Larry Austin

Sound Diffusion in Composition and Performance Practice II: An Interview with Ambrose Field

Dignity and Impudence 2001 Frontier-X (interactive installation) 2000 VORTEX in white (interactive installation) 2000 Vertigo! 2000 Refried Beans 2000 Expanse Hotel 1999 Empty Spaces 1999 Till 1996 Pyrotechnic! 1996 Grey Sky Traffic 1995 Still Water 1995 Undercurrents 1993 Audio Bricks (tape installation) 1993 Geosphere 1991 This is the second article in a series of recent interviews (Austin 2000) with leading composerpractitioners of electroacoustic and computer music and the art of sound diffusion. The present interview with composer Ambrose Field (see Figure 1) took place at the University of York, UK, on 7 April 1998. Ambrose Field is Director of the Electroacoustic Music Studios at the University of York. His music includes electroacoustic works and interactive installations, and he has received awards from the Ars Electronica (1997, 1998) in Linz, the Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Competition (1991, 2000), and the Association pour la Création et la Recherche Électroacoustiques du Québec (ACREQ) in Montréal. His work has been commissioned and funded by both commercial and arts-funding bodies (UNESCO, CDP, the British Academy, the National Centre for Popular Music, and the International Computer Music Association) and has been performed and broadcast in Europe, the United States, Russia, Brazil, and China. He studied education at Cambridge University and composition with Denis Smalley at City University, London. Mr. Field served as Education and Research Director for the Sonic Arts Network, UK (1995–1997). Table 1 lists selected compositions. At York, he teaches courses in Postmodernism, Composition, and Music Education. His music is published on compact disc by Centaur/CDCM, ORF, the Sonic Arts Network, and GMEB. Mr. Field is a leading proponent of Ambisonics (a registered trademark of Nimbus Communications International), which is the art and science of recording a sound field in such a way that playback over a loudspeaker array creates the illusion of the origi-

Live-electronic music on the third coast

The term “third coast” originated in Houston, Texas, in the seventies to describe growing significant activity in the arts in US southern states bordering the Gulf of Mexico. New and live-electronic music thrives as well in the inland cities of San Antonio, Austin, the Dallas/Ft. Worth “metroplex”, and at the Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia in Denton. Alternating with explanatory text is a transcription of an informal conversation between Texas composers Austin and Jerry Hunt, discussing the technology and aesthetics at issue in live-electronic music. They describe their own works, including Hunts Sur (Doctor) John Dee (1967) and Flund (1987) and Austins Accidents (1967) and Beachcombers (1983), elucidating the musico-dramatic, technical, and poetic dimensions of each piece.

Coasts: On the Creative Edge with Composer Larry Austin

Larry Austin and Thomas Clark have frequently collaborated on projects such as hosting the 1981 International Computer Music Conference, establishing the Events Series at the University of North Texas, where they are colleagues, and an article for Perspectives of New Music in 1984. Recently, they have coauthored a forthcoming textbook, Learning to Compose: Modes, Materials, and Models of Musical Invention. The following conversation about Austins work as a composer is a natural continuation of their regular discussions about issues of new music, composition, and computer music.