Event overview
"Soundscape Composition: From the Real to the Virtual", a talk and listening event given by composer Barry Truax, Professor Emeritus at Simon Fraser University, Canada.
Soundscape composition has matured into an important practice, both as an artistic form and to promote environmental awareness, with works ranging from documentary to the construction of imaginary soundscapes. Just as the concept of “soundscape” embraces all forms of sound and emphasizes how sound is understood by listeners, so too soundscape composition creates simulated environments of sound within which the distinctions between voice, music and environmental sound are blurred. In the author’s soundscape compositions, the sound material is elaborated using contemporary digital signal processing techniques, while maintaining listener recognizability, and the structure of the work and its narrative are guided by the composer’s contextual knowledge of the real world.
Barry Truax is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Communication and (formerly) the School for the Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University where he taught courses in acoustic communication and electroacoustic composition, specializing in soundscape composition.
He has worked with the World Soundscape Project, editing its Handbook for Acoustic Ecology, and has published a book Acoustic Communication dealing with all aspects of sound and technology.
As a composer, Truax is best known for his work with the PODX computer music system which he has used for tape solo works and those which combine tape with live performers or computer graphics. A selection of these pieces may be heard on the recording Sequence of Earlier Heaven, and the Compact Discs Digital Soundscapes, Pacific Rim, Song of Songs, Inside, Islands, and Twin Souls, all on the Cambridge Street Records label, as well as the double CD of the opera Powers of Two and the most recent CDs, Spirit Journies and The Elements and Beyond. In 1991 his work, Riverrun, was awarded the Magisterium at the International Competition of Electroacoustic Music in Bourges, France, a category open only to electroacoustic composers of 20 or more years experience. He is also the recipient of one of the 1999 Awards for Teaching Excellence at Simon Fraser University.
Following his retirement from SFU (Sept. 2015), he became the Edgard Varèse Guest Professor at the Technical University in Berlin (2015-16), and Guest Composer at the 2016 BEAST Festival in Birmingham, where his multi-channel soundscape compositions have been performed, as well as at several other European festivals and ISCM 2017 in Vancouver, plus the 2018 ICMC in Korea where he was a keynote speaker.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Nov 2018 | 12:30pm - 1:30pm |
Accessibility
If you are attending an event and need the College to help with any mobility requirements you may have, please contact the event organiser in advance to ensure we can accommodate your needs.
