Ambrose Seddon - Higher-level relationships in Dhomont's Novars

6. Higher-level relationships

6.1 Identities as carriers of structure

An identity can act as a carrier of structure by providing a central point of focus that recurs, characterising particular moments or passages throughout a work, and drawing attention to the related sound material over longer timescales. To carry structure in this way, the sound material must make a memorable impact, and exhibit considerable spectromorphological consistency among recurrences so that related instances are perceived to share a common spectromorphological typology. Degrees of change are feasible, creating impressions of development and forward motion within and across the various occurrences.

6.2 Space and settings as carriers of structure

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a ‘setting’ as “the place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place,” emphasising both configuration and location. In musical contexts, acousmatic images [1] will appear both fleetingly as well as existing for more extended durations, so the concept of the setting as used here includes not just configuration and location, but a sense of temporal permanence and, in turn, the establishment of a spatial feel.

Settings, defined by the constituent spectromorphologies and the impressions of space that they convey, can be significant carriers of structure, characterising sections and defining recurrent environments of musical activity. The constituents may not be continually audible (the balance among them may shift) and may appear to vary and evolve. However, it is the overall impression residing in memory that remains significant, based on a particular spatial ‘feel’ and a sense of homogeneity that is memorable and can be recalled when the setting recurs. Thus, the memorability of the spatial attributes of a setting will be key to its structural significance.

Whatever the character of a setting (which might range from ‘highly realistic’, such as seemingly unaltered field recordings, to those that are ‘remote from reality’, bearing few real-world references and defined more by spectromorphological design), its temporal permanence can make it significant at higher structural levels by establishing particular spaces and moving among them. Indeed, recurrent settings can create high-level structure through impressions of spatial contrast, and spatial change may serve as an important structuring principle, establishing, returning to, or perhaps elaborating particular settings or types of setting.

6.3 Higher-Level Relationship Categories

The various higher-level relationships will now be described. These categories were developed during the author’s Doctoral research [2] by analyzing existing works and by experimenting with the observed ideas when composing as a means to evaluate their analytical and creative potentials. Each category stands alone, yet different higher-level relationships may be observed among the same sounds e.g. a Marker relationship might also operate to Reinforce the sound identity in consciousness. They will be illustrated within the subsequent discussion of Novars.

(a) Marker

Markers are recurrent identities that operate at higher levels of structure by drawing attention to temporal position, marking sections or particular points within a work. They exhibit distinct spectromorphological and/or typological correspondences, and recurrences encourage the appraisal of what has happened in between by jogging memory and creating a sense of perspective during the unfolding of the piece. From the higher-level viewpoint, markers help delineate the structure of the work and might be considered recurrent musical landmarks.

As they recur, markers will exhibit different degrees of contextual congruence. For example, in one instance a marker identity may appear to be integrated into the immediate setting, while in other instances its occurrence may seem more separate from the ongoing context and be a relative surprise. The degree of congruence will depend on the spectromorphological relatedness to the surrounding setting and, in source-bonded instances, on the feasibility of the identity’s existence within, or how relatable it is to, that context. Accordingly its structural function may change. Once a marker identity has been perceived due to its recurrence, its presence is unlikely to be a complete surprise in subsequent instances.

Markers can display dual functionality by fulfilling additional roles specific to the contexts of each instance, and recurrences of a marker might also carry out, for example, instigation, termination or rupture functions. To remain active as a marker, the impression of higher-level recurrence must continue. Markers may also signal that a particular change or outcome is going to occur, particularly if earlier occurrences have resulted in, and reinforced the likelihood of, that same outcome. Accordingly, markers can condition expectations.

(b) Reinforcement

Recurrences may reinforce earlier instances, both strengthening the spectromorphological impression in consciousness and increasing the perceived significance of the identity within the work. While reinforcement can apply to single, striking identities, it is particularly relevant to settings at higher structural levels; in the latter case, recurrences can strengthen the impression of a particular atmosphere or spatial ‘feel’, in turn cementing the environment of the piece. The occurrence and recurrence of different settings will define the scope of this environment. Additionally, function-types and processes, carried by similar or different spectromorphologies, may recur and striking functions may accordingly be reinforced.

(c) Clarification/elaboration

Recurrences may clarify initial impressions by allowing further consideration of their characteristics, and facilitating a potentially clearer, more coherent view of the sound material. Elaboration concerns the apprehension of further significant detail, which may simply occur through the similar recurrence of earlier material (encouraging more extensive listening and appraisal, and allowing the assimilation of increased detail). In this sense clarification and elaboration overlap. However, elaboration also occurs through spectromorphological additions or developments that expand the scope and detail of the identity or setting, and which provide a more extensive overall impression of the sound material while remaining clearly connected to the earlier instances.

(d) Delayed significance

The significance of an identity may be unclear until it recurs, and in this sense its significance is delayed. The recurrence of the identity may occur in a new context in which a new local structural function may become apparent, or in light of significant intervening material that stimulates an alternative or enhanced impression of the identity, yet it is only at the point of the recurrence that its additional significance is apprehended.

(e) Retrospective significance

Identities can attain additional significance retrospectively due to the subsequent presence of new sound material that re-contextualises those earlier identities. This can occur when new material arouses spectromorphological and/or source-bonded connections that provoke a projection backwards to what has already been heard (i.e. to what exists in memory). However, the new material redefines that memory by stimulating an alternative or enhanced impression and by lending it a further degree of significance. As such, this involves reappraising the memory of identities already encountered in light of new sound material, but this process is not dependent on the present recurrence of those remembered identities.

(f) Sound-event chains

The recurrence of distinctive linear arrangements of spectromorphologies can establish sound-event sequences, or chains. The identity of such a chain will be determined by the spectromorphologies present, their structural function and the nature of the temporal relationships among them. Chains may operate at various levels of structure, such as building from lower-level relationships to generate higher-level phrases or sections whose recurrences become distinct higher-level events. For instance, a chain could be composed from a particular sequence of identities, or sequential processes of shift and rupture, either individually or in combination. Chains may also be defined by recurrent sequential shifts between sound identities or sectional settings. If a particular chain becomes familiar through its recurrence, a degree of expectation will be evoked, which may be fulfilled or thwarted upon subsequent instances of the chain.

Chains of settings may also recur, acting as a reminder not just of the earlier spatial impressions, but also of their sequential deployment in the work. These recurrences might be more fleeting, but their momentary recurrence in a chained formation may be sufficient to evoke the memory of the more extensive chained spaces and settings encountered earlier on.

(g) Covert correspondence

Identities may exhibit limited degrees of correspondence, yet there may still be significant aspects in common that result in covert correspondences at higher levels of structure [3]. Rather than being based on the similar repetition of a previous identity, covert correspondences maintain a sense of the previous instance(s), recalling or capturing the ‘feel’ or character of the earlier parent material in some way and creating a subtle projection backwards, though without returning to that original state. Spectromorphological correspondences might be spectrally inclined (spectral details provide the more strongly perceived connections among sound identities) or morphologically inclined (where identities share a similar and particularly striking external morphological profile, creating a correspondence in spite of differing spectral content). In this way covert correspondences can lend coherence to the sound world of a work while potentially moving into new territory. Such correspondences may also be established with more than one parent identity, for example when spectral correspondences and morphological correspondences allude to different origins respectively. The perception of covert relationships may result from the apprehension of subtle features and connections only gleaned from multiple listenings, rather than during the first experience of the work.


[1] SMALLEY, Denis, "Space-Form and the Acousmatic Image", Organised Sound, vol. 12, n° 1, 2007, p. 35-58.

[2] SEDDON, Ambrose, "Recurrence in Acousmatic Music", Dissertation, City University, London, 2013.

[3] Covert correspondences may also be perceived at lower levels of structure, but the close temporal proximity of the related identities may suggest that a process of spectromorphological variation has occurred, and the relationship may be most appropriately interpreted in this way.

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