Practical approaches towards interactivity in soundscape composition

Abstract

The article discusses the role of technology in integrating acoustic instruments within soundscape composition in a live and interactive context, thus encouraging an engagement with the sonic environment. The approaches to two compositions that combine instruments with live electronics and pre-composed soundscapes – Cold Wood (bass trombone) and Arcando (alto saxophone) – are considered. These pieces create unique live performance scenarios in order to investigate how acoustic instruments might be positioned within, and reframed by, soundscape composition practice. Potential pitfalls inherent in mixed media works are explored, proposing technological solutions through sound processing and use of microphones, whilst ensuring that 'liveness' remains more aesthetic than procedural. Aspects of field recording practice influence the behaviour of the instruments, and improvisation is encouraged in both pieces to ensure unpredictability. Consequently, it is also proposed that the process of listening to, capturing, and processing the sound of the instrument in a live performance scenario is analogous to the practice of field recording, in which there is little control over the sound events.