Case-Specific Electroacoustic Systems

Alejandro Montes de Oca

This composition-based project of artistic research introduces the term Case-Specific Electroacoustic Systems to describe a set of electric, digital, and acoustic devices that are interconnected in a particular way to embody a specific sound work. The artistic research states that when the sound composition process occurs in tandem with the electroacoustic system configuration and design process, a particular creative practice is engendered. The main research questions are how the development of such a system becomes another parameter of sound creation, and how this influences the artistic ideas and process elaborated around a specific sound work. In the course of the doctoral trajectory five new sound works were created and presented, thus forming the artistic portfolio of this doctoral project. Each work included the composition, design, and creation of a case-specific electroacoustic system. An introduction to the concept of Case-Specific Electroacoustic Systems, its contextualisation, and an analysis of the artistic practice and the outcomes of each of the five artworks are presented in this written thesis. The complete scope of this doctoral project, including the media material of the artistic portfolio and this artistic doctoral thesis, is contained within the exposition Case-Specific Electroacoustic Systems, published and archived in the Research Catalogue online database.

Acoustic Paths, or Senderos Acústicos in Spanish, originally started in 2012 when I got a grant to explore and record the soundscape of different areas of Mexico. The objective was to explore connections between the sound pollution emanating from cities and contemporary society. Since then, Acoustic Paths have been presented in different places as a sound installation, live performance, and sound composition. This project has been an ongoing platform for exploring soundscape composition, sound diffusion, and field recording.

This exposition reflects upon the Black Box version of Acoustic Paths, focusing on how the creative processes of sound composition and electroacoustic system design interweave to create a specific sound work. This version was situated intentionally in the intersection between acousmatic composition and sound installation, opening the idea of the loudspeaker orchestra, an instrument used to perform acousmatic music, to create a case-specific electroacoustic system.

Usually, surround sound systems focus on the spatialization of sounds in a peripheral area around the listener. Dome type of setups add elevation to the periphery, but speakers are still at similar distances. Certain sounds can give the perception of coming closer or going far away due to their particular frequency content or some sound transformation, i.e., reverberation. Loudspeaker orchestra setup improves this feeling of distance by allowing the spatialization of specific sound material from speakers located far away from the audience to others closer to them. Acoustic Paths case-specific electroacoustic system explored this area. It contributed to the development of the zoom in - zoom out idea, a creative technological setting that enhances the perceptual factor of sound distance, improving the experience of sounds that are placed or are moving in a three-dimensional space, going far away but also giving the feeling of coming close to the listener.

Three multichannel sound systems were researched and were combined in the Black Box. The first one was a peripheral/dome kind sound system. The second one was a flat grid/horizontal sound system. The last one delimited the path that the audience followed and was configured by hand-made speakers hanging from the ceiling of the hall. The case-specific electroacoustic system combined two sound spatialization methods and used ambisonic and distant base amplitude panning techniques. One was for fixed spatialized sound sources and the other for creating sound trajectories. The sound material was spatialized with these two methods, recorded, and used to produce the final 20 minutes long electroacoustic composition.

Reducing the number of spectators to two at a time allowed me to play with their listening position and their trajectory inside the space. Although the spatial composition was played autonomously, it is the fact that the listener makes its own sound mix by wandering through the space where the case-specific electroacoustic was set up. Moreover, the two listeners' situation created a particular shared experience, which is another of this project's contributions.

This exposition is structured as follows: after this introduction, the general contextualization of the doctoral research area is presented, followed by a particular contextualization of this project, including a list of related works. We then move to the research body, with a detailed description of the project and the different areas explored, showcasing documentation of the creative process and the outcomes. A conclusion section ends the exposition, discussing the outcomes and further possibilities.

INTRODUCTION

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