Towards a Taxonomy of Electroacoustic Music: Dialectic Continuums as Compositional Tools

Within electroacoustic music much attention has been paid to issues of dualism and categorisation. Two prominent examples of dualistic categorisation being: Simon Emmerson’s creation of a language grid (1986) and Denis Smalley’s spectromorphology (1986), with particular reference to its emphasis on gesture/texture. These discussions are a product of the view that the conventional notation and classification system used in traditional Western Art music is inadequate. Leigh Landy places spectromorphology with the language grid and many other prospective means of classification and analysis (including dualistic pairs) stating that: ‘a more rigorous classification system is needed’ (2008). This paper seeks to enter this debate by highlighting the potential value of a taxonomy of electroacoustic music characteristics. My proposed taxonomic framework is composed of various dualistic continuums, incorporating and expanding on those explored by Emmerson, Smalley and others. These continuums are then grouped into ‘family trees’ such as language, performance mode etc. In addition continuums such as: live/fixed media, studio/field recording, abstract/abstracted language contain fluid movement between the two extremes and it is the centre point of such continuums that provide the material for my compositional output. This paper focuses on the fledgling taxonomy as well as my use of such a system as an aid to compositional decision-making. Furthermore, I will introduce how such a framework could be useful for analysis, pedagogy and composition.abstracted language contain fluid movement between the two extremes and it is the centre point of such continuums that provide the material for my compositional output. This paper focuses on the fledgling taxonomy as well as my use of such a system as an aid to compositional decision-making. Furthermore, I will introduce how such a framework could be useful for analysis, pedagogy and composition. Towards a Taxonomy of Electroacoustic Music: Dialectic Continuums as Compositional