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Volmet North: Research investigating the compositional and sociological links between commercial beat driven music and the acousmatic tradition

Volmet North (2011) 7’58 (Fixed media - 2 channels) by Ben Ramsay is part of a portfolio of compositions that form the practice-based element of a PhD. This research explores the compositional and sociological links between forms of commercial beat driven music and the acousmatic tradition which grew up in France during the 1940s and ‘50s. The work adopts sampling techniques in order to capture cultural capital from existing dance music material and use these in a way which is more aligned to the ideas developed by the Groupe de recherches musicales in the 1940s and 50s. This piece is a key work in my research as it addresses an important aspect of Emmerson’s language grid; combining abstract and abstracted syntax to create a discourse that blends aural and mimetic properties.

Volmet North is also the first piece on an EP which is composed around broadcasts from known and unknown sources, both foreign and more ‘local’ to the recording location. The central theme of the EP is the capture (and recapture) of materials that should have been, or were already, lost in the aether. Many of the materials that are used in the compositions on the EP are derived from transformations of Intelligent Dance Music works created by the composer between 1999 and 2004. The inclusion of these transformations is intended as the beginning of an acousmatic ‘remix’ aesthetic by treating earlier compositions as concrete source materials with which to work.

Performed at:

New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, NYC, USA (05.04.13)

From Tape to typedef conference, University of Sheffield (31.02.13)

Performed live at meta-2 concert, De Montfort university (13.03.13)

Released on:

amp bit if go recordings (http://www.ampbitifgo.co.uk/amp010.html) (01.12.11)

Available on-line as part of the Circles of Latitude EP - https://soundcloud.com/benramsay/volmet-north