Extending acoustic Instruments through the application of microsound: a practice based approach

This paper explores the implications of the use of microsound with acoustic instruments in a live context. A composition for six instruments and electronics is used to illustrate the ideas in a practice based situation. The harmonic and textural structures underpinning composition are presented, and the relationships between the different elements are considered. The acoustic and the electroacoustic parts of the composition are integrated through structural frameworks which are derived from the application of microsound. The electronic processes are generated through a bespoke performance environment for real-time granulation developed in Max. The composition uses gestural archetypes, both in the electronic and the acoustic parts, to create a context where texture and harmony are treated as separate but integrated structural elements. Texture and harmony are thus employed as distinct parameters but with frequent points of contact mediated through the application of a hierarchy of gestures in both the electroacoustic and the acoustic parts. Microsound is used in a number of ways. Specifically: to complement the gestural archetypes used by the acoustic instruments by moving through a similar structural framework; to expand the spectral content of the acoustic instruments; as a technique for mediating the integration of harmony and texture; to extend existing spectromorphological relationships and to contribute new relationships including gesture/texture, foreground/background and framing relationships; to engage in a dialogue of tension and resolution not only with the acoustic part but also with other elements within the electronic part. Microsound thus becomes a medium through which to explore not only the acoustic qualities of traditional instruments but also their cultural and semiotic associations. Listener expectations are challenged, as sounds, and their sources, and presented in unfamiliar contexts while nevertheless contributing to an experience of unity and cohesion.