Abstract
The aim of this research was to use altered states of consciousness (ASCs) as an adaptive principle for composing electroacoustic music, in which common features of the ASC experience provide a basis for the design of sonic material and inform the structural design of corresponding musical sections. Various cultures throughout history have sought to undergo visionary journeys using hallucinogenic plants and drugs. In many cases these experiences have been used as a basis for the creation of art, literature and music. Informed by a survey of relevant work, this practice-led research develops a compositional process for creating electroacoustic music that is based upon hallucinogenic perceptual states. Though situated within the electroacoustic idiom, the work also draws significantly upon Western psychedelic culture and electronic dance music. The output is a creative portfolio containing a series of musical compositions, software and video. This supporting commentary describes the compositional processes in detail, and it is hoped that it will be of interest to other creative practitioners dedicated to exploring this theme in music and other mediums. Creative Portfolio The works contained within the creative portfolio are as follows (all works produced 2007- 2010): Fixed Compositions Night Breed. Stereo. Duration: 6 minutes and 23 seconds. Surfer Stem. Stereo. Duration: 7 minutes and 9 seconds. Night Dream. Stereo. Duration: 7 minutes and 59 seconds. Entoptic Phenomena. Stereo. Duration: 5 minutes and 44 seconds. Swamp Process. Stereo. Duration: 7 minutes and 35 seconds. Nausea. 5.1 multichannel. Duration: 19 minutes and 11 seconds. Live Performance Recordings Bass Drum, Saxophone and Laptop: 23rd February 2010, Session 1. Stereo recording of a live performance for bass drum, saxophone and electronics. Duration: 11 minutes and 4 seconds. Bass Drum, Saxophone and Laptop: Extract 1. Extract from a live performance for bass drum, saxophone and electronics. Duration: 59 seconds. Bass Drum, Saxophone and Laptop: Extract 2. Extract from a live performance for bass drum, saxophone and electronics. Duration: 59 seconds. Entoptic Phenomena in Audio: PreICMC04. Recording of a live performance with laptop and electronics, in both stereo and 5.1. Duration 19 minutes and 53 seconds. Audio- Visual Compositions Tiny Jungle. Duration: 7 minutes and 10 seconds. Video Demonstrations of Software Dagon Live Demo. Video demonstrating the Atomizer Live Patch software, with stereo audio. Duration 11 minutes and 9 seconds. Drone Wolf Demo. Video demonstrating the Atomizer Live Patch software, with stereo audio. Duration 8 minutes and 4 seconds. Bass Drum, Saxophone and Lap top Demo: Video demonstrating the Bass Drum, Saxophone and Laptop software, with stereo audio. Duration: 3 minutes. Software Portfolio Atomizer Live Patch. Real-time performance software for MaxIMSP (Windows). Bass Drum, Saxophone and Laptop. Real-time performance software for MaxIMSP (Windows). Atomizer Visual. MaxIMSP software for producing visual material (Windows). The creative portfolio is contained within four CD and DVD discs. All stereo works (including fixed compositions and live performance recordings) are presented on a CD audio disc. The audio-visual composition Tiny Jungle is included on a DVD video disc, together with the software demonstration videos. The software portfolio is included on a separate data DVD. Finally, an additional data DVD contains the Nausea multi channel composition, plus all the creative works and additional files (such as the multichannel version of Entoptic Phenomena in Audio).