Bob Birch

This thesis illustrates the development of my methodology, which places aural architecture at the heart of the compositional process. The commentary is accompanied by a portfolio of six works, which I have produced over six years. These works are diverse in their material and the format that is presented. What they have in common is their exploration of aural architecture and site-specificity. The composition of electroacoustic work is primarily achieved in a studio environment, described by Smalley (2007) as the composed space, or by Chion (1988) as the internal space. As Smalley and Chion point out, the translation of this space to the listening space is a contentious issue. The acoustic conditions impart their own spatial and temporal colourations on the composed space, creating the superimposed space (Smalley 2007), or external space (Chion 1988). Whilst the performance practice of diffusion does integrate, or ‘sonorize’ (Austin & Smalley 2000) the acoustic space in an attempt to create a rewarding listening experience, the composition is rarely composed with the specific listening space in mind. Through my practice as research I have developed an approach which places aural architecture, the ‘properties of a space that can be experienced by listening,’ (Blesser & Salter 2007 pg 5) at the centre of my methodology. This necessitates a site-specific approach. In one work I develop a performance practice of spatialisation that builds on diffusion techniques using my own software and hardware. In another piece I have presented the listener with the opportunity to experience the inaccessible aural architecture made up of complex resonances within church bells. I have developed a detailed and transferrable methodology that integrates aural architecture and I have shown aural architecture provides huge scope for the enrichment of the musical experience. This is my contribution to knowledge, demonstrated in my series of six works. I have adapted an action research methodology (used both in the process of creating material for each work and in assessing the compositional integration of aural architecture), which allows the complexities of acoustic space and it’s potential for enhancement of musical material to be developed and used by other practitioners.

Combining archive recordings, found sounds and modular synthesizers, the works are played through holosonic speakers positioned all around the room. Holosonic speakers are a type of directional audio technology; they create narrow beams of sound, almost like light, with pinpoint accuracy. The sounds will morph and transform based on where they’re situated in the room, and also where the audience chooses to stand. “The first performance of its kind to take place in a reverberant 19th-century court room, we hope that the sounds of Ostara will immerse you to create a reflective and meditative space.”

This paper discusses my practice research, which investigates methods of integrating site into musical composition. Through this practice I have developed effective techniques and systems that engage with aural architecture using a variety of repurposed or modified technologies. Using an empirical, reflexive approach, I have developed sonic material as well as creating processes and custom tools for spatialisation. In one work, this was through using small-scale mechanical music boxes, which were modified so they could be activated by the movement of visitors to the site. In other works, I projected sound through site-specific multichannel electroacoustic systems using custom software and hardware. The methodology that I have developed is inherently about modifying or misusing existing technologies; the need to find a technical solution for a creative output is in itself a rewarding process. In this paper I discuss how a site-specific approach may include the development of bespoke tools and technologies, as well as a methodology that integrates site into musical composition in a meaningful and enriching way.