Space is existential,
existence is spatial
[Merleau-Ponty, 1966 (1945)]
Sounds are perceived not only as characteristics of a sound source and thus as indicators
of their location, but they can become more or less self-sufficient objects with real physical properties.
The result is a listening space, the dimensions of which are in a confusing relation to the real space.
[de la Motte-Haber, 1991]
Taking possession of space is the first gesture of living things, of men, and of animals.
The first proof of existence is the act of occupying space.
[Le Corbusier, 1946]
I. Traces in (Computer-)Musical Application
Space is another term that plays a central role in the compositional work with sculptural sound phenomena. Again, the research process begins with a search for clues. Along with the introduction of the multi-channel technique and the first performances with complex loudspeaker arrangements, e.g. at the 1958 World's Fair, the subject was increasingly discussed in the field of composition.
[...]In the context of analogue tape composition, the composer tries [...] to shape the direction and the movement of the sounds in space and to develop it as a new dimension for the musical experience. [...] We notice more and more that all musical ideas are becoming increasingly spatial. [Stockhausen, 1958, 153]
The term space is not always used consistently in computer music. [...] the notion of "space" has become the paradigm of electroacoustic music. However, the terminological framework of electroacoustic "spaces" is not clearly defined [Harley, 1994].
There is most of all a consensus that space plays a central role in acousmatic music. Acousmatic music is the only sonic medium that concentrates on space and spatial experience as aesthetically central. [Smalley, 2007, 35]
Chion distinguishes between internal space, which is created in the composition, and external space that arises during the performance [Chion, 1988]. Risset describes the fragility of an illusory space produced by the composer and the real space of the performance in which the illusory space is presented [Risset, 1998]. Smalley counts over 20 different spaces in electroacoustic music, for example the composed space, the listening space, and the superimposed space [Smalley, 2007, 35ff]. Emmerson speaks of nested spaces [Emmerson, 1989] and space frames [Emmerson, 2015], and Roads distinguishes between virtual and real spaces [Roads, 2015, 261].
In the standard work Was ist elektronische Musik? by Werner Kaegi, spatialization by means of multi-channel loudspeaker arrangements is explained as a spatial arrangement of sound sources, but space itself is not addressed [Kaegi, 1967, 23].
In the last chapter of his 1998 book, Elektroakustische Musik & Computermusik [Supper, 1998, 121], Martin Supper deals with space. It is interesting to note here the quotation by Rudolf Carnap, which proceeds the chapter titled "Music and Space": In my dissertation "der Raum" (1921), I tried to show that the contradictory theories about the nature of space represented by mathematicians, philosophers, and physicists stemmed from the fact that the authors talked about completely different things but were using the same term, "space."[1] In the footnote, Supper makes it clear that he concentrates mainly on architectural space in his explanations. This reduction implies that there are various uses of the term space, the consideration of which would, of course, exceed the scope of the chapter space. The following subtitles in Supper's book are then: Space as an Instrument, Virtual and Simulated Space, and Movement of Sound in Space.
In the field of musicology, space has historically been mainly attributed to pitch ratios. Gunnar Hindrichs speaks of musical space as an order of the constellation of musical sounds, which in their network of relationships make the identity of each one in the music possible and creates spatial comparative variables. On the one hand, this results in the fact that music does not only sound in space, but also creates its own kind of space in itself [Hindrichs, 2014, 161]. In the book Musik und Raum, published in 2005, Karen Gloy describes space as a basic phenomenon, which is composed from the superposition of various space types. She describes tuned space, action space, perceptual space, mathematical space and metaphorical space as possible basic types. [Gloy, 2005, 11].
Due to the fact that the concert space could be designed and played in differently by the positioning of loudspeakers, other spatial concepts were considered. Pierre Boulez speaks in favor of exploring more flexible spatial concepts that can change over the course of a piece:
It seems to me that one of the most urgent objectives of present-day musical thought is the conception and realization of a relativity of the various musical spaces in use. […][T]he time has obviously come to explore variable spaces, spaces of mobile definition capable of evolving (by mutation or progressive transformation) during the course of a work. [Boulez, 1971 (1963)]
II. Spatial Turn
The versatile use of the term is not surprising, considering the fact that, parallel to the development of music, the concept of space has been given interdisciplinarily new and historically noteworthy consideration, so that one speaks of the so-called Spatial Turn.
An initial, very simplified definition of the spatial turn should take into account that something astonishing happened in the last decade of the 20th century, such as what might be regarded in the 21st century as one of the most significant intellectual and political events of the late 20th century. Some individuals, among them scientists, began to think about space and spatial elements of human life seriously and critically, similar in a way to what has long been thought about time and the historicity of human life. Over the last 150 years, we have become accustomed to seeing the world through a historical lens rather than a space-based one. But what happened now happened on an interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and, if so, a pandisciplinary level. In the late 20th century, space-related thinking broke out of the traditional disciplines - geography, architecture, urban development, regional sciences, and sometimes sociology and art history. The sudden width of the spatial turn is remarkable beyond all measure. [Soja, 1989, 243]
In view of the historically unique changes in dealing with and thinking about space, it would be desirable if the acoustic arts also had a different spatial concept. One which, on one hand, is less metaphorical and therefore more conceptually generalizable, and on the other hand, not only "Cartesian", and rather therefore more interdisciplinarily oriented.
III. Three Space Theories for the Constitution of a SPS
But which type of space, definition, or concept can make a practical contribution to composing with sculptural sound phenomena? Since computer music has always been interdisciplinary, it is obvious to include extra musical considerations of space in the composition of different spaces. If one wants to investigate plastic sound phenomena with a loudspeaker system conceived for mobile use and to be used in different situations, one must develop an understanding of room acoustics as well as the different spatial ideas and their conditions for the sound resonating therein.
Sound and space converse by multiplying and expanding the point of attention, or the source of a sound: the materiality of a given room shapes the contours of sound, moulding it according to reflection and absorption, reverberation and diffraction. [LaBelle, 2006, ix, xi]
[At the same time] sound makes a given space appear beyond any total viewpoint: in echoing throughout the room, my clapping describes the space from a multiplicity of perspectives and locations, for the room is here, between my palms, and there, along the trajectory of sound … What we hear in this clapping is more than a single sound and its source, but rather a spatial event. [ibid., x ]
Here, models of psychoacoustics and room acoustics are superimposed with philosophical and sociological models of how we construct space in our perception. While electroacoustic music and with it the development of audio software and hardware in the last decades mainly follow the idea of Euclidean space, other spatial ideas are oriented away from this or understand physical space as a condition but more in the sense of a foil with other spaces unfolding in front of it.
The following three representatives introduced can provide a direction for further reflections on the compositional and performance practice of plastic sound objects and their exploration within the scope of this work: Henri Lefebvre, Michel de Certeau and Martina Löw.
Henri Lefebvre [Lefebvre, 1974] and Michel de Certeau [Certeau, 1980] developed their theories of space in the 1970s, which are well received today in architecture, geography and the social sciences. The sociologist Martina Löw developed her approach in her dissertation on Raumsoziologie in 2000 [Löw, 2001]. The starting point for all three approaches is a relational understanding of space.
The general theory of space distinguishes between absolutist and relativistic concepts of space. In the absolutistic concept space exists independently of matter. Movable bodies and things are in a space that remains unmoving itself. The space exists continuously, for itself, and forms an equal, homogeneous basis for action for all. This idea of a container space has been replaced in science with the development of the relativity theory of relativistic spatial concepts. However, it still characterizes the everyday understanding of space and is usually an indispensable condition for psycho-acoustical studies and ingenious scientific research in the area of spatial-audio. In the relativistic concept of space, the space does not exist independently of the bodies. Instead, space is understood as a relation, as a relational structure between bodies. The bodies, whose arrangements give rise to one another, are in constant motion. Thus the space itself is no longer static, but becomes processual and constantly changes over the course of time. Since the arrangement of bodies cannot be thought of independent from the observer’s reference system, space is not absolute, rather always exists relative to the consciousness of the observer.
III.1. Three Dimensions of Space Production by Henri Lefebvre
Lefebvre sees space as a communally produced, social product. He distinguishes three levels of the production of space, each connected dialectically.
Lefebvre describes the first dimension of spatial production as spatial practice [Lefebvre, 1974, 335]. The starting point is the material dimension of the space. The material elements and objects, which form the space are perceived sensually and linked to a spatial order of simultaneousness. Spatial practice refers to everything that humans do in and with space: what things and objects they build, how they move these and themselves in space, how they deal with topography, and how and why they use the space. To this end, in musical practice it would include the arrangement of stage and audience, the design of the stage, the installation or suspension of reflectors and the seating or design of passages in the context of installations, as well as the arrangement of musicians and loudspeakers on the basis of various principles of organization, including room acoustics and concepts such as audio vision and visu-audition. I also include the composition, arrangement and movement of plastic sound objects. All these are elements of spatial practice.
Lefebvre's second dimension of space production is conceived space [ibid., 336]. The connection of individually perceived, material elements to a space presupposes mental effort, having an idea of space. These representations of the space include linguistic descriptions, pictoral representations, maps, plans, and scientific definitions. Representations and definitions of space are based on social conventions and are negotiated discursively. Each in-depth investigation in the field of space-sound composition must deal with the definitions of space in its own fields accordingly and the adjacent fields, and, if necessary, offer terminology. Since, as shown above, these conceptions differ widely in the field of music and musicology, and space is not adequately defined, other concepts of spatial attributes must be used to classify the artistic results. These originate from the scholastic writings on sculpture, space theory and engineering sciences. It is also necessary to consider how the laboratory situation can be visualized and later evaluated graphically in the context of the test design and the presentation of results.
The third level of the production of space is the lived space, the level of meaning of the symbolic content [ibid.]. This level is decisive for the experiencing of spaces. Spaces are occupied by symbolic content; they can describe something outside themselves. The symbolic meaning of spaces expresses itself, for example, in the architecture of sacral spaces or spaces representative of political power. They show the importance of cultural landscapes in how a country sees itself, as well as places that are important for the individual biography. The construction of concert halls points to a certain superior or bourgeois attitude toward art, or to a certain musical tradition, meant to sustain and ensure its livelihood.
The choice of space and the spatial design of concert venues reflect the ups and downs of the autonomy of this art. The location of where music is practiced is often legitimized in a way foreign to music. [Kirchberg, 2009, 156]
Even if the concert hall is described as the "place of realization of autonomous music", such a place is always a "social institution". [Heister 1996: 42, 44]
Symptomatic of this is the inscription on the Neuen Gewandhaus "res severa verum gaudium" - the serious thing is the true joy. [Kirchberg, 2009, 157]
This structure of reference is changing through the described changes in the conception of music, whether by the construction of loudspeaker clusters or spherical constructions or the invention of mobile loudspeaker orchestras (almost) without human performers, self-playing instruments and installative sound machines, or even the design of a new concert hall rebuilt and furnished in versatile and unconventional ways. The change of awareness in staging media art and theater has left traces in all musical disciplines, e.g. the use of video screens, light installations and illuminated (!) loudspeaker domes (ZKM). This leads to references to extrinsic coherences such as media technology, film and television, as well as politics, sciences, and other arts. In addition to this, concerts are increasingly being held at untypical places: foyers, old factories, empty department stores, basement vaults, shops - just to name a few examples. They form symbolic spaces through their original purpose. The symbolism is therefore also to be included in the reflections of the composition, if the place of the performance is to be regarded as decisive for the work, especially if it is conventionally visually stimulating. The audience's behavior will be guided by the expectation and the perspective of what is offered. If I play a loudspeaker concert in a gallery without any chairs, the acoustic characteristics combine with the dedication of the place differently than of the same concert in a chapel with benches.
Space arises therefore out of the interplay of these three poles. It is not to be understood as an arrangement of material objects and artefacts, but as the practical, mental, and symbolic establishment of relationships between these objects. Space is not dormant, immobile, or given, but a multi-layered fabric which is constantly produced and reproduced.
III. 2. Spaces and Places by Michel de Certeau
Spatial sound composition with the IKO incorporates the acoustic potential of places in the form of concert halls, entrance halls, gallery rooms, laboratories or shopping centers. Michel de Certeau's approach to practices in space (practiques de l’espace), in which he differentiates space and place one from another [Certeau, 1980, 217], provides a suitable framework based on everyday circumstances. His place and space concepts are embedded in his sociological theory of everyday life [ibid., 219]. In that sense, place is defined as its own, actually the original, which separates itself by definition from what it is not. Compared to such a stable constellation, space is a dynamic concept. Space emerges from place and indeed as an intervention, which makes the action theoretical framework of Certeau's argument plausible. Space is a result of activities that give it a direction, making it temporal. The use of directional vectors, which make the space function as an ambiguous unity of conflict programs and contractual agreements, shows clear proximity to formulations of the actor-network theory. In their texts, Michel Callon and Bruno Latour adopt multistep processes of the generation of consistency in networks, in the course of which different actors develop their interests and goals, change their course of action, assume plans of action and counterplans, and reintroduce, redefine or remove actors [cf. Schulz-Schaeffer, 2000, 187]. The conventions, negotiations, or, more generally speaking, the communicative exchange conducted with the aim of the establishment of situations is not only metaphorical for the composition of an acoustic spatialization of a place: acoustic conditions of the performance space, the IKO as a tool, reflectors, audience and audience seating are "actants" who program the appearance of spatial sounds and sound spaces as a result of their mutual influence. Certeaus' paradigm for the transformation of a place into space is the image of one walking, which dynamizes the geometric determination of a place [Certeau, 1980, 218]. The IKO also practices this transformation, in that sounds that react to specific existing locations become performers, which in their movement coin new vectors and thus create space.
III.3. Spacing and Synthesis by Martina Löw
Martina Löw also develops her theory of space from a sociological perspective. Her position serves as an example for the current "spatial turn" in the humanities and social sciences. Löw understands space as a relational arrangement of social goods [Löw, 2001, 158]: of material elements and human beings. Space is not given, but is produced by arranging elements (in relation to other arrangements), that is, by means of actions. The constitution of space is to be understood as a process. Löw distinguishes two different processes of spatial constitution: Spacing (furnishing) and Synthesis. These are comparable to spatial practice and the conception of space by Lefebvre. Spacing refers not only to the placement, erection, construction, or positioning of buildings, but also of moving goods. Through processes of perception, imagination and memory, the individual elements placed in the space are linked together and combined into spacings [Löw, 2001, 166]. Here, similarly to Lefebvre, the placing of plastic sound objects, their movement, arrangement, and separation are the practices of spacing, which constitute space. Composed sound can thus help to connect the different spatial components in the sense of furnishing [Brüstle, 2009, 115]. The so-called "concert" would arise when buildings, instruments, performers, loudspeakers, media technology and audience are arranged and placed in a specific, intended relationship to one another, and are linked together by the people who move in it and perceive it as space. Löw calls this linking process a synthesis. In everyday practice, the two processes cannot be separated. Building, constructing, and moving in space is not possible without the simultaneous linking of the surrounding elements. Conceptions of what a space is and can be (for example, a street or a place), determine what and where to build.
Spacing and synthesis are repetitive in everyday life. The arrangement of elements for a specific type of space follows one ordering principle. The elements that form the space “road” are always arranged and perceived according to a comparable pattern. Those processes of spatial constitution, which take place according to predetermined rules, which are socially and institutionally secured, form spatial structures. Space, understood as a relational arrangement, as a relationship between elements, has no material quality. It is, however, experienced as an object when the formation of relations, that is, the arrangement of the elements, is institutionalized, therefore always following the same rules.
In this respect, a study on plastic sound objects would have to look for a rule based on the perception, provided one expects a synthesis capacity from the listener: A stage and audience seating refer to a concert setting. Even though the installation and use of a loudspeaker system may be over 50 years after the Philips Pavilion and "Poème Eléctronique", They can count as a synthetic space. It becomes problematic when we work with sound objects whose descriptions and experiences diverge and even in expert circles are unequally dealt with. Thus the institutionalization is minimal and detached from other "shareholders,” such as the audience.
A compositional spatial synthesis can therefore only occur when the elements used are perceptible, placeable and lead to a description. This definition corresponds to the descriptions in the electroacoustic space-sound composition literature, e.g. Nystrøm's description of his distribution schemas [Nystrøm, 2013, 46]. But Emmerson's space frames [Emmerson, 2015, 13] are also able to perform these synthetic tasks. The spacing, placing, building, and setting up of elements are tied to a specific place. This specific, mostly geographically marked, concrete place makes the emergence of different spaces possible. It is only in the synthesis of these elements that Varèse’s zones of intensities or Bayles' region of influence [Bayle, 2007, 243] and Emmerson's area of interest [Emmerson, 1999, 138] can appear.
IV. The Concept of Space within the Framework of XXX
The space beyond the framework of the body may appear to be a priority to most people, but in fact it must be traversed to be properly grasped. The movement of the body, the movement of objects, the movement of other people - all of these contribute to an understanding of space through spatial actions and behaviours. [Kendall, 2010, 232]
I use a relational concept of space within this work. This is, on the one hand, tied to spatial practices but takes into account conceptual spatial concepts and the symbolic. Therefore space does not exist independently of the bodies. Instead, space is understood all the more as a relation, having the structure of the relationship between the bodies. I understand spatial concepts to mean the sound objects along with their spatial extent and placement by the composer who must be present during the compositional process in order to be able to compose the sculptural sound objects, the IKO and its placement, those who research the phenomena, the audience and the description of spatial phenomena as spatial concepts. Thus, the SPS is a necessary condition for the emergence and perception of sculptural sound phenomena, which in turn first form this space. There is therefore a relationship of mutual dependency. This applies to sculpture’s classic body-space constellation:
The importance of the all-round totality of a full three-dimensional piece is that it should “take possession” of its space by one means or another. [Rawson, 1997, 66]
This does not mean simply occupying space; all objects do that. It means developing its shapes and their implications so as to build in readable connections between the piece and the spatial environment. [ibid. 67]
As well as for sculptural sound phenomena in computer music:
We must note here in passing the reciprocal tie, which unites the space inhabited by the senses and the spatial sense, so that to understand what a thing is, is to work out the space suggested by the dimensions of that thing; and in the same way, listening to it involves a space and time for the object listened to. [Bayle, 2007, 242]
In this respect, I contradict the often-accepted view in acousmatic music, that it is an art dealing with "music in space" or "sound in space."[2] Instead, against the background of Smalley's debated spectromorphological space definitions and Nystrøm's elaborated topologies of spatial textures, as well as the depicted spatial practices from Lefebvre and Certeau to Löw, I plea here for the fundamental assumption that electroacoustic space-sound composition is "music as space" in the sense of a space-forming art in which, in particular, the sculptural sound phenomena are capable of constituting space.