Beach

(This is a binaural piece and should be listened to with good quality headphones in order to give the impression of immersion within the environment)
The paper to accompany this piece can be read here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/105990381/HYPNAGOGIA-A-BINAURAL-SOUNDSCAPE-COMPOSITION

This composition places the listener in the center of a soundscape that would normally be regarded as mundane. Through the use of binaural recordings and artificial spatialisation, we experience the environment as though we were present – adapting and becoming familiar with the sounds, and allowing the sonic imagery to develop and transform throughout the course of the piece. As we become more familiar with the environment, our focus begins to shift and we slowly experience the transition from a realistic, banal location to a complex and abstract sonic world.

The location is a small domestic room. We are sat relatively stilly at a desk beside an open window. Interactions with the environment are sparse. The sounds we hear surround us; primarily originating from the street outside the room, with little sound emanating from within the direct vicinity of our person.The sonic elements are not spectacular; they are banal, commonly over-looked as background noise or not noticed at all. The sounds of the room are primarily mechanical and electronic: laptop fans, hard-drives, passing cars etc.

The piece acts as a window to the experience of residing within this particular environment. It is simply a sample taken from an open-ended storyboard. The intention of the piece is to very slowly introduce the listener to the environment and allow the sounds to transform without event or celebration. The implied experience is one that crosses the states of consciousness associated with wakefulness and sleep. This transition passes through the state known as hynpagogia - a state of intense mental activity, which teeters on the threshold of consciousness.

Hypnagogia (Binaural - listen with headphones)

This piece explores the use of several different
sound design methods to create a diverse palette
of sonic textures and colours from a single source
recording. The initial audio is a recording of
Brian reading “The Second Coming” by William
Butler Yeats.
This work defines itself primarily through
pulsation: beating and repeated articulations.
The piece builds toward the introduction of
recognisable vocal sounds, which are integrated
into the more abstract surrounding textures. As
an abstract essay, the work layers both disparate
textures and disparate tempi.

Brian Tuohy