The works in this folio are not so much concerned with stylistic unity and consistency as with balancing a strongly subjective expression with the need to shape the music into an effective dramatic (or even melodramatic) entity. In achieving a successful fusion of these priorities the eight works gradually unfold various approaches to handling melodic, rhythmic, harmonic and textural parameters. In preserving and enhancing that which is purely instinctual there is an emerging realization throughout the folio that it has to be submitted to some exercise of the intellect, incorporating a degree of external pre-planning. This provides an ever-increasing security of control over my material and, I believe, a greater sophistication and facility of expression. Within this general concern there emerges one other major trait: a desire to give expression to received cultural characteristics from my own background, which is Scottish and Celtic, This is achieved either by absorbing some element of Celtic traditional music or by employing some extra-musical subject matter as an ingredient, ie: a poem as a setting or as an influence, or some quasi-programmatic handling of natural or cultural phenomena from my native country. However, the ultimate purpose in this was not to write ‘national' music (ie: any notion of parody is studiously avoided), but paradoxically to attain an individual voice.

This portfolio of six electroacoustic compositions and accompanying thesis present an investigation of microsound through a variety of lenses. Microsound is defined as both sound particles consisting of extremely short transients, and also sounds containing low amplitude levels. In this research I investigate how considerations of microsound can influence and shape compositional decisions, and show how this influence can be traced within my own compositional approach. The six compositions in the portfolio are linked thematically as well as through the application of different microsound compositional techniques. The thesis shows how each composition developed both as a standalone work and in relation to the larger portfolio, and demonstrates a strong connecting thread between the different works. The commentary further explores in-depth the concepts and techniques explored in the portfolio, and situates these ideas within an historical context. Through the different compositional investigations and associated discussions I conclude that microsound offers a rich avenue through which to explore contemporary ideas and methods in electroacoustic music, and show how these ideas can be effectively applied in a variety of ways.

A portfolio of seven compositions, exploring the use of environmental recordings in purely acousmatic works, and acousmatic video pieces, composed in the Electroacoustic Music Studios at the University of Birmingham, my home studio and the EMS studios in Stockholm during the period October 2003 - September 2006. The concert works Postcards from Siberia, Stranger Things Happen at Sea, Study in Space, and slides are presented on CD. A Short Film about Stillness, Monument and voyager contain video and are included in DVD- Video format. Music for an Urban Lighthouse (and exhibition catalogue). plus a collection of eight field recordings are included on CD as appendices. All works are presented in stereo.

The aim of my project is to compose a large work for Javanese Gamelan and Western Chamber Orchestra in which all the instruments keep their original tuning. I am interested in the question of combining different tuning system and the effect of such combined tuning on the whole aesthetic properties of the music. One of the main research questions is: "how may Javanese Gamelan and Western instruments fit together? " My curiosity as a composer led me to try out a large number of exercises. The final score is the combined result of these exercises, the first performance of soundcolours and the solutions to the problems to unexpected sounds. My writing generally depends on practical knowledge - the working process becoming the interlocking activity of theory and practice. The folio contains the score of the main work, the score of exercises, early versions and related works, accompanied by four live recordings. There is also an extended essay in which I critically examine the problems arising from the project, the aesthetic ideas behind it, and the quality of the outcomes. In order to understand Gamelan tuning from the perspective of the Western player, I include acoustic analysis of the tuning of selected Gamelan instruments.

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