Margetson, Emma ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1054-1973 (2026) Multicomponent Output: Diversity in Unity: Spatial Sound, Architectural Embodiment, and the IKO Loudspeaker System. UNSPECIFIED.

PDF (300 word statement) 53511 MARGETSON_Diversity_Unity_(Statement)_2026.pdf - Published Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (41kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

This multi-component output investigates the IKO loudspeaker(s) as a compositional and architectural interface within spatial sound practice, representing internationally recognised research at the forefront of immersive audio and spatial composition. The submission brings together five compositions - Shifted Trajectories, Elapsing, Travelling through the Fog, Echoes Beneath the Feathers, and Triadic Flow - alongside a scholarly book chapter, conference presentations, and public dissemination events (including Sonic Spheres, the convergence of three IKO loudspeakers at Woolwich Works, representing an international first) that collectively articulate an original and world-recognised research trajectory in spatial sound and site-responsive composition.

The creative works explore how the IKO loudspeaker system transforms relationships between sound object, environment, and listener through spatial diffusion, architectural activation, and material resonance. Employing a practice-as-research methodology informed by phenomenological listening and acoustic ecology frameworks, the research deliberately challenges and extends established electroacoustic and experimental traditions through a distinctive hybridisation of spatial sound systems - bridging ambisonics, multi-channel field expansion, and architectural acoustics into a singular and provocative compositional approach. The IKO functions not simply as a playback device but as an instrument challenging boundaries within contemporary sound art and music practice.

The submission includes:
• Five IKO-based spatial compositions presented in public performance contexts, with one work published on the Empreintes DIGItales label, positioning the research within an established and internationally respected canon of electroacoustic music
• The book chapter Diversity in Unity, which theorises the compositional and architectural implications of the IKO system
• Presentations delivered at the Innovation in Music Conference, IRCAM Forum, and the AMPS conference, through which the research has been disseminated to leading international communities of practice
• Sonic Spheres conference (lead organiser) converging the first international convergence of 3 x IKO loudspeakers. The day included a conference, followed by a Loudspeaker Orchestra concert – www.sonicspheres.org
• Planned publications including a forthcoming volume with Routledge, and CD publication, which will further consolidate and extend the theoretical and practical contributions of this research to an international scholarly readership

Together, these outputs demonstrate a sustained and internationally engaged programme of practice-research into immersive spatial audio, architectural acoustics, and compositional methodology. The research advances new approaches to site-responsive sound practice by positioning architecture and loudspeaker systems as active compositional agents rather than passive delivery mechanisms, contributing new knowledge concerning embodied listening, spatial perception, and the relationship between material structures and distributed sonic environments. Through its hybridisation of systems, traditions, and methodologies, this body of work occupies a distinctive and significant position within global discourse on experimental spatial sound.

Item Type:	Other
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Immersive Spatial Audio; Architectural Acoustics; Site-Responsive Composition; Embodied Listening; Sonic Materiality
Subjects:	M Music and Books on Music > M Music
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences > Centre for Sound and Image Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences
Related URLs:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/53502/ https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/53504/ https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/53505/ https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/53506/
Last Modified:	20 May 2026 11:05
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/53511

Actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads