exceptionally short excerpt from a work has been
chosen to illustrate the methodology. The selected
composition is by a member of the research group,
Simon Atkinson. His "Nocturne" was realised in
1999, a work of 8'33 duration."1 It contains several
aspects that one can hold on to from the list above,
in particular within categories ii, iii and iv.
Perhaps the 'narrative' content might appear to be
a bit abstract to the audience upon first listening.
After gaining feedback from listeners concerning
what the piece might be reflecting, its title will then
be divulged. The fragment will be listened to a
second time and very brief remarks, given the
length of this presentation, will be requested. In the
third and final phase, the following abridged
information, acquired from the composer will be
presented. The work is intended to adhere to the
tradition of the nocturne (e.g., Chopin). It explores
a "fictional landscape... kaleidoscoping detail and
texture" which supports Cage's notion of the
"coming to life of small sounds". This piece of
minimal means allows one "to listen to musical
sounds as if listening to the sounds of nature".
Following the theme of nocturne, Atkinson states,
"The eye is the perceptual king of the daytime, the
ear the queen of the night". Leaving interpretation
open to his listeners, the piece provides them with
something(s) to hold on to. He believes that the
'how' of this work to be irrelevant in this context.
At this point the piece will be listened to for the
final time and comparisons will be made between
the three phases of listening. Introducing Chion's
notion of cinema pour l'oreille at this point, the
participants will then be asked whether this work
solely belongs to the art music category.
Normally, this experience would take place with
more than one piece discussed, with appropriate
questionnaires, with considerably longer sound or
a/v fragments and much greater time to discuss
things and share views. Still those present at
ICMC2001 will see a relatively simple
methodology in its early stages being applied, one
which can continue to go through iterations
reaching an increasingly high level of
sophistication of response and understanding.
As our further research is combined with others'
discoveries in areas such as modes of listening,
semiotics, cognition and similar, the project's
future will become more interdisciplinary and, in
consequence, more generally applicable.
2.3 Some Closing Words
One of the remarkable opportunities that this
project raises is the feedback offered to the
musicians involved in an electroacoustic work.
This protocol can perhaps develop into a parallel
strand to traditional analysis leading towards a
greater understanding of how the music is valued
and which type of opportunities it offers diverse
users groups. Obviously input from colleagues in
the field as well as their joining us in this
investigation are most welcome.
SIn fact, a rigorous survey would be most
difficult at the moment given the amount of
inaccessible or unpublished material, much of
which is slowly but surely finding its way on
to the internet. Another project hosted by the
MTI Research Group is the ElectroAcoustic
Resource Site (EARS), currently in
preparation, which is intended to make
research in a wide spectrum of areas of
electroacoustic music studies searchable and
available to today's internet-connected
electroacoustic music community.
1 MTI members currently involved in the early
stages of development of this research project
include: Simon Atkinson, Andrew Hugill, the
author, John Richards, Rob Weale and John
Young.
m If the 'how' of the work contributes to the
'why', then it is included in the intention data
offered to listeners.
" We accept and take into account a good
number of composers who are totally
disinterested in whether their intention is
received. They support postmodernist theory
which is generally dismissing of an author's
views.
v Landy, L 1994 "The 'Something to hold on
to factor' in timbral composition".
Contemporary Music Review 10(2), 49-60.
Vi This final category forms a bit of an
exception in terms of the access discussion, as
it has often been discovered that a very wide
public is open to challenging (electroacoustic)
music when presented in a compatible audiovisual context.
vn This excerpt, 5'40 - 6'25, can be found at:
www.cta.dinu.ac.k/mtiEr/SAtkinson (a 9.8Mb
download).
