Array, the journal of the International Computer Music Association

Moritzen, Karina

In-Game Concerts and Ludomusical Performances: A Brief Historical Overview

Akkermann, Miriam

Editorial

Beller, Greg

Dynamic interdependence in a hybrid configuration using Spatial Sampler XR

Parra Cancino, Juan

Opaque Technology and Contemporary Network Arts: Artistic and Technological Strategies

Chagas, Paulo

Carrascoza, Cassia

Sound, Ritual, and Presence in the Age of Telematic Dialog: A Polyphonic Conversation Across Distance

Küssner, Mats B.

Emerson, Gina

Stein, Christian

Schwabenhauer, Till

The (f)utility of immersive experience in a live classical concert with extended reality: A comment on Leeʼs unified conceptual model

Berweck, Sebastian

Virtuality Will Save Us All

Romero, Lula

array2022
Emergent Spaces – Subjective
Sonification of Spaces. An Artistic
Approach
By Lula Romero
Introduction. Space and Spaces
Different conceptions of space in-
volved in computer music practices
influence the aesthetic result of the
musical work differently. Post-serial
space understood as structure has
different aesthetic results than the
concept of space as place, as it has
been conceived of in sound art, the
abstract and acoustic space of prac-
tices that employ technologies such
as ambisonics, or the notion of
space as bodily presence and em-
bodiment. In what follows, I de-
scribe the concept of space inherent
to my practice and how it is con-
cretized in my artistic approach to
the practice of sonification that I
have called subjective sonification of
spaces. Finally, I discuss and exem-
plify this practice and its aesthetic
consequences in a case study, the
work Dérive (2017) for live electron-
ics and string quartet.
In my practice, space plays an im-
portant role in creating a multiplic-
ity of experiences and understand-
ings for the listeners. For me, space,
space
instead of a frontier to conquer, is an
opening. Parameters and networks
of relations have a spatial dimension
and materials are the results of com-
binations of spatial processes in-
stead of merely being distributed
in space. This implies a relativist
and relational conception of space
similar to the concept of space
described by the sociologist Martina
Löw, which she sets off against ab-
solute and relative or phenomeno-
logical conceptions (Löw 2016). Löw
describes space as a relational ar-
rangement (An-Ordnung) of social
goods and bodies that are in con-
stant motion, so that the arrange-
ment itself is always changing. Be-
ings have an agency to shape and
create spaces but also social goods,
such as sounds or odors influence
the creation of space and the ar-
rangement of beings (Löw 2016,
p. 129). In Löw’s conception, space is
not preexistent but rather emerges
by virtue of elements and their rela-
tional connections. Moreover, the
perception of spaces, how they are
imagined, regulated and institution-
alized, plays an important role in its
constitution and continuous trans-
formation. Space is not only a place-
ment of bodies and their actions but
also its perception, conception and
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institutionalization. All these as-
pects influence the constitution of
space, its characteristics and its
transformations (Löw 2016, p. 189).
In my compositional work, I under-
stand space similarly to Löw’s rela-
tional concept, as a dynamic system
of interactions between objects,
structures, social relations, and ac-
tions. Therefore, material but also
space itself emerge in the encounter
between the network of relations,
listeners, sound sources, performers
and the acoustics and dimensions
that constitute the performance
space. Space is also in continuous
transformation during the composi-
tional work. There is not a prior
space that remains the same
throughout the course of the whole
piece, rather the different relations
established by sound materials and
sound sources among themselves,
create and transform space. The
listener, due to their position in rela-
tion to the sound sources, estab-
lishes their own links and relations
with the sound material. In turn, the
listener’s perception, expectations,
and understanding of sound events
modifies their experience of subse-
quent sounds events of the musical
work. Space in my compositional
practice emerges in performance
space
and it is not equal to its geometrical
representation. Still, the emergence
of an open space is not granted by
merely positioning sound sources
and listeners in a hall. To allow for
the emergence of an open space, I
use specific compositional strate-
gies, one of them is that of subjective
sonification of spaces.
Subjective Sonification, case study
Dérive
Subjective sonification explores the
aesthetic consequences of three dif-
ferent ideas: the role of subjectivity
in sonification processes, the con-
cept of dérive (Debord 1958), and
the notion of musical structure as a
translation of a real physical space.
In sonification processes, there is al-
ways an element of subjectivity in
the interpretation of the data into
musical parameters or musical
transformations. However, as the
molecular biologist and philosopher
Hans-Jörg Rheinberger points out,
the data collected in scientific ex-
periments are not themselves
strictly objective (Rheinberger
1997). Data do not present the phe-
nomenon in itself; they rather repre-
sent it, hence, they include an ele-
ment of interpretation and thus
23
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subjectivity. Following this idea, sub-
jective sonification explores the
repercussions of this element of
subjectivity, not only in the transla-
tion of the data into music but also
in the collection and creation of the
data themselves. Hence, the
method has two parts: the collec-
tion and creation of subjective data
and their sonification in a sound
work.
Collecting Data and Mapping
Dérive (2017) for string quartet and
live electronics is the sonification of
a walk in Berlin.1 The dérive is a situa-
tionist method proposed by Guy
Debord, which “entails playful-con-
structive behavior and awareness of
psychogeographical effects;” (De-
bord 1958, 7). In a dérive “one or
more persons during a certain
space
period drop their motives for move-
ment and action, their relations,
their work and leisure activities, and
let themselves be drawn by the at-
tractions of the terrain and the en-
counters they find there” (Debord
1958, 7). The data to be sonified in
the composition of the piece are the
data collected by my subjective
dérive with the duration of an hour
in the city of Berlin. To document
my dérive, I installed a tracking ap-
plication on my smartphone that
recorded my path. The application
also provided different tools for
recording and attaching data and
media files like text, video, and au-
dio recordings, that were used to
record particular observed details,
impressions, thoughts, and deci-
sions. This method generates two
sets of data:
Figure 1: Map of the walk.
Movements and area
covered during the walk
marked in red. The begin-
ning of the walk is signi-
fied with a small red arrow,
the end with a square.
Blue dots signify pauses,
while green dots signify
changes of trajectories, im-
pressions or events.
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Quantitative data
◦Movements, trajectories, and the
area covered as collected by the
tracking application (figure 1).
◦ Duration and velocities of the tra-
jectories and pauses.
Qualitative data –“Walk diary”
◦ Events and motivations for each
change of direction.
◦ Subjective impressions recorded
in photos, texts, sound recordings,
videos.2
◦ Field recordings (audio files).
A subjective mapping is applied to
the collected data during the com-
position of the piece. The sounds of
the walk – either as direct record-
ings or as my transcriptions-inter-
pretations of the events of the walk
Field recording
space
– are the sound material of the
piece. The data collected – the
different stages of the walk and
their velocities and durations – pro-
vide the basis for the development
of the macro- and meso-structure of
the work, while trajectories and
movements are a model for the spa-
tialization of the sound. The 60 min-
utes temporal range of the derive,
its different speeds and rhythms are
reduced by dividing them by four
(around 15 minutes). The total area
covered by the walk is reduced to
the dimensions of the performance
space in which the sound sources
are placed in such a way that they
trace the contour of the walked
area.
Instrument
Granular Synthesis
Magnitudes
Spectrum
Magnitudes
Amplitude Amplitude
Delayed
Reverse
Reverse-delayed
*
Recording*Instrument
Instrument*Recording
Figure 2:
Flow chart of the electronic
process in Dérive. Temporal dis-
tribution of places, events and
impressions during the walk
*
Out 1 Out 2
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Transformations of the Field Record-
ings
The different field recordings col-
lected during the walk are not pre-
sented as such but they are live pro-
cessed with granular synthesis at
different moments in the piece. The
grains of the synthesis are consider-
ably large – 2.5 seconds – while the
density of grains is low – on average
of 5.5 random impulses per second.
After the processing, the trans-
formed field recording retains some
of its sonic characteristics while its
referential content is blurred. I pro-
cessed the results of the granular
synthesis process further by con-
volving it with the sound of the
string instruments (figure 2).
The sound of the instruments is
recorded and their amplitude enve-
lope and spectral content is ana-
lyzed during the performance. I
used a process that multiplies the
magnitudes of the frequency spec-
trum of two signals and applies the
phase of the first input. Two out-
comes are possible:
1) field recording * instrument – the
sound result is the field recording
spectrum multiplied by the magni-
tudes of the spectrum of the instru-
mental sounds – and
2) instrument * field recording – the
space
signal of the instrument works simi-
larly to a resonant filter of the spec-
trum of the field recording. The
piece alternates between these two
options for each instrument. After-
wards, I multiplied the resultant four
signals – one for instrument – with
the amplitude envelope of each
instrument. Still, the amplitude en-
velope of the instrument is used in
four different ways: amplitude with-
out processing, delayed amplitude
envelope, inverted amplitude, or
inverted and delayed amplitude.
These four possibilities are applied
at different moments to the elec-
tronics.
The sound of the instruments modi-
fies and transforms the field record-
ings. Instead of a juxtaposition of
field recordings with an instrumen-
tal material, Dérive displays the out-
come of the interference – intra-ac-
tion (Barad 2007)3 – between the
field recordings and the instrumen-
tal material. Moreover, the piece
shows the intra-action between the
spaces of the walk and my subjec-
tive perception of them.
Emergence of Spaces
The electronic processing generates
four two-channel signals which are
each distributed differently in space
26
V
laV
c.
array2022 space
and time during the piece. The mu-
sicians are positioned around the
audience, each one in the center of
each side. The speakers are posi-
tioned in front of the musicians and
around the listeners (figure 3).
different
Vln I
Sp 1 Sp 2
The form of the piece traces the
walk and is linked to the localization
of the sound sources. A main instru-
mental line, characterized by fast
figurations and a louder dynamic
level, is defined as the “walker.”
During the fifteen minutes of the
piece, the main line moves together
with its electronic transformation,
slowly describing a circle from the
front left corner of the venue and
violin I, going through front, right
and rear to arrive on the left side
and cello. During the dérive of the
main line, the other instruments
play secondary lines defined by
softer dynamics and low activity
(figure 4). The sound transforma-
tions of these secondary lines are
localized on the pair of speakers
closest to the instrument playing it.
The main and secondary instrumen-
tal lines transform the same field
recording at each moment. There-
fore, the field recording is modified
four times by different sound mate-
rials and actions and then sent to
AUDIENCE
Sp 4 Sp 3
Vln II
Figure 3: Positions of musicians,
speakers and microphones in the
performance space (Villa Elizabeth,
Berlin).
speakers. The audience is sub-
merged in an open space of multi-
ple transformations of the field
recording and different instrumental
lines, while they can still follow the
slow movement of the “walker”
through this space. Still, the immer-
sion proposed in this work is not a
passive and uncritical form of listen-
ing (Schrimshaw 2015), but rather
an active listening of an event that
manifests itself differently in their
relations when heard in different
positions.
27
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A total of nine field recordings are
used in Dérive . Figure 5 shows a ta-
ble of the temporal distribution of
the different field recordings used
and their content.
The performance hall and its acous-
tic characteristics influence and
shape the sounds and spaces pro-
posed by the work. Instead of trying
to abolish its influence, I tried to en-
hance its characteristics and include
them in the work. The premiere of
Dérive took place in the Villa Eliza-
beth in Berlin. The hall has very dis-
tinct acoustics, since three of its
sides – left, right and back – are cov-
ered by galleries. I positioned three
of the musicians – viola, violin II and
cello – under the galleries, while the
loudspeakers are on the galleries
facing down. The sound of the in-
struments under the galley is fil-
tered, but also reflected and pro-
jected forward. This is important
when these instruments are playing
the main line. Further performances
in different venues will include the
specific characteristics of each place
in the disposition of sound sources.
As I mentioned previously, my com-
positional concept of space is a rela-
tional one. Space in Dérive is a net-
space
work of sound sources, sound mate-
rial, their movements among the
sources, the musicians’actions, the
listeners’positions and their percep-
tion, the acoustic characteristics of
the performance hall, but also the
spatial characteristics of the field
recordings, the pitch space, my sub-
jective mapping, and my under-
standing of space. All these ele-
ments have an agency. Moreover,
the spaces are not static in time.
They are not intended to create a
mere immersion of the listener in
sound, but they rather develop dur-
ing the work. Sounds and space – in
their developments and different
manifestations – offer different per-
spectives and understandings to the
listeners. The piece involves an ex-
ploration of different spaces by dif-
ferent strategies during its composi-
tion. Furthermore, in its perfor-
mance, the work proposes the lis-
tener an aesthetic exploration of the
acoustic, perceived and virtual spa-
ces without imposing any one of
them. By doing so, Dérive situates it-
self in a no man’s land between ex-
perimental electroacoustic compo-
sition, instrumental chamber music,
sound art, and sound walks.
28
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CLICK
INIT Set 2
Amp Vln I +
Figure 4: Main and secondary lines at the beginning of Dérive. The main line
(“the walker”) is assigned to violin I, the other instruments play secondary lines.
Figure 5: Temporal distribution of the different field recordings in time
29
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Conclusion
An interesting aspect of this project
was to render audible the specific
historical and social aspects of
places. I am interested in the possi-
bility of referring to such aspects in
an indirect way. In my practice, I am
resistant to direct references like the
use of field recordings. Direct refer-
ences sometimes entail an unequiv-
ocal understanding of a piece and
may hinder the openness of under-
standings that I intend with my use
of space. However, the process of
subjective sonification, in which
recordings and transcriptions are
transformed and reinterpreted gives
me the possibility of aesthetically
researching the social aspects of
places, while guaranteeing an open
interpretation for the listener. The
gentrified areas of Kreuzberg in
Berlin overflowed with tourism is a
heterogeneous, complex place with
many frictions and contradictions
and with a very particular topogra-
phy and idiosyncrasy. I wanted to
explore these aspects in this piece in
an audible way and from a subjec-
tive perspective. Through the deci-
sions and itinerary of the walker, in
what could be seen as an auto-
ethnographic research, different po-
space
litical and social aspects of the city
are made explicit. Hence, the inten-
tion of this piece is neither to create
a cheerful collage of this part of
Berlin nor is it to demonize it. It is
rather a way to make this reality visi-
ble, to present or “re-present” some-
thing that is rendered invisible or
disregarded.
It may be argued that by using my
method of subjective sonification, I
am exchanging the direct referen-
tiality with my subjective interpreta-
tion, and by doing so I am imposing
my own understanding on the lis-
tener. On the contrary, subjective
sonification is ambiguous in nature,
it is a nomad in continuous flux. Its
presentation of places does not aim
to be a definition of the problem
but rather, in the sense of Rosi
Braidotti a “nomadic figuration,”
(Braidotti 1994) an explanation of an
ever-changing situation in continu-
ous flux that materialized itself in a
fluid musical piece. A “figuration” is a
method of thinking, a way to con-
ceptualize something that is in fluc-
tuation and in movement. It is op-
posed to the principle of identity in
which the described is identical to
the concept that describes it. It does
not impose its mimetic reflection
30
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onto the world but rather explores
the world in its nomadic dérive and
in the fluctuations of the world it-
self. In the same way, I as composer
do not exercise my agency by shap-
ing the sound material into a “ex-
pression of my self”but rather I am
shaped by my encounter with the
spaces, sound material and by the
concrete knowledge unveiled in the
compositional practice.
Subjective sonification of places is
the encounter and intra-action – a
relational network – between com-
poser, contingent events, sounds,
places and its later encounter with
the listener and the performance
place.
Audio documentation dérive
http://mediathek.slub-dresden.de/
ton90002965.html (permalink)
Notes
[1] Dérive was commissioned by the
Sonifikationsfestival der bgnm 2017.
It was premiered by Kairos Quartett
at Villa Elisabeth, Berlin, Nov. 2017.
[2] For some examples of the media
collected in the walk see Research
Catalogue “Dérive”by Lula Romero,
https://www.researchcatalogue.net/
view/375563/376108 (accessed
March 14, 2023)
space
[3] Quantum physicist and theorist
Karen Barad understands the crea-
tion of new knowledge during re-
search and experimentation as the
diffraction of the forces, that is the
interference of the subject that con-
ducts the research and the research
object. In the similar way, I under-
stand the compositional experiment
as the interference between compo-
ser and sound material. See “Experi-
ment and Experience” (Romero
2021) which deals with my concept
of experimentation in my composi-
tional practice and its relation with
the Baradian concept of intra-action.
References
Barad, K. M. (2007). Meeting the
Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics
and the Entanglement of Matter and
Meaning. Durham: Duke University
Press.
Braidotti, R. (1994). Nomadic
Subjects: Embodiment and Sexual
Difference in Contemporary Feminist
Theory. Gender and Culture. New
York: Columbia University Press.
Debord, G. (1958). “Theory of the
Dérive.” In: J. Sellars (Ed.). Nomadic
Trajectories, Warwick Journal of
Philosophy, 7 (1998): 7–12.
31
array2022 space
Löw, M. (2016). The Sociology of
Space: Materiality, Social Structures,
and Action. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Rheinberger, H.-J. (1997). Toward a
History of Epistemic Things:
Synthesizing Proteins in the Test Tube.
Writing Science. Stanford, Calif:
Stanford University Press.
Romero, L. (2021). “Experiment and
Experience: Compositional Practice
as Critique.” In: J. Impett. Sound
Work: Composition as Critical
Technical Practice, Orpheus Institute
Book Series. Leuven University Press.
Schrimshaw, W. (2015). “Exit
Immersion.”Sound Studies 1 (1):
155–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/
20551940.2015.1079982.
32


English

Emergent Spaces – Subjective Sonification of Spaces. An Artistic Approach

array2022
Editorial
The concept of space appears has al-
ways been a pivotal aspect to music.
The emergence of spatial thinking
can already be seen in the Venetian
polychoral style (cori spezzati) of the
16th century when multiple choirs
where spatially displaced at St.
Mark’s Cathedral.
Today, we have expanded and
maybe even removed the notion of
spatial confinement with the aid of
technology. Physical and architec-
tural space as well as displacement
(seemingly) has no longer the same
meaning as it did to church com-
posers of 16th century Venice.
However, with the complex combi-
nation of real and digital spaces
arise new challenges which consoli-
date in a huge variety of aspects
taking influence on a musical piece.
Some of these concepts of space are
rather inherent such as the (studio)
space music is created in, the con-
ceptual space in the composer’s
mind, the space audible in a sound
sample, and the audible but virtual
space within a musical work created
by a composer as part of an artistic
vision; other aspects are more
explicit such as the sonic and archi-
space
tectural features of the space a mu-
sical work is performed in, as well
as the design of the presentation
within a performance space with
eventually specific seating of the
audience and (technically adjusted)
spatialization of appearing sounds
within this space. An interplay of
these aspects influences then how
a musical piece is created, how its
compositional structure and the
required performance environment
and technical set-up looks like,
which strategies for documentation
and preservation apply, and how we
talk about a composition.
This issue of Array presents how
composers and sound artist consoli-
date these aspects in their works,
how concepts of space can be
framed from an analytical perspec-
tive, and what it means to create
artificial (virtual) spaces to present
current practices and technical
discourses in hybrid settings such
as an ICMC.
A special thank goes to Martin
Ritter, who initiated and outlined
this wonderful topic.
Miriam Akkermann (Editor)
4


Huang, Chieh

Indigeneity and Computer Music in the Anthropocene