Audio Arts and Acoustics Commons^™

Digital Synthesis And Music Making : A Comprovisational Approach To Music Making Through Digital Synthesis And Sound Manipulation, Joshua Cusack

Postgraduate

This exegesis documents my practice and process through the development and production of three albums of electronic music. Employing a methodology where the exploration of sound design drives the music making process. I used experimental music making approaches and “practice-led research” methodologies to make these creative works (Smith & Dean, 2009, p. 5). Through the exploration of the sound design process, I developed a methodology that enables the creation of musical material to serve as the foundation for the pieces I produced. Exploring iterative processes in music making, I employed a “Comprovisational” approach (Dale, 2008, p.5). Listening while recording, I …

Accessible & Inclusive Music-Making, Lincoln Byass

Postgraduate

This research project aimed to assist musicians with intellectual disabilities in the collaborative music-making process. By designing and implementing accessible techniques, the study addressed the question: "What songwriting and music production techniques can support musicians with intellectual disabilities to create original music?" The outcome was a framework of techniques and three original compositions created in collaboration with these musicians.

Using qualitative methods such as autoethnography, action research, observations, and music-specific practices, the project involved multiple collaborative sessions where participants actively engaged in music composition and recording. Techniques included pre-production interviews, influence analysis, instrument experimentation, and lyrical exploration. The findings highlight …

Slow Down. A Sound (E)Scape. A Sound Idea For Life, Nicholas Blackman

Postgraduate

What are the possibilities of 360 audio to enhance the benefits of sound and music? This paper and its accompanying audio piece explores the potential deepening of immersion through adding an attentional element via movement to the sounds and music in an audio soundscape. The paper will argue through literature review and reflection, and demonstrate through its audio content, that adding this spatial element to audio material gives the brain additional attentional anchors to follow and assists in deepening immersion as a result. Why does immersion matter? Listening to music has multiple effects on the structural and functional arrangement of …

Devine Affliction : The Intersection Of Gender & Music Production, Louise Thompson

Postgraduate

There is a severe and persistent lack of female representation and participation in the field of popular music production. In the 61-year history of the Grammy awards no woman has ever been awarded Producer of the Year, and female nominees are rare. Until Linda Perry’s nomination in 2019, a female had not received a nomination in 15 years.

As a woman, a mother of daughters, a feminist, a songwriter, and a music producer, I feel compelled to provide an alternative inroad for women to be able to participate within the field of music production. As such, my graduate project work …

Poseidon's Music Box Sculpture, Guy Cooper

Postgraduate

Selecting public art that pleases a general audience can be a challenging task and is often left sitting either too safe or too abstract in the hope of pleasing the public or ensuring it is defined as ‘Art’. ‘Sound sculpture’ can provide a modern interactive take on public art, incorporating both visual and auditory elements to help drive public interest.

This creative project detailed in this exegesis is based upon the creation of a large scale kinetic sculpture entitled Poseidon’s Music Box. The Sculpture functions as a solar powered music box, performing a pre-composed score which also forms the basis …

Culturally Specific Sound Design In American And Japanese Supernatural Horror Films, Delvinder Singh

Postgraduate

This creative practice-led research project investigates sound design with the aim of exploring whether cultural influences play a crucial role in shaping sound design choices in American and Japanese supernatural horror films.

This research has two parts, a written exegesis and a creative component in the form of a sound redesign of a film scene from each culture where the research findings were applied.

The scope of this research is based on a literature review and film analysis, in the form of four case studies, specifically focusing on the influence of culture on sound design. An in-depth review of the …