The design and construction of an organised sound space to support information representations in the human–computer interface is described. The design of the sound space is guided by four principles which match perceptual structure with data structure to improve natural comprehension of an auditory display. These principles – completeness, comprehensibility, consistency, and cohesiveness – have been generalised from the use of colour displays in scientific visualisation. The choice of perceptual parameters to represent different types of data is informed by the body of psychoacoustic literature. The raw material for the construction of the sound space is the McGill University Master Samples (MUMS) palette of musical instrument samples. This is an important choice because this reference resource enables reproduction and confirmation of the results. The construction was carried out in four stages – the ‘pedestal’, the ‘skin’, the ‘skeleton’ and the ‘flesh’. The pedestal consists of eight equally discriminable timbres organised in a circle by perceptual similarity. The skin is the boundary of variation in the space, defining the limits of dynamic range for pitch and brightness at each timbre. The skeleton characterises the internal behaviour of the space at a number of perceptually measured points. The flesh is a continuous medium moulded to the skeleton and skin, realised by a three-dimensional (3D) regularised linear spline interpolation. The concrete realisation of the sound space can be investigated through a user interface, called the GamutExplorer. Colour visualisations of slices and wireframe views of the 3D space can be chosen, and sounds can be picked with a mouse.

This article aims to sketch a theory of sound sculpture, one that would explain the variety of forms this artistic practice might take on and define it in relation to other art forms. My hypothesis is that in order to do this we must focus on the traits of sound sculpture connecting it to music rather than on those separating the two. A useful instrument to analyse this connection is Harry Partch’s concept of corporeal music. In contrast to Western classical music, which he viewed as abstract and devoid of life, Partch envisioned a music that would emphasise the physicality of sound-making and engage the listener on a more visceral level. Investigating a number of works from all parts of the sound sculpture spectrum, I argue that all the various practices that comprise the art form present the core traits of Partch’s musical ideal (physicality of music, audience engagement, and unity of the sonic and the visual) to a substantial extent. Analysing sound sculpture in light of its connection to music brings to the fore a number of musical issues for which this new art form provides a new perspective. Among these are the agency of the composer and the listener, the function and nature of a score, as well as the role of technology in music-making. These issues, along with the general idea of corporeality of music, compose a discourse that transcends the boundaries of different subgenres of sound sculpture, allowing for theorisation of the art form as a whole.

The article tries to explain different aspects of sound art in public space in the context of an understanding of a modified language of twentieth-century visual art and music. It gives a description of different approaches to colouring situations and contexts with sound. Various examples of sonification and artistic treatments in our surrounding are shown. It shows an artistic practice which is linked to social-cultural aspects and their critical role in art. Therefore sound installations are placed into a genealogy of installation practice in public space.

Chaosynth is a cellular automata-based granular synthesis system whose capabilities for producing unusual complex dynamic sounds are limitless. However, due to its newness and flexibility, potential users have found it very hard to explore its possibilities as there is no clear referential framework to hold on to when designing sounds. Standard software synthesis systems take this framework for granted by adopting a taxonomy for synthesis instruments that has been inherited from the acoustic musical instruments tradition, i.e. woodwind, brass, string, percussion, etc. Sadly, the most interesting synthesised sounds that these systems can produce are simply referred to as effects. This scheme clearly does not meet the demands of more innovative software synthesizers. In order to alleviate this problem, we propose an alternative taxonomy for Chaosynth timbres. The paper begins with a brief introduction to the basic functioning of Chaosynth. It then presents our proposed taxonomy and ends with concluding comments. A number of examples are provided on this volume's Organised Sound CD.

This paper looks at microsound – an emergent term, corresponding concept and associated genre of experimental electronica appearing in the late 1990s – which animates the idea of sound as material entity, and, as I will demonstrate, ultimately complicates and expands questions concerning disciplinary boundaries. The conceptualisation of sounds as having mass or as matter, particularly on an imagined ‘atomic’ level as is implicit in microsound, has had many historical antecedents, especially in the twentieth century. However, the comparison, representation and analogy of sound as an object of material composition is a peculiar metaphor as sound has no inherent material substance. At the meeting point of microsound, a wide spectrum of musicians and listeners across genres and subgenres has converged, along with a diverse range of technologies and approaches to those technologies. In what follows, an exploration of the inception and implications of microsound will offer one instructive path that helps elucidate the intertwined relationship between sound art and experimental electronica. Thus, this paper adds to the critical dialogue regarding these complex yet drastically under-theorised fields of creative activity by using microsound to articulate specific points of connection, commonality and divergence.

This article argues that the state of spatial awareness engendered by the art of soundscape composition can be productively extended to the act of listening while looking in the cinema. Central to my argument is how Katharine Norman's concept of reflective listening in soundscape composition can be adapted to reflective audioviewing in the audiovisual context of film. Norman begins the process of intersecting film theory and the discourse of soundscape composition by appealing to famed Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein's theories of montage to illustrate how soundscape composition enables active listener engagement. I extend her discussion of Eisenstein to demonstrate how this filmmaker's thinking about sound/image synchronisation in the cinema – and R. Murray Schafer's own predilection for Eisensteinian dialectics – can be understood as a means towards the practice of reflective audioviewing. I illustrate my argument with an analysis of how the soundscape compositions of Hildegard Westerkamp have been incorporated into Gus Van Sant's film Elephant. Attention to the reflective qualities of Westerkamp's work open up new dimensions in our experience of the audiovisual construction of space in the film. Ultimately I argue that the reflective audioviewing prompted by Elephant can be carried into considerations of all films that make use of sound design for spatial representation.

This article explores a particular perspective, shared across various contemporary musical currents, that focuses on sound itself as a complex entity. Through the analysis of certain fundamental musical elements and sonic characteristics, this study develops a new method for comparing different genres characterised by a similar approach to sound. Using the benefits of audio, spectra and score examinations, this strategy is applied to post-spectralist and minimalist compositions (e.g. G. F. Haas, B. Lang, R. Nova, G. Verrando), as well as glitch, electronic and basic-channel style pieces (Pan Sonic, R. Ikeda, Raime). Nine musical attributes are identified that help trace a new outlook on various currents in today’s music. The study’s contribution lies in its revealing of a shared musical perspective between different artistic practices, and in the establishment of new connections between pieces that belong to unrelated contexts.

Working on Analogique B in the late 1950s, Xenakis formulated the ‘hypothesis of a second order sonority’. This paper focuses on this concept, and shows its crucial meaning in the composition of a number of pieces, such as Concret PH, Analogique B and the very recent Gendy3 and S709. The perspective taken is twofold: on one side, the problem of 2nd-order sonorities is seen as a problem in modelling perceptual attributes (or timbre) of sound in terms of ‘emergent properties of organised sound structure’. This is also related to the composer’s pioneering work with granular sound representations and nonstandard methods of sound synthesis. On the other, the issue is discussed in conjunction with Xenakis’ attempt at implementing thoroughly formalised ‘mechanisms’ or ‘systems’ based on the mathematics of stochastic processes. The paper shows that the issue touched on here is essential to the aesthetics of Xenakis’ electroacoustic music. It also questions whether the formalisation of stochastics is a suitable means to let 2nd-order sonorities emerge from the internal life of the sound matter. The limitations of Xenakis’ ‘mechanisms’ are described in terms of their cybernetics, and are situated in the context of artistic and scientific paradigm shifts concerning the relationship between order, disorder and chaos.

The origins of women's pioneering contributions to the repertoire and history of electroacoustic music can often be linked to the growth of academic and commercial electronic and computer music studios in North America. A signific ant number of early female composers in the medium received their initial training and experience in the United States and their accomplishments begin in the earliest decades of the twentieth century. Women's achievements in the educational and entertainment sectors have laid the foundation for subsequent generations who have influenced the aesthetic and technical path of electroacoustic music.

Excerpted from several chapters of the author's historical series on women composers and music technology, the article outlines the contributions of several of the earliest women in the United States to the utilisation of music technology in creative work. Also discussed are research precedents in this area and issues regarding women and music technology in the United States today. With the creation of her book series outlining the achievements of women working with music technology, the author hopes to offer a valuable contribution to research on the history of electroacoustic music in general and women's representation in the genre in particular.

This paper argues that today's sampling culture, emerging out of pioneering efforts in electroacoustic music in the 1950s carries a similar ethos of autonomy found in many significant advances in music instrumentation throughout history. By looking at the evolution of musical instruments, the author hopes to address these continuous effort towards autonomy, which, if proves legitimate should be of great concern for networked music research that deals with all forms of music praxis of varying reciprocity and group dynamics. By further looking into what sets collaboration apart from cooperation and collective creation, and elaborating on the ‘social’ of music, this paper hopes to extend the discourse on current trends of accessing, shaping and sharing music in solitude, from something often seen as unfortunate and anti-social, to something less so.

In contemporary music and arts practices the previously distinct roles of author, composer and performer have become increasingly conflated, catalysed by the use of computer technology. Newly combined roles of composer and performer that are assumed by one or more people or computer systems are identified and described, as well as actions including preparation, organisation and presentation. In this paper the interface is described as an ‘interactivated space’ to encompass both the intimate scale of a performer manipulating the materials through an on-body interface, and the larger in-space interface where the work is shared with the performers and audience. Two examples of projects the authors are involved in are described, which form the basis for further discussion. The two interfaces that manifest themselves in the processes, the instrument and the score are discussed in more detail with a focus on their changed appearance and role.

A course in Design Structures is discussed. In this course students learn a multi-faceted approach to exploring mathematical and iterative ideas using sonification and visualisation techniques for their own compositional explorations. These ideas are discussed in relation to philosophy, history, technology, scientific paradigms, and cultural context. Some resulting student work is demonstrated.

This article examines some of the ethical issues involved in working creatively with sound. Issues considered include: sound ownership; sound vs. vision as determinations of identity, and their relative iconicity; recorded sound; sound as physical phenomenon vs. sound as symbol; issues of copyright and trademark; community ownership; awareness, sensitivity and responsibility; composer responsibility vs. listener responsibility; the relative importance of contextualisation; and intercultural dialogue. We will conclude with a critique of the cultural and ethical shortcomings of the article itself, and a call for social, cultural and ethical engagement in creative sound work.

Analysing electroacoustic music is a challenging task that can be approached by different strategies. In the last few decades, newly emerging computer environments have enabled analysts to examine the sound spectrum content in greater detail. This has resulted in new graphical representation of features extracted from audio recordings. In this article, we propose the use of representations from complex dynamical systems such as phase space graphics in musical analysis to reveal emergent timbre features in granular technique-based acousmatic music. It is known that granular techniques applied to musical composition generate considerable sound flux, regardless of the adopted procedures and available technological equipment. We investigate points of convergence between different aesthetics of the so-called Granular Paradigm in electroacoustic music, and consider compositions employing different methods and techniques. We analyse three works: Concret PH (1958) by Iannis Xenakis, Riverrun (1986) by Barry Truax, and Schall (1996) by Horacio Vaggione. In our analytical methodology, we apply such concepts as volume and emergence, as well as their graphical representation to the pieces. In conclusion we compare our results and discuss how they relate to the three composers’ specific procedures creating sound flux as well as to their compositional epistemologies and ontologies.

Visual rendering is the process of creating synthetic images of digital models. The modelling of sound synthesis and propagation in a virtual space is called sound rendering. In this article we review different audiovisual rendering techniques suitable for realtime rendering of three-dimensional virtual worlds. Virtual environments are useful in various application areas, for example in architectural visualisation. With audiovisual rendering, lighting and acoustics of a modelled concert hall can be experienced early in the design stage of the building. In this article we demonstrate an interactive audiovisual rendering system where an animated virtual orchestra plays in a modelled concert hall. Virtual musicians are conducted by a real conductor who wears a wired data dress suit and a baton. The conductor and the audience hear the music rendered according to the acoustics of the virtual concert hall, creating a lifelike experience.

This article considers the notion of the invention as an instrumental concept in designing an interactive music system. The derivation of the idea is traced from Dreyfus' Bach and the Patterns of Invention. Issues of the nature of the interactive musical context are problematised on the basis of ideas from Adorno and Lyotard. The invention is presented as a mechanism for implementing the concepts of the embodiment and distribution of musical activity, which are shown to be generalisable. The relationship of composer and computer is considered in the light of a ‘prosthetic culture’. It is suggested that a crucial property of the invention is that of self-simulation.

This paper offers a critique of what are seen as key issues which are problematised within the field of interactive dance, centring on the role of the various artists and technologies involved in the development of interactive dance systems, the notion of interactivity versus non-interactivity, and the influence of traditional single art-form practices. The paper proposes that it is only through identifying the particular motifs promoted by the technology itself that a way forward can be found, and an interactive dance aesthetic can begin to emerge in earnest. The arguments presented in this paper are framed within the context of the authors' long-term work and collaboration within the area of interactive dance, and provides a detailed case study of the piece Lifting Bodies (1999).

This paper presents an end-user interface that allows realtime parametric control of sound events resulting in an interactive environment, in which evolutionary computation is applied to algorithmic composition. The resulting system, Vox Populi, uses genetic algorithms to generate and evaluate a sequence of chords played as MIDI data. Harmonic, tonal and voice range fitness are used to control musical features. Based on the ordering of consonance of musical intervals, the notion of approximating a sequence of notes to its harmonically compatible note or tonal centre is used. This method employs fuzzy formalism and is posited as an optimisation approach based on factors relevant to hearing music.

In this article, based on four decades of experience of using samples in diverse ways in experimental, particularly electroacoustic compositions, the author investigates the world of what he calls ‘sample-based sound-based music’ and suggests that there is a relative lack of scholarship in this important area. The article’s contextual sections focus on briefly delineating this world of sonic creativity and placing it within today’s sampling culture as well as dealing with two political aspects of sampling, a musician’s attitude towards the reuse of sonic materials and the legality of sampled sounds, including musical passages, in the discussion of which current legislation related to sampling is challenged. Following this, a number of categories are presented in terms of the types of sampling material that is being used as well as how sample-based works are presented. The subsequent section is perhaps the most poignant in the article, namely the opening up of this form of innovative composition from a more traditional ‘artist creates work’ mode of operation to a more collaborative one which is essentially already part of most other forms of sampling culture. The objective here is to suggest that such collaborative approaches will enable sample-based sound-based music to become part of the lives of a much broader group than those currently involved with it.