Ashitaka: an audiovisual instrument

Moody, Niall (2009) Ashitaka: an audiovisual instrument. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis looks at how sound and visuals may be linked in a musical instrument, with a view to creating such an instrument. Though it appears to be an area of significant interest, at the time of writing there is very little existing - written, or theoretical - research available in this domain. Therefore, based on Michel Chion’s notion of synchresis in film, the concept of a fused, inseparable audiovisual material is presented. The thesis then looks at how such a material may be created and manipulated in a performance situation.

A software environment named Heilan was developed in order to provide a base for experimenting with different approaches to the creation of audiovisual instruments. The software and a number of experimental instruments are discussed prior to a discussion and evaluation of the final ‘Ashitaka’ instrument. This instrument represents the culmination of the work carried out for this thesis, and is intended as a first step in identifying the issues and complications involved in the creation of such an instrument.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: ashitaka,audiovisual,instrument,music,synchresis,X3D,ambisonics,visual music
• Subjects: M Music and Books on Music > M Music
• Colleges/Schools: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering
• Supervisor's Name: Bailey, Dr Nick and Fells, Dr Nick
• Date of Award: 2009
• Depositing User: Mr Niall Moody
• Unique ID: glathesis:2009-1217
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 07 Oct 2009
• Last Modified: 10 Dec 2012 13:36
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/1217