Woche (with apologies to Ruttmann and Brock)

Barnard, Matthew

Abstract

This composition represents an exploration and animation of an aesthetic framework outlined by the composer in previous research. The in-ear binaural method of recording and reproduction (and its headphone-based dissemination) is the focus of critical engagement, with an identification of a peculiar, participatory recording and listening method leading to novel aesthetic strands. Several research strands are exemplified and synthesised in this longform acousmatic musical work, representing the pinnacle of the research to date, including primarily those of: binaural negative space, the spatial opposition of the recordist and listener (Barnard 2010, 39) and its subsequent extension and relation to Merleau-Ponty (Emam 2013, 3) through reduction of distance (Merleau-Ponty 2011, 305); the earshot aesthetic that emerges from the context-rich, indiscriminate spatial sampling of the method (Barnard 2010, 42) and the broader truth that it permits (Weidenaar 2002, 66); and the extended spatial register of the binaural method and the dynamic affordance of internalised and externalised imagery (Barnard 2010, 37), as the collapsed monophonic space of the deteriorated tape of Ruttman’s ‘Wochenende’ (1930) and the clarity of the binaural circumspace (Smalley 2007, 51) is explored in an overt exchange of gestures, as the sonic typologies of Ruttman’s 1930 analogue original are mimicked and reinterpreted.

Barnard, Matthew. 2010. “The Sounds of Displacement.” PhD diss., University of Hull.
Emam, Tariq. 2013. "The Philosophy Of Binaural Music". In Symposium For Acoustic Ecology. University of Kent.
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. 2011. Phenomenology Of Perception. London: Routledge.
Smalley, Denis. 2007. “Space-form and the acousmatic image”. Organised Sound 12 (1):
35-58.
Weidenaar, Reynold. 2002. “Composing with the Soundscape of Jones Street”. Organised Sound 7 (1): 65-72.

Citation

Barnard, M. (2019). Woche (with apologies to Ruttmann and Brock). [.wav sound file]

• Digital Artefact Type: Audio
• Publication Date: Nov 7, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jun 17, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 9, 2020
• Keywords: Binaural, acousmatic, soundscape, composition
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/1988088
• Additional Information: Title: Woche (with apologies to Ruttmann and Brock) ; Running time: 26’38”; Performance record:; •Noisefloor 2019, Staffordshire University, 17th-18th May 2019, ; •Sound Thought 2018, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, 15th-18th November 2018; •Sound + Environment 2017 Conference, University of Hull, 30th June 2017; •Symposium on Acoustic Ecology, University of Kent, November 8-9th 2013; •ICP Cluster Research Generator Symposium, University of Hull, Scarborough Campus, 23rd June 2011; •Soundings Festival, Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh, 7th November 2009; ; To request access to these recordings, contact the author, or [e-mail].