Space Resonating Through Sound (original) (raw)
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ACTES PROCEEDINGS, 2000
Many different spaces coexist and interconnect for any listener to music played over speakers or other means where there is no visible source of the sound. These spaces could include the physical space of the concert hall, a representation of space conceived in the perceived knowledge of the social practice of people getting together to listen to music in groups; the social space of the listeners; the virtual space of the piece of acousmatic music; the representation of perceived, conceived or lived space in the piece; as well as the representational space of the sound work and the mental space the individual listener inhabits while listening, a space that is possibly unique to sonic experience. In this paper I shall discuss how these spaces are produced and coexist; how our embodied experiences of space can be used to produce new means of representation and new forms of expression through the production of space in sound works; and investigate spatial mimesis as a new area of discourse in sonic art.
Space, sound and acousmatic music
Species of Spaces: The four main spatial categories. Four categories of space emerge from this particular practice of interpretation and knowledge of the acousmatic repertoire: The “surround space” immerses the listener in a "bath" and is opposed to the “sound source” space which localizes sounds; the “geometry space” in a work structures plans and volumes. These three categories relate mostly to multichannel. The fourth, “Space illusion”, consciously or not, the subject works stereo format, which creates the illusion of depth of field on the screen of two speakers. The spatial interpretation The console of projection (fader, multitouch surface, interactive gestures etc.) is a musical instrument and its "operator" a performing musician. This requires him some virtuosity (conditioned by the speakers system he has chosen, and the ergonomics of the sound projection instrument as well), stylistic knowledge of the repertoire, graphic statement of the simplified works and relevant to the spatialisation and maximum memorization of the work. The interpretation of acousmatic music tends to bind different spatial figures that reinforce the writing of the work; the figures highlight existing or create new ones. The stereo works also leave more freedom of choice to the interpreter. Sixteen figures are listed, with their musical function. The different types of existing spatial instruments, their specific examples Some examples, diagrams and explanations show how various systems are designed for spatialisation and the acousmonium especially as it was designed by François Bayle in 1974. The multiphonics The interpretation of muliphonic works raises new requirements with both technical (drivers, interfaces), types of transducers, and aesthetic. Comparison with the interpretation of stereo works The stylistics Depending on the character of each piece, one can, for a different work space, focusing on some aspect of writing: iconicity, movement, unmixing of polyphony, and phrasing changes, subjectivity matters, fluidity of the trajectories. The figuralism The figuralism, by playing with spatial figures, seems a royal way to give meaning and justify the space as an element that enhances the expressiveness of the musical work. Space for what? : Composed space As for any musical element, the space of sound is attributed a level of musical function decided by the composer. Nowadays technology allows for any variations in the use of space, from a micro event (static or dynamic spatial location for each sound) to a macro structure (whothe spatial structure, dynamic or static, mono or polyphonic for each section, phrases or group of events) •Among other possibthe levels, I have selected the following 6 which, to me, are particularly useful and expressive: Abstract level of space, conceived of plans, volumes, movements, or geometric figure Structural level of space, used to emphasise sections, transitions or recall Decorative level of space, often in movement, added to an event to strenghthen its meaning or temporary function Figurative level, relating space to the imagination, the key feature, the metaphor Archetypal level of some obvious space figures, such as the wave (rocking movement), circthe (locked-in effect), explosion... Madrigal level of the expressive strengthening of elements external to the music itself (text, image,...) : through figures, movements, and appropriate spatial situations.
The Parameter of Space: Can Instrumental and Acousmatic Music Share the Same Approach to Space?
The attempt to arrive at common solutions to space in acousmatic and instrumental music may be beneficial in two ways: to generate approaches to spatialisation in mixed pieces, and to break up views that may seem incontestable within only one of the two domains. Building on the basis that the increased importance of spatial audio reflects a fundamental aesthetic evolution of contemporary art music, this paper presents a comparative study of approaches to space in electroacoustic and instrumental music. Compositional techniques are examined with reference to their deployment of space, both those that distinguish the acousmatic domain from the acoustic, and others that demonstrate the crossing over between the two domains. A discussion about space as a musical parameter explores resulting implications for electroacoustic and instrumental music.
This article points to two main objectives: first to demonstrate the ways in which Gérard Grisey, Luigi Nono and Peter Ablinger approach the representation of space in present-day composition. The second is to provide some keys to the essential elements conditioning the meanings and sensations listeners perceive in these composers’ works. The interaction arising from the possibilities of the inner space of sound and the place where a concert takes place originates new forms of acoustic and temporal processes in Gérard Grisey, different types of symbiosis with architectonic space in Luigi Nono and an active union with the surroundings in Peter Ablinger. These concepts are dealt with through some of their most representative works. A substantial part of the contributions of the three has a single purpose: to renew perception of music on the basis of an on-going interrelation between listening possibilities, the configuration of sound in time and the need to redefine the meaning of the musical space.
The Spatial Artistic Model in Music
Philosophy International Journal, 2020
The article is an overview of the aesthetic question of space in music. The study begins from the vague to evident perceptions of space in music in the analogy with the physical high pitch of sounds. These are associative sensations with the movement of things in the space like distance or rapprochement when the sound goes up and down. Then, the spatial character of pitch focused on the two-dimensionality of vertical and horizontal dimensions in music and the new spatial sensation similar to linear perspective in graphic arts that suggests an analogy of the space between painting and music. Next, the new concept of tonal gravitation like motion energy which moves from one tone to tone as the main reason for our musical space-sensation, so to speak, the sounding perspective with the force of tonal gravitation that produces the effect of depth or third dimension in music. Finally, our contribution to the spatial artistic model in the conception of musical contents as a reflection of human activity expressed by intonations, in which our imagination completes the spatial vacuum of music.
SPace, sound and Acousmatic music completed+illustrations
Acousmatic, perfect testing ground for spatial perception. The listening conditions of acousmatic music (no real established sound source) are approaching to those of a blind person who senses space by fine listening acoustic qualities of his physical environment. The "eyes closed" abolish the physical limits of the place, they allow the imagination to deploy its spatial sensations. Species of Spaces: The four main spatial categories. Four categories of space emerge from this particular practice of interpretation and knowledge of the acousmatic repertoire: The " surround space " immerses the listener in a "bath" and is opposed to the " sound source " space which localizes sounds; the " geometry space " in a work structures plans and volumes. These three categories relate mostly to multichannel. The fourth, " Space illusion " , consciously or not, the subject works stereo format, which creates the illusion of depth of field on the screen of two speakers. Ambiophonic Space.
The emotional contents of the ‘space’ in spatial music
Human spatial perception is how we understand places. Beyond understanding what is where (William James’ formulation of the psychological approach to perception); there are holistic qualities to places. We perceive places as busy, crowded, exciting, threatening or peaceful, calm, comfortable and so on. Designers of places spend a great deal of time and effort on these qualities; scientists rarely do. In the scientific world-view physical qualities and our emotive responses to them are neatly divided in the objective-subjective dichotomy. In this context, music has traditionally constituted an item in a place. Over the last two decades, development of “spatial music” has been within the prevailing engineering paradigm, informed by psychophysical data; here, space is an abstract, Euclidean 3-dimensional ‘container’ for events. The emotional consequence of spatial arrangements is not the main focus in this approach. This paper argues that a paradigm shift is appropriate, from ‘music-in-a-place’ to ‘music-as-a-place’ requiring a fundamental philosophical realignment of ‘meaning’ away from subjective response to include consequences-in-the-environment. Hence the hegemony of the subjective-objective dichotomy is questioned. There are precedents for this, for example in the ecological approach to perception (Gibson). An ecological approach to music-as-environment intrinsically treats the emotional consequences of spatio-musical arrangement holistically. A simplified taxonomy of the attributes of artificial spatial sound in this context will be discussed.
Identity spaces music space as a medium for sound
2016
The work completed for this thesis starts with my initial interest in spatial music and concludes by placing space at the forefront of compositional thought. A shift in focus is attempted – from the traditional composer to the aural architect, a composer creating musical spaces within which sound is used to explore, reveal and illuminate those spaces. At the same time an unusual approach to what musical space is or could be is also outlined, along with a strong interest in unveiling virtual spaces, selected for their interesting aural identities. The portfolio contains a number of compositions created as a result of this research, as well as a preliminary set of tools based on the graphical programming language for music Max.
Space and Place: Sonic Thoughts, Tensions, and Trajectories
Serendipity Arts Foundation: Projects / Processes Volume I, 2020
A slow but inevitable foregrounding of sound in sensorial, material, and conceptual domains over the second half of the twentieth century, has unfolded in art, literature, and the humanities, not to mention popular culture. Often referred to as the “sonic turn”, a shifting of cultural markers and practices that the scholar Christoph Cox describes as “a broad turn in the academy and also in visual and sonic arts”1, it carried the legacy of a century of theory and practice, during which the plastic arts flourished, and conventions of music and musical performance were challenged vigorously by a wide range of stakeholders.