Issues of noise in my recent compositions

Trevor Wishart (1996, p.58) refers to noise as “the inharmonic and non-periodic”. Much of this thesis can be seen as a response to this idea from the perspective of an acoustic composer. Noise has been a preoccupation of mine throughout my recent work. In this thesis, I shall present the results of my investigations regarding issues of noise. Working with noise as an important component of my music has led me to question what noise means to me. Although I do not attempt to find or create an objective definition of noise, concepts regarding the perception of noise have informed my compositional practice which I shall explicate in this thesis. Exploring the issues of noise has also provoked a re-examination of my notational practice. This has compelled me to address the limitations of staff notation and move towards a notational system that is more suitable to accommodate a “noisy” aesthetic. This thesis is organised into two main sections. The first is a more general discussion about issues of noise and the second is a more detailed examination of how noise has influenced my compositional thought and notational practice.