Showing papers in "Organised Sound in 2009"
TL;DR: This paper explores the differences in the design and performance of acoustic and new digital musical instruments, arguing that with the latter there is an increased encapsulation of musical theory.
Abstract: This paper explores the differences in the design and performance of acoustic and new digital musical instruments, arguing that with the latter there is an increased encapsulation of musical theory. The point of departure is the phenomenology of musical instruments, which leads to the exploration of designed artefacts as extensions of human cognition – as scaffolding onto which we delegate parts of our cognitive processes. The paper succinctly emphasises the pronounced epistemic dimension of digital instruments when compared to acoustic instruments. Through the analysis of material epistemologies it is possible to describe the digital instrument as an epistemic tool: a designed tool with such a high degree of symbolic pertinence that it becomes a system of knowledge and thinking in its own terms. In conclusion, the paper rounds up the phenomenological and epistemological arguments, and points at issues in the design of digital musical instruments that are germane due to their strong aesthetic implications for musical culture.
126 citations
TL;DR: The article explores the potential of interactive systems to facilitate the creation of dynamic compositional sonic architectures through performance and improvisation.
Abstract: This article examines differing approaches to the definition, classification and modelling of interactive music systems, drawing together both historical and contemporary practice. Concepts of shared control, collaboration and conversation metaphors, mapping, gestural control, system responsiveness and separation of interface from sound generator are discussed. The article explores the potential of interactive systems to facilitate the creation of dynamic compositional sonic architectures through performance and improvisation.
81 citations
TL;DR: A theoretical analysis of the sensor capabilities via a design space is provided and concrete examples of how different sensors can facilitate interactive performance on these devices are shown.
Abstract: Mobile phones offer an attractive platform for interactive music performance. We provide a theoretical analysis of the sensor capabilities via a design space and show concrete examples of how different sensors can facilitate interactive performance on these devices. These sensors include cameras, microphones, accelerometers, magnetometers and multitouch screens. The interactivity through sensors in turn informs aspects of live performance as well as composition though persistence, scoring, and mapping to musical notes or abstract sounds.
80 citations
TL;DR: This essay develops an ontology of sound and argues that sound art plays a crucial role in revealing this ontology, developing Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s conception of the perceptual unconscious.
Abstract: This essay develops an ontology of sound and argues that sound art plays a crucial role in revealing this ontology. I argue for a conception of sound as a continuous, anonymous flux to which human expressions contribute but which precedes and exceeds these expressions. Developing Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s conception of the perceptual unconscious, I propose that this sonic flux is composed of two dimensions: a virtual dimension that I term ‘noise’ and an actual dimension that consists of contractions of this virtual continuum: for example, music and speech. Examining work by Max Neuhaus, Chris Kubick, Francisco Lopez and others, I suggest that the richest works of sound art help to disclose the virtual dimension of sound and its process of actualisation.
64 citations
TL;DR: The use of a laptop computer for musical performance has become widespread in the electronic music community and it brings with it many issues pertaining to the communication of musical intent as mentioned in this paper, such as the lack of visual cues to guide the audience as to the correlation between performance gestures and musical outcomes.
Abstract: The use of a laptop computer for musical performance has become widespread in the electronic music community. It brings with it many issues pertaining to the communication of musical intent. Critics argue that performances of this nature fail to engage audiences because many performers use the mouse and/or computer keyboard to control their musical works, leaving no visual cues to guide the audience as to the correlation between performance gestures and musical outcomes. The author will argue that interfaces need to communicate something of their task and that cognitive affordances (Gibson 1979) associated with the performance interface become paramount if the musical outcomes are to be perceived as clearly tied to real-time performance gestures – in other words, that the audience are witnessing the creation of the music in that moment as distinct to the manipulation of pre-recorded or pre-sequenced events. Interfaces of his kind lend themselves particularly to electroacoustic and computer music performance where timbre, texture and morphology may be paramount.
61 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptualisation of possible modes of performance-time interaction can only be sensibly approached in light of the ways that computers alter the social interactions that are precursive to performance.
Abstract: Throughout the short history of interactive digital music, there have been frequent calls for a new language of interaction that incorporates and acknowledges the unique capabilities of the computational medium. In this paper we suggest that a conceptualisation of possible modes of performance–time interaction can only be sensibly approached in light of the ways that computers alter the social–artistic interactions that are precursive to performance. This conceptualisation hinges upon a consideration of the changing roles of composition, performer and instrument in contemporary practice. We introduce the term behavioural object to refer to software that has the capacity to act as the musical and social focus of interaction in digital systems. Whilst formative, this term points to a new framework for understanding the role of software in musical culture. We discuss the potential for behavioural objects to contribute actively to musical culture through two types of agency: performative agency and memetic agency.
57 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide an overview of sound art, encompassing its history and artistic development, and the complexities of the term's use as a categorisation, as well as the problems to be faced in finding a "frame" for sound in an exhibition setting.
Abstract: This article provides an overview of sound art, encompassing its history and artistic development, and the complexities of the term’s use as a categorisation. It starts with various definitions employed and the ways that recent museum exhibitions have left the genre’s parameters seemingly open-ended, as well as the problems to be faced in finding a ‘frame’ for sound in an exhibition setting. The article then lays out the roots of the form’s aesthetics, including the disjunction between sound and image afforded by the invention of recording, musique concrete, and spatialised composition through the centuries. Sound art’s relationships to the 60s art movement Earthworks, ambient music, sound by visual artists, architecture, sound sculpture, surveillance, sound design and sound ecology are explored to contextualise its significance not only to different disciplines within the arts to but sound’s place in contemporary society. At the conclusion, two recent works by D.A.M.A.G.E. and David Byrne, which loom somewhere in-between music and sound art, are considered in light of the increasingly fluid interpretation of sound art’s identity.
55 citations
TL;DR: The MITDS provides a conceptual framework for describing, analysing, designing and extending the interfaces, mappings, synthesis algorithms and performance techniques for interactive musical instruments, and provides designers with a theoretical base to draw upon when creating technologically advanced performance systems.
Abstract: This article presents a theoretical framework for the design of expressive musical instruments, the Musical Interface Technology Design Space: MITDS. The activities of imagining, designing and building new musical instruments, performing, composing, and improvising with them, and analysing the whole process in an effort to better understand the interface, our physical and cognitive associations with it, and the relationship between performer, instrument and audience can only be seen as an ongoing iterative work-in-progress. It is long-term evolutionary research, as each generation of a new musical instrument requires inventiveness and years of dedication towards the practice and mastery of its performance system (comprising the interface, synthesis and the mappings between them). Many revisions of the system may be required in order to develop musical interface technologies that enable us to achieve truly expressive performances. The MITDS provides a conceptual framework for describing, analysing, designing and extending the interfaces, mappings, synthesis algorithms and performance techniques for interactive musical instruments. It provides designers with a theoretical base to draw upon when creating technologically advanced performance systems, and can be seen as a set of guidelines for analysis, and a taxonomy of design patterns for interactivity in musical instruments. The MITDS focuses mainly on human-centred design approaches to realtime control of the multidimensional parameter spaces in musical composition and performance, where the primary objective is to close the gap between human gestures and complex synthesis methods.
40 citations
TL;DR: The concept of gesture is discussed from the point of view of the perception of human intentionality in sound and how one might consider this in interaction design.
Abstract: In the majority of discussions surrounding the design of digital instruments and real-time performance systems, notions such as control and mapping are seen from a classical systems point of view: the former is often seen as a variable from an input device or perhaps some driving signal, while the latter is considered as the liaison between input and output parameters. At the same time there is a large body of research regarding gesture in performance that is concerned with the expressive and communicative nature of musical performance. While these views are certainly central to a conceptual understanding of ‘instrument’, it can be limiting to consider them a priori as the only proper model, and to mediate one’s conception of digital instrument design by fixed notions of control, mapping and gesture. As an example of an alternative way to view instrumental response, control structuring and mapping design, this paper discusses the concept of gesture from the point of view of the perception of human intentionality in sound and how one might consider this in interaction design.
39 citations
TL;DR: The author presents his own cycle of works within which he has developed a new way to compose for a spatial parameter, which he calls this technique timbre spatialisation.
Abstract: In this text, the author argues that space should be considered as important a musical parameter in acousmatic music composition as more conventional musical parameters in instrumental music. There are aspects of sound spatialisation that can be considered exclusive to the acousmatic language: for example, immersive spatialisation places listeners in an environment where they are surrounded by speakers. The author traces a history of immersive spatialisation techniques, and describes the tools available today and the research needed to develop this parameter in the future. The author presents his own cycle of works within which he has developed a new way to compose for a spatial parameter. He calls this technique timbre spatialisation.
34 citations
TL;DR: A vision for a new hybrid model that integrates non-linear, generative, conversational and affective perspectives on interactivity is proposed.
Abstract: Composers, musicians and computer scientists have begun to use software-based agents to create music and sound art in both linear and non-linear (non-predetermined form and/or content) idioms, with some robust approaches now drawing on various disciplines. This paper surveys recent work: agent technology is first introduced, a theoretical framework for its use in creating music/sound art works put forward, and an overview of common approaches then given. Identifying areas of neglect in recent research, a possible direction for further work is then briefly explored. Finally, a vision for a new hybrid model that integrates non-linear, generative, conversational and affective perspectives on interactivity is proposed.
TL;DR: The article is a study on the literature of sound art from two languange areas, German and English, which reveals two different discourses.
Abstract: The article is a study on the literature of sound art from two languange areas, German and English. The text reveals two different discourses. The German texts on Klangkunst (sound art in German) focus upon the sound material’s relation to a spatial location where sound sculptures and installations are given central focus. These are genres that transcend the old divisions between spatial arts (Raumkunst) and the time-based arts (Zeitkunst). A strong emphasis on the dual aspect of seeing and hearing could be described as a central point of departure. Klangkunst concerns an investigation of both time and space, through ear and eye. In the English literature on sound art, there are often references to sound’s inner aesthetical qualities. The perspectives on sound’s relation to room is evident also here, but the perspectives are however broader, in the sense that the aspects of space and locality are diversified and pluralistic. One will find an even larger scope of literature and references if the area of sound art also includes cultural-studies perspectives on sound, sonic experiences and acoustic phenomena, the influx of new technologies on the everyday soundscape, and sound design. These are areas often referred to when speaking about the ‘sonic turn’. The way the term sound art is handled in English texts is often very vague. The German study of Klangkunst developed within the academic field of musicology. There has been a fruitful collaboration between musicologists, publishing houses, music journals, galleries, academic institutions and higher art education, which together has helped to establish Klangkunst as an artistic expression and theoretical discourse. This strong intellectual infrastructure has been important in the ‘construction’ of the concept Klangkunst. The two separate theoretical discourses not only deal with the concept of sound art differently. Although many of the artists are dealt with in both the English and the German literature, there are very seldom references to the German literature in the English texts. This tendency is not reciprocal.
TL;DR: The article shows consequences and strategies of site-sound installations in three sections – from spatial sound to site- sound, public space as performance venue, and public strategies (acoustic interventions, interactive installations and participatory projects).
Abstract: During the mid twentieth century, space was developed as a composable dimension. Composers used the three spatial dimensions in their own fashion, but space was understood primarily as an abstract concept. It was not until the development of sound installation art that space was discovered in a concrete manner, explored, performed in and could even acquire its own specificity, called site-sound (Ortsklang).
The article shows consequences and strategies of site-sound installations in three sections – from spatial sound to site-sound, public space as performance venue, and public strategies (acoustic interventions, interactive installations and participatory projects) – with three examples of site-sound installations (Site-Sound Marl Mitte, meta.stases and towersounds.2: watch tower).
Acoustic art in public spaces basically involves installing a space in another existing space, both physically and sensorially, and metaphysically and mentally – an interior space in an exterior space, so to speak. The original quality of sound art lies in the oscillation of interior and exterior space. Thus public spaces intensified by sound art cause transitional spaces to come into being, in a political and a psychoanalytic sense.
TL;DR: The notion of the performative layer, which emerges through strategies for dealing with discontinuities, breakdowns and the unexpected in network performance, is introduced.
Abstract: In this paper we reflect on the performer–instrument relationship by turning towards the thinking practices of the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908–1961). Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological idea of the body as being at the centre of the world highlights an embodied position in the world and bestows significance onto the body as a whole, onto the body as a lived body. In order to better understand this two-way relationship of instrument and performer, we introduce the notion of the performative layer, which emerges through strategies for dealing with discontinuities, breakdowns and the unexpected in network performance.
TL;DR: The results reveal a potential shortcoming of mapping strategies using simple frame-by-frame data-stream procedures and propose instead to consider input control data as time functions, and consider gesture co-articulation processes.
Abstract: We present an experimental study on articulation in bowed strings that provides important elements for a discussion about sound synthesis control. The study focuses on bow acceleration profiles and transient noises, measured for different players for the bowing techniques detache and martele. We found that maximum of these profiles are not synchronous, and temporal shifts are dependent on the bowing techniques. These results allow us to bring out important mechanisms in sound and gesture articulation. In particular, the results reveal a potential shortcoming of mapping strategies using simple frame-by-frame data-stream procedures. We propose instead to consider input control data as time functions, and consider gesture co-articulation processes.
TL;DR: The authors argue that field recordings can best be understood in relation to the visual arts concept of objecthood, Michael Fried's term for deciphering minimalist sculpture of the late 1960s, explaining how these field recordings use appropriated sounds that are nonetheless treated as non-referential, autonomous materials.
Abstract: The commercially available field recordings of Francisco Lopez and Toshiya Tsunoda are difficult to classify. These field recordings are not site specific in the conventional sense because they are not tied to a particular architectural or listening space. Nor can field recordings be categorised as just another subgenre of experimental electronic music. Whereas in musique concrete and acousmatic music, sounds are organised according to musical or thematic parameters, Lopez’s and Tsunoda’s field recording sounds are subjected to minimal editing and processing, and are organised according to the innate traits of the sounds themselves.
It would be insufficient, however, to offer the usual conciliatory conclusion that Lopez’s and Tsunoda’s recordings straddle the sound art/music divide by possessing qualities of both. This article argues that these field recordings can best be understood in relation to the visual arts concept of objecthood, Michael Fried’s term for deciphering minimalist sculpture of the late 1960s. Objecthood explains how these field recordings use appropriated sounds that are nonetheless treated as non-referential, autonomous materials. This strategy posits its own type of site specificity that purports to be acultural and ahistorical, yet is nevertheless steeped in culture and history.
TL;DR: Zirkonium is a flexible, non-invasive, open-source program for sound spatialisation over spherical (dome-shaped) loudspeaker setups that accommodates user-defined speaker distributions and offers HRTF-based headphone simulation for situations when the actual speaker setup is not available.
Abstract: Zirkonium is a flexible, non-invasive, open-source program for sound spatialisation over spherical (dome-shaped) loudspeaker setups. By non-invasive, we mean that Zirkonium offers the artist spatialisation capabilities without forcing her to change her usual way of working. This is achieved by supporting a variety of means of designing and controlling spatialisations. Zikonium accommodates user-defined speaker distributions and offers HRTF-based headphone simulation for situations when the actual speaker setup is not available. It can acquire sound sources from files, live input, or via the so-called device mode, which allows Zirkonium to appear to other programs as an audio interface. Control data may be predefined and stored in a file or generated elsewhere and sent over OSC. This paper details Zirkonium, its design philosophy and implementation, and how we have been using it since 2005.
TL;DR: The use of sound for representation and narrative may go beyond what the authors might conventionally term musical, and sound designers are now increasingly exploring the more psychological dimensions of sound.
Abstract: The use of sound for representation and narrative may go beyond what we might conventionally term musical. Film has gradually brought into focus the practice of sound art as something distinct from music yet existing at the end of a unified continuum between abstraction and representation. Music has gradually been subsumed into the soundtrack as another element of the film sound world, and sound design is often on an equal footing with it. Sound designers are now increasingly exploring the more psychological (as opposed to merely representational) dimensions of sound.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report a study that sought to discover the necessary aural skills for composing, performing, and understanding electroacoustic (EA) music and the extent of their teachability by traditional aural training according to an analysis of a mixed-method (qualitative/quantitative) questionnaire completed by a purposive sample of 15 experts in the field of electroacoustics.
Abstract: This paper reports a study that sought to discover the necessary aural skills for composing, performing, and understanding electroacoustic (EA) music and the extent of their teachability by traditional aural training according to an analysis of a mixed-method (qualitative/quantitative) questionnaire completed by a purposive sample of 15 experts in the field of electroacoustics. The participants evaluated a list of 50 potentially necessary aural skills, which were gathered from skills described in existing, but insufficiently applied, aural training systems and theoretical methods related to aural perception in EA, and provided additional skills they found necessary for EA. The survey revealed that the aural skills deemed the most necessary for EA by the participants were not regarded as sufficiently teachable by traditional aural training and the majority of the skills considered teachable by traditional aural training were not thought of as significantly necessary for the EA musician. Moreover, among the 50 skills listed in the questionnaire 56 per cent were deemed at least very necessary by the participants, with only 18 per cent of them viewed as sufficiently teachable by traditional aural training. The main implication of this study is a pressing need for further development, research, and experimental testing of aural training methods for EA.
TL;DR: Urban Portrait: Thessaloniki as discussed by the authors is a sonic art installation by this author, presented at the Lansdown Centre for Electronic Arts of Middlesex University, London, in May 2008.
Abstract: Urban Portrait: Thessaloniki is a sonic art installation by this author, presented at the Lansdown Centre for Electronic Arts of Middlesex University, London, in May 2008. This article constitutes an exploration of sonic representation of the experience of place as a central element of the work. The term psychosonography is introduced to encapsulate the described method and references to its supporting concepts. Urban Portrait is about representation of experienced locality, as well as the emergence of relationships among a collection of such localities through their sonic embodiments. Ultimately, it takes the form of the sonic equivalent of a psychogeographical map, to be navigated by aural means.
TL;DR: The Icebreaker as discussed by the authors is an interactive sound art installation made from piezo microphones and ice, where soundscape works are diffused at different moments when one ‘plays’ The Icebreaker.
Abstract: The following discusses the potential of soundscape work to reveal new aspects of our everyday aural environments. Openness to the voice(s) of one’s sonic surroundings is maintained as a hallmark of soundscape works, and also a key component of sound art more generally. Different perspectives and questions are articulated, with a consistent focus on the variety of spaces engaged by both sound(scape) artists and listeners. A case study is presented – a recently initiated sound art project on the part of the author entitled The Icebreaker. The latter is a musical instrument, performance piece and interactive installation made from piezo microphones and ice. Prepared compositions, including soundscape works, are diffused at different moments when one ‘plays’ The Icebreaker. I describe this emergent work as an example of the sort of considerations and negotiations that are at the heart of soundscape/sound art composition. My aim is to demonstrate how sound artworks bring us to attend to sounds we formerly failed to notice, revealing our own reactions to these stimuli at the same time.
TL;DR: The article tries to explain different aspects of sound art in public space in the context of an understanding of a modified language of twentieth-century visual art and music and gives a description of different approaches to colouring situations and contexts with sound.
Abstract: The article tries to explain different aspects of sound art in public space in the context of an understanding of a modified language of twentieth-century visual art and music. It gives a description of different approaches to colouring situations and contexts with sound. Various examples of sonification and artistic treatments in our surrounding are shown. It shows an artistic practice which is linked to social-cultural aspects and their critical role in art. Therefore sound installations are placed into a genealogy of installation practice in public space.
TL;DR: It is argued that Heidi Fast uses sound and voice to propose an ‘actualising philosophy’ that actualises virtualities (unrealised potentials), affecting transformative shifts through tiny mutations in perceptions and behaviours.
Abstract: This article introduces the recent sound works of Heidi Fast, a Finnish voice and performance artist. Fast’s creative practice operates between art and philosophy, and articulates several ‘zones of becoming’: what Fast designates as ‘the clinical’, ‘the virtual’ and ‘vocal thought-material’. Using a methodology of routing, the article shows how these zones emerge as aesthetic, ethical and political concerns within Fast’s work.
Since 2005, Fast’s sound works have variously taken shape as miniature concerts, social sculptures, imaginary soundscapes and environmental music performances. Drawing upon the writings of theorists who have helped shape her practice, this article argues that Fast uses sound and voice to propose an ‘actualising philosophy’. This philosophy actualises virtualities (unrealised potentials), affecting transformative shifts through tiny mutations in perceptions and behaviours.
TL;DR: The Cantata of Fire as discussed by the authors explores the way in which amplified concrete sound and electronic "viral" voices were used as a weapon at Waco and explores the overlooked and underestimated powers of sound, music and noise in an age dominated by digital real-time electronic media and tele-visual surveillance.
Abstract: Strategically placed with the right degree of persistence and ‘sympathetic vibration’, sound can reveal itself as a potentially devastating force. As used against the Branch Davidian religious sect in 1993 at Waco Texas, the FBI’s little remembered ‘sonic assault’ – involving Tibetan monks in prayer, dentist drills, and other bizarre recordings – arguably contributed to the tragic denouement of events as they were witnessed live on TV by millions around the world. The use of sustained, high-pitched, loud or repetitive noises and music added to an already incendiary narrative endgame, established first by the sect but later supported by the media. This essay draws on this tragic event, and later ‘forensic’ research conducted by the author in the process of writing, scoring and producing an audio performance work, Cantata of Fire. Specifically, it explores the way in which amplified ‘concrete’ sound and electronic ‘viral’ voices were used as a weapon at Waco – materially, psychologically, theatrically and ‘diegetically’. And in the context of a much longer (and repressed) history of sound as used in ‘theatres of war’ and other conflicts, the author reconsiders the overlooked and underestimated powers of sound, music and noise in an age dominated by digital ‘real-time’ electronic media and ‘tele-visual’ surveillance.
TL;DR: The present paper shows the steps of applying the proposed method of analysis to a specific work by the Swedish composer Åke Parmerud, as the application of two other central terms in Schaffer’s analytical work, namely ‘caractère’ and ‘valeur’ are pursued.
Abstract: In volume 12, number 2 of Organised Sound, we presented a revision of Pierre Schaeffer’s spectromorphology adapted to practical analysis. The present paper shows the steps of applying the proposed method of analysis to a specific work by the Swedish composer Ake Parmerud, as we pursue the application of two other central terms in Schaffer’s analytical work, namely ‘caractere’ and ‘valeur’. Whereas ‘sound-character’ would refer only to a timbral constant that supports pertinent values, we identify a form-building entity, termed integral sound-character, consisting of a union of sound-character and its temporal behaviour.
TL;DR: In this article, the use of sound to create referential and representational discourses in sound art has been studied, focusing on two fundamental aspects for the study of sound art: space and time.
Abstract: This paper addresses some aspects related to the use of sound to create referential and representational discourses in sound art. We concentrate on the particular use of sound in this repertoire whose delimitation is still increasing among practitioners. As a relatively new art genre it oscillates between aesthetical and organisational strategies that are commonly found in the domain of both music and visual arts. At the same time, it resists being fully incorporated by these two domains as it develops a discourse that is very specific to its own. To analyse these relations we focus on two fundamental aspects for the study of sound art: space and time. The sound art repertoire approaches these two aspects in a very particular way, placing them at the core of its creative process and establishing connections with conceptual and referential aspects that are put in evidence by sound. We will concentrate on two different points of view: on one side, we analyse how sounds can build temporal discourses that become attached to specific spaces; on the other side, we consider the use of a space that emerges from contextual connections triggered by sounds.
TL;DR: The focus of this text is on how the Institute for Music and Acoustics forms an integral part of ZKM as a whole while evolving its own inner direction and dynamics.
Abstract: The overall concept for a Zentrum fur Kunst und Medientechnologie in Karlsruhe positioned music as integral part of it from the very beginning in 1985. The following text does not list accomplishments by discussing individual works, productions and research projects; this report describes and contextualises what happened and how it happened, it talks of people and concepts, of politics and ideas. It tries to illuminate the complex path between politics and technology, individual interests and cultural perspectives that led to and shaped ZKM. The uniqueness of ZKM is not only that it comprises museums as well as institutes, which actively produce art. The uniqneness of ZKM also lies in that music was planned as an equally important partner in the original concept, and that the Institute for Music and Acoustics still holds a major position in the institution today even though ZKM as a whole shifted towards the dominance of visual media. The focus of this text is on how the Institute for Music and Acoustics forms an integral part of ZKM as a whole while evolving its own inner direction and dynamics.
TL;DR: This article discusses the installations that have been produced at the ZKM | Institute for Music and Acoustics since 1997 and presents common characteristics of these installations, which include their orientation towards interactivity.
Abstract: This article discusses the installations that have been produced at the ZKM | Institute for Music and Acoustics since 1997. The first part of the article will present common characteristics of these installations. The primary quality the installations share is their orientation towards interactivity. Some installations additionally distinguish themselves through their relationship to (computer) games, for example, while others are characterised by their suitability for use as didactic tools. The second part of the article will describe the installations individually and highlight their unique features.
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TL;DR: The article will touch upon the IMA’s primary research projects, in particular the archiving project Mediaartbase, the development of software and hardware in the context of spatial music, and a number of interface developments.
Abstract: The ZKM | Karlsruhe has been producing work now for 20 years. The Institute for Music and Acoustics in particular has commissioned, produced or co-produced approximately 400 works in this time. The Institute’s work takes place within a very active but also very complex environment in Germany, one which often repudiates the use of technology and its accompanying shift in the aesthetic paradigm. The following text will shed light on the work of the ZKM | Karlsruhe in general and the various activities of the Institute for Music and Acoustics (IMA) in particular. These activities encompass the areas of production, presentation, publication and research. To this end, the article will touch upon the IMA’s primary research projects, in particular the archiving project Mediaartbase (Brummer, Heidenreich, Haecker et al. 2009 ), the development of software and hardware in the context of spatial music, and a number of interface developments. Reasons will be discussed that substantiate the significance of spatial music with regard to the reception of music in the future, and the role of new interfaces in future musical activities will be described.