Audio Presets: Creative Friend or Foe? (Amy Skjerseth)

How much of your life is preprogrammed? Presets, or default settings on technology, can be found everywhere, from radios to apps to appliances. A preset is meant to enable the user, but it constrains the user at the same time. According to author Amy Skjerseth, they also reinforce—but sometimes challenge—economic, political, and social norms. Skjerseth's new book examines the fascinating histories of common presets, with a special focus on audio technologies. Using capitalist, queer, and feminist critique, she shows how, from the popularization of the push-button car radio in the 1930s to the Auto-Tune era and the advent of AI, artists have co-opted preset technologies to reconfigure ways of seeing and hearing and develop new forms of artistic and cultural expression. Amy Skjerseth is Assistant Professor of Popular Music at the University of California, Riverside, and coeditor of The Routledge Companion to Voice and Identity. Cited Media: Books: Amy Skjerseth - Preprogrammed: How Electronic Presets Changed Music and Media (2026) Rick Altman - Silent Film Sound (2004) Paula Harper - Viral Musicking and the Rise of Noisy Platforms (forthcoming) Ada Lovelace - Notes on the Analytical Engine (1843) Articles: Lisa Nakamura - Indigenous Circuits: Navajo Women and the Racialization of Early Electronic Manufacture (2014) Podcasts: Hyperfixed - A Button is a Promise (2026) Phantom Power - Ep. 24: Voice of Yoko (2021) Phantom Power - Analog Revolutionaries with Theodore Gordon (2026) Video: Suzanne Ciani - David Letterman Show appearance (1980) Clara Rockmore - The Swan (1976) Performance: Anna Friz & Jeff Kolar - The Other Spectrum (2025) Chapters: 0:00 Intro 2:51 Defining the Preset 9:01 AI, Cake Mix & Consumer Agency 15:24 Theater Organs & Mood Music 23:35 Synthesizers & Sample Packs 29:16 Women in Music Technology 35:06 Algorithmic Culture & Auto-Tune 44:51 Self-Optimization vs Creative Friction Click here to read the full transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices