In his work Contropasso (1998–9) Michelangelo Lupone collaborates with Massimo Moricone in the dance showcase piegapiaga achieving direct interaction between dancers and live electronics performance. The choreography takes advantage of acoustic events as generated by three dancers and further elaborated on via computer by the composer through use of granular algorithms and digital filtering, allowing the construction of the musical events to occur in real time. The live electronics performer changes sound parameters in relation to the dancers' movements by use of the program SDP – Sonorous Drawing Plane (S. Lanzalone) – created specifically for the control of different synthesis algorithms allowing them to be processed on systems such as Fly30 (CRM) and Mars (IRIS). SDP reads and converts computer mouse data as the operator creates lines corresponding to performance gestures, thus creating both visible and audible output. This software allows a single gesture to control more than one parameter, thus creating complex changes in the audio programme output. The article deals with different compositions, performances and didactic situations the author has experienced using SDP.

Four compositions for cello and string quartet on tape by American intermedia artist Phill Niblock originating from 1974 to 2003 are discussed. The interdependence of compositional approach and available technology is considered, leading to the observation that the electronic music composer's technique is considerably independent of the available technology. Where a dependence of artistic development on factors not originally musical has to be acknowledged, these nonmusical factors lie not so much in the technology but in Niblock's interpretation of it. This is discussed within the context of philosophical observations on art and technology by Theodor W. Adorno, Martin Heidegger and Ernst Cassirer.

This article considers ideas of image and space as they apply to acousmatic music and to sound art, establishing overlaps and compatibilities which are perhaps overlooked in the current trend to consider these two genres incompatible. Two issues in particular are considered: compositional (especially mimesis and the construction of image, and what shall be termed ‘ephemeral narrative’) and presentational (in particular multichannel speaker deployment). While exploring several relevant works within this discussion, by way of a case study the article introduces the author’s GRIDs project – a series of four multichannel sound sculptures united in their arrangement in geometric arrays of many (in some cases potentially hundreds of) loudspeakers. These permit, by virtue of being so massively (and geometrically) multichannel, the generation of extremely intricate spatial sound environments – fabricated landscapes – that emerge directly from an acousmatic compositional aesthetic. Owing to their alternative means of presentation and presentation contexts, however, they offer very different experiences from those of acousmatic music encountered in the concert hall. So the latter part of this article explores the various ways in which the listener might engage with constructed image space within these sound sculptures, along with the relationship of the audio content of each with its visual and situational setup – that is, its environment.

Denis Smalley devoted himself to the elaboration of a method based on the analysis of spectral transformations by connoting sonorous motions and adopting metaphors borrowed from non-musical contexts. While considering Smalley's earlier theorising within the context of past and contemporary research, this paper focuses on the use of non-musical models in spectromorphological design in order to show how sonorous qualities, imaginative factors and extra-musical meanings concurred in defining new cognitive itineraries and in extending the terminology adopted, thereby establishing the basis of a new compositional approach.

We discuss John Locke's ideas in his essay of 1690 on sound and its cognition and relation to bodily motion. The ideas have interesting implications for the construction of organised sound. We argue that our ecological and statistical experience of sounds in our natural (and man-made) environment is in several respects critical for our choices as soundsmiths and our impressions as listeners. Sonic repetition, both sensory and imag(in)ed, contributes to that environment. Input sounds may be ‘coupled’ to output sounds; and in some cases the physical processes generating sound and the cognitive processes of receiving them are joined. As music technologists we may think of the computer, our sonic vehicle, as a joined bodily sonic-prosthesis. ‘Simple’ sonic ideas may associate with each other through shared biological bases, and become tools for creation of ‘complex’ ideas, as Locke cogitates. Furthermore, we now have new routes towards such complex sounds, including our computer prostheses.

Original and transformed samples of berimbau, cuica and zunidores sounds, instruments typical of Brazilian folk music, as well as synthesised sounds that emulate spectro-morphological variations of the sounds of these instruments, were assembled into the library of electronic sounds used in Coelho de Souza's Concerto for Computer and Orchestra. This approach had strong implications for the cultural identity of the piece and for the strategies of integration of the computer with the orchestra.

The ability to create a virtual world in computer code and implement audio that will follow the physical laws of that real world provides enormous flexibility to the composers working in the computer game industry. The multiple layers of sound that are nonlinear, interactive and dynamically mixed and effected in real time, place this media well outside the restrictions of traditional film, television and music and allow for experiences difficult to create in a more traditional real-world setting. The process of designing a broad concept audio environment for a computer game world can become a blueprint for the creation of a surround sound experience that has many similarities to sound installation practice. Creation and implementation of the sound content, the way in which it becomes interactive and the rules that drive the dynamic mixing are the processes by which the artist defines his or her vision of the final sound work. This paper aims to approach the use of a ‘next generation’ game console as a sound installation space, and discusses the ways in which a virtual audio environment created for a computer game is similar to a more traditional installation space. There are very real limitations for the implementation of soundscapes on computer game consoles, but a balance to these limitations is the capabilities of the surround sound hardware, support of powerful 3D audio engines and accessibility to a wide and diversified audience.

The legacy of Stockhausen's role in developing the art and practice of electroacoustic music is significant, in terms of both the repertory of works he produced for the medium from the early 1950s right up to his death in 2007, and also the supporting documentation he has provided in terms of scores and technical records and his many writings on the medium over the years. What emerges from this documentation is a fascinating and at times significant insight into his compositional methods and underlying aesthetic, itself shaped and influenced by the changing nature of the technology itself. Whereas his earlier works have been subject to close scrutiny in this context far less attention has been paid to those composed in more recent years, involving the use of digital technologies. A key consideration in this context is the distinctive and highly individual nature of his approach to the resources at his disposal, in turn driven by aesthetic considerations which of necessity become embedded in the practicalities of realisation. Thus the study of the changing nature of his techné as new tools became available becomes a crucial consideration. This article examines these issues in the context of Octophonie (1991) and with particular reference to the concepts and practicalities addressed in his use of three-dimensional spatialisation.

Mirror-Rite is a work for ‘meta-trumpet’, computer and live electronics. The composition is neither notated nor stored, but forms itself as a complex of rule-based structures, transformations and processes around the improvisation of a live performer, its source of both energy and material. This article discusses the ways in which these algorithms deal with interactivity and projection in time, and how the handling of these aspects might permit the assembly of algorithmic elements into a complex dynamic whole, sensitive to (and existing solely within) present circumstances, but demonstrating unity between different performances.

In volume 12, number 2 of Organised Sound, we presented a revision of Pierre Schaeffer’s spectromorphology adapted to practical analysis. The present paper shows the steps of applying the proposed method of analysis to a specific work by the Swedish composer Åke Parmerud, as we pursue the application of two other central terms in Schaffer’s analytical work, namely ‘caractère’ and ‘valeur’. Whereas ‘sound-character’ would refer only to a timbral constant that supports pertinent values, we identify a form-building entity, termed integral sound-character, consisting of a union of sound-character and its temporal behaviour.

This paper proposes expanding telematic electroacoustic music practice through the consideration of affective computing and integration with complex data streams. Current telematic electroacoustic music practice, despite the distances involved, is largely embedded in older music/sonic arts paradigms. For example, it is dominated by using concert halls, by concerns about the relationship between people and machines, and by concerns about geographically distributed cultures and natural environments. A more suitable environment for telematic sonic works is found in the inter-relationship between ‘players’ and broader contemporary networked life – one embedded in multiple real-time informational data streams. These streams will increase rapidly with the expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT), and with the increasing deployment of algorithmic decision-making and machine learning software. While collated data streams, such as news feeds, are often rendered visually, they are also partly interpreted through embodied cognition that is similar to music and sonic art interpretation. A meeting point for telematic electroacoustic music and real-time data sonification is in affective composition/performance models and data sonification. These allow for the sonic exploration of participants’ place in a matrix of increasingly networked relationships.

One main issue in the field of algorithmic composition is the relationship between the algorithm and the final musical structure. This article investigates that relationship further and presents a method of algorithmic thinking in which the musical form is the starting point. Kimon, an object-oriented programming environment for computer-aided composition in which one creates abstractions of musical form, will be introduced. The aim is to take algorithmic composition closer to the musical output in order to work systematically with form and dramaturgy. An electroacoustic piece that has been conceived and generated in its entirety by the system will also be presented.

Radio and memory form a radical coupling, stitching together musical cultures with personal psychologies. I pursue such relations in Phantom Music by focusing on, and unpacking a project I developed for exhibition in 2005. The project, Phantom Radio, is based on forming a library of radio memory. Collecting stories from 105 individuals from around the world, the library consists of written statements and CDs of all the songs mentioned. Through the project, questions of broadcast technology, and the work of memory, are brought forward. To pursue such questions, the following article maps out the territory explored in the project. Reflecting on various threads, from habits of listening to the effects of music on individual lives, leads to a tracing out of the ‘phantasmic’ and the ‘social’ aspects of radio. And further, how music supplies a form of shared ground to the individual instances of unexpected experiences.

A growing number of musicians are recognising the importance of re-thinking notation and its capacity to support contemporary practice. New music is increasingly more collaborative and polystylistic, engaging a greater range of sounds from both acoustic and electronic instruments. Contemporary compositional approaches combine composition, improvisation, found sounds, production and multimedia elements, but common practice music notation has not evolved to reflect these developments. While traditional notations remain the most effective way to communicate information about tempered harmony and the subdivision of metre for acoustic instruments, graphic and animated notations may provide an opportunity for the representation and communication of electronic music. If there is a future for notating electronic music, the micro-tonality, interactivity, non-linear structures, improvisation, aleatoricism and lack of conventional rhythmic structures that are features of it will not be facilitated by common practice notation. This article proposes that graphic and animated notations do have this capacity to serve electronic music, and music that combines electronic and acoustic instruments, as they enable increased input from performers from any musical style, reflect the collaborative practices that are a signpost of current music practice. This article examines some of the ways digitally rendered graphic and animated notations can represent contemporary electronic music-making and foster collaboration between musicians and composers of different musical genres, integrating electronic and acoustic practices.

In Western countries and in Japan, experimental practices of music have developed into larger communities that share a common musical aesthetic and language, and are generally associated with genres such as noise music, free improvisation, or experimental music. However in South East Asia, and particularly in Indonesia, these categories are of little use for finding artists making unique music. Instead, distinctly individualistic styles and a form of musical experimentalism is found at the edge of more popular genres such as punk, metal, or as a result of incorporating traditional and indigenous musical influences. Ensembles Asia is project that aims to explore these forms of musical experimentations that slip through conventional categorisations of music. The project also tries to cultivate a new network of musicians through playing together in a large improvising ensemble.

This article focuses on the analysis of computer music, that is, music which uses programming languages so that what the listener hears is the result of computer code. One key point in this article is that this music exists with some writing, that is, the computer code. I note that this key point has not been addressed in the latest theories for analysing computer music. Indeed, we often see this music as part of the electroacoustic field, where the audio signal is essential, and where we usually read that those musics are non-written music. After an introduction on this topic, in the second section I will make a distinction between ‘before the signal’ and ‘from the signal’ to organise the theories to analyse electroacoustic music. In the third section, I will focus on computer music and I will show the historical difficulty in considering ‘code’ in musical analysis, mainly with an important exchange between two pioneers, Marco Stroppa and Jean-Claude Risset. In the fourth section I will explain with Jean-Claude Risset and Horacio Vaggione the specificity of computer music: this music is written. Finally, I will look into a recent analysis theory, the Interactive Aural Analysis by Michael Clarke, which seems to fit with the latter specificity.

the purpose of this paper is to articulate some of the ways in which australian sound practitioners are already designing sound in the public domain so that current trends and practices can be examined, compared and contrasted. this paper interrogates the new hybrid art form, public sound art, and the design processes associated with it as it occurs in public space in australia. the right to quiet has been defined as a public commons (franklin 1993). public space in australia is becoming increasingly sound designed. this article investigates the variety of approaches by sound artists and practitioners who have installed in public space through a representative sample of works drawn from the australian sound design project's online gallery and article, http://www.sounddesign.unimelb.edu.au, a site dedicated to the multimedia publishing of diverse sound designs installed in public space in australia, as well as its international outreach hearing place. works include permanent public and ephemeral sculptures, time-dense computerised sound installations, museum designs, exhibits in airports, art galleries, car parks, digital and interactive media exhibitions, and real-time virtual habitats on and off the web. the degree of interactivity in the sound-designed artworks varies greatly from work to work. stylistic features and design processes are identified in each work and compared and contrasted as a basis for examining the characteristics of the genre as a whole and its impact on the soundscape now and in the future.

this article gives an overview of the music machines created by bosch and simons from 1990 until the present. special attention is given to vibratory projects which have been their main focus since 1993. as a consequence of physical properties – all of them being complex sprung constructions – the movements and sounds created by these machines can change almost imperceptibly from order into chaos and vice versa. the concept behind the software which controls the oscillation motors, used in this series of projects, is for the most part defined and restricted by physical conditions. this software does not dictate movement and its sonic consequences, it simply intensifies the inherent properties of the constructions. the music machines have been shown under numerous conditions which can be divided in two groups: the public vs the private space. the authors have a clear preference for the latter. this does not have to be a traditional art environment like a gallery or a museum, but at least it should be a space that offers the public a free choice to go to the exhibition. this way their work can be met with the rest and concentration needed to discover the often slow and subtle processes that take place. in the volatile atmosphere of a public space this is rarely possible.

Atmospherics/Weather Works is an interdisciplinary project in the sonification of storms and other meteorological events generated directly from atmospheric data produced by a highly detailed and physically accurate simulation of weather systems. This paper discusses the background, conception and execution of the first stage of the project that has resulted in several performances, stereo recordings, a multi-channel spatialised sound installation, and an interactive sound environment.