For a system to be able to generate realtime accompaniment to previously unknown songs, it must predict their harmonic development, i.e. the chords to be played. We claim that such a system must combine long-term experience, to identify typical chord sequences (e.g. II–V and II–V–I), with ‘on-the-fly’ adaptation to track-recurrent structures (e.g. choruses and refrains) of the particular song being played. We have implemented a prediction system using a neural network model that encompasses prior knowledge about typical chord sequences. The results achieved are very encouraging, and rather better than those reported in the literature. However, our predictor could not adapt its behaviour to the idiosyncrasies of each song, since online learning is difficult in neural networks. In this paper, we propose an extension to our previous work by the inclusion of a rule-based sequence tracker, which detects recurrent chord sequences while the song is being performed. We show that this hybrid model, which combines a neural network predictor with a rule-based sequence tracker, improves the system's performance.

The Metasaxophone is an acoustic tenor saxophone retrofitted with an onboard computer microprocessor and an array of sensors that convert performance data into MIDI control messages. The instrument has additionally been outfitted with a unique microphone system that allows for detailed control of the amplified sound. While maintaining full acoustic functionality it is also a versatile MIDI controller and an electric instrument. A primary motivation behind the Metasaxophone is to put signal processing under direct expressive control of the performer. Through the combination of gestural and audio performance control, employing both discrete and continuous multilayered mapping strategies, the Metasaxophone can be adapted for a wide range of musical purposes. This paper explores the artistic and technical development of the instrument, as well as new conceptions of musical mappings arising from the enhanced interface.

This paper describes the implementation of NeVIS, a local network system that establishes communication between individual performers, as well as between laptop and performers. Specifically, this is achieved by making use of vibrotactile feedback as a signalling tool within an improvisational setting. A discussion of the current developments regarding the use of networks within improvisation is presented, followed by an outline of the benefits of utilising the haptic feedback channel as a further sensory information pathway when performing digital music. We describe a case study of the system within the context of our computer-mediated improvisational duo Můstek, involving piano, percussion and live electronics. Here, a cueing system or framework is imposed over the improvisation and is transmitted directly to the skin of the performers via tiny vibrations. Additionally, performers may make use of simple vibrotactile signals to enhance traditional visual cues that are often employed within performance. A new work, Socks and Ammo, was created using NeVIS, and was presented at various international conferences and festivals. We also tested the system itself within a group of postgraduate researchers and composers. Qualitative evaluation of the musical outcomes as experienced both by the performers and by the listeners at these events is offered, as well as implications about the nature of collaborative music-making.

The desire to make data accessible through the sense of listening has led to ongoing research in the fields of sonification and auditory display since the early 1990s. Coming from the disciplines of computer sciences and human computer interface (HCI), the conceptualisation of sonification has been mostly driven by application areas and methods. On the other hand, the sonic arts, which have always participated in the auditory display community, have a genuine focus on sound. Despite these close interdisciplinary relationships between communities of sound practitioners, a rich and sound- or listening-centred concept of sonification is still missing for design guidelines. Complementary to the useful organisation by fields of application, a proper conceptual framework for sound needs to be abstracted from applications and also to some degree from tasks, as both are not directly related to sound. As an initial approach to recasting the thinking about sonification, we propose a conceptualisation of sonifications along two poles in which sound serves either a normative or a descriptive purpose. According to these two poles, design guidelines can be developed proper to display purposes and listening modes.

Do-it-yourself (DIY) in electronic music represents a new paradigm that is not just about DIY. Doing-it-together (DIT) and the idea of community and shared experiences are at the root of DIY practice. This article discusses how the workshop and the event have become central to practitioners working in the field of DIY. Collective instrument building, the concept of the living installation, and performance are viewed as a holistic event. Some specific examples of the author's work known as Dirty Electronics are considered, where emphasis is placed upon experience rather than the ‘something to take home’ factor. These include the following works: ICA Solder a Score, Noise Shadow, Still and Cut & Thrust. Composing ‘outside’ electronics is regarded as a method for revealing processes that can be represented in other areas of the work beyond sound-generating circuits. The article also looks at how building circuits and sound devices acts as a way to create a tabula rasa, and how the idea of delegated performance, where instruments are played by ‘non-experts’, serves to establish a naïve approach and authenticity in performance. Through the sharing of information online and in workshops, the DIY community has become knowledgeable, which has resulted in a community ‘full of experts’ and the growth of custom-designed circuits. The rise of discrete hand-held music players, such as the Buddha Machine, and the boutique synthesiser are also discussed, and the physical artefact and sound object are seen as a vehicle for the dissemination of ideas. Finally, the question is asked: ‘In DIY practice, where does the authentic document of the work lie?’

Starting from the assumption that meaning in electroacoustic music is an outcome of the listener's mental processes, it is the goal of this essay to explicate the mental processes whereby feeling and emotion contribute to meaning when listening to electroacoustic music. This essay begins with a broad consideration of feeling and emotion with an eye toward artistic experience, spanning from basic emotions to nuanced phenomenal qualities. It then introduces the concept of mental layers in support of the multi-levelled nature of meaning, especially in this case, meaning that is felt as well as comprehended. These two preliminary topics precede the introduction of the feeling blend, an extension of blend theory as presented by Fauconnier and Turner (2002). Core issues for blend theory, such as what constitutes a mental space and what triggers a blend, are reconsidered in the light of practical examples from the literature of electroacoustic music. In conclusion, the feeling blend is proposed as an essential concept to understanding artistic experience and an intrinsic aspect of being human.

The challenges of understanding musical meaning are considered in light of ways in which electroacoustic practice and acousmatic listening might embody yet further nuances in how music can function as a signifying system. ‘Classical’ semiotics is discussed, as well as more recent developments with post-structuralist approaches and musical semantics in other areas of music scholarship. The idea, inherited from the tradition of ‘absolute music’, that musical meaning lies exclusively in the inner operations of the musical materials and their structural organisation, is questioned. Concepts from ecologically inspired music psychology are drawn upon to highlight the importance of interpretation, as well as perception, in acousmatic listening. It is argued that if new theoretical terminologies are needed, an invaluable project would be to develop a taxonomy (and thus theoretical framework) of how sound can ‘stand for something’, i.e. function as a sign in semiotic terms. It is also argued that such terminology should not reinforce distinctions between intra- and extra-musical that feature in many theoretical constructs used in relation to this music. Consideration of the Peircean semiotic model in electroacoustic music (as well as the more widely used Saussurean one), tropology in the study of literature, and a much more widely comparative and culturally explicit approach to analysis are suggested as practical starting points. A more critical approach to the integral role of sound recording and reproduction in relation to concepts of representation is needed.

Music history is full of examples of composers drawing upon traditional repertoires for their works. Starting from the late nineteenth century in particular, many of them have looked at this specific sound material for several reasons: overcoming the limitations of tonal system, discovering different compositional strategies, finding new inspiration and aesthetics, evoking exoticism. Electronic music is no exception. Since the emergence of sound recording, sonic artists and electronic music composers have experimented with new technologies trying to integrate traditional elements in their works with different results and various purposes. In the present time, the preservation of these traditional elements could represent one of the most crucial goals. In a world characterised by a widespread globalisation, traditional music might be at risk of being neglected or even forgotten, as for local identities and cultures in general. As electronic music composers and sonic artists we should ask ourselves if it is possible to create a link between tradition and innovation, connecting these two apparently opposite realities. Can we safeguard at-risk traditions and at the same time re-present them through contemporary artistic practices and technologies? Is there a way to develop a form of expression that could reach a wide and diverse range of listeners, taking into account recent trends and studies in electronic music while preserving the main distinctive features of the traditional repertoires? The article attempts to answer the above-mentioned questions with the support of a case study: the personal research conducted into the use of traditional music from the southern Italian region of Campania in the scope of electronic music composition.

This paper proposes an alternative approach to the analysis and design of interaction in real-time performance systems. It draws on the idea that the connection between the human engagement with the interface itself (digital or analogue) and the resultant rich media output forms a proposed experiential dimension containing both technical and somatic considerations. The proposed dimension is characterised by its materiality and is referred to by the author as the techno-somatic dimension. The author proposes that the materiality of the techno-somatic dimension may be usefully examined as part of a re-consideration of the nature of interaction in systems where the input characteristics of the performer’s actions, the musician’s gesture, the dancer’s movements and so on are analysed and also drive the rich media content of the work in real time. The author will suggest that such a techno-somatic dimension exists in all human engagement with technologies, analogue or digital. Furthermore, the author is proposing that design and analysis efforts for new interactive systems should focus on the techno-somatic dimension; that, if this dimension is designed with care to produce a detailed and nuanced experience for the user, design specifications for the interface will automatically result; and that such an interface will produce the somatic and functional characteristics to produce the desired materiality and actional intentionality. For the purposes of this discussion, the author will focus principally on musical interfaces.

Auracle is a voice-controlled, networked sound instrument that enables users to control a software synthesizer with their voice and to interact with each other in real time over the Internet. This paper discusses the historical background of the project, beginning with Neuhaus' ‘virtual aural spaces’ in the 1960s and relating them to Barbosa's conception of ‘shared sonic environments’. The architecture of the system is described in detail, including the multi-level analysis of vocal input, the communication of that analysis data across the network, and the mapping of that data onto a software synthesizer.

Not only is Auracle itself a collaborative, networked instrument, but it was developed through a collaborative, networked process. The project's development mechanisms are examined, including the use of existing tools for distributed development, the creation of custom development applications, the adoption of extreme programming practices, and the use of Auracle itself as a means for communication and collaboration among developers.

Nature sound recording has long been criticised for the artifice of the documents it produces. Joining this easy target is the implication that the form's aesthetic frame, which often intends to promote our connection to nature, actually serves to disconnect us. This paper reviews critiques of nature sound recording and suggests that by confronting what it excludes from ‘nature’, the form might yet come to terms with ecology.

The year 1958 witnessed the birth of the institution GRM, nurtured by the French Radio and Television service (RTF). However, the fifty years of the GRM cannot be dissociated from the preceding period, datable from 1942, when Pierre Schaeffer began experiments with radiophonic sound which led him to musique concrète while bringing into existence the institutional infrastructure of the group. We can therefore see the Studio d'Essai (1942–46), the Club d'Essai (1946–60) with its Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète (GRMC, 1951–58) as forebears of the GRM. The fundamental principle, which lies in working with sonic material directly on the recording media through a precise listening to recorded elements, led Schaeffer to affirm that there is another way to access music other than from notation.

He used this powerful idea as the fixed point on the compass for all his research. Linked from its origins to the broadcasting services – RTF until 1964, ORTF up to 1974, then INA ever since – the GRM has constantly adapted its theories and its ideas to successive technological developments: smooth disks (shellac records), magnetic tape, computer memory. A fruitful period at the Service de la Recherche (1960–75) allowed Schaeffer and his team to systematically examine the world of sounds from their own listening experience. The Traité des Objets Musicaux (Treatise of Musical Objects) bears witness to this research. Since 1975 another adventure has been under way: that of the preservation and making available of works and discoveries gathered over the years – an exceptional heritage which continues to grow and interest an ever larger public.

massMobile is a client-server system for large audience participation in live performances using mobile devices. It allows for rapid development, deployment and iterative experimentation in participatory design, while minimising technical and logistical overhead. It was designed to flexibly adapt to a variety of participatory performance needs and to a variety of performance venues. It allows for real-time bi-directional communication between performers and audiences utilising existing 3G, 4G or WiFi networks. Audience members access massMobile through a smartphone-optimised web application utilising common web standards. An offsite server passes data between the audience and the performer(s) and stores the data for later analysis. In this paper, we discuss the goals, design and implementation of the framework, and we describe several projects realised with massMobile.

This paper explores participatory and socially engaged practices in ubiquitous music (ubimus). We discuss recent advances that target timbre as their focus while incorporating semantic strategies for knowledge transfer among participants. Creative Semantic Anchoring (ASC from the original in Portuguese) is a creative-action metaphor that shows promising preliminary results in collaborative asynchronous activities. Given its grounding in local resources and its support for explicit knowledge, ASC features a good potential to boost socially distributed knowledge. We discuss three strategies that consolidate and expand this approach within ubiquitous music and propose the label Radical ASC. We investigate the implications of this framework through the analysis of two artistic projects: Atravessamentos and Ntrallazzu.

How can historians of electronic music address the factory labour of the global underclass of women building electronics used in sound technologies? How can we speak to the repetitive work of women who are racially and sexually stereotyped as having ‘nimble fingers’, being ‘detail oriented’ and ‘obedient’? Although women workers in electronics assembly are already de facto entangled in contemporary sound production, scholars have yet to enfold their lives and labour into histories of electronic music. I situate electronic sound technologies since the 1960s in the contexts of the global division of labour and the intimate disciplining of women’s bodies, and investigate the discursive fallout of transnational subcontracting in the electronics industry. I argue that rethinking the category ‘women in electronic music’ is a necessary step for sound studies and musicology, and I call for a new disciplinary understanding of electronic sound and audio as fundamentally neo-colonial.

This article describes some of the basic principles of acoustics and psychoacoustics related to the spatialisation of sound. It introduces recording and diffusion technologies, including binaural, stereo and surround-sound techniques.

Composers have been drawn to the world’s southernmost continent, Antarctica, for creative inspiration since the so-called ‘Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration’ in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. However, it has only been since the final few years of the twentieth century that professional composers have had opportunities to travel to the far south as part of arts residency programmes to experience its environment – and its unique soundscapes – first-hand. Most composers who have visited Antarctica to date have utilised sound recording technologies to document their journeys sonically and have subsequently created compositions that feature their soundscape recordings. Typically, such compositions include biological sounds, such as vocalisations of penguins and seals (both on the ice and underwater); non-biological or ‘geophysical’ ambient sounds that emanate from the natural landscape, such as those created by wind, blizzards, and ice cracking and calving; and/or anthropogenic (human) sounds recorded within the Antarctic environment.

This article examines a series of recent compositions by four established composers who have visited Antarctica and used their experiences and field recordings to inform their creative work: Douglas Quin, Jay Needham, Lawrence English and Philip Samartzis. The primary aim of this research is to investigate what these composers’ Antarctica-related works reveal about their individual encounters with and perceptions of the frozen continent, as well as to consider the role of such compositions in conveying messages related to climate change to listeners around the globe – the vast majority of whom are unlikely to ever see or hear the place in person.

Microsound is an emerging approach to music composition and analysis which places emphasis on extremely brief time-scales, usually a tenth of a second or less, as well as an integration of this micro-time level with the time-levels of sound gestures, sections, movements and whole pieces. This paper summarises some of the technical issues involved in microsonic analysis/composition, traces a history of microsonic techniques in contemporary music, and examines some of its aesthetic implications in a social context.

EarSketch is an all-in-one approach to supporting a holistic introductory course to computer music as an artistic pursuit and a research practice. Targeted to the high school and undergraduate levels, EarSketch enables students to acquire a strong foundation in electroacoustic composition, computer music research and computer science. It integrates a Python programming environment with a commercial digital audio workstation program (Cockos’ Reaper) to provide a unified environment within which students can use programmatic techniques in tandem with more traditional music production strategies to compose music. In this paper we discuss the context and goals of EarSketch, its design and implementation, and its use in a pilot summer camp for high school students.

This article is an analysis of two sound art performances that took place in June 2015 in outdoor public spaces at the social housing area Urbanplanen in Copenhagen, Denmark. The two performances were On the Productions of a Poor Acoustics by Brandon LaBelle and Green Interactive Biofeedback Environments (GIBE) by Jeremy Woodruff. In order to investigate the complex situation that arises when sound art is staged in such contexts, the authors of this article suggest exploring the events through approaching them as ‘situations’ (Doherty 2009). With this approach it becomes possible to engage and combine theories from several fields. Aspects of sound art studies, performance studies and contemporary art studies are presented in order to theoretically explore the very diverse dimensions of the two sound art pieces. Visual, auditory, performative, social, spatial and durational dimensions become integrated within the analysis in our pursuit of the most comprehensive interpretation of the pieces possible.