economy slice

Before diving into technical issues, I wanted to explore the conceptual motivations behind this project. This post summarises my thoughts at an early stage in response to various acoustic ecology readings.  For interested readers, I particularly recommend these articles by David Dunn and John Luther Adams . ~ ~ ~ Acoustic ecology - the study of our interactions with the world through and with sound - provides a rich set of perspectives for the composer. At it's most basic, it is an invitation to listen to the world around us more closely. Focussing attention upon environmental sound can reveal inspiring patterns and highlight broader characteristics, i.e cultural change, pollution, wildlife populations, etc (Truax, 1996; Schafer, 1994; Krause, 2008) Modern recording and computer technology facilitates this process, allowing composers to explore the inner complexity of sounds and exploit aspects suggesting musicality (Truax, 1996; Dunn, 2008). Listening to the world ecolo...

I aim to compose a cycle of acousmatic works inspired by acoustic ecology, perception/sensation and the City of Glasgow. Bespoke and plundered field recordings and samples will be dessicated and reconstructed into impressionistic representations of reality. Using my privileged position as composer, I will pervert and distort these realities for musical titillation To inform my conceptual approach to this project I will review relevant literature on acoustic ecology and auditory perception. Being particularly broad subjects, my focus is upon where they overlap - e.g the distinction of 'streams' emerging from fuzzy gestalts  of noise - and the distinctive cultural resonances that sound can convey. I will post brief overviews and considerations on these topics here. In technical terms, all music will be generated using a range of digital processing techniques, primarily granular synthesis. Using Common Lisp Music (CLM), Slippery Chicken and Max/MSP , I will develop a set ...