Resonating Sound Art and the Aesthetics of Room Resonance

Abstract

Sustained acoustic resonance has been explored by many sound artists and, in some works, it is the central or sole mechanism of sound production. Instances are identified among the work of Ros Bandt, Garlo, Alan Lamb, Alvin Lucier, Gordon Monahan, Roger Winfield and others. In addition to shared formal elements, such works tend to share auditory phenomenological characteristics. It is hypothesised that sustained resonance in general exhibits a type of sound with particular aesthetic connotations, which are largely derived from psychoacoustic factors. This article outlines the terms of and discusses the findings from my experimental investigations into acoustic and psychoacoustic aspects of room resonance. The range of room resonance sounds available from one particular room was explored using a procedure adapted from one of Lucier's works. Listening tests were conducted on the resulting sounds, eliciting descriptive, evaluative and emotional responses from 13 subjects. There are some correspondences between the listening test results and apparent characteristics of resonating sound art.