Professor Nikos Stavropoulos

Working with Electroacoustic Composer Nikos Stavropoulos the team are exploring the potential for game engines to act as tools for spatial music composition, realisation, and performance. These tools enable composers to visualise and interact with their music in 3D space in ways not possible within a traditional digital audio workstation, and with the addition of VR capabilities to experience spatial music in a truly immersive and engaging way.

The work borrows its title from geometry to reflect the articulation of auditory space as a compositional parameter. Polychora, four dimensional polytopes, are composed of connected polygons, articulating the space that they occupy in complex ways. This reflects the compositional methodology and the connected auditory spaces created and assembled here. Work was commissioned by Culture Lab, Newcastle University and was composed during a four week residency at the Culture Lab surround sound studios. Polychoron was shortlisted for the Bourges Electroacoustic Music Competition in 2008 Programme note: For James Mooney Greek root poly, meaning "many", and choros meaning "room" or "space". ! Warning ! You should be fairly well acquainted with the convex uniform polyhedra and their symmetry groups, and somewhat well acquainted with the six convex regular polytopes in four-dimensional space and their symmetry groups, if this material is to make any sense to you.

Karst Grotto was composed during residencies at the Department of Music Technology and Acoustics in Crete and the Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology in Zurich. The title, chosen for its onomatopoeic qualities and its direct references to landscape types, as well as geological spatial structures and processes, reflects the sound world of the work. Karst, a particular topography is created by the dissolution of soluble rock types from their contact with acidic rain water. A microlevel chemical process which characterises the morphology of entire landscapes and results in complex networks of small-scale, micro-space, features and textures like fissures and rillenkarrens. This work is building on the techniques used in Topophilia by using ambisonic technology to encode in 3rd-order B-Format multichannel stems of raw and processed recordings as soundfield planes which could be rotated (yaw, pitch and roll) on three axes whilst maintaining a coherent plane structure. The five discrete channels of each 5.0 and 5.1 stem were treated as point sources and were positioned in the soundfield to delineate a plane by mirroring the ITU-R recommendation for 5.1 systems and the Polyhymia array (the arrangement of speakers in the recommendation is identical to the arrangement of microphones in this particular array). The three types of rotations mentioned above increased further the compositional capacity of micro-space

This paper aims to present the notion of aural microspace, an area whose aural architecture is not accessible unless it is mediated by recording technology and discuss the exploration of this concept in compositional practice. The author analyses the characteristics of acoustic space from a spectromorphological, cultural and technical perspective, with a focus on auditory intimacy and is proposing novel ways for working in this domain with references to two multichannel acousmatic works, Topophilia and Karst Grotto.

Granicus is the archaic name of a small river in northwestern Asia Minor, which was the site of Alexander the Great’s first major military challenge. The name is also used for one of Mars’ great valleys. The rhythms of antiquity, through tradition, inspire here the coming together of different worlds in space and time. The work was commissioned by and is dedicated to Alexander Pepelasis.

A 7th order acousmatic work exploring new recordings techniques using 18 channel microphone arrays

Granatum is an acousmatic composition for fixed media and has been shortlisted for the Foundation Destellos Fifth International Competition of Electroacoustic Composition and Visual-music 2012 in Argentina. The title of the work reflects the sound synthesis and treatment techniques as well as the qualities of the sound textures employed here. The work aims to develop relationships between what are perceived to be organic aural textures with the timbral characteristics of organic and inorganic materials found in nature. These sounds have been achieved via extensive processing of short and simple recorded impulses. The events portrayed in this piece are fictitious, and any resemblance to real events, past, present, or future, is entirely coincidental but highly probable. The work was realised at the composer’s home studio in the fall of 2011. Selected Performances Tape to Typedef, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK, 2013 http://music.dept.shef.ac.uk/ocs/index.php/t2td/t2td2013 Foundation Destellos Fifth International Competition of Electroacoustic Composition and Visual-music, Argentina, 2012 http://www.fundestellos.org/pageone.htm Reclaiming the Past, Regaining the Real festival, Athens, Greece, 2011 http://about-art.gr/?lang=en&q=festival&f=program The international Festival for Innovations in Music Production & Composition (iFIMPaC), Leeds, UK, 2011 Days of electroacoustic Music, University of Crete, Rethymno, Greece 2011

The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare multi-channel compositional practices in the scope of electroacoustic music and discuss arising issues regarding compositional methodology, rationale, performance and dissemination of multi-channel works with examples drawn from the author’s compositional output. The paper describes principal theories of musical space and draws parallels between those and compositional practices whilst discussing the articulation of acoustic space as another expressive dimension in the musical language with reference to specific multi-channel formats.

ELEGEIA was inspired by, and uses elements of, Greek Moiroloi (death lamentation) and folk traditions, as well as Hungarian lamentation singing. The work also utilises vocalisations that imitate and exaggerate the uncontainable utterances that can occur during intense grieving. The lyrical element, sung in Hungarian but derived from both traditions, relates to the mourning of lovers or children.

Composition Commission, European Commission, FP7, “Audiovisual ecology: mapping of the natural environment of the Ionian Sea ” Project coordinator: TEI Ionion, Department of Sound and Musical Instruments,

Awarded an honourable mention at Métamorphoses 2008. Epitaxy is the process of “the growth of crystals of one material on the crystal face of another material, such that the crystalline substrates of both materials have the same structural orientation.” When the materials have similar lattice constants - i.e. the atoms of the crystal are the same distance from each other - the two materials match and uniform layers are formed: this is known as homoepitaxy. When the two materials have different lattice constants, the molecular structures of the substances involved in the process are ‘stretched’ to form links between the layers: this is known as heteroepitaxy. In this case the general scope of these scientific processes accurately reflects the compositional rationale of the piece.

Awarded an honourable mention at the Musica Viva 2004, 5th Electroacoustic Competition. Atropos was composed at the University of Sheffield Sound Studios during the winter of 2003. The work was awarded an honourable mention at the Musica Viva 2004, 5th Electroacoustic Competition. In Greek mythology, Atropos was one of the three Moirae (the Fates): female deities who supervised fate rather than determining it. Atropos was the fate who cut the thread or web of life. She was known as the "inflexible" or "inevitable" and cut this thread with the "abhorred shears". Although the title is not directly related to the content of the work it was chosen to reflect compositional processes and their relation to sound materials. Here, the direction of energy, and the movement and positioning in time and in more general structural relationships, is supervised and characterised by the intrinsic morphology of the sounds, as opposed to being deterministically formulated. In this respect, the choice of a Moira name metaphorically indicates the acousmatic processes involved in the work's composition. Atropos is a highly abstract work and does not refer to anything outside of itself. Original recordings are not traceable in the work's sound world and although the material has been synthetically generated it exhibits physicality in content, character, and behaviour. Structure Four sections that contrast each other in content and rhythm can be identified. The work opens with a strong gesture which originates from the central speaker and grows rapidly to establish the composed space. The gesture initially moves left and right from the centre to articulate a wide frontal perspective, before moving swiftly across the performance space and to the back speakers of the array, covering all 360 degrees around the audience within the first few seconds in the work. Owing to its preponderance of high frequency content, and its granular nature, the opening motif is easy to localise spatially. Motion trajectories can also, therefore, be easily apprehended. This motif - and its variations - appear throughout the work to signify key structural points and articulate and frame the space. A wide bandwidth of the frequency range is articulated during those first few seconds of the piece, making use of both spectral extremity and introducing the listener to all of the colours and spaces that will be used throughout the course of the work. An enveloping ambience that grows gradually in amplitude and spectral complexity follows. The use of all of the available loudspeakers in the array, in conjunction with the use of reverberation and textural nature of the sound material, promotes the perception of a vast space with no easily definable boundaries. The next section (2:02 - 4:08) - initiated by a spectral variation of the main motif - is gesture-carried and built upon a juxtaposition of sound colours in spatial counterpoint. Here, space is clearly defined through the use of material that can be accurately positioned and/or accurately tracked. The section closes with a further instance of the main motif, which dilutes into noise. This affects the transition into the middle and longest section of the work (4:02- 7:35). Here, a number of resonant colours float in space in a leisurely manner, framing familiar sound entities that travel freely in every direction reacting to each other's presence. The music is reduced gradually to a low rumble before an outburst of colour and movement. (7:36 - 8:38). The work concludes with a recapitulation of materials and techniques leading to a long fade out of ambience and gently undulating sound behaviour.

The name of the work, Khemenu, is derived from Egyptian mythology and refers to The Ogdoad, a group of eight primordial deities worshipped in ancient Egypt. The group consisted of four male and female couples who are symbolising the balance between the primary elements of the cosmos. The notion of the Ogdoad (group of eight) is also found in early gnostic belief systems and ancient astronomy and cosmology (eight celestial bodies), as well as Chinese mythology (eight immortals). Eight is also the number of channels in a 2nd order Ambisonic recording (A Format), the technique used to capture the raw materials for the work. Khemenu is part of a series of works which explore the notion of aural microspace - an area of acoustic space, which cannot be inhabited due to physical constraints, and whose aural architecture is only accessible when mediated by recording technology. In this case, sound materials for the work were recorded exclusively with a 2nd order ambisonic microphone in an effort to capture and work with three-dimensional spatial detail at source. These recordings were processed using tools which catered for multichannel sources in order to embed the characteristics of the sources’s aural architecture in the development of new materials. This is not to say that the acoustic space captured in the recordings is retained in the processed sounds materials, but rather that it permeates, it informs the aural architecture of the resulting materials once the original has gone through processing.

1st Prize at the The Foundation Destellos IX° International Competition of Electroacoustic Music Composition (Argenitna), The residency prize at Concours International de Composition Electroacoustique de Monaco - CICEM 2016 and an honourable mention at the 8th biennal acousmatic composition competition Métamorphoses (Belgium). The term topophilia refers to attraction or affinity to place. The work aims to construct a meaningful intimate aural space, where texture and spatially defined figures have a broader capacity for action due to their multichannel nature. The recordings of source materials form the beginning of an investigation into capturing and working with spatiality in micro space using bespoke hardware. Predatory work for he composition involved the design and construction of a surround sound microphone to record acoustic space in confined areas and in very close proximity.

Third Prize at the FARMS NOISE OF A FILE RURAL International Competition of Electroacoustic Music and Sound Art Coordination: Binaural / Nodar Rural Viseu 2.0 project - co-financed by the project Viseu Third city of Viseu and the Creative Europe project of the European Union - Network SOCCOS Portrait V is a sound portrait of the rural district of Viseu using the soundscape recordings collected during the Rural Viseu 2.0 project. The work moves through real, surreal and abstract representations of the aural landscape using keynote sounds to provide the context of each section and soundmarks to articulate the structural framework of the work. The three sections of the composition are developed around the ideas of biophony (section 1) - the sounds of vocalizing non-human animals, geophony (section 2) - the naturally occurring non-biological sounds and anthropophony (section 3) - all sounds produced my human agents. Although the sections are inspired by this soundscape taxonomy, the soundscape sound materials are framed by abstract sound objects which are used to direct the action and introduce references beyond the restrictions suggested by this structural idea. The piece aims to communicate a strong sense of place and is a tribute to the landscape and the people inhabiting it

Polychoron is a multichannel acousmatic composition for Fixed Media. The work borrows its title from geometry to reflect the articulation of auditory space as a compositional parameter. Polychora, four dimensional polytopes, are composed of connected polygons, articulating the space that they occupy in complex ways. This reflects the compositional methodology and the connected auditory spaces created and assembled here. Work was commissioned by Culture Lab, Newcastle University and was composed during a four week residency at the Culture Lab surround sound studios. Polychoron was shortlisted for the Bourges Electroacoustic Music Competition in 2008 Programme note: For James Mooney Greek root poly, meaning "many", and choros meaning "room" or "space". ! Warning ! You should be fairly well acquainted with the convex uniform polyhedra and their symmetry groups, and somewhat well acquainted with the six convex regular polytopes in four-dimensional space and their symmetry groups, if this material is to make any sense to you. Performances ÉuCuE xxvi, Montreal, Canada 2008 http://cessa.music.concordia.ca/wiki/pmwiki.php?n=EuCuE.XXViFeb Internation Computer Music Conference, Belfast, UK, 2008 Electroacoustic Music Days, Rethymno, Greece, 2008 http://www.essim.gr/documents/2008/Prgrm_eaMusic%20Days_en.pdf iFIMPAC, Leeds, UK. 2009 http://cctr.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/fimpac-forum-for-innovation-in-music.html Royal Music Association Conference,Aberdeen, UK, 2008 http://music.sas.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/RMA_Conference_Programme_Draft3.pdf Sonic Spatial Perspectives, Leeds, UK, 2009 http://modisti.com/news/?cat=11&paged=33

Nyctinasty Nyctinasty is an acousmatic work for fixed media and was awarded the first prize at the Punto de Encuentro Canarias International Electroacoustic Composition Competition in 2009. The work is concerned with organic movement, growth or reduction, as reaction to stimulus. Stimuli are either present in the sonic world of the work or Implied through the spectromorpholigical development of sound materials (sonic gesture as a sign of application of energy). The title, borrowed from botany, refers to nastic (non-directional responses to stimuli) movement in the dark. The textures used here have been developed using granular synthesis engines and the expression of acoustic space is achieved through the articulation of trajectories in it. The events portrayed in this piece are fictitious, and any resemblance to real events, past, present, or future, is entirely coincidental but highly probable. The work was realised at the composer’s home studio in the summer of 2009. Selected Performances. spacio Sonoro, Havana, Cuba, 2012 http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=78510 Sound Junction, Sheffield, UK, 2010 http://adrian-moore.staff.shef.ac.uk/sj2010/sj10.pdf Music Under the Influence of Computers, USA, 2010 (University of California, San Diego) http://mutioc.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/uk-electric.html City University Concert Series, UK, 2010 http://ihatemusic.noquam.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5618 Sonic Artists in Wales Symposium, RWCMD, UK, 2010 Days of electroacoustic music , Ionio University, Creece, 2010 XIII Festival Internacional de Música Electroacústica «Primavera en La Habana», Havana, Cuba, 2010 http://www.opushabana.cu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2202&Itemid=44 XVI Festival Internacional de Música Electroacústica-Punto de Encuentro, Spain, 2009 http://noticias.terra.es/local/tenerife/2009/1103/actualidad/el-xvi-festival-de-musica-electroacustica-recala-en-tenerife-con-seis-dias-de-conciertos-y-sesiones-en-vivo.aspx

Nyctinasty is an acousmatic work for fixed media and was awarded the first prize at the Punto de Encuentro Canarias International Electroacoustic Composition Competition in 2009. The work is concerned with organic movement, growth or reduction, as reaction to stimulus. Stimuli are either present in the sonic world of the work or Implied through the spectromorpholigical development of sound materials (sonic gesture as a sign of application of energy). The title, borrowed from botany, refers to nastic (non-directional responses to stimuli) movement in the dark. The textures used here have been developed using granular synthesis engines and the expression of acoustic space is achieved through the articulation of trajectories in it. The events portrayed in this piece are fictitious, and any resemblance to real events, past, present, or future, is entirely coincidental but highly probable. The work was realised at the composer’s home studio in the summer of 2009. Selected Performances. spacio Sonoro, Havana, Cuba, 2012 http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=78510 Sound Junction, Sheffield, UK, 2010 http://adrian-moore.staff.shef.ac.uk/sj2010/sj10.pdf Music Under the Influence of Computers, USA, 2010 (University of California, San Diego) http://mutioc.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/uk-electric.html City University Concert Series, UK, 2010 http://ihatemusic.noquam.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5618 Sonic Artists in Wales Symposium, RWCMD, UK, 2010 Days of electroacoustic music , Ionio University, Creece, 2010 XIII Festival Internacional de Música Electroacústica «Primavera en La Habana», Havana, Cuba, 2010 http://www.opushabana.cu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2202&Itemid=44 XVI Festival Internacional de Música Electroacústica-Punto de Encuentro, Spain, 2009 http://noticias.terra.es/local/tenerife/2009/1103/actualidad/el-xvi-festival-de-musica-electroacustica-recala-en-tenerife-con-seis-dias-de-conciertos-y-sesiones-en-vivo.aspx

The work is based on a simple irregular rhythmic motif in four beats that appears throughout the work in varied timbral and rhythmical permutations. Another prominent element is the regular rhythmic texture that frames the action in the second half of the piece. This represents the driving force behind the musical development throughout this section, as an abstract sound world develops around it. The sound material used does not exhibit referential qualities and is not intended to evoke any specific imagery. The original recordings consisted of a small number of short attacks derived from various materials, including metal, ceramic, and wood. In 4 was composed at the University of She% eld Sound Studios during the autumn of 2002.

Foundation Destellos Competition 2015, honourable mention. The title of the work refers to a mode of seed dispersal. Fracturing of the seed pod releases stored elastic energy into kinetic energy launching its contents. The term reflects musical processes as well as timbral qualities of the work . .The events portrayed in this piece are fictitious, and any resemblance to real events, past, present, or future, is entirely coincidental but highly probable

Finalist in SCRIME 2003 electroacoustic composition competition. The material for the work was developed out of simple and short sounds that accidentally occurred in the digital studio during previous work: (clicks, pops, digital distortion et cetera). These sounds were transformed into more organic, gestural material using mainly the GRM Classic plug-ins in a Pro-Tools environment. The only field recording used in the piece is the sound of crickets, used here to establish a nocturnal soundscape. This is in contrast with the otherwise rather abstract sound world, which exhibits timbral characteristics perceptually related to materials such as wood, metal, water and combinations of thereof.

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.

This dissertation investigates the processes involved in composing a large-scale orchestral work integrated with electronics, exploring the artistic and technical dimensions of blending orchestral composition with immersive electroacoustic practices. While inherently artistic in nature, the project addresses practical methodologies for creating such hybrid works, offering a perspective that builds upon established approaches while navigating the unique challenges of this underexplored combination. As practice-based research, the study examines the orchestral and electronics compositional processes, the development and spatialization of electronic components, the rationale behind the creation and role of mockups, and the integration of these elements within a cohesive narrative and aesthetic framework. To structure the interaction between electronics and the orchestra, the research introduces a terminological and typological classification that distinguishes thesource origins, textural roles, and gestural functionsof the electronic elements within the orchestral fabric. By formalizing these distinctions, the study provides a structured analytical framework for electroacoustic-orchestral composition, contributing to a broader understanding of mixed-media music while offering a practical approach to navigating its compositional and aesthetic complexities.

In this perspective article we contend that acousmatic music, which departs from the traditional “instrumental music paradigm” by obscuring or removing the origin of sounds, may deepen a person's understanding and expression of pain and suffering, offering therapeutic potential. We propose that intentional engagement with acousmatic music can reshape listening habits, articulate and reframe the meaning of bodily and emotional experiences, and alleviate distressing sensations, feelings and thoughts. We propose that acousmatic music evokes memories of previous psychological traumas, such as painful events, and by doing so can prompt listeners to curiously explore the meaning and purpose of distressing symptoms. We argue that creative engagement with acousmatic music may allow individuals to express their somatic, emotional, and cognitive experiences, potentially leading to a deeper understanding of their living experiences. We discuss future directions for research and practice. We offer readers a stereo reduction excerpt of acousmatic music to facilitate an appreciation of the unusual nature of acousmatic music composition (https://soundcloud.com/nikos-stavropoulos/topophilia).

Livecell is a system for the interactive real-time composition and performance of music for live string quartet. Users interact with a touch screen to create and destroy cells in a continuously evolving artificial life simulation based on cellular automata. The state of these cells is continuously translated into a musical score, which is then transmitted over the network to the musicians' laptops to be performed by the string quartet live as it appears on their screens. Different areas of the interface correspond to the different instruments in the string quartet, and cells are able to grow and move between these areas allowing the composition and the instrumentation to evolve both under the direction of the user and with the natural evolution of the cells. Users are able to determine and change the rules used in the cell evolution calculations, as well as affect the form, rhythm and harmonic colour of the musical material produced. Through the system a single user can take on the roles of both composer, conductor and improviser to determine the textures, harmonies, tempo and other musical parameters of the emerging composition, mediated by the technology and performed live by the string quartet. The musical output is complex and the result of a careful balance between the influence of the user and the calculations of the algorithm, resulting in a very engaging experience for the user, performers and listeners alike. Paper presentation/performance at ICMC 2011, Huddersfield Paper presentation at Music & Technologies Conference, Lithuania, 2011 Paper/Demo at Korean Electroacoustic Music Society Conference, Korea, 2012 Demo at BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011, Newcastle Demo at EVALondon 2012 Conference Performances at: Interface 2012, Birmingham, IFIMPaC 2012, Leeds New Resonances Festival, London, 2012

The rapid advances of computing technology allow novel ways of generating music, applied in the processes of composition, production, and performance. These novel technologies enable a more seamless interaction of the musician with the computing system, allowing a more direct translation of the artistic intentions into music output. Examples of such technologies are computer vision, computer graphics, and augmented reality. Two areas of development are hereby key to the implementation of such seamless interaction: interfaces which follow closely the conventional workflow and interaction paradigms employed by musicians, and improved machine intelligence which allows preempting user's action and raising the status of the machine to a type of partnership. This article highlights a few examples of such novel technologies and their application in music, with an outlook into the future possibilities.

The articulation of acoustic space as another expressive compositional parameter has been inherent to electroacoustic music since its inception, and over the last few years has risen to the forefront of theoretical and technical discussions in the field. The affordances of the technologies available to composers have played a significant role in the development of the compositional techniques of “spatial music”. DAWs and spatial audio formats, which have not been developed with the electroacoustic composer in mind, can present significant challenges to workflow, and whilst bespoke software solutions using tools like Max MSP or Supercollider are available these often present a steep learning curve for the non–programmer. This paper explores how video game technologies may provide new affordances for the electroacoustic composer. The authors will discuss their recent research using the Unreal Game Engine as a vehicle for the visualization of acoustic space, control of discrete coherent sound fields, and the use of stochastic processes for electroacoustic composition. Through the presentation of multi-channel audio examples of work in progress the authors will discuss how the use of gaming technology might serve either as a complete compositional device, as a tool to generate compositional ideas, or as a vehicle for new interactive and performative approaches. Finally, the paper will outline future research that to explores the potential of presenting electroacoustic music in VR environments in an effort to enhance the tangibility of spatio-musical images.

How can culturally-specific composition using culturally-symbolic instruments broaden the accessibility of Western electroacoustic composition and performance to multicultural audiences? Moreover, how can musical instruments with multiple and competing heritages build connections between disparate communities? This paper / performance explores how the dhol drum can be used in an electroacoustic performance context, as part of The Bradford Dhol Project (a community music initiative), to broaden its visibility amongst disparate multicultural communities.  This new work, composed for dhol and fixed media, is based on rhythmic patterns prevalent in Bhangra music, a British Punjabi popular music style. These patterns are interrupted by, and interact with, composite rhythmic elements borrowed from post-metal repertoire, darbuka patterns, and Hindustani classical rhythmic cycles. The treatment and arrangement of these rhythmic objects (Alvarez, 1989) are informed by compositional practices allied to acousmatic music and working with sound objects. The resulting score acts as a framework to organise more abstract sound material, which is derived largely from recordings of the dhol as well as sounds associated with Bhangra . This approach builds on the composer’s previous fixed media compositions which emerged from specific cultural contexts (Elegeia for voice and fixed media and Granicus for multi-percussion and fixed media) and is situated in a growing lineage of works for percussion and electronics which borrow fromtraditional musics.   Rather than tracing the dhol’s globalisation routes, our project explores how it brings fragmented diasporic communities together. Our aim is to explore the possibility to improve accessibility to electroacoustic music for those from multicultural backgrounds by using culturally-symbolic instrumentation and rhythms that resonate with different communities. Reciprocally, the usage of these culturally-symbolic instruments and rhythms in this format will introduce different audiences to them. Following on from Bates’ (2012) argument for examining ‘the social life of musical instruments’, we explore how the dhol can play an ACTIVE role in social life by fostering cohesion and inclusivity among diverse communities through the lens of electroacoustic composition.

This paper discusses Livecell, an interactive generative composition and real-time scoring application for user and string quartet. The paper outlines the authors’ rationale, discusses the use of cellular automata in this context and provides an insight into the application’s structural design. The authors summarise their approach to CA musification and interface design as well as score generation and display. The paper concludes with observations on the musical output and discussion of future developments.

This paper discusses Livecell, a system for interactive generative composition through real-time score generation as well as the triggering and treatment of soundfiles. The paper outlines the authors’ rationale, discusses the use of cellular automata in this context and provides an insight into the application’s structural design. The authors summarise their approach to CA musification, the representation of data relations in a musical score, and interface design as well as score generation and display. The paper concludes with observations on the musical output and discussion of future developments.