Anticipated Sonic Actions and Sounds in Performance

Abstract

Clemens Wöllner investigates sonic actions in music performance. He argues that musicians construct sonic images in the act of playing that are based on timbral qualities of the sounds as well as on timing details that allow them to anticipate sonic actions. In this way, they can perform without auditory feedback, for instance, when sound is switched off or otherwise not available during a performance. Wöllner discusses the construction of sonic images in the context of performances with both traditional and controller-driven instruments, and he shows how a performer’s anticipated sonic actions may differ according to the type of instrument. Furthermore, the level of detail of imagined sound qualities involved in auditory imagery is explored, and Wöllner considers the mappings between gesture and sound that are required in order for audiences to be able to imagine the sound as emerging from the performer’s actions.