This thesis provides specific insight and commentary for the accompanying composition portfolio. The text offers an alternative model of composition that is based on acoustical and psychoacoustical considerations. Drawing inspiration from the works and writings of Horatiu Radulescu, I have called this otherwise personal compositional approach 'Plasmatic Music'. Radulescu used the term Sound Plasma to describe his all-encompassing musical thinking. In trying to indicate the similarities and the differences between my own compositional approach and those of Radulescu, the thesis first investigates Radulescu’s ideas of Sound Plasma and demonstrates how the Sound Plasma is a larger philosophical vision stepping beyond aesthetical or compositional realms and into mysticism and metaphysics. This is followed by looking at few of his compositions purely from compositional/acoustical point of view. In the second chapter I establish my definition of Plasmatic Music as a model of musical composition based on acoustics and psychoacoustics. In the final chapter I provide analysis for the compositions in the portfolio, where the ideas and techniques of creating Plasmatic Music are demonstrated in practice. The thesis concludes by giving suggestion and proposal for future research and case studies in the field of applied psychoacoustics which could benefit other composers and musicians. Through analysing the works contained within the portfolio, I will illustrate the systematic processes that lies behind them. This approach that I call Plasmatic Music, is a sound production system that places the emphasis on sound itself. The thesis offers an insight into why it is crucial to have an in-depth knowledge of acoustics to envision the auditory situations of Plasmatic Music and how this has been applied to a unique body of compositional works.
| Date of Award | 10 Jun 2025 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Bryn Harrison (Main Supervisor) |
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