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No description available.

This thesis investigates the entwined relationship between the creative process of composition and the development of technological frameworks, specifically software development, as parallel practices in digital-interactive contexts. Drawing on the tenets of intermediality, notably the writing of Elleström, Nelson, Bay-Cheng, and Kattenbelt, this work aims to explore and analyse the resonances and possibilities for renegotiating our perceptions of temporality, authorship and the construction of experience. This interrogation of digital-intermedial composition consists of three practical research projects and a threechapter written thesis that addresses the theoretical and practical concerns of a creative process exploring the notion of ‘composing experience.’ The reflexive relationship between composition and digital technologies the focus of this research yet further theoretical concepts arise from the central inquiry later in the thesis. A key methodology in my research has been the finding the balance between writing, analysis and practical engagement with the work. This is a Practice-as-Research PhD and as such a complex interaction between theoretical and practical elements define my inquiry, something reflected in the writing of this thesis. Chapter One seeks to locate the core aspects and processes of my own work within the field of contemporary practice looking notably at the work of artists involved in digital interactive work and composing with sound and image. The chapter looks specifically at the validity of creating interactive works from single data stream input devices – such as gaming controllers and the notion of how these interfaces should be ‘mapped’ (Elleström) to effective points of interaction in the context of the audiences experience. Chapter Two charts the linear journey of my practical projects beginning with Comrade Coffee (Donovan 2010) and my exploration of interdisciplinarity. My second research project, Inter-activity (Donovan 2011), details the shift in my research focus from interdisciplinarity to intermedial process in constructing work in digital-interactive contexts. The basis of my final work, Digital Spaces (Donovan 2012), is set up, for its exploration in Chapter Three, through analysing the system’s early development and the exploration of different methodological approaches including gamification. Chapter Three is split into four sections and focuses on the conceptual development and analysis of my research primarily through Digital Spaces and the theoretical issues emerging from these contexts. The thesis concludes by exploring the validity and functionality of a meta-compositional process and the composition of experience as being methodological and ideological focuses for creative arts practice in digital-interactive contexts.

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This thesis is intended to amplify, support and provide historical and aesthetic contexts for the concerns which I have explored and developed in my creative practice as a composer. It is accompanied by three audio CDs containing six compositions which map the development of my language of studio music, together with a further two CDs containing earlier compositions and a sixth CD containing a musical reference compilation which supports the text. The thesis is divided into the following six sections: Introduction "a brief account of my background as a composer including a summary of the composition portfolios of my previous degrees, going on to discuss my first composition for this project, The Book (1999), which is submitted not as a portfolio piece but for reference only (CD 4) "a description of the subsequent ten compositions, only one of which is submitted, Summer Nights Dream (2001), which again is intended for reference only (CD 5) " the listing of a number of influential collage pieces according to the categorisation superimposition or juxtaposition which prefaces the history of collage music outlined in the next chapter. I Collage Music: History, Context and Influence "a positioning of collage music in both historical and cultural contexts; examples are drawn from both popular and classical musics including examples of contemporary studio-based music, in effect proposing a genre-crossing history of collage music which is currently undocumented " an examination of the ways in which the structure, pace and content in my studio music have been informed by comedy. This chapter is intended to be read in conjunction with the musical reference CD (6). 2 Composition and Computers: The Landscape of Studio Music " an exploration the various ways in which music technology has been an influence on the development of my compositional language "a brief survey of the field of algorithmic composition and a description of a suite of computer programs I designed in order to generate musical material "a discussion of a system of calculating modes which I devised in conjunction with these programs " an account of 'large-scale phasing' including an examination of historical precedents in both the classical and popular music traditions for using this kind of generative system " an exploration of the notion of musical landscape as a means of pointing up a significant development in my approach to composition. 3 The Portfolio of Compositions: An Overview "a discussion of the development of my language of composition throughout the pieces in the portfolio "a grouping of my work into four approaches to form: generative landscape, episodic, rondo and fantasia " an examination of structure and gesture in my pieces. 4 Carnival of Light: An Account of my Compositional Process "a detailed account of the composition of one of the pieces in my portfolio in which I show how I have been inspired by texts, paintings, photographs and music in the creation of each section of my piece, hoping also to illuminate the thinking processes involved. Conclusion " an attempt to bring together the themes of each of the preceding sections, and to summarise the contribution I have made to the fields of studio composition and collage music " the introduction of the notion of altitude as a means of establishing a distinction between collage and non-collage music "a discussion of the issue of quotation in collage and a consideration of the relevance of collage music in contemporary culture.

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The experience of expectation within acousmatic music is regarded as problematic because the electronic mediation of sound permits and even encourages composers to combine and integrate sounds of widely varying origins that may carry equally divergent aesthetic implications. Because of this, the compositional management of expectation in acousmatic music presents many challenges beyond those found in Western tonal music where familiar musical grammar assists the listener in comprehending the tensions and implications that contribute to expectation. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the nature of expectation within acousmatic music by means of a practice-based methodology. The composition portfolio itself has led to two new frameworks being proposed. The first, acousmatic skip-diving, provides a method for the ad hoc evaluation of materials and their interactions in situations where large numbers of existing sound materials are available. The second framework – sonic evidence – is based on some of the fundamental principles of forensic science and crime scene investigation. While not derived from my compositional practice, this reflection on the practical outcomes of the research is intended as a useful tool for the listener or musicologist to consider future development of events in a piece of music in terms of expectations aroused. While this study was never intended to provide a definitive answer to the issues surrounding expectation in acousmatic music, it has further illuminated the challenges facing listeners when attempting to anticipate events within a work, and how composers may create moments of surprise within their music. Furthermore, the ideas explored within the dissertation provide important building blocks through which further examination of expectation within the genre may take place.

This PhD composition portfolio explores through practice the collaborative relationship between composer and performer. The work demonstrates an inter-dependence between the desire to work with a person or group of people and exploration of an abstract or conceptual idea. Many of these conceptual ideas are from the Jungian school of psychology, or drawn from the real life experiences of composer and/or performer. The commentary reflects on the differing nature of these relationships, and the effect this has on the work. Ideas laid out in Vera John-Steiner’s book Creative Collaboration—such as ‘integrative’ and ‘complementary collaboration’, ‘supportive partnerships’, ‘self-in-relation’, ‘thought communities’, ‘enterprises’, and ‘life-span approach’—provide context. The portfolio follows and diverges from the atelier model used by composers like George Aperghis and Meredith Monk, and the director/composer auteur model as outlined by Eric Salzman and Thomas Desi in their book The New Music Theatre. It demonstrates that placing collaborators at the subjective centre of the work gives them autonomy within the compositional creative process, and the role of composer becomes more facilitator, less auteur. This contributes to knowledge by enabling the composer to look beyond the self and towards society. One aim is composing pieces that are immediate, meaningful and have lasting resonance with the creators, audiences and future performers. This is achieved by writing music rooted in human psychology and personal experience. Another aim is to legitimise the total integration of emotion and reason within the creative process. Ultimately, the portfolio presents research into the composer’s role as psychologist, the pieces as therapy, and the impact this has on the individual, the collaborators and society.