Hysteresis

Bagshaw, James ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1555-3129 (2025) Hysteresis. [Composition]

Abstract

The output is a site-specific higher-order Ambisonic music composition, created within the Spæs Spatial Audio Loft multichannel loudspeaker system in Berlin. The work investigates the relationship between fixed speaker array design and spatial perception, investigating compositional decision-making in a site-specific context. Research Process: The research was undertaken through a practice-as-research methodology during a compositional residency at the studio. The work was composed directly within the resident higher-order Ambisonic loudspeaker environment, iterating compositional spatial arrangements within the space through continued critical listening and reflection. The room design and system components, and their associated spatial resolution and diffusion characteristics, were treated as integral compositional parameters. Spatial motion, localisation, density, and spectral distribution were embedded from the earliest stages of material generation, rather than applied as post-production processes. This approach foregrounded the system itself as an active component in shaping musical structure and form. Research Insights: The output contributes new knowledge into site-responsive spatial music composition by demonstrating how fixed multichannel array configurations materially influence spatial strategy and formal development, and hence perceptual outcomes. The research piece displays an artistic response to spatial staging within the specific studio environment, further reinforcing that compositional decisions in higher-order Ambisonics are not format-neutral, but are shaped by the physical and technical properties of specific listening environments. The work extends existing discourse in spatial audio by positioning site-specificity as a central compositional concern within Ambisonic practice. Dissemination: Presented during a residency listening session at Spæs Spatial Audio Loft, Berlin, 22 February 2025.

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