Sounding Out Music

Drew Hemment. Programme notes for Futuresonic’s SenseSonic project, 1999

All music is intimately tied to the place in which it sounds. The acoustics of the auditorium leaves its imprint, echoes and reverberations adding sensations of depth and creating rich textures experienced by a body moving through them. Sound can create a world to explore, an immersive environment massaging the ears, bass quaking through the soles of the feet. New technologies such as DVD and surround sound open new ways of engaging in sound, whilst traditional performance too may envelope the senses and invite the active participation of the audience.

And yet still the tendency is consider music solely in terms of composition, performance or recording. Both the spaces in which it is played and the bodies which occupy that space are all too often left out of the picture. Any collective participation or unwanted noise is stilled in the silence of the auditorium and the hi fidelity of studio recording.

Even many attempts at achieving 'interactivity' through electronic interfaces and other such devices tend to perpetuate the assumption that the audience is naturally silent and that engagement is the exception rather than the norm. Whether it be dancing, stamping feet or singing along, interaction is as old as music itself.

One response is to explore alternative forms of immersion, whether these be through new media or simply by virtue of the way in which any performance may involve a noisy conversation with the crowd. If you have any interest in the potential of new media for enhancing the involvement of an audience in sound, or simply the belief that music need not be enjoyed as a distant commodity, these issues are discussed on the 'SenseSonic' email digest and website. This seeks to open a space for the creative exchange of ideas and initiatives on the theme of sound and space, and also includes plans to stage some events looking into practical ways of opening up the soundscape to different ways of occupying and moving through it.