Jonty Harrison | University of Birmingham (original) (raw)

Papers by Jonty Harrison

International Computer Music Conference, 1993

The Musical Times, Sep 1, 1989

The EMAS Prom on 8 September, even before the event, is a triumph. That an organisation dedicated... more The EMAS Prom on 8 September, even before the event, is a triumph. That an organisation dedicated to what was wide-ly regarded at the time of its foundation as being on the fringe of the already marginalised world of contemporary music should have flourished over ten relatively ...

Organised Sound, Oct 25, 2010

This paper outlines some recent developments in multichannel composition at the Electroacoustic M... more This paper outlines some recent developments in multichannel composition at the Electroacoustic Music Studios, University of Birmingham and its performance wing, BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre). In doing so it attempts to codify and define some emerging aspects of spatialisation practice which are found both within the BEAST community and beyond. The discussion covers software and techniques developed and adapted for use with BEAST, new and pragmatic approaches to composing for large-scale multichannel systems, such as n-channel composition and composing in 'stems', and issues arising from a resulting blurring between composition and performance practices.

Organised Sound, Aug 1, 1998

Sound diffusion-the realtime (usually manual) control of and, by extension, the relationship betw... more Sound diffusion-the realtime (usually manual) control of and, by extension, the relationship between composer the relative levels and spatial deployment during and material: as in sculpture or painting where the performance-is one of the most contentious issues in the artist produces the finished product on or in a fixed field of electroacoustic music. 2 There are parts of the world

OuvirOUver, Jun 30, 2016

This article discusses some of the preoccupations of my recent acousmatic music: the evocation of... more This article discusses some of the preoccupations of my recent acousmatic music: the evocation of place, the potential for the recognition of sources (even down to their specific locations, in some cases) and the associated concern with 'space', in terms of both geography and musical thinking. It is prompted by the release of my latest CD, Voyages (HARRISON, 201 6). But this album did not emerge from nothing; it is the product of over 40 years of working in the studio (and performing with loudspeakers). It may therefore be useful to offer some historical perspective.

Journal of Music, Technology and Education, Dec 1, 2013

Listening to acousmatic music can be oddly like being on holiday. One is temporarily dislocated f... more Listening to acousmatic music can be oddly like being on holiday. One is temporarily dislocated from one's normal environment and mysteriously transported to 'other' worlds, where (especially in later recollection, for memory is certainly at work here) the normal rules of physics can be transcended: events and locations are superimposed, one can leap instantaneously from place to place and the logic of cause and effect is malleable. This strange domain, this foreign aural land, nevertheless remains sufficiently related to our everyday experience for us to make sense of it and get our bearings: we seem to recognize places and scenes, events and occurrences we have never personally experienced first-hand; we 'know'-though we can never entirely know how we know-that these things are 'true'. Acousmatic music is thus a hugely rich field of expression, and one as yet relatively unfettered by conventions and rules that dictate how it should be made, delivered and understood (in my view, the rules change, depending on the material involved). But this situation of artistic and material flexibility evidently makes some people very nervous, especially those in academic circles who would like to bring this upstart music to heel through codification. Starting out as an honourable and innocent attempt to describe, to help commit to memory the new soundscape for which no

To Denis Smalley Denis Smalley… retiring…? That thought will have given many of the musicians in ... more To Denis Smalley Denis Smalley… retiring…? That thought will have given many of the musicians in our field pause for thought. Denis has encouraged, challenged and inspired so many of those in the contemporary music community through his music, his writings and his fabulously acute musical sense. We know, of course, that composers never really retire, but we feel that someone with such a presence in electroacoustic music, and who continues to have such a far-reaching influence on the way it is made and understood, deserves a very heartfelt musical send-off from university teaching. We — Jonty Harrison and John Young — contacted musicians around the world, all with a special connection to Denis, and asked them to send us a sound file of between 1 and 15 seconds long with the idea of weaving them into a short work that would express something of our appreciation of Denis Smalley’s talents. We asked that each participant provide a sound that for them has some connection with Denis — either because it ‘sounds like’ him, or a sound they might not have engaged with were it not for Denis’s music or theoretical writings, or because it reminds them of a shared place, occasion or musical moment. Duly, we found time in the University of Birmingham studios to make this work, and soon arrived at a conscious decision to form the piece out of the sounds more or less as we were given them, with a minimum of processing… save for the odd bit of editing, equalization and stretching. We regard this piece as a joint effort on a grand scale — and revel in the idea that this may be the first time that an audience of composers play to a single, honoured and, we hope, approving listener!

Organised Sound, 2010

This paper outlines some recent developments in multichannel composition at the Electroacoustic M... more This paper outlines some recent developments in multichannel composition at the Electroacoustic Music Studios, University of Birmingham and its performance wing, BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre). In doing so it attempts to codify and define some emerging aspects of spatialisation practice which are found both within the BEAST community and beyond. The discussion covers software and techniques developed and adapted for use with BEAST, new and pragmatic approaches to composing for large-scale multichannel systems, such as n-channel composition and composing in 'stems', and issues arising from a resulting blurring between composition and performance practices.

The issue of whether diffusion is a legitimate continuation of the compositional process or merel... more The issue of whether diffusion is a legitimate continuation of the compositional process or merely a random throwing-around of sound which destroys the composer's intentions continues to be a matter of great debate, further complicated by the proliferation of cheap multi-track formats and the emergence of Dolby 5.1 and DVD. The differing attitudes to the public presentation of electroacoustic music will be traced back, through various theories and practical implementations (particularly the BEAST system), to fundamental differences in compositional approach and, ultimately, to different definitions of “music” itself.

To Denis Smalley Denis Smalley… retiring…? That thought will have given many of the musicians in ... more To Denis Smalley Denis Smalley… retiring…? That thought will have given many of the musicians in our field pause for thought. Denis has encouraged, challenged and inspired so many of those in the contemporary music community through his music, his writings and his fabulously acute musical sense. We know, of course, that composers never really retire, but we feel that someone with such a presence in electroacoustic music, and who continues to have such a far-reaching influence on the way it is made and understood, deserves a very heartfelt musical send-off from university teaching. We — Jonty Harrison and John Young — contacted musicians around the world, all with a special connection to Denis, and asked them to send us a sound file of between 1 and 15 seconds long with the idea of weaving them into a short work that would express something of our appreciation of Denis Smalley’s talents. We asked that each participant provide a sound that for them has some connection with Denis — eit...

Ouvirouver

This article discusses some of the preoccupations of my recent acousmatic music: the evocation of... more This article discusses some of the preoccupations of my recent acousmatic music: the evocation of place, the potential for the recognition of sources (even down to their specific locations, in some cases) and the associated concern with 'space', in terms of both geography and musical thinking. It is prompted by the release of my latest CD, Voyages (HARRISON, 201 6). But this album did not emerge from nothing; it is the product of over 40 years of working in the studio (and performing with loudspeakers). It may therefore be useful to offer some historical perspective.

Computer Music Journal, 1998

Computer Music Journal, 1998

Computer Music Journal, 1987

The Musical Times, 1989

The EMAS Prom on 8 September, even before the event, is a triumph. That an organisation dedicated... more The EMAS Prom on 8 September, even before the event, is a triumph. That an organisation dedicated to what was wide-ly regarded at the time of its foundation as being on the fringe of the already marginalised world of contemporary music should have flourished over ten relatively ...

Organised Sound, 2010

This paper outlines some recent developments in multichannel composition at the Electroacoustic M... more This paper outlines some recent developments in multichannel composition at the Electroacoustic Music Studios, University of Birmingham and its performance wing, BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre). In doing so it attempts to codify and define some emerging aspects of spatialisation practice which are found both within the BEAST community and beyond. The discussion covers software and techniques developed and adapted for use with BEAST, new and pragmatic approaches to composing for large-scale multichannel systems, such as n-channel composition and composing in 'stems', and issues arising from a resulting blurring between composition and performance practices.

International Computer Music Conference, 1993

The Musical Times, Sep 1, 1989

The EMAS Prom on 8 September, even before the event, is a triumph. That an organisation dedicated... more The EMAS Prom on 8 September, even before the event, is a triumph. That an organisation dedicated to what was wide-ly regarded at the time of its foundation as being on the fringe of the already marginalised world of contemporary music should have flourished over ten relatively ...

Organised Sound, Oct 25, 2010

This paper outlines some recent developments in multichannel composition at the Electroacoustic M... more This paper outlines some recent developments in multichannel composition at the Electroacoustic Music Studios, University of Birmingham and its performance wing, BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre). In doing so it attempts to codify and define some emerging aspects of spatialisation practice which are found both within the BEAST community and beyond. The discussion covers software and techniques developed and adapted for use with BEAST, new and pragmatic approaches to composing for large-scale multichannel systems, such as n-channel composition and composing in 'stems', and issues arising from a resulting blurring between composition and performance practices.

Organised Sound, Aug 1, 1998

Sound diffusion-the realtime (usually manual) control of and, by extension, the relationship betw... more Sound diffusion-the realtime (usually manual) control of and, by extension, the relationship between composer the relative levels and spatial deployment during and material: as in sculpture or painting where the performance-is one of the most contentious issues in the artist produces the finished product on or in a fixed field of electroacoustic music. 2 There are parts of the world

OuvirOUver, Jun 30, 2016

This article discusses some of the preoccupations of my recent acousmatic music: the evocation of... more This article discusses some of the preoccupations of my recent acousmatic music: the evocation of place, the potential for the recognition of sources (even down to their specific locations, in some cases) and the associated concern with 'space', in terms of both geography and musical thinking. It is prompted by the release of my latest CD, Voyages (HARRISON, 201 6). But this album did not emerge from nothing; it is the product of over 40 years of working in the studio (and performing with loudspeakers). It may therefore be useful to offer some historical perspective.

Journal of Music, Technology and Education, Dec 1, 2013

Listening to acousmatic music can be oddly like being on holiday. One is temporarily dislocated f... more Listening to acousmatic music can be oddly like being on holiday. One is temporarily dislocated from one's normal environment and mysteriously transported to 'other' worlds, where (especially in later recollection, for memory is certainly at work here) the normal rules of physics can be transcended: events and locations are superimposed, one can leap instantaneously from place to place and the logic of cause and effect is malleable. This strange domain, this foreign aural land, nevertheless remains sufficiently related to our everyday experience for us to make sense of it and get our bearings: we seem to recognize places and scenes, events and occurrences we have never personally experienced first-hand; we 'know'-though we can never entirely know how we know-that these things are 'true'. Acousmatic music is thus a hugely rich field of expression, and one as yet relatively unfettered by conventions and rules that dictate how it should be made, delivered and understood (in my view, the rules change, depending on the material involved). But this situation of artistic and material flexibility evidently makes some people very nervous, especially those in academic circles who would like to bring this upstart music to heel through codification. Starting out as an honourable and innocent attempt to describe, to help commit to memory the new soundscape for which no

To Denis Smalley Denis Smalley… retiring…? That thought will have given many of the musicians in ... more To Denis Smalley Denis Smalley… retiring…? That thought will have given many of the musicians in our field pause for thought. Denis has encouraged, challenged and inspired so many of those in the contemporary music community through his music, his writings and his fabulously acute musical sense. We know, of course, that composers never really retire, but we feel that someone with such a presence in electroacoustic music, and who continues to have such a far-reaching influence on the way it is made and understood, deserves a very heartfelt musical send-off from university teaching. We — Jonty Harrison and John Young — contacted musicians around the world, all with a special connection to Denis, and asked them to send us a sound file of between 1 and 15 seconds long with the idea of weaving them into a short work that would express something of our appreciation of Denis Smalley’s talents. We asked that each participant provide a sound that for them has some connection with Denis — either because it ‘sounds like’ him, or a sound they might not have engaged with were it not for Denis’s music or theoretical writings, or because it reminds them of a shared place, occasion or musical moment. Duly, we found time in the University of Birmingham studios to make this work, and soon arrived at a conscious decision to form the piece out of the sounds more or less as we were given them, with a minimum of processing… save for the odd bit of editing, equalization and stretching. We regard this piece as a joint effort on a grand scale — and revel in the idea that this may be the first time that an audience of composers play to a single, honoured and, we hope, approving listener!

Organised Sound, 2010

This paper outlines some recent developments in multichannel composition at the Electroacoustic M... more This paper outlines some recent developments in multichannel composition at the Electroacoustic Music Studios, University of Birmingham and its performance wing, BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre). In doing so it attempts to codify and define some emerging aspects of spatialisation practice which are found both within the BEAST community and beyond. The discussion covers software and techniques developed and adapted for use with BEAST, new and pragmatic approaches to composing for large-scale multichannel systems, such as n-channel composition and composing in 'stems', and issues arising from a resulting blurring between composition and performance practices.

The issue of whether diffusion is a legitimate continuation of the compositional process or merel... more The issue of whether diffusion is a legitimate continuation of the compositional process or merely a random throwing-around of sound which destroys the composer's intentions continues to be a matter of great debate, further complicated by the proliferation of cheap multi-track formats and the emergence of Dolby 5.1 and DVD. The differing attitudes to the public presentation of electroacoustic music will be traced back, through various theories and practical implementations (particularly the BEAST system), to fundamental differences in compositional approach and, ultimately, to different definitions of “music” itself.

To Denis Smalley Denis Smalley… retiring…? That thought will have given many of the musicians in ... more To Denis Smalley Denis Smalley… retiring…? That thought will have given many of the musicians in our field pause for thought. Denis has encouraged, challenged and inspired so many of those in the contemporary music community through his music, his writings and his fabulously acute musical sense. We know, of course, that composers never really retire, but we feel that someone with such a presence in electroacoustic music, and who continues to have such a far-reaching influence on the way it is made and understood, deserves a very heartfelt musical send-off from university teaching. We — Jonty Harrison and John Young — contacted musicians around the world, all with a special connection to Denis, and asked them to send us a sound file of between 1 and 15 seconds long with the idea of weaving them into a short work that would express something of our appreciation of Denis Smalley’s talents. We asked that each participant provide a sound that for them has some connection with Denis — eit...

Ouvirouver

This article discusses some of the preoccupations of my recent acousmatic music: the evocation of... more This article discusses some of the preoccupations of my recent acousmatic music: the evocation of place, the potential for the recognition of sources (even down to their specific locations, in some cases) and the associated concern with 'space', in terms of both geography and musical thinking. It is prompted by the release of my latest CD, Voyages (HARRISON, 201 6). But this album did not emerge from nothing; it is the product of over 40 years of working in the studio (and performing with loudspeakers). It may therefore be useful to offer some historical perspective.

Computer Music Journal, 1998

Computer Music Journal, 1998

Computer Music Journal, 1987

The Musical Times, 1989

The EMAS Prom on 8 September, even before the event, is a triumph. That an organisation dedicated... more The EMAS Prom on 8 September, even before the event, is a triumph. That an organisation dedicated to what was wide-ly regarded at the time of its foundation as being on the fringe of the already marginalised world of contemporary music should have flourished over ten relatively ...

Organised Sound, 2010

This paper outlines some recent developments in multichannel composition at the Electroacoustic M... more This paper outlines some recent developments in multichannel composition at the Electroacoustic Music Studios, University of Birmingham and its performance wing, BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre). In doing so it attempts to codify and define some emerging aspects of spatialisation practice which are found both within the BEAST community and beyond. The discussion covers software and techniques developed and adapted for use with BEAST, new and pragmatic approaches to composing for large-scale multichannel systems, such as n-channel composition and composing in 'stems', and issues arising from a resulting blurring between composition and performance practices.