Thinking Inside the Box: A New Integrated Approach to Mixed Music Composition and Performance

Abstract

The Thinking Inside the Box project (TItB) seeks to
address pragmatic concerns inherent to mixed music
performance, and proposes ways to better consider the
sound of the acoustic reality of the concert space at studio
composition time. This is achieved through empirical
investigation into subversive use of recent developments in
hardware and software technologies.
The primary concerns are (1) optimising the integration
of live instruments and electroacoustic sound in the
concert hall environment for both the performers and the
public, by carefully choosing loudspeaker types and
placement at commission time, and by avoiding sound
reinforcement; (2) minimizing for studio composers the insitu
trauma of the first live rendition of the piece, by
bringing the concert hall acoustic environment into the
studio composition process, using convolution reverb to
reproduce in the studio the given loudspeaker setup
through its impulse responses.
This paper presents the conclusions of the project's
early experiments in the form of three case study sets, and
describes how this approach will be of use for any
composer of mixed music.

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