Research Summary

​Through my doctoral research project, I aim to develop a composition practice which explores the perceptual homogenisation of acoustic instrumentation and electronic sound in live concert settings. Acoustic and psychoacoustic phenomena are used to design compositional and performative approaches which blend acoustic and electronic sounds to as greater degree as possible. A musical vocabulary is then built upon this homogenised state, by creatively exploring fusion and juxtaposition between sound sources.

I am contextualising my research within several academic fields: acoustics/psychoacoustics, spectralism, spectromorphology, and music psychology. My first-year musical pieces have focused on utilising the perceptual qualities inherent within sonic spectra to source-bond electronic sounds to acoustic instrumentation. This has resulted in sonic ‘sound sculptures’ which sit on the boundary of live performance and acousmatic music. Other perceptual grouping mechanisms (which are not necessarily specific to music) such as the principles of Gestalt psychology are beginning to take root in my work, whilst visual aspects of music performance are being highlighted: particularly the importance of physical gesture to an audience’s understanding and perception of a piece.

In my next musical projects, I will continue to formalise my methods (in collaboration with a music psychologist) in order to extract quantifiable data on the techniques used, thus increasing the rigour of the research whilst also positioning the project further into the realms of music psychology and acoustic/psychoacoustic science. With my findings (i.e. composition methods), I aim to add valuable insights to the literature on these subjects and am preparing conference entries to this end.