RESEARCH
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Sonic Planimetry: Listening as Spatial Practice
PhD - University of Greenwich - London - On going
Abstract:
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In recent decades, the growing interest in the sensory dimensions of space has led artists, architects, and researchers to reconsider the role of sound within the architectural experience. Moving beyond the traditional understanding of architecture as a predominantly visual and functional system, a more complex and multi-sensory conception has emerged, one in which the soundscape is recognised as an integral component of the identity and perception of built environments.
Rooted in the principles of aural architecture, the present research introduces and develops the concept of sonic planimetry: a theoretical, artistic, and operational tool aimed at the acoustic and perceptual mapping of enclosed architectural spaces for the creation of site-specific sound works, to explore space not merely as a visual composition of materials and volumes, but as a dynamic field of resonances, reverberations, and acoustic affordances.
Sonic planimetry is an advanced method of sound mapping that integrates the indoor soundscape of enclosed architectural spaces with detailed analyses of their acoustic properties. Unlike traditional sound maps, which focus primarily on environmental or urban soundscapes, sonic planimetries provide a planimetric representation that geo-locates significant sonic "spots" within a given space, specifying their resonant frequencies, attenuated frequencies, early and late reflections, reverberation time, categorised soundscape elements, and historical context. By combining impulse response recordings, pink noise analysis, and spatial sound mapping, sonic planimetry serves as both a creative and analytical tool, enabling architects, sound artists, and researchers to act as an aural architect; a figure who listens before designing, who engages with the acoustic behaviours of built environments, and who responds to the cultural and perceptual dimensions of sound in space. This tool allows to create site-specific sound works (or interventions) that respond to the unique sonic identities of architectural environments while fostering deeper engagement with space through auditory exploration.
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Developing an electromagnetic system to create infinite sustain from strings instruments combining solenoids with MAX/Msp
Mmus Electronic Music Composition - University of West London - London - 2018/2019
Abstract:
This essay aims to explain how, the practical and compositional research that led to the development of my electromagnetic systems and, consequently, to the production of an album of electroacoustic music, was addressed. I am going to analyse the fundamental steps that led me in seeking an answer to the research question “How can I create a system that puts strings into vibration without them being touched?”. To answer this question, I am going to analyse the various systems that have tried to address the same question from a musical and technical point of view, addressing their compositional and philosophical implications derive from them. Furthermore, I am going to explain the two systems I developed through the use of surface transducers and electromagnetic solenoids. These systems allow the creation of unusual environments and reverberations, in the case of transducers, and textures with synthetic and electronic sounds, in the case of solenoids. Finally, the analysis of the tracks I composed will allow us to better understand what was the creative use and what are some of the sonic possibilities that systems like these allow.