Audiovisual spaces: spatiality, experience and potentiality in audiovisual composition

Echoing the spatial turns across the humanities, this chapter applies post-Bergsonian conceptions of space via Deleuze & Guttari, Massumi and Massey, to explore how a spatial conception might provide novel perspectives to conceive and understand the audiovisual. Spatial concepts embrace subjectivity, multiplicity, movement, haptics and tactility, and afford readings of audiovisual practice that frame sound and image associations, not in abstract conceptual terms – synchronisation, difference or contrast – but in terms of embodied experience, movement and potentiality. Critiqued via practice research, this chapter brings together spatial ideas with established concepts from electroacoustic music and audiovisual composition, to build a novel framework for representing the audiovisual. One which has the potential to be applied to a wide range of sound & image media, from experimental audiovisual film, to sound design and narrative film soundtracks. The primacy of temporal sync is challenged, established concepts of gesture and texture reframed in light of the spatial and potentiality and anticipation positioned as terminologies to superseded established notions of tension and resolution. Through spatiality we have the potential to dissolve the binarism between sound and image and access an understanding of audiovisual affect, which underpins both audience experience and composition of sound and image works

Theatres of sounds: The role of context in the presentation of electroacoustic music

Why do we work to create multichannel concerts? Given that we do, might we further consider the holistic experience of coming to a concert and how that impacts upon the audience’s engagement with the music? Why do electroacoustic music concerts take place in the locations that they do? Do we consider the relationship between content and form appropriately when planning and organizing concert events? This article considers the philosophical approaches to multichannel concerts, questioning the underlying motives behind them and how these inform both the technological systems used and the context within which works are presented. Contrasting idealist and realist approaches, this article seeks to identify the aesthetic goals which have driven current multichannel sound projection systems and questions if looking beyond the technologies of reproduction to consider the holistic experience of an electroacoustic concert might help to inform future practice. At the 2013 symposium for Acoustic Ecology in Kent, concerts were held inside the covered Number 3 slip at Chatham Historic Dockyard. This enormous wooden ‘hanger-like’ structure was built in Georgian times to allow naval vessels to be built under shelter. This expansive space provided a dramatic setting for our concert. Barry Truax presented a new composition ‘Earth and Steel’ built from the metallic clangs of ship construction, recorded in the Vancouver shipyards of the 1970s. The remainder of the programme contained a diversity of works, both abstract and more mimetic in nature. But in this particular space where giant ships were built and repaired, can it be said that Truax’s piece was even more resonant? Would the work have had the same effect in a sanitised concert hall? Was it somehow more significant in that slipway? How might performance of this same work, during inSonic2015 at the ZKM, compare

Chase

For Lead Theremin & Theremin Ensemble. This piece should be interpreted playfully. The lead Theremin selects and plays the notated gestures, while the ensemble seek to follow and imitate the leader. The ensemble are variously instructed to follow more or less closely, and the natural and expected latency between the lead Theremin and the individual ensemble players are a key feature of the piece. This work was premiered on the 19th February 2020, as part of the Theremin Centenary Concert hosted by the Loudspeaker Orchestra, celebrating 100 years since the invention of the Theremin

Gherstl's Ghost - Original Soundtrack

String Quartet composition for 360 immersive film sequence Gherstl's Ghost (Dir. Peter Bathurst). This soundtrack was developed in two parts. An initial section composed to fixed timeline for an opening film sequence which seeks to convey the swirling, emotional vortex of the films primary discourse. And a second section designed for the immersive 360 sequence, designed to loop and be dynamically remixed as the user passes through the space. This bifurcated project enabled the development of two contrasting elements, a more traditional linear score and a more open and spatial dynamic score element. Both were developed around a common theme with exploration of the affordances of each emphasis explored

"Polarities/Polaridades"

The Museum of Contemporary Art and its AnillaMAC unit invite "Polarities/Polaridades", which will take place on Tuesday, October 17 at 8 p.m. at MAC Quinta Normal. A performance will be presented at the event within the framework of the project that brings together Jim Hobbs (United Kingdom/USA), Andrew Knight-Hill (United Kingdom) and Jorge Cabieses-Valdés (Chile), who create expanded cinematographic works in live using 16mm film, digital projection, sculptural elements and various acoustic tools. At the museum, the three artists will explore the performative nature of their own individual works and also create a new collaborative piece that responds specifically to Santiago and its surroundings. Polarities aims to explore how artists from both hemispheres work creatively and collaboratively, while examining the concept of “polarity” as it relates to the political, social, cultural and economic structures of different hemispheres. This event has been possible thanks to the support of the Image /Sound Research Center of the University of Greenwich and the Master in Visual Arts of the University of Chile. Approximate duration: 67 minutes. Works to be presented: Nature Morte, 2015, 11 mins, 16mm film with live manipulation. Ventriloquia, 2023, 10 mins, live performance with sound ceramics and video. Through an Ocean of Storms, 2022, 17 mins, 5.1 surround sound composition accompanied by 16 mm film and digital projection. H(xy)/V(z)=Ø, 2023, 13 mins, 16mm film and digital projection with sound performance. Polarities: Santiago, 2023, 10 mins, 16mm film, digital projection and live sound. Utopia/Dystopia, 2011, 6 mins, 16mm film and live sound

Atra-Hasis

Beach soundscapes and choral works sung from portions of the ancient flood myth poem Atra-Hasis. Written nearly 4000 years ago, the Babylonian Atra-hasis is an iconic poem with an eternal message for mankind. It tells the story of how a thoughtless population weighs heavily upon the earth, such that the gods are forced to act. They first send forth a great sickness, then a great famine. But when neither of these can quiet the noise and chaos of humans, they are forced to send forth a great flood to wash away all mankind. These soundscapes and choral works were developed as part of the ‘Over Lunan’ performance project. With special thanks to Dr. Martin Worthington, Prof. Nathan Wasserman, Charlotte Steeb M.A. for generous guidance and support in working through the Bablyonian pronunciation and for filling in gaps in the text with their extensive knowledge of the latest scholarship and discoveries. Composition and Sound Design – Andrew Knight-Hill Choir – Chamber Choir from the University of St Andrews Music Centre Rebecca Black Sarah Greer James McNinch Nathanael Fagerson Ross McArthur Guy Minch Elizabeth Unsworth Wilson Jane Pettegree Choir Director – Claire Innes-Hopkins Voice – Prof. Nathan Wasserman Additional Sound Recording – Steve Urquhart Babylonian Language Consultants – Dr. Martin Worthington, Prof. Nathan Wasserman, Charlotte Steeb M.A. Atra-Hasīs Text Adapted from – W. G. Lambert; A. R. Millard (1969) Atra-ḫasīs: The Babylonian Story of the Flood. London: OUP. [with additions in bold

Art of sound: creativity in film sound and electroacoustic music

Bringing together a diverse group of world leading professionals across Post-Production Film Sound and Electroacoustic Music, Art of Sound explores the creative principles that underpin how sonic practitioners act to compose, tell stories, make us feel, and communicate via sound. Revealing new understandings through analysis of interdisciplinary exchanges and interviews, this book investigates questions of aesthetics, perception, and interpretation, unveiling opportunities for a greater appreciation of the artistry in sound practice which underpins both experimental electronic music and the world’s leading film and television productions. It argues that we can better understand and appreciate the creative act if we regard it as a constantly unfolding process of inspiration, material action, and reflection. In contrast to traditional notions, which imagine outputs as developed to reflect a preconceived creative vision, our approach recognises that the output is always emerging as the practitioner flows with their materials in search of their solution, constantly negotiating the rich networks of potential. This enables us to better celebrate the reality of the creative process, de-centring technologies and universal rules, and potentially opening up the ways in which we think about sonic practices to embrace more diverse ideas and approaches. Art of Sound provides insight into the latest developments and approaches to sound and image practice for composers, filmmakers, directors, scholars, producers, sound designers, sound editors, sound mixers, and students who are interested in understanding the creative potential of sound

Whispers of the Past

‘Whispers of the Past’ presents a collection of 10 stories drawn from archive oral history recordings of men and women who worked at the Chatham Dockyard before it became a museum. We hear personal accounts, moving stories, descriptions, memories and anecdotes that become vivid and alive again through the voices of those who experienced them. The soundwalk is presented at the Chatham Historic Dockyard, a maritime heritage site, through the free downloadable Echoes app. As visitors move across the site they trigger sounds and memories on their mobile devices creating new resonances with this iconic location. This collection of 10 short stories was commissioned by SparkedEcho as part of the Electric Medway Festival taking place between 21-30 August 2021. This work was a commissioned by Sparked Echo as part of the Electric Medway Festival between 21-30 August 2021, and has since been adopted as a permanent exhibition item by the Chatham Dockyard Museum. The success of this output in the ears of the museum curators, has led to a series of subsequent invitations to make commissions and collaborations across the museum site. Thus, the original project has helped to inform and change the opinions of the curatorial staff to consider the power of sound as a valuable element in their exhibition strategy

Sonic heritage: listening to the past

History is so often told through objects, images and photographs, but the potential of sounds to reveal place and space is often neglected. Our research project ‘Sonic Palimpsest’1 explores the potential of sound to evoke impressions and new understandings of the past, to embrace the sonic as a tool to understand what was, in a way that can complement and add to our predominant visual understandings. Our work includes the expansion of the Oral History archives held at Chatham Dockyard to include women’s voices and experiences, and the creation of sonic works to engage the public with their heritage. Our research highlights the social and cultural value of oral history and field recordings in the transmission of knowledge to both researchers and the public. Together these recordings document how buildings and spaces within the dockyard were used and experienced by those who worked there. We can begin to understand the social and cultural roles of these buildings within the community, both past and present

A survey of 3D audio through the browser : practitioner perspectives

This paper examines the current eco-system of tools for implementing dynamic 3D audio through the browser, from the perspective of spatial sound practitioners. It presents a survey of some existing tools to assess usefulness, and ease of use. This takes the forms of case studies, interviews with other practitioners, and initial testing comparisons between the authors. The survey classifies and summarizes their relative advantages, disadvantages and potential use cases. It charts the specialist knowledge needed to employ them or enable others to.The recent and necessary move to online exhibition of works, has seen many creative practitioners grapple with a disparate eco-system of software. Such technologies are diverse in their both their motivations and applications. From formats which overcome the limits of WebGL’s lack of support for Ambisonics, to the creative deployment of Web Audio API (WAA), to third-party tools based on WAA, the field can seem prohibitively daunting for practitioners. The current range of possible acoustic results may be too unclear to justify the learning curve.Through this evaluation of the current available tools, we hope to demystify and make accessible these novel technologies to composers, musicians, artists and other learners, who might otherwise be dissuaded from engaging with this rich territory. This paper is based on a special session at Soundstack 2021