Composing the instrument: An alternative approach to musical relationships between composer, instrument, performer and audience.

This thesis develops a new conception for ‘composed instruments’ and explores how these instruments can serve to challenge the established norms of musical relationships. It investigates the relationships between music and those who listen, make and facilitate it and, by extension, the relationship between the audience, the performer, and the composer. Music need not be bound by the constraints of traditional instruments and performances can be interactive as opposed to didactic. These notions are investigated through the lens of a series of composed instruments, particularly the Arduinome (and variants), the Large Flat Panel Speakers (LaFPanS) and the Augmented Televisions (ATVs). The building of each of these instruments contributed to the refinement of the concept and, in turn, each has proven to offer a range of artistic possibilities as a result of being developed through a compositional process. The notion of the composed instrument as defined within this text aligns somewhat with the Fluxus group of artists, fostering the transition from audience to performer through universal playability and the levelling of musical hierarchies. Such an approach can re-organise performance hierarchies and have a democratising effect on music-making.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of East Anglia

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Vine, William

Language dc:language

en