A b s t r a c t

This talk will give an overview of the forthcoming musical-research project, “Wave
Field Synthesis Aesthetics,” focusing on the study of aesthetic applications of Wave
Field Synthesis (WFS) and the development of methods for utilizing the physical
properties of sound propagation as integral elements of composition. Through the
course of the study, various WFS manipulations of sound source radiation, diffusion
and trajectory will be investigated, as well as experiments examining the perceptual
limitations of spatial source location, and notational approaches for integrating
spatial information into compositional processes. In addition, the talk will
introduce some works from the composer, and discuss conceptual links between works
for acoustic instruments and works for acoustic spaces.

B i o g r a p h y

Currently based in Oakland, CA, sound artist and composer Rama Gottfried’s recent
work focuses on the implication of unheard and unseen elements which inform and
interact with the process and space of performance. Some works express this via
instrumental techniques decoupled into interfering streams. In other works, the
human element of performance is implied, and the score is manifested physically as a
200-meter strip of hole-punched plastic, played by motorized music boxes.

In 2002 he co-founded the New York based Ensemble Pamplemousse as a laboratory for
musical exploration. Over the past ten years, the group’s core focus has been
electro-acoustic music and the merging of sound, installation, and performance arts.

Born in 1977, Rama is currently a PhD student at the University of California,
Berkeley in the Music and New Media departments, and is associated with UC
Berkeley’s Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT). Previously, he
completed studies at the Universität der Künste Berlin, the Manhattan School of
Music, New York University, and the University of Vermont. Currently studying
computer music composition and cognition with David Wessel, Adrian Freed, Edmund
Campion, and Franck Bedrossian, his previous teachers have included: Walter
Zimmermann, Marc Sabat, Nils Vigeland, Reiko Fueting, and Joel Chadabe. Recently he
has had pieces featured at the MATA, Klangwerkstatt, Wet Ink, and Machine
Project/Hammer Museum festivals, and sound installations at the Berliner Congress
Center, Stadtbad-Wedding (Berlin), Complice (Berlin), and Pacific Basin Building
(Berkeley). His work Trinoc was recently published by Edition Nova Vita.

Rama Gottfried

This talk will give an overview of the forthcoming musical-research project, "Wave Field Synthesis Aesthetics," focusing on the study of aesthetic applications of Wave Field Synthesis (WFS) and the development of methods for utilizing the physical properties of sound propagation as integral elements of composition. Through the course of the study, various WFS manipulations of sound source radiation, diffusion and trajectory will be investigated, as well as experiments examining the perceptual limitations of spatial source location, and notational approaches for integrating spatial information into compositional processes. In addition, the talk will introduce some works from the composer, and discuss conceptual links between works for acoustic instruments and works for acoustic spaces.