David Carter

Assistant Professor of Music (Theory/Composition) Loyola Marymount University

  • Los Angeles CA

Assistant Professor of Music (Theory/Composition)

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Loyola Marymount University

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Biography

David S. Carter is a composer and music theorist. He has published two research articles examining popular music in Music Theory Online as well as an article co-authored with Ralf von Appen in the journal Theory and Practice. He has presented papers at the Society for Music Theory annual meeting, the National Conference of the College Music Society, and at both the U.S. and International conferences of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM).

His compositions have been performed or recorded by the JACK Quartet, the International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, Ensemble Court-Circuit, and Ensemble Signal, among others. He is the recipient of a Summer 2023 Faith & Justice Research Grant from LMU for a compositional and research project, “Environmental Justice in Westchester and Inglewood: Reimagining the Soundscape.” He won the Iron Composer competition at Baldwin Wallace University, Northwestern University’s William T. Faricy Award, and second prize in the Rhenen International Carillon Composition Competition. He has had works performed at the Northwestern University New Music Conference (NUNC! 4 and NUNC! 3), June in Buffalo (2014 and 2011), the 2008 Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice at New England Conservatory, Music07 at the University of Cincinnati, and the 2007 Bowdoin International Music Festival. Prior to joining LMU in Fall 2020, he taught at Northwestern University and North Park University. He earned his doctorate in music composition at Northwestern, where his principal teacher was Lee Hyla.

Prior to his graduate music studies, he earned a J.D. at the University of Southern California and a B.A. in English Literature at Yale University.

Education

Northwestern University

D.M.

Music Composition

2013

University of Southern California

J.D.

Law

1999

Yale University

B.A.

English Literature

1996

Areas of Expertise

Tin Pan Alley
Microtiming
The Rolling Stones
Popular Music
Popular Music Analysis
Music Composition
The Blues
Musical Form
Tempo
Click Tracks

Industry Expertise

Music

Affiliations

  • Society for Music Theory
  • College Music Society
  • International Association for the Study of Popular Music

Articles

Generic Norms, Irony, and Authenticity in the AABA Songs of the Rolling Stones, 1963-1971

Music Theory Online

David S. Carter

The article addresses the Rolling Stones’ use of AABA form between 1963 and 1971 and its relation to defaults of the time, using corpus research to apply James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy’s theory of dialogic form to popular music repertoire. The paper also critically analyzes the ways that the Rolling Stones attempted to achieve authenticity by connecting with blues and soul music performed primarily by Black musicians and distancing themselves from the traditions of Tin Pan Alley and the Brill Building.

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Beyond Strophic: Prolonged Refrains, Choruses, and Bridges in the Blues, 1923-1966

Music Theory Online

David S. Carter

This article discusses the ways in which blues songs ventured outside of strophic form and used formal approaches that aligned more closely with mainstream popular music. It argues that the songs’ formal hybridity is reflective of the merging of rural and urban influences during the Great Migration.

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Measuring the Myth: Microtiming and Tempo Variability in the Music of the Rolling Stones

Theory and Practice

David S. Carter and Ralf von Appen

This article, prompted by career assessments of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts in the wake of his death in 2021, tests claims made about his drumming by empirically analyzing microtiming and tempo variability in the band’s recordings. We found that Watts delayed backbeats more consistently than his contemporaries, particularly in recordings released between 1967 and 1973, and that the band showed a pattern of acceleration in this same time period.

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