Solo Work
My solo study goes into greater detail the relationship between improviser and amplification of sound, with the most recent representtion of this conquest has been Harmony After Amplification. The Description. Harmony After Amplification is an immersive sonic exhibition and extended improvisation where the listener has the ability to control their own perspective of the sonic art they’re perceiving. It’s a full quadrophonic experience with four distinctly different signal paths, all being triggered by the same input - a guitar. Some of the audio streams are more traditional in terms of manipulation, and some are malleable, yet uncontrollable due to the amount of parameters being adjusted by Random Voltage Oscillators. The only constant control I have is how much audio is being sent to each amplifier. This causes the participants to experience a culmination of four outputs, rather than multiple audio sources being sent to one PA. This takes the responsibility out of the perceiver’s hands to prioritise one tone over another. It’s an exercise in exploring the relationship between minimalist composition, improvisation on a three dimensional plain, space and the listener.
The Origin.
This idea started from my experience as a creative within the extended improvised music scene of Leeds (UK), who although specialised in the craft of electroacoustic music and sound manipulation, felt that amplification was too often regarded as a compromise — a logistical fix to a quieter instrument. I aimed to challenge this notion by centering amplification, spatial audio, and technological manipulation as essential tools of expression. This exhibition sprouted from the desire to rebel against the emulation of acoustic purity, but rather embody a post-acoustic identity, whilst still aiming for the same organic relationship one has with a traditional instrument. I am not acoustic, and I do not wish to be constrained by that framework. By building a system which enables me to route sound through multiple speakers, which are manipulated in separate audio streams which I strategically place around any architecture, I ‘play’ the space itself. The listener experiences unique resonances and phase relationships based on where they are placing themselves in a room, inadvertently immersing themselves into a living, evolving soundscape. It is an acknowledgment of the power of spatiality in sonic art. It’s not as background, but as medium. The loudest speaker a participant hears will sub- consciously cause the other speakers to sing in a consonant or dissonant way against the lead tone, and this will be a different for each individual inside the space dependant on their positioning.
The Experience.
As the listener enters the room, the exhibition will have started with a ‘calibration’. This consists of each amplifier playing a simple tone, at different frequencies which will create a clash between the speakers. The listener will then feel the physical experience of entering the space, and hearing the relationship between the amps change - resonating against them differently as they move through the sonic architecture. This is an unmistakably vital step in the exhibition, serving as a palette cleanser before the space starts getting manipulated. It will start with small parameters, such as adjusting the stereo field and how much volume is being sent out of each output, and from there it will build outwards, exploring different contemporary disciplines inside of sonic arts and musics. This includes minimalist composition, musique concrète, equal temperament tuning systems, electroacoustic composition, noise music and extended improvised music. This part of the exhibition is not pre-determined, in keeping with the idiom of free music that this idea was born out of, but it will at some point stabilise and morph back into the same ‘calibration’. This functions as a bookend, indicating the end of an exercise in manipulating sonic architecture. This will indicate the end of the exhibition.
The Reason.
This exhibition speaks to showcasing immersive, technologically-driven artistic experiences. The project bridges contemporary sound art, spatial design, and live performance, transforming any space into a resonant chamber of exploration. It invites and challenges listeners not only to perceive, but to feel and navigate sound as a sculptural presence — ephemeral yet deeply physical. It offers a distinct departure from conventional immersive audio works by subverting two foundational assumptions: that the performer must dictate the sonic narrative, and that amplification is purely utilitarian. While many spatial sound installations seek to envelop the audience with a unified field of sound, this work decentralises sonic authority. Instead, it creates a fragmented but coherent sonic ecosystem in which each listener becomes responsible for their own auditory experience — not by pushing buttons or wearing headsets, but simply by existing and moving within the space. It shifts the relationship of a performer being an author and audience being a reader, to both being ‘co-creators’ for each individual’s experience. This project also redefines improvisation not just as a musical practice, but as a spatial one. The idea of playing a room as though it were an instrument — activating and tuning it in real time moves beyond multichannel sound art into a realm of compositional architecture. The quadrophonic system, influenced by principles of modular synthesis and aleatoric control, introduces an unstable yet intentional ecology of sound, where randomness and structure interact unpredictably, creating a synthesised organic space for sonic art.
“By building a system which enables me to route sound through multiple speakers, which are manipulated in separate audio streams which I strategically place around any architecture, I ‘play’ the space itself.”