Compositional Methodologies and Sound Material Interdependence: A Portfolio of Compositional Studies and Experimental Popular Music

Gordon, Brett (2026) Compositional Methodologies and Sound Material Interdependence: A Portfolio of Compositional Studies and Experimental Popular Music. Doctoral thesis, University of Hull.

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Abstract

This practice-based PhD articulates a transferable compositional methodology that addresses the interdependence between sound material and compositional decision-making across acousmatic and experimental popular music practices. The research responds to a central problem within sound-based composition: how musical structure and coherence can emerge from the behaviour and interaction of sound materials themselves, rather than being imposed through predetermined formal or genre-based systems. The thesis proposes a holistic compositional method structured around two conceptually distinct but interrelated principles: symbiosis and concatenation. Symbiosis describes relational modes of interaction in which sound materials, processes, and spatial behaviours mutually influence one another’s perceptual roles, while concatenation refers to the shaping of structure through the linking and transformation of sonic states across time. Together, these principles provide a framework for compositional decision-making grounded in material behaviour and listening. The methodology is articulated through reflective practice and demonstrated across a portfolio of acousmatic works and experimental popular music compositions. Detailed case study analysis and comparative discussion show how the same methodological logic operates consistently across different musical contexts, despite variations in surface aesthetics, production practices, and audience expectations. Listening-based appraisal and iterative poietic–aesthetic feedback are central to the method, ensuring that compositional decisions remain responsive to perceptual experience rather than abstract formal planning. By framing symbiosis and concatenation as guiding methodological principles rather than genre-specific techniques, this research offers a compositional approach that is adaptable, non-prescriptive, and transferable. The thesis contributes a clearly articulated method for practitioners working with electronically mediated sound, providing a framework through which sound material behaviour can meaningfully inform compositional structure across diverse creative contexts

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Keywords:	Music
Depositing User:	Jessie McLean
Date Deposited:	22 Sep 2026 07:58
Last Modified:	24 Sep 2026 11:14
URI:	https://bnu.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/21577

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