Sound spatialisation has a solid history in acoustic music, from Gabrieli’s antiphonal groups calling across St Mark’s Basilica in the 16th century, to Birtwistle’s formalised processionals in the 20th; and from the stage distribution of the instruments as spatial co-rider in Webern’s Klangfarbenmelodie, to off-stage fanfares of dramatic import in opera. I’ll review snapshots of some of these scenarios and their motivations, but my main object will be to illustrate some inherent limitations. One such limitation might be that the sound of a singer or instrumentalist can’t move quickly in space without some rather comedic stagecraft. Another is that the position of a sound is tied to the sonorities of the instrument or voice needed to make it.

Acousmatic music — the extended family of sound art that uses electronic means but no acoustic performers or things to see: music for listening — offers a different prospective. The material might be anything that can be recorded or created electronically, whereas the spatial location might be that of any loudspeaker(s) that can replay the material. Early recording media had technical limits of dynamic and spectral range and a single channel of audio. Sound diffusion, emerging with the new compositional practice from the 1950s onwards, offered a means to interpret and expand the implicit spaces and unfold their figurative or abstract import in the music through real-time and dynamically changing distribution in an orchestra of loudspeakers. This performance tradition has evolved into many branches, aided by constant evolution of technologies. Its possibilities fold back deeply into philosophies, expressive languages, theories and techniques of compositional practice. The shared key, for the kinds of music I am looking at today, is that spatial concerns are fundamental and intrinsic.

There are tensions, even contradictions. A few of the polarities one could mention concern individual listening (as composer in the studio, or as audience-listener) versus sharing in concert; an ideal of spatial content for perfect reproduction versus an ideal based on liveness and interpretation for the unique moment; an orchestra of individually characterful loudspeakers versus an array of shared neutral character; bespoke systems in the research community vs commercial imperatives and standards; and the pros, cons, claims and counterclaims for the various families of technical mechanism. Taken together, these make for challenges but also lots of stimulus. I will illustrate with a few examples from my own compositions and discuss the approaches we take and our current research directions with the Bristol University Loudspeaker Orchestra, BULO.

BULO’s next concert is the day after this presentation. After today’s preview in words, please come and hear the music! More about the event here: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts-law-social-sciences/events/2026/november/bristol-university-loudspeaker-orchestra.html

Neal Farwell: Firing a Crucible (2026) †
Lia Su: After Bee (2026) †
Champion Qin: new work *
Denis Smalley: The Voices of Circius (2015-16)
Andrew Lewis: Polar (2026) †

† UK premiere
* world premiere

This year sees the 80th birthday of composer Denis Smalley. Through his music, writing and teaching, he is a defining figure for our art-form and its scholarship. To join in the international celebration, BULO presents a work in which Smalley makes the weather resound: Circius is Roman god of the Cers wind, which impetuously shapes the weather in the south west of France. In Polar, Andrew Lewis works with scientific data on the movement of sea ice, to create a powerful commentary on the ways that humans are changing our planetary climate. Our concert, presented in the glorious immersive surround sound of BULO, is rounded out by premieres of music by University of Bristol composers.

Admission: £5 + VAT (free for UoB students & staff with valid UCard).

• Please note that all attendees, including those eligible for free admission, must book a ticket online in advance via the University Online Shop.
• Tickets are available up until the start of the performance / 1.15 pm (subject to availability). 
• Doors close at 1:15 pm. No latecomers admitted.
• We cannot accept cash or card payments on the door.

From ancient paths and caves guarding mysteries to the songs of plants, three artists perform new music inspired by the land, people and stories of the Peak District.

Marking the 75^th anniversary of the creation of the Peak District National Park, Layla Legard, Gilank and Eleanor Hooper each present a response to this unique landscape, weaving together electronics, haunting layered vocals, field recordings, deep listening and improvisation to transport us to worlds both on our doorstep and further than we can imagine.

Layla Legard: This Is A Portal
Half of the experimental duo Hawthonn and drummer with Welsh-language avant-goth band Tristwch y Fenywod, Leeds-based vocalist and musician Layla Legard draws inspiration from landscape and place via archaeological research, imaginative and magical practices, and improvisation.

This is a Portal developed from field recordings and improvisations at Hob Thirst’s House: a cave near Buxton where in the 1890s a Romano-British burial was discovered, with coins, jewellery and precious objects suggesting offerings at a religious site.

The piece uses treated field recordings of ancient instruments combined with impulse responses, tape loops, gong and spoken word to explore a collaboration with a presence that continues to linger in the cave.

Gilank: Cavus
Creating improvised sound worlds of hypnotic beauty and strangeness, Bradford ambient duo Gilank (Alice Gilmour and shi Blank) combine synths, electronics and effects with acoustic instruments including violin, cello, flute, percussion and vocals.

Born out of a visit to Poole’s Cavern near Buxton, Cavus seeks to capture the mystery, darkness and timeless majesty of a place shaped over thousands of years. Awed and slightly unnerved by the vastness of the space, Gilank began exploring how those emotions might become music. Acoustic and electronic instruments merge with field recordings from the visit, allowing the cave itself to become part of the composition.

Eleanor Hooper: Go Gather Bones
Eleanor Hooper is a Sheffield-based singer, composer and sound artist making lyrical, voice-centred work, rooted in deep listening and moving between song, sound art and installation.

Go Gather Bones is an evolving musical exploration of a deep connection with places in the Peak District as sonic collaborators, using field recordings, deep listening, vocal improvisation and bio-sonification of plants in these locations. The music comes out of Wet Withens Stone Circle and Barrow, the Seven Stones of Hordron, and the ancient drovers’ path and woods in and around Lawrence Field.

The three performances have been commissioned as part of Changing Gear, our programme supporting women and gender-diverse musicians to create new electronic music.

YSWN is a PRS Foundation Talent Development Network Partner supported by PPL.