Following the creation of Birdsong for Prisoners (Osmond 2011) this new composition Crossing Bord... more Following the creation of Birdsong for Prisoners (Osmond 2011) this new composition Crossing Borders continues to explore the nature of sound as an internal and external form of interpretation. Birds, voices, sounds and languages are not necessarily restricted by artificially imposed borders. The ability to translate and transpose compositional materials, digitally store and retrieve recordings made in transit provides a new means of compositional accessibility.
Searching for a true complementarity of music and visual art reflected John Whitney’s desire to d... more Searching for a true complementarity of music and visual art reflected John Whitney’s desire to develop a methodology that would ensure that computer generated sound and visual imagery could be produced in a way that would go beyond all earlier attempts to simultaneously create an artwork based on a system that would equate individual colours with specific notes. Discussed in his book ‘Digital Harmony’ (Whitney 1980), Whitney argued that all composition in music was firmly based on a methodology that excluded improvisation and if a similarity of scale was applied to the use and development of colour, a system could be devised that met his objective of providing an agreed means of finally equated colour with sound, through computer programing.
Birdsong for Prisoners explores the ways in which we interpret sound, recalling memories of chord... more Birdsong for Prisoners explores the ways in which we interpret sound, recalling memories of chords and phrases that trigger new stories and challenge our perception of a world where sound is only available with accompanying still and moving images. Created from a variety of sources including birdsong, improvised jazz and the creative use of piezo mics to record the rarely heard sounds of the human smile, Birdsong for Prisoners presents an opportunity to explore how listeners react to, and interpret, an original composition that places sound at the centre of an audience response.
As a multi-sensory composer I am concerned with the interrelationship between the human voice and... more As a multi-sensory composer I am concerned with the interrelationship between the human voice and abstract sound and the use of rhythm, intonation, accent and tone as an original source for compositional exploration. In practice, this represents the use and application of voiced sound recorded in public spaces, including political demonstrations and rhetoric, as the stimuli for computer-aided composition. Using the inherent rhythmic patterns that occur in this context, I am concerned with the creation of a melodic abstract response while engaged in contemporary composition. Representing an opportunist and creative response to rendering sound using digital technologies without imposing predetermined images, the need to "picture" a response is unnecessarythe imagery is in the sound and individual social, cultural and personal experiences. The Musicians of Memory intends to illustrate how irregular and regular audio phrases pass between generations, creating opportunities to reflect on the potential of digital sound to enhance our sense of space, time and compositional processing. This new work creates opportunities to consider the implications of using digital technologies as a means to a creative end. What is gained from processing sound in this way? What is lost when marginalising the analogue techniques of the past? How are new technologies influencing the ways we interact with and experience sound?
Dandelion: Postgraduate Arts Journal and Research Network
Birdsong for Prisoners explores the ways in which we interpret sound, recalling memories of chord... more Birdsong for Prisoners explores the ways in which we interpret sound, recalling memories of chords and phrases that trigger new stories and challenge our perception of a world where sound is only available with accompanying still and moving images. Created from a variety of sources including birdsong, improvised jazz and the creative use of piezo mics to record the rarely heard sounds of the human smile. 1 Birdsong for Prisoners is a composition based on the premise that memory and sound are interrelated, using original instrumentation and digital sampling to create an atmospheric response to the idea of solitary confinement. Structured to reflect the lasting effect of the absence of sound, through deafness, or restricted access to other human contact, Birdsong for Prisoners explores the ways in which we recreate experiences through the visualisation of what may be termed as emotional auditory triggers. The idea that a particular composition may lead to a visual or dreamlike response informs this work although it is primarily intended as a contribution to an ongoing debate about the marginalisation of sound. Arguing that sound composition, as an independent and creative force, is rarely heard without an accompanying moving image, whether in terms of promotional videos, film scores or as a VOLUME 4 NUMBER 1 SPRING 2013
EVA London 2016 Electronic Visualisation and the Arts, 2016
Seeking to develop an enhanced awareness of how sound is heard and interpreted "One Stone for Her... more Seeking to develop an enhanced awareness of how sound is heard and interpreted "One Stone for Hermione Levi" is an original composition exploring the relationship between spontaneity, creativity and improvisation. Using sounds that are often left unheard, this composition begins and ends with the composer's heartbeat, creating opportunities to realise the potential of using digital technologies to record, sample and create new sounds using human sources. In this paper, I consider a number of compositional possibilities that may begin to define and recognise the importance of silence as a means to a compositional end. There will be silence, interspersed with bursts of sound, multi-layered to create an illusion of movement through the application of real and virtual instrumentation. Computer-aided compositional strengths and weaknesses will be explored as the concept of presenting sound without visual imagery is discussed. Exploring the uniqueness of sound as a means of expression and individual interpretation, One Stone for Hermione Levi considers two primary questions: 'what do I see when I hear this sound?' and 'how do I find stillness in a multi-sensory world?'
Following the creation of Birdsong for Prisoners (Osmond 2011) this new composition Crossing Bord... more Following the creation of Birdsong for Prisoners (Osmond 2011) this new composition Crossing Borders continues to explore the nature of sound as an internal and external form of interpretation. Birds, voices, sounds and languages are not necessarily restricted by artificially imposed borders. The ability to translate and transpose compositional materials, digitally store and retrieve recordings made in transit provides a new means of compositional accessibility.
Searching for a true complementarity of music and visual art reflected John Whitney’s desire to d... more Searching for a true complementarity of music and visual art reflected John Whitney’s desire to develop a methodology that would ensure that computer generated sound and visual imagery could be produced in a way that would go beyond all earlier attempts to simultaneously create an artwork based on a system that would equate individual colours with specific notes. Discussed in his book ‘Digital Harmony’ (Whitney 1980), Whitney argued that all composition in music was firmly based on a methodology that excluded improvisation and if a similarity of scale was applied to the use and development of colour, a system could be devised that met his objective of providing an agreed means of finally equated colour with sound, through computer programing.
Birdsong for Prisoners explores the ways in which we interpret sound, recalling memories of chord... more Birdsong for Prisoners explores the ways in which we interpret sound, recalling memories of chords and phrases that trigger new stories and challenge our perception of a world where sound is only available with accompanying still and moving images. Created from a variety of sources including birdsong, improvised jazz and the creative use of piezo mics to record the rarely heard sounds of the human smile, Birdsong for Prisoners presents an opportunity to explore how listeners react to, and interpret, an original composition that places sound at the centre of an audience response.
As a multi-sensory composer I am concerned with the interrelationship between the human voice and... more As a multi-sensory composer I am concerned with the interrelationship between the human voice and abstract sound and the use of rhythm, intonation, accent and tone as an original source for compositional exploration. In practice, this represents the use and application of voiced sound recorded in public spaces, including political demonstrations and rhetoric, as the stimuli for computer-aided composition. Using the inherent rhythmic patterns that occur in this context, I am concerned with the creation of a melodic abstract response while engaged in contemporary composition. Representing an opportunist and creative response to rendering sound using digital technologies without imposing predetermined images, the need to "picture" a response is unnecessarythe imagery is in the sound and individual social, cultural and personal experiences. The Musicians of Memory intends to illustrate how irregular and regular audio phrases pass between generations, creating opportunities to reflect on the potential of digital sound to enhance our sense of space, time and compositional processing. This new work creates opportunities to consider the implications of using digital technologies as a means to a creative end. What is gained from processing sound in this way? What is lost when marginalising the analogue techniques of the past? How are new technologies influencing the ways we interact with and experience sound?
Dandelion: Postgraduate Arts Journal and Research Network
Birdsong for Prisoners explores the ways in which we interpret sound, recalling memories of chord... more Birdsong for Prisoners explores the ways in which we interpret sound, recalling memories of chords and phrases that trigger new stories and challenge our perception of a world where sound is only available with accompanying still and moving images. Created from a variety of sources including birdsong, improvised jazz and the creative use of piezo mics to record the rarely heard sounds of the human smile. 1 Birdsong for Prisoners is a composition based on the premise that memory and sound are interrelated, using original instrumentation and digital sampling to create an atmospheric response to the idea of solitary confinement. Structured to reflect the lasting effect of the absence of sound, through deafness, or restricted access to other human contact, Birdsong for Prisoners explores the ways in which we recreate experiences through the visualisation of what may be termed as emotional auditory triggers. The idea that a particular composition may lead to a visual or dreamlike response informs this work although it is primarily intended as a contribution to an ongoing debate about the marginalisation of sound. Arguing that sound composition, as an independent and creative force, is rarely heard without an accompanying moving image, whether in terms of promotional videos, film scores or as a VOLUME 4 NUMBER 1 SPRING 2013
EVA London 2016 Electronic Visualisation and the Arts, 2016
Seeking to develop an enhanced awareness of how sound is heard and interpreted "One Stone for Her... more Seeking to develop an enhanced awareness of how sound is heard and interpreted "One Stone for Hermione Levi" is an original composition exploring the relationship between spontaneity, creativity and improvisation. Using sounds that are often left unheard, this composition begins and ends with the composer's heartbeat, creating opportunities to realise the potential of using digital technologies to record, sample and create new sounds using human sources. In this paper, I consider a number of compositional possibilities that may begin to define and recognise the importance of silence as a means to a compositional end. There will be silence, interspersed with bursts of sound, multi-layered to create an illusion of movement through the application of real and virtual instrumentation. Computer-aided compositional strengths and weaknesses will be explored as the concept of presenting sound without visual imagery is discussed. Exploring the uniqueness of sound as a means of expression and individual interpretation, One Stone for Hermione Levi considers two primary questions: 'what do I see when I hear this sound?' and 'how do I find stillness in a multi-sensory world?'
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Papers by Joe Osmond