| Popis: |
This is a cross-disciplinary thesis consisting of both acoustics science research and practice-led research focused on improvised music performance. In very different ways, both types of research focus on how a person’s surrounding environment affects voice production. The thesis describes two experiments: a behavioural laboratory talking experiment and singing practice experiment with research outcomes including an original framework for singing practice and a recorded work of ensemble improvised music. Key aspects of both experiments are (i) vocal production response to the acoustic environment, (ii) acoustics that optimise the environment for a singer or talker, and (iii) the acoustic environment created by a retroreflective array whereby sound is reflected back to the person. The experiments can be summarised as follows: 1. A behavioural laboratory experiment A talking experiment that investigates how the sound of one’s own voice (autophony), with alterations in gain and spectral balance, influences conversational speech production. The experiment addressed the question: can acoustic treatments with a frequency bias, like a retroreflective array, influence voice production, optimising a room for comfortable conversing? 2. A practice-led singing experiment A singing experiment was completed in three stages. Stage one (i) was the design of a practice framework that facilitated the discovery and creative development of singing techniques and musical materials. The design incorporated empirical research about autophony and voice production response to room reflections and environment sound and an approach to skill acquisition based on the ecological dynamics theory called the constraints-led approach. Stage two (ii) was fifteen-months of recorded self-regulated singing practice within the practice framework. Stage three (iii) applied the vocal skills and musical materials discovered and developed in stage two to recorded ensemble improvisation. |
