Compositional strategies in electroacoustic music

This thesis accompanies the five electroacoustic pieces of the portfolio and aims to discuss compositional strategies. The pieces were designed with the intention of exploring ways of creating relationships between musical materials of differing natures. Structuring methods are outlined using examples from two acousmatic and three mixed works (for solo instrument and electroacoustic sounds). Analyses from a macro- and micro-perspective aid in describing the principal elements of musical discourse and the personal methods of achieving musical coherence. Three stages of the compositional process are defined and discussed, forming a framework within which the computer sound transformations and instrumental sources are described. The first stage consists of the generation of material and the qualifying of the sounds as the basis for initial musical relationships. Then the structuring of the musical discourse is discussed, highlighting links at macro and microstructural levels. Finally, issues of performance are discussed. Feedback from the performer and the design of a common synchronisation method for the three pieces drives the structural design of the works. Musical material and the visual information during performance are investigated, and consideration is given to their implications throughout the compositional process.