People all-too-commonly imagine that electronic music is dominated entirely by men, when it simply isn’t the case. While the world of electronic music is certainly heavily tilted to the male side, part of the problem is that women too often get less attention, less credit, less PR, and less widespread dissemination of their music — listeners are biased, in other words.
Our friends at Cynthia have a huge list of major female composers and musicians:
Girls on Synth [Cyndustries.com]
And yes, among the various names is Cyndustries’ own Cynthia Webster (pictured) — it all began with a high school purchase of an ARP 2600, she says. Unfortunately, the list isn’t terribly up-to-date; the link to my own composition teacher at Brooklyn College Tania Leon is broken! (More on her here, though most of her work has been for unplugged instruments.) So is the link for NYC’s own Keiko aka o.blaat of Share fame. But, it’s a start, and has some great resources at the bottom. Women in synthesis aren’t just an occasional oddity: you’ll see some of the most important names in the evolution of electronic music. Music using electricity simply wouldn’t be what it is today without its often-unsung female pioneers.
Got some women pioneers you’d like to point out . . . or just a female reader and want to brag about your own work? Drop us a line. Incidentally, for reference, I’d say easily 50% or more of my own colleagues are female in interactive art and electronic music alike . . . and I notice nearly half of the people who register here on CDM. Gender imbalance? Not necessarily. -PK