COMPOSING SPACE IN MIXED MUSIC

Abstract

The composition of mixed music involves numerous aesthetic and formal challenges; the opposition of the rich, unrestrained sounds of live orchestral instruments amalgamated with electroacoustic sources - which differ in material source, compositional approach, performance practice, and meaning – expose musical difficulties innate to the musical anatomy of each medium. This thesis and portfolio examines how these difficulties can be reconciled through “source-bonding”; a term defined by Denis Smalley as the predisposition of a listener to relate sounds to their physical source or cause, paired with a comprehensive investigation into how space, from a phenomenological perspective, can offer holistically perceptible source-bondings within mixed music. An examination of existing literature precedes a discussion on the fundamental dichotomies between instrumental and electroacoustic mediums, setting a contemporary context for mixed music research. This is succeeded by a discussion of how existing compositional listening approaches and philosophies can shape the perceived source-bondings of a listener, with specific regards to temporal and phenomenological considerations. The final part will consist of a mixed music composition portfolio, with accompanying commentary discussing how the perceived real and abstract aspects of source-bonded sounds can co-exist within these phenomenological spaces and consequently evoke meaning, relative to the listener’s interpretation and comprehension of the spatially integrated source-bondings.