故障音乐的素材通常来自出错或粗制滥造的数码音频设备,例如发生跳进播放的CD机、电机的轰鸣、数字或模拟的失真、错乱的电路、低保真的音频、软件的程式的故障、黑胶唱片的噪声以及其他系统错误。[2] 2000年,作曲家兼乐评人的金·卡斯康(Kim Cascone)在《电脑音乐杂志》(Computer Music Journal)上将故障音乐定义为电子音乐的子流派并使用“后数字”(post-digital)一词来形容故障音乐的美学。[1]
故障音乐的美学起源可以追溯到20世纪早期的噪音音乐。1913年,路易吉·鲁索洛提出了未来主义宣言《噪音的艺术》(L'arte dei rumori ),同时也是噪音音乐的根基。这位艺术家搭建了一组名为“intonarumori”的噪音发生器,并创作了《城市的苏醒》(Risveglio di una città)和《汽车与飞机的相遇》(Convegno di automobili e aeroplani)等专门用于这组乐器演奏的曲目。1914年,他在意大利米兰的演出引发了一场骚乱。[3]
在此之后,作曲家和音乐家开始运用故障的手法进行创作,例如The Moody Blues乐队的迈克尔·平德(Michael Pinder)在1968年创作的The Best Way to Travel,以及克里斯蒂安·马克莱(Christian Marclay)在1979年用切割黑胶唱片创作的声音拼贴作品。1985年,刀根康尚(Yasunao Tone)使用损坏的CD表演了Techno Eden。1992年尼古拉斯·柯林斯(Nicolas Collins)发布了个人专辑It Was a Dark and Stormy Night,其中包含了弦乐四重奏与CD故障跳进播放的声音。
^ 1.01.1"The glitch genre arrived on the back of the electronica movement, an umbrella term for alternative, largely dance-based electronic music (including house, techno, electro, drum'n'bass, and ambient) that has come into vogue in the past five years. Most of the work in this area is released on labels peripherally associated with the dance music market and is, therefore, removed from the contexts of academic consideration and acceptability that it might otherwise earn. Still, in spite of this odd pairing of fashion and art music, the composers of glitch often draw their inspiration from the masters of 20th century music who they feel best describe its lineage." THE AESTHETICS OF FAILURE: 'Post-Digital' Tendencies in Contemporary Computer Music, Kim Cascone, Computer Music Journal 24:4 Winter 2000 (MIT Press) (页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆)
^Stuart, Caleb. “Damaged Sound: Glitching and Skipping Compact Discs in the Audio of Yasunao Tone, Nicolas Collins and Oval”. Leonardo Music Journal 13 (2003): 47–52. Web.
^Kyle Gann. "Collins, Nicolas." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web.
Bijsterveld, Karin and Trevor J. Pinch. 'Should One Applaud?': "Breaches and Boundaries in the Reception of New Technology in Music." Technology and Culture. Ed. 44.3, pp. 536–559. 2003.
Byrne, David. "What is Blip Hop?" Luakabop, 2002. Available here. (页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆)
Collins, Adam, "Sounds of the system: the emancipation of noise in the music of Carsten Nicolai", Organised Sound, 13(1): 31–39. 2008. Cambridge University Press.
Collins, Nicolas. Editor. "Composers inside Electronics: Music after David Tudor." Leonardo Music Journal. Vol. 14, pp. 1–3. 2004.