There are a number of composers, active in the early twenty-first century, whose theoretical and practical backgrounds are rooted in the techniques and philosophies of the French Spectral School of composition. Whilst there exist a number of publications treating the work of L’École Spectrale, there are few theorists who have yet attempted to assess the impact of their discoveries on subsequent generations. The present portfolio therefore seeks to address this absence of what might be called ‘post-spectral’ scholarship, firstly through practice-led research in the form of a number of compositions, which employ a range of spectrally-based techniques and principles, but which represent a variety of potential outcomes based on these ideas. In essence, these works represent one set of answers to the question: How might one combine a spectrally-influenced approach to composition with other techniques to create an individual style? Furthermore, the supporting thesis undertakes three case studies of works by Marc-André Dalbavie, Kaija Saariaho and Bruno Mantovani, all significant contemporary composers whose work rests, to some degree, on what may be described as a spectral basis, and yet whose music is rarely examined by musicologists at the time of writing (2015). Finally, the thesis demonstrates the significance of spectral techniques and philosophy on contemporary composers as diverse as Magnus Lindberg, Pierre Boulez and György Ligeti. In this manner the thesis will offer a response to the question of how the techniques and approaches pioneered by the French Spectral School of composition (L’École Spectrale) have influenced composers of succeeding generations. The portfolio in its entirety will therefore throw new light on ‘post-spectral’ composition, aiming thereby to summarise the present situation and offer a fresh impetus for subsequent composition and research, and to address the question of the future prospects of spectrally-influenced composition.

The portfolio presents p~eces for loudspeaker playback where the focus is on the spatialization of the sounds, and pieces for headphone playback using recordings captured, for the most part, on in-ear microphones. The he~dphone pieces are used to explore relationships between virtual and actual sound events, and the synthesis of acousmatic composition skills with those employed in soundwalks and interdisciplinary improvisation.

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The portfolio consists of seven instrumental compositions, composed during a period of three years. The portfolio is accompanied by a CD and DVD, containing the recordings of the compositions, and a written commentary. The latter gives an overview of the portfolio and focuses on the most important compositional issues. The Introduction presents the early influences and describes the evolution of the author’s musical language. Chapter 1 studies the author’s personal identity and Dominican identity and their influence on the music. Chapter 2 examines the different musical structures in the portfolio, comparing them to the traditional narrative arc. Chapter 3 discusses the origins of the rhythmic language and its elements, focusing on the creation of different textures. Chapter 4 deals with pitch and the construction of harmonic soundworlds. Chapter 5 studies the ritualistic elements and their evolution in the portfolio. The conclusion gives details of the compositions the author has written since finishing the portfolio and his future plans.

The purpose of this compositional research has been to shape inner compositional thinking processes and turn them into a musical discourse by developing a structural system that could depict these processes to the outer world. The research process is initialized by compositional concerns on aesthetic and stylistic issues as well as on sonic hearing and listening. This pre-compositional preparation is necessary for developing a deeper understanding on already established stylistic compositional preferences and sound relationships. Experimentation on various interrelations and interconnections of linear contrapuntal motivic fragments combined by certain groups of vertical sonorities and exploration on concepts of structural protraction and extension of material led to the development of a structural procedure based on ‘voice interchangeability’ and ‘prolongation’. Sectional approach was applied as the main structural form in all nine original compositions of the research.

This commentary describes how my compositions in the last four years have been based upon models of human and animal vocal utterances, including both textual and paralinguistic elements, and how they strengthen the connection between text and music especially via synthetic relationships, based on the reproduction of the microscopic sound features of the voices which utter text. The textual elements are projected into the speech domain, thus acquiring uniqueness and including in the composition the aura of the being whose voice is analysed and later re-synthesised by the instruments involved. Varied repetition is used to feature text at multiple levels of enlargement, or filtering stages. All these occurrences of the same textual material have been regarded as nodes of a rhizome, since I conceived them as windows on to plateaux with different temporal scales or filtering processes, all intersecting a clearly defined socio-political plateau. The window form proved very useful for the inclusion of improvisation-based blocks and for the incorporation of elements from previously existing compositions into new ones. The Deleuzian concept of the rhizome created a suitable frame for the main aspects of my research and, since the change of analytical methodology in the course of the portfolio reflects my growing interest in perception, it is my intention to proceed along the path shown by Deleuze and Bergson to investigate the concepts of repetition and memory. Within the portfolio, the socio-political layer is at first determined by the content of the text, but later also by the identity of the person uttering the text and the techniques (s)he uses, so that in one of my compositions I successfully embedded music belonging to a non-Western culture. These trends show a future path for my research – namely, the identification of social differences among individuals and the detection of the traces of trauma through the analysis of their voices.

The output submitted in this portfolio manifests the composer’s search for a distinctive voice in an era of musical diversity. From my total output of some sixty original compositions (see Appendix 2 on page 71) seven have been selected for inclusion here. The reasons for their selection will be explained more fully in later sections of this overview but I feel it would be helpful to outline briefly the thinking behind their selection at the outset. Essentially the first three compositions here are works that I consider to be mature and successful ones despite the fact that they each inhabit a very different sound world from the others to the extent that the listener might, with some justification, doubt that they could have been written by the same composer. Their very lack of any hint of a unified line of progression from one work to the next graphically demonstrates the point, to be further developed later, that the process of sifting through potential compositional influences with a view to developing one’s own original voice is often more protracted and difficult for composers active from around the mid-point of the 20th century onwards than it was for earlier generations of composers. In the past young composers would make their first attempts within a comparatively settled musical environment in which there would be at least some semblance of agreement about what musical techniques and forms would represent the ‘norm’. The first three compositions in the portfolio epitomise three very different possible routes I had been investigating as part of the ‘sifting’ process mentioned above. The remaining four compositions have then been selected to demonstrate how a synthesis of these contrasting approaches was attempted and, in my view, successfully achieved. The table overleaf summarises the stylistic issues involved.

This thesis confronts and analyses the relationship between internal (compositional) spatial thinking and aspects of external (performance) space, with the intention of revealing new musical possibilities. Eight original electroacoustic compositions are presented in the portfolio. These are Anima Machina, Bosonica, Cipher, Papyrus, Pavakoothu, Spindlesong, Topographia and The Spindlesongs Installation. The works exhibit a variety of spatial characteristics, not only through the spatial implications of the sound material used, but also in their presentation formats. The portfolio comprises four stereo works, one 5.1 work, two 8-channel works and a work for solo instrument (clarinet) and electronics. All but one of the compositions are acousmatic, and the mixed work is greatly informed by the acousmatic tradition. The main concern spanning the portfolio is the creation of spatial aspects on a number of levels, from source material through processing, layering and spatialisation to dissemination in performance. The commentary presents supplementary information on each work, with a view to providing the reader with an insight into the evolution of my compositional vocabulary. Those aspects considered spatially most significant are highlighted, with reference to the current musicological terminology of space-form (Smalley 2007) and other contextual writings in the field. The research findings are assembled according to the nature of spatial presentation: stereo, multichannel, installation, and instrumental performance.

This practical portfolio PhD presents a collection of my pop music compositions and productions, with an accompanying exegesis that examines my process whilst creating these tracks. The exegesis analyses the methods and techniques I use, with the aim of achieving a better understanding of my productions. This will in turn reveal my idiolect, which is the distinctive way an individual creates that produces their particular style (Middleton, 1990: 136, 174; Moore, 2012: 120, 166-7). This research also includes analyses of interesting, innovative and important moments or processes that draw on perspectives taken from theories of creativity, technology as well as the social aspects of creation and innovation. These theories are the systems approach to creativity (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997, 1999), and the Social Construction of Technology [SCOT] (Bijker, Hughes & Pinch, 1987, 2012). The focus of this thesis will be on understanding the detail of my creative practice. This exegesis consists of critical commentaries of four of the fifteen portfolio tracks, each in its own chapter. It is the intention that concentrating on just four tracks will enable a better understanding of the processes in question. Other portfolio tracks serve as further examples of the points made, or demonstrate alternatives where relevant. An autoethnographical approach is used as a methodology for the commentary chapters. This is in order to achieve a comprehension of my personal experience (Bochner and Ellis in Denzin, 2000: 736-9; Muncey, 2010: 26-33). The reader could then potentially ‘resonate with’ this experience and ‘reflect on it’ (Bochner and Ellis in Denzin, 2000: 753). Chapter 1 outlines the various roles I play when creating a pop music track, which include composer, producer, engineer, performer and collaborator. This chapter additionally explores my position as listener as well as the significance of the opinions of the audience. Chapter 2 focuses on composition and melody, including a discussion of intuition and invention. The vocal production techniques used in the creation of the featured track are explored as well as my approach to mixing. Chapter 3 centers on how my drum performances and the lead vocal parts were created, and edited for the portfolio track in question. It also outlines several models of collaboration that refer to the creation of this track. Chapter 4 discusses the frame of mind one draws upon whilst 6 creating pop music. It examines how I chose equipment for the production, the production techniques used, and the creation of timbre and texture. Chapter 5 examines the application of reverbs and effects, and also explores my approaches and attitudes, some philosophical, towards the perspective of the listener. The composition collaboration situation differs in each commentary chapter, including: sole composition for Chapter 2; equally shared composition between two collaborators in Chapter 3; three collaborators in Chapter 4, of which I have least compositional input; and two way collaboration in Chapter 5, where I have no compositional input. As a result of this study, a better understanding of my creative practice has been achieved, which includes further comprehension of my idiolect. This research has not only informed my recent composing and producing, but it is also likely that it will influence my future productions. Furthermore, it is hoped that the insights presented in this thesis could potentially serve as useful knowledge for others, with the prospect that they can approach their own productions with this knowledge in mind.

Title of Work 1) The Turing Test – a Studio Opera (60 mins). 2) Symphony for Chamber Orchestra (25 mins). 3) Treptow – for String Orchestra (10 mins). 4) Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano (12 mins). 5) Symphonic Overture from John Paul Jones (13 mins). 6) Hebridean Sunset Rag – for Violin and Piano (3 mins). 7 Treptow – for String Quartet (10 mins). 8) Ping for Solo Piano (after Samuel Beckett) 8 mins. 9) Orchestral Medley from John Paul Jones (9 mins). 10) Vocal selections from What Goes Around 15 mins. (words by Mike Gibb).