Jesse Budel | University of Adelaide (original) (raw)

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Papers by Jesse Budel

Over the past half century, there has been much research into the acoustic qualities of soundscap... more Over the past half century, there has been much research into the acoustic qualities of soundscapes from a variety of perspectives: the humanities and social sciences as per the ‘acoustic ecology’ movement (established by Schafer, Truax, and Westerkamp et al.), and more recently the environmental science and ecology as per ‘soundscape ecology’ (established by Farina, Pijanowski, and Krause, et al.). Collectively, these disciplines provide diverse methods for engagement with analysis of acoustic environments. Simultaneous to the rise of the acoustic ecology movement in the 1970s (marked by the publication of Schafer’s ‘The Tuning of the World (1974)), the composition of numerous seminal ‘minimalist’ musical works occurred, notable amongst them Steve Reich’s ‘Music For 18 Musicians’ (1974-6). Whilst there has been significant analysis of this work from a traditional musicological standpoint, the environmental implications of its process-driven nature have gone largely ignored, particul...

Featherstone Place is an urban sound installation responding to the eponymous alleyway in Adelaid... more Featherstone Place is an urban sound installation responding to the eponymous alleyway in Adelaide’s CBD. It draws on Jordan Lacey’s concept of ‘sonic ruptures’ (Lacey 2016), which are sound installations aimed at improving the affective qualities of urban acoustic environments.

Running 24/7 and informed by ecoacoustic principles and research, the installation responds to and interacts with the changes in the urban soundscape over the course of a day-night cycle. Comprised of field recordings of Featherstone Place and samples taken from around the city, the subtle activities of the night shift to the daily hustle and bustle, with the dawn and dusk chorus of local birdlife, and fluctuation in foot traffic, vehicle movement and air conditioner drones as people go about their daily business. The sounds produced are processed in relation to live environmental metrics, including weather data (temperature, air pressure, humidity) and traffic density, amongst others.

In this oral presentation, sound artist Jesse will discuss the creative process behind Featherstone Place. Routed in the new ‘Ecotonal’ creative framework (a six-step process integrating soundscape ecology principles and methods with music composition and sound art practice), the conception, collation of data, preparation of material for creative use, compositional assemblage, and sonic realisation will be explored. A conclusory reflection of the creative process and outcomes considers the role of ecoacoustics in creative urban-based sound works.

Featherstone Place was a collaborative project with Zephyr Quartet and BASEM3NT, exhibiting between April-May 2018, and made possible through a New Music Network LAB Mentorship.

This paper was awarded Best Student Paper (Creative Stream) at the 2018 International Ecoacoustics Congress.

Over the past half century, there has been much research into the acoustic qualities of soundscap... more Over the past half century, there has been much research into the acoustic qualities of soundscapes from a variety of perspectives: the humanities and social sciences as per the ‘acoustic ecology’ movement (established by Schafer, Truax, and Westerkamp et al.), and more recently the environmental science and ecology as per ‘soundscape ecology’ (established by Farina, Pijanowski, and Krause, et al.). Collectively, these disciplines provide diverse methods for engagement with analysis of acoustic environments. Simultaneous to the rise of the acoustic ecology movement in the 1970s (marked by the publication of Schafer’s ‘The Tuning of the World (1974)), the composition of numerous seminal ‘minimalist’ musical works occurred, notable amongst them Steve Reich’s ‘Music For 18 Musicians’ (1974-6). Whilst there has been significant analysis of this work from a traditional musicological standpoint, the environmental implications of its process-driven nature have gone largely ignored, particularly in relation to ecological processes and behaviours. This paper provides an ecomusicological analysis of ‘Music for 18 Musicians’, investigating the numerous affinities that the piece has with acoustic ecology and soundscape ecology concepts alike. This will be explored at both a macromorphological level (considering large-scale temporal cycles and processes), and micromorphological level (as related to orchestration, textural organisation, instrumental content in the context of bioacoustics, community sound cues and ensemble agency). A concluding discussion of Reich’s compositional influences (themselves influenced by natural soundscapes) and process follows, with questions raised around the possibility of ecomusicological analysis of other ‘abstract’ musical works to encourage further research in compositional approaches and music therapy.

Soundscape ecology is becoming a pioneering discipline in contemporary ecological research, inves... more Soundscape ecology is becoming a pioneering discipline in contemporary ecological research, investigating the relationships between landscape and soundscape (or topographic and acoustic patterns). In recent years, the discipline has enjoyed increasing international attention as a prominent field of research in contemporary ecology, with a proliferation of associated publications and conferences.
The breadth and scope of this field offers many possibilities for innovative creative applications. Whilst there is already a strong body of artistic work with the humanities-oriented acoustic ecology movement and other ecoacoustic compositional approaches, the comprehensive frameworks and methodologies of soundscape ecology have thus far not been specifically explored in a creative context. This paper explores a creative process-in-development that adapts these principles of soundscape ecology, and presents a compositional case study in response to Mobilong Swamp (near Murray Bridge, South Australia), and its related soundscape and ecosystem.

Conference Presentations by Jesse Budel

eContact!, 2018

An emerging ecological discipline, soundscape ecology has already had a significant impact on the... more An emerging ecological discipline, soundscape ecology has already had a significant impact on the methods by which ecosystems might be engaged, analysed and understood. Considering sounds as proxies for ecological activities, whether of biological agents or abiotic environmental processes, the innovative field of research has introduced new approaches of non-invasive, long term analysis (Pijanowski, Farina et al. 2011, Farina 2014).

Analysing soundscapes through acoustic parameters including frequency, temporal relationships, amplitude, spatial diffusion and gradients, and sonic interactions, soundscape ecology provides an effective framework in which environmental (acoustic) data may be garnered and subsequently utilised in creative contexts. In the case of music and sound art, these data types can relate to pitch/timbre, temporal/rhythmic patterns and cycles, volume/dynamics, sound spatialisation/performance layout, and texture/counterpoint respectively. As such, a creative framework-in-development has been proposed, intended to connect soundscape ecology with musical/sound art practice in order to produce effective compositional responses to specific places, their ecosystems and soundscapes (Budel 2016).

This paper will explore the implementation of this creative framework in two works responding to specific South Australian ecosystems. Long Island, responding to the eponymous island bisecting the Murray River at Murray Bridge, utilises real-world legislative controls on motorboat activity as a compositional device, comparing terrestrial and aquatic soundscapes as impacted by anthropogenic activities.
By contrast, Farina responds to the 140 year history of a notable desert ghost-town in far-north South Australia. Moving from initial European settlement and rapid multicultural population increase to gradual decline throughout the twentieth century (and recent surges in volunteer revitalisation efforts), the work uses town surveying referents to inform the spatialised octophonic setup, and historical and sociological research to inform the reconstructed soundscape response.
A concluding discussion of prospective avenues for future related creative responses is considered.

Australian music is recognised for its focus on environmental and landscape themes in many of its... more Australian music is recognised for its focus on environmental and landscape themes in many of its approaches. Such work can be identified as existing under the broader category of ecoacoustic music, “an area of music and sound art which focuses on human engagement with an ecosystem through sound, functioning as a creative response to contemporary environmental issues, as well as relating to the academic research field of ecomusicology" (Gilmurray 2013). Although there are numerous historical surveys of Australian music, there is a notable absence of literature relating to the long-term development and trends of ecoacoustic music in the country.

This paper seeks to address this gap, providing an historical overview of Australian ecoacoustic composition. The early nationalistic aspirations for an Australian compositional school (drawing on natural soundscapes) as espoused by Marshall-Hall, Tate and Brewster-Jones are investigated, as are Percy Grainger’s experimental approaches inspired by environmental processes. The decline of interest in the 1940s and 50s is followed by an exploration of migratory, technological and philosophical impacts and influences on the field from the 1960s to 1990s, with practitioners of various approaches such as notated music, sound art, installations and field recoding considered. A summary of contemporary approaches from the beginning of the new millennium to the present day follows, with a concluding discussion of future trends and directions for Australian ecoacoustic composition.

Over the past half century, there has been much research into the acoustic qualities of soundscap... more Over the past half century, there has been much research into the acoustic qualities of soundscapes from a variety of perspectives: the humanities and social sciences as per the ‘acoustic ecology’ movement (established by Schafer, Truax, and Westerkamp et al.), and more recently the environmental science and ecology as per ‘soundscape ecology’ (established by Farina, Pijanowski, and Krause, et al.). Collectively, these disciplines provide diverse methods for engagement with analysis of acoustic environments. Simultaneous to the rise of the acoustic ecology movement in the 1970s (marked by the publication of Schafer’s ‘The Tuning of the World (1974)), the composition of numerous seminal ‘minimalist’ musical works occurred, notable amongst them Steve Reich’s ‘Music For 18 Musicians’ (1974-6). Whilst there has been significant analysis of this work from a traditional musicological standpoint, the environmental implications of its process-driven nature have gone largely ignored, particul...

Featherstone Place is an urban sound installation responding to the eponymous alleyway in Adelaid... more Featherstone Place is an urban sound installation responding to the eponymous alleyway in Adelaide’s CBD. It draws on Jordan Lacey’s concept of ‘sonic ruptures’ (Lacey 2016), which are sound installations aimed at improving the affective qualities of urban acoustic environments.

Running 24/7 and informed by ecoacoustic principles and research, the installation responds to and interacts with the changes in the urban soundscape over the course of a day-night cycle. Comprised of field recordings of Featherstone Place and samples taken from around the city, the subtle activities of the night shift to the daily hustle and bustle, with the dawn and dusk chorus of local birdlife, and fluctuation in foot traffic, vehicle movement and air conditioner drones as people go about their daily business. The sounds produced are processed in relation to live environmental metrics, including weather data (temperature, air pressure, humidity) and traffic density, amongst others.

In this oral presentation, sound artist Jesse will discuss the creative process behind Featherstone Place. Routed in the new ‘Ecotonal’ creative framework (a six-step process integrating soundscape ecology principles and methods with music composition and sound art practice), the conception, collation of data, preparation of material for creative use, compositional assemblage, and sonic realisation will be explored. A conclusory reflection of the creative process and outcomes considers the role of ecoacoustics in creative urban-based sound works.

Featherstone Place was a collaborative project with Zephyr Quartet and BASEM3NT, exhibiting between April-May 2018, and made possible through a New Music Network LAB Mentorship.

This paper was awarded Best Student Paper (Creative Stream) at the 2018 International Ecoacoustics Congress.

Over the past half century, there has been much research into the acoustic qualities of soundscap... more Over the past half century, there has been much research into the acoustic qualities of soundscapes from a variety of perspectives: the humanities and social sciences as per the ‘acoustic ecology’ movement (established by Schafer, Truax, and Westerkamp et al.), and more recently the environmental science and ecology as per ‘soundscape ecology’ (established by Farina, Pijanowski, and Krause, et al.). Collectively, these disciplines provide diverse methods for engagement with analysis of acoustic environments. Simultaneous to the rise of the acoustic ecology movement in the 1970s (marked by the publication of Schafer’s ‘The Tuning of the World (1974)), the composition of numerous seminal ‘minimalist’ musical works occurred, notable amongst them Steve Reich’s ‘Music For 18 Musicians’ (1974-6). Whilst there has been significant analysis of this work from a traditional musicological standpoint, the environmental implications of its process-driven nature have gone largely ignored, particularly in relation to ecological processes and behaviours. This paper provides an ecomusicological analysis of ‘Music for 18 Musicians’, investigating the numerous affinities that the piece has with acoustic ecology and soundscape ecology concepts alike. This will be explored at both a macromorphological level (considering large-scale temporal cycles and processes), and micromorphological level (as related to orchestration, textural organisation, instrumental content in the context of bioacoustics, community sound cues and ensemble agency). A concluding discussion of Reich’s compositional influences (themselves influenced by natural soundscapes) and process follows, with questions raised around the possibility of ecomusicological analysis of other ‘abstract’ musical works to encourage further research in compositional approaches and music therapy.

Soundscape ecology is becoming a pioneering discipline in contemporary ecological research, inves... more Soundscape ecology is becoming a pioneering discipline in contemporary ecological research, investigating the relationships between landscape and soundscape (or topographic and acoustic patterns). In recent years, the discipline has enjoyed increasing international attention as a prominent field of research in contemporary ecology, with a proliferation of associated publications and conferences.
The breadth and scope of this field offers many possibilities for innovative creative applications. Whilst there is already a strong body of artistic work with the humanities-oriented acoustic ecology movement and other ecoacoustic compositional approaches, the comprehensive frameworks and methodologies of soundscape ecology have thus far not been specifically explored in a creative context. This paper explores a creative process-in-development that adapts these principles of soundscape ecology, and presents a compositional case study in response to Mobilong Swamp (near Murray Bridge, South Australia), and its related soundscape and ecosystem.

eContact!, 2018

An emerging ecological discipline, soundscape ecology has already had a significant impact on the... more An emerging ecological discipline, soundscape ecology has already had a significant impact on the methods by which ecosystems might be engaged, analysed and understood. Considering sounds as proxies for ecological activities, whether of biological agents or abiotic environmental processes, the innovative field of research has introduced new approaches of non-invasive, long term analysis (Pijanowski, Farina et al. 2011, Farina 2014).

Analysing soundscapes through acoustic parameters including frequency, temporal relationships, amplitude, spatial diffusion and gradients, and sonic interactions, soundscape ecology provides an effective framework in which environmental (acoustic) data may be garnered and subsequently utilised in creative contexts. In the case of music and sound art, these data types can relate to pitch/timbre, temporal/rhythmic patterns and cycles, volume/dynamics, sound spatialisation/performance layout, and texture/counterpoint respectively. As such, a creative framework-in-development has been proposed, intended to connect soundscape ecology with musical/sound art practice in order to produce effective compositional responses to specific places, their ecosystems and soundscapes (Budel 2016).

This paper will explore the implementation of this creative framework in two works responding to specific South Australian ecosystems. Long Island, responding to the eponymous island bisecting the Murray River at Murray Bridge, utilises real-world legislative controls on motorboat activity as a compositional device, comparing terrestrial and aquatic soundscapes as impacted by anthropogenic activities.
By contrast, Farina responds to the 140 year history of a notable desert ghost-town in far-north South Australia. Moving from initial European settlement and rapid multicultural population increase to gradual decline throughout the twentieth century (and recent surges in volunteer revitalisation efforts), the work uses town surveying referents to inform the spatialised octophonic setup, and historical and sociological research to inform the reconstructed soundscape response.
A concluding discussion of prospective avenues for future related creative responses is considered.

Australian music is recognised for its focus on environmental and landscape themes in many of its... more Australian music is recognised for its focus on environmental and landscape themes in many of its approaches. Such work can be identified as existing under the broader category of ecoacoustic music, “an area of music and sound art which focuses on human engagement with an ecosystem through sound, functioning as a creative response to contemporary environmental issues, as well as relating to the academic research field of ecomusicology" (Gilmurray 2013). Although there are numerous historical surveys of Australian music, there is a notable absence of literature relating to the long-term development and trends of ecoacoustic music in the country.

This paper seeks to address this gap, providing an historical overview of Australian ecoacoustic composition. The early nationalistic aspirations for an Australian compositional school (drawing on natural soundscapes) as espoused by Marshall-Hall, Tate and Brewster-Jones are investigated, as are Percy Grainger’s experimental approaches inspired by environmental processes. The decline of interest in the 1940s and 50s is followed by an exploration of migratory, technological and philosophical impacts and influences on the field from the 1960s to 1990s, with practitioners of various approaches such as notated music, sound art, installations and field recoding considered. A summary of contemporary approaches from the beginning of the new millennium to the present day follows, with a concluding discussion of future trends and directions for Australian ecoacoustic composition.