Compositional Process

My Extra Personal Space is intended to create a movie for the ears, not only as a conceptual idea, but also through the compositional process. The

development of the piece is included in the fictional narration of a journey into urban and natural, rural soundscapes. The experience of the author evolved through psychogeographical soundwalks and was supplemented by

perspectives of locations, as proposed in Section 3.3.3.

The length of the piece is 16’16’’ and it is divided into six sections. Each section is a movement with real sounds. Transitions are provided by synthesis sounds as articulations between the different movements. Fontana’s remark in Section 3.3.1 claims that ’most people approach this experience without recognising patterns in everyday sound.’ Therefore, the following composition’s structure                                                                                                                

49 Spectral and harmonic audio transformations.

highlights the patterns of the composition. These are intended to bring the auditor into a known environment of the composition by proposing the themes several times. Transitional patterns, sustain, tension and release of tension are also mentioned:

1. Introduction / 0’ to 1’00’’

Helicopter Mutates into Birds (Aerial perspective).

2. Transition 1 / 30’ to 1’55’’.

3. Movement 1

1’25’’ to 3’50’’ Rasping Object on the River (Pattern) / Town activity / Birds by the Sea (Pattern);

1’43’’ to 3’13’’ Bell with Fade Out with Pitch Down.

4. Transition 2 / 2’57’’ to 4’50’’.

5. Movement 2

3’50’’ to 4’08’’ Birds Group (Pattern);

4’05’’ to 5’07’’ Wind into Tunnel (Sustain);

4’30’’ to 6’17’’ Sea (Pattern);

4’53’’ to 6’15’’ Pebbles (Pattern);

6. Transition 5’10’’ to 6’00’’

7. Movement 3

5’13’’ to 6’10” Footsteps (Transitional Pattern);

5’50’’ to 6’08’’ Voices speaking;

6’18’’ to 7’30’’ Pouring Water;

7’35’’ to 8’38’’ Footsteps (Transitional Pattern);

7’45’’ to 8’03’’ Birds aerial (Pattern);

7’45’’ to 8’25’’ Helicopter (Pattern);

8’40’’ to 8’50’’ Seagull;

9’12’’ to 11’30’’ Machines;

9’30’’ to 9’40’’ Pebbles (Pattern);

9’58’’ Train;

Release Tension 11’11’’

10. Transition 11’45’’ to 12’55’’

11. Movement 5

11’47’’ to 12’05’’ Rasping Object on the River (Pattern);

12’08’’ to 13’30’’ Birds.

Release Tension 13’00’’

Lots of Birds / Increase Tension 13’10’’ to 14’20”

Release Tension

14’10’’ to 15’50’’ Birds in Enclosed Space;

14’23’’ to 14’35’’ Footsteps on Pebbles Leading to Outside Space;

15’04’’ Opening Door Leading to Outside Space;

15’36’’ Outside Space Footsteps. Walk on a Path Until End. Fade Out.

12. End 16’16’’

The first audience answers are presented as a summary from the questionnaire related to the intention / perception investigation, and is developed further in Chapter Five. The following patterns of perceived spaces / locations are observed in relation to the composition appreciation of thirty participants who listened to the piece only once:

• Seaside or beach (also occasionally associated with seagulls) appears in eighteen answers. This is the strongest pattern;

• Bells (also occasionally associated with church) appear in ten answers;

• Factory (also occasionally associated with dockworkers or port activity) appears in nine answers;

• Walking person (also occasionally associated with footsteps) appears in seven answers.

The first aspect underlines the audience’s sensibility to patterns when sounds / soundscapes are presented several times in the composition. On the other hand, the sound of bells appears only once briefly at the beginning, yet is the second most mentioned sound.

Patterns of sound (meaning those played several times in the composition) have a role in the perception of a sound-based piece, and because the audience seems to recognise them they allow the reduction of semantic

ambiguity that may arise in sound-based compositions. Pattern recognition is of course nothing new in music composition nor, to a greater extent, in organised sounds. The analysis of the perception of the portfolio as based on the

questionnaire in Chapter four helps to identify the sound pattern recognition perceived by numerous participants.

On the other hand, signals such as bells are clearly mentioned by the audience.

These do not require patterns for familiarity. It may be questioned whether this is linked to the early presence of the sound of bells in the composition, when the attention is greater.

3.3.4. Achievements; Conclusions

The major achievement from My Extra Personal Space relates to the creation of a coherent piece based on contrasting urban and natural environments. In order to achieve the composition, a clear methodology was established, which

includes the following procedures:

• The observation of the location is based on a cinematographic approach through long static shots / recordings, allowing the development of events. This relates in particular to Truax’s insights on perspectives and to Luc Ferrari’s Presque Rien series. The process of composition is also stimulated by a cinematographic approach, in the sense that there is a wish to stimulate and develop images in the mind of the audience;

• Psychogeography is included with the effects of the geography of the urban and the natural environments on the mind of the composer. This is the kind of memory the geography imprints in the mind of the composer during field recordings and later transferred to the audience. This serves as the first draft of the composition while listening;

of sonic material for composition purposes leads to the insights proposed by Pierre Schaeffer and Luigi Russolo, yet are applied here to the whole soundscape;

• Emmerson’s grid helped to define a balance between real and unreal sounds. Therefore, a coherent form of composition was composed in order to retain the auditors’ attention.

Future research should investigate deeper the perception of soundscape and sound objects in electroacoustic contexts in order not only to provide novel knowledge for compositional issues, but also to bring wider knowledge into the realm of the perception of electroacoustic music. Although the current research focuses on pattern perception, Landy pointed out that:

Interdisciplinary work with specialists in areas such as perception could be very useful, not only in terms of providing relevant information for composers, but also in terms of furthering our knowledge of how electroacoustic music is experienced. (Landy 2007: 81)

Finally, the unique opportunity to research at the Groupe de Recherches

Musicales in Paris, and investigate its history, the technology and the important knowledge provided by the main actors working there or related to its history (in particular Daniel Teruggi, Evelyne Gayou, Brunhild Ferrari and Diego Losa) allowed the development of My Extra Personal Space within an incomparable inspirational situation.

Kinetism