Emerald Adrift

One of the persistent debates in the world of electronic, ambient, and experimental music is what the proper role of theory and training should be, given the limitless frontiers of the canvas and the inherent lack of rules in the genre. Is an experimental artist who has never received formal training in music at a disadvantage or an advantage to one who has? Some claim that theory has the effect of installing mental blinders, causing the artist to adopt a viewpoint that inherently limits the breadth of choices they have available to them.