This PhD in Music Composition is in the form of a written dissertation plus a series of electroacoustic music compositions on Audio CD. The thesis develops the “Segregation, Integration, Assimilation and Meaning” (SIAM) framework for the analysis of acousmatic musical works derived from research on auditory cognition. This framework is applied to a detailed analysis of Denis Smalley’s “Wind Chimes”. The dissertation finally asserts that the framework developed for the analysis of acousmatic music has been demonstrated to be effective and it discusses some implications for future research. (For complete abstract open document)

This commentary details the methods and ideas involved in creating the seven portfolio works. The portfolio is comprised of stereo acousmatic works, one mixed work and a multi-channel work, forming the practice-based research completed during the PhD programme at the University of Manchester. The works explore a number of aesthetic concepts encompassing instrumental timbres, cultural sound objects, rhythm incorporation, habitual spaces (the kitchen), imaginary and real objects (jukebox), and visual art sculpture (origami). Uniting the portfolio works is the use of Denis Smalley’s spectromorphology (1997). In its intended function, this tool provides the listener of electroacoustic music with thorough and accessible sets of vocabulary to describe sound events, structures and spaces. The use of this descriptive tool need not stop here. Fortunately, and often unconsciously for the composer, it does not, since all composers create music that is spectromorphological with or without an awareness of its presence at work. In a reversal of conventional practice, my research approaches spectromorphology from an alternate angle, viewing the vocabulary as the informer upon sound material choice and creation. In this reversal, vocabulary no longer functions descriptively; instead the vocabulary precedes the composition, directing my compositional pathway in each piece. This new application, used as a method for selecting and creating sound in the creation of each portfolio work, is an attempt at systemisation and an effort to partly remedy the seemingly endless choice of possibilities we are faced with when beginning a new work.

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This practice-based research is concerned with a collection of fixed media compositions written between 2005 and 2012 with accompanying contextual writing. The primary focus of this research was to produce sound works, but the concept of place has played a significant role throughout both the compositional process and in the reflection of each composition. This research explores how place is ‘heard and felt’ (Feld, 2005) in a composition and how recollected memory impacts on the compositional process. Artistic decisions made with regard to creating the compositions reflect my personal place and associations with these sound materials at a given time whether they are field recordings or synthesised materials. The way in which sound material is subsequently processed and structured reflects this. Place and the compositional practice inform each other in a two-way process. This results in what Katharine Norman (2010) has referred to in her writing on sound art as an ‘autoethnographic’ journey; a representation of the creator’s personal experience. I have begun to reflect on these compositions as art works that represent a particular time or place. The artwork represents the trace of the place from which it was composed (Corringham, 2010). I believe that I cannot totally transport a person to my place; rather, I intend this creative representation to enable the listener to create and inspire their own narrative.

There is an arguable lack of activity and interest in the analysis of electroacoustic music when compared to its composition and performance. The absence of a strong and active analytical community is very concerning, as it should be a fundamental part of any larger musical community that wishes for works to be performed and discussed in later years. The problems that face electroacoustic music analysis are that there is no consensus or single analytical tool/methodology that dictates how such an activity should be undertaken. Rather than attempting to appropriate existing tools meant for traditional musics or create a new universal one this thesis will argue that a new culture should be adopted that promotes different opinions on the subject of electroacoustic music analysis, as opposed to defining a consensus as to how it should be conducted. To achieve this the thesis will: evaluate and critique what constitutes and defines electroacoustic music analysis; provide a general and flexible procedure to conduct an analysis of an electroacoustic work; develop a set of criteria and terms to cross-examine the current analytical tools for electroacoustic music in order to define the gaps in the field and to identify pertinent elements within electroacoustic works; analyse a number of electroacoustic works to test and implement the ideas raised within this thesis; and finally the concept of an analytical community (in which such a culture could exist) is outlined and implemented with the creation of the OREMA (Online Repository for Electroacoustic Music Analysis) project. This universal approach will cover both epistemological and ontological levels of electroacoustic music analysis. All of the concepts raised above are interlinked and follow the main hypothesis of this thesis: • There is no one single analysis that can fully investigate a work; • Analyses are a perspective on a work, ultimately formed through the subjective perception of the analyst; • These perspectives should be shared with other practitioners to help develop a better understanding of the art form. This PhD study was part of the New Multimedia Tools for Electroacoustic Music Analysis project (2010-2013) funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK). Other outcomes of that project included the various analysis symposiums held at De Montfort University in Leicester and the electroacoustic analysis software EAnalysis created by Pierre Couprie.

In this text, I aim to provide a critical account of a practice-based process where I composed the pieces: No Future, Futuribile No.2, celycib~, and radiocib~. In this iterative process, practical explorations provided foundations for theoretical development, which in turn, guided the following iteration of the practical work. In addition to this, I will critique the concept of the post-acousmatic, using the theoretical insights that emerged from the iterative process. In presenting the artistic results, I will describe the compositional intentions, the process, the aesthetical decisions I made, and a critical reflection on the results. The outcomes of my compositional journey might be regarded as heterogeneous in terms of musical results, and I strongly regard this occurrence in a positive manner. Despite the heterogeneity of the artistic outcomes, a conceptual framework emerges from the critical reflection on the works, linking them together. The conceptual basis of my work is related to two main aspects: one linked to my interest in political issues, the other to artistic and aesthetic matters. I see the artistic space as an opportunity to stage a potential socio-political scenario, in which different possibilities can be prototyped and explored, showing that a broader horizon of possibility can exists, even if in the confined boundaries of the stage. The artistic and aesthetic matters are related to my interest in acousmatic music. In this text I will show how I frequently make use of acousmatic techniques in a post-acousmatic context, which will be described in the Critical Reflection. The description and the critique of the works will highlight how such techniques contribute to this idea.In this text I will frequently make use of the term acousmatic. I am aware of the ambiguity of using this term, which in my understanding, might refer either to a phenomenon or a music genre (see The Post-Acousmatic section). However, I find it a useful tool to address a set of intentions and compositional strategies, aesthetics, and communities. My political and artistic stands relate to each other through my belief that an experimental approach to arts can contribute, to some extent, to the socio-political context. I regard the compositional approaches developed in relation to the acousmatic condition as the most interesting development in new music of the last century. Nevertheless, in the last decades, a standardized way of composing has emerged from the acousmatic communities. My belief is that this led to a speculation over self-referential aesthetics, and consequently, excluded new audiences to get access to it. On the other side, the absence of acousmatic music is noticeable in the programmes of venues, or the online listeners communities, and therefore, the everyday life of people. My belief is that an experimental approach towards arts, including acousmatic music, might be beneficial for contributing to a less hierarchical society: an experimental attitude in arts is the way to explore a broader horizon of possibility.

Le projet de recherche-création proposé survole la québécité à travers un pan majeur de l’étude des Amériques : le territoire. L’adoption du territoire québécois, de son espace, et de sa densité – effectué à la fois sous un axe méridional (le Saint-Laurent) et septentrional (le Nord) –, s’effectue dans mon corpus acousmatique à travers l’utilisation de concepts théoriques établis par plusieurs figures québécoises et internationales. La description des sources d'inspiration du cycle d’œuvres acousmatique proposé, étant principalement issues de sphères extramusicales — la démarche de divers artistes et chercheurs québécois ayant contribué à l’émergence poétique de mon corpus tels que Pierre Perrault, René Derouin, Daniel Chartier, et Louis-Edmond Hamelin — y tient une place importante. La portion musicale est effectuée de façon analytique à l’aide de deux méthodes propres au genre électroacoustique – analyse typologique de Pierre Schaeffer, et fonctionnelle de Stéphane Roy –, qui, à travers l’œuvre de certains compositeurs de musiques électroniques internationaux permettent de souligner la pluralité des conceptions territoriales et le réseau sémantique universel sous-jacent, laissant place à une lecture plus large de cette thématique. La méthodologie proposée permet donc à la fois de cerner l’universel – modèles naturels, références psychoacoustiques –, le local – utilisation de poèmes québécois, référents animaux ou anecdotiques précis tels que des cris d’oiseaux et des prises sonores du Saint-Laurent –, et la relation dichotomique entre la nature et la culture dans mon corpus, afin qu’émerge un discours musical cohérent basé sur le territoire québécois. / The proposed research project studies quebecity through a major term of the Americas : the territory. Invested in both a southern (St. Lawrence) and northern (hivernity) axis, this approach to Quebec’s territory, it’s space, and it’s density, is applied to the acousmatic corpus through the use of concepts theoretical established by several figures from Quebec and beyond. The inspirations of my acousmatic works proposed cycle, being mainly from extra-musical spheres – the process of various Quebec’s artists and researchers have contributed to the emergence of my poetic corpus such as Pierre Perrault, René Derouin, Daniel Chartier and Louis-Edmond Hamelin – is underlined. The musical side of the territory conception is performed analytically using two methods proper to the electroacoustic genre – the typology of Pierre Schaeffer, and the functional analysis of Stéphane Roy –, that, through the work of some international composers of electronic music, serve to highlight the plurality and the universal semantics network of the territory, giving way to a broader reading of this theme. Finally, the proposed methodology identify the universal – natural model, psychoacoustic references –, the local - use of Quebec’s poetry, animals or specific anecdotal references such as bird calls and sounds taken from the Saint Lawrence –, and the dichotomous relationship between nature and culture in my work, to build a coherent musical discourse based on the territory of Quebec.

La thèse en question trace un parcours comparatif sur les approches créatrices et technologiques qui ont été développées au GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales) et à l’EMS (Elektronmusikstudion) de 1965 à 1980. Cette recherche vise à étudier les interactions principales entre les concepts musicaux des pionniers des musiques électroacoustiques en France et en Suède, Pierre Schaeffer et Knut Wiggen et l’évolution des directions artistiques au sein de leur institutions. Notre étude sera traitée en fonction de deux approches méthodologiques empruntées par la linguistique, diachronique et synchronique : dans la première partie de la thèse, nous ferons une synthèse historique des genres musicaux qui ont influencé les directions artistiques du GRM et de l’EMS ainsi que la comparaison de leur organisation institutionnelle concernant la création musicale, la recherche technologique et les réflexions de Schaeffer et de Wiggen. Par la suite, la deuxième partie de la thèse porte sur l’analyse musicale des œuvres sélectionnées dans le corpus du GRM et de l’EMS. Cette étude synchronique s’appuie ainsi sur le problème de l’analyse des musiques acousmatiques. En suivant la théorie tripartite de J. Molino développée par J.J. Nattiez et S. Roy concernant les niveaux poïétique-neutre-esthésique d’une œuvre d’art, une reconstruction d’une trace visuelle est réalisée dans le cadre de l’analyse du niveau neutre au moyen des symboles graphiques de Lasse Thoresen inspiré par la typo-morphologie de Schaeffer. Les résultats tirés de cette analyse serviront de justification avec les données poïétiques externes pour la comparaison finale des significations hypothétiques des pièces. En conclusion, le but de cette thèse est d’explorer une méthode d’analyse inspirée par la sémiologie tripartite pour une meilleure compréhension des musiques acousmatiques et d’établir une documentation historique sur le(s) style(s) musicaux qui prédominent majoritairement les années 1960 et 1970 au GRM et à l’EMS en fonction du développement technologique. / The current research is a comparative study investigating the development of creative and technological approaches at GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales) and EMS (Elektronmusikstudion) from 1965 to 1980. The thesis examines the main interactions between two pioneers of electroacoustic music in France and in Sweden, namely, Pierre Schaeffer and Knut Wiggen and the evolution of artistic directions within their institutions. The comparative method borrows two main perspectives from linguistics, such as diachronic and synchronic. To this direction, the first part of the thesis evaluates a sort of historical synthesis of musical genres, which lead the artistic directions of those two studios, including their institutional organization, musical creation, technological research as well as Schaeffer’s and Wiggen’s musical concepts. The second part of the thesis focuses on pioneer works analysis in order to explore closely compositional ideas and the problem of acousmatic music analysis. The analysis method is based on Jean Molino’s tripartite theory developed by J.J. Nattiez (poietic/neutral/esthesic level of an art work) and Stéphane Roy, which contributes to analyze the compositional structure, organization and the composer’s style related to technological equipment of the studios. The first step of music analysis reconstructs a sort of transcription within the neutral level analysis by means of Lasse Thoresen’s graphical symbols inspired by Schaeffers’s typo-morphology. The second step seeks to confront the neutral level results with external poietic information in order to explore and to compare some hypothetical significations of analyzed musical pieces. In conclusion, the end goal is to determine a methodology inspired by the tripartite theory for an in-depth understanding of acousmatic music analysis and to establish a historical documentation on French and Swedish electroacoustic music within the development of technology.

En 1989, François Delalande présentait pour la première fois, après dix ans d’élaboration, la notion de « conduites d’écoute » servant à distinguer différentes manières d’écouter une même œuvre. La méthodologie employée limitait les conclusions qui pouvaient en être tirées, mais la perspective proposée ouvrait un nouveau champ de recherches, dans lequel différentes conduites d’écoute pouvaient servir de base à diverses manières, parfois exclusives ou contradictoires, d’analyser une même œuvre. De plus, les expériences préliminaires de Delalande autour d’un extrait de Pierre Henry sont encore aujourd’hui l’une des rares occurrences de recherche sur l’écoute des musiques acousmatiques faisant appel à des auditeurs réels. Avec la reproduction et l’extension des résultats de Delalande, en parallèle de l’intérêt grandissant pour l’écoute au sein de la communauté musicologique ces vingt dernières années, il semblait nécessaire de faire le point sur l’état des recherches concernant les conduites d’écoute afin d’en évaluer la validité opérationnelle et de proposer un cadre théorique solide pour leur étude et leur description. C’est l’objet de ce travail, qui part d’une revue des discours sur l’écoute en musicologie, en psychologie de la musique et en pédagogie de la musique, avant de procéder à un examen critique des méthodologies existantes autour du modèle des conduites d’écoute, pour en arriver à une réévaluation de ce modèle avec des méthodologies plus robustes. Trois analyses esthésiques d’une même œuvre sont alors proposées pour faire émerger les besoins d’approfondissement et les perspectives d’application de ce modèle. / In 1989, after ten years of research, François Delalande presented for the first time the idea of “listening behaviours,” distinguishing several ways to listen to the same piece of music. The methodology did not allow for many conclusions, but the approach began a new field of research, where diverse listening behaviours could serve as a basis for diverse, exclusive (or even contradictory) analyses of the same work. Furthermore, Delalande’s preliminary research based on an extract from Pierre Henry’s music is still one of the few instances of research about acousmatic music listening that addresses actual listeners. The last twenty years have seen the reproduction and extension of Delalande’s results, as well as a growing interest for listening in musicological circles. For this reason, it seems necessary to review research about listening behaviours to evaluate their operational validity and to propose a robust theoretical framework for their study and description. This is the thesis of this dissertation, beginning with a review of the musicological, psychological and pedagogical discourses about listening, following with a critical study of existing methodologies about listening behaviours frameworks in order to re-evaluate them with more robust methodologies. Three esthesic analyses of the same work are then used to propose a need for further investigation and possible applications of the framework.

This thesis explores an experimental music approach to writing autobiography. As a composition, Pilgrim Carnival took place as a travelling series of events. The central event was a sound installation for a blindfolded audience. This essay is a description of that series of events as well as a discussion of similar precedents in interdisciplinary art. Beginning with Luigi Russolo and Marcel Duchamp, aspects of autobiography are examined in both noise music and the concept of the ready-made artwork. Body Art of the 1970s, particularly the work of Marina Abramovic, is also tied into the idea of the ready-made artwork as an explicitly autobiographical example. The hybrid form of Pilgrim Carnival and the concept of ready-made autobiographical music create ongoing potential for new work.