Keele Research Repository

Working with short soundfiles en masse in the fields of fixed media (acousmatic) and mixed music (instruments and electronics) has raised questions regarding useful assemblage and handling techniques. This paper traces out some different processes and systems that are currently in circulation to automate and assist in such sonic distributions. A number of personalised techniques for sound organisation of breif sounds have surfaced in the author's own outputs in response to working with short sound en masse for many years. Using excerpts from my own fixed media works; Ice Breaker (2015), Snap Happy (2017) and Landline (2018), this paper will reveal how new modes of micro-montage can assist in marking out structure and referencing in music making. The techniques , applications and compositional aesthetic of mi-cro-time and micro-montage, first articulated by Vag-gione (1994) as observed by Roads (2005) will be discussed and used as a springboard into new compositional methodologies. Implications of using naturally occurring minute materials (milliseconds in duration) distinct from truncated materials (cut up, or shortened) will be compared within a discussion on organic versus artificial-sounding output. To conclude, the author will reflect on the creative results of handling large numbers of short sounds and how this defines her output as a compositional trait.