This thesis develops a new conception for ‘composed instruments’ and explores how these instruments can serve to challenge the established norms of musical relationships. It investigates the relationships between music and those who listen, make and facilitate it and, by extension, the relationship between the audience, the performer, and the composer. Music need not be bound by the constraints of traditional instruments and performances can be interactive as opposed to didactic. These notions are investigated through the lens of a series of composed instruments, particularly the Arduinome (and variants), the Large Flat Panel Speakers (LaFPanS) and the Augmented Televisions (ATVs). The building of each of these instruments contributed to the refinement of the concept and, in turn, each has proven to offer a range of artistic possibilities as a result of being developed through a compositional process. The notion of the composed instrument as defined within this text aligns somewhat with the Fluxus group of artists, fostering the transition from audience to performer through universal playability and the levelling of musical hierarchies. Such an approach can re-organise performance hierarchies and have a democratising effect on music-making.

This text explores the problems of interpreting musical identity, meaning, and sociocultural value of a compositional work influenced by two traditions with different values: the modernist tradition based on Western European classical heritage, and the oral tradition of the Balkans. It also follows the process of transformation and recreation of the author's musical language: from classical, notation-oriented to a more intuitive, improvisational and live-performance based. Through detailing some of the experiences of the author as a composer and a performer, it also discusses some observations on the ways in which this discrepancy between two traditions and practices has affected and still influences those creative practices in Serbia and the former Yugoslavia that relate to traditional music and its derivations. By identifying musical performance within certain socio-cultural contexts this dichotomy can be highlighted. As a result, a substantial part of this text focuses on investigating the capacity of a technologically assisted composition and performance practice to overcome this issue. Technology is here perceived not only as an instrument for recording, improvising, composing and performing but also as a medium which communicates musical value. In this study, the oral tradition from the Balkans was approached not only as a purely acoustic phenomenon, but it also included a raised awareness of the nature of the continuous fusion of various cultures in the region, as well as existing cultural and religious antagonisms. This study investigates the problems of constructing musical identity as well as the meaning of an author’s creative practice in relation to the socio-cultural environment of its origin, whilst observing its reception by audiences outside the Balkan region. Socio-cultural environments are established through exploring the writings of the authors that depict the Balkans historical, cultural and musical spheres in relation to other cultural practices and influences.

Part I of this document, being what I am, theorises an identity for the composer, and examines precepts and influences in my own development. Part II, doing what I do, discusses each of the six works presented in the portfolio. A set of appendices, presenting diagrams and other supporting material, is included as a separate volume. Chapter 1, what do composers do?, introduces the semiotic theory of Charles Sanders Peirce, detailing his categorisation of different sign types and function. Examples in relation to an electroacoustic piece connect to an account of Molino's and Nattiez' "tripartition" poiesis-trace-esthesis, which is used to frame an analysis of what a composer can know in relation to their audience and, via Peirce, is re-scaled to operate at micro and macro levels. Drawing on Peirce and Nattiez, I construct a definition for "music", as sound which is either created or heard (whether or not made that way) to have organisation perceived through certain types of non-linguistic sign function. A series of postulates on the nature of art in the postmodern world lead to the proposition that a composer is someone who tries to make music that is art. Chapter 2, being this composer, introduces themes central to my doctoral composition activity, and relates them to a set of problems I see as facing (or dividing) composers and audiences. I give an acc ount of my learning experiences in theUSA in relationto the UK. An examination of the traditional principles of counterpoint is extrapolated to the proposal for a generalised counterpoint, involving the cross-setting of "energy profiles" within a semiotic space elucidated by Peirce's sign classifications. I discuss the roles of signalling, physicality and spatialised sound in capturing and sustaining audience attention, and present a group of conceptual and practical crossovers between acoustic and electroacoustic technique. An apparatus for compositional "quality control" is discussed in relation to the Nattiez tripartition. The chapter closes with a commentary on musicology's sometimes-ignorance of developments in other areas of critical thought such as literary theory, and a reassessmen tof the role of this thesis document. Introducing the portfolio, Chapter 3 discusses an extended tapework, Three Friends, which takes recordings of acoustic improvisations as "musical" anchors for a referential play, increasingly mobile in the successive movements. The finale brings together the three sources in a virtual chamber music. The piece has strong formal direction,which is presented as a metaphor of my compositional development over the corresponding period. Functional pitch and harmonic structures support behaviours only possible in the electroacoustic medium.The work plays with electroacoustic tropes and introduceshumour. An assessmen tof the first performances encourages re-affirmation of tape composition's vitality. In Chapter 4, an analysis of the dialectical interaction between performance showmanship and musical substance leads to a theory of the virtuoso performer as musicalcyborg. Aesthetic challenges especially face the composer/performer of new electronic instruments; the violin's density of cultural referents enable a violin-like instrument to solve some of these challenges.The conceptual and technical evolution of such an instrument,the "funny fiddle", and realisation of a first concert work, Gipsy fugue, are discussed in detail. Examination of the relationship between compositional intent, practical possibility, and an emphasis on evolutionary "satisficed" technology, together with assessment of thework's reception,inform discussion of future developments. Chapter 5 describes a site-specific interactive installation, who's in charge?, designed to "activate" audience members arriving for a concert. The technical apparatus is borrowed from the funny-fiddle system, with the addition of slides projected to appear as posters or direction signals. The elements of the installation are susceptible to various levels of semiotic registration. Ethical responsibilities are discussed in relation to the tacit audience-manipulation. Chapter 6 introduces Teen, a piece for brass quintet and percussion that sets four short abstract texts written when I was a teenager. Subjective and analytical modes of text-setting interact with musico-formal design. The music's contextual relationship to its audience is discussed, as are the difficulties of performing and recording a work that is deceptively demanding. Chapter 7 asks what is song? and discusses the interaction of semiotic behaviours in music (as defined earlier) and text. The texts of New Yorker Songs come from early years of The New Yorker magazine. Saraband makes a linear, cinematic setting of a narrative but multivocal poem. A freely atonal musical language, diatonically inflected, but equally concerned with spectral and physical space, is propelled by the speech rhythm. Aspects of the setting are discussed in semiotic terms. Line uses and fragments a shorter text, setting it through formal structures at the background and middleground level, with foreground concerns for gesture and texture. This is examined through Emmerson's(electroacoustically-conceived) "language grid". Lastly, the computation-aided realisation of musical texture is discussed. Chapter 8 presents Chaconnes, for violin and electronic sounds. Its motivations are similar to those of the funny-fiddle project, but with a complementary solution. Precomposed electronic elements are triggered in chamber-music dialogue with the unamplified acoustic violinist. The piece downplays extra-musical reference, seeking an internally-directed language "natural" to the acoustic instrument. Analysis of a Bach model introduces discussion of form and rhetoric. This chapter emphasises strategies for pitch structuration. A custom playback-tool for the electronic sounds streamlines the separation of musical composition and technical development, and provides an efficient performance environment.

This document describes the processes and development of my compositional work, particularly concerning the introduction of modifications of timbral qualities, including combinations, and hybridization procedures. It describes compositional ethodologies, developed within a technological environment, and the interrelation between theoretical thought and computational approach. The following chapters present time, frequency, and timbre as materials of investigation, analysis, and re-composition, through real time electroacoustic strategies and treatments. The preparation and design of specific software, through the utilization of programming language Max/MSP Jitter, will illustrate the computational approach to composing, its inner correspondence with the theoretical approach, and interconnections with preparation and performing activity. Procedures progressively applied to the portfolio of compositions are presented in the final chapters of the document. The portfolio consists of six works completed during the last six years, for instruments and real time electronic treatment, presented as a CD with the complete recordings of three compositions, four scores, and a DVD, containing video recording of two works. The last three compositions presented are also part of a cycle of works –still in progress- dedicated to the whole instrumental spectrum, in which the voice represents the physical-musical material of each work.

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Many elements of and reflections on tonality are to be found in Vaughan Williams's music: tonal centres are established and sustained, consonant triads are pervasive, and sonata form (a structure associated with tonality) is influential in the symphonies. But elements of the tonal system are also challenged: the diatonic scale is modified by modal alterations which affect the hierarchical relation of scale degrees, often consonant triads are not arranged according to the familiar patterns of functional harmony, and the closure of sonata form is compromised by the evasive epilogue ending of many movements and rotational structures. This music is not tonal or atonal, nor does it stand on any historical path between these two thoroughly theorised principles of pitch organisation. With no obvious single theoretical model at hand through which to explore Vaughan Williams's music, this analysis engages with Schenkerian principles, Neo-Riemannian theory, and the idea of sonata deformation, interpreting selected extracts from various works in detail. Elements of coherence and local unities are proposed. Yet disruptions, ambiguities, subversions, and distancing frames all feature at different stages. These are a challenge to the specific principle of organisation in question. Sometimes they also raise concerns for the engagement of theory with this repertoire in general. At such points, meta-theoretical issues arise, while the overall focus remains on the analytical understanding of Vaughan Williams's music. The text of this thesis comprises Volume One, with supporting examples, figures and tables presented in Volume Two.

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The aim of this research was to investigate the nature of singers' musical group identity from the perspective of singers themselves. This examination is the first of its kind to show that singers' behaviour may be influenced by musical m-group identification. Singers do not fit the typical definition of "musician" (i.e. plays an instrument) and have been largely neglected as musicians in the research literature. This thesis examines whether singers label themselves as "musicians" or as "singers". It explores the stereotypes associated with the two labels, how singers themselves respond to group stereotypes, and how and why these stereotypes emerge. An initial qualitative investigation of singers' musical identity found that some singers see themselves as musicians whilst others see themselves as singers. These different selflabels appeared to influence singers' self-perceptions as singers were seen to have poor musicianship when compared with musicians. A closer examination of stereotypes showed that singers themselves believe that musicians engage in musical practice, whilst singers do not. Using social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) as a framework, two studies involving 161 singing student participants showed how group identification can cause singers to self-stereotype and influence their attitudes towards stereotyped behaviours. The results suggest that a strong singer identity may result in stronger adherence to singer-stereotyped behaviours such as individuality, whilst a strong musician identity may lead to more musical practice. A final qualitative interview of professional singers revealed that although some singer stereotypes may be perceived as negative, they may provide an adaptive function, and emerge as a consequence of behaviours which are necessary for achieving a successful singing career. These results, combined with those found in previous research, made it possible to theorise a novel Singer Identity Model based on aspects of singers' personality, motivation, and behaviours arising from these factors.