections from “20 Largest State-to-State Migration Flows”
2008 Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto, Damn Your Eyes: The Infinite Dimension of Sound Exhibition: “Sonic Panorama, Montréal”
2008 Galerie B312, Montréal: “Butterfly Effects”
2007 The Western Front, Vancouver: “Three Sonic Panoramas, Vancouver”
2007 SOIL Gallery, Seattle, Groundtruthing Exhibition: “Places I’ve Lived…”
2007 Radio Papesse, Bologna, Italy, Gender Bender Festival: “Unspeakable Items”
2007 Santa Fe International Festival of Electroacoustic Music: “Butterfly Effects”
2006 Eyebeam Museum, New York, Circuit #2 Exhibition: “Places I’ve Lived…”
2006 Fresno Metropolitan Museum: “Ground Creeper Variations” (Remix for Ed Osborn)
Selected Bibliography
2021 “The Best Dance 12″ Singles on Bandcamp: June/July 2021.” Bandcamp
2021 “Analog Tara – Dimensions Review” and “July’s Best Music.” Resident Advisor
2021 “Amplifying the Women Who Pushed Synthesizers Into the Future.” New York Times
2020 “Conheça as pioneiras da música eletrônica.” ELLE Brasil
2020 “Book Review: Pink Noises – Women On Electronic Music and Sound.” Cycling ’74
2019 “Eight Artists Defining Washington D.C.’s Experimental Scene.” Bandcamp Daily
2018 “Analog Tara Puts Techno-Feminist Theory Into Practice.” NPR Music
2018 “Analog Tara is bringing her ‘homemade techno’ back to the outside world.” Washington Post
2018 “Top Ten by Lyra Pramuk.” Artforum
2016 “How Ableton Pushes Women Forward in Music Tech.” Electronic Beats
2016 “5 Ableton Loop Events You Can’t Miss.” Landr blog
2016 “How do Cubans Make Electronic Music Without Reliable Internet?” Thump/Vice
2015 “On Site: Sound::Gender::Feminism::Activism,” The Wire 371
2004 Analog Tara feature, Sounds of Style issue. Women’s Wear Daily
2003 “Pinknoisemaking: Internet Trailblazer and Radical Musician Analog Tara Offers Some Thoughts on Feminism and Electronic Music Culture.” XLR8R 68
Recent Interviews
2019 Interview by Ted Coffey. Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) newsletter
2018 Artist Case Study: Tara Rodgers. In The Digital Musician, 3rd ed., ed. Andrew Hugill (Routledge)
2018 Interview: Analog Tara. Truants blog
2017 “Building Curriculum Diversity: Pink Noises.” New Music Box
2017 “Media Crafting: Tara Rodgers’ Collection of Mini Fibre Arts Audio Gear.” Museum of Portable Sound
Recent Visiting Artist/Guest Lectures
2021 Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Sound Art
2020 Stevens Institute of Technology, Music and Technology
2020 ISSUE Project Room, Brooklyn (Conversation with Laurie Spiegel and Seth Cluett)
2020 Brooklyn College, Sonic Arts
2019 Brown University, Music Now Colloquium
2018 School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Sound
2017 Northeastern University, Music
2017 University of Virginia, Music
Recent Public Lectures
2021 SEAMUS Conference, Interview with Annea Lockwood (Keynote)
2018 MUTEK Festival, Keychange/Amplify, Montréal (Keynote)
2018 Crosstown Arts, Memphis
2016 Ableton Loop Summit, Berlin
2014 London College of Communication, Univ. of the Arts: Sound::Gender::Feminism::Activism Conference (Keynote)
2014 opensignal Festival, Brown University, Providence (Keynote)
2014 CTM Festival, Berlin (Keynote)
2012 Her Noise: Feminisms and the Sonic Symposium, Tate Modern, London
Teaching Positions
2013 Dartmouth College, Visiting Assistant Professor, Digital Musics
2010-13 University of Maryland, Assistant Professor, Women’s Studies; Distinguished Faculty Fellow, Digital Cultures & Creativity; Affiliate Faculty, American Studies, Musicology & Ethnomusicology
2004-05 School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Visiting Faculty, Sound
Professional Service
2012- Advisory Board, Sounding Out!: The Sound Studies Blog
2012-20 Editorial Board, Leonardo Music Journal (MIT Press)
2014-15 Editorial Board, Women & Music (University of Nebraska Press)
2011-14 Manuscript Reviewer, Duke University Press, Univ. of California Press, Univ. of Chicago Press
Selected Honors & Awards
2019 Washington Area Music Awards (Wammies) Nominee, Best Electronic/Techno Artist
2011 International Alliance for Women in Music: Pauline Alderman Book Award, Pink Noises
2007 International Alliance for Women in Music: New Genre Composition Prize, Butterfly Effects
2006-09 Richard H. Tomlinson Doctoral Fellowship, McGill University
2006 Canada-U.S. Fulbright Scholar
2006 Frog Peak Experimental Music Prize
2003 International Songwriting Competition: Semi-finalist, Dance/Electronica
2003 Webby Awards, Best Music Website Nominee, pinknoises.com