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A common cause of profound deafness is hair cell dysfunction in the cochlea. Cochlear implants (CI) bypass the hair cells via an electrode and stimulate the cochlear nerve directly. Nowadays, it is possible to preserve residual hair cell function and hearing through flexible electrodes and a-traumatic CI surgery techniques; called hearing preservation CI surgery. This may suit partially deaf patients who can use natural low frequency hearing in combination with electric high frequency hearing; so-called hybrid hearing. The aim of this thesis was to elucidate the effectiveness of hearing preservation CI surgery. The thesis demonstrates human cochlear anatomy in relation to CI and evaluates hearing and patient satisfaction after hearing preservation CI surgery. Analyses of human cochlear moulds belonging to the Uppsala collection showed large variations in dimensions and coiling characteristics of the cochlea. Each cochlea was individually shaped. The size and shape of the cochlea influences the position of the electrode. The diameter of the basal cochlear turn could predict insertion depth of the electrode, which is crucial for hearing preservation. The first 21 patients operated with hearing preservation CI surgery in Uppsala, showed preserved hearing. Nine-teen partially deaf patients receiving implants intended for hybrid hearing, were evaluated concerning pure tone audiometry, monosyllables (MS) and hearing in noise test (HINT). They also responded to a questionnaire, consisting of the IOI-HA, EQ-5D VAS and nine questions about residual hearing. The questionnaire results indicated a high degree of patient satisfaction with improved speech perception in silence and noise. This was also reflected by improved results in MS and HINT. Hearing was preserved in all patients, but there was an on-going deterioration of the residual hearing in the operated ear which surpassed the contralateral ear. There were no correlations between the amount of residual hearing and patient satisfaction or speech perception results. Electric stimulation provides a major contribution to speech comprehension in partially deaf patients. All the patients showed a high degree of satisfaction with their CI, regardless of varying hearing preservation.

This dissertation contains five chapters: 1. Introduction, 2. Basic Digital Processing Used in Summer Rain, 3. Part I Summer Rain - Dawn, 4. Part II After the Summer Rain and 5. Conclusion. Introduction contains a brief historical background of musique concrète, Electronische Musik, acousmatic music and music for instruments and tape, followed by basic descriptions of digital technique used in both parts of Summer Rain in Chapter 2. Also Chapter 2 describes software used in Summer Rain including "Kawamoto's VST," which is based on MAX/MSP, to create new sounds from the recorded samples using a Macintosh computer. In both Chapter 3 and 4, Kawamoto discusses a great deal of the pre-compositional stage of each piece including inspirational sources, especially Rainer Maria Rilke's poems and Olidon Redon's paintings, as well as her visual and sound imageries. In addition Chapter 3 she talks about sound sources, pitch, form and soundscape. Chapter 4 contains analysis on pitch in the piano part, rhythm, form and the general performance practice. Chapter 5 is a short conclusion of her aesthetics regarding Summer Rain, which is connected to literature, visual art and her Japanese cultural background.

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Dans le domaine musical, l'époque contemporaine se caractérise par la dissémination de la scène, la démultiplication des genres musicaux et l’omniprésence des techniques audionumériques dans les processus de fabrication et de diffusion des enregistrements, reproductibles à l'infini par un nombre toujours croissant d'utilisateurs de matériel informatique. Nous choisissons d'extraire d'un tel contexte les pratiques improvisées d'inspiration libre usant d'une lutherie électronique. Comment les artistes parviennent-ils à se repérer dans un environnement aussi fluctuant et problématique, puis à transmettre leur savoir musical ? Pour sortir de la compilation des données temporellement circonscrites, nous tâcherons de comprendre ce qui est en train de se passer au sein des pratiques improvisées contemporaines dans une localité précise. Le cadre théorique, hérité du jazz, montrera qu'il existe au XXème siècle un lien entre l'enregistrement sonore et l'improvisation à travers trois types d'instrumentation : mécanique, analogique et numérique. À l'aide de deux exemples historiques, nous essayerons de comprendre comment un improvisateur apprend à jouer du clavier tout en étant confronté, dans le même temps, à un dispositif technique de production et de reproduction sonore. La méthode introduira ensuite l'enquête de terrain effectuée à Montréal en 2013-2014 dans l'atelier de six musiciens amateurs. Les monographies mettront en évidence les filiations et la mémoire sonore de chaque artiste, constitutives d'un imaginaire musical l'autorisant à performer le moment venu. Les pratiques improvisées étudiées ne représentent aucun genre ni aucune tradition musicale identifiable, car elles s'inspirent indifféremment des musiques expérimentales, de l'électroacoustique, de l'improvisation libre, du free jazz et du rock. En revanche, elles demeurent indissociables du contexte qui les a vu naître, celui de la musique actuelle au Québec et de la topographie montréalaise. Grâce au concept d'« audiotactilité », ces pratiques seront analysées du point de vue des usages que les artistes font des circuits électroniques, c'est-à-dire le rapport physique à la matérialité des outils et des sons produits par le biais de l'ouïe et de la fonction haptique. L'improvisation procède-t-elle d'une construction réfléchie, telle une architecture ou une ingénierie, et l'électronique influence-t-il l'élaboration du discours improvisé ? Existe-il une structure sous-jacente dans l'élaboration d'un discours improvisé utilisant des outils électroniques en adéquation avec un processus musical vivant ? Par le réemploi de morceaux préexistants et par la pratique du sampling, l'improvisation peut être pensée comme un processus hypertextuel. Ainsi, nous verrons si les techniques numériques se placent dans la continuité de l'enregistrement mécanique et analogique ou si elles constituent un élément de rupture. / In the field of music, our contemporary age is characterised by a scattered scene, an increasing number of musical genres and ubiquitous audio-digital techniques used in the process of production as well as in the broadcasting of recordings, themselves infinitely reproducible by an ever-growing number of computer-users. In the midst of this constellation we have chosen to highlight the art of free improvisation using electronic stringed-instruments. How do artists manage to find their way in such a fluctuating and problematical environment, and then convey their musical know-how? Rather than compiling data limited in time, we will attempt to understand what is being happening among contemporary improvisation in a specific context.The theoretical framework, inherited from jazz, points to a connection in the 20th century between recording and improvisation and operates on three levels: mechanical, analogue and digital. With the aid of two historical examples we try to understand how an improviser learns to play the keyboard while being at the same time confronted with a technical device of sound production and reproduction. The methodology / approach then presents a field investigation carried out in Montreal in 2013-2014 during a workshop involving six musicians. The monographs highlight the origins and sound memory of each artist which make up his musical individuality and allow him to perform when required. The improvised sessions under investigation do not represent a genre or identifiable musical tradition, as they derive indiscriminately from experimental music, electro-acoustics, free improvisation, free jazz and rock. However they cannot be dissociated from the context in which they emerged, i.e. the modern music scene in Quebec and the wider Montreal environment.Thanks to the concept of "audio-tactility", these practices are analysed focussing on how the artists use electronic circuits, i.e. what is the connexion between the material aspect of the devices and the sounds produced by listening and haptics. Does the improvisation stem from a mental construct, a building plan or engineered map and do the electronics have a bearing on the elaboration of the improvised discourse? Is there an underlying structure in the elaboration of an improvised discourse using electronic devices in combination with a live musical process? By feeding preexisting pieces through a sampler, improvisation can be thought of as a hypertext process. In this way we can observe whether digital techniques are an extension of mechanical and analogue recording techniques or whether indeed they break with them.

Cette thèse de doctorat porte sur la description analytique des phénomènes acoustophorétiques, en solutions et suspensions. L'acoustophorèse est la création d'un champ électrique par une onde acoustique.La première partie porte sur les solutions d'électrolytes, et est basée sur l'analyse critique de la littérature. A partir des différents articles, un modèle original, basé sur la résolution des équations de la dynamique pour les ions est trouvé, lequel permet la prédiction, sans paramètres ajustables, de l'acoustophorèse des sels simples pour des solutions allant de très diluées à assez concentrées. Ce modèle est ensuite étendu aux cas de solutions avec trois espèces ioniques différentes, et un programme informatique calculant l'acoustophorèse en fonction de la concentration est en annexe. Une seconde extension est faite pour les liquides ioniques, et permet de déduire le volume des ions. Des tentatives d'extension du modèle sont faites pour les micelles et les colloïdes, en précisant les écueils. Une deuxième approche, basée sur la thermodynamique irréversible et les relations de réciprocité d'Onsager, est faite dans le cas des suspensions colloïdales. Les principaux résultats sont la proportionnalité entre l'acoustophorèse et la mobilité électrique des colloïdes, et donc l'applicabilité de cette technique à la caractérisation des suspensions, y compris concentrées ; le lien rigoureux entre l'acoustophorèse et son corollaire, la création d'une onde acoustique et son champ électrique ; enfin une procédure pour séparer le signal des colloïdes du signal de l'électrolyte support dans l'acoustophorèse des suspensions réelles. / This Ph.D. thesis is on the analytical description of acoustophoretic phenomena, in solutions and suspensions. Acoustophoresis is the creation of an electric field by an acoustic wave.First part is on electrolytic solutions, and it begins by a critical review of literature, from Debye first paper to a recent Ph.D. thesis on the same subject. Hypotheses are carefully selected, and a new model is deduced. This model, using pressure, friction, electric, inertia and corrective force, allows the prediction of acoustophoresis up to 0,3 molar for a simple salt, without any fitting parameter. An extension to solutions with three ionic species is done, and a Fortran program to compute the acoustophoresis as a function of the concentration is given in annex. Extension of the model, in the case of ionic liquid, allows the measurement of the volume of ions. A brief point is done on micellar and colloidal suspensions. A second part is on the application of non-equilibrium thermodynamic, especially Onsager reciprocal relation, to the acoustophoresis of suspensions. Acoustophoresis is shown to be proportional to the electric mobility, which allows the measurement of the latter in dark and concentrated suspensions. A link between acoustophoresis and the creation of acoustic wave by an electric field is also found, and a process to isolate contributions of colloids in real suspensions, with a supporting electrolyte, is proposed.

Sonic Activation is a multimedia performance-installation featuring sound sculptures, video projections, and performance with live electronics for solo and mixed ensembles. The work aims to unpack the nature in which we hear and interact with sound, space, and gesture. It is a project that recontextualizes the typical practice of performance and installation modes of music and art. The event uses 12 loudspeakers spaced around a gallery to create a densely layered sonic atmosphere that gently fluctuates and slowly evolves. Throughout the event, the audience is encouraged to freely navigate the gallery and experience the subtle changes in sound as they manifest in the space.

Now All the Fingers of This Tree is a work in two movements based upon a poem of the same name by E. E. Cummings. It is divided into two movements: The first movement is scored for nine part solo soprano, where one performer records each of the nine vocal lines. The second movement is an electro-acoustic work derived from four phrases of the original recording of the first movement. Total duration of the work is approximately 19 minutes. The paper provides a detailed analysis of both movements as well as a discussion on usage of text, problems addressed with traditional notation techniques, and technology utilized in the production of the work.

Three Pieces for Musicians and Computer implements a modular formal structure that allows the performers to experiment with the order and number of movements to arrive at their ideal combination. The piece is a collection of three solo works: Rameaux, Nature Morte, and Moiré for bass flute with b-foot, metal percussion (vibraphone, glockenspiel, and crotales), and clarinet (A and B-flat instruments) respectively. In addition to the original versions, an alternate version of each piece is included. The alternate versions add new performance elements to the original works: live electronics in Rameaux and Nature Morte and an acoustic quintet (flute, viola, percussion, piano and harp) in Moiré. These additions reframe the original works by introducing new harmonic, timbral, and formal connections and possibilities. The compositional process of Three Pieces relies on the notion of Germinal Elements, which are defined as the set of limited, distinct, and indivisible materials used in the creation of the work. Though Germinal Elements are indivisible, they undergo a type of developmental process through expansion and contraction, which is an increase or a decrease in the range or scope of any musical parameter (time, pitch, density, dynamic, duration, etc.) or set of parameters. Analysis of this cycle of works reveals a variety of recombinations of four GE's as well as processes of expansion and contraction applied to multiple parameters of each GE to generate formal relationships within and between works. Two electronics systems, the delay/harmonizer instrument and the live performance system are described both in technical and musical terms with specific examples given to show how the electronics influence and expand both the surface material and the formal structure of the work.