Going Acousmatic: ƩTOIXΊA
- Chiron Farrimond
- Jul 6, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: Jul 7, 2023
Whilst there are many articles and sources on what acousmatic music is and how it came to be, I want to discuss my journey and exposure to this (what I find exciting and interesting) experimental genre in this post. Buckle in.
Acousmatic (or more broadly electro-acoustic) music doesn't have the biggest audience because of its performance nature as well as unlike popular music there is usually nothing to 'lock' into such as a recognisable groove or melody... that's not to say that pieces in this genre are not devoid of that, though. Many tracks that exist in this genre are of 'fixed medium' meaning that when it is played the same audio file is used each time. The variation comes in how they are performed. Concert setups can vary significantly but, in my experience, have been made up of multiple speakers upwards of 20. Composers that are more firmly entrenched in this genre usually have personal expanded setups that allow them to write music over multiple channels/speakers, such as 8 (octo-phonic), composing in surround sound. In contrast to this, I compose in stereo and then diffuse it when performing as I usually don't have access to multiple-speaker setups. The experience of being at a mixer console diffusing a piece into a space is something I love as it requires you (as a performer and composer) to be reactive to the dynamic shape of the piece and properly articulating the various sonic gestures that lay within it. I will get into what I mean by this later.
In total, I have written approximately 10 acousmatic pieces with 4 being released to the public last year in the form of my 'Space' EP, a piece split into four parts: I - Origins, II - Trajectory, III - Voids, IV - Outer Limits. Space (2022) was released as I wanted more people to listen to this genre, whatever their reaction may be. It is the first acousmatic composition composed post-Bangor and something I want to continue in between other projects.
If it wasn't for my time at Bangor University, I would not have known about acousmatic music and learnt about its development. ΣΤΟΙΧΕΊΑ, composed between October 2015 and March 2016, and completed in April 2016 under the supervision of Prof. Andrew Lewis during my third year at Bangor University. Andy is a well-accomplished composer in his own right and you can find releases of his acousmatic pieces online (namely on his website here) a couple of my personal favourites are Dark Glass (2010, rev. 2013) and Skyline (2016). I have had the pleasure of listening to these pieces in their intended concert setting and the experience has always been something I've admired.
The first experience I had at performing one of my acousmatic pieces Nosce Ti Ipsum (2014, not released) was also at Bangor, during my second year at the 'Celtic Sonic' concert held on 19th February 2015 at Neuadd Reichel, Bangor and led by Pete Stollery. The concert included pieces from Pete (Still Voices; Of the Swan), Andrew Lewis (Ascent), Alex Bailey (Spring), Helen Sherrard (Cut Off), and Sam Griffiths (Eau). I had the fortune of being able to practice articulating my piece for quite a few hours before the concert which allowed me to nail down how I wanted the different sections to be diffused. I remember one small piece of advice that Andy gave to us all: use subwoofers sparingly as the speakers themselves packed a punch. For those curious, the main speakers were ATC SCM50A loudspeakers, with the smaller speakers being Genelec 8030s and ATC SCM20As.
Nosce Ti Ipsum was composed to realise your fears. Here's an excerpt of what I envisioned when I wrote the piece:
"Nosce Ti Ipsum is Latin for ‘know thyself’ which forms the foundation for the piece, it was written to represent the psychological and physical effect fear is capable of. While for some fear is empowering, for others it represents a dark secret that is hard to overcome. It is the first acousmatic piece I have composed and is very much representative of my passion for rapidly evolving sounds, in which your expectations are subverted. The intention was to compose in small bursts in order to constantly refresh my thoughts in contrast to the time-consuming meticulously-edited sounds, which is an attempt to subvert my own expectations."
Norsce Ti Ipsum is a 3-minute piece that ends with a synthesised heartbeat sound getting louder and louder before tailing off with the sonic idea of being so overwhelmed you don't know where you are. It is the only part of the piece when I performed it that I slowly lifted the fader for the subwoofers to make the room rumble as the heartbeat became more audible and faster in speed.
You may be asking the question: "What does an acousmatic concert hall look and feel like?" Well, as I've already established concert setups can vary considerably depending on the resources of the organiser and establishment. Bangor happens to be well-equipped for electroacoustic/acousmatic music as the course is led by Andrew Lewis, who also happens to be one of the original members of BEAST (University of Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre) founded by Prof. Jonty Harrison, another well-known electroacoustic composer. Andy is also the creator of BAT (Bangor Audio Toolkit), a MAX/MSP-based kit aimed at the creation and performance of acousmatic music, the same kit used when I was able to perform Nosce Ti Ipsum (2014).
The photo above shows the setup used during the 'Celtic Sonic' concert with Pete Stollery sitting at the mixing desk and Andrew Lewis further ahead.
Another photo of the 'Celtic Sonic' concert but showing the back-end elements of the setup, taken earlier in the day.
As you can see from both photos the reason behind the setup was to surround you with speakers next to and above in a 22-speaker setup (including 2 subwoofers). It is usually down to the composer on how they want to use the speakers but the basic principle is you can 'lift' the sound by bringing up faders for the elevated smaller speakers, 'ground' sounds by introducing the use of subwoofers and 'focus' sounds by utilising speakers ahead and next to concert goers. The beauty of Andy's BAT software (funnily called the BATmobile) was that both stereo and octo-phonic pieces could be played back fairly easily with pretty nifty under-the-hood audio routing. It's a magical setup once you're in front of the mixer!
A close-up of the MAX/MSP patch, developed by Andrew Lewis and accompanying mixers.
This, finally, leads me to the main reason behind this post. ΣΤΟΙΧΕΊΑ (2016) is a four-part set of pieces that are set on the notion of portraying the classical elements. Below is a breakdown of each movement and its representation:
"The title comes from the Greek word meaning ELEMENTS. It is a set of four pieces based on the classical elements in Greek mythology: earth, water, air, fire and aether. The aim is to sonically represent these 'elements' in a form that allows the listener to experience the interaction between them in which each piece covers a different aspect of the elements. For example, the explosive power fire and ice (water) create when they collide or the destructive and erosive power of earth and water. It comes down to the listener to work out the nature of some of the pieces and what elements they are able to work out, the pieces are designed to mess with the perception of sound and how things can be not what they seem."
Buy (Amazon): https://music.amazon.co.uk/albums/B0C9RZLPC4
Stream (Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/album/77hHvVV1V37liYc7ES7TEG
I: Perception (6 minutes) - the idea of ‘Perception’ is to introduce the listener into the sonic world to which they are entering but not to placate them, the structure of the pieces is designed to be ‘a theme and variations’ meaning that sounds may not appear to be what they seem and are constantly shifting making it harder for the listener to decipher if its real or fake. It begs the question: can we tell the difference between reality and artificiality?
II: Beauty & Diffusion (5 minutes) - the more passive section of the three pieces with a degree of unpredictability at its heart, focuses on how the beauty of the classical elements can be sometimes overshadowed by some of the destructive properties they possess. The purpose of this variation is to show how these two can work together despite that, sonically, they represent two very different worlds. It is the passive drone sections that are abruptly stopped and diverted through short turbulent passages into the other forms of beauty that the classical elements can represent.
III: Unity & Division (5 minutes) - this provides a bridge between ‘Beauty & Diffusion’ and the next movement, ‘Violence & Variance’ by using aspects that appear in both, such as the unpredictability of the elements in ‘Beauty & Diffusion’ and the raw explosive power of the elements in ‘Violence & Variance’. ‘Unity & Division’ can be seen as one of the more detached pieces as it builds upon some of the work presented in the other three pieces but manipulates and toys with it in a new context. While the previous variations represented some aspect of uniformity between the elements, this piece deals with how they can be very different from each other. It is while they all interact and depend on each other in some way (air and water cause waves, fire and earth create magma...), they are all unique in their devising which is why they can be known as the five classical elements.
IV: Violence & Variance (5 minutes) - the final movement of the four pieces represents the chaotic and violent power of the elements and where the most tension is felt. The concept of this piece is to demonstrate the raw destructive power the elements can possess as they spin, swirl, break up, blow apart and crumble. The idea that the world can change incredibly quickly with earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes devastating in the blink of an eye is quite an exciting - but equally terrifying - thought. This is the final movement of devastation.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the pieces!
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