focalinterest.net

Tag: Music, Sound & Performance

  • Digital spatial notation reshaped audience and performer engagement

    What the study found

    The paper argues that digital notation practices can enhance live performances of new music by broadening the audiovisual to include alternative notational approaches that engage with space, which it calls "spatial notation." It also says that the concert project Drawing Sound in Space aimed to create a more immersive encounter with music notation as a multimodal, social practice.

    Why the authors say this matters

    The authors conclude that this approach may enhance audience engagement and musical understanding, while also transforming musicianship and audience experience. They suggest that presenting notation to audiences as well as performers can create a novel concert experience.

    What the researchers tested

    The paper examines a concert presentation called Drawing Sound in Space, in which seven Australian composers were commissioned to create digital scores for an electroacoustic chamber music ensemble. The scores were shared with the audience, and the author provides a theoretical framework for analyzing the works through semiotic expansion, temporal engagement, distributed agency, and spatial reconfiguration.

    What worked and what didn't

    According to the abstract, different ways of presenting music notation in the project were used to explore audience experience and to challenge composers to design notation for both audiences and performers. The paper reports that these approaches were intended to offer a more immersive and novel concert experience, but the abstract does not give detailed comparative results for individual works.

    What to keep in mind

    The available summary does not describe specific audience measurements, performance outcomes, or limitations. It also does not provide detailed findings for each commissioned work, only the concepts used to analyze them.

    • The paper links digital notation with a concept the author calls "spatial notation."
    • Seven Australian composers were commissioned to create digital scores for an electroacoustic chamber music ensemble.
    • Audience members were shown the scores during the concert presentation.
    • The authors say the approach may enhance audience engagement and musical understanding.
    • The abstract does not provide detailed quantitative results or named limitations.

  • Intermedial interference informs audiovisual composition methods

    What the study found

    The study found that intermedial interference, a perceptual effect that arises when media features interact in an intermedial space, can be explored as part of electroacoustic audiovisual composition. It also reports that strategies for combining, integrating, and fusing sound and moving image were developed through the author’s practice-based research.

    Why the authors say this matters

    The authors conclude that the findings offer new insights into intermedial audiovisual practice. They suggest the work provides methodologies for composers to manage media interactions and encourage open, subjective engagement with intermedial artefacts.

    What the researchers tested

    The research drew on visual music and intermedial arts traditions and examined the author’s doctoral practice-based portfolio of six works. It included discussion of intermedial interference, balance, associative mapping, synchrony typologies, and a case study of one portfolio work that highlighted remediation, meta-narrative, and audience interpretation.

    What worked and what didn't

    The essay reports that concepts such as balance, associative mapping, and synchrony typologies were used to address perceptual equilibrium in audiovisual composition. A case study illustrated how these ideas were applied, but the abstract does not compare which strategies worked best or identify any that did not work.

    What to keep in mind

    The available summary does not describe experimental controls, comparison groups, or quantitative outcomes. It also does not give detailed results for each of the six works, so the scope of the claims is limited to the author’s practice-based research and the case study discussed.

    • The study focuses on intermedial interference in electroacoustic audiovisual composition.
    • It examined a doctoral practice-based portfolio of six works.
    • The essay discusses combining, integrating, and fusing sound and moving image.
    • It highlights balance, associative mapping, and synchrony typologies as compositional methods.
    • A case study is used to show remediation, meta-narrative, and audience interpretation.
    • The authors say the findings offer new insights into intermedial audiovisual practice.

  • Indexical notation is proposed for representing sound morphology

    What the study found

    The article argues that indexical notation, a type of sign based on a direct causal link, may help represent the lived, changing qualities of sound more effectively than pictographic or symbolic notation. In the case study discussed, this approach was used in an interactive score for a solo performer.

    Why the authors say this matters

    The authors suggest that indexical signs may provide an accessible way for performers to engage with spectral and morphological elements of sound, meaning features related to sound’s frequency content and changing shape. They conclude that this may open new pathways for notation to address experiential phenomena.

    What the researchers tested

    The article explores notation of sound morphology using C. S. Peirce’s concept of indexical signs. It draws on theories outlined by Floris Schuiling and presents a case study of an interactive score called Undersong 1 for solo performer, which avoids symbolic and pictographic notation in favor of indexical causal relationships between performer actions and visual responses.

    What worked and what didn't

    The case study suggests that indexical signs may work as a way to engage performers with spectral and morphological aspects of sound. The abstract states that pictographic and symbolic notation struggle to notate the lived dynamic experience of music, but it does not provide a detailed comparison of outcomes.

    What to keep in mind

    This summary is limited to the abstract, so the article’s full evidence, methods, and any detailed limitations are not available here. The abstract does not describe weaknesses, constraints, or broader testing beyond the single case study.

    • The article explores indexical notation for sound morphology.
    • Pictographic and symbolic notation are described as struggling to capture the lived dynamic experience of music.
    • A case study of the interactive score Undersong 1 is presented.
    • The score uses indexical causal relationships between performer and visual responses.
    • The case study suggests indexical signs may help performers engage with spectral and morphological elements of sound.