INTIME 2014 Symposium
Voice and Text: Experimentation/ Transformation
The annual INTIME Symposium is a two-day symposium of papers and performances hosted by the INTIME music research group at Coventry University. The symposium seeks to discuss and theorise current practice in experimental music. It aims to deepen our understandings of existing and emerging repertoires and practices.
Evoking the Narrative: A Brief Description of “U” (2014)
G. W. Young & S. Mannion
Experimentation and transformation are facets of the dream-like narrative evoked from this fixed tape performance of “U”. This is further modified by the addition of advanced vocal techniques provided by voice. Sound operates within this arrangement to construct a surreal plateau of looped and tangential narratives that serve to mix reality with dream. It is the sonic overlapping of these two themes that operate to inform the listener’s own construct and evaluation of a sonic storyline. The movement of this narrative through diegetic, extradiegetic, and metadiegetic motifs, the manipulation of the spatiotemporal experience, and the evocation of memory are all represented through metaphoric sonic events. The vocalist, by imitating, developing and distorting sonorities from the tape in a live setting, assists the listener in their journey to the great unknown. A subtle pattern to guide and inspire listeners is presented, one that summons memories of reality and dream, a fictitious spatiotemporal experience that forms a complex warren of thoughts. The journey of the listener is unclear and unresolved by the end, a mysterious excursion that is unfathomable. We intentionally produce vagaries between realism, recollection, and insentient thoughts. The role of this joint project is not simply to present a story, but to summon one from within the listener, to embody this, and to affect its outcome.
G. W. Young:
Gareth is a graduate of Glyndŵr University, Wales, where he studied Sound and Broadcast Engineering. After graduating with honours, he moved to Dundalk in 2007 to study Music Technology. He gained his M.Sc. in 2009 and is currently studying for his Ph.D. at University College Cork. His research interests revolve around haptic feedback for new musical devices. For further information see GarethYoung.org.
S. Mannion:
Siobhán Mannion, a native of Galway, is currently a PhD student of Music Composition at University College Cork. Siobhán is a graduate of NUI Maynooth where she received a BA in Music and Anthropology, and an MA in Music Composition. Siobhán is currently fulfilling her doctoral research focusing on choral music using extended vocal techniques under the supervision of John Godfrey.
Gareth W. Young 