This dissertation for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Composition consists of a fourteen-minute work for flute, clarinet, prepared piano, percussion, violin, violoncello, and four-channel electronic sounds. The work was commissioned by the Third Practice Electroacoustic Festival and Ansembel U:. The quadrophonic electronic element consists of instrumental and hydrophonic field recordings, taken in several Estonian bogs and lakes. Ansembel U first performed the piece: in St. Cloud, Minnesota on November 4, 2015 and later performed in Richmond, Virginia and Tallinn, Estonia.

some soundwalks (Denton, TX) is an audio portrait of the Denton square - the area in downtown Denton bordered by the streets Oak, Hickory, Elm, and Locust. For three months (June - August, 2012), I went on soundwalks in this area, recording the soundscape and collecting material from each hour of the twenty-four hours of the day. The resulting work is presented as a layered montage of this gathered material that takes the listener on a twenty-four hour journey through the Denton square in about eighteen minutes. Ultimately, this sonic portrait of the Denton square is my subjective reaction to the daily soundscape of an area of Denton that embodies a strong sense of tradition combined with a newer presence of a growing population.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Through its portfolio of practical case studies and its engagement with critical thinking from a range of disciplines, the PhD investigates the following key question: what are the technical, aesthetic and conceptual impacts of using binaural technology to create a soundscape? ‘Using binaural technology’ implies users and users are essentially at the heart of this impact because users mediate the technical and aesthetic aspects of binaural technology and also inherently shape the theoretical ideology of this technology. By analysing users’ interactions with binaural technology from a social constructivist perspective, this thesis gains rich insights into the impact of using binaural technology when creating soundscapes. Chapter One explores sound artists’ and field recordists’ work that use binaural technology for the shared purpose of documenting urban soundwalks. The first case study “Audio Postcards” is also informed by questions drawn from acoustic ecology, socio-political theories on the practices of everyday life and the challenges that arise in finding, recording and preserving ‘soundmarks’. Chapter Two outlines practitioners’ applications of binaural technology to create an intimate connection to an art piece such as theatre director David Rosenberg’s productions. Peter Salvatore Petralia’s concept of headspace is applied to the chapter’s case study: “From Austria To America” to further understand binaural technology’s psychoacoustic effects. Chapter Three studies the impact of social groups who use binaural technology to record classical music performances. Traditional stereo and binaural classical music recording conventions are shaped in a new direction in two case studies: “Point of Audition” and “From Page to Stage”. Questions of ‘fidelity’ also arise from this creative practice. The outcomes of this reflective binaural practice unearth deep layers of understanding. This thesis discovers the impact of binaural technology moves beyond the effect it has on a listener to realise this recording practice also impacts a recordist’s decisions in the field and a sound artist’s creative choices when crafting soundscapes. The beneficial impact of binaural technology including its inconspicuous nature, the ability to imprint an artist’s subjective signature on recordings and its lifelike immersive qualities in playback are revealed through practice and reflection. Representing the real, the role of artist and point of audition are also themes explored throughout each chapter. Ultimately, insights gained are woven together as a means of constructing an original theoretical framework for an under-theorised subject: understanding how social user groups shape the impact of using binaural technology when creating soundscapes.

“An Omnivorous Ear - The Creative Practice of Field Recording” offers new insights into the history of recording outside of the studio in North America, challenging the various working definitions of field recording in music studies, anthropology, and communications. I examine recording methodologies through the late 19th and 20th centuries as a documentary technique, a tool for composition, and an art object in the United States of America and Canada from the late 19th century to the present day. Within this geographical region, I focus on the invention of acoustic recording, the proliferation of the technology amongst the public, folkloric recording supported by governmental and academic institutions, as well a experimental artistic practices. Throughout the dissertation, I argue that ‘the field’ is a social construction mediated by the recordist and recorder. Chapter 2 focuses on how cultures translate collective and phenomenological experiences into histories through sound media. These include orality, writing, the inscription of sound waves onto media, acoustic recording, and radio as forms of sound media that each embodies distinct forms of social and political knowledge. Chapter 3 details the development of recording machines and their effect on listening practices. Chapter 4 locates practitioners of phonography within the development of portable recording equipment on the one hand and the ‘hi-fi’ cultural movement in North America on the other. Practitioners included folklorists Alan Lomax from the Library of Congress, Moses Asch of Folkways Records, and Harry Smith, creator of the Anthology of American Folk Music; Stefan Kudelski, creator of the NAGRA recorder; and media maker Tony Schwartz, among the first to create the sound documentary by editing field recordings. Chapter 5 explores the relationship between sound, music and the environment within the paradigm of the soundscape as theorized by the World Soundscape Project (WSP). I critique the research and compositional practices developed by WSP members, and the influence it has on ecomusicology and sound art. Chapter 6 outlines sonic ethnography, a methodology that borrows from the best practices of many of the individuals mentioned throughout the dissertation, and employs new compositional techniques to condense and manipulate social, political and historical narratives through sonic works. The dissertation concludes by arguing that field recording, can be used to critique aesthetic and cultural dilemmas of representation.

Vad berättar ljud för oss? Olika ljud ger olika konnotationer beroende på vem som lyssnar, vad den har för förkunskaper och erfarenheter. Lyssnandet är i allra högsta grad subjektivt. Vad har en filmmusikkompositör för ansvar? Är det viktigt att vara tydlig i vilka val av ljud kompositören gjort och varför just de ljuden valts ut? Spelar det egentligen någon roll när det subjektiva lyssnandet träder in? Behöver de ljud vi hör vara det vi tror att de är? Det här är några av de frågor som intresserar mig och ligger till grund för det ämne som jag har valt: experimenterande med ljud i filmberättande. I mitt examensarbete har jag både konstnärligt och i denna text reflekterat kring ämnet. / <p>Till uppsatsen följer bilagor i form av ljudfiler och en dokumentär kortfilm, <em>Vi Andra</em>, regi: Sharmarke Binyusuf och Manolo Diaz Rämö, klipp: Jakob Åsell, ljud: Gustaf Forsberg, produktion: Beatrice Pourbagher Garcia.</p><p>Länk till filmen går att få vid meljkontakt.</p>

Following López, I claim that although any sound can be music, not all sound is music. Soundscape composition begins when a soundscape prompts the composer to engage musically with it. How this engagement manifests is influenced by composers’ differing philosophical, practical and aesthetic positions. These are explained in Part I and provide the basis to my analysis of soundscape composition. Part II focuses on how my soundscape composition manifests (in ways prescriptive, spontaneous and retrospective), how it is explored both temporally and spatially and how the listening subject and the acoustic agent are inextricably linked. Within the developmental phases of context, field work and editing, my first compositional approach, through which my works can be identified, is defined in three ways: as hyper-real (in which particular acoustic elements are exaggerated, distorted or re-combined); as soundwalks (in which the microphone is moved through space) and as improvisational intervention (using musical instruments to acoustically illuminate the space being recorded). My second compositional approach presents the perception of sound as micro, macro and ambient. My third approach, which is at the heart of all my soundscape composition, uses the microphone as a musical instrument in its own right. In all approaches, serendipity and my own acoustic presence are embraced. Diffusion of my work is intended to engage the listener in creative contemplation of soundscapes, any other perceived agendas such as documentation being incidental.

Den här uppsatsen undersöker vardagen genom dess läten. Fem personer, alla bosatta i Stockholm, har under en veckas tid dokumenterat sina vardagsliv genom ljudinspelningar som sedan varit utgångspunkter för intervjuer där informanterna har berättat om sina upplevelser. Uppsatsens övergripande syfte är att undersöka hur informanterna genom dessa ljuddagböcker kommunicerar sina erfarenheter av ljud och plats. Detta görs genom att undersöka dels vilka rumsliga berättelser som ryms i dagböckerna och dels hur metoden fungerar som en meningsskapande process. Studien visar hur ljuddagböckerna definierar vardagslivet, synliggör sociala, rumsliga dimensioner och aktualiserar erfarenheter från andra platser och tidpunkter iinformanternas liv. Genom dagbokens moment – spela in, spela upp och berätta – upptäcker och reflekterar informanterna kring ljuden som omger dem om dagarna och formulerar därigenom sina relationer till ljudmiljöerna. Detaljer och aspekter av vardagslivet som vanligtvis inte uppmärksammas träder fram. Utifrån dokumentationerna av de fysiska platserna skapas en större berättelse som rymmer många olika rum, såväl fysiska som mentala.