Site-Specific Composition using

Acoustic Feature Segmentation

Stuart M. Mellor
Bachelor of Music (Honours Class 1)

Submission in accordance with the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts

The University of Leeds

School of Music

March, 2016
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The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his/her own and that
appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of
others.

This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and
that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper
acknowledgement.

The right of Stuart M. Mellor to be identified as Author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

© 2016 The University of Leeds and Stuart M. Mellor

 - ii -

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my parents for their endearing support throughout the year,
whilst I have worked on this project. I would also like to thank my personal tutors
Dr Scott Mc Laughlin and Ewan Stefani.
 - iii -

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to present a new method of site-specific

composition using acoustic measurements. The proposed method uses a process of

segmenting the site into separate architectural features and performing impulse

response measurements to identify the acoustic characteristics of the selected

features. This thesis will explore the aesthetic conditions of site-specific work both

in the visual arts and sonic arts to inform the development of the proposed method

to fit the site-specific classification as defined in the critical schemes of Melchionne

and Wilkie. Sound artists and composers like Max Neuhaus, Edgar Varèse,

Atmadjaja and Korinsky have presented novel forms of site-specific installation and

performance that demonstrate a move towards the understanding of the site as the

culmination of multiple architectural features however do not extensively use

acoustic measurement to inform the creation of site-specific sound work. They do,

however, show interesting methods of interacting with the acoustic properties of a

space, in both installation and concert situations.

The utilisation of directional loudspeaker sources in the acoustic

measurement procedure presented by Günel, Kestian and Roginska shows an

effective method of characterising room geometry. Extending upon these methods

to incorporate reverberation time calculations and frequency response it is possible

to compare the acoustic characteristics of a number of architectural features within

a single site. Data collected from this process is shown to be useful to the composer

in informing the creation of site-specific sound installations and performances that

reflect the acoustic quality of the space. This thesis presents three case studies that

demonstrate the use of a more in-depth method of site analysis and a series of
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musical extracts that have been created in response to information gathered in this

way.
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………….….ii

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………….iii

Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………v

List of Tables….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….… …viii

List of Figures….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….……….ix

Chapter 1: Introduction…………………………………………………………...........1

1.1 Outline of Research Area…………………………………………………………………… ..1

1.2 Context and Literature……………………………………………………………………… 3

1.2.1 Site-specificity…………………………………………………………………………3

1.2.2 Sound in Space….…………………………………………………………….……..4

1.2.3 Sound of Space..……………………………………………………………………..5

Chapter 2: Literature Review …………………………………………………..........8

2.1 Site-specificity …………………………………………………………………………………..8

2.2 Sound in Space………………………………………………………………………………… 19

2.2.1 Overview……..……………………………………………………………………….19

2.2.2 Sound as a Phenomenon.………………………………………………….……19

2.2.3 Site-Specificity in Music and Sound Installation………………………28

2.2.3.1 Sound Installation Site-

specificity……………………………………30

2.2.3.2 Concert Site-specificity…………………………………………………..45

2.3 Sound of Space………………………………………………………………………………..58

2.3.1 Overview……………………………………………………………………………… 58

2.3.2 Excitation and/or Response…………………………………………………..60

2.3.2.1 Qualitative Analysis………………………………………………………..61

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2.3.2.2 Quantitative Analysis……………………………………………………..65

2.3.3 Spatialisation and Dimension…………………………………………………73

Chapter 3: Design and Process.……………………………………………….........79

3.1 Overview……….…………………………………………………………………………………79

3.2 Sites………….…………………………………………………………………………………… 80

3.3 Acoustic Measurement.…………………………………………………………………….83

3.3.1 Measurement Software.……..…………………………………………..……..85

3.4 Composition.………………...……………………………………………………………… ..88

Chapter 4: Results, Pieces and Discussion….……………………………........90

4.1 Overview. ……….……………………………………………………………………………….91

4.2 Site One – Temple Works: Painters Bar……….…………………………………….92

4.2.1 Painters Bar – Site Overview……….…………………………………………92

4.2.2 Results……….………………………………………………………………………..95

4.2.3 Compositions and Extracts……….………………………………………….105

4.3 Site Two – University of Leeds, School of Music: CCCH……………………..114

4.3.1 CCCH – Site Overview……….…………………………………………………114

4.3.2 Results……….……………………………………………………………………….117

4.3.3 Compositions and Extracts……….………………………………………….128

4.4 Site Three – Clothworkers South, PCI Building: Stairwell……….……….…139

4.4.1 Stairwell – Site Overview……….…………………………………………….139

4.4.2 Results……….………………………………………………………………………142

Chapter 5: Conclusion…………………………..….……………………………......145

5.1 Overview.………………………………………………………………………………….……145

5.2 Method.…………………………………………………………………………..…………….145

5.2.1 Selection of Site and Interesting Features …..…………………………146

5.2.2 Segmented acoustic measurement………………………………………..147

5.2.3 Analysis of acquired RIRs…………………………………………….………148

5.2.4 Post-analysis of results and compositional development…………150

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5.3 Significance of this Research.…………………………………………………..………153

5.4 Future Developments………...…………………………………………………..……….154

5.4.1 Selection of Site.…………………………………..…..………………………….154

5.4.2 Measurement Procedure and Equipment……………………………….154

5.4.3 Analysis………………………………………………………………………………156

5.4.4 Composition………………………………………………………………………..157

5.4.5 Summary of Developments…………………………………………………..157

Bibliography…………..…………………………..…. …………………………….......159

List of Concerts and Installations...………..….……………………………......165

Discography...………..….…………………………….......................................167

Videography...………..….……………………………......................................168

List of Abbreviations……………………………………………………………………169
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List of Tables

Table 2.1 Wilkie Site-specific Rating Scale ................................ 11

Table 2.2 Koivuniemi and Zacharov’s Spatial and timbral
attribute scales with english translations (in italics)........... 63
Table 4.1: Frequency Band Crossing count and timings. .......... 108
Table 4.2: Rotation of Frequency Response Tonal Groupings
piece structure. .............................................................. 131
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List of Figures

Figure 2.1 Robert Smithson’s Double Nonsite, James Cohen

Gallery, New York (1968) ................................................. 14
Figure 2.2 Robert Smithson’s Double Nonsite, Franklin, New
Jersey (1968) .................................................................. 16
Figure 2.3 Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc, Federal Plaza, New
York (1981) ..................................................................... 18
Figure 2.4 Sabine Schäfer and Joachim Krebs Lost, Drawing
Plans (1999)................................................................................ 32
Figure 2.5 Angie Atmadjaja’s 492.40m3 56.7Hz TILT, Casino
Luxembourg, Luxembourg (2010) .................................... 34
Figure 2.6 Standing Wave: Fundamental Frequency ................. 35
Figure 2.7 Carsten Nicolai’s Syn Chron, Berlin ......................... 37
Figure 2.8 Aural Topography of Max Neuhaus’ Times Square. ... 45
Figure 2.9 Varese, Philips Pavilion, Nine Sound Routes ........... 48
Figure 2.10 Alvin Lucier Performing I am Sitting In a Room,
Museum of Modern Art, New York (2015) ......................... 54
Figure 2.11 Berliner Dom........................................................ 57
Figure 2.12 Dirac Delta ........................................................... 67
Figure 2.13 Novak, Synchronised Exponential Sine Sweep.
Initial frequency 1 (f1) to end Frequency (fi(t)). .................. 69
Figure 2.14 Separation of first order impulse response (h1(t))
and higher order nonlinear impulse responses(hi(t)) ......... 71
Figure 2.15a Map of St. Maria Catholic Church, measurement
positions. (Circled S denoting sound source). .................... 74
Figure 2.15b Map of St. Maria Catholic Church, map of
clarity. (Scale: white is relative to -4dB, and black is
relative to -8.4dB on the clarity scale). .............................. 74
Figure 2.16 Sweeping directional IR measurements, 18 points
20° intervals ................................................................... 76
Figure 2.17 Room Shape Estimations ........................................77
Figure 2.18 Difference in clarity between omnidirectional
(Left, less defined) and shotgun microphone (right,
more defined) ................................................................. 78
Figure 3.1 Adobe Audition set to Spectrum graph and
amplitude/time graph...................................................... 87
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Figure 3.2 Room EQ Wizard: Analytic Signal Graph (Left),

Frequency Response Decay Graph (Left). .......................... 88
Figure 4.1 Templeworks, Leeds, Front entrance to building ...... 91
Figure 4.2 Templeworks Painters Bar. Left Chamber (Top),
Centre Chamber (Bottom)................................................ 93
Figure 4.3 Temple Works, Painters Bar, Floor Plan.................. 94
Figure 4.4 Frequency Response (Top) and Polar Pattern of
Rode NT55 small-diaphragm cardioid microphone ............ 96
Figure 4.5 Figure 4.5: Painters Bar Bandpassed IR Reverb
Times (s) ........................................................................ 96
Figure 4.6 Projected RT60 Times, Average of All Bands (s) ....... 98
Figure 4.7 Projected RT60 Times Average of All Bands
(Normalised) .................................................................. 98
Figure 4.8 Range of projected RT60 Times (Normalised). ......... 99
Figure 4.9 Curvature of RIR Decay Curves ............................. 100
Figure 4.10 Multiple decay curve slopes in location four RIR
3556Hz-20kHz .............................................................. 100
Figure 4.11 Sound Diffusion from Location Four ..................... 101
Figure 4.12 Early reflections, Loc. 1 (Left), Loc. 5 (Right). ....... 102
Figure 4.13 Figure 4.13: RT60 Times for Locations One and
Four ..............................................................................103
Figure 4.14 Spectral Decay Graphs: Location one (Top) and
Location Four (Bottom) ................................................. 104
Figure 4.15 Sound Routes and Listening Area, Painters
Bar. ......................................................................... 107,113
Figure 4.16 Frequency Band Crossing points of Band Four
3556Hz-20 kHz ............................................................. 108
Figure 4.17 Crossings mapped out in Ableton (Highlighted
area shows pink noise filtered to 112Hz-632Hz, routed to
location two).................................................................. 110
Figure 4.18 Overlapping Frequency Band Patterns .................. 110
Figure 4.19 Chamber Groupings Split and Rhythmic Patterns .. 111
Figure 4.20 University of Leeds, CCCH ................................... 115
Figure 4.21 University of Leeds, Clothworkers Centenary
Concert Hall Floor Plan. ................................................. 117
Figure 4.22 Projected RT60 Times, Average of All Bands ......... 118
Figure 4.23 Figure 4.23: Standard Deviation of Projected
RT60 Times, Average of All Bands. .................................. 119
Figure 4.24 RT60 Times Bandpass: All bands average.............. 119
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Figure 4.25 Location One (Left) and Location Seven

Photographs. ................................................................. 121
Figure 4.26 Analytic Signals Location One (Left) and
Location Seven (Right). .................................................. 121
Figure 4.27 Standard deviation of EDT, T20 and T30 for each
location. ........................................................................122
Figure 4.28 Clear Reflection or “Flutter” Patterns in Location
7 (Left) and Location 8 (Right). ....................................... 123
Figure 4.29 Frequency Peak Selection Process of Location
One ............................................................................... 125
Figure 4.30 Frequency Response Decay Graph frequency
peaks and frequency range. .............................................126
Figure 4.31 Spectral Time Graphs of Location Eight (Top) and
Location Six (Bottom)..................................................... 127
Figure 4.32 Time from Speaker between Each Sample
Repetition......................................................................129
Figure 4.33 Selection of First Reflection in RIR from Location
Seven. ...........................................................................129
Figure 4.34 Ordering of speakers in piece one based on
Standard Deviation. ....................................................... 131
Figure 4.35 Dry (Top) and Wet (Bottom) Track View of
Rotation of Frequency Response Tonal Groupings. .......... 134
Figure 4.36 Seating Area in CCCH for Piece One and Two.........138
Figure 4.37 PCI Building Staircase Photographs. .................... 141
Figure 4.38 University of Leeds, PCI Building Floorplan Side-
on view ..........................................................................142
Figure 4.39 RT60 times of Staircase. ...................................... 143
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Chapter One

Introduction

1.1 Outline of Research Area

In recent years there have been several advancements in the procedure of

performing acoustic measurements to include a large number of measurements

using directional speakers and to limit the focus of acoustic measurements to

particular locations within a space. This method has shown to be effective in the

analysis and characterisation of particular features within a site and can inform the

measurer upon how the space affects the quality of sound movement in a number of

locations as opposed to an overview of the site. This measurement model has

distinct similarities to positioning of loudspeakers in site-specific sound

installations and performances however, to the knowledge of the author, has not

been extensively employed.

The project is therefore focussed upon the utilisation of directional acoustic

measurement procedure to allow the composer to gather quantitative information

upon particular architectural features within a site that could be useful in the

creation of site-specific work. The proposed method separates the site into several

locations that have been selected as prominent features within a site and may have

an acoustically “interesting” character. Acoustic measurement is then employed to

gather quantitative data upon the specific quality of the selected locations which can

then be analysed. A segmented approach to understanding the site allows for a

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much more in-depth investigation into the site as an amalgamation of individual

architectural features, each having a particular set of acoustic characteristics that

can be compared and contrasted through collected data. Consequently,

compositions and sound installations can be created which respond to the

information gleaned from the segmented measurement process that are inherently

specific to the site.

Site-specificity is an aesthetic consideration, and is therefore grounded in the

conceptual development of work that is created to reference the site in which it is

made for, whether it is physical or an abstract site. Therefore the project has

explored the concept of site-specificity in the visual arts as well as sonic arts to

identify a broader model of site-specificity that can be employed in the creation of

works using the proposed method. The literature review (Ch.2) will be split into

three main sections: Site-specificity as a conceptual model, Site-specificity in the

sonic arts, and finally acoustic measurement. This structuring allows for a rigorous

exploration of a broad interdisciplinary field to build a significant framework for the

proposed method. This ensures that the techniques developed in this research are

valid both aesthetically and technically.

Chapters three and four document the application and considerations that

have been made over the last year in the development of the proposed method, and

presents the findings as a series of three case studies. Each of these case studies are

focussed upon a single site and how the measurement procedure has been utilised

in a compositional framework. This process outlines the selection of a site and

individual architectural features; the actual measurement process itself and the

gathering of data for analysis; the impact and discussion of particular results; the
 -3-

creation of short extracts of sound pieces which exploits the gained understanding

of the site.

1.2 Context and Literature

1.2.1 Site-Specificity

A shift in the spatial practices of minimalist sculptural art in the 1960s

brought the site as a significant factor in the completion of the work. This has been

identified by Kwon and Suderburg as the beginning of artists creating work that

could be distinguished as site-specific. The minimalist model of sites-specificity

grounded the work physically to a single location that if removed the work would

conceptually be destroyed. Site-specificity in this form has been employed in the

work Double Nonsite by Robert Smithson and Tilted Arc by Richard Serra and

highlight a distinct physical dialogue between their work and the site in which they

are installed. Kwon classes this physical connection as “Phenomenological Site-

specificity” and thus focuses upon the creation of works that reference the physical

properties of a site. The other model Kwon offers as distinction from the physical

site is “Institutional or discursive site-specificity”. This can be separated into two

strands: “institutional and social” – the site as a culmination of cultural and social

frameworks as defined by art institutions that can be tied to a geographical location.

“The discursive site” – the site derived through discursive means therefore can fall

outside of physical space and institutional frameworks (See Ch.2.1).

Melchionne and Wilkie have developed two critical schemes that serve as a

method of distinguishing the level of site-specificity a work may hold. These guides

are not only useful in the classification of existing works but also serve as a guide for

the creation work that aims to be site-specific. The first section of the literature
 -4-

review will explore the practice of site-specific artists with a view to highlighting the

characteristics and concepts that allow a piece of work to be denoted as site-specific

relative to Melchionne and Wilkie’s scales. This will aid in the subjective

understanding of site-specificity in the sonic arts and how the use of acoustic

measurement may fit into these two schemes.

1.2.2 Sound in Space

Sound is a physical phenomenon that occurs through the mechanical

disturbance of a medium and emanates from the source as sound waves. Sound

therefore follows wave dynamics and is subject to reflection, refraction, diffusion,

etc. which occur when sound reaches a physical boundary or change. Labelle argues

that sound is intrinsically relational and therefore its path of travel and quality is

determined by the events, objects and other entities that inhabit the same space as a

sound event. Koutsomichalis argues that by definition sound is Site-specific: Sound

allows the listener to perceive not only the sound events taking place directly in

front of them but to also hear the response of the environment around them.

Blesser and salter describe this relationship as “Aural Architecture” which

encapsulates the relational experience between our auditory sense and the physical

properties of space.

Koutsomichalis argues that music – a construct that utilises sound in its

creation – is not necessarily site-specific. While music may take place within

physical space and can be designed for certain type of environments like the concert

hall, it does not inherently become “about the site” – a requirement of Melchionne’s

site-specific scheme. The introduction of electronic means of storing, manipulating

and playing back sound in the 20th century, giving rise to musique concrète, allowed
 -5-

composers to engage with the spatial presentation of sound within space.

Campesato highlights three paradigms that the sonic artist can interact with the site

in a site-specific way: Acoustical Space, Architectural space and Representational

space. These can be employed as methods for referencing the site in the creation of

site-specific work. For the purposes of this project there will be a distinct focus

upon the use of acoustical space.

Section 2.2 will explore the site-specific works of Angie Atmadjaja, Carsten

Nicolai, Steve Peters, Max Neuhaus, Edgar Varèse, Alvin Lucier, and artist

collective Korinsky. These works can be split into two categories based upon the

way in which they are presented: concert performances and sound installations. An

investigation will be made into the ways in which both of these methods fit the

critical schemes of Melchionne and Wilkie and how each of them uses the acoustic

properties of a space. The works by Atmadjaja and Korinsky are of particular

relevance to this project as they utilise acoustic measurements in the creation of

their work. However the other works demonstrate several compositional techniques

which explore the acoustics of a site in novel ways and are useful in offering

interesting methods of site-specific composition and installation.

1.2.3 Sound of Space

The final section explores two themes that have arisen from the composers

and sound artists from section 2.2, “excitation and response” and “spatiality and

dimension” with a view to finding methods of acoustic measurement that can be

used for the creation of site-specific sound art or music. Excitation and response

explores the broader concept behind acoustic measurement and the assessment of

the acoustic quality of a space using both qualitative and quantitative techniques.
 -6-

Qualitative assessment has arisen due to Francis’s pertinent question of

‘why did we try to perform this music in this room?’ in light of the works

mentioned. Kutruff argues that subjective judgment of the acoustical quality of a

space to define “good” acoustic space is problematic as the assessment is bias

towards the individuals’ experience and preference. Beranek has created a list of 18

important subjective attributes that can be employed to prompt audience members

to rate the acoustic character of a site using a simple linear rating system. The main

issue with Beranek’s system is some of the categories do not transpose well to the

use of loudspeakers within space and instead are focussed upon the affect the space

has upon an acoustical ensemble source (See Ch. 2.3.2.1). Koivuniemi and Zacharov

present a similar system that is designed to assess the spatial reproduction quality

of speaker arrays, measuring qualities such as “sense of depth”, “naturalness”, and

“distance to events”, which may not be directly applicable to the use of loudspeakers

but are much more relevant than Beranek’s attributes.

Quantitative analysis explores the process of performing acoustic

measurements within the space and focuses upon several excitation methods based

upon the Room Impulse Response (RIR). The most robust method out of these

excitation techniques is Novak and Farina’s exponential sine-sweep method, as it

has the best performance both in Signal-to-Noise ratio (SNR) and is able to separate

non-linearities from the acquired RIR. The RIR allows for a number of qualities

about the location in which the measurement was performed to be calculated and

analysed. The RT60 and its deviations (T20, T30, EDT), as according to ISO.., allow

the calculation of reverberation time and can inform the measurer upon the time

sound takes to decay from the point of reference. Spectral analyses can also inform

the measurer upon the frequency response of a site and thus can identify resonant
 -7-

frequencies that are unique to the site. These measurable parameters offer the

composer the ability to gather quantitative information upon the acoustic quality of

the site and can be used to create compositions.

Spatialisation and dimension looks at how acoustic measurements can be

performed multiple times throughout a space to inform the measurer upon the

character of particular locations within a single site. The work by Topa et al

demonstrates how measurements can be performed in locations relative to the

usage of the space to allow the creation of attribute maps which allow a visual

representation of how sound travelling from one location might be affected by the

architectural structure. The use of omnidirectional microphones in this method

however does not allow the identification of directional information and make it

difficult to identify problematic or useful architectural features.

Günel presents a method that uses a sweeping pattern of impulse response

measurements, a directional speaker source and microphones arranged to capture a

collection of signals that can be summed into the B-format. This method allows the

identification of sound wave arrival points to each microphone position and thus

determine the configuration of the space being measured. An issue with both of

these techniques is that they both require a large number of measurements to take

place and in the creation of site-specific works. Günel’s method returns, in

particular, returns 25 RIRs per measurement with 18 intervals around a central

point. Kestian and Roginska present a method which requires less measurements

and solves issues of high SNR is ted by which limits the number of required

measurements to the number of architectural features. The utilisation of a

directional microphone and directional source returns much more clearly defined

RIRs and improves upon the high SNR created using omnidirectional microphones.
 -8-

Chapter 2

Literature Review

2.1 Site-Specificity

A list of site-specific qualities does not provide us with necessary and sufficient
conditions for site-specificity. Instead, it suggests a rich array of critical questions that
can be raised in all sorts of contexts where site-specificity seems important… From
the perspective of the artist, it is a list of strategies. 1

Site-specificity is an aesthetic consideration that an artist may apply to, or use

as a framework for the creation of a work which is tied to a particular site. The

following section seeks to identify the main critical considerations behind the term

“site-specific” to establish a rule-set of traits that a site-specific work has to adhere

to, to allow the classification of a work as being site-specific. This is important to

this project as the proposed use of acoustic measurement procedure to analyse a

space is only a step towards the creation of site-specific music and sonic art.

Furthermore, as the term originates from visual art practice, it is important to

identify how traditional site-specific models translate into sound disciplines.

The term was coined through the practice of minimalist sculpture artists in

the late 1950s to assign value to the site in which a piece was situated, and therefore

1
Kevin Melchionne, ‘Rethinking Site-Specificity: Some Critical and Philosophical Problems’, Art
Criticism, 12 (1998), 36-49 (p. 41).
 -9-

a basic model of site-specific can be established from this movement: Kwon

summarises that…

Site-specific work in its earliest formation; then, focused on establishing an

inextricable, indivisible relationship between the work and its site and demanded the
physical presence of the viewer for the work’s completion. 2

If modernist sculpture absorbed its pedestal/base to sever its connection to or express

its indifference to the site, rendering itself more autonomous and [self-referential],
and thus transportable, placeless, and nomadic… 3

The original model of site-specificity, as identified by Kwon, was therefore

grounded to a physical location, of which a work was designed to reference. A piece

that was designed to be moved from site to site, or that failed to be site-referential

would fail to satisfy the minimalist site-specific model. This is significant as music is

well known to be travelled both in classical concerts and modern electronic music.

Thus, to create music or sonic art work that can be labelled as site-specific it has to

be created so that if removed from a site it loses meaning.

Site-specificity, however, has taken on a different meaning since the

minimalist sculpture movement and has crossed into other disciplines. Kwon

classifies site-specificity as falling into three loose models; “Phenomenological site-

specificity” which focuses attention upon the experience of the physical

characteristics of a particular place, ‘… one of lived bodily experience…’ 4

“Institutional site-specificity” conceptualises the site as a culmination of social and

political structures that shifted the locus from its physical and spatial boundaries to

conceive the site as a cultural framework defined by the institutions of art. 5 The

2
Miwon Kwon, One Place After Another, (Cambridge, UK: MIT Press, 2002), pp. 11-12.
3
Kwon, p. 84.
4
Kwon, p. 12.
5
Kwon, p. 13.
 - 10 -

final definition offered by Kwon is “Discursive site-specificity” which she describes

as being a site that is…

… delineated as a field of knowledge, intellectual exchange, or cultural debate.

Furthermore unlike in the previous models, the site is not defined as a precondition.
Rather, it is generated by the work (often as “content”), and then verified by its
convergence with an existing discursive formation.6

One of the primary motivations behind this project, is the consideration of the site

as a physical location. This, however, does not exclude the social and cultural

significance of the site as this may be important when creating a work in a site that

has social or political history. A discursive model is consequently not relevant, as

the proposed method of analysing the site using acoustical measurement requires a

physical location. Acoustic measurement is a method of examining acoustic

“phenomena”, and consequently, the phenomological model is more suited.

Similarly to Kwon, Melchionne provides a “critical repertoire” which seeks to

distinguish types of site-specificity that search further into the finer details as to

what constitutes towards a work being site-specific7 . This repertoire is more

rigorous than Kwon’s and includes distinctions such as “Entrenchment” which he

denotes as being work that becomes attributed to a particular site – the Mona Lisa

and the Louvre.8 Melchionne’s scheme however, can be simplified to fit into Kwon’s

three schemes, and has a predominant focus upon institutional site-specificity.

Additionally, Melchionne points out that the over classification of site-specific

works begins to unravel the historical specificity of the “site-specific”, therefore ‘…

[making] it a historically transcendent category of all art, divorced from its roots in

the Avant-garde of the Sixties and Seventies.’9 Melchionne attempts to combat this

6
Kwon, p. 26.
7
Melchionne, pp. 40-41.
8
Melchionne, p. 41.
9
Melchionne, p. 41.
 - 11 -

through returning to a simplistic, semantically driven approach to reaching a

broader, and more encompassing measure of “site-specificity”:

1. about but not for a place (not site-specific, for example, landscape painting)
2. for but not about place (weakly site-specific art)
3. for and about a place (strongly site-specific art)1 0

This scheme is useful – not only as a critical tool – but as a rule-set for the creation

of site-specific work.

Table 1.1: Wilkie Site-specific Rating Scale. 11

10
Melchionne, p. 43.
11
Fiona Wilkie, ‘Mapping the Terrain: a Survey of Site-Specific Performance in Britain’, in New
Theatre Quarterly, 17, 2 (2002), 140-160 (p. 150).
 - 12 -

Although Melchionne’s scheme is useful in determining how site-specific a

piece of work is, Wilkie has created a scheme which puts to question the third and

strongest measure of site-specificity. Wilkie defines “site-generic” as being work

that is created “for a series of like sites” (See Table 1.1). The issue with Melchionne’s

definition of “strongly” site-specific work is that a site-generic work in the examples

given by Wilkie can be both “for and about a place”. Consequently, Melchionne’s

scheme could rate the same piece of work as being site-specific and site-generic.

Oliveira et al confirm this by suggesting that…

Site-specificity implies neither simply that a work is to be found in a particular

place, nor, quite, that it is a place. It means, rather, that what the work looks like
and what it means is dependent in large part on the configuration of the space in
which it is realized. In other words if the same objects were arranged in the same
way in another location they would constitute a different work. 1 2

Following Melchionne’s scheme, creating a piece about swimming pools which are

exhibited within a series of swimming pools would be classified as being site-

specific. In the same way as writing music about swimming pools being played in a

series of swimming pools would be site-specific. In contrast, Wilkie’s scheme would

demote the work to being site-generic. Accordingly, the use of Melchionne and

Wilkie’s schemes are both useful in distinguishing the level of site-specificity in a

work, however should be used in conjunction. Furthermore the generic nature of

both, allow the schemes to be applied in exploring site-specificity in any artistic

discipline. The remainder of this section will explore the methods of visual artists

that fall into Kwon’s “phenomological site-specific” to identify the artist’s

considerations of the site that fit within the traditional model of site-specificity. This

will be useful in the creation of site-specific sonic art and music as the methods

12
Nicolas De Oliveira, Nicola Oxley, Michael Petry, Michael Archer, ‘Site’, in Installation Art
(Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994), p. 35.
 - 13 -

discussed will provide distinct examples of how the traditional model is employed

and will serve as inspiration for the pieces created.

Smithson one of the earliest and notable examples of artists to consciously

attach site-specific meaning to his work, took on the gallery space, an environment

that exemplifies the traditional norm of presenting artistic work. In reference to his

work Double Nonsite,1 3 distinguishes between site and non-site by determining ‘The

site, in a sense, is the physical, raw reality – the earth or the ground that we are

really not aware of when we are in an interior room or studio…’1 4 The non-site, the

“room” or “studio”, he suggests are ‘…abstract container[s]’ 1 5 . Smithson’s Double

Nonsite explores the interplay between the neutral nature of the studio or gallery

interior with the physical exterior which consists of a collected mass of lava

extracted from a volcano and installed in a gallery. ‘Here by bringing in the Gallery

something foreign, the assumed neutrality of the Gallery is contaminated and laid

bare.’ Smithson has taken a neutral site, the gallery, the “local position” and has

created “specificity” through bringing the “physical” volcanic material which

therefore the space has subsequently received a “special determining quality”.

13
Robert Smithson, Double Nonsite, [Installation] California and Nevada, USA, (1968-1969).
14
Edward S. Casey, Earth-mapping: Artists Reshaping Landscape, (Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press, 2005), p. 6.
15
Casey, p. 6.
 - 14 -

Figure. 2.1: Robert Smithson’s Double Nonsite, James Cohen Gallery, New York
(1968). 1 6

Through locating his work in the gallery, Smithson creates a ‘dialogue

between the indoor and the outdoor [… the site] and non-site’1 7 the importance

pertaining to the intrinsic relationship to the object in the space. Kaye argues that…

[r]ather than ‘establish its place’, the minimalist object emphasises a transitive
definition of site, forcing a self-conscious perception in which the viewer confronts
her own effort “to locate, to place” the work and so her own acting out of the gallery’s
function as the place for viewing1 8 .
Smithson is therefore encouraging the viewer to make their own connection

between the site and the work by presenting them with material that is foreign to

the gallery space. The familiar environment of the gallery becomes a tool in creating

a contrast with the material gathered from an external site. Smithson, intrigued by

the notion of “Gestalt” – an organised whole that is perceived as more than the sum

of its parts, questioned ‘where the works were, what they were about.’ 1 9 In response

his work Double Nonsite explored the ‘neutral white … abstractness of the gallery as

a room’2 0 in juxtaposition to ‘less neutral sites … that would in a sense be

16
Luna Imaging, ‘Design Library Image Collection’, Double Nonsite, California and Nevada, (NCSU
Libraries, 1968) http://images.lib.ncsu.edu/luna/servlet/s/g1736u [Accessed on 12/07/2015].
17
Casey, p.6.
18
Nick Kaye, ‘Site-Specifics’, in Theatre and Performance Design: A Reader in Scenography, ed. By
Jane Collins and Andrew Nisbet, (New York: Routledge, 2010), 102-106 (p. 103).
19
Robert Smithson, Robert Smithson the Collected Writings, ed. By Jack D. Flam, (California:
University of California Press, 1996), p. 296.
20
Smithson, p. 296
 - 15 -

neutralized by the gallery.’2 1 Through installing volcanic material from the natural

environment into the gallery Smithson is directing the viewer to consciously leave

the exhibition “non-site” to visit the “site” which directs them back to the gallery,

thus creating a dynamic dialogue between the internal and external world.

Although Smithson’s work is clearly presented in a traditional manner; the

white boxes containing the volcanic material laid centrally in a gallery space as part

of an exhibition – the concept behind the work elevates it beyond work which

resembles “found object” style work to a piece which fundamentally question the

significance of the site. Considering Melchionne and Wilkie’s scales however brings

to question the level of site-specificity; conceptually the piece is built upon the

dichotomous relationship between the installation and the gallery and therefore

references the quality and familiarity of the site in opposition to the foreign

material. This could therefore class the piece as being for and about a site, thus

strongly site specific on Melchionne’s scale. The piece however has been presented

in several different sites 2 2 , which he describes as “nonsites” with a similar effect

which could therefore class the work as being “site-generic” on Wilkie’s scale.

21
Smithson, p. 296
22
Unknown, ‘Passaic’, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, (Unknown Year),
http://www.pucsp.br/artecidade/novo/english/urbanismo04.htm [Accessed on 22/03/2016].
 - 16 -

Figure 2.2: Robert Smithson’s Double Nonsite, Franklin, New Jersey (1968) 2 3

Within Smithson’s work there is a distinct focus upon how the viewer should

respond to the work and specifically with the site. His work plays upon the

conscious perception of the observer and how they respond to the environment.

Another artist who has uses site-specificity to a similar effect is Richard Serra and

his work Tilted Arc24. Installed in 1981 in front of the Javits Federal Building in New

York City, the sculpture consisted of 120 feet long and 12 feet high sheet of sheet,

tilted and shaped into a mild arc. Chevaillier states that…

Serra’s works involve the viewer in this creative, exploratory process. They heighten
perceptual awareness and virtually force interaction. They compel the viewer to
confront his experience and perception of them in relation to both space and time and
to focus on their physical properties and the manner in which they were created. All
Serra’s sculptures are concerned with what can actually be experienced and observed.
Some reveal the process of their making, some clarify aspects of their physical
properties, and others redefine the nature of the space they occupy. It is only in
tracing these interactions, in ‘working’ to understand the pieces, that they become

23
Robert Smithson, ‘Arte/cidade: Passaic’, A nonsite, Franklin, New Jersey, 1968, (Franklin, New
Jersey: 1968), http://www.pucsp.br/artecidade/novo/english/urbanismo04.htm [Accessed on
22/03/2016].
24
Richard Serra, Tilted Arc, [Installation] Federal Plaza, New York (1981).
 - 17 -

fully comprehensible and meaningful. 2 5

Serra’s work therefore falls into Kwon’s “phenomological” site-specificity as it

is predominantly focussed upon creating a relationship between the physical

properties of a space and the work. Chevaillier highlights that ‘[t]he sculpture

obtruded the passage of the pedestrians on the plaza, which forced them to actively

reconsider their position in the plaza and the way the latter was constructed.’2 6

Serra’s Tilted Arc falls into an “interrupted” model of site-specificity, as defined by

Deutsche2 7 , wherein the work functions as a disruption to the normal state of a site,

whether this be visually, logistically, socially. This contrasts work which she

describes as being a part of an “assimilative” model, which seeks to seamlessly

integrate a work into an environment. 2 8 These models are not discussed in Wilkie’s

scheme, and could be argued that a work which is classed as being “interrupted”

site-specific could rate a work as being “not about” a site. Conversely, the process of

creating material which seeks to disrupt the space is indirectly referencing the site –

the site is being analysed for its visual and spatial qualities to create a work which

tries to oppose.

25
Flore Chevaillier, ‘Interpretive Conventions in Site-Specific and Experimental Art: An analysis of
Richard Serra’s Sculptures and Joseph McElroy’s Fictions’, in European journal of American studies,
2, 2 (2007), p.6
26
Chevaillier, p.11
27
Rosalyn Deutsche, ‘Uneven Development: Public Art in New York City’, in October, 47, (1988), pp.
3-52 (pp. 23-27).
28
Deutsche, pp. 23-27.
 - 18 -

Figure 2.3: Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc, New York (1981). 2 9

Site-specificity therefore became a method of displacing the dominant

modern idealism that constrained traditional art forms, with a new interest in the

materiality of the natural landscape or the impure and ordinary space of the

everyday.3 0 Reassessment of the site as a location of significance allowed artists to

reassign value to many aspects of a work beyond the object itself; the physical

characteristics of a space, whether architectural, geographical or “functional” 3 1 ; the

socio-cultural significance of a location; the audience member’s role in the

29
Jordan Marty, ‘SPACE / FALL 15’, RICHARD SERRA: Tilted Arc, (2015)
<https://hoursofidleness.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/late20th38-jpg.jpeg> [Accessed on
12/11/2015].
30
Kwon, p. 86.
31
James Meyer, ‘The Functional Site; or, The Transformation of Site Specificity’, in Space, Site,
Intervention: Situating Installation Art, ed. Erika Suderburg (Minnesota, USA: University of
Minnesota Press, 2000), pp. 23-37.
 - 19 -

reception of work; the phenomenological and temporality aspect of a piece, all

became possible methods for interacting with a site. Through locating an artistic

creation such as a sculpture into a scene or environment which encapsulated the

piece, the audience were invited to experience not only the object but to be a part of

the setting of a piece.

2.2 Sound in Space

2.2.1 Overview

The following section has been broken down into two larger sections; “Sound

as a Phenomenon” is focused upon the exploration of sound as a site-specific entity

itself to identify whether sound is inherently site-specific; “Site-specificity in Music

Performance and Sound Installation” in contrast deals with two types of sound

presentation that utilise sound to create site-specific work. These sections have

been split so that there is a clear division between sound as a singular phenomenon

and music or sound installation that organise sound into pieces of work. Section

2.2.3 is broken down further into two smaller subsections which separates sonic art

practice into music performance and sound installation.

2.2.2 Sound as a Phenomenon

Sound is movement. Repose is dumb. All sound, all noise, tells of motion; it is the
invisible telegraph which nature uses. 3 2

32
Rodolphe Radau, Wonders in Acoustics; or, the Phenomena of Sound, trans. by Robert Ball (New
York: C. Scribner and co., 1870), p. 1.
 - 20 -

Sound is a phenomenon that is intrinsically linked to the space in which we

inhabit in our everyday lives. As Radau suggests: “Sound is movement” and

therefore can only take place in a spatial environment. ‘At a physical level sound is

simply a mechanical disturbance of the medium, which may be air, or a solid, liquid

or other gas.’3 3 The definition for sound reveals that sound is the ‘Vibrations that

travel through the air or another medium and can be heard when they reach a

person’s or animal’s ear’3 4 Therefore it can be assumed that sound requires a

listener, and a dimensional space, of any medium, to be transferred and understood

as sound. Blesser and Salter confirm this and explicitly state that ‘All sound exists in

a space; there is no spaceless sound.’3 5 LaBelle furthers this definition and argues

that ‘Sound is intrinsically and unignorably relational: it emanates, propagates,

communicates, vibrates, and agitates; it leaves a body and enters others.’3 6 Labelle

offers three observations on sound that highlight…

1. … sound is always in more than one place. If I make a sound, such as clapping
my hands, we hear this sound here, between my palms at the moment of
clapping, but also within the room, tucked up into the corners, and
immediately reverberating back…3 7
2. … sound occurs among bodies; … Sound is produced and inflected not only by
the materiality of space but also by the presence of others … Thus, the
acoustical event is also a social one… 3 8
3. … sound is never a private affair … we tend to look towards the … source of
sound… Yet we can see, or hear, how [the sound] is also immediately beyond
[the receiver], around the room, and, importantly, inside the heads of others. 3 9

Labelle clearly defines the significance and impact of physical space and the

connection of the listener to the environment and sound source; point one focuses

33
David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 4 (Focal Press, 2009), p.2.
34
‘Sound’, in Oxford Dictionaries, (Oxford, Oxford University Press)
<http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/sound> [Accessed on 21/12/2015].
35
Barry Blesser, Ruth Salter, ‘Aural Architecture: The Invisible Experience of Space’, in OASE, 78
(2009), pp. 50-63 (p. 51).
36
Brandon LaBelle, Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound Art, 2 (Continuum International
Publishing Group Ltd., 2006), p. xi.
37
LaBelle, p. xii.
38
LaBelle, p. xii.
39
LaBelle, pp. xii – xiii.
 - 21 -

upon the physical nature of sound propagation in space; point two highlights the

presence of human both as a receiver, producer and obstruction, of sound within a

site; point three consolidates number one and two and points towards the

encapsulation of the whole experience: sound requires space and human presence

to be heard, whilst the physical properties of both the space and the listener affect

how sound is transferred and received. ‘Listening is thus a form of participation in

the sharing of a sound event, however banal. Such occurrence implies a

psychological dimension to considering sound and modes of spatiality. Whereas the

acoustical brings to the fore material presence…’4 0 Therefore, sound acts as an

active entity that, not only, communicates information from a source to a receiver,

but travels into the surrounding space, which in turn informs the listener of their

surrounding environment. Koutsomichalis furthers this point and argues that…

Sound is a phenomenon that is inherently site-specific and which has a foundational

intercorrelation with space and architecture (Koutsomichalis 2009b, pp. 7-19). This
relationship is essentially twofold: Sound is dynamically embedded into architecture
as it depends on a series of on-site phenomena on a physical, psychological and
cognitive level (Olson 1967, pp. 1-24; Augoyard et al. 2006, p. 4) while, in turn, it
redefines the social and aesthetic qualities of a location (Barry Blesser 2007, pp. 2-66;
Pallasmaa 2005, p. 49). 4 1

Consequently the interrelationship between sound and architecture, or even space,

is reciprocal in the way in which sound is controlled and characterised by the space,

in which it travels, whilst affecting the perceived social and aesthetic quality of a

location.

In discussing Bachelard’s concept of the sound space relationship, Rodrigues

et.al point out that ‘… the relation between sound and place as being responsible for

40
Labelle, p. xiii.
41
Marinos Koutsomichalis, ‘Site Specific Live Electronic Music’, in Proceedings of the Electroacoustic
Music Studies Conference, Sforzando!, New York (2011), <http://www.ems-
network.org/IMG/pdf_EMS11_Koutsomichalis.pdf> [Accessed on 2/5/2015], p. 1.
 - 22 -

defining the boundaries of a place. Silence would represent an infinite space, while

sound would limit and confine.’4 2 The perception of space audibly is, however,

dependent on the factor highlighted by Radau that ‘All sound, all noise, tells of

motion...’4 3 which in the laws of physics requires an initial stimulus. Blesser and

Salter add that ‘[a]lthough vision allows us to perceive a static environment without

people or activities, hearing depends upon dynamic events created by man or

nature.’4 4 Therefore to perceive the dimensional quality of space, a space needs to

be physically excited through sound producing activities. In doing so assessments

upon the acoustic characteristic of a space, thus leading to information upon the

dimensional quality, material make-up and other factors, can be identified.

Confirming this argument, Tuan suggests that Sounds, though vaguely located, can

convey a strong sense of size (volume) and of distance. For example, in an empty

cathedral the sound of footsteps tapping sharply on the stone floor creates an

impression of cavernous vastness. 4 5 The listener is therefore enlightened to the

spatial dimension and material make up of a space through the way in which sound

is altered by the space to change that occurs beyond the direct transmission of

sound to the individual. Blesser and Salter attribute this to constituting towards the

term “Aural Architecture” and explain that…

[f]rom the point of view of the beholder … we formulate a valuation of our

experience in that space, and by extension, of the space itself. Aural architecture,
which explores the interaction between our auditory sense and the natural and built
environment, concerns the experience of sounds that have been changed by the
physical properties of a space. 4 6

42
Mailis G. Rodrigues, Marcelo M. Wanderley, Paulo F. Lopes, ‘Intonaspacio: A Digital Musical
Instrument for Exploring Site-Specificities in Sound’, in Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 8905
(2014), 393-415 (p. 1).
43
Radau, p. 1.
44
Blesser, Salter, p. 51
45
Yi-Fu Tuan, Space and Place: The perspective of Experience, (Minnesota: University of Minnesota
Press, 2001), p. 15.
46
Blesser, Salter, p. 1.
 - 23 -

This shows that there is an indivisible connection between the physical properties of

a space and the resulting modulation that a sound is subjected to in an architectural

or other environment.

One issue with the human auditory sense is our visual sense is more highly

defined. Schafer discusses that ‘[a]uditory space is very different from visual space

– we are always at the edge of visual space, looking into it with the eye. But we are

always at the centre of auditory space, listening out with the ear’ 4 7 . Cox offers the

analogy by Leibniz to support this theory;

When I walk along the seashore, my perception of “the great noise of the sea” is clear;
that is, it is fully and powerfully audible. But it is also confused, since I hear this
sound as a mass and don’t distinguish its elements – the individual waves – which
remain obscure. 4 8

This concept, as mentioned by Cox, is defined by Leibniz as “petites perceptions”,

‘According to this theory, each of our conscious perceptions is grounded in a vast

swarm of elements that do not reach conscious thought. Such unconscious

perceptions have what Leibniz calls a virtual existence.’4 9 When returning to the

example given by Tuan in which he suggests ‘sounds are vaguely located’, although

we perceive the effect of the cathedral added to the tail of the direct sound, we are

unable to separate and define the exact time and location of every individual

reflection, or distinguish the direction of diffuse sound with great accuracy. Blesser

and Salter focus this issue further by highlighting the effect of conjoined spaces and

spaces that are incomplete containers:

Spatial acoustics can strongly influence the audibility of sonic events. Sound can enter an
area through an opening, be disseminated throughout a space via reverberation, and be
transmitted via structures. On the one hand, visually discrete spaces can be auditorally

47
R. Murray Schafer, Voices of Tyranny Temples of Silence, (Ontario, Canada: Arcana Editions, 1993),
p. 164.
48
Christoph Cox, ‘Sound Art and the Unconscious’, in Organised Sound, 14 (2009), 19-26 (p.21).
49
Cox, p.21.
 - 24 -

fused into one. On the other hand, extensive sound absorption can create multiple
auditory arenas, each hosting a separate private event. 50

The site therefore may be influenced by the acoustics of external locations,

thus putting to question the level of contamination a space receives from other

sources and where the boundaries of the site—when considering the site-specificity

of sound—end. However, Blesser and Salter argue that despite ‘[t]he particular

materiality of a room for instance lends dramatically to contouring what we hear, its

shape, its dynamics, and its forcefulness – its voice, through movements of

reflection. This can be extended to the built environment in general, underscoring

the soundscape as the meeting or incorporation of sound by its surroundings.’51

Consequently the location in its entirety can be considered as being the “site”,

sound therefore existing in this aural architecture or environment is specific to the

respective physical qualities, sonic anomalies, ambience that are inherent to the

space.

Although sound, as argued by Blesser and Salter, Bachelard and

Koutsomichalis, may be considered as being affected by the site to the extent that it

is specifically tied to a location, Koutsomichalis also argues that music may not be

considered in the same light. ‘While sound may, by definition, be site- and

consciousness-specific, music is not necessarily either, as it may be established

upon abstract narratives and metaphors instead. At least as far as formal western

tradition is concerned, composers have always been more interested in intellectual

compositional systems.’52 While music may be defined as ‘The science or art of

ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal

50
Blesser, Salter, p.3.
51
Brandon LaBelle, ‘Acoustic Spatiality’, in Journal of Literature, Culture and Literary Translation,
(2012), <hrcak.srce.hr/file/127338> [Accessed on 20/12/2015], pp. 1-7.
52
Koutsomichalis, p. 2.
 - 25 -

relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity’53 , therefore

being constructed using sound, it doesn’t involuntarily become site-specific.

Application of Wilkie’s and Melchionne’s critical scheme to the performance of

Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 2 — performed by the BBC Philharmonic New World

Symphony Orchestra at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester54 — reveals that this

organisation of sound does not fit a model of Site-specificity. Bartók’s Violin

Concerto No. 2 is neither written about or for Bridgewater Hall, therefore with

regards to Melchionne’s definition would class the performance as “not site-

specific”. Wilkie’s scheme may offer a little more freedom and could class the work

as site-sympathetic as the work has been created and follows the tradition of

concerto formats; their performance setting revolving predominantly in concert hall

environments.

An interesting example of work which moves towards being site-specific is the

work The Unanswered Question 55 by Charles Ives in which he explicitly considered

the spatial quality of the spaces in which his piece was to be performed. Richard

Kostelanetz notes The Unanswered Question ‘… strategically [distributed]

musicians over a physical space, so that the acoustic source of the music affects not

only the theatricality but the sounds actually heard.’56 It is, however, an assumption

that Ives explicitly wrote this piece with the intention of it being performed solely in

concert halls, thus putting to question the rationality of the “site-generic” label.

Francis validates this by suggesting that Wilkie’s definitions can be reinterpreted for

music and that ‘Site-Sympathetic’ refers to placing an existing work in a site

53
‘music’, in Merriam Webster, <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/music> [Accessed
on 17/12/2015].
54
Béla Bartók, Violin Concerto No.2. by Philharmonic New World Symphony Orchestra
[Performance],The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester (2016).
55
Charles Ives, The Unanswered Question, Flanders Symphony Orchestra, [Performance], Leeds
Town Hall, Leeds, (2016).
56
Richard Kostelanetz, A Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes, (New York: Routledge, 2001), p. 310.
 - 26 -

that is sympathetic to the essence of the musical work.’57 “Site-generic”

therefore can ‘… be referred to as sites having similar acoustic characteristics’ 58 thus

placing Ives’ The Unanswered Question into this category. A final example of work

that can be classed a site-specific piece of music is Paul Horn’s LP Inside the Taj

Mahal59 in which the jazz flautist recorded a series of improvisations, on the flute,

inside the Taj Mahal, as the title suggests. Horn describes the process in which he

entered the mausoleum as part of a film crew 6 0 and realised the “unbelievable

reverberation” within the building. On discussing his interaction with the space

Paul recalls that on playing sound into the space that ‘the sound went up in there

and just hung there forever, in what seemed to be that big marble dome, which is 90

feet high and 60 feet wide, and all solid marble and so the sound is unbelievable.’6 1

Francis, in reviewing the LP notes that ‘Horn interacts with this delay by stating

short melodic phrases usually diatonic and constant melodies, followed by short

moments of not playing – allowing the echo to repeat what is played until it finally

decays naturally.’6 2 Horn’s process of listening to the effect of the space compels

towards the distinction of this work being site-specific. Inside the Taj Mahal utilises

the physical properties of a space, divined through a practice led approach, to create

music. ‘I listened and I responded, as if I were playing with another musician.’ 6 3

This notion suggests that Paul is using the acoustic character of the building as a

tool for the creation of music, thus making it explicitly site-specific and site-

dependent. Both, The Unanswered Question and Inside the Taj Mahal make use of

57
Mace Francis, Dr Cat Hope, ‘Site in Sound: A Review of Four Musical Works that Integrate Site into
Sound’, in Sound Scripts – Proceedings of the Totally Huge New Music Festival, 4, (2013),
<http://macefrancis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/A-Review-of-Four-Musical-Works-The-
Intergrate-Site-into-Sound.pdf> [Accessed on 11/01/2016], 22-28 (p.2).
58
Francis, Hope, p. 2.
59
Paul Horn, Inside the Taj Mahal, [CD-ROM], (Transparent Music, 2001) ASIN: B00005A9B2
60
Unknown, ‘Paul Horn, Maharishi, and Taj Mahal’, Transcendental Meditation (2013),
<http://tmhome.com/experiences/paul-horn-in-taj-mahal/> [Accessed on 12/01/2016].
61
Ibid.
62
Francis, Hope, p. 2.
63
Francis, Hope, p. 2.
 - 27 -

the building as a musical tool. Francis furthers this point by suggesting that ‘Rather

than [resisting] the acoustic and design features of performance spaces, these

features can become part of compositions and their performance making them site

specific.’6 4 To move the work to another location would create vastly different

results and therefore be a completely new piece of work Francis and Mae argue

that…

‘[w]hile Horn’s recordings are specific to the Taj Mahal in this case, it must be
noted that he has recorded similar solo flute improvised recordings in other
reverberant buildings around the world, as can be found on Inside the Great Pyramid
(1976) and Cathedral (1983). This points to a site-generic rather than a site-specific
one, in reference to Fiona Wilkie’s scale.’ 6 5

Site-specificity, in the case of Horn’s Inside the Taj Mahal, can be located

within the specific recordings that were made on site. The conscious decision to

create work that utilised the acoustics of that particular site means the work is “for”

the site. The use of the acoustics characteristics to define the structure of the music

which is played in the building shows a significant understanding of the Taj Mahal

as a phenomological site. Although the process can be repeated in separate

locations, the result and method of interaction with the site will be distinctly

different. Returning back to the work Tilted Arc by Serra, the work could

theoretically be moved to several sites with similar dimensions and have a similar

effect, however it would draw different contextual references to the location and

therefore be a new piece. This draws to the conclusion that Inside the Taj Mahal is

site-specific both in Wilkie and Melchionne’s scales as it is both “for” and “about”

the acoustic properties of a site. Furthermore, it is specifically created for the Taj

Mahal, other spaces which Horn makes use of can be considered as unique sites.

64
Francis, Hope, p. 1.
65
Francis, Hope, p. 3.
 - 28 -

2.2.3 Site-Specificity in Music and Sound Installation

The advent of commercially available tape offered a new flexibility in the

generation of sound material which could be dynamically mixed and spatialized.

Pierre Schaeffer, director of Radiodiffusion Française and forefather of musique

concrète, coined the term “l’objet sonore” (the sonorous object) to signify the

objectification of sound motifs that in turn would create a new mode of

compositional organisation. Conceptually the shift towards a more physical

appreciation/understanding of sound and through assigning a grounded sense of

existence led to the development of ‘…technological devices which could locate and

route sonorous objects, like other objects, within architectural space’. The use of

loudspeakers to create site-specific work can be divided into two streams, which

came out of the musique concrète movement: Site-specific music performance and

Site-specific sound installation. Although both, performance, and installation utilise

loudspeakers there are inherent differences between the presentations of both.

Campesato defines three methods sound installation and performance can

access the site to create site-specific work:

1. Acoustical Space: ‘Acoustical space embraces the perceptual acoustic

characteristics of space, such as volume, reverberation and sound source
localisation. Acoustic phenomena are used to provide psychoacoustic
impressions of space.’6 6
2. Architectural space: ‘Architectural spaces relates to the conception of aural
architecture developed by Blesser and Salter (2007), in which sounds are able
to shape a sonic space that carries specific functions and representational
potentialities.’6 7
3. Representational Space: ‘Representational space refers to images contexts and
concepts that are related to a specific site and can be triggered by sounds. It
focuses more on the historical and contextual elements of a place than on its
geometrical delimitation and physical configuration.’ 6 8

66
Lílian Campesato, ‘A Metamorphosis of the Muses: Referential and Contextual Aspects in Sound
Art’, in Organised Sound, 14 (2009) 27-38, (pp. 29-30).
67
Campesato, pp. 30-31.
68
Campesato, pp. 31-32.
 - 29 -

Acoustical space is primarily concerned with the site as a corporeal location that is a

culmination of its physical properties – i.e. dimension, material, spatial

configuration, temperature. Blesser and Salter suggest that ‘… acoustic architecture

is the physical properties of the space described in scientific language of sound

physics.’6 9 In contrast “architectural space”, in particular “Aural Architecture”,

refers to a more visceral understanding of the site. To distinguish both categories

Blesser and Salter argue that ‘[a] space can produce feelings of intimacy, anxiety,

isolation, connectedness, warmth as well as mystical sense of spirituality.’ 7 0 Thus

the heading “Architectural Space” denotes the exploration of the expressive nature

of a site and how such characteristics can invoke nonfigurative feelings. This is

relatable to Heidegger’s philosophy of Gelassenheit. Koutsomichalis summarises

that the concept of ‘Gelassenheit, in its original Heideggerian terminology, stands

for the particular spirit of ‘letting-be-ness’ which permits us to experience things in

a non-representational way, blurred in uncertainty and mystery (see Heidegger

1966 and Davis 2007 for more on gelassenheit).’7 1 Koutsomichalis furthers the

definition of gelassenheit with his interpretation of Sonorous Gelassenheit in

which…

[i]ndividuals are enjoined to develop unique personal convergences with it and are
subsequently conducted towards some perceptional shift. I define it as a shift in a
subject’s emotional or psychological state of being towards some definite or indefinite
inclination7 2

69
Barry Blesser, Linda-Ruth Salter, ‘Questions and Answers about: Spaces Speak, Are You Listening?
Experiencing Aural Architecture’, (MIT Press, 2006), <http://www.blesser.net/downloads/Q-
A%20Dialog%20Handout.pdf> [Accessed on 26/10/2015], p. 1.
70
Ibid. p.1.
71
Koutsomichalis, p. 6.
72
Koutsomichalis, p. 7.
 - 30 -

Finally “Representational Space” deals with the site with regards to its

contextual background, which is to an extent linked to Lefebrvre’s concept of “lived

space” – Merrifield defines it as ‘Representational space is directly lived space, the

space of everyday experience. It is space experienced through complex symbols and

images of its “inhabitants” and “users”, and overlays physical space, making

symbolic use of its objects’7 3 Representational space, consequently takes on a more

abstract form – the physical site becomes an extraneous feature to the work. Out of

the three categorisations, “Acoustical space” is the most relevant utilisation of the

site, to this project. The following section will focus upon site-specific artists who

have utilised the acoustic properties of a site in the formation of a site-specific

sound work. Much alike Kwon, Melchionne and Wilkie’s site-specific ratings the

distinctions raised by Campesato can be used both as a tool for critique of existing

works, or as compositional strategies for the creation of site-specific work.

2.2.3.1 Sound Installation Site-specificity

Sound artists Sabine Schäfer and Krebs offer a distinction of site-specific

sound work, in relation to their own practice as artists. They present five of their

self-ascribed “important” types of “Space-SoundInstallations”7 4 which are useful in

distinguishing different methods of configuring loudspeakers for site-specific sound

installations:

1. The Space-soundObject – ‘The characteristic aspect of the Space-soundObject

is a two-dimensional arrangement of the loudspeakers, which radiate sound in
one direction.’7 5

73
Andy Merrifield, “A socialist in space”, Thinking Space, ed. by Mike Crang, Nigel Thrift, (New York:
Routledge, 2000), 167-182 (p. 174).
74
Sabine Schäfer, Joachim Krebs, ‘Sound – Time – Space – Movement: the Space-soundInstallations
of the artist-couple <Sabine Schäfer // Joachim krebs>’, in Organised Sound, 8, 2 (2003), 213-224 (p.
216).
75
Schäfer, Krebs, p. 216.
 - 31 -

2. The Circumambulatory Space-soundBody – ‘The circumambulatory Space-

soundBody is a type of Space-soundInstallation the individual exhibits of which
have a three-dimensional sculptural structure of loudspeakers which can
radiate sound in different directions and which is specifically developed for the
particular architectural space.’ 7 6
3. The enterable Space-soundBody – ‘The characteristic aspect of the enterable
Space-soundBody is the artistic-poetic treatment of the architectural space.
This is initiated by the artificial transformation of the raw material ‘space at
location’ in order to open up the composed sound space by means of the three-
dimensional movement of the sounds and to facilitate specific states in the
acoustic becoming of architectural space.’7 7
4. Space-within-Space – ‘This artistic concept is based on a self-contained
enterable Space-soundBody as ‘space within (architectural) space’.
Consequently, the enterable Space-soundBody also becomes
circumambulatory.’7 8

Their final offering “The concert Space-soundBody”7 9 reflects a more

performative style of installation and falls into concert based site-specific sound,

which will be dealt with in section 2.2.3.2. Schäfer and Krebs’s explanation is

significantly musical in focus; the audience is sat in a concert setting; there are

explicit beginning and end points that allows ‘… potential dramatic, linearly

directed progression of the particular Space-soundComposition; there are live

instrumentalists who can accompany the composition. Schäfer and Krebs’s

typology, at times, seems rigidly aligned to their particular practice, which they note

‘it is clear that the typology suggested by <sabine schäfer // joachim krebs> suit

some works but needs modification for others. It must be stressed that this

particular typology was the end result of the work and practice of <sabine schäfer //

joachim krebs >.’80 They do, however, provide examples of their work which are a

combination of two of the fields they propose; their work Lost81 which was in the

form of a “Hybrid form of enterable and circumambulatory Space-soundBody with

Space-soundObject” (See Figure 2.4 for drawing plans). These categorisations,

76
Ibid. p. 216.
77
Ibid. p. 217.
78
Ibid. p. 221.
79
Ibid. p. 222.
80
Schäfer, Krebs p. 215.
81
Sabine Schäfer, Joachim Krebs, Lost, [Installation] Badischer-Kusteverein, Germany (1992).
 - 32 -

however, provide a clearly defined set of different configurations and uses of the

space.

Figure 2.4: Sabine Schäfer and Joachim Krebs Lost, Drawing Plans (1999)82

The work 492.40m3 56.7Hz TILT83 by Atmadjaja is an immersive installation

that explores embodiment in an architectural space, with a central focus on the

concept of “Bikkuri” which Atmadjaja defines “as elements of quiet surprises and

confusions in the ear, eye and body balance.” The space itself, a temporary purpose

built white room, a bare “void” that Atmadjaja has selected to remove all points of

reference that may have interfered with viewer’s perception to encourage and

experience the ‘volume of air contained, in particular the dimensions of the space

82
Schäfer, Krebs p. 222.
83
Angie Atmadjaja, 492.40m3 56.7Hz TILT, [Installation], Aomori Contemporary Art Centre, Japan
(2009).
 - 33 -

that has influenced the resulting standing wave caused by injecting 56.7Hz

sinewave from a mono source into the space.’ 84 The fundamental frequency is

measured using an acoustic measurement, taken at a height which Atmadjaja marks

across all four walls. This work is a clear example of the “Space-within-Space”

setting that is defined by Schäfer and Krebs. Atmadjaja’s work is primarily focused

upon the physical parameters of the space, and thus is focused upon revealing the

site as acoustic architecture. By limiting the source to a single mono speaker

Atmadjaja is relying upon the acoustic phenomena of the standing wave, this is

explicitly correlated with the size of the space. Consequently the audience is

instructed to “feel” the sensation of the fundamental room mode. Atmadjaja puts

forward that she works…

… specifically in one way where sound becomes a body sensation not just an ear
sensation. Because with sound you know, you can listen to sound and you can enjoy it
because of where it’s come from or what the meaning that is attached to that sound.
But in my work there is no meaning, there is no references they are all just pure
digital sine ways of digital filtered noise so they are only meant to be experienced as
complete vibrations in your body […] and in that sense I quite like that people do not
read about my work they just go in and just experience it. There is nothing to explain,
just feel and just open yourself to feeling. […] it’s up to us to actually pay attention to
what we are hearing or not. 8 5

By taking advantage of the physical properties of standing waves, Atmadjaja

achieves a literal “tilt”. Figure … shows the fundamental frequency standing wave in

a space with the antinode lying in the center of the room Atmadjaja’s 492.40m3

56.7Hz TILT plays upon the embodiment of sound, thus relating back to

Koutsomichalis’s embodiment of sound, of this phenomena and through

exploration, the listener can experience how sound movement is defined in the

space. This piece can somewhat be likened to the similarly titled work Tilted Arc by

84
Angie Atmadjaja, ‘424.42m356.7HzTILT’, Angie Atmadjaja,
<http://www.angieatmadjaja.com/TILT.shtml> [Accessed on 10/12/2016].
85
Angie Atmadjaja, Casino Luxembourg, Angie Atmadjaja, online video recording, Vimeo, 18 July
2014, <https://vimeo.com/101082165> [Accessed 10/12/2016].
 - 34 -

Serra, which uses a similar technique, through the visual sculpture, to direct

observers through the space.

Figure 2.5: Angie Atmadjaja’s 492.40m3 56.7Hz TILT, Casino Luxembourg,

Luxembourg (2010)86

When considering Wilkie’s critical scheme of site-specificity, this work could

be labelled as “site-generic”, due to the fact that the work could be reproduced

through reconstructing the room-inside-a-room in another location, resulting in the

same fundamental frequency, the central theme to the piece. Furthermore,

492.40m3 56.7Hz TILT exhibits little of the original spaces characteristics, hiding

the true acoustic properties of the space externally to the listening space.

86
Angie Atmadjaja, Angie Atmadjaja, <http://www.angieatmadjaja.com/image/TILT.jpg> [Accessed
on 14/12/2015].
 - 35 -

Figure 2.6 Standing Wave: Fundamental frequency.

Another example of Space-within-Space which takes an abstract approach is

the work Syn Chron87 by Carsten Nicolai, exhibited in 2005 in Neue

Nationalgalerie in Berlin, Bern in Switzerland, and Yamaguchi in Japan. It is

immediately apparent that this piece, in the view of the minimalist sculpture artists

has already belief that a site-specific work if moved would ‘sever its connection to or

express its indifference to the site, [would render itself] … self-referential, and thus

placeless, and nomadic…’88 Site-specificity, arguably, can be reclaimed through

Nicolai’s use of the environment external to the gallery in forming the generation of

sound. A press release by Nicolai states that Syn Chron was ‘An accessible crystal-

shape object is constructed of semi-transparent material and has a hexagonal

shape. The exterior skin of the architecture forms the essential interface in the

symbiosis of the elements of light and sound. Together, the surfaces of the exterior

87
Carsten Nicolai, Syn Chron, [Installation] Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (2005).
88
Kwon, p. 84
 - 36 -

and interior skin form a space that functions as an acoustical body, resonating

space, and a projection surface.’89 In an interview, Nicolai describes his work as

It was a kind of composition, simultaneously visualized through a projection

onto the exterior shell. The acoustic irradiation was [captured] by means of a
microphone that used the glass wall like a membrane. All acoustic signals
from the outside were signalized upon the sculpture. 9 0

Due to the crystalline shape of the construction (see Figure 2.7), each

microphone is picking up a separate segment of the surrounding space. Syn Chron

reacts to such information by “signalising” the data upon the inside of the structure.

In doing so the piece changes with each particular location that it moves to –

reacting to the particular acoustics of that environment. Syn Chron enters the ‘What

takes place in effect an ‘acoustic topographing’, so that the dimensions of the

imaginary auditory space and the real “sounding” sound space interweave.’9 1 This

work has a striking resemblance to Smithson’s Double Nonsite; the introduction of

material from a foreign environment – the crystalline object, creates an interplay

between the gallery space and the object itself; the audience are invited to

experience the properties of two environments, the process of signalising the

acoustic data of the space that is then characterised by the shape of the structure;

the structure claims space within the gallery space; the structure “claims” and

imparts a visual and audible character upon the neutral gallery space (see Figure

2.7) the plain open space encapsulated by the exterior glass walls), thus the

sculpture alters the original environment of the gallery. In reassessing this work

against Wilkie’s site-specific schema, this work could fall between the two

categories: “Site-generic” and “Site-specific”. Syn Chron could fall directly into the

89
Carsten Nicolai, ‘Works’, Yamaguchi Centre for Arts and Media (2005),
<http://special.ycam.jp/synchron/en/works.html> [Accessed on 15/12/2015].
90
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCBIKXFrfNA
91
Carsten Nicolai, The Creators Project, Physicist of Sound | Carsten Nicolai, online video recording,
YouTube, 25 Jan 2013, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCBIKXFrfNA> [Accessed on
15/12/2015].
 - 37 -

category of site-generic purely because it has been re-exhibited in several locations,

each time taking on the same physical form. However, the use of technology in this

piece could arguable move the work into Wilkie’s definition of “Site-specific”: The

piece adapts to the environment it is placed. Through analysis of the external space,

the acoustic environment, Syn Chron moulds itself into a site-reactive installation –

each environment and moment in time defines the piece into a new and original

experience.

Figure 2.7: Carsten Nicolai’s Syn Chron, Berlin92

92
Carsten Nicolai, ‘syn chron: zwischen Raumschiff and Klangraum’, Digital Brainstorming,
<http://www.digitalbrainstorming.ch/de/program/synchron> [Accessed on 22/03/2016].
 - 38 -

In both the previous works the artist has created an acoustic environment

inside an existing one. Although both 492.40m3 56.7Hz TILT and Syn Chron take

some aspect of the acoustic environment into account into their work, the

surrounding environment becomes secondary to the work itself. The focus on Syn

Chron is upon the structure itself, the surrounding area informs the generation of

the internal audiovisual environment and in 492.40m3 56.7Hz TILT the fabricated

space inside the room takes focus. Neither have a direct impact upon the natural

acoustic space around the pieces. Returning back to Campesato’s definition of

“Acoustic space”, both works do little towards demonstrating the ‘perceptual

acoustic characteristics of space, such as volume, reverberation and sound source

localisation.’9 3 Removing the work from the site, would not “destroy” the work,

beyond its perceivable character. The following three sound installation pieces are

examples of site-specific work which utilises the acoustic character of a location as a

defining role.

Steve Peters work Chamber Music 8: Particles/Waves94, performed at the

Jack Straw New Media Gallery, Seattle in 2010, explores the process of recording an

hour of empty room tone using 16 different microphones. 9 5 The sound was played

back into the space in several locations around the gallery, each taking a single

“frequency”. Therefore breaking apart the original recording.

The speaker array consisted of 4 Mackie studio monitors (one in each corner of the
room) and 12 small speakers in the walls overhead (4 on each long wall, 2 on each
short wall). The floor speakers handled the four lowest [frequencies] (probably 100
Hz or lower) and the small speakers the rest… the [frequencies] were distributed so

93
Campesato, pp. 29-30.
94
Steve Peters, Particles/Waves, ‘Chamber Music’, [Installation] Jack Straw New Media Gallery,
Seattle (2010).
95
Steve Peters, Particles/Waves (Chambers Music 8), online sound recording, Bandcamp, 20
November 2010, <http://stevepeters.bandcamp.com/track/particles-waves-chamber-music-8>
[Accessed on 20/12/2015].
 - 39 -

that neighboring tones were not heard through neighboring speakers, in order to
increase the sense of "space". 9 6
Peters, by capturing the “neutral” state of the gallery space and playing back the

resulting ambient noise, is adhering to Blesser and Salter’s concept of “Aural

Architecture” –

When our ability to decode spatial attributes is sufficiently developed using a wide
range of acoustic cues, we can readily visualize objects and spatial geometry: we can
‘‘see’’ with our ears... The composite of numerous surfaces, objects, and geometries
in a complicated environment creates an aural architecture.9 7

Particles/Waves explores the notion of “silence”, Peters proclaims that the

influence behind the work revolved around the question: ‘At what point is there

nothing to hear? … If I go in a room and it is supposedly silent, is it really silent?’9 8

A similar notion is exemplified in the piece 4’339 9 by John Cage premiered in the

Maverick Concert Hall in 2008. Presented in a concert hall setting, pianist John

Tudor sat and for three movements sat in complete silence on stage only moving to

turn a blank score and to turn a page. In reflection of the work Cage states that…

What [the audience] thought was silence, because they didn’t know how to listen, was
full of accidental sounds. You could hear the wind stirring outside during the first
movement. During the second, raindrops began pattering the roof, and during the
third the people themselves made all kinds of interesting sounds as they talked or
walked out. 1 0 0

Blesser and Salter describe this phenomenon as being ‘attentive listening –

intensely focusing on the sounds of life in the immediate environment.’ 1 01 Through

consciously engaging with an environment that is initially quiet the listener

96
Direct communication over email with Steve Peters. See Appendix E for full transcript.
97
Barry Blesser, Ruth Salter, Spaces Speak, Are You Listening?: Experiencing Aural Architecture
(Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2007), p.2.
98
Steve Peters, Interview with Steve Peters, online sound recording, Jack Straw Cultural Centre,
<http://www.jackstraw.org/audio/programs/media%20gallery/Interview_with_Steve_Peters.mp3>
[Accessed on 22/12/2015].
99
John Cage, 4’33”, John Tudor, [Performance], Maverick Concert Hall, New York (2008).
100
Kyle Gann, No Such Thing as Silence: John Cage's 4'33", (Connecticut: Yale University Press,
2010), p. 3.
101
Blesser and Salter, Spaces Speak, Are You Listening?: Experiencing Aural Architecture, p. 15
 - 40 -

becomes attuned to the “silence” and is then able to detect the finer audible details.

Through recording the empty space, from several locations, Peters is able to capture

this neutral state of the gallery which he presumes would go unheard and play it

back into the space to make it audible. A noticeable difference between 4’33” and

Particles/Waves when considering the sound source aside from the use of

technology, is the lack of an audience which impart a significant body of energy: ‘…

applause is heard at the beginning and end, with the silence punctuated by restless

shufflings of feet, a few coughs, and a distant clock striking.’ 1 02 Blesser and Salter

liken this process to ‘… light sources are required to illuminate visual architecture,

so sound sources (sonic events) are required to “illuminate” aural architecture in

order to make it aurally perceptible. 1 03

This is markedly similar to Peters’ original intentions behind the work. ‘The

reason that it is called Particles/Waves is because … over time as I have done these

pieces I’ve felt they have a lot to do with light, in this kind of metaphorical way. I

want them to do what light does, the way that it moves through a room and changes

very slowly over time and brings out these little hints of colour here and there,

depending on what it’s reflecting off of and the shadows it makes…’ 1 04 The process

of extracting the natural character of the space, filtering the sound and then playing

the sound back into the space through an array of speakers, Peters’ is effectively

illuminating the space. One issue with Peters’ process is the filtering process

effectively colours the resulting sound. The highly resonant quality of the recording

102
Kyle Gann, p. 189.
103
Blesser and Salter, Spaces speak…, p. 16.
104
Steve Peters, Interview with Steve Peters, online sound recording, Jack Straw Cultural Centre,
<http://www.jackstraw.org/audio/programs/media%20gallery/Interview_with_Steve_Peters.mp3>
[Accessed on 22/12/2015].
 - 41 -

is audible in the online recording on Peters’ Bandcamp. 1 05 Consequently the room

recordings have been altered and therefore possess a different quality to the original

space. However, the material is still gathered from the site and will excite the space

to an extent, but will be less related to the site than an unedited recording.

Segmentation of the space permits the separation of the gallery into smaller

constituent parts, thus addressing Peters’ desire to increase the sense of “space”.

The site is deconstructed into separate points of reference, each capturing a

separate character and discrete audible nuances that are solely tied to that location.

Furthermore the architectural configuration surround each recording point will

impart, depending on the quality of the microphones, some shaping of the resulting

sound. Blesser and Salter define this as‘… When a space is exposed to full sonic

illumination and you have sufficient cognitive skill to interpret the multiplicity of

acoustic cues, you can aurally visualize passive acoustic objects and spatial

geometry.’1 06 Peters’ overlays the digitally reconstructed and processed environment

over the original. Therefore listeners are able to audibly experience an “enhanced”

aural architecture, extracted specifically from the natural acoustics of the building,

which is audible without the need for attentive listening.

Particles/Waves intrinsically falls into the category of “Site-specific” as

denoted by Wilkie: the sound work is predominantly constructed of, and refers to

the site’s acoustic character, removing the work from the site would render it a

different work all together. The hour long recording could produce vastly different

results; a different site had clocks, industrial transformers, cavities or gaps the

105
Steve Peters, Particles/Waves (Chambers Music 8), online sound recording, Bandcamp, 20
November 2010, <http://stevepeters.bandcamp.com/track/particles-waves-chamber-music-8>
[Accessed on 20/12/2015].
106
Blesser, Salter, Spaces Speak…, p. 17.
 - 42 -

external world, which would amass to a completely individual set of sounds. The

piece could also be classified according to Schäfer and Krebs’ system as a Hybrid

enterable Space-soundBody and Circumambulatory Space-soundBody as it both; a

three dimensional configuration of speakers, and it demonstrates an ‘artificial

transformation of the raw material ‘space at location’ in order to open up the

composed sound space by means of the three-dimensional movement of the

sound’1 07 Finally the use of filtering captures and defines the “colouration” of the

aural architecture that Peters constructs and thus exciting the existing acoustics of

the space.

The three examples of sound installation pieces have been exhibited as a part

of gallery exhibitions and therefore reside not only within the physical confines of

the gallery but also institutionally. As discussed in section – site-specific art has the

potential and does exist in the public domain away from critical reception and the

neutral gallery space. Neuhaus, who in his early career focused upon creating work

that directly assimilated itself with the everyday space of the public, reflects upon

his early work: ‘they were about taking myself out of the confined public of

contemporary music and moving to a broader public. I had a deep belief that I could

deal in a complex way with people in their everyday lives.’1 08 Times Square109, a

subtle sound installation that was submerged beneath a subway grating installed in

1977.

Neuhaus’s work always related more firmly to a Cagean aesthetic of acoustic

immanence, accepting and exploring indeterminate responses and a “transparency”
between his installations and the sites they inhabit … Rather than deducing his
sonorities from transcendent harmonic ideals, Neuhaus derived them inductively
from the sounds inherent to the sites themselves. In the case of Times Square,

107
Schäfer, Krebs, p. 217.
108
Max Neuhaus, ‘Listen’, in Elusive Sources and ‘Like’ Spaces, (Turin, Italy: Galleria Giorgio Persano,
1990), pp. 58-59.
109
Max Neuhaus, Times Square, [Installation] Times Square, New York (1977).
 - 43 -

electronically processed traffic sounds form part of the piece’s ringing tones. 1 1 0

Times Square can be defined as “Sonic Geography”; Koutsomichalis states

that ‘Such works are structured around the practice of ambulatory listening and

they implicitly orchestrate the audience to inhabit the site, to wander in space and

explore interesting routes within it…’1 1 1 Figure 2.8 illustrates the aural topography

of the subway vent and demonstrates how an individual listener’s experience could

be defined by their specific movement and location. Potts highlights an interesting

point with Neuhaus’ work that…

The ear cannot locate the source of a sound with anything like the accuracy that the
eye can situate an object it sees. With Neuhaus, the aesthetic experience is not based
in or focused on an object. The perceptible materiality of the work is constituted
entirely by sound effects and the inflection they give to the place where one happens
to be standing. 1 1 2

Therefore the experience of Neuhaus’ sound installation is entirely defined upon the

position of the listener. This has been a common theme in all of the works

mentioned in this section. The free movement of the audience allows listeners to

determine their own listening point to hear the sound which has been installed

within the site. Consequently, listeners are able to be immersed into both the spatial

and audible aspects of a site to their choosing. Furthermore, the movement of

people over the air vents, in Neuhaus’ Times Square would impart some shadowing

of the sound, and thus the listener has an effect upon the quality of the work.

Joseph argues that Neuhaus ‘… allows the listener, rather than the composer or

artist, to instigate and control the ultimate acoustic experience, to the point even –

and this was important to Neuhaus – of ignoring or bypassing it altogether.’ 113

110
Branden W. Joseph, ‘An implication of an implication’, in Max Neuhaus: Times Square, Time Piece
Beacon, ed. Lynne Cooke, Karen Kelly, (New York: Dia Art Foundation, 2009), 59-81 (p. 68).
111
Koutsomichalis, p. 5.
112
Alex Potts, ‘Moment and Place: Art in the Arena of the Everyday’, in Max Neuhaus: Times
Square, Time Piece Beacon, ed. Lynne Cooke, Karen Kelly, (New York: Routledge, 2009), p. 48.
113
Branden W. Joseph, ‘An implication of an implication’, in Max Neuhaus: Times Square, Time Piece
Beacon, ed. Lynne Cooke, Karen Kelly, (New York: Dia Art Foundation, 2009), 59-81., p. 68.
 - 44 -

To achieve the various frequency distributions as depicted in Figure 2.8,

Neuhaus makes use of a string of small ventilation shafts leading from an

underground vault leading into a subway station.

What delighted me, was in fact, these short tunnels over here because each
one has its own resonance and is a little different in length. The sound that is
heard on the surface isn’t just the sound I’m putting in here, it is what the
sound does to this chamber.1 1 4

By identifying particular architectural features within the subway vent and

discerning their resonant quality, Neuhaus is showing how a process of manual

investigation into the acoustics of a site can be used to create sound work. This is

highly relevant to this project and is useful in the development of a strategy to

identify particular areas of interest. Furthermore, similarities can be drawn between

Times Square and Particles/Waves, although the latter uses signal processing to

draw out particular frequencies, both works take several “points of interest”; in

Times Square Neuhaus shows intrigue towards the ventilation shafts and in

Particles/Waves Peters takes interest in various locations within the gallery space.

Acoustic measurement in both of these situations would be useful in informing the

composer upon these qualities prior to installing the sound work.

114
Max Neuhaus – Times Square, dir. Rory Logsdail, (Firefly Pictures, 2002).
 - 45 -

Figure 2.8: Aural Topography of Max Neuhaus’ Times Square. 115

2.2.3.2 Concert Site-specificity

Section 2.2.3.1 has highlighted a distinct level of freedom in the movement of

listeners through a space, both spatially and temporally. This gives the audience

member the opportunity to experience the work from multiple angles, thus granting

them a level of interactivity with the site-specific sound work. As Joseph has argued,

in the case of Times Square, Neuhaus ‘…allows the listener, rather than the

composer or artist, to instigate and control the ultimate acoustic experience…’ 1 1 6 In

contrast, the following pieces have been presented in a concert format – The

audience are required to stay for a pre-determined duration and are sat in one

position throughout. Consequently the audience are unable to have the freedom to

115
Gollo Föllmer, Aural Topography of Times Square Sound Work (1977), ‘See This Sound’,
<http://www.see-this-sound.at/works/268/asset/512> [Accessed on 11/01/2016].
116
Joseph, p. 68.
 - 46 -

listen to the piece from different angles, and the composer has complete control

over their experience.

The Philips Pavilion 117 , a collaborative project by Xenakis, Varèse and Le

Corbusier exhibited at the Brussel’s World Fair of 1958 has been recognised for the

notable implementation of a large scale loudspeaker diffusion system.1 1 8 The

pavilion was commissioned by Philips to showcase their products in a multimedia

format and was assigned to architect Le Corbusier who sought Xenakis and Varèse

to aid in the completion of the work. Varèse, who was tasked with the composition

of a musical work for the site, was inspired by the notion of combining visual

multimedia; light, colour, image, architecture, with sound; rhythm, timbre, pitch

and space which led to the creation Poème Électronique 1 1 9. Varèse, working

alongside a team of engineers, devised a series of nine sound routes (see figure 2.9)

that determined the trajectory of sound between the 300 to 450 speakers that were

located through the space.1 2 0 Ouzounian suggests that through the use of such a

large diffusion system, Poème Électronique…

… [produced] an unprecedented corporeality of, and immersion within,

electroacoustic music. “Intense spine-tingling reverberations overwhelm you as the
sound impinges on you from all directions at once, only to numb you in turn with
extremely high shrieking, whistling eerie echoes,” wrote one critic … Another
suggested that, “One no longer hears the sounds, one finds oneself literally in the
heart of the sound source. One does not listen to the sound, one lives it”. 1 2 1

117
Edgar Varèse, Le Corbusier, Iannis Xenakis, Philips Pavilion [Installation] Brussels (1958).
118
James Fei, ‘Live Program Notes Presented at the Concert’, Masterpieces of 20 th Century Multi-
Channel Tape Music, <http://music.columbia.edu/masterpieces/notes/varese/notes.html>
[Accessed on 10/11/2015].
119
Karin Schneider, Poème électronique. Edgar Varèse, YouTube, 29 January 2011,
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-R3F3ZVbi8> [Accessed on 10/11/2015].
120
Gascia Ouzounian, ‘Visualizing Acoustic Space’, in Circuit : Musiques Contemporaines, 17, 3
(2007), 45-56 (p. 48).
121
Ouzounian, pp. 48-49.
 - 47 -

The response of both critics indicates towards the effectiveness of the

diffusion setup and how the listener is unable to grasp the locational origin of the

sound. Figure 2.9 shows the sound routes that depict the distribution of speakers

through the space. Varèse utilises the unique shape of the space to determine the

location of the speakers, which in this case follow nine separate contours of the

architectural structure. This, however, could also signify the work as being an

“enterable spaceBody” as it ‘…is initiated by the artificial transformation of the raw

material ‘space at location’ in order to open up the composed sound space by means

of the three-dimensional movement of the sounds and to facilitate specific states in

the acoustic becoming of architectural space’1 2 2 , thus classifying the work as a sound

installation. However it is in the presentation and programmatic nature of the piece

that shifts the work from being a sound installation piece to concert piece; Kiyak

highlights that ‘Every ten minutes, the pavilion “assimilated” five hundred

spectators. And at the end of the spectacle, the spectators were “evacuated”

automatically, possibly after having been “transformed.” Spectators remained

standing during the eight-minute spectacle. Thus, this allowed the audience to

experience the spectacle from all points.’1 2 3

122
Schäfer and Krebs, p. 217.
123
Açalya Kiyak, ‘Describing the Ineffable: Le Corbusier, Le Poème Électronique and Montage’, in
Thesis: Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, ed. Dr. phil. Heidemarie
Schirmer, (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Universitätsverlag, 1997), 160-165 (p. 161).
 - 48 -

Figure 2.9: Varese, Philips Pavilion, Nine Sound Routes. 1 2 4

Returning back to the distinctions offered by Campesato on the methods for

utilising the space in site-specific music, Poème Électronique deals with both

“acoustical space” and “architectural space”. During the eight minute long piece, the

use of ‘… machine noises, transported piano chords, filtered choir and solo voices,

and synthetic tone colourings’1 2 5 to create the virtual1 2 6 listening space within the

124
Edgar Varèse, Le Corbusier; Iannis Xenakis; Edgard Varèse «Poème électronique» | Poème
électronique (sketch), on ‘Medienkunst netz’
<http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/assets/img/data/1956/bild.jpg> [Accessed on 15/11/2015].
125
Unknown, <http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/poeme-electronique/images/4/> [Accessed
on 15/11/2015].
126
The discussion of “virtual” or “internal” and “external” spaces are a reference to the creation of
two sound environments in acousmatic music as defined by Robert Normandeau. “Virtual” or
“internal” relates to the sound environment created by the loudspeaker diffusion system. “External”
is therefore the space that exists behind and around the loudspeakers. See - Robert Normandeau,
‘Timbre Spatialisation: The medium is the space’, in Organised Sound, 14, 3, (2009), 277-285 (p.
277).
 - 49 -

building which constitutes towards the establishment of the piece as aural

architecture. Ouzounian provides a more in depth analysis of the composition that

underlines this work as being aural architecture.

Varèse contrasts strictly synthesized, abstract sounds with concrete recordings loaded
with meaning. The synthesized sounds are “rational” forms that function as aural
analogies to visual structures. The electronic sirens that appear throughout the piece,
for example, are a musical representation of the hyperbolic paraboloid curves that
formed the Philips Pavilion’s exterior architecture … The spatialization of these sirens
is therefore a realization of their essentially “visual” natures. Conversely, the concrète
samples are unambiguously symbolic, “irrational” sounds that are coded “primitive”
and “feminine,” … The concrète recordings in Poème électronique therefore occupy an
“acoustic space,” whereas the synthetic sounds in it operate within visual space. 1 2 7

Varese sets up a dynamic dialogue between the acoustic space and the architectural

space; acoustic space is accessed through the physical arrangement of the linear

speaker arrays, affecting both the concrète and synthesised samples. In discussing

the “acoustic” effect of the Philips Pavilion, Ouzounian highlights Corbusier’s use of

the term “acoustic” to describe the structure. ‘Le Corbusier referred to this structure

as an “acoustic” environment, writing that in designing it he had discovered “an

acoustic component in the domain of form”1 2 8 , however Ouzounian argues, in

reference to Pearson, that ‘… for Le Corbusier the term “acoustic functions in a

strictly analogical way, in order to describe the ways in which visual structures

“resonate” relative to their surroundings.’1 2 9 Architectural space is accessed through

the abstract synthetic sounds designed by Varese to reference the form and

structure of the building, without meaning thus satisfying a visceral listening

experience.

127
Ouzounian, p. 53
128
Gascia Ouzounian, Sound Art and Spatial Practices: Situating Sound Installation Art Since 1958,
(Thesis, University of California, San Diego), p. 68.
129
Ouzounian, Sound Art and Spatial Practices, p. 67. Also see Christopher Pearson, Le Corbusier
and the Acoustical Trope: An investigation of its Origins, The Journal of the Society of Architectural
Historians, 50, 2 (1997), pp. 167-169.
 - 50 -

From the initial design and conception of the space, The Philips Pavilion

and the sound work presented inside have demonstrated many qualities that

attribute this work as being site-specific. Considering Melchionne’s scheme, Poeme

Electronique was both designed “for” — the music was purposefully designed and

installed into the space, making use of the architectural design of the building to

create an immersive and spatial sonic environment — and “about” — the physical

shape of the space inspired the creation of sounds that mimicked its design. This

transfers to Wilkie’s scheme and affirms that the piece can be considered as site-

specific. There is an inseparable relationship between Poem Electronique and the

Philips Pavilion; the huge number of speakers and devised sound routes that are

unique to the pavilion’s structure could be placed in no other location and produce

the same results. Moving the work would to another site would render the spatial

information coded into the performance as foreign and would have to be

reconfigured for the space, essentially redesigning the work.

As Corbusier’s use of the term “acoustic” is concerned “harmonious

orchestration” of objects, architecture and space, it is difficult to determine with any

certainty of Corbusier’s acoustic intentions from a phenomological perspective. In

contrast, a piece that was created eleven years later, Lucier’s I am Sitting in a

Room130 took a single acoustic phenomenon and utilised it as the central theme to

the piece. The piece explores the recital of a text, “or any other text of any length”1 3 1 ,

in a room of the performers choosing that has the “… musical qualities of which you

would like to evoke” through a microphone that is recorded onto tape 1 3 2 , this

130
Alvin Lucier, I am Sitting in a Room, [Performance], Guggenheim Museum, New York (1970).
131
Alvin Lucier, I am Sitting in a Room Score, ‘See This Sound’, < http://www.see-this-
sound.at/works/610/asset/602> [Accessed on 10/01/2016].
132
Ibid.
 - 51 -

recording is then replayed into the space and the response of the room is captured.

Blamey highlights how the piece interacts and utilises the acoustic space…

“I am sitting in a room” slowly plays out a series of interactions between the

human voice and its surroundings, as it is the frequencies present in the recording
that correspond to the resonant frequencies of the room are repeatedly reinforced,
while all others are slowly attenuated. As such the work delivers an intimate
portrayal of the sonic possibilities contained in architecture as it explores the
relationship of sound to space, enacted in the relationship of frequencies to
dimensions.1 3 3

Consequently Lucier’s I am Sitting in a Room accesses the room’s acoustic

character through a process of repetition. Each iteration of the recording process

amplifies the resonance of the space that is activated using the voice as a method of

excitation. Blamey suggests that this piece doesn’t solely realise the activation of the

acoustic space, the voice also undergoes a ‘…process of elongation, as the

frequencies contained in speech sounds that match those of the room are reinforced

and their durations prolonged through the effects of resonance.’ 1 3 4 Further, the

piece can be separated into components that demonstrate the spaces effect upon the

piece; firstly the feedback process creates a virtual space on each iteration, which is

an accumulation of the previous recordings of the space that have been excited by

the voice and the spaces response. Secondly the space reacts to the space therefore

creating a dialogue between the virtual and external space, this can be considered as

the point in which the recording is played back into the space and the external space

become s active. The final stage is the original material — the voice — fades from

clarity to obscurity as it is morphed by the space in which it is exposed. Acoustically

the space imparts dimensional effect: the dimension of the space dictates the

reverberation time; resonant effect: room modes are the direct result of the spaces

dimension and configuration; material effect: the material make-up of the space

133
Peter John Blamey, Sine Waves and Simple Acoustic Phenomena in Experimental Music - with
Special Reference to the Work of La Monte Young and Alvin Lucier, (Thesis, University of Western
Sydney, 2008), p. 198.
134
Blamey, p. 199.
 - 52 -

dictates the quality of the previous effects thus affecting the absorption rate of the

acoustic material which in turn could make the space more reverberant, i.e. more

reflections, or could make the space more diffuse. All of this information is encoded

in the work and as the piece progresses becomes more and more pronounced.

One aspect of I am Sitting in a Room which could bring to question the

validity of its site-specificity could be the presentation of the work. Lucier

encourages prospective performers to use the work as a guide, as opposed to

rigorous and strictly defined performance conditions. Lucier in an interview

promotes the idea that prospective performers should

…make versions in which one recorded statement is recycled through many rooms.
Make versions using one or more speakers of different languages in different rooms.
Make versions in which, for each generation, the microphone is moved to different
parts of the room or rooms. Make versions that can be performed in real-time.1 3 5

Within the text Lucier explicitly states “I am sitting in a room different from

the one you are in now”1 3 6 , therefore suggesting that the concert performance of the

work has taken place in a different space. Francis and Hope argue that ‘This work

amplifies itself through repetition, creating a kind of feedback loop, and will

develop, albeit at different rates, in any site or room. This characterises I am Sitting

in a Room as site-generic in Wilkie’s scale’1 3 7 It could however be argued that unless

the piece is recorded and then performed in the same location, the site-specific

aspect of the work is nullified. The room that is recorded has no reference to the

space in which it is performed, the overlaying of the recorded space’s acoustics into

another room would alter the character of the work but the site itself acts as a

container and performance space as opposed to being a specific site of interest.

135
Alvin Lucier referenced in Brandon LaBelle , Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound Art, p. 126.
136
Alvin Lucier, I am Sitting in a Room Score, ‘See This Sound’, < http://www.see-this-
sound.at/works/610/asset/602> [Accessed on 10/01/2016].
137
Francis, Hope, p. 3.
 - 53 -

Therefore, Francis and Hope’s assumption that the work is site-generic would be

inaccurate. Burns highlights a difference that is significant to the site-specificity of

the work…

‘He notes that “the piece could have been performed live, with a very long tape loop
(just as it could be accomplished today with digital delays or samplers), but to do so
would have been to miss a subtle but important detail: I am sitting in a room different
from than the one you are in now . . . [the beginning of the text given by Lucier in the
score]. ‘I am sitting in a room’ brings another space into the concert hall; it brings the
public into a private space.” … as with the contemporaneous works of visual artists
like Sol LeWitt, Robert Morris, and Robert Smithson, “I am sitting in a room” is
essentially an idea rather than an object. A recording like Lucier’s can be made in
relative acoustic isolation, so that the germinal reading of the text is the only sound to
interact with the room and the recording media. In concert such isolation is not
possible – a performance will inevitably involve extraneous noises (from the
audience, from the hall, from the environment) of some sort.’ 1 3 8

In such, the performance of the piece as a live rendition would incorporate the

ambience that is created by the audience. In one sense, this would move the work

closer towards the site-specific ideal in ‘establishing an inextricable, indivisible

relationship between the work and its site and demanded the physical presence of

the viewer for the work’s completion.’ 1 3 9 The audience being present in the

performance brings their existence into the piece thus having an impact upon the

resulting quality of the work, thus making an inseparable division between them

and the work.

138
Christopher Burns, ‘Realizing Lucier and Stockhausen: Case Studies in the
Performance Practice of Electroacoustic Music’, in Journal of New Music Research, 31, (2002), 59-68
(p.60).
139
Kwon, pp. 11-12.
 - 54 -

Figure 2.10: Alvin Lucier Performing I am Sitting In a Room, Museum of Modern

Art, New York (2015). 1 4 0

As part of the MIT CAST Symposium 1 4 1 , 2016, Lucier himself performed the

piece as a live rendition of I am Sitting in a Room142. The space is arranged with

Lucier on stage and the audience facing him from the seating area. As the piece is

performed live, the site is referenced in the work and therefore is forcing the

audience to become aware of the space in which they are situated. Francis and Hope

suggests that because the work is able to be reproduced in another environment

with similar results, echoing the minimalist ideal of “moving the work is to destroy

the work”, that the work is in fact site-generic. However it can be argued that the

individual situation of that particular environment, the speaker, the configuration

140
Amanda Lucier, I am Sitting In a Room, ‘MoMa’,
<http://moma.tumblr.com/post/108928520113/how-does-a-museum-collect-a-sound-art-
performance> [Accessed on 16/02/2016].
141
Leah Talatinian, Anya Ventura, Sharon Lacey, MIT presents new music series: MIT Sounding, ‘MIT
News’, <http://news.mit.edu/2014/mit-presents-new-music-series-mit-sounding-0926> [Accessed
on 16/02/2016].
142
Alvin Lucier, I am Sitting in a Room, [Performance], MIT Media Lab, Massachusetts (2014).
 - 55 -

of the space and the architectural features that are individual to that location impart

a unique and unrepeatable performance. The piece, if recorded in the performance

space, is a completely new composition each time which, although may result in the

most minute of differences between separate performances, is filled with the

nuances and acoustic signature that is only accessible through that space. In one

respect, Francis and Hope’s point is valid; the work as a process, that is the entire

concept and rough arrangement of technology, text and mode of presentation, can

be considered as site-generic. However the resulting piece of music and

performance which come out of this process is an original and is divisible from

others.

Volum143, a site-specific installation and acousmatic performance piece

created by the Berlin sound artist collective Korinsky, comprising of Abel Korinsky,

Carlo Korinsky and Max Korinsky, sits between all of the previously mentioned

works. Installed in the Berliner Dom, Germany, is a work ‘… based on [an]

elaborated discussion about the visual and acoustic appearance of the dome space

of 75m height.’1 4 4 The piece itself began as an assignment, led by Prof. Katrin

Günther, for her architectural design students to work with sound artist collective

Korinsky. The purpose of the exercise was to encourage her students to engage with

architectural space beyond the realm of drawing and design and to provoke an

understanding how ‘… sound contributes towards the perception of space’. 1 4 5 The

piece incorporates the acoustic testing used in 492.40m3 56.7Hz TILT; the process

of recording separate locations in Particles/Waves; the spatiality and architectural

feature identification and utilisation of the Philips Pavilion; and the utilisation of

143
Abel Korinsky, Carlo Korinsky, Max Korinsky, Volum, [Performance], Berliner Dom, Berlin (2014).
144
Korinsky, Volum, Berliner Dom & Volum II, Kestnergesellschaft Hannover, ‘Work’,
<http://www.korinsky.com/Volum-Berliner-Dom-Volum-II-Kestnergesellschaft-Hannover>
[Accessed on 10/12/2016].
145
Ibid.
 - 56 -

the acoustic properties of the space through excitation of the acoustic space in I am

Sitting in a Room.

Korinsky treat the architectural space much alike Varese did in the Philips

Pavilion; they looked to the structure of the building to identify geometric points of

interest that may be useful in composition. The Berliner Dom features a large dome

in the central chamber of the building. Utilising an array of speakers located

throughout the space, they placed priority on the dome of the building. 1 4 6 Korinsky

state that…

‘[they] tried to create a reflection of sound coming from above. This was done

to create a sense of architectural and acoustic unity making the dome feel as though it

were full of sound. We decided that the public would hear no direct sound instead

everything heard is a reflection and through the symmetry you receive the sensation

that the space is actually filled with sound because direct localisation is no longer

possible. On a physical level this means that if a sound hits a particular material it will

reflect into different directions and creates the illusion that the room is wider filling

the room with sound and the source of the sound disappears.’ 1 4 7

The arrangement of the speakers in the “Non-standard interior space” configuration

arranging point-source speakers in symmetry are using such an arrangement to

focus the sound upon the architectural feature. One interesting characteristic that

differs from the work of Varese and Corbusier is the directivity of the speakers is

driven away from the audience and sound is consequently diffused and reflected off

146
Korinsky, Volum /// Berliner Dom 2014 /// documentary /// Korinsky, online video recording,
Vimeo, 21 October 2014, <https://vimeo.com/109593849> [Accessed on 10/12/2015].
147
http://www.korinsky.com/Volum-Berliner-Dom
 - 57 -

of the acoustic feature. Considering the virtual and external space, due to the direct

sound being removed the virtual space is projected straight into the external space

before reaching the audience. Therefore destroying the virtual space. The

movement of sound is dictated by the physical make-up of the architecture and

therefore sounds reaching the audience are driven by this process. One audience

member reviews the work and states that ‘It’s really interesting because you can tell

from the way the reflections amplify and intensify the sound that the space was

designed for concerts, or rather for music.’ 1 4 8

Figure 2.11: Berliner Dom. 1 4 9

Due to the limited amount of time the collective had access to the Berliner

Dom, they utilised impulse response measurements to capture the acoustic

148
Korinsky, Volum /// Berliner Dom 2014 /// documentary /// Korinsky, online video recording,
Vimeo, 21 October 2014, <https://vimeo.com/109593849> [Accessed on 10/12/2015].
149
Barbara Weibel, PHOTO: INTERIOR OF THE PROTESTANT CATHEDRAL IN BERLIN, ‘Hole in the
Donut Cultural Travel’, 22 November 2014, <http://holeinthedonut.com/2014/11/22/photo-
protestant-cathedral-in-berlin/> [Accessed on 10/12/2015].
 - 58 -

response in the space. This allows the sound designers to test the way in which

sound material would be affected by the space by using separate room IRs and

convolving desired sounds with the digitally captured space. 1 50 Through such

practice, Korinsky are able to access the acoustic phenomena of the space to fine

tune compositions that will suit the building. Musically, the ‘The idea behind the

installation was to recreate the historical soundscape of the Berliner Dom from after

the war when it lay abandoned to its gradual rebuilding in the 1970s.’1 51 Therefore

taking into account the historical significance of the site. Volum would score highly

on both Wilkie and Melchionne’s scales of site-specificity as the work takes both the

physical and cultural significance of the site, in particular they locate an interesting

feature in the site, in this case the dome.

2.3 Sound of Space

2.3.1 Overview

‘When composing music which will ultimately be presented in traditional

performance venues, most composers rarely consider the performance

space and how the music will interact within it. It is usually only when there

are problems with the acoustics or the design of the space that we ask

ourselves – ‘why did we try to perform this music in this room’?’1 5 2

150
See Appendix F for full transcription of email conversation with Korinsky.
151
Korinsky, Volum /// Berliner Dom 2014 /// documentary /// Korinsky, online video recording,
Vimeo, 21 October 2014, <https://vimeo.com/109593849> [Accessed on 10/12/2015].
152
Francis, Hope, p. 1.
 - 59 -

In the examples of site-specific sound works presented in section 2.2, artists

are shown to be utilising the acoustic properties of a space in the two following

ways…

1. Excitation and/or response: I am Sitting in a Room, Volum, 492.40m3

56.7Hz TILT and Times Square all “consciously” use some form of excitation

of an architectural space to capture or exploit the site’s acoustic properties.

Syn Chron and Particles/Waves focus upon the natural response of a space

without excitation.

2. Spatiality and Dimension: Philips Pavilion¸ Volum, Syn Chron and

Particles/Waves all utilise the spatiality of a site in the formation of their

work. Each of these works exploits the dimensional aspects of a site to

control the movement of sound through the space and to respond to the

architectural design of a space.

Each of these being directly influenced or resulting from a site’s particular

architectural design and construction. By using such characteristics the artist is able

to create works which fall into Melchionne and Wilkie’s critical schemes. The forces

at play that dictate the resulting sonic quality of each work is strictly grounded in

the laws of physics and acoustics, and thus each can identified as resulting from

predictable events. It is therefore interesting that only two of the works, 492.40m3

56.7Hz TILT and Volum, make use of acoustic measurement techniques to inform

the creation of their work. It should be noted, however, that this is a choice made by

the composer and therefor does not constitute towards a piece being valid or not.

The following section will therefore explore the science behind the concepts and

methods utilised in the mentioned works to identify how these approaches could
 - 60 -

make use of acoustic measurement and analysis techniques to further the sonic

exploration of a site.

2.3.2 Excitation and/or Response

In each of the works presented in 2.2, apart from the Philips Pavilion of

which will be avoided from discussion in this section, the artist has responded to the

acoustical properties of the space where they are either performing or exhibiting

their work. In all of the works other than Volum, the final realisations have been

presented in a gallery space or concert hall style environment to which they have

been commissioned. This brings to question the point highlighted by Francis and

Hope of ‘why did we try to perform this music in this room’?’ 1 53 In the case of

Lucier’s I am Sitting in a Room, score notes instruct the performer to choose a

room with ‘… musical qualities of which you would like to evoke’ 1 54 Thus forcing the

performer to question the space in which they are choosing to perform the piece

and to identify the acoustic character of a space in which they would consider being

interesting for the piece to be created in. In doing so the performer is having to

assess the space upon its perceivable characteristics that might, in the case of this

work, create “desirable” results.

The term “desirable” or “undesirable” used in the description of acoustics is

however problematic. Kutruff highlights a significant argument that judgment of

the perceptible quality of acoustics of a room requires a trained ear that has learnt

to discern between properties that constitute towards a bad or a good listening

153
Francis, Hope, p. 1.
154
Alvin Lucier, I am Sitting in a Room Score, ‘See This Sound’, < http://www.see-this-
sound.at/works/610/asset/602> [Accessed on 10/01/2016].
 - 61 -

experience.1 55 Even so he continues to argue ‘[it] is frequently thought that the

acoustical design of a room is a matter of chance, and that good acoustics cannot be

designed into a room with the same precision as a nuclear reactor or space vehicle is

designed. This idea is supported by the fact that opinions on the acoustics of a

certain room or hall frequently differ as widely as the opinions on the literary

qualities of a new book…’1 56 Therefore an individual’s idea of a “good” acoustic

space can be completely different to another’s. Furthermore Kutruff argues that

‘Many important factors influencing the acoustical qualities of large rooms are

understood only incompletely or even not at all … this is due to the complexity of

sound fields in closed spaces – or, as may be said equally well – to the large number

of “degrees of freedom” which we have to deal with. Another difficulty is that

acoustical quality of a room ultimately has to be proved by subjective

judgements.’1 57 Theoretically, in the case of the performer deciding upon the space

in which they wish to play, to accurately decide upon this factor they should use one

of two methods to identify the characteristics of the space. Firstly is to quantifiably

analyse the space to determine the physical, acoustic properties of the site; Secondly

they should identify the acoustic quality of a site based upon the quantifiable data,

thus reacting to a standardised understanding of the perceptual qualities of acoustic

space. Section 2.3.2.1 and 2.3.2.2 will explore both qualitative and quantitative

methods of analysing the acoustical properties of space that can provide useful

models in the creation of site-specific music or sound art.

2.3.2.1 Qualitative Analysis

155
Heinrich Kutruff, Room acoustics, 4, (New York: Taylor & Francis, 2000), pp. 1-2.
156
Kutruff, p 1.
157
Kutruff, p. 3.
 - 62 -

The design of concert halls has and remains to be an area of architectural

design that is precarious for the architect in question. Barron notes that ‘Whenever

a new hall is completed, there is anxiety before music is played for the first time.

The acoustic reputation of a hall can be volatile, especially when it opens.’ 1 58 The

perception of what attributes of an acoustic space that deem it to be “good” or not,

and that can determine how pleasurable a space is for the purpose of listening to

music, has been a focus of much scientific research over the last century. ‘Subjective

comparison of concert halls is not an easy task since preferred acoustics depends on

a number of elements. The music, the conductor, and the performance of the

orchestra greatly contribute to the listening experience, and the contribution of the

auditorium itself is hard to isolate with perceptual studies.’ 1 59

‘Beranek was one of the first to list a series of 18 important subjective

attributes: such qualities as warmth, liveness, intimacy, brilliance and ensemble.’ 1 6 0

One of the issues with Beranek’s system is highlighted by Barron who argues that

despite an experience of several participants in highly similar situations might score

differently based upon prior experience or emotional bias. 1 6 1 Further problems arise

when attempting to cross-compare two or several halls for their separate qualities

due the successful recollection of participants over the period of time between

testing, a problem overcome by Lokki et al., through the reproduction of concert

hall environments digitally using ambisonic techniques. 1 6 2 Another system,

developed by Koivuniemi and Zacharov, for the evaluation of different spatial sound

158
Michael Barron, Auditorium Acoustics and Architectural Design, (New York: Taylor & Francis,
2009), p. 35.
159
Tapio Lokki, Jukka Pätynen, Antti Kuusinen, Heikki Vertanen, Sakari Tervo, ‘Concert hall acoustics
assessment with individually elicited attributes’, in J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 130, 835 (2011), p. 1.
160
Barron, p. 35
161
Barron, p. 35
162
Lokki et al, pp. 1-5.
 - 63 -

reproduction systems, takes a more descriptive approach 1 6 3 . This approach seems to

be more appropriate when considering the works presented in section 2.2 all use

loudspeaker sources, therefore the excitation process of the room will be electronic

instruments as opposed to an ensemble, therefore making “ensemble” difficult to

analyse. Koivuniemi and Zacharov present twelve attribute scales, four of which

deal with timbral quality and eight which deal with spatial quality. 1 6 4 The process of

designing the descriptors was created through a process of familiarisation, where a

test group formed their own set of core words to which they could understand and

successfully assign to different types of stimulus. The twelve attribute scales are

measured simply using a binary weighting system of positive and negative

descriptors for each category (See Table 2.2).

Table 2.2: Koivuniemi and Zacharov’s Spatial and timbral attribute scales with english

translations (in italics). 1 6 5

163
Kalle Koivuniemi and Nick Zacharov, ‘Unravelling the perception of spatial sound reproduction:
Language development, verbal protocol analysis and listener training’, in Proc. Of the 111 th AES
Convention, New York, (2001).
164
Koivuniemi, Zacharov, p. 7.
165
Koivuniemi, Zacharov, p. 8.
 - 64 -

Although this table is primarily concerned with the reproduction of spatial

environments, each category relates in some way to the quality of an acoustic

environment when excited with loudspeakers. “Sense of Space” for example could

be applicable to defining the audience’s sense of acoustic space. Volum, for

example, would score a positive rating upon the scale as the sound the audience

hear is being reflected off of the acoustic space. One issue with both scales, as

argued by Barron is the linearity, and one dimensional results the scales produce,

thus making it difficult for deviations between characteristics. 1 6 6 One benefit of

Koivuniemi and Zacharov’s process leading up to subjective testing is the training of

participants prior to recognise the characteristics they defined in their attribute

scales.1 67 ‘For example, if the scale represents reverberation, samples are need to

illustrate a lack of reverberation (anechoic) and a large amount of reverberation

(reverberant).’1 68 Therefore by providing a control test in which two extreme

examples increases the familiarity of the participant with the particular type of

sound to expect with regards to a real acoustic test allowed the participants to

identify the acoustic effect.

Subjective results are built upon the basis of physical, real world phenomena,

Barron argues that…

‘The connection between hall design and subjective impression does however

contain two separate links: hall design determines the acoustic situation at the

166
Barron, p. 38.
167
Koivuniemi, Zacharov, p. 9.
168
Koivuniemi and Zacharov, p. 9.
 - 65 -

listeners’ ears, which the ears then interpret in a highly selective fashion. The

intermediate step that one needs to introduce is the objective measure.’ 1 6 9

Barron, suggests that subjective perceptions of acoustic properties is

inherently tied to a quantifiable parameter, a perceived reverberant space would

inevitably have a long reverb tail. 1 7 0 Consequently a combination of both practices

may aid further in the understanding of the perceptive quality of a space. When

considering the issue of the performer in Lucier’s I am Sitting in a Room, by

training the performer on the particular perceptive effects of a space, backed up by

quantitative measures, the performer could identify a room based not only upon

their subjective preferences but informed upon the resulting effect that a room’s

physical qualities might have upon the realisation of the work.

2.3.2.2 Quantitative Analysis

The use of acoustic measurements in 424.42m356.7HzTILT and Volum are

similar in the motivation behind wanting to analyse the sonic character of the space,

however in application of resulting measurements are very different. On one hand,

Atmadjaja utilises the acoustic measurement process to inform the physical

dimensions of the space to identify the room’s fundamental frequency, therefore

involving a process of post analysis. This could be equated to a more quantitative

and objective form of analysis. Korinsky on the other hand utilise the measurement

to permit offsite digital reconstruction of the space for the purpose of composing

music, suitable for the site’s acoustics. Thus using measurements as a method of

understanding the qualitative aspect of the space, which is ultimately more practice

169
Barron, p. 39.
170
Barron, p. 39.
 - 66 -

led. Both utilisations however are focused upon the process of exciting the space

and capturing the response, as a method of producing work that is specific to the

physical properties of a site. The following section will look into the methods of

acquiring the acoustic response of a space and the quantitative properties of a space

that are informed through analysis.

Kutruff argues that ‘Measurements in room acoustics are not only necessary

to increase our knowledge of the factors which govern the subjectively perceivable

acoustical qualities of a room but they are a valuable diagnostic tool and give useful

supporting information of the design of large halls.’ 1 7 1 There are a number of

methods of performing acoustic measurements but one method, originating from

the work of Sabine, is based upon the room impulse response (RIR) 1 7 2 and Kutruff

states that ‘[s]ince a room can be considered as an acoustical transmission system,

the impulse response yields a complete description of the changes a sound signal

undergoes when it travels from one point in a room to another…’ 1 7 3 . This

measurement theory, then, is grounded in the process of providing an initial burst

of acoustic energy and capturing the rooms response. Topa et al. identify this as

being due to the phenomenon when an impulse is played into‘ … an enclosed space

the source sound meets the walls, ceiling and floor, giving birth to several

reflections. The reflections overlap the original sound, causing distortion’1 7 4 , thus

imparting information upon the material quality, dimensions, configuration and

other physical properties of the space upon the captured response.

171
Kutruff, p. 235.
172
See: ISO 3382-1:2009(en), Acoustics — Measurement of room acoustic parameters — Part 1:
Performance spaces, <https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:3382:-1:ed-1:v1:en> [Accessed on
15/02/2016].
173
Kutruff, p. 237.
174
Marina Topa, Norbert Toma, Botond Sandor Kirei, Iona Homana, Marius Neag, Gilbert De Mey,
‘Comparison of Different Experimental Methods for the Assessment of the Room’s Acoustics’, in
Acoustical Physics, 57, 2, (2011), 199-207 (p. 199).
 - 67 -

To excite a space adhering to the RIR method requires the creation of an

initial stimulus, a burst of energy that acts as an impulse. Välimäki et al. identify

that ‘[t]raditional practical methods include shooting a start pistol, clapping one’s

hands, and popping an air balloon on the stage, where sound sources are usually

located [225], [226]. A drawback shared by impulses produced by all these methods

is the lack of energy at low frequencies. A pistol produces a very short impulse,

which must then be very loud to contain enough acoustic energy for good SNR

[225]. Impulses produced by hand clapping may not include enough energy and

they contain a resonance in the middle frequency range, usually between 500 Hz

and 2 kHz, with a 3-dB bandwidth in the 100–300 Hz range [227].’1 7 5 The

introduction of electrical systems which could record the process of excitation and

measurement allowed acousticians to have more definitive control over the

generation of the excitation material, as tradition methods highlighted by Välimäki

et al. have distinct flaws in reproducibility. Bart proffers that ‘Under the assumption

of source and receiver immobility, the acoustical space in which they are placed can

be considered as a Linear and Time invariant system characterized by an impulse

response h(t).’1 7 6 Therefore, Adriaensen suggests that ‘The impulse response (IR) of

a system is the output signal it produces for an input consisting of a single Dirac

pulse. The mathematical definition of a Dirac pulse requires zero width and unit

energy, which is not possible in the real world, so in practice finite-width impulses

compatible with the required bandwidth are used.’1 7 7 The advantage of using digital

and electronic methods for the creation of a dirac pulse over traditional analogue

175
V Välimäki, J. D. Parker, L. Savioja, J. O. Smith, J. S. Abel, ‘Fifty Years of Artificial Reverberation’, in
IEEE Transactions on Audio, Speech, and Language Processing, 20, 5, (2012), 1421-1448 (p.1435).
176
Stan Guy-Bart, Embrechts Jean-Jacques, Archambeau Dominique, ‘Comparison of different
Impulse Response Measurement Techniques’, in JAES, 50, 4, (2002) 249-262 (p.249).
177
F. Adriaensen, ‘Acoustical Impulse Response Measurement with ALIKI’, in Proceedings of the
International Linux Audio Conference, Karlsruhe, (2006), p. 1.
 - 68 -

methods, is the ability to control the frequency response of the impulse therefore

allowing the specific measurement of definite frequency bands.

Figure 2.12: Dirac Delta

Bart et al. highlight that to acquire an accurate impulse response of an

acoustical system, the excitation signal must meet the following requirements:

1. ‘The emitted signal must be perfectly reproducible.

2. The excitation signal and the deconvolution technique have to maximize the

signal-to-noise ratio of the deconvolved impulse response.

3. The excitation signal and the deconvolution technique must enable the

elimination of non linear artifacts in the deconvolved impulse response.’ 1 7 8

A number of methods that move towards satisfying this ideal have been

developed; The Maximum Length Series (MLS) technique created by Schroeder1 7 9 ,

later developed by Dunn and Hawksford1 80 , uses a pseudorandom signal to excite

the space and through circular cross-correlation the impulse response is

178
Guy-Bart, p.1
179
M.R. Schroeder, ‘Integrated-Impulse method measuring sound decay without using impulses’, in
J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 66, 2, (1979).
180
C. Dunn and M. O. Hawksford, ‘Distortion immunity of mls-derived impulse response
measurements’, in JAES, 41, 5, (1993), 314–335.
 - 69 -

retrieved1 81 . The Time-Stretched Pulses technique 1 82 , developed by Aoshima, is

based upon the expansion and compression of an impulsive signal. ‘Once the

response to this “stretched” signal has been measured, a compression filter is used

… to compensate for the induced stretching effects and to obtain the deconvolved

impulse response.’1 83 Time Delay Spectrometry (TDS), developed by Heyser1 84 ,

‘[TDS] is a method of measurement which directly yields the time-dependent

frequency spectrum. This is done by transforming normal acoustic variables to a

joint time-frequency coordinate system.’1 85 TDS allows the separation of

overlapping acoustical properties that overlap in both the time and frequency

domain for analysis. One issue with all of the previous techniques is the assumption

of a linear and time-invariant system1 86 , which real world space is not, due to

ambient noise, loudspeaker and microphone distortion which are all non-linear.

181
Guy-Bart, p. 2.
182
N. Aoshima, ‘Computer-generated pulse signal applied for sound measurement’, in JAES, 65, 5,
(1981), 1484–1488.
183
Guy-Bart, p.3
184
Richard C. Heyser, ‘Acoustical Measurements by Time Delay Spectrometry’, in JAES, 15, 4, (1967),
370-382.
185
R. C. Heyser, ‘Time Delay Spectrometry’, in J. Ac. Soc. Am., 53, 1, (1972).
<http://scitation.aip.org/docserver/fulltext/asa/journal/jasa/53/1/1.1982305.pdf?expires=1456847
894&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=A22987B2DA51CECB381F77CF7F64C589> [Accessed on
12/01/2016].
186
Guy-Bart, p. 3.
 - 70 -

Figure 2.13: Novak, Synchronised Exponential Sine Sweep. Initial frequency 1

(f1 ) to end Frequency (fi(t)).1 87

The SineSweep method developed by Farina combats the non-linearity of real

world acoustical systems by separating nonlinear artefacts and harmonic

distortions from the linear impulse response. 1 88 1 89 This method is widely accepted

as being more robust when used in locations that are subject to noise

interference.1 90 1 91 Farina’s method has been developed by Novak et al.1 9 2 to allow

for the control of higher order impulse response phase, Novak states ‘Thus, the

method can within one measurement of time length T characterise the nonlinear

187
Antonin Novak, instantaneous frequency fi(t). ‘Synchroniszed-Swept-Sine method’,
<http://www.ant-novak.com/swept-sine.php> [Accessed on 13/01/2016].
188
A. Farina, ‘Simultaneous measurement of impulse response and distortion with a swept-sine
technique’, in 108th AES Convention, Paris, France, (2000).
189
Guy-Bart p. 3.
190
Guy-Bart, pp. 1-17,
191
Dr. Rainer Martin, Prof Ulrich Heute, Christiane, Advances in Digital Speech Transmission, (Wiley,
2008), p. 173.
192
Antonin Novak, ‘Nonlinear System Identification Using Exponential Swept-Sine Signal’, in IEEE
Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 59, 8, (2009), 2220-2229.
 - 71 -

system in amplitude and phase not only for the fundamental harmonic as usual, but

also for higher nonlinear harmonics’1 9 3 Figure 2.14 illustrates the separation of first

order impulse response from the higher order nonlinear impulse responses, thus

showing how microphone or loudspeaker distortion may be isolated from the

room’s response. Consequently allowing further in-depth nonlinear system

identification which would allow much more accurate and detailed modelling of

how an acoustic system would behave. This is outside the scope of this project.

Novak’s synchronised swept sine method generates a signal that ‘exhibits

instantaneous frequency which increases exponentially with time’ 1 9 4 (see Figure

2.13). Novak’s method allows the user to specify the initial frequency of the signal,

to excite the space, and the end frequency thus giving control over the spectral

range of excitement, allowing for particular focus upon one area. The exponential

sine sweep method in its simplest form involves four main processes…

1. Signal generation.

2. Simultaneous playback and recording of signal into space using a

speaker and a microphone, locations set by the user.

3. Post-processing. Deconvolution of recorded signal with original signal.

4. Analysis of the acquired impulse response.

After an impulse response is acquired it is possible to measure several

characteristics of the space in which the acoustic measurement was performed;

Delay Time Measurement, Reflection Analysis, Reverberation Time, Early Decay

Time, Early-To-Late energy ratios, speech Intelligibility modelling, Frequency

193
Antonin Novak, Synchronized-Swept-Sine-Method, <http://www.ant-novak.com/swept-sine.php>
[Accessed on 13/01/2016].
194
Antonin Novak, Synchronized-Swept-Sine-Method, <http://www.ant-novak.com/swept-sine.php>
[Accessed on 13/01/2016].
 - 72 -

Spectrum Analysis. Each of these analyses allows the acoustician to identify the

acoustic properties of a space, relative to the location of recording. Thus can be used

in the process of creating site-specific work as demonstrated in Volum and

492.40m3 56.7Hz TILT as the impulse response contains the information of the

acoustic character of a space – thus ‘[increasing] our knowledge of the factors which

govern the subjectively perceivable acoustical qualities of a room’ 1 9 5 .

Figure 2.14: Separation of first order impulse response (h 1 (t)) and higher

order nonlinear impulse responses(h i(t)).

Furthermore, in the case of Volum, Korinsky make use of the acquired RIR to

allow offsite composition. Software tools such as HISStools196, Waves IR1197 , Audio

Ease Altiverb 7198, allow a user to take an impulse response captured on site and

convolve new material with the RIR and thus create a digital reconstruction of the

space. Therefore giving the opportunity, as noted by Korinsky, ‘With the impulse

response measurements and Altiverb we have the possibility to recreate a space and

195
Kutruff, p. 234.
196
Alexander Harker, Pierre Alexandre Tremblay, ‘The HISSTools Impulse Response Toolbox:
Convolution for the Masses’, in ICMC 2012: Non-cochlear Sound. The International
Computer Music Association, (2012), 148-155.
197
Waves, IR1, <http://www.waves.com/plugins/ir1-convolution-reverb> [Accessed on
17/01/2016].
198
Audio Ease, Altiverb 7, <https://www.audioease.com/altiverb/> [Accessed on 17/01/2016].
 - 73 -

to compose "site-specific" with the reverb of a space in our studio.’1 9 9 For the

realistic reconstruction of an acoustic space, it is required that the impulse response

gathering process adheres to ambiophonic standards. Torger and Farina state that

‘Ambiophonics, as one of the most realistic music production methods, requires

multi-channel convolution with very long impulse responses for creation of

believable reverberation.’2 00 Torger and Farina present an efficient, real-time

convolution technique which allows a realistic representation of a site’s acoustics.

This would be appropriate in the work, and is likely to have been used, in the studio

setup that Korinsky use. Therefore a site can be believably created off-site, which

goes against the minimalist ideal that a piece can only be created on site for it to be

site-specific. The use of more in-depth modelling of nonlinearities in an acoustic

system, achievable through the use of Novak’s Synchronised SineSweep method,

can aid towards more realistic re-representation and exploration of the sonic

characteristics of a site. Furthermore, this aids the composer, when faced with a

short period of exposure to a site as in the case of Volum, Korinsky point out that

‘We often don't have the chance to install and to work in a building like the Berliner

Dom for a longer period of time. Usually we have just 1 or 2 days to install the

work’2 01 . With such short interaction of a site, the composer has little time to

familiarise themselves with the particular acoustic nuances of the location and

through convolution techniques can identify these offsite and respond to them.

2.3.3 Spatialisation and Dimension

The use of microphones to capture acoustic from various locations in Syn

Chron and Particles/Waves allows the composer to segment the site into separate

199
Direct Communication with Abel Korinsky, please see Appendix F.
200
Anders Torger, Angelo Farina, ‘Real-Time Partitioned Convolution for Ambiophonics Surround
Sound’, in Applications of Signal Processing to Audio and Acoustics, (2001), 195-198 (p. 195).
201
Direct Communication with Abel Korinsky, please see Appendix F.
 - 74 -

sections, each having their own determining quality upon the final realisation of the

work. In the acoustic measurement of concert halls, an acoustician is often required

to take a large number of measurements from various locations throughout a site, to

gain a broad understanding of how a site will sound from the perspectives of both

the audience member and the performers. Topa et al in testing different

experimental methods for the assessment of a room’s acoustics, thirty three

positions of audience member seating positions (See Figure 2.15a). By performing a

large quantity of measurements, Topa et al were able to create a topographical

graph showing the relative level of clarity to each location. (See Figure 2.15b). By

segmenting the space sympathetically to the usage of the site, Topa Et al are able to

understand a typical audience’s sonic perspective when visiting the site. The extent

of measurements ensures a holistic understanding of properties of a site, but also

show the distinct deviances within the site which are caused by architectural

features. In figure… there is a distinct relationship between the clarity that is seated

towards the chancel and feeds out into the nave. The two alters, St. Jospeh Alter

and Heart of Jesus Alter show clear acoustic shadowing as the sound travels further

away from the chancel. This shows that this extended method of analysis can be

used to provide significant information upon the spatial impact the architectural

design of the space has upon the reception of sound within a space.
 - 75 -

Figure 2.15a: Map of St. Maria Catholic Church, measurement positions. (Circled S

denoting sound source).

Figure 2.15b: Map of St. Maria Catholic Church, map of clarity. (Scale: white is

relative to -4dB, and black is relative to -8.4dB on the clarity scale).

One limitation with the method used by Topa et al is the use of an

omnidirectional microphone. Bernschutz argues that the use of omnidirectional

microphones is they provide an…

… approximate prediction of the overall perceptive quality but rarely serve to detect
and locate any concrete origin of room acoustic problems … All spatial information is
inseparably merged in the non-directional impulse responses. On this account, it can
be very difficult to deduce the spatial direction of a single contribution to the impulse
response. 2 0 2

Therefore understanding the cause of a lack of clarity is unable to be determined

through such a use. Although this was not relevant to the work of Topa et al, the use

of three dimensional microphone arrays allows the calculation of the direction of

incoming reflections. Farina et al argue that ‘In a sparse microphone array the

microphones are placed at large distances, with the goal to sample the sound field at

202
Benjamin Bernschütz, ‘Sound Field Analysis in Room Acoustics’, in 27th Tonmeistertagung – VDT
International Convention, November, (2012), p. 1
 - 76 -

points where the sound is significantly different. On the other hand, in a dense

array, the microphones are usually small and close [to] each other, so that the

minimum distance between two microphones is significantly smaller than the

wavelength for any allowed direction of arrival of the wavefront.’ 2 03 Bernschütz

furthers this point and suggests that the ‘Arranging the microphones of an array

on a real or imaginary spherical surface is very popular due to the rotational

symmetry of the sphere and the well examined and defined spherical

mathematics.’2 04 Therefore through such means an array of microphones can

decode the multichannel output, or B format, of the recorded input and extract

information about directional qualities of the space. In turn this can provide a much

more in depth snapshot of a single point within a space and can identify points in

the room where particular acoustic phenomena occurs.

Figure 2.16: Sweeping directional IR measurements, 18 points 20°

intervals.2 05

203
Angelo Farina, Simone Campanini1, Lorenzo Chiesi1, Alberto Amendola1, Lorenzo Ebri, Spatial
Sound Recording With Dense Microphone Arrays, P. 1
204
Bernschütz, p. 3
205
Banu Günel, ‘Room Shape and Size Estimation using Directional Impulse
Response Measurements’ in Proc. of 3rd EAA Congress on Acoustics, Forum Acusticum, (2002) p. 2.
 - 77 -

Günel has offered an interesting approach to estimating the shape and size of

a room through a series of sequential measurements performed from the rough

central point of a room. 2 06 The technique involves performing measurements in 20

degree intervals using a directional speaker source and sweeping an array of

cardioid microphone at different angles to determine the arrival angle of reflections

(See figure 2.16).2 07 Despite the results being far from reliable with average error

rates being around 41% 2 08 , the process shows the potential for extracting

information about the geometrical construction of a space which could be used for a

wide number of applications. This process is particularly interesting as it focuses

purely upon the architectural design of a space and is interested only in gaining the

dimension and configuration of a space through acoustic means. However, Günel

argues that ‘The number of the measurement locations is a compromise between

the details of the room structure and the amount of the data analysed. The locations

of the loudspeaker and the microphone can be chosen relative to each other, but not

relative to the room surfaces, since it is assumed that no prior information about

the room size is available.’2 09 Each of the 18 measurement points in the sweep

generate 25 separate impulse responses which is a large amount of data to process.

The issue with this method in a compositional framework where time is limited is

the mass of data that is required to be processed in order to gain any information of

the space. Furthermore accurate results the process of sweeping is a timely process

that requires highly precise positioning and rotation of the microphone. This

process highlights that the use of a sweeping pattern of measurements can give light

upon the architectural design of a space, purely through the impulse response

measurement. Although this method could be performed using non-acoustic

methods, tape measurement for example, this process highlights the usefulness of

206
Günel, p. 4
207
Günel, p. 3.
208
Günel, p. 5
209
Günel, p. 2
 - 78 -

the impulse response measurement process for the purpose of the analysis of a site,

providing information upon the dimensions and configuration of a site.

Figure 2.17: Room Shape Estimations 2 1 0

Kestian and Roginska, with similar motivations to Günel, have conducted a

series apparatus tests that aim to obtain the characteristics of smaller acoustic

spaces. They present three apparatus setups that extend upon the Acoustic Pulse

Reflectometry (APR) methodology. The aim of this work was ‘to extract specific

geometric attributes of larger spaces, which could include characteristics such as

the dimensions of the space or the identification of specific scattering junctions.’2 1 1

In all three of their apparatus setups they utilise a combination of a directional

shotgun microphone and an omnidirectional microphone which are directed at each

wall, ceiling and floor sequentially with a different source setup. Setup two, uses a

single directional speaker source which follows the same directional placement as

the microphones returned the cleanest response.2 1 2 Furthermore their setup

highlights that using a directional microphone not only produces an impulse with

210
Günel, p. 5.
211
Adam Kestian and Agnieszka Roginska, ‘Apparatus comparison for the characterization of
spaces’, in Proc. Of the 125 th AES conv., (2008), p. 1.
212
Kestian, Roginska, p. 5.
 - 79 -

much more clarity (See figure 2.18), ‘their contour is much more refined and

consistent. The level of noise has reduced dramatically as well.’2 1 3 Kestian and

Roginska also have a much more accurate level of dimensional prediction, and in

setup two achieve a 2% difference of the actual measurements of the space.

Therefore for the purposes of measuring specific acoustic features, a setup which is

more directional should provide much clearer results.

Figure 2.18: Difference in clarity between omnidirectional (Left, less defined) and

shotgun microphone (right, more defined) 2 1 4 .

Chapter 3

Design and Process

3.1 Overview

The purpose of this project is to extend upon existing methods of acoustic

measurement to identify particular architectural and acoustic features of a site for

the purpose of site-specific composition. The literature review has highlighted

213
Kestian, Roginska, p. 4.
214
Kestian, Roginska, p. 7.
 - 80 -

several sound art pieces and electroacoustic works which utilise the architectural

construction of a site to inform the placement of speakers and subsequent

composition of music and sound work. Campesato’s categorisations of how such a

space might be referenced points to three separate aesthetic considerations of the

site as physical and non-physical location: “Acoustical Space”, “Architectural Space”

and “Representational Space” which a composer can use to create a piece of site-

specific work. Several of the works selected that score highly on Wilkie’s scale of

site-specificity are primarily focused upon acoustical space, however in the case of

Volum, which can be considered as highly site-specific, utilises all three to some

degree. Section 2.3 has highlighted methods of acoustic measurement which can

help towards the characterisation of a space. Atmadjaja and Korinsky’s work have

shown some utilisation of such techniques for the purpose of fulfilling the creation

of site-specific works, with a varying degree of site-specificity when referring to

Wilkie’s scale. The following section is a breakdown of the development of a system

and design of a measurement process that extends upon the analysis of the acoustic

properties of a space to inform the composition of music and sound art installation

material that fits into Wilkie’s classification of site-specificity.

3.2 Sites

The literature review has highlighted a variety of spaces in which site-specific

sound and visual based art works have been installed. A common theme through all

of the works is how the site itself is adjusted by the work and therefore bringing

aspects of the site to the attention of the observer or listener. In most cases,

specifically I am Sitting in a Room and Volum, the site has been selected for its

particular acoustics and subsequent architectural features that impart a unique

sonic character upon the sound work. As this work is focused upon the

identification of such “interesting” features it is therefore a necessity that sites,

 - 81 -

which may have interesting architectural and acoustic qualities must be

distinguished from those which may not. Consequently, a scheme must be

established to determine whether a site is a plausible and potentially useful option.

Thus the site must…

- Have a complex geometrical arrangement (i.e. several conjoined rooms,

alcoves, small compartments, corridors, stairwells, etc.), as opposed to a

minimally rectangular space.

- Be partly or fully constructed of materials which allow a moderate to

high level of reverberation (a completely treated space such as a studio

would be of no use as it has been designed to dampen reverberation to a

minimal level).

- Be situated in an environment which is as free from external noise as

possible, to avoid disturbances in the measurement and performance

process.

- Allow the recording process to take place without disrupting the daily

usage.

- Have sufficient fire restrictions that do not serve to be obstacles in the

measurement process. (For example a space which isn’t blocked off or

has a large number of fire doors, which are by law required to be closed,

meaning cabling and such has to be routed round or is even permitted).

These concerns were raised with venue holders prior to arranging time to be spent

on site to avoid complications and to address any regulations that were to be upheld

whilst working. One issue that arose in a number of venues was the existence of

strict fire safety measures which ensured the safety of those entering the building

such that many of the locations that were architecturally abstract were off limits to

visitors and were limited to spaces specifically designed as public performance

 - 82 -

spaces. Even more so the use of equipment and cabling had to be sufficiently safety

checked to the extent that it became difficult to locate areas within which

measurements could take place. This had a limiting factor on the number of spaces

that were available for testing, something which could have been a detriment to the

project without the helpful cooperation of a few building managers.

The process of identifying a site that contains a varied number of interesting

acoustic features is a blind process prior to testing due to the qualities of a site being

solely exclusive to that site that is inherently a singularity. Therefore the selection

process should be performed in two parts: Firstly the site should be assessed on

previous experience with acoustical space and the effect it has upon sound. In our

day to day life we come into contact with a large variety of spaces which are unique

and our experience of inhabiting or passing through such is based upon our sensory

ability to perceive them. Tuan’s example of a cathedral exemplifies the connection

we are able to make between the site and the acoustic quality, thus we can assume

that environments with similar characteristics will predictably the same. In contrast

a small enclosed environment, such as a recording studio, will be comparatively

dampened and more condensed. Both spaces are constructed with different

materials, are vastly different in size and to some degree are spaces which a

composer will be familiar with. For the purposes of this project it is therefore

appropriate to make initial assessments upon a site based upon previous knowledge

of acoustic spaces to select sites that may be interesting. Secondly, it is important to

use our visual senses to identify spaces that could be acoustically interesting. A

cathedral, for example, are large open spaces that are highly embellished with

separate chambers, columns, pews, and other soft furnishings. Due to the size and

configuration of this space along with all decorative features this space can be

considered as visually “interesting”. In comparison, a room with no fittings, flat

 - 83 -

walls, a flat ceiling and no furniture is a neutral space and offers little visual

stimulus. By distinction these spaces can be assumed to have very different acoustic

qualities and therefore in the process of selecting a site which has a variety of

acoustically interesting features - the space with more visually exciting features may

take precedence. It is important to note however, these assumptions can be made

assuredly up until the point of measurement which will ultimately determine

whether a site has sufficiently diverse acoustic features. Consequently a site may

need to be abandoned, for the purposes of this project, if testing reveals the site may

not be useful.

Section four will present three case studies that each explore a site. The

selection of each site will adhere to the selection scheme and from initial subjective

analyses will return interesting results. A summary of the site and the reasons for

selection will be detailed in section four with subsequent data and discussion to

validate the choice.

3.3 Acoustic Measurement

The literature review has highlighted that acoustic measurements involve three

stages:

1. Positioning of speaker and microphone.

2. Recording of Sweep into space.

3. Analysing the acquired impulse response.

Positioning of the speaker and microphone is a process that is subjected to the same

rules as highlighted in 3.2. It is a judgement made by the individual performing the

measurements and is dependent on the information the measurer wishes to gain

 - 84 -

from the site. Günel and Topa present two very different forms of microphone

placement that is suitable for their requirements. A common factor in both

techniques is the segmentation of the space through varying the microphone

positioning to analyse separate areas of a room. Kestian and Roginska have shown

that use of directional microphones and speaker sources can provide much clearer

results when the focus is upon one particular area. The use of directional sound

sources is common to all of the electroacoustic and sound art pieces that have been

analysed. As the proposed concept behind this thesis is to identify “interesting”

acoustic features, the positioning of speakers should be a compromise between the

composer’s artistic will and their response to quantitative data. Therefore the

process of fixing speakers into a final configuration should be a fluid process of trial

and error to get the most desirable results.

As the process utilises scientific techniques – the acoustic measurement –

the analysis phase should follow standard testing protocol as inaccuracies would

mean any measured results may be biased to a particular location and skew any

cross analyses. In the work of Günel and Topa, they both follow a systematic

approach to microphone placement respective to the location of the speaker (See

Figure 2.15ba and Figure 2.16). One issue with both of these methods is they only

require one speaker source to perform measurements. In the examples of the site-

specific sound work presented in section 2.2 works often involve multi-channel

speaker arrays spread in a variety of non-regular locations. To introduce a control to

the proposed process, each measurement in a site will adhere to the following

specifications:

1. Speakers within the space should be uniform; the type and model of

speaker should be the same; configurable speakers should be set to

 - 85 -

the same (preferably to the flattest response); speakers should be

placed upon the same model and type of stand and padding.

2. Microphones should be uniform; if multiple microphones are used,

they should be matched or the same model. See above for stand

specifications.

3. Speakers and microphones should be directional to produce clearer

impulse responses.

4. Microphones should be set to the same rotation and direction as the

speakers so that both polarities are horizontal to each other.

5. Mixing of the speaker volume and microphone input gain should be

as high as possible, without clipping, to get as higher signal to noise

ratio as possible.

6.

3.3.1 Measurement Software

As highlighted by Korinsky, the creation of site-specific work is highly

dependent on the amount of time the composer is able to be in contact with a space.

The whole process therefore must be a compromise between measuring, analysing

and composing music for the space within the time limit that has been offered to a

composer. The process therefore needs to be efficient but allow an in-depth analysis

of the site to allow the composer to respond to the acoustic character of a space as

accurately as possible without limiting creative potential. Topa et al and Günel’s

method of analysis require a large number of measurements to be taken which will

take up a lot of time when a composer is working alone. Kestian and Roginska’s

method reduces the amount of measurements required down to the number of

architectural features being examined. With even a small number of point source

speaker arrays the number of measurements required using Kestian and Roginska’s
 - 86 -

method will reduce the amount of time needed to perform useful tests. A system

that allows efficient processing of IRs, storage and location tagging, and consistent

measurements needs to be designed. For this stage a Max MSP has written which

employs two methods of exponential sine sweep generation; Novak’s method of

“Synchronised Exponential Sine Sweep” to allow the user to generate sweep signals

which permit system identification. The second technique is Farina’s method2 1 5

which is not phase controlled but is used more commonly in IR measurements. 2 1 6

21 7 21 8 Both methods use an inverse exponential sine-sweep signal, calculated in the

time domain, for the process of deconvolution and acquiring of the IR following the

signal being recorded into a space. The inverse signal is convolved with the room

recording which returns an impulse response. This system efficiently stores the

recorded impulse response into the user’s document files into a well ordered format

for analysis. The final process in the system is to create several band passed copies

of the IR to allow four distinct frequency bands to be analysed. (See Appendix D for

the full system breakdown; the main system Max patch; java source code created for

generation of the signal, IR bandpass and file management; Installation and use of

program).

Analysis of results should also allow for the quick judgement of captured

impulse responses on whether they are suitable should be available. For quick on

site analysis, Adobe Audition2 1 9 can be employed to allow the composer to review

both the gained IR and the sine-sweep room recording displayed in the dB/Time

graph and Frequency Spectrum/Time graph (See Figure 3.1). This allows a

215
Angelo Farina, Advancements in impulse response measurements by sine sweeps, pp. 1 -21.
216
Ian H. Chan, Swept Sine Chirps for Measuring Impulse Response, p. 2.
217
Q. Meng, D. Sen, S. Wang and L. Hayes, IMPULSE RESPONSE MEASUREMENT WITH SINE SWEEPS
AND AMPLITUDE MODULATION SCHEMES, pp. 1-5.
218
Martin Holters, Tobias Corbach, Udo Zölzer, IMPULSE RESPONSE MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
AND THEIR APPLICABILITY IN THE REAL WORLD, pp. 1-5.
219
https://creative.adobe.com/products/audition
 - 87 -

composer to identify visually how the reverberation tail of a particular location may

differ to previous measurements and can inform them on whether the measurement

was successful. Furthermore the composer can listen to the gained impulse

responses to perform subjective analysis upon the quality of the IR to begin

assessing the sonic characteristic of the selected location.

Figure 3.1: Adobe Audition set to Spectrum graph and amplitude/time graph.

The second piece of software used is Room EQ Wizard which is feature rich

for impulse response analysis. For the purposes of this project the focus will be

upon the use of frequency response decay graphs (also referred to as “Spectral

Decay” graph) and the analytic signal graphing (also referred to as the “Energy

Time Curve” or ETC). Room EQ Wizard allows for the quick loading of recorded IRs

into the software and presenting results from the early decay time (EDT) which is

calculated from the slope of the Schroeder Curve 2 2 0 between 0dB and -10dB. The

T20 is the slope of the Schroeder Curve from -5dB to -25dB and the T30 is from -

5dB to -35dB. The final measured parameter is curvature, which indicates how the

220
Schroder backwards integration.
 - 88 -

slope of the IR changes between T20 and T30. If the curvature percentage is higher

than 10% it can be assumed that there is a two stage decay curve.2 2 1 The

combination of the analytic signal and the Schroeder Curve allows the composer to

see how the character of the impulse response changes through time. Therefore the

composer is able to compare the Schroeder curve with the analytic signal to see if

there are interesting artefacts in the resulting IR. All results from the analysis phase

will be collated into excel documents allow for the cross comparison of each

location’s results, this will then provide further data for the composer to make

informed decisions upon the characteristics of the space and the type of sound

material to be used for each location.

Figure 3.2: Room EQ Wizard: Analytic Signal Graph (Left), Frequency Response

Decay Graph (Left).

3.4 Composition

The final stage of the process is to begin to sketch out preliminary ideas that

demonstrate how the results can be used as stimulus for the composition of music.

These will focus upon the results that have been discovered and will be limited to

examples which show how particular findings may inspire compositional material

as opposed to full bodies of work. The discussion section will act as a discussion of

221
See Room EQ Wizard help window page titled “Filtered IR Graph” for full explanation of the
calculations on the Impulse Response analytic signal graph.
 - 89 -

the results and subsequent impact of finding upon the wider compositional practice.

One issue with the composition phase is the realistic reconstruction of the site off

location. Korinsky use the acquired IRs to allow them to create sound work in a

studio setup, however there is little information on how they reconstruct the

acoustic environment they measured. An inherent issue with the proposed method

– using directional microphones and directional speakers pointed towards acoustic

features – is the speaker configurations are likely to be non-regular and therefore

microphone placement will not be in reference to the listener. This raises an issue

with how the space can be spatially reconstructed in a studio environment – it

would be highly difficult to recreate or scale the exact spatial configuration of the

speaker layout in reference to a space with complex geometry by arranging speakers

to match placement. This process could be achieved digitally through

reconstructing the site in 3D software and use ray tracing to recreate the point

sources2 2 2 however this process requires an understanding of 3D software and

coding knowledge which is outside the scope of this project. A compromise

therefore has to be made to allow a composer to freely experience the separate

locations within a studio environment. Therefore it would be apt to utilise a

surround sound speaker array setup that reflects the number of locations analysed.

This will restrict the number of measurement locations to the equipment the

composer has available, but will offer the composer the chance to create multi-

channel compositions whilst responding to the quality of the gained IRs. For this

project the convolution process will be performed inside Adobe Audition using the

inbuilt convolution reverb rack effect. 2 2 3

222
Renzo Vitale, Perceptual Aspects Of Sound Scattering In Concert Halls, (Logos Verlag, 2015), p. 36.
223
Reverb Effects, ‘Adobe Audition Help’, <https://helpx.adobe.com/audition/using/reverb-
effects.html> [Accessed on 1/02/2016].
 - 90 -

Chapter 4

Results, Pieces and Discussion

4.1 Overview

Two main sites have been selected and are presented as separate case studies

in this section. One other site that didn’t produce as interesting results will be

presented in shorter detail, reflective of the amount of information that can be

gained from the acoustic measurement method. The sites were chosen based upon

prior experience in these spaces in both musical and non-musical contexts,

therefore there was some understanding of the overall quality of the acoustics that

could provide interesting results. The following section will be structured as follows.

A brief introduction to the context of the site and the reasons for selecting them as

case studies with illustrations and photos documenting the initial response to the

site. The second part of the case study will present the locations and results from

the measurement phase and subsequent analysis. This section will be focused upon

the identification of significant results from the site that allow the characterisation

of the site that will aid in the creation of sound art or music. The final part of each

case study will be a discussion of the results and the presentation of compositional

ideas which have arisen from the measurement and analysis process.
 - 91 -

4.2 Site One – Temple Works: Painters Bar

4.2.1 Painters Bar – Site Overview

Figure 4.1: Templeworks, Leeds, Front entrance to building. 224

Temple Works in Holbeck is the Grade 1 listed Victorian former flax mill that made
history as “the largest room in the world”, with sheep grazing on a skylit roof in the
heart of Leeds industrial revolution. With a facade modelled on the Temple of Horus
at Edfu in Egypt, it was designed by the Bonomi Brothers and by prominent Victorian
industrialist John Marshall, between 1836 and 1840. Temple Works is referred to in
schools of architecture and engineering the world over not so much for the unusual
facade however but for the unique and visionary engineering solution of the main mill
floor, reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Johnson Wax Building a century later. 2 2 5

Although the main space is synonymous for its size, Templeworks offers

many other smaller and more intricate rooms which are accessible to the public.

Painters Bar is a small basement which sits below the main entrance (See Figure

224
Temple Works, ‘Historical Gallery’, <http://www.templeworksleeds.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/03/Kays-and-Co-1952.jpg> [Accessed on 01/02/2016].
225
Temple Works, ‘History’, <http://www.templeworksleeds.com/history/> [Accessed on
01/02/2016].
 - 92 -

4.1) which showed a lot of potential for a site-specific work. The space is a

characterful room which shows the state of disrepair the building fell into over the

many years of being unoccupied. Templeworks has been the cultural hub in Leeds

for many years and has seen the space being used by local artists for events an d

exhibitions. Painters Bar therefore is filled with many pieces of abandoned

furniture and materials left by the artists which add to the post-industrial feel of the

site. Out of all of the smaller usable spaces, Painters Bar features a very unique G-

shape configuration of four main chambers with a low hanging arched ceilings.

Remnants of the space’s functional history embellish the space and of particular

notability are the series of alcoves embedded upon the far wall from the entrance.

(See figure 4.3). The material construction of the space is predominantly brick,

stone and lime plaster ceilings which all help foster a distinctive reverberation tail.
 - 93 -

Figure 4.2: Templeworks Painters Bar. Left Chamber (Top), Centre Chamber

(Bottom).

One of the main interesting features in this space is the unusual G-shape

layout. This therefore became the primary focus upon the investigation of the site

with a view of exploring how sound moves between these chambers. By segmenting

the space into four separate segments, inspired by the sound routes of Varèse,

comparisons between these can be made. Locations one and four focused upon one

of the alcoves in chamber B (See figure 4.3). One of the main motivations behind

the selection of this feature was to see whether the response of these alcoves would
 - 94 -

differ dramatically from the coupled chamber. The second location was chosen to

analyse the effect the more shallow alcoves in chamber B affected the travel of

sound – to see if they acted as diffusers within the space. Locations three and five

were solely focused upon the movement of sound from segments C and B into the

entrance chamber A and then through to the opposite chamber and back. The final

point of interest was chamber D and was introduced to identify the more enclosed

of the chambers contrasted with the main space. (See Appendix A, “Photographs”

folder for full sets of photographs of the site).

Figure 4.3: Temple Works, Painters Bar, Floor Plan.

 - 95 -

4.2.2 Results

For each location the microphone was placed between one and two metres

from the loudspeaker source, with the cardioid pattern of the microphone pattern

point towards the acoustic feature. The equipment used in this testing was six KRK

Rokit RP6 G3 monitor speakers and a Rode NT55 small-diaphragm cardioid

microphone. Both sources have dimensional qualities and the NT55 has a

reasonably flat frequency response with a marginal 2dB drop below 200Hz and a

2dB peak between 4 kHz and 15 kHz (See Figure 4.4). The KRK Rokit monitors

have a frequency range of -10dB between 38Hz to 35 kHz.2 2 6 A sweep of 20Hz to 20

kHz with a duration of 10 seconds was generated using the Farina sweep, the sweep

begins at 20Hz to account for the -10dB drop and results bellow the frequency

range of the KRK Rokit monitors will be treated with caution. For the purpose of

analysis, the band pass section of the Max MSP program has been set to split the

frequency range from 20Hz – 20 kHz into four logarithmic scale weighted bands.

Due to the frequency response of the speakers being restricted to 38Hz the lowest

frequency band was given double weighting. The bands are set to 20Hz-112Hz,

112Hz-632Hz, 632Hz-3556Hz and 3556Hz-20 kHz. A logarithmic weighting system

was used to split the frequency range to match the human auditory system’s

perception of frequency. The main purpose of the testing performed in the first site

was to identify whether a site, that is composed of multiple chambers could return

meaningful results that allowed the differentiation between different locations

within the conjoined space. The focus in this section will be upon the reverberation

times EDT, T20 and T30.

226
DJ Tech Direct, Product Overview. ‘KRK Rokit RP6 G4 Active Speaker’
<http://www.djtechdirect.com/krk-rokit-rp4-g3-active-speaker.html#> [Accessed on 02/02/2016].
 - 96 -

Figure 4.4: Frequency Response (Top) and Polar Pattern of Rode NT55 small-

diaphragm cardioid microphone. 2 2 7

Figure 4.5: Painters Bar Bandpassed IR Reverb Times (s).

227
Rode NT55, Data Sheet, <http://cdn1.rode.com/nt55_datasheet.pdf> [Accessed on 1/02/2016].
 - 97 -

Overall the results for the EDT, T20 and T30 times show that for each

bandpass band there are at least subtle differences in the decay of energy. The

largest difference between projected RT60 times (the average of T20 and T30

times) was a difference of 1.291 seconds in the lowest pass band of 20Hz-112Hz.

This contrast occurs between location four and location six, suggesting that location

four has a longer decay rate in lower frequencies. However overall it can be

observed that decay rate shortens as frequency increases. Therefore to analyse the

relative difference between each of the frequency bands it is appropriate to

normalise each of the data sets so that they are weighted with regards to time. The

highest range when normalised is therefore in the band three, in frequencies 632Hz

to 3556Hz, with a normalised projected RT60 range of 0.597, which is a time

difference of 0.627 (See Figure 4.8). This occurs between location two and location

four and highlights that mid-high frequencies loose energy much faster in the

enclosed alcove in chamber C than in the open chamber of A. The smallest range of

projected RT60 times is in band four, 3556Hz to 20 kHz, with a time difference of

0.173 seconds. However normalisation suggests that the smallest relative range

occurs in band two with a normalised range of 0.197 equating to 0.752 seconds,

between locations six and two. 0.752 seconds is a significant amount of time when

considering the longest projected reverberation time is 2.620 seconds and this

difference equates to nearly a quarter that period. This shows that even at the

smallest range there are significant differences in length of IR decay rates. This

confirms that there is an adequate level of variety in the selected features, based

upon decay rates.

 - 98 -

Projected RT60 Times

Average of All Bands (s)
3.000

2.500 Band One 20-112Hz

Average Time (s)

2.000
Band Two 112-632Hz
1.500
Band Three 632-
1.000 3556Hz
0.500 Band Four 3556-
20kHz
0.000
Loc 1 Loc 2 Loc 3 Loc 4 Loc 5 Loc 6

Figure 4.6: Projected RT60 Times, Average of All Bands (s)

Projected RT60 Times

Average of All Bands (Normalised)
1.200

1.000
Band One 20-112Hz
(Normalised)
Av erage Time (s)

0.800
Band Two 112-632Hz
0.600 (Normalised)
Band Three 632-3556Hz
0.400 (Normalised)
Band Four 3556-20kHz
(Normalised)
0.200

0.000
Loc 1 Loc 2 Loc 3 Loc 4 Loc 5 Loc 6

Figure 4.7: Projected RT60 Times Average of All Bands (Normalised)

 - 99 -

Range of Projected RT60 Times (Normalised)

0.700

Range Time (Normalised)

0.600
0.500
0.400
0.300
0.200
0.100
0.000
20Hz- 112Hz- 632Hz- 3556Hz-
All Pass
112Hz 632Hz 3556Hz 20khz
Range of Projected RT60
0.304 0.197 0.642 0.597 0.645
Times (Normalised)

Figure 4.8: Range of projected RT60 Times (Normalised).

One observation that can be made by assessing the overall RT60 times, is

there is a minor drop in reverberation time in the last three locations. These

measurements can be identified as being in chambers C and D. This suggests that

chambers A and B retain reverberant energy longer than C and D. Locations two

and three return very similar results in all bands and only deviate in the EDT in the

bass bandpass (20Hz -112Hz) and the high bandpass (3556Hz-20kHz). In contrast

chamber C and D overall has a shorter reverberation time – the grouped average

between the three locations in A and B compared to C and D is a normalised time

difference of 0.211 that represents a difference of 0.267 seconds of decay time. Band

two shows the most well-defined contrast between both chamber groupings (See

Figure 4.7, band two). Referral to the curvature of the IR bands gives some

explanation towards the reasons behind the difference between the chamber

groupings. In the top three frequency bands, the curvature of the RIR scores higher

in locations four to six and suggests that the locations exhibit double-slope or a

higher number of sloped decay curves (See Figure 4.9). This points towards the

decay pattern of one chamber being superimposed on another. This effect is the

most prominent in the highest pass band in the analytic signal of location four.
 - 100 -

Figure 4.9: Curvature of RIR Decay Curves.

Figure 4.10: Multiple decay curve slopes in location four RIR 3556Hz-20kHz.

The three regression lines indicate three separate decay rates which the

Schroeder curve smooths into an arc. Referring back to Figure… the floor diagram,

there are three spaces in which the sound can travel directly; sound initially fills the

alcove where the microphone is placed; sound emanates from the alcove into
 - 101 -

chamber C; finally the sound enters chamber A (See Figure 4.11, Sound dispersion

from alcove). Sound is then reflected back to into the alcove where it is picked up by

the microphone.

Figure 4.11: Sound Diffusion from Location Four

The most similar results between the locations was between locations one and

five. Although each recording was performed in a position that is significantly

architecturally different – one being located in an alcove and five into an open

chamber – they both have similar reverberation times in all the frequency bands.

Upon assessing the two IRs audibly, they have very similar reverberation tails, they

differ only in the early reflection region. Within the early reflection region (50

milliseconds following the direct sound) they both have similar movement. The

major difference between these two locations is location one has more tightly

packed reflections with a time of 17ms between the first two major reflections and

location five is 24ms (See Figure 4.12, Location one and five) and therefore gives

location one a perceptively sharper quality in the initial pulse. This measurement

has highlighted that despite the two measurements being directed at highly

different architectural features result in the same quality of acquired RIR. This
 - 102 -

therefore makes it difficult to identify the type of feature depending upon the

audible quality of an RIR, this example demonstrates how even with distinctly

different architectural features, the resulting RIR can be audibly similar.

Figure 4.12: Early reflections, Loc. 1 (Left), Loc. 5 (Right).

 - 103 -

RT60 Times Location One and Four

1.4
1.2
1

Time (s)
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
Projected
EDT (s) T20 (s) T30 (s) RT60 Times
(s)
Loc 1 0.773 1.092 1.193 1.143
Loc 4 0.319 0.520 0.703 0.612

Figure 4.13: RT60 Times for Locations One and Four.

One unexpected result was the dissimilarity between the two alcoves both in

frquency response and reverberation time which would have been expected to

return similar results. Location four in both of the upper pass bands scored a much

lower reverberation times with the highest difference between the reverberation

times being 0.572 seconds (See Figure 4.13, T20). This means that location four has

half the reverberation time, measured at T20, of location one. One other significant

difference betewen the location is the audible resonance of location four. Figure …

shows the two spectral decay graphs of location one and four. Location one shows

some significant peaks, most notably between 35Hz and 80Hz, however lack

definition. In contrast location four shows three strong peaks that become clearer

after 400m at 27Hz, 77Hz and 210Hz . Three other peaks which are less defined can

also be made out. These peaks give location four the distinctive resonant quality

that can be heard as ringing following the impulse (See Appendix A for audio file

located in the “Impulse Response” folder and “Analysis” for full set of analyses and

graphs).
 - 104 -

Figure 4.14: Spectral Decay Graphs: Location one (Top) and Location Four

(Bottom).

Overall the results have shown that the space can be divided up into two

distinct chamber groupings. Chambers A and B expose longer reverberation times

and have more linear decay curves which suggests the locations selected within this

space are not affected by the coupling with C & D. Chambers C and D have shorter

reverberation times with a grouped average of 0.216 seconds less than chambers A

and B. Between the sections there are, however, similarities in two locations.

Location one and five have RIR reverberation times and audible quality that are

very alike and highlights that despite the acoustic feature being considerably

different in dimension and configuration, two can produce RIRs that are closely
 - 105 -

related. This is a pertinent example as to why subjective measurements that attempt

to identify the type of architectural feature through audibly analysing a RIR gained

through the method used in this study, is limited even when supported by

quantitative results. (See Appendix A “Analysis” folder for full sets of results and

graphs).

4.2.3 Compositions and Extracts

The results for Painters Bar have highlighted two distinct areas within the

site. These two locations have shown distinct differences in reverberation times and

therefore can be used to differentiate each half of the space. Segmentation of the

space provides an initial stimulus for assessing the potential spatial engagement

with the site. As each side has been characterised, much like Atmadjaja’s 492.40m3

56.7Hz TILT, a numerical value – 0.216 seconds – defines the contrasting average

reverberation time of each side. The configuration of speakers also follows a similar

dichotomous relationship between each half of the room with three speakers

distributed on either side of the main chamber. Spatially, these points can be

utilised to produce movement between the chambers and bring the contrasting

qualities of the groupings to attention of the listener. Further comparisons can be

made that expose the similarity between locations one and five that can be used as

anchor points in the opposing groupings that have a mirroring effect. In contrast

locations one can be utilised to demonstrate that despite the alcove’s visual

similarity they are audibly unrelated. The data presented in 4.3.2 shows one

interpretation of the site and corresponding selection of architectural features.

Analysis of the acquired RIRs has exposed a series of characteristics that are unique

to separate locations within the space and therefore offers the composer a palette of

acoustic, spatial and spectral nuances that can be exploited. Furthermore the data

set is solely specific to this site, responding to measured characteristics allows the
 - 106 -

composer to create a piece which is not only for this particular space but is about

the space.

One of the main characteristics of the space is the distinct relationship

between the two chamber groupings. Therefore an initial concept that could be

employed as a structural feature in a sound work would be the contrast between the

two halves. The first extract, titled 1.394-1.127 will focus upon creating dialogue and

movement through the chambers (See Appendix A, “Compositions” folder for stereo

mixdown and individual tracks for surround sound reproduction). Figure …

illustrates how the space can be separated and how two sound routes that are

sympathetic to the speaker arrangement whilst giving listeners the opportunity to

hear the architectural features that have been selected. Drawing inspiration from

the site’s history, the piece will attempt to reference the functional purpose of the

building as a flax mill through spatial “weaving” between the two chamber

groupings.
 - 107 -

Figure 4.15: Sound Routes and Listening Area, Painters Bar.

In audition four separate samples of pink noise have been generated with a

duration of 10 minutes. Pink noise has a similar frequency weighting to the

calculated RT60 times with a drop in decibels in line with increasing frequency.

Each sample is then filtered to match the four pass bands used in the analysis

section. By using the same frequency bands, it is possible to gauge how each

location is going to respond using the data from the analysis. The normalised

projected RT60 times of all bands graph has a distinct pattern that can be

reprocessed to define the rhythmical pattern that each frequency band follows.

Between each node (See Figure 4.16) each frequency band either doesn’t pass other

frequency bands or passes several. Counting the amount of points at which a

frequency band crosses over another frequency band (See figure 4.16, grey circles
 - 108 -

represent crossing points), allows the generation of rhythmical material for each

location.

Figure 4.16: Frequency Band Crossing points of Band Four 3556Hz-20 kHz

Loc 1-2 Loc 2-3 Loc 3-4 Loc 4-5

Frequency Bands Time (s) Crossings Time (s) Crossings Time (s) Crossings Time (s) Cross
Band One 20-112Hz 1.746 0 1.89 1 2.391 3 2.62
Band Two 112-632Hz 1.406 0 1.796 2 1.698 3 1.308
Band Three 632Hz-3556Hz 1.223 0 1.223 1 1.238 2 0.612
Band Four 3556Hz-20kHz 0.678 0 0.784 2 0.731 2 0.304

Loc 3-4 Loc 4-5 Loc 5-6 Loc 6-1

ossings Time (s) Crossings Time (s) Crossings Time (s) Crossings Time (s) Crossings
1 2.391 3 2.62 0 1.866 2 1.329 2
2 1.698 3 1.308 2 1.368 0 1.045 3
1 1.238 2 0.612 1 1.092 2 0.784 3
2 0.731 2 0.304 1 0.674 2 0.522 3

Table 4.1: Frequency Band Crossing count and timings.

Within Ableton Live, the filtered pink noise samples were resized to the

relative projected RT60 time (See Table… for sample size times). For example, band

two between locations two and three has an RT60 time of 1.796 seconds and has
 - 109 -

two crossings. Therefore for the length of the filtered noise sample was set to 1.796

seconds, a gap of the same length is left after the sample before the next sample. As

the frequency band line has two crossings between location two and three, the

frequency band line is separated into three segments. The sample is therefore sent

to the location two buss, which has the RIR from the site loaded into a Waves IR -L,

in three bursts to represent the splits in the line from the crossings. For each

frequency filter pass band each location has its respective location sample generated

in the same way – Resized to the location’s projected RT60 time, crossing count

drawn in, space left after the sample equaling the RT60 time – and are placed

consecutively. Each of the six samples which that relate to each location have been

consolidated into one larger sample, that reflects one full hearing of each location

with crossing points, to allow the duplication of the sample to construct a longer

piece. The consolidated sample contains a rhythm which is unique to that frequency

band that relates to the projected RT60 times for each of the filter bands in the

analysis phase. This means that the total size of the consolidated samples equate to

double the total time of the projected RT60 times of the filter band, each having a

unique total length. Consequently, duplication of the samples to create a full piece

creates an overlap each other (See Figure 4.18). This creates movement through the

space and excites each location.

 - 110 -

Figure 4.17: Crossings mapped out in Ableton (Highlighted area shows pink noise

filtered to 112Hz-632Hz, routed to location two).

Figure 4.18: Overlapping Frequency Band Patterns.

For the first two repetitions of each consolidated frequency band sample, only

the first three locations are sent out through the convolution routings, which

represent the respective location of the measurement (See Figure 4.19). This means

that for the first two repetitions of all of the consolidated frequency band samples,

only locations one to three will be heard. Upon the third and four repetition,

locations four to six will be heard, this pattern is continued throughout the piece.

Due to the differences length of each consolidated frequency band sample there will

be an overlap where one frequency band will excite locations one to three for two

repetitions whereas another may already be exciting locations three to six. The piece

could be developed further to create points where the original configuration of the

consolidated samples excite the two opposing chamber groupings or to limit the
 - 111 -

number of locations that are being excited to two. This would work well when trying

to show the contrast between locations one and four, for example, which returned

highly different results.

Figure 4.19: Chamber Groupings Split and Rhythmic Patterns.

The route for listeners is restricted to areas which are out of the direct sound

of each of the locations. This was decided upon for two reasons: firstly a group of

listeners may interfere with the sound travelling between the speaker and the

architectural feature that the speakers are pointed at. This will impact upon the

resulting response of that area and may result in the dampening of the desired

reverberation. Consequently the reverberation times of each location will alter

drastically to the results gained through analysis. Secondly the listening areas

shown in Figure … are designed to allow the listener to hear the specific qualities of

each location and corresponding architectural feature. By designing a limited path

the audience is able to move between the two chamber groupings and hear the

differing acoustic behaviour of each section. Due to the necessity of audience

movement within the space, this piece suits the circumambulatory-enterable

spaceBody hybrid of Schafer and Krebs’ sound art categorisation. The location of
 - 112 -

the speakers follows the architectural configuration of the space and permits the

movement of sound between these.

Another consideration that is inspired by the work Titled arc in which the

work split the square and forced observers and non-observers to change their path

which in turn made them aware of their surroundings. The piece actively reflects

the use of the site and uses the sculpture to redefine the way in which the space is

moved through. Considering the historical use of Temple Works as a flax mill which

are notoriously cramped and busy spaces the freedom of movement within those

sites becomes limited and potentially dangerous. The restriction of the listening

area, whilst allowing movement, therefore helps to recreate the tension of moving

too close to the machinery which are represented through the loudspeaker

positions. By crossing the boundaries the listener is therefore at risk of causing

interruption to the work itself.

 - 113 -

Figure 4.15: Sound Routes and Listening Area, Painters Bar.

Using a procedural technique to add layers of information within a sound

work could be generated from any of the data sets which has been gathered through

analysis of the segmented site. Whereas Atmadjaja has only used one acoustic test

result – the room mode – the extension of the measurement process to include

spatial information from the site and further analysis of the RIR creates a number

of opportunities. The weaving technique highlighted in the piece 1.394-1.127 allows

the excitation of the separate chamber groupings and allows for the contrasting

between the acoustic characteristics of each respectively. Isolation of the locations

that form each of the chamber groupings creates two main sound routes, which

reflect a small scale version of Varèse and Corbusier’s Philips Pavilion, and follow

the architectural configuration of the space. The filtering of pink noise in 1.394-

1.127 has a similar effect to Peters’ Particles/Waves due to the selective filtering of
 - 114 -

sound material, however in this case it is used to excite the space, as opposed to

being gathered from the site. One of the final aspects of the work is the use of the

history of the space to inspire the creation of work that is not only sympathetic to

the site’s acoustic properties, but references the site’s original functionality.

Korinsky utilised the site’s contextual history to create material that referred to the

soundscape of the city which surrounded the building following the war. In 1.394-

1.127 the contextual aspect of the site has stimulated the identification of patterns

within the measurement data that reflect Temple Works’ history as a flax mill and

therefore presents the history of the site in a more abstract way. Through

segmentation of the site and subsequent analysis of the architectural features that

have been selected, a large set of data that corresponds to the site as a physical

location has been acquired. 1.394-1.127 demonstrates one way in which a composer

can interpret those results to create work that is both for and about a space.

4.3 Site Two – University of Leeds, School of Music:

CCCH

4.3.1 CCCH – Site Overview

The Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall (CCCH) is a grade two listed

building2 2 8 that is part of the University of Leeds, School of Music. Prior to its

current form as a concert hall the building was originally known as the Cavendish

Road Presbyterian Church built in 1879. The building has since been developed

upon and features several auxiliary structures have been added onto the sides of the

228
List Entry, Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, ‘Historic England’,
<https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1255691> [Accessed on 10/02/2016].
 - 115 -

building that have enclosed one side of the main space, which now forms the

concert hall. As the building has been redesigned as a concert hall, the acoustics in

the space lend well towards the performance of music. A large temporary tiered

seating resides in the centre of the hall rising up to a balcony area, with an enclosed

middle section. Behind the seating and below the balcony, there is a walled off

corridor that connects the left hand side of the seating outer aisle to the right. The

room, at first, seems fairly rectangular (see figure 4.20) and open plan which would

put to question the variability of results from measurements which would be

achievable, however there are a number of small semi-enclosed chambers which

lead out into the space.

Figure 4.20: University of Leeds, CCCH.

The initial process in this space was to identify architectural features that

might produce interesting results. As the building is a concert space the semi-

permanent seating area splits the space into six distinctive portions; the stage area
 - 116 -

located at the front of the hall features a large open space with a small proscenium

arch in the centre which became the focus for location one; the seating area itself is

interesting due to the absorptive quality of the seats and carpeted flooring and the

space to the sides, underneath and behind the seating. These features have been

selected as locations two to six. Above the seating area there is a narrow balcony

with a lower level of seats connecting the tiered seating area with the balcony. One

of the main architectural features in this area was the central arched chamber which

hosts the mixing room for live events and thus was selected for location seven. The

top archway of the balcony is level with the top of the proscenium archway which

creates symmetry between the front and the back of the concert hall, this offers the

opportunity to connect these two features and location eight was placed facing from

the top archway to the proscenium arch. (See Appendix B, “Photographs” for

images of the full location).

 - 117 -

Figure 4.22: University of Leeds, Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall Floor Plan.

4.3.2 Results

For the second site there will be a distinct focus upon the subjective quality of

each location and how this can be supported by quantitative results gained from the

site. A series of qualities will be drawn up that reflect each location based upon the

attribute schemes developed by Beranek, Kestian and Roginska. The purpose of this

was to identify whether there are correlations between the audible quality of a RIR
 - 118 -

and the architecture in focus at each location. From such results these

categorisations will then inform the creation of compositional works that reflect the

gained subjective ratings. CCCH had set of Genelec 1037B three-way active

monitors already installed within the space. The 1037B monitors have a frequency

response range of +-2dB between 37Hz and 21 kHz. 2 2 9 Frequencies below the range

of the speakers will be treated with caution as in the analysis of the third site. A

single Rode NT55 cardioid microphone was also used. An exponential sine-sweep of

20Hz-20 kHz with a duration of 10 seconds was generated for this space. For each

location the speakers were moved and allocated the positions shown in Figure… .

Due to the similar frequency response of the Genelec 1037B monitors to the KRK

Rokit RP6 monitors the same bandpass frequency bands have been used in this site

as in the first site.

Projected RT60 Times

Average of All Bands (s)
3.000

2.500
Average Time (s)

2.000

1.500

1.000

0.500

0.000
Loc 1 Loc 2 Loc 3 Loc 4 Loc 5 Loc 6 Loc 7 Loc 8

Band One 20-112Hz Band Two 112-632Hz

Band Three 632-3556Hz Band Four 3556-20kHz

Figure 4.2.2: Projected RT60 Times, Average of All Bands.

229
Technical Specifications, Genelec 1037B,
<http://www.genelec.com/documents/datasheets/Genelec_1037B_Specs.pdf> [Accessed on
11/02/2016].
 - 119 -

Stanard Deviation of Projected RT60 Times

Average of All Bands
0.900
0.800
0.700
0.600
Time (s)

0.500
0.400
0.300
0.200
0.100
0.000
Loc 1 Loc 2 Loc 3 Loc 4 Loc 5 Loc 6 Loc 7 Loc 8

Figure 4.23: Standard Deviation of Projected RT60 Times, Average of All Bands.

RT60 Times
Bandpass: All Bands Average
2

1.5
Time (s)

0.5

0
Loc 1 Loc 2 Loc 3 Loc 4 Loc 5 Loc 6 Loc 7
EDT (s) 0.420 1.086 0.855 0.803 0.895 0.782 0.439
T20 (s) 1.112 1.346 1.258 0.873 1.398 1.044 1.007
T30 (s) 1.300 1.431 1.428 1.305 1.376 1.178 1.788

Figure 4.24: RT60 Times Bandpass: All bands average.

One of the first things that was noticed in the results is there are two distinct

types of location that each measurement was taken from; locations two, three, six

and eight being “open space” locations, where the microphone and speaker are

predominantly pointed into the larger space of the room; the remaining four

measurements can be classed as “semi-enclosed space” which are locations where

there are significant surrounding walls or features which cause a small area to be
 - 120 -

partially separated from the main space. It would be expected that the results would

show that there would be some correlation between architectural features that are

similar.

The first comparison that can be made is that location one and location

seven which both deal with the square inside of an archway return near opposite

results (See Figure 4.25). Location one has very closely packed RT60 times in all of

the frequency and has a standard deviation of 0.177 seconds. Location seven has a

wider spread of RT60 times between all frequency bands and scores a standard

deviation of 0.827 seconds. This suggests that location one is less likely to be subject

to multiple decay slopes in the impulse response and location seven will have

multiple. Inspection of the analytic signal graphs shows that the initial decay of

seven shows a distinct period of energy, within the first portion of the impulse,

which are long enough to be a significant first decay slope (See Figure 4.25, right).

The second slope then follows a similar decay tail to location one, which would

suggest they share the same quality of late reverberation tail. This can be assumed

to be the main space. In contrast location one has one clear, linear decay slope

following a short period of initial reflections, however much shorter in duration.

The one common feature between these two locations is they both have the shortest

average EDT times (See Figure 4.24), with a slight deviation in the pass band of

3556Hz-20 kHz where location two has the shortest EDT and location seven has the

second longest EDT.

 - 121 -

Figure 4.25: Location One (Left) and Location Seven Photographs.

Figure 4.26: Analytic Signals Location One (Left) and Location Seven (Right).

The standard deviation of each of the EDT, T20 and T30 times has returned

a highly useful quantitative indication towards the type of location the

measurement was taken at respective to the other measurements. Location one and

seven were the alcoves at both ends of the room. Location seven has a larger space
 - 122 -

behind the alcove than location one and therefore energy is lost faster in location

one and is followed by the reverberation tail of the main space. Location eight, two

and six are the least “closed” spaces and score the lowest standard deviations.

Location four is the only outlier as the measurement was located in an enclosed

corridor. However, upon listening to the sample it is clear that this location has a

much shorter projected RT60 time in both the pass bands 112Hz-632Hz and

632Hz-3556Hz which means the EDT is relatively closer to the T20 and T30 results.

This shows that for this site, there is a significant correlation between the type of

location and the standard deviation of the EDT, T20 and T30 results.

Standard Deviation of EDT, T20 and T30 Times

All bands
0.600

0.500

0.400
Time (s)

0.300

0.200

0.100

0.000
Loc 1 Loc 2 Loc 3 Loc 4 Loc 5 Loc 6 Loc 7 Loc 8

Figure 4.27: Standard deviation of EDT, T20 and T30 for each location.

Audibly locations one and seven have very similar characteristics that can be

attributed to the short EDT in comparison to the longer T20 and T30 times (See

Figure 4.24, RT60 Times Bandpass). This gives the impulse responses a short and

sharp sounding impulse with the emphasis upon the early reflections before the

onset of the reverberant tail. There is an audible change in volume between the

initial reflections and the reverberation tail. Location seven has perceptible early

reflections within the first 120ms of the impulse which result in an audible flutter.
 - 123 -

This flutter is visible in both the waveform plot and the spectral graph in Audition.

(See Figure 4.28, see clearer lines in spectral view). Audible comparisons with

location eight, which had the lowest standard deviation score for EDT, T20 and T30

times on average for all pass bands, results in perceptible change in volume between

the initial pulse and the reverberation tail to be smaller. Therefore creating a

smoother transition between the impulse and the reverberant tail. Locations three

to five show have an initial impulse that is partially clear but the change in

perceivable volume is less defined than the impulses from locations one and seven,

but more noticeable than in locations two and eight. This draw a parallel with the

standard deviation measure between the EDT, T20 and T30.

Figure 4.28: Clear Reflection or “Flutter” Patterns in Location 7 (Left) and

Location 8 (Right).
 - 124 -

From the reverberation results gathered from CCCH, it is possible to

establish four perceptive attribute that describes the audible quality of a RIR. The

first attribute – “Clarity and intensity of impulse” – using the two examples gained

from this site would be given the upper scale of “clear and defined” which would

relate to locations one and seven. At the lowest end of the scale it would be “faint

and indistinct” relating to locations eight and two. A second attribute that could be

created is – “Impulse to reverberation tail volume change” – with the extreme

ratings of “no change”, would refer to locations two and eight, and “complete

change”. The third attribute – “Flutter” – would refer to the perceivable reflections

in location seven and location eight (See Appendix B for impulse response audio

files). A final attribute could be designed that allows for the differentiation of

reverberation times and therefore would be called - “Decay length of tail”. This final

perceptible quality would be useful in distinguishing locations which have a

distinctly shorter reverberation time and therefore allow to class location four as

being different to locations three and five which have similar standard deviations of

EDT, T20 and T30 times.

The previous results have shown a series of distinct temporal differences

between each location. One other aspect that determines the acoustic character of

each measurement position is the frequency response of the architectural feature.

To allow for cross-analysis of the frequency response of each position a process of

identifying significant peaks in the frequency decay graphs provided by Room EQ

Wizard and recording the strongest five and clearly defined into a table (See Figure

4.29 for peak selection process). This method allows for the rough identification of

the spectral character of each RIR as these frequency peaks reflect the perceivable

quality.
 - 125 -

Figure 4.29: Frequency Peak Selection Process of Location One

The results show that locations four and six have a much higher frequency

range of defined frequency peaks than locations eight and two. This suggests that

the RIR will have distinguishable spectral graphs that are relative to these peaks,

showing the distribution of stronger frequencies. Figure … shows the spectral time

graphs in Audition and highlights that location six has a much broader frequency

distribution than location eight, and therefore has a much higher range of defined

frequency peaks. Location seven has three frequency peaks all occurring in the

region between 40.7Hz and 356Hz which would suggest that the location has

frequency response that is more powerful in the lower frequency region. This can be

confirmed by returning back to the Projected RT60 Times, Average of All Bands

graph (See Figure 4.24) where location seven has a higher projected RT60 time in

the two lowest frequency bands. In contrast, location four has the first three peaks

dispersed between 36.7Hz to 344Hz. Confirmation of this is also acquirable from

inspecting the projected RT60 time graph, where location four scores the lowest in

the second band and thus explains why there is a wider gap between the first
 - 126 -

significant peak and the second than in location seven. (See Appendix B, “Analysis”

folder for full sets of data and results).

Frequency Response Peak Groupings

10000

1000

100

10

1
Loc 1 Loc 2 Loc 3 Loc 4 Loc 5 Loc 6 Loc 7 Loc 8

Frequency Range Freq. 1 Freq. 2

Freq. 3 Freq. 4 Freq. 5

Figure 4.30: Frequency Response Decay Graph frequency peaks and frequency

range.
 - 127 -

Figure 4.31: Spectral Time Graphs of Location Eight (Top) and Location Six

(Bottom).

4.3.3 Compositions and Extracts.

One of the most significant results from the first part of results regarding

reverberation times has revealed that there is a correlation between the standard

deviation of the EDT, T20 and T30 times and the type of architectural feature is

pointed at. This allows for the ordering of the measurement locations relative to the

spread of their RT60 times. Consequently the ordering is: Location eight, two, six,

four, five, three, one and seven. Returning back to the projected RT60 times,

further categorisations can be made relative to each of the pass bands. It can be

seen that locations four and seven have both the longest projected RT60 times in

the lowest band, of 20Hz-112Hz, but also the shortest in the highest band of

3556Hz-20kHz. Whilst locations one and eight have the smallest range of projected

RT60 times between the lowest and the highest bands, thus setting up potential
 - 128 -

contrasts between the character of these four locations that can be explored

musically. One other interesting feature that came up in this piece was the flutter

like reflection patterns that are very clear in locations seven and eight, due to the

positioning of location seven and eight they are both perpendicular to each other.

Upon reviewing the floor plan of the building, all of the locations except for one and

six have speakers pointed lengthways or horizontally across the building.

The first section of the piece, inspired by the first significant reflection, uses

the time between the initial pulse and the first visible reflection to create tones. This

is achieved through taking the initial impulse and removing the rest of the impulse

tail from the recorded impulse responses (See Appendix B for the impulse response

files and the “Composition” folder for the stereo mixdown and individual tracks for

surround sound reproduction). Each of the initial impulses is then duplicated so

that the time gap between each repetition is reflects double the time between the

impulse and the first reflection. This allows the impulse to travel from the speaker,

reflect off of the first reflection point and return to the speaker and then out into the

space prior to the sounding of a new impulse. Consequently the sound will travel to

the first boundary reflect and return back to the microphone and the same amount

of time will be left silent to allow following reflections to be heard. Location two and

six do not have any significant reflections which can be measured reliably and have

been left out of the initial section.

 - 129 -

Figure 4.32: Time from Speaker between Each Sample Repetition.

Figure 4.33: Selection of First Reflection in RIR from Location Seven.

 - 130 -

The purpose of this first extract of a piece was to make the first reflections,

which are barely perceivable, audible and therefore make the audience aware of an

acoustic phenomena that is unique to each location. This is familiar to Peters’

motivations behind Particles/Waves as both pieces explore the “barely audible”

quality of an environment. This work in CCCH however has utilised acoustic testing

to identify through quantifiable means of “what” the By repeating each impulse with

a time gap relative to the reflection time, a series of signals are generated which

range from clicks to low frequency tones, depending on how low the frequency is.

Location eight, for example, has a significant reflection at 111ms after the impulse

which equates to a frequency of 9.009H. Each of the repeated impulse tones are

filtered using high pass filters to 3.91kHz 2 3 0 and in the orderings determined by the

standard deviation scores (See Figure 4.34) each channel’s filter cutoff falls to 26Hz.

This reveals each of the locations with respect to their reverberation times and

reflects the type of architectural feature it is. Using the standard deviation score, the

extract goes from being open, therefore the audience will hear the “open” main

space, gradually moving towards the more confined areas of the building. From the

audience’s position the sound path will travel from in front of them and move closer

before retreating to the back of the back of the room, appear behind them before

finally reaching back to the initial arc. (See Appendix B for Stereo mixdown and

individual tracks for surround-sound reproduction).

230
This is the highpass cuttoff limit in Ableton Live’s EQ.
 - 131 -

Figure 4.34: Ordering of speakers in piece one based on Standard Deviation.

Piece two, Rotation of Frequency Response Tonal Groupings (see Appendix

B, “Compositions Folder” for Extract, Stereo or individual tracks for surround-

sound reproduction) explores the five frequency peaks that were identified from

each location. The aim of this piece is to show how frequency response from one

location, affects another location. Using the five frequency peaks, gathered from

each RIR, a series of sine-wave tonal groupings were generated. This process was

performed in Audition using the tone generator, which allows the user to layer up

several frequencies and generate a sample with a duration of their choice. For this

piece a set of eight, 10 second long tonal groupings, with the five frequency peaks
 - 132 -

associated with each location, were generated. This process is similar to the filtering

stage of the room recordings used by Peter in Particles/Waves to emphasise narrow

bands of frequencies. However the filtering in Rotation of Frequency Response

Tonal Groupings is achieved through the identification of the most defined peaks in

the frequency response and therefore acts as a set of single frequency wide band

pass filters. The tonal groupings therefore are direct references to the site’s spectral

signature, relative to the measurement locations, which excite the architectural

feature in a sympathetic manner. This may have not been achieved in Peters’ work

as the filtering colours the recordings from the space and do not correspond with

the spectral character of the space. By using the measurement process proposed in

this project, with subsequent analysis in Room EQ Wizard, the composer is able to

access and stimulate the site.

The analysis of the frequency response of each location identified that each

location had a unique spectral character that can be defined by the spread of the

most defined frequency peaks. Contrasts between location six and eight showed that

these two locations scored both the highest spread of frequency peaks and the

lowest, respectively. With the generated tonal groupings, it is possible to overlay the

filtered frequency response from one location upon another and therefore create a

dialogue between each location using simply their unique frequency character. For

Rotation of Frequency Response Tonal Groupings the first and most important

stage is to hear the original configuration, with the location and corresponding

tonal grouping being played into it. This is made possible through the use of the

convolution reverb rack effect in Audition with each location’s RIR assigned to

separate channels. Following this the “rotational” effect is achieved through shifting

the tonal groupings between the location channels, moving location one to location
 - 133 -

eight and shifting the remaining locations by one. This process is repeated until the

original configuration returns (See Table 4.2 for piece structure).

Section Description Time

(m:s.ms)

1 Tonal Groupings in Original Position. Similar to an orchestra 0:00.00

tuning, each location is excited one by one to expose the

frequency response, separated by a short silence to allow the

room to respond.

2 Rotational Shift One: Loc. two through channel one, Loc. 1:36.021

three through channel two, etc. Each sample overlaps another

to create continual movement within the space.

3 Rotational Shift Two: Loc. three through channel one, Loc. 2:32.255

three through channel two, etc.

4 Rotational Shift Three: Loc. four through channel one, etc. 3:27.427

5 Rotational Shift Four: Loc. five through channel one, etc. 4:20.484

6 Rotational Shift Five: Loc. six through channel one, etc. 5:16.387

7 Rotational Shift Six: Loc. seven through channel one, etc. 6:11.101

8 Rotational Shift Seven: Loc. eight through channel one, etc. 7:03.436

9 Rotational Shift Eight: Original configuration of location to 7:54.581

channel returns.

Table 4.2: Rotation of Frequency Response Tonal Groupings piece structure.

Figure 4.35 shows the stereo mix-down of the multichannel track with and

without convolution reverb showing how each tonal grouping is affected by each

location’s frequency. From 1:10-1:35 it is clear to see the resulting amplification that

occurs when the tonal groupings are routed to their original location channel. As
 - 134 -

the piece develops there are clear attenuations and amplifications where the

spectral character of one location’s tonal grouping is similar or differs from the

routing through a different RIR. Although this is a simple and procedural based

composition the rotational affect clearly demonstrates how material generated

purely from the segmented analysis of the site can allow the architectural features to

be compared. This therefore adheres to Melchionne’s definition of “strongly site-

specific” work as it is both “about” – the tonal groupings are extracted from the site

– and “for” – the tonal groupings are solely designed to excite CCCH and would be

non-suited for another site. To remove this piece and attempt to recreate this piece

within another site would remove all of the connections that the acoustic

measurement process has created with the site and is realised in the composition.

Rotation of the groupings is conceptually similar to Smithson’s Double Nonsite as

the piece encourages the listener to hear the “foreign” material – the tonal

groupings that originate from other locations – and how this changes the resulting

character of the architectural feature. The segmented approach, however, goes

further towards making reference to several, specific locations within the same

space as opposed to the space as a whole.

Figure 4.35: Dry (Top) and Wet (Bottom) Track View of Rotation of Frequency

Response Tonal Groupings.

 - 135 -

Two developments of Rotation of Frequency Response Tonal Groupings

have been created to highlight two more ways in which the locations can be

contrasted and compared. One issue that can be identified in the first rendition of

this work is the overlapping of the tonal groupings does not allow the room

response to be heard directly following the sample being played. An overlap was

decided upon because the contrasting frequencies acquired from each location

produce dissonances when overlapped. As one begins fading in the other begins to

fade out, the resulting effect of the contending frequencies is in separate locations,

certain frequencies will be attenuated or amplified meaning each of the crossing of

tonal groupings will have a different character. This allows for more direct

comparison of the frequency character of each successive location and the time in

between. (See Appendix B, “Compositions” folder for stereo mixdown and

individual tracks for surround-sound reproduction).

The first development is to address the lack of time between each hearing of

the tonal groupings. The samples were cut to a shorter duration of 5-8ms and the

samples were placed at irregular intervals upon each rotation. As the piece develops

rhythm is created through adjusting the gaps between each of the samples (See

Appendix B “Compositions” folder for Frequency Response Rhythmic for both dry

and wet stereo mix-downs or individual tracks for surround sound reproduction).

This development allows for each location to respond before the next sample is

heard. The decision for changing the rhythm through the piece was to allow for the

reverberation tails to overlap to allow the audience to hear the subtle differences in

the frequency response of each location. Additionally, this adds an element of

musical interest that may have lacked in the first piece.

 - 136 -

A second development of the second piece looks at the overlaying of two or

more tonal groupings at a time, still following the rotational aspect of the original

piece. Each location has a particular frequency character that isolated from other

tonal groupings is interesting in its own right. However it is difficult to show clearly,

how two or more locations are different by spacing them apart from one another.

Rotation of Frequency Response Arrangement explores the tension and harmony

of the separate locations to construct a more dynamic series of dialogues both

spatially and spectrally. Using the same 10 second samples of the original piece the

samples are initially heard in unison and thus filling space with sound from all of

the locations. The piece then explores the process of combining or more

combinations of tonal groupings that are shifted between each of the locations in

the site. As the piece develops the attenuation and amplification that result from

frequencies that match or differ from the locations frequency response give each

tonal grouping a unique character that can be contrasted between each of the

locations. Each tonal grouping is shifted in the same way as the first development –

each tonal grouping is heard in each location once – however do not follow the

same pattern as the original piece. (See Appendix B, “Compositions” folder for

stereo track and individual tracks for surround-sound reproduction).

The presentation of both of these pieces could be set-up in either a sound

installation or concert format. As an installation this work would be developed so

that it ran on a continuous loop allowing the audience members to freely explore

the space and discover the locations of their own accord. One issue with the CCCH,

which results from the design of the space as a functional concert hall, is the focus

of pathways to move audience members from the entrance to the seating area.

Narrow spaces make it difficult for listeners to pass each other and are more likely

to stand in the way of loudspeakers, thus affecting the resulting quality of the piece.
 - 137 -

To prevent this from happening, a concert situation might be better suited. By

situating a listening area in the centre of the stage floor the audience will be faced

towards the rest of the space that, usually reserved for seating, is now the “stage”

area. This attempts to create a novel experience for the audience member and their

familiarity with the concert situation will be questioned, which can be related to

Charles Ives’ The Unanswered Question where the acoustic quality of the hallway to

the side of the stage becomes a feature within the piece. The change of the seating

areas function to become a part of a musical work interrupts the audience’s normal

usage of the space and forces them to question the traditional concert format and

how the space functions from a different perspective. This can be likened to Serra’s

Tilted Arc due to the work forcing the individual to question the familiar

functionality of a space and to encourage them to engage with the extremities of a

site.
 - 138 -

Figure 4.36: Seating Area in CCCH for Piece One and Two.

Through taking directional impulse response measurements and focusing in

the analysis to singular architectural features, the composer is able to gather a

collection of frequency responses and analyse the reverberation times that are

individual to each location. This spectral palette and set of data allows the composer

to draw on and be influenced by the acoustic character of the individual

architectural features that make up the overall quality of the space. Piece one has

shown how the reverberation times, when analysed using the standard deviation of

the EDT, T20 and T30, can inform the structuring of musical elements that relate to

the configuration of the space. The utilisation of the acquired impulse response
 - 139 -

from each location can be used to create musical material that allows unperceivable

information to be made audible, whilst also exciting the space using sound which is

sympathetic to each location. Piece two has demonstrated how spectral information

from each measurement position can be filtered to create tone groupings that can

then be utilised to show how separate architectural features within the space differ

from another. The analysis allows for a more intricate understanding of how

different areas within a single space work, this has advantages over a practice led

approach, which seeks to identify the acoustic quality manually, in giving a

measureable set of characteristics that would be difficult to distinguish and

compare within the space. Furthermore, the extraction of data from the site allows

for the creation of work that is unique to the site. Both piece one and two

demonstrate how the analysis process not only reflects the site but can stimulate the

creation of musical work for the site.

4.4 Site Three –Clothworkers South, PCI Building:

Stairwell

4.4.1 Stairwell – Site Overview

The final site that is being explored is the front entrance stairwell to the

Clothworkers South Building in the University of Leeds campus. An alternative

name – PCI Building – has been used to differentiate the site from the

Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall when mentioned in short. Upon entering the

building the long and complex reverb tail is clear, footsteps and closing doors from

the higher levels of the building travel through the central column of the spiralling

stair case up three floors. The entrance of the space leads into an open front atrium

with very high ceilings. Each floor of the stairwell serves as a passage way between

two corridors closed off by fire doors which encloses the space. The polished stone
 - 140 -

floors with the plaster clad brick work aid in the production of the very long reverb

tail that is unique to this space. As the site is still in use as part of the university and

is accessible 24 hours a day it was difficult scheduling in time to use the space to

avoid the disruption of students and lecturers using the building. Therefore time

was exceptionally limited in the space with two days-worth of contact and the on-

site work therefore had to be performed efficiently. Furthermore as the staircase is

one of the main fire escape routes in the building, placement of speakers was

somewhat limited to follow fire safety rules. This site will be explained briefly as it

did not provide a broad range of varied results which makes comparing and

contrasting locations highly limited and thus compositions for this site will not be

as deeply reflective of the site.

This site was initially interesting because of the stair case and the idea was

to see how the acoustic character changed as the measurement position moved up

through the space. Six locations were selected that started from the central ground

floor chamber and each of the balconies that are distributed vertically through the

three story building. For each location, the microphone and speaker were placed in

the centre of the balcony facing into the central chamber (See Figure 4.38). A

distance of 1.3m between the microphone and speaker was maintained on each of

the balconies and a distance of 2.3 metres for the bottom floor, this accounted for

the larger space at the bottom of the building. (See Appendix C, “Photographs”

folder for full set of images of the site).

 - 141 -

Figure 4.37: PCI Building Staircase Photographs.

 - 142 -

Figure 4.38: University of Leeds, PCI Building Floorplan Side-on view.

4.4.2 Results

One of the most significant results from this site was how the EDT time

changed as the measurement process moved upwards through the space. Figure…

shows a distinct rising and falling pattern in the middle two pass bands between

112Hz and 3556Hz, centred in location four (See Figure 4.39, RT60 times

Staircase). This is interesting as the fourth measurement position is located on the

balcony that is halfway up in the space (See Figure 4.38, floor plan, side on).

Therefore it can be assumed that the initial pulse of energy is affected by the
 - 143 -

distance from the measurement position to the floor and ceiling. In locations one to

three sound has to travel a short distance to the floor and a long distance to the

ceiling. The EDT time reflects this by showing an initial burst of energy which is lost

quickly as sound reflects up through the space and this pattern is reflected at the

top of the building. In the centre of the building sound travels an equal distance

from the speaker to the floor and the ceiling which means the initial burst of energy

will be much more balanced. The rest of the T20 and T30 times do not show any

clear patterns that could be used to form any substantial compositional ideas from.

This can partly be explained by the space being highly similar on each level up.

There are no distinct differences in architectural features between locations two to

six, which explains why the RT60 times show little variance.

Figure 4.39: RT60 times of Staircase.

Despite the lack of a varied set of RT60 times, the pattern in the EDT times

in bands 112Hz-632Hz and 632Hz-3556Hz show that the space has an element of

symmetry. This in a way reflects the site’s monotonous feeling, which caused
 - 144 -

problems during the measurement process after losing track of the floor the

measurement was being performed on. Consequently a piece could be developed

that utilises this symmetry to move sound from floor to floor, towards the midpoint

of the space. It would be difficult, however, to state how useful the measurement

process was in this site. A composer may be able to deduce the symmetry within the

space through visual means, thus rendering the measurement process as

impractical. When reflecting on Painters Bar and CCCH, it is certain to say that for

the proposed measurement process to be successful and provide satisfactory results,

a site that is varied is required. Although this a clear limitation of the proposed

method, it is important to note that the site-specific work aims to reflect upon the

space in which a work is situated. If a site is a blank space, the work has less

interesting features to draw inspiration from. Atmadjaja’s Tilt… uses a single

acoustic phenomenon to create the work, one speaker and uses the acosutic

measurement process sparingly. This work reflects the space that Atmadjaja has

built within the site. In contrast, Varèse and Corbusier’s work in the Philips

Pavilion show an intricate arrangement of speakers, sound routes and large scale

use of technology that reflects the complex design of the building. (See Appendix C,

“Analysis” folder for full data sets and graphs).

 - 145 -

Chapter 5

Conclusion

5.1 Overview

The original intentions behind this work was to explore the process of using

acoustic measurement techniques to analyse architectural features for the purpose

of composing site-specific music. In particular, a segmented approach to separating

the site into several components was proposed, that would give the composer the

ability to analyse separate locations within the same acoustic space. Existing site-

specific music and sound installation has shown there is limited application of

acoustic measurement procedure as a tool for understanding the site.

Advancements in acoustic measurement techniques which utilise directional

speakers and microphones, have shown to be useful in the classification of

architectural properties. This study sought to adapt these for the purposes of site-

specific composition and explore the compositional opportunities which arise from

the results gathered in this method. Furthermore, the project also sought to use

such techniques to create works that adhered to the aesthetic model of site-

specificity.

5.2 Method

The method presented in this thesis can be broken down into five phases:

1. Selection of site and selection of interesting “architectural features”.

 - 146 -

2. Segmented acoustic measurement using the exponential sine-sweep

and arrangement of loudspeaker and microphone pairings.

3. Analysis of acquired RIRs and categorisation of the separate

locations.

4. Post-analysis of results and compositional development.

The following section will deal with each of these phases and discuss how

the original research goals have been met within these phases.

5.2.1 Selection of Site and Interesting Features

The literature review highlighted, within both visual and sonic arts, a

number of sites that have been used for the creation of site-specific works. These

sites have ranged from gallery spaces to subway vents. For the purpose of this

project, the site was selected based on a number of attributes that would return

interesting results from the acoustic analysis and subsequent sonic work. The

scheme developed (See Ch.3.2) aided in the selection of the three sites that have

been presented as case studies in chapter four. Out of the three sites, two locations

have returned a satisfactory level of diversity and complexity from the analysis

process. Painters Bar and CCCH have demonstrated a number of locations and

architectural features that have proven to be useful in dissection of the site into

segments that are contrastable or comparable. Accordingly, a set of compositions

that reflect upon the acoustic character of these individual locations, and a more

complex interrelationship between the locations as a whole, have been created.

The final location, PCI Building, despite having an architectural

configuration that initially adhered to the selection scheme, did not produce as

significant results. Upon further investigation of the site after the measurement and
 - 147 -

analysis phase, it was made clear that the site wasn’t varied enough to produce a

broad range of results. This could have been resolved through the selection of

locations that were more diverse in architectural structure, as opposed to the

positioning selected. Despite this, the results did show a minor correlation in the

EDT times that highlighted an element of symmetry in the vertical configuration of

the building.

5.2.2 Segmented acoustic measurement

Günel, Kestian and Roginska, and Topa et al have demonstrated three

different methods of segmenting the measurement process, in order to characterise

the site. The method presented in this paper extended upon these techniques for the

purpose of creating site-specific work: the placement of speakers had to be a

compromise between the creative needs of the composer as well as fostering an

approach which would return varied results. Selection of locations therefore was

focused upon finding significant architectural features within the space and setting

up microphone and loudspeaker pairings correspondingly. Kestian and Roginska

showed a significant increase in clarity of acquired RIRs, through the use of a single

directional microphone and speaker combinations. Employment of this technique

in this project has returned a set of results for each site that are diverse enough to

show that the measurement position in each location has a unique character from

the rest.

Another aspect that illustrates the benefit of this method, is the low number

of required measurements to gain an understanding of the acoustic properties of

the space in separate areas. Employment of Kestian and Roginska’s method of using

a limited number of measurements has proven to be useful in the preservation of

 - 148 -

time on-site and in reducing the complexity of analysis following. A smaller data set

allows more freedom for the composer to perform a number of simplistic, statistical

analyses that compare the characteristics of each location. These analyses enable

the composer to draw conclusions upon how each location relates to another, and

how these characteristics relate to the spatial configuration of the site as a whole.

5.2.3 Analysis of acquired RIRs

Analysis of the RIRs gathered from the measurement process in each site

has produced a set of results that have inspired the creation of several pieces that

can be classed as site-specific as they are both “for” and “about” the site. The results

from the first site, Painters Bar, have shown a minor difference between two halves

of the space. Locations five and one had very similar characteristics, despite being

two vastly different types of architectural features – location one was a small alcove

and location five was the connection between two larger chambers. Consequently,

the composer is therefore made aware that the acoustic character of two visually

contrasting features, in this site, may not be equally contrasting. Conversely, the

differences between locations one and four which are both small alcoves, set into

the wall of two larger chambers, have shown to be significant: The highest

difference in reverberation time of location four being less than half than location

one.

The process of filtering the RIRs into four frequency bands has allowed for a

coarse comparison of how the reverberation time changes throughout the space,

relative to the frequency band. This allows for a coarse understanding of how the

spectral decay of the site changes for each architectural feature that h as been

selected. Normalisation of the projected RT60 times allows for a clearer comparison
 - 149 -

of how the decay rates change per location, relative to the overall decay rate of the

frequency band. This method highlights more distinctly the difference between the

two chamber groupings, as well as allowing the identification of locations have a

fast decay rate in a the high frequency bands, comparative to a slower decay rate in

the low frequency bands. These analyses return sets of data which allow the

composer to characterise each location relative to other locations taken within the

same site. This is significant in stimulating the composer into categorising the space

into areas which are contrasting or are similar and therefore provide inspiration for

the creation of sound work that is specific to the acoustic character of the site, as a

combination of multiple architectural features.

The results from the second location have focused more upon relating the

results gained from the analysis upon the type of architectural location that the

measurement was taken from. Use of the standard deviation to measure the spread

of the EDT, T20 and T30 of each location’s RIR it was possible to identify a

correlation to the resulting standard deviation and the type of location. The two

most open locations, two and eight, scored the lowest standard deviation scores

which suggested that the EDT, T20 and T30 for both of these location’s projected

RT60 times were closely matched. This means that the locations have RIRs which

are more linear, and less likely to have two decay slopes, which would point to the

sound decaying more steadily. Conversely, locations seven and one, the two alcoves

within the space, had high standard deviation scores. Subsequent analysis

highlighted multiple decay slopes on the analytic decay curve. Audible analysis of

the RIRs, revealed that the perceptible character of locations which scored similar

standard deviation were audibly alike. Locations one and eight had a distinctly

“sharp” initial pulse followed by a substantially quieter reverberation tail. Locations

 - 150 -

two and eight had a close to indistinguishable initial pulse with a tail that matched

in volume.

The second part of the analysis for site two, looked at the frequency

responses decay graphs of each of the locations. Identification of the five strongest

peaks within the RIRs frequency response as it decays in time allows for the coarse

characterisation of the spectral character of each location. Plotting of the five most

significant frequency peaks allows for the visual representation of each location to

be compared with the other. Filtering the data this way allows for the identification

of potential resonances within each location, and a method for quantifying the

resulting spectral quality of the RIR. Assessment of the range of frequency peaks

allowed the identification of locations which were more likely to have sparser

frequency distributions.

5.2.4 Post-analysis of results and compositional

development.

Following the analysis of the acquired RIR for each location, the

compositional process was to identify interesting patterns that could be used to

create work that referenced the acoustic quality of the site. For the purposes of

creating sound work, the use of convolution reverb within a surrou nd sound studio

set-up was chosen, a method employed by the artist collective Korinsky. This

allowed for the simulation of the resulting effect of music generated within the

space off-site and therefore allowing more time to be spent on the pieces.

Furthermore the ability to show sound with and without reverb permits a

comparison that would be difficult to achieve on site.

 - 151 -

One of the main considerations behind this phase in the project was to

create work that, not only, responded to the results gathered from the measurement

and analysis stage, but to adhere to the critical schemes of Wilkie and Melchionne

(See Ch.2.1). For the first site, Painters Bar, the analysis of the reverberation times

led to the grouping of the locations into two sections, which represented two halves

of the space. Segmentation of the site based upon acoustic measurement has not

been employed in any of the works looked at in this work. The piece generated for

Painters Bar therefore looked into creating dialogue between the two sections, and

focused upon highlighting the different reverberation times of each location, within

these halves.

A further connection to the site was created by drawing inspiration from

work Volum which utilised the historical context of the site as inspiration for the

creation of sound for the site. As temple works initially functioned as a flax mill, a

weaving pattern was generated between the two chamber groupings. This

stimulated the process of taking the filtered reverberation times for each location to

create overlapping rhythms which move “weave” the sound between the two halves

of the space. Consequently, the extract generated for Painters Bar has taken several

layers of information from the site and used them to inform the creation of work

that excites the space sympathetically to its acoustic properties and historical

context. Therefore, the piece is both “for” and “about” the site and would be

classified on both Wilkie and Melchionne’s scale. The acoustic analysis method,

demonstrated in this work, has provided a compositional framework for the

creation of work that is specific to this site.

The results from CCCH have provided two aspects of the site’s acoustic

character that could be used to create work that is specific to the site. Firstly, the
 - 152 -

temporal information regarding the reverberation time of each location and how the

standard deviation was connected to the audible quality of the acquired RIRs led to

the creation of work that sought to take advantage of these characterisations. The

first extract from this site was focused upon audibly representing the first

significant early reflections from each location. Through a process of measuring the

time between the initial impulse and the first significant reflection, a series of

samples which ranged from distinguishable tones to rhythmical patterns were

generated. The ordering of the locations based upon the spread of the EDT, T20 and

T30 times allowed for the creation of musical structure that reflected the site’s

spatial configuration. This adds a distinct layer of reference to the site that is only

made possible through the use of the segmented, acoustic analysis method

presented in this paper.

The second extract created for CCCH explored the spectral character of each

location. This extract was distinctly similar to Particles/Waves by Peters (See

Ch.2.2.3.1), as it utilised a process of filtering out particular frequencies. Through

isolating five of the significant frequency peaks from each locations frequency

response, the spectral character of each location could be re-created as tonal

groupings. These tonal groupings were shown to be effective in the excitation of the

architectural features and showed significant amplifications when played through

the convolution reverb set to each location. An opportunity to create contrast

between separate locations within the site arose through the routing of a tonal

grouping located from one location to another location. This allows for the direct

contrast of the spectral character of two separate architectural features.

 - 153 -

5.3 Significance of this Research

The significance of this research, is that it has highlighted a distinct lack of

inter-disciplinary use of techniques, between sonic arts and acoustics for the

creation of site-specific work. The laws of acoustics govern all sound practices, yet

this research has pointed to a significant lack of engagement, of composers and

sound installation artists, with acoustic measurement techniques. This paper has

demonstrated how the application of impulse response measurements to analyse

architectural features that the composer finds to be interesting, can inform the

creation of work that is sympathetic to the site. Acoustic analysis, highlights the

complexity of space both spatially and spectrally, which allows for a much more

refined understanding of how a site functions acoustically.

As a tool for the creation of sound works, this method has highlighted a novel

method of making distinct contrasts between two separate locations within the

same site. This would be difficult to achieve without performing the measurement

process that is demonstrated within this project. As a creative framework, the

method demonstrated in this work, could be applied to a number of artistic

disciplines to further the creation of work that is sympathetic to the sites in which it

is created. The strategy of using modern techniques of analysis, to inform the

individual upon the characteristics of a site which are difficult to identify through

manual methods, will help the individual create work that reflects the space in

which it is created to a higher degree of accuracy. Additionally, the potential of the

model to help provide stimulus to the practice of any creative discipline will help in

the creation of a broader range of works that reference the site.

 - 154 -

5.4 Future Developments

5.4.1 Selection of site

The process of selecting sites has been limited by the availability of spaces

within the time constraints of this project. These sites were shown to be useful in

demonstrating the effectiveness of the presented method. It would therefore be of

interest to expand upon the number and types of locations that this method could

be employed. The artist collective Korinsky are exploring an increasing number of

interesting sites across the world using similar techniques to the ones used in

Volum. An exhibition or concert series could be developed based around different

types of architectural spaces, for example a programme based upon abandoned

factory spaces in England. This would encourage audience members to follow the

series or at least have individuals who are local to an area engage with buildings of

which they are unfamiliar. The presented method would further their

understanding of the site’s architectural nuances and aid in the understanding of

these more unusual spaces.

5.4.2 Measurement Procedure and Equipment.

Another aspect of the work that is pertinent for development is the use of

equipment for the analysis phase. The number of locations that could be explored

could be increased and could be more alike the scale of loudspeaker arrays used in

the Philips pavilion. This would allow for the analysis of a site to a higher resolution

resulting in a more in-depth understanding of the site’s architectural features. One

more intriguing and more focused example would be to perform the sine-sweep
 - 155 -

measurement using parametric loudspeaker set-ups2 3 1 232. This technology allows

the concentration of sound waves into narrow beams and increases the

directionality of a speaker source. The confined path of sound generated by a

parametric speaker limits the amount of sound dissipating out of the focused beam

of sound and therefore only reflects from a minimally restricted area and thus

imitates a point source 2 3 3 . This can be useful in the measurement process as it

restricts the sound path and therefore limiting interference from reflections that

occur around the area of focus when using a typical loudspeaker. Further benefits

arise in the presentation of work using parametric speakers as the resulting

dispersion of sound after being reflected by an architectural feature originates from

a more specific location.

The measurement procedure could also take place during the performance

of a work. This could allow for the analysis of how the movement of audience

members within the space affects the resulting acoustics of the space. Using the

same microphone positions within the space and measuring the expected response

with the actual response comparisons can be made that in effect track the audience

in the space. The composer would therefore be able to manually or have a dynamic

system in place that responds to such data. This would therefore allow the

composer or individual controlling the performance to react to the rooms changing

acoustic quality and respond sympathetically by adjusting the frequency or duration

of sound material within the space. Furthermore this would create a performance or

installation that reflects the static environment that is captured in one state – the

231
See Patent US6577738, Elwood G. Norris, James J. Croft, Parametric Virtual Speaker and
Surround-sound System, (2003), <https://www.google.com/patents/US6577738> [Accessed on
10/03/2016].
232
Hypersound Technology, Virtual Reality Audio by HyperSound,
<http://hypersound.com/hypersound_technology.php> [Accessed on 10/03/2016].
233
See Patent US6577738.
 - 156 -

original and uninhabited space – but a space that is immersive and dynamic. The

effect of this would be that the site as a social, cultural and physical entity could be

reconsidered as an active space that changes through time, thus bringing the

temporality of, not only the work, but the site itself into the aesthetic consideration

of site-specificity.

5.4.3 Analysis

The method presented in this paper is a fairly constrained level of analysis,

the purposes of this was to allow for the easy cross-analysis of separate locations

and to avoid overloading the composer with too much data. One simple adjustment

to this practice would to perform different analyses upon the acquired RIRs. This

could be focused upon the will of the composer and therefore can be tailored to the

information they wish to evaluate. One example would be to perform clarity

measurements throughout the space as seen in the work of Topa et al to identify

how the sense of “fullness” of sound differs between each location. These

parameters could be mapped in the same way that Topa et al (See section… ) and

the topographical maps of Neuhaus (See section …). This process would provide a

more visual illustration of how the site’s acoustics changes from location to location

and would aid composers who work in a more visual manner.

The relationship between the standard deviation of the EDT, T20 and T30

times in CCCH has highlighted a significant correlation with the type of

architectural feature. This is an intriguing finding and may be an initial look into

the utilisation of this method, with further investigation and development, to

automatically categorise features. This would be beneficial for the composer to

quickly separate locations into particular groupings for quick analysis.

 - 157 -

5.4.4 Composition

The pieces presented in section 4 have been created solely to highlight a

procedural way to responding the acoustic character of the selected sites. They

demonstrate one way of responding to a particular result and act as functional

representations of how the results can be interpreted compositionally. Therefore

this section offers a lot of potential development and could be the basis for a

practice led project that explores the use of the system within a series of locations.

One of the main aspects of this work that could be developed to encourage a more

creative response to the results is the presentation of the results in a more

manageable and less data heavy manner. Conversely, this could be explored within

a purely musical framework that identifies how composers can respond

meaningfully to large data sets that correspond architectural features.

5.4.5 Summary of Developments

The method presented in this thesis is an initial step towards an extended

method of site analysis for the creation of site-specific music and sound

installations. The process can be simplified and understood as analysis and

response of the site. This project therefore documents one method of analysing the

site as a configuration of multiple architectural features. The scope of the project

has been primarily focused upon acoustics, however the site is a highly complex and

multifaceted entity that offers many analysis opportunities that can inform a

creative process. Projects such as THE WEATHER CAFÉ, an immersive café

installation in Leeds created by David Shearing 2 3 4 , have shown how the use of

234
David Shearing, THE WEATHER CAFÉ, [Installation], Leeds, (2016).
<http://www.davidshearing.com/works/the-weather-cafe/> [Accessed on 15/03/2016].
 - 158 -

sensors to detect changing weather patterns can inform the creation of an audio-

visual environment that responds to the external world around the site. This thesis

is therefore another avenue in the crossing of disciplinary boarders between

science, technology and art that are exploring the site as a location of significance.
 - 159 -

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 - 165 -

List of Concerts and Installations.

Atmadjaja, Angie, 492.40m3 56.7Hz TILT, [Installation], Aomori

Contemporary Art Centre, Japan (2009).

Bartók, Béla, ‘Violin Concerto No.2’, Philharmonic New World Symphony

Orchestra [Performance], The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester (2016).

Cage, John, 4’33”, John Tudor, [Performance], Maverick Concert Hall, New

York (2008).

Ives, Charles, The Unanswered Question, Flanders Symphony Orchestra,

[Performance], Leeds Town Hall, Leeds, (2016).

Korinsky, Abel, Carlo Korinsky, Max Korinsky, Volum, [Performance],

Berliner Dom, Berlin (2014).

Lucier, Alvin, I am Sitting in a Room, [Performance], Guggenheim Museum,

New York (1970).

Lucier, Alvin, I am Sitting in a Room, [Performance], MIT Media Lab,

Massachusetts (2014).

Neuhaus, Max, Times Square, [Installation] Times Square, New York (1977).

Nicolai, Carsten, Syn Chron, [Installation] Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin

(2005).

Steve Peters, Particles/Waves, ‘Chamber Music’, [Installation] Jack Straw

New Media Gallery, Seattle (2010).

Sabine Schäfer, Joachim Krebs, Lost, [Installation] Badischer-Kusteverein,

Germany (1992).
 - 166 -

Serra, Richard, Tilted Arc, [Installation] Federal Plaza, New York (1981).

Smithson, Robert, Double Nonsite, [Installation] California and Nevada, USA,

(1968-1969).

Varèse, Edgar, Le Corbusier, Iannis Xenakis, Philips Pavilion [Installation]

Brussels (1958).
 - 167 -

Discography

Horn, Paul, Inside the Taj Mahal, [CD-ROM], (Transparent Music, 2001)

ASIN: B00005A9B2

Peters, Steve, Particles/Waves (Chambers Music 8), online sound recording,

Bandcamp, 20 November 2010,

<http://stevepeters.bandcamp.com/track/particles-waves-chamber-music-

8> [Accessed on 20/12/2015].

 - 168 -

Videography

Atmadjaja, Angie, Casino Luxembourg, Angie Atmadjaja, online video

recording, Vimeo, 18 July 2014, <https://vimeo.com/101082165> [Accessed

10/12/2016].

Schneider, Karin, Poème électronique. Edgar Varèse, YouTube, 29 January

2011, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-R3F3ZVbi8> [Accessed on

10/11/2015].

Korinsky, Volum /// Berliner Dom 2014 /// documentary /// Korinsky,

online video recording, Vimeo, 21 October 2014,

<https://vimeo.com/109593849> [Accessed on 10/12/2015].

 - 169 -

List of Abbreviations

RIR Room Impulse Response.