Post-Euphoria in Electronic Music Making

Engaging in a range of electronic music making techniques, this doctoral, practice-based project examines the creative interpretation of “post-euphoria”: a concept conceived here to describe a retrospective subjectivity that encapsulates reminiscing and an afterglow feeling in relation to lost euphoric experiences. The study aims to establish a musical aesthetic the responds to this concept using DAW tools, to form a body of musical work comprising a collection of recordings. Identifying a lack of available practice-based studies on music production practices that deal with memory and recollection, particularly in connection with electronic dance music and its concomitant cultural events, the research contributes insights to this underexplored area. To examine how post-euphoria can be interpreted through electronic music making, the research firstly conducts interviews with comparable electronic music practitioners whose work is informed by themes of recollection and reminiscing in the context of electronic dance music. Insights gained in the interviews then inform the main creative investigation, which is pursued by utilising the DAW Ableton Live and its built-in tools. Developed as part of the creative investigation are production and compositional strategies and a body of ten original recordings, accompanied by this critical exegesis that examines and contextualises the creative practices established. Undertaking the study enabled an understanding of ways in which elements of electronic music production can be used figuratively to embody conceptual meanings relating to reminiscing and recollection. It further demonstrates how electronic dance music tropes can be employed, alongside sampling-inspired and self-remixing techniques, to connote a sense of missing euphoria and to suggest transformations that occur in the memory of fleeting experiences. Finally, the study shows how these musical elements can be incorporated within a songwriting framework and as part of an integrated collection of corresponding recordings, to further the musical interpretation of post-euphoria

Ontology of music performance variation

Performance variation in rhythm determines the extent that humans perceive and feel the effect of rhythmic pulsation and music in general. In many cases, these rhythmic variations can be linked to percussive performance. Such percussive performance variations are often absent in current percussive rhythmic models. The purpose of this thesis is to present an interactive computer model, called the PD-103, that simulates the micro-variations in human percussive performance. This thesis makes three main contributions to existing knowledge: firstly, by formalising a new method for modelling percussive performance; secondly, by developing a new compositional software tool called the PD-103 that models human percussive performance, and finally, by creating a portfolio of different musical styles to demonstrate the capabilities of the software. A large database of recorded samples are classified into zones based upon the vibrational characteristics of the instruments, to model timbral variation in human percussive performance. The degree of timbral variation is governed by principles of biomechanics and human percussive performance. A fuzzy logic algorithm is applied to analyse current and first-order sample selection in order to formulate an ontological description of music performance variation. Asynchrony values were extracted from recorded performances of three different performance skill levels to create \timing fingerprints" which characterise unique features to each percussionist. The PD-103 uses real performance timing data to determine asynchrony values for each synthesised note. The spectral content of the sample database forms a three-dimensional loudness/timbre space, intersecting instrumental behaviour with music composition. The reparameterisation of the sample database, following the analysis of loudness, spectral flatness, and spectral centroid, provides an opportunity to explore the timbral variations inherent in percussion instruments, to creatively explore dimensions of timbre. The PD-103 was used to create a music portfolio exploring different rhythmic possibilities with a focus on meso-periodic rhythms common to parts of West Africa, jazz drumming, and electroacoustic music. The portfolio also includes new timbral percussive works based on spectral features and demonstrates the central aim of this thesis, which is the creation of a new compositional software tool that integrates human percussive performance and subsequently extends this model to different genres of music

Algorithmic Compositional Methods and their Role in Genesis: A Multi-Functional Real-Time Computer Music System

Algorithmic procedures have been applied in computer music systems to generate compositional products using conventional musical formalism, extensions of such musical formalism and extra-musical disciplines such as mathematical models. This research investigates the applicability of such algorithmic methodologies for real-time musical composition, culminating in Genesis, a multi-functional real-time computer music system written for Mac OS X in the SuperCollider object-oriented programming language, and contained in the accompanying DVD. Through an extensive graphical user interface, Genesis offers musicians the opportunity to explore the application of the sonic features of real-time sound-objects to designated generative processes via different models of interaction such as unsupervised musical composition by Genesis and networked control of external Genesis instances. As a result of the applied interactive, generative and analytical methods, Genesis forms a unique compositional process, with a compositional product that reflects the character of its interactions between the sonic features of real-time sound-objects and its selected algorithmic procedures. Within this thesis, the technologies involved in algorithmic methodologies used for compositional processes, and the concepts that define their constructs are described, with consequent detailing of their selection and application in Genesis, with audio examples of algorithmic compositional methods demonstrated on the accompanying DVD. To demonstrate the real-time compositional abilities of Genesis, free explorations with instrumentalists, along with studio recordings of the compositional processes available in Genesis are presented in audiovisual examples contained in the accompanying DVD. The evaluation of the Genesis system’s capability to form a real-time compositional process, thereby maintaining real-time interaction between the sonic features of real-time sound objects and its selected algorithmic compositional methods, focuses on existing evaluation techniques founded in HCI and the qualitative issues such evaluation methods present. In terms of the compositional products generated by Genesis, the challenges in quantifying and qualifying its compositional outputs are identified, demonstrating the intricacies of assessing generative methods of compositional processes, and their impact on a resulting compositional product. The thesis concludes by considering further advances and applications of Genesis, and inviting further dissemination of the Genesis system and promotion of research into evaluative methods of generative techniques, with the hope that this may provide additional insight into the relative success of products generated by real-time algorithmic compositional processes

Virtual orchestration: a film composer's creative practice

The advent of digital technologies has led to a major change in the process of film music composition; consequent developments in music technology have forced film composers to adapt to this change. Technological innovations such as digital audio workstations (DAWs) and virtual musical instruments have made possible the creation of virtual orchestras that are technologically capable of simulating the sound and behaviour of a traditional acoustic orchestra. This has had an effect on film music production and on the creative process of the professional film composer in a way that today, creating orchestral simulations or 'mock-ups' that imitate live orchestras (or smaller ensembles) has become a requirement in the film industry and thus an essential part of the film-scoring process. In the context of contemporary film music production, this thesis investigates how orchestral simulations are composed and created using computer music technology and virtual sample-based instruments. In asking 'how', the focus is on the film composer's activities and thought processes during this creative cycle, along with the nature of the interactive relationship between composer and music materials. This study aims to show the complexity of the film composer's creative practice and to advance understanding of how the use of computer music technology and orchestral sample libraries is influencing the compositional process and compositional outcome. To address these questions, a qualitative multiple case study methodology approach was chosen that included examination of the practice of seven professional film composers working in the field of feature film as the primary valid source of data. The exploration involved semi-structured interviews with composers, observations and analysis of their studio practice and inspection of their compositional tools. Taken as a whole, the evidence provided by this study is that the process of creating orchestral simulations is a process of film music composition during which professional film composers are creating orchestral sounds through the use of computers, digital sequencing, samplers and sample-based virtual acoustic instruments for the realisation of musical works. It is a process of using and manipulating recorded samples of real acoustic instruments to generate an expressive and convincing musical performance through sample-based orchestral simulation. A characteristic of this compositional practice is that it is a continuous process that proceeds in stages over time where all procedures can be applied repeatedly between stages. The process of creating orchestral simulations for the purpose of the film score is a multifaceted compositional activity involving a complex set of relationships among different compositional states of mind and compositional activities in which film composers experience music and interact with musical materials and media in various ways. This creative activity is a process involving a single person and a mixture of various compositional tools, the composer's skills and abilities brought into existence through a creative process that requires a thorough blend of art and craft to be demonstrated at all times

3D Composer: A Software for Micro-composition

The aim of this compositional research project is to find new paradigms of expression and representation of musical information, supported by technology. This may further our understanding of how artistic intention materialises during the production of a musical work. A further aim is to create a software device, which will allow the user to generate, analyse and manipulate abstract musical information within a multi-dimensional environment. The main intent of this software and composition portfolio is to examine the process involved during the development of a compositional tool to verify how transformations applied to the conceptualisation of musical abstraction will affect musical outcome, and demonstrate how this transformational process would be useful in a creative context. This thesis suggests a reflection upon various technological and conceptual aspects within a dynamic multimedia framework. The discussion situates the artistic work of a composer within the technological sphere, and investigates the role of technology and its influences during the creative process. Notions of space are relocated in the scope of a personal compositional direction in order to develop a new framework for musical creation. The author establishes theoretical ramifications and suggests a definition for micro-composition. The main aspect focuses on the ability to establish a direct conceptual link between visual elements and their correlated musical output, ultimately leading to the design of a software called 3D-Composer, a tool for the visualisation of musical information as a means to assist composers to create works within a new methodological and conceptual realm. Of particular importance is the ability to transform musical structures in three-dimensional space, based on the geometric properties of micro-composition. The compositions Six Electroacoustic Studies and Dada 2009 display the use of the software. The formalisation process was derived from a transposition of influences of the early twentieth century avant-garde period, to a contemporary digital studio environment utilising new media and computer technologies for musical expression

Aleatoricism and the Anthropocene: Narrowing the divide between humanity and nature through chance-based art research

An important aspect of art is that it functions as a dialogical platform for the cultivation of ecological thought. In this thesis, I explore ways in which discourses on the Anthropocene can emerge through art that involves chance-based collaborations between humans and plants. As a case study, I examine selected works from American avant-garde composer John Cage, who used chance operations to construct musical compositions. Through his use of non-traditional plant-based instruments and the I Ching, an ancient Chinese divination text, Cage turned his attention to the inseparability of humanity and nature. I explore parallels between Cage’s approach and bio-sonification, a process of turning the biological rhythms of living entities into sound, which I use as a generative device to create aleatoric virtual piano compositions from plants’ electrical signals. Chance-based mechanisms in art production and approaches to environmental philosophy form the theoretical foundation for the arguments presented. This practice-based work explores the multitextured ecologies that human and non-human lifeforms are enmeshed within. It suggests that by challenging anthropocentric assumptions, ecologically engaged sound composition has the potential to generate discourses on the Anthropocene. Art about the Anthropocene can liberate us from a dichotomy of nature and culture, which facilitates the desecration of the natural world through unsustainable environmental practices that threaten the viability of life on Earth. Keywords bio-sonification, MIDI, indeterminism, chance-based art, ecological thought, practice-based, aleatoric music, generative art, John Cage, Anthropocen

Comparison of input devices in an ISEE direct timbre manipulation task

The representation and manipulation of sound within multimedia systems is an important and currently under-researched area. The paper gives an overview of the authors' work on the direct manipulation of audio information, and describes a solution based upon the navigation of four-dimensional scaled timbre spaces. Three hardware input devices were experimentally evaluated for use in a timbre space navigation task: the Apple Standard Mouse, Gravis Advanced Mousestick II joystick (absolute and relative) and the Nintendo Power Glove. Results show that the usability of these devices significantly affected the efficacy of the system, and that conventional low-cost, low-dimensional devices provided better performance than the low-cost, multidimensional dataglove