Doing it With Others: the Social Dynamics of DIY Musicking

This article reflects upon Do It Yourself (DIY) musical activities in an effort to open them up to critical academic inquiry. It begins with a discussion of what ‘DIY’ means in a musical context, which is embellished with a brief historical account of early DIY ‘musicking’ and its subsequent development and diversification. The second part of the article uses Howard Becker’s account of the importance of resources, conventions and networks to the doing of art to bring a sociological perspective to bear upon DIY musicking. Each of these three factors is important in relation to DIY musicking and a consideration of them both allows us to ask questions about it and suggests potentially fruitful lines of inquiry for future research.