The composition of concert music within the Digital Audio Workstation environment.

Abstract

This research project includes a portfolio of compositions and a contextual document, the subject of which is the Digital Audio Workstation as a human computer interface for the composition of concert music, intended for live performance. The portfolio of compositions consists of the music notation and audio recordings of five works, composed by the researcher within the context of the research project: Variances for jazz guitar, piano, percussion and indeterminate ensemble; Rapprochement for microtonal ensemble; Transits for bass flute, eight voices and electronics; Shutterspeed for clarinet and soundtrack; and Fossils for piano and live electronics. For each of the works, a distinct DAW-based concept and compositional approach has been developed and employed. The contextual document investigates the implications of the DAW for the composition of concert music, and discusses the five portfolio compositions against the background of practices of selected composers; the history and development of the analogue studio, early computer and DAW composition; aspects of device interaction; and the topic of 'liveness'.