The æsthetic images which occur in the mind of the listener during the performance of a piece of music and how they relate to the way the music is perceived are the concern of the composer. The placement of sound images in three dimensional space when performing electroacoustic music on tape over a number of loudspeakers and how this imaging relates to the way the music is perceived by the listener is the concern of the sound diffuser.

As a composer and performer of electroacoustic music on tape, I wanted to create a work in which I could investigate and explore these two aspects of “image”.

There is an interplay between the real image and the altered image throughout the work. Sometimes a sound may be recognised and associated with one in the real world, but these images change over time, as does their associated “meaning”. Similarly, the position of the sound image is constantly changing, sometimes slowly, at other times rapidly, and the breadth and depth of these changes are of course enhanced when the piece is performed over a multi-channel diffusion system.

Altered Images was realised in the Electroacoustic Music Studios at Northern College, Aberdeen and at the University of Birmingham in August 1995. It was premiered in Montréal in January 1996. It won 2nd prize at CIMESP ‘97, the International Sao Paulo Electroacoustic Music Competition and was subsequently released on CD (UNESP/FASM CD 199.003.658).

Source: 2003