Cross-arts Production Methods Utilising Collectives

The very notion of ‘cross-arts’ calls for large collaborations of artists that serve different art disciplines and are eager to spend time in an artistic collective environment. The roles of the participants are not always distinct; in these productions artists acquire roles in a variety of production elements. Work may be co-directed and music improvised by a group of musicians, and artists can have multiple roles as choreographers, directors or production managers. Within this thesis, I propose a methodology of how to develop a contemporary artistic collective; thus proposing ways of how to produce a cross-arts collective project. I give examples of works in which I participate as a composer and producer through the collective arts group Medea Electronique. These are collective cross-arts works that involve a number of practices like music, dance, video art, photography, set design, animation, and installation art. Simultaneously, examples of collective production ethics and practices are introduced within the context of Koumaria Residency that I established in 2009. When working on collective cross-arts productions, practical issues often dictate how the piece is created. I expand on these practical issues and propose methods for calling artists, sharing the profits, and organising a cross-arts production. Moreover, I take as a hypothesis that collective work is a serious answer to underfunded non-commercial art forms that aim to produce alternative art within limited budgets

Towards a Practitioner Model of Mobile Music

This practice-based research investigates the mobile paradigm in the context of electronic music, sound and performance; it considers the idea of mobile as a lens through which a new model of electronic music performance can be interrogated. This research explores mobile media devices as tools and modes of artistic expression in everyday contexts and situations. While many of the previous studies have tended to focus upon the design and construction of new hardware and software systems, this research puts performance practice at the centre of its analysis. This research builds a methodological and practical framework that draws upon theories of mobile-mediated aurality, rhetoric on the practice of walking, relational aesthetics, and urban and natural environments as sites for musical performance. The aim is to question the spaces commonly associated with electronic music – where it is situated, listened to and experienced. This thesis concentrates on the creative use of existing systems using generic mobile devices – smartphones, tablets and HD cameras – and commercially available apps. It will describe the development, implementation and evaluation of a self-contained performance system utilising digital signal processing apps and the interconnectivity of an inter-app routing system. This is an area of investigation that other research programmes have not addressed in any depth. This research’s enquiries will be held in dynamic and often unpredictable conditions, from navigating busy streets to the fold down shelf on the back of a train seat, as a solo performer or larger groups of players, working with musicians, nonmusicians and other participants. Along the way, it examines how ubiquitous mobile technology and its total access might promote inclusivity and creativity through the cultural adhesive of mobile media. This research aims to explore how being mobile has unrealised potential to change the methods and experiences of making electronic music, to generate a new kind of performer identity and as a consequence lead towards a practitioner model of mobile music

In Pursuit of Non-Knowledge: Perspectives on Performing with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company

The performance documentation for this research project can be accessed via links to an external website. The links are embedded into the thesis text. The same documentation is additionally privately held on De Montfort University Figshare. To request access to the Figshare pages please email [email protected] thesis documents an experience that took place over ten years performing as a guest musician with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. I am a professional musician, a cellist. Through this practice-based research project, I set out to understand the influence of an experience that changed and liberated me as a musician. In this autoethnographic and reflective study which investigates performance, the musician’s knowledge and experience are central in arriving at a synthesis of perceptions and methods. The output of the project is creative. Through exploratory performances undertaken over five years, specific questions regarding the unique practice of Merce Cunningham Dance Company musicians have been examined. By mounting another experience – the research project itself – I sought to establish, in particular, an understanding of a perception of a state of grace in performance, and to examine the concept of ‘Non-Knowledge’ as fundamental to that experience

The environment for good practice in art education in Malaysia

This investigation of the environment for good practice in Art Education in Malaysia looked at how far the implementation of the new Art Education curriculum in secondary schools had succeeded in broadening students' and professionals' perception of the importance of art in . education and the factors which enable good practice to exist in Art Education. A minority of schools were found to be examples of good practice and they were looked at in detail as case studies. Secondary school students, teachers, principals, curriculum planners, lecturers, artists, designers and policy makers were involved in interviews and questionnaires. Five schools with different approaches were involved as case studies. Direct and indirect questions, observation and asking a third party were used in order to find out what students, teachers and principals say they do in relationship to what they actually do. This research found that a change in the art curriculum in schools was not successful in broadening students', teachers', principals' and decision makers' understanding of the value of art in education. Only a few schools succeeded in implementing art displaying good practice. These schools succeeded in showing that learning art increased students' perception of aesthetic values, sensitivity to the environment and enabled them to use the benefits and creativity of art in their everyday life. Learning art opened up an opportunity in their future careers and future education in art and design. The combination of good implementers (art teachers and principals) and a good infrastructure were found to be major factors in implementing good practice in Art Education. The interest, enthusiasm and success in integrating learning art in the classroom and the world of art outside contribute to the factors which enable good practice to exist in Art Education. The outcomes of this research will contribute to the policies of art planners and art implementers and to a model for the future development of Art Education in Malaysia.Institute Teknologi MARA (ITM

The Appreciation of Electroacoustic Music - An Empirical Study with Inexperienced Listeners

The research contained within this PhD project forms part of the Pedagogical ElectroAcoustic Resource Site project of the Music, Technology and Innovation Research Centre of De Montfort University Leicester. This thesis contributes to current research in music education and musicology related to electroacoustic music. The purpose of this research was to investigate the influence of teaching on the change in inexperienced listeners’ appreciation of electroacoustic music. A curriculum was developed to introduce electroacoustic music to 11 to 14 year old students (Key Stage 3). The curriculum was based on concepts distinguishing between electroacoustic music using (mainly) real-world sounds and generated sounds. The curriculum is presented in an online learning environment with an accompanying teacher’s handbook. The learning environment represents the prototype for the pedagogical ElectroAcoustic Resource Site offering online learning, blended learning and classroom-based learning. The website was developed following user-centred design; the curriculum was tested in a large-scale study including four Key Stage 3 classes within three schools in Leicester. In five lessons music using real-world sounds (soundscape and musique concrète) was introduced, which included the delivery of a listening training, independent research and creative tasks (composition or devising a role-play). The teaching design followed the methods of active, collaborative and self-regulated learning. Data was collected by using questionnaires, direct responses to listening experiences before and after the teaching, and summaries of the teaching written by the participants. Following a Qualitative Content Analysis, the results of the study show that the participants’ appreciation of electroacoustic music changed during the course of these lessons. Learning success could be established as well as a declining alienation towards electroacoustic music. The principal conclusion is that the appreciation of electroacoustic music can be enhanced through the acquiring of conceptual knowledge, especially through the enhancing of listening skills following the structured listening training as well as the broadening of vocabulary to describe the listening experience

Interactive Digital Technologies and the User Experience of Time and Place

This research examines the relationship between the development of a portfolio of interactive digital techniques and compositions, and its impact on user experiences of time and place. It is designed to answer two research questions: • What are some effective methods and techniques for evoking an enhanced awareness of past time and place using interactive digital technologies (IDTs)? • How can users play a role in improving the development and impact of interfaces made with IDTs? The principal creative and thematic element of the portfolio is the concept of the palimpsest, and its artistic potential to reveal visual and aural layers that lie behind the landscapes and soundscapes around us. This research thus contributes to an evolving cadre of creative interest in palimpsests, developing techniques and compositions in the context of testing, collating user experience feedback, and improving the ways in which IDTs enable an artistic exploration and realisation of hidden layers, both aural and visual, of the past of place. An iterative theory-composition-testing methodology is developed and applied to optimise techniques for enabling users to navigate multiple layers of content, as well as in finding methods that evoke an increased emotional connection with the past of place. This iterative realisation cycle comprises four stages – of content origination, pre-processing, mapping and user interaction. The user interaction stage of this cycle forms an integral element of the research methodology, involving the techniques being subjected to formalised user experience testing, both to assist with their further refinement and to assess their value in evoking an increased awareness of time and place. Online usability testing gathered 5,451 responses over three years of iterative cycles of composition development and refinement, with more detailed usability labs conducted involving eighteen participants. Usability lab response categories span efficiency, accuracy, recall and emotional response. The portfolio includes a variety of interactive techniques developed and improved during its testing and refinement. User experience feedback data plays an essential role in influencing the development and direction of the portfolio, helping refine techniques to evoke an enhanced awareness of the past of place by identifying those that worked most, and least, effectively for users. This includes an analysis of the role of synthetic and authentic content on user perception of various digital techniques and compositions. The contributions of this research include: • the composition portfolio and the associated IDT techniques originated, developed, tested and refined in its research and creation • the research methodology developed and applied, utilising iterative development of aspects of the portfolio informed by user feedback obtained both online and in usability labs • the findings from user experience testing, in particular the extent to which various visual and aural techniques help evoke a heightened sense of the past of place • an exploration of the extent to which the usability testing substantiates that user responses to the compositions have the potential to establish an evocative connection that communicates a sense close to that of Barthes’ punctum (something that pierces the viewer) rather than solely that of the studium • the role of synthetic and authentic content on user perception and appreciation of the techniques and compositions • the emergence of an analytical framework with the potential for wider application to the development, analysis and design of IDT composition

Networks of Liveness in Singer-Songwriting: A practice-based enquiry into developing audio-visual interactive systems and creative strategies for composition and performance.

This enquiry explores the creation and use of computer-based, real-time interactive audio-visual systems for the composition and performance of popular music by solo artists. Using a practice-based methodology, research questions are identified that relate to the impact of incorporating interactive systems into the songwriting process and the liveness of the performances with them. Four approaches to the creation of interactive systems are identified: creating explorative-generative tools, multiple tools for guitar/vocal pieces, typing systems and audio-visual metaphors. A portfolio of ten pieces that use these approaches was developed for live performance. A model of the songwriting process is presented that incorporates system-building and strategies are identified for reconciling the indeterminate, electronic audio output of the system with composed popular music features and instrumental/vocal output. The four system approaches and ten pieces are compared in terms of four aspects of liveness, derived from current theories. It was found that, in terms of overall liveness, a unity to system design facilitated both technological and aesthetic connections between the composition, the system processes and the audio and visual outputs. However, there was considerable variation between the four system approaches in terms of the different aspects of liveness. The enquiry concludes by identifying strategies for maximising liveness in the different system approaches and discussing the connections between liveness and the songwriting process

The creation of a binaural spatialization tool

The main focus of the research presented within this thesis is, as the title suggests, binaural spatialization. Binaural technology and, especially, the binaural recording technique are not particu-larly recent. Nevertheless, the interest in this technology has lately become substantial due to the increase in the calculation power of personal computers, which started to allow the complete and accurate real-time simulation of three-dimensional sound-fields over headphones. The goals of this body of research have been determined in order to provide elements of novelty and of contribution to the state of the art in the field of binaural spatialization. A brief summary of these is found in the following list: • The development and implementation of a binaural spatialization technique with Distance Simulation, based on the individual simulation of the distance cues and Binaural Reverb, in turn based on the weighted mix between the signals convolved with the different HRIR and BRIR sets; • The development and implementation of a characterization process for modifying a BRIR set in order to simulate different environments with different characteristics in terms of frequency response and reverb time; • The creation of a real-time and offline binaural spatialization application, imple-menting the techniques cited in the previous points, and including a set of multichannel(and Ambisonics)-to-binaural conversion tools. • The performance of a perceptual evaluation stage to verify the effectiveness, realism, and quality of the techniques developed, and • The application and use of the developed tools within both scientific and artistic “case studies”. In the following chapters, sections, and subsections, the research performed between January 2006 and March 2010 will be described, outlining the different stages before, during, and after the development of the software platform, analysing the results of the perceptual evaluations and drawing conclusions that could, in the future, be considered the starting point for new and innovative research projects

Platial Phenomenology and Environmental Composition

This study concerns field recordings, location audio gathered from unscored and unexpected sounds, which retain an indexical relationship to their origin in the natural world. The term “environmental music” describes aesthetic works that use field recordings as primary material. This practice requires an engagement with the ontology and phenomenology of place, but such relationships have remained under-theorised. This study addresses this lacuna by developing a rich vocabulary of place that can aid both the practice and analysis of environmental music. The historical development begins with the multiplicity of concepts of place known to the Ancient Greeks. One of these, Ptolemy’s geos, based on a God’s-eye view of the world, has dominated understandings of the world and its effects, hence the term “geography”. This perspectivism was reinforced first by Alberti’s optics, which placed a viewer in a strict topological relationship to the object of their gaze, and then by Cartesian rationalism, a philosophy that reduced place to mere secondary characteristics of an ordered, homogeneous space. Against this background, alternative models of place will be discussed. Topos, exemplified by tales like “The Odyssey”, emphasises the perambulations of an individuated subject, foregrounding the experiential nature of the journey. The klimata of Ptolemy models place as psychic zones of influence on the Earth. Plato’s khoros is both receptacle and material, a generative site of instability and unknowability. Taken together, these concepts assert the primacy of place as milieu, a responsive context that shapes, and is shaped by, being-in-the-world. The word “platial” is proposed to encompass this understanding. This thesis is supported by the phenomenology of Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, as interpreted by Tim Ingold and Edward Casey. Analysis of the environmental music of Dallas Simpson, Robert Curgenven, and the author illustrate how platial thinking can provide deep insights into a variety of creative sonic practices