80-minute score and sound design for Normal Condition's contemporary dance work 'Carareretetatakakekerers', choreographed by Nicola Conibere. Premiere - 14 October 2021, Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler's Wells, London.

This electroacoustic score was composed for Carareretetatakakekerers, a choreographic work by Nicola Conibere, premiered by Normal Conditions at Sadler’s Wells in 2021. The research underpinning the composition explores how spatial and localised audio can reinforce the spatial distribution and movement of dancers on stage. Drawing on Henry Brant’s concept of Spatial Music (Brant, 1953) and John Cage’s principle of the co-existence of dissimilars (Cage, 1957), the score juxtaposes and disperses heterogeneous sonic materials across a multichannel speaker array.

In line with Pierre Boulez’s notion of static and mobile distribution of sound (Boulez, 1963), and building on Denis Smalley’s writing on spatial articulation and spatiomorphology (Smalley, 1991; 1997), the work employs fixed sonic placements to denote architectonic zones within the performance space (Harrison, 1999), while mobile distribution of sound is used to support and accentuate the dancers’ movement across and between these zones. In doing so, the score does more than accompany the choreography, but participates in shaping a spatial dialogue — mirroring, shadowing, and at times anticipating movement. As such, spatialisation of audio is treated as a compositional parameter in its own right, contributing structurally and expressively to the work.

As an electronic composition, the work operates within virtual space—more specifically, through spatial illusions that do not rely on simulating real-world acoustics. Smalley’s concept of spatiomorphology (1997) provides a framework for articulating how spatial change functions musically in the piece. Several of his spatial variants are directly explored. Internal and external space are invoked through contrasting acoustics that suggest enclosure versus openness; image definition is shaped by the clarity or diffusion of sonic gestures across the multichannel array; spatial texture is deployed to create layered distributions of voice and sound objects in time; and contiguous space is realised through mobile sonic gestures that trace, follow, and extend the dancers’ trajectories. These spatial behaviours are composed and realised as integral expressive elements, contributing to the relational and emotional tone of the choreography.

The score also explores a range of psychoacoustic phenomena, including auditory illusions and phantom words (Deutsch, 2019). Pre-recorded spoken text, narrated by the dancers, are looped, layered, and phased across the speaker array. Through repetition and spatial displacement, these vocal fragments create auditory illusions in which phantom words appear to emerge internally—despite not being acoustically present. These effects are shaped by the listener’s linguistic background, cultural framing, and psychological filtering. As Deutsch observes, what is heard varies between individuals, invoking subjectivity as a compositional agent. These illusions operate, in part, as an allegory of brain fog (Abbasi, 2024)—a widely reported cognitive symptom of COVID-19—and also of mental slippage, where one cannot precisely identify the moment at which rhythm, sense, or orientation begins to shift. As loops gradually change, their rhythm morphs subtly, reflecting the instability and interdependence of the choreographic relationships on stage.

Developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the work also reflects adaptive and remote creative processes, shaped by masked rehearsals, spatial distancing, and shared constraints. Supported by Arts Council England, the project contributes to research in spatial audio, embodied listening, psychoacoustics, and interdisciplinary performance.

References

• Abbasi, J. (2024) ‘“Brain fog” from long COVID affects millions—what have researchers learned so far?’, BMJ, 385, q897.
• Boulez, P. (1963) Boulez on Music Today. London: Faber & Faber.
• Brant, H. (1953) Space as an Essential Aspect of Musical Composition and Performance. Canadian Music Council.
• Cage, J. (1957) ‘Experimental Music’. Address given to the convention of Music Teachers National Association, Chicago, 1957. Reprinted in Silence: Lectures and Writings (1961). Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
• Deutsch, D. (2019) Musical Illusions and Phantom Words: How Music and Speech Unlock Mysteries of the Brain. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Harrison, J. (1999) ‘Sound, Space, Sculpture: Some Thoughts on the “What”, “How” and “Why” of Sound Diffusion’, Organised Sound, 3(2), pp. 117–127.
• Smalley, D. (1991) ‘Spatial Experience in Electro-Acoustic Music’, Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), Montreal: ICMA, pp. 458–461.
• Smalley, D. (1997) ‘Spectromorphology: Explaining Sound-Shapes’, Organised Sound, 2(2), pp. 107–126.

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