Acousmatic Music as a Medium for Information: A case study of Archipel

Abstract

This article discusses the inclusion of concrete informative elements within acousmatic music, in an attempt to mix acousmatic music and sound documentary into a form of socially engaged sound art. Inspired by existing sound practices that make strong use of the sonic reality, such as soundscape composition or radiophonic art, the authors explain how they aim to address socially relevant topics within pieces where music and information are considered of equal importance. To that end, they give a detailed description of their approach through the analysis of the composition process behind Archipel (Côté and Campion 2016), a 29-minute piece focused on the access to the waterfront in the city of Montréal, Québec. Through an alloy of interviews, sound recordings gathered on the shores of Montréal and typically acousmatic sound-processing and synthesis, the piece attempts to portray the challenges and opportunities encompassed by this topic. Having found the need to go beyond the acousmatic concert format for this kind of work, the authors also briefly discuss how they are currently expanding the project to include an interactive website and a mobile application that will complement the initial concert piece.