The perception of timescales in electroacoustic music

The purpose of this doctoral research is to explore the nature and perception of timescales in electroacoustic music, to examine modes of experiencing time, and to discover a method that uses this knowledge to the advantage of the composer. Although the main focus is on acousmatic works, much of the research presented here has a broader scope and is relevant to music and sound art in general. This thesis is initially inspired by Deleuze’s philosophical views on time to discover relationships between the flow of time and music, and continues to investigate time perception by exploring prevalent theories in the fields of psychology and psychoacoustics. In parallel, it identifies and systematically analyses a set of factors that influence time perception and the formation and segregation of timescales. Theoretical analysis, hypotheses and reasoning were practically tested in the five electroacoustic pieces composed for this particular research. The study revealed and reinforced the importance of psychological time in perception and interpretation of structures in music, developed the idea of using parallel temporal forms in composition, and through an exploration of timescales, it necessitated a redefinition of microsound. Moreover, an analysis of extrinsic and intrinsic factors that affect our perception of time and thus our interpretation of a musical work reinforced the notion of acousmatic music as a holistic experience that comprises all its surrounding elements at the time of listening. This research is useful for both the composer and the analyst because it offers insights into time structures, and a better understanding of the listener’s response to temporal constructs

Stimulus Complexity and Time Judgments

In my endeavour to try and understand the main mechanisms of time perception in electroacoustic music, I explored complexity and how it can affect our experience of timescales and passing of time. This experience ultimately influences our understanding of structures and balancing of sections, our appreciation of gestural and textural development, and the interconnection of concurrent, near and remote events. For the purpose of this research, important papers in time perception written mainly from cognitive psychologists have been examined, and relations to music perception were drawn. A list of situations where complexity may occur in electroacoustic music, with an emphasis on acousmatic music, has been compiled. The relationship between complexity and psychological time, based on theories of Hogan, Priestly and Ornstein, is followed by an examination of complexity related to various parameters of sound

The perception of timescales in electroacoustic music

The purpose of this doctoral research is to explore the nature and perception of timescales in electroacoustic music, to examine modes of experiencing time, and to discover a method that uses this knowledge to the advantage of the composer. Although the main focus is on acousmatic works, much of the research presented here has a broader scope and is relevant to music and sound art in general. This thesis is initially inspired by Deleuze’s philosophical views on time to discover relationships between the flow of time and music, and continues to investigate time perception by exploring prevalent theories in the fields of psychology and psychoacoustics. In parallel, it identifies and systematically analyses a set of factors that influence time perception and the formation and segregation of timescales. Theoretical analysis, hypotheses and reasoning were practically tested in the five electroacoustic pieces composed for this particular research. The study revealed and reinforced the importance of psychological time in perception and interpretation of structures in music, developed the idea of using parallel temporal forms in composition, and through an exploration of timescales, it necessitated a redefinition of microsound. Moreover, an analysis of extrinsic and intrinsic factors that affect our perception of time and thus our interpretation of a musical work reinforced the notion of acousmatic music as a holistic experience that comprises all its surrounding elements at the time of listening. This research is useful for both the composer and the analyst because it offers insights into time structures, and a better understanding of the listener’s response to temporal constructs.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Temporal Associations, Semantic Content and Source Bonding

Inspired by Denis Smalley’s theoretical ideas on spectromorphology and Albert Bregman’s (1990) auditory scene analysis, I began an investigation into the formation and segregation of timescales1 in electroacoustic music. This research inevitably led me to an exploration of the factors that shape our perception of time passing and estimation of durations, where spectromorphological issues intermingle with extra-musical associations, autobiographical experiences, emotional responses, and the surrounding environment at the time of listening. Ultimately, time perception affects the structural balance of a composition. This paper, which is part of my ongoing research, examines how the perception of time is affected by the semantic meaning and the spectromorphological characteristics of sound events

Timescales and the Factors Influencing Time Perception

This paper explores timescales within absolute and psychological times, and identifies the many factors that affect our perception of time passing and estimation of durations, which inevitably influence our perception of musical structures; in particular, it discusses listening experiences, and theoretical approaches to psychological states and emotional responses. It proposes a process according to which the time-influencing factors operate between listener and music. The discussion is approached through the lens of the electroacoustic composer and makes references to short excerpts from the author’s work and related repertoire. However, as the paper discusses time in relation to sound structures, it is also relevant to other time-based sound art and music

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

Paramnesia

Paramnesia is a stereo acousmatic work composed in 2009. The word 'paramnesia' derives from the Greek 'para' and 'mneme' that mean 'near' and 'memory'. It is a condition that causes confusion between reality and fantasy, resulting in distorted memory. Patients fabricate imaginary events to compensate for loss of memory, and they also experience déjà vu. Paramnesia consists of two connected movements ('Promenade' and 'Repose') that represent daytime and night respectively. It explores timescales based on connotational chains, and the relation of stimulus complexity to temporal judgements. Additional forces occur in the temporal syntax, an interplay among durations, rhythms, tempi, and changes in pitch contours and dynamics. Both movements explore disturbance of chronological order; passages or sounds are repeated, disguised in different forms (feelings of déjà vu). The time throughout the piece is non-linear, in the sense that a story does not unfold, apart from the distinction between day and night. Events from recordings are taken out of their original context and re-assembled. The first movement is based on a recording made in the promenade of Alghero in Sardinia, it has been commissioned by the research unit CRiSAP and makes use of the Déjà Vu software program developed by their research team. Paramnesia was shortlisted at the Concours Internationaux 2009 (Musiques Electroacoustiques et Arts Electroniques) in Bourges, France, and was selected for performances worldwide. The composition was also chosen for the ICMC 2010 CD, published by the International Computer Music Association

Covered in Coal

A former worker of the dockyard recalls the coal-burning ships, and how coal had to be carried on to the ships. During the process the workers got covered in coal and had to queue up to have a bath in a bucket of water; there were only three buckets available, which 40-50 men had to share. This miniature piece is part of a collection of short compositions that make up the collective work Whispers of the Past. The geolocated soundwalk ‘Whispers of the Past’ explores and presents stories from archives from 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 short stories is commissioned by SparkedEcho as part of the Electric Medway Festival taking place between 21-30 August 2021

Irides

Irides is an amalgamation of soundwalks, listening experiences as well as experiences of smell, vision, touch and taste. It is based on different environmental recordings I made, mostly – but not always – on the same theme, and on memories connected to the places that appear in the recordings. I was particularly drawn to my experiences near the end of rainy incidents, when raindrops become more sparse. Starting from elements that many composers are influenced by, shapes and colours, I picked up one of the most conspicuous visual elements that appear just after rainfalls, the rainbow. Irides literally means rainbows. In Greco-Roman mythology, rainbows were thought to be bridges made by the goddess Iris that connected heaven and earth. Irides are multicoloured arcs caused by diffraction and dispersion of light by water droplets in the air. Similarly, in this composition, momentary sunny spells and droplets of rain give rise to spectra, bands of colours and arcs, mostly heard as upwards and downwards spectral glissandi; these are often superimposed, creating double, triple and multiple sonic rainbows that permeate the scenery of the piece. The composition explores the relocation of the visual, gustatory, olfactory, and haptic environments into the aural space. It also examines interrelationships between music, time perception, timescales in different senses, memory and the listening environment. The work was premiered on 24 April 2017 at the Sound of Memory symposium at Goldsmiths Great Hall, London. It has been subsequently selected for performances at the ISSTA (Irish Sound Science and Technology Association) conference at Dundalk, Ireland (2017); at the Sound/Image conference in London (2017); at the ICMC2017 (International Computer Music Conference) in Shanghai, China; at the Helicotrema festival in Venice, Italy (2017), in a concert curated by the renowned composer and sound ecologist Hildegard Westerkamp; at the SMC2018 (Sound & Music Computing) conference in Limassol, Cyprus (2018); at the CIME/ICEM MUSICACOUSTICA 36th General Assembly organised by the Electroacoustic Music Association of China, in Beijing (2018); at the Electroacoustic Music Days in Corfu, Greece (2018); at the San Fransisco Tape Music Festival (2019); at the 'Electroacoustic Music in Great Britain: Past/Present/Future' conference in London (2019); at the 'Rediscoveries 11' concert series in Aberdeen (2019); at the 'Mapping Spaces, Sounding Places: Geographies of Sound in Audiovisual Media' conference, Cremona, Italy (2019); and at the 'Convergence' conference at De Montfort, Leicester (2019). Irides is published by Sonos Localia