This is PhD submission is both practical and theoretical. The practical element consists of nine electroacoustic compositions. The dissertation acts as a discursive accompaniment to the compositions, addressing many of the contextual and philosophical issues that have arisen during the compositional process and the perfannance of the works. It charts out discourse surrounding the different genres of electroacoustic music that the works relate to as well as examining models of work in the respective genres (i.e. sonic art, text, sound, acousmatic composition, inusique concrite and soundscape composition), and places them into a broader cultural and historical context. Chapter 2 is concerned with the impact of the advent of, and subsequent rapid development of electroacoustically mediatized sound on society and the individual. It relates a diverse mix of conjectures on disembodied sound from different fields, practices and cultures, including sonic art. Chapter3 explorest he emerging genre of soundscapec omposition. After dealing with the genre's lineage and accompanying discourse by composers of soundscape, it develops a relationship between the practice of soundscape composition and contemporary ethnographic practice and theory on ethnographic methodologies. The final section develops a soundscape compositional process with the practice of thefldneur. Chapter 4 relates the aesthetics of acousmatic music to philosophical, physiological and spiritual notions of the sublime throughout the ages. It concludes that acousmatic music has a distinct role to play in imparting sublime experiences. Chapter 5 documents and comments on those projects, which were undertaken with the following performers/ writers/ collaborators: Alaric Sumner, Alice Oswald and Tony Lopez. These projects demonstrate a number of different collaborative relationships between composer and writer and different configurations of acousmatic music and poetry

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Triptych is a thirty-minute work in three movements for flute, clarinet, baritone saxophone, percussion and live electronics. Rhythmically intricate musical “tessellations” are juxtaposed with long, evolving drones amidst an electronic backdrop of environmental found sound, granular clouds, procedurally generated rhythmic sequences, and simple oscillators. The piece examines conceptions of pattern, pitch and period in the environment, highlighting the musical elements and structures of creatures and machines – the “almost-human” musical beings all around us. Each “panel” of the triptych is designed to work effectively as either a part of the larger work, or as its own, autonomous piece of music. The electronics are designed to maximize performability and improvisatory flexibility in the ensemble. All processing and cueing is coded in Max/MSP. Triptych was commissioned by the Fountain City Ensemble, and will be premiered in March, 2014. / text

This dissertation contains seven works from the last 5 years, from solo works to large ensemble, as well as works with electronics. Composing for me is the result of an imaginative attitude, an alert intuition and a suitable use of technique. It originates from reality, followed by singling out one or more musical ideas, and ends up, as Gustav Mahler puts it, in "building a new world with every available technical means." What drives my compositional interests, and represents the core of the works presented here, is the desire to shape and reify these musical worlds. I strive to find and detail the qualities of these worlds through an approach to composition that is based on "sculpting" gestures, figures and colors, contextualized in a form that is as controlled and thoughtful as possible. I also pursue a distinctive vision of the relationship between microtonal and tempered harmony, mixing the two in a harmonic domain that produces an extremely attractive and worth exploring musical ambiguity, enriched by a systematic approach to timbre. This dissertation offers different examples on this exploration, where musical parameters from an ever-changing palette as well as extra-musical element such as visual arts and literature contribute in offering an image of the gradual unfolding of my "voice," a search that is the core of my daily composing and represents a never-ending process. N.B. One of the works, Winds, is a solo electronic multi-channel soundfile, and a paper version of the works does not exist and cannot be included. / Music

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This commentary accompanies the portfolio of electroacoustic works realised at the NOVARS Research Centre, and intends to provide insight into methodologies for acousmatic composition as researched at the University of Manchester between 2013 and 2016. Six compositions are presented in order of realisation, as follows: Frictions/Storms, Rise, Glitches/Trajectories, Transmissions/Intercepts, Reductions/Expanses, and Iteration/Banger. An analysis of each work in relation to research-specific topics is provided, adopting Denis Smalley's concepts of spectromorphology and space-form as appropriate syntax in the elaboration of compositional methodologies and overall outcomes. The research focuses primarily on the appropriation of transformed and synthesised sound materials in acousmatic spatial composition. Resulting works are intended for presentation in concert via the practice of live sound diffusion performance. The portfolio documents an arc of development working in fixed media formats incorporating live electronics processes into the realisation of multi- channel compositions, to finally arrive at a methodological merging of fixed media studio composition and live electronics performance practices. Additional supplementary materials in support of the portfolio and commentary are provided including Max coding patches, video tutorials, technical information and related audio materials.

This PhD portfolio focuses on research across interactive computer music composition and live performance involving instrumental players and instrumental sounds. It examines methods of disjoining original connections between performers’ actions, the instrument as sound sources, and musical outcomes, and also methods of reconstructing new connections between them via electronic intermediation. At the same time, the portfolio of creative works presented in this study proposes multiple performing styles and explores innovative electroacoustic music as well as its context. Through this portfolio, the composer invites readers to her original sound world and individual musical concepts, which are informed by visually-related ideas such as imaginary views, colours, scenes of a story, and art paintings, alongside their associated titles.

And Drops of Rain Fall Like Tears is a composition for electroacoustic music with an optional ambient video component. The composition consists of a single movement electroacoustic work twenty-two minutes in duration. The piece creates an immersive sonic environment within the confines of a typical concert space, thereby recreating the powerful temper and subtle beauty of nature from different sonic perspectives. The paper is divided into four chapters, each discussing an element of the piece in detail. The introduction presents background information and compositional approach for the composition. Chapters 1 through 4 present detailed information related to the creation of both the electroacoustic music and video elements of the piece. Chapter 4 contains relevant information to the performance of the piece.