Various Artists

This collection of recordings aims to showcase music produced at the Institute of Sonology, including works with analogue modular synthesis, algorithmic compositions, live electronic music, and compositions based on field recordings.

The Institute of Sonology is one of the very few institutions active in the field of electronic music education, production and research worldwide that has an uninterrupted historical line tracing back to the origins of the medium. The electronic music production at the studio of Philips Research Laboratories (1956–1960) and the teaching programme at the studios of Delft University of Technology (1957–1960) were integrated in 1964, when Gottfried Michael Koenig assumed the post of artistic director of the Studio for Electronic Music (STEM) at Utrecht University. In three years, STEM evolved into the Institute of Sonology, which was housed in Utrecht until 1986 and then moved to the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague.

The Institute of Sonology adopts a clear stance in terms of the use of technology in music: technology is not merely an adjunct to the existing music practice, but should be used primarily to explore new forms of composition and public presentation of music and art. At the same time, Sonology is not bound by any stylistic dogmas. It is the Institute of Sonology’s conviction that electronic music composition should not only be the domain of classically trained musicians: on the contrary, we find it crucial to understand that technology itself has opened up completely new ways for musicians from various backgrounds to become involved in music composition and performance.

Artists featured:

Justin Bennett (*1964, United Kingdom)
Bennett's work with sound combines spatial recordings of environmental sound with the resonances of buildings and materials. He is a faculty member at the Institute of Sonology and is a member of Jubilee, platform for artistic research in Brussels.

Bjarni Gunnarsson (*1980, Iceland)
Gunnarsson is a composer and computer scientist concerned with computer music and process-based sound. He is a faculty member at the Institute of Sonology, teaching algorithmic composition and computer music.

Kees Tazelaar (*1962, Netherlands)
Tazelaar is a composer and heads the Institute of Sonology since 2006. He earned his PhD in 2013 with the dissertation On the Threshold of Beauty: Philips and the Origins of Electronic Music in the Netherlands 1925–1965.

Sonology Electroacoustic Ensemble
The Sonology Electroacoustic Ensemble (SEE) was formed by Richard Barrett in 2009 to explore ways to combine electronic and acoustic instruments in an improvisational context. The ensemble is composed of a continuously changing lineup of performers and generally the ensemble performs without any score or prearranged plan.

Information in Braille and other languages:

Project & Artist information contained in the booklet that accompanies this LP has been included in Braille. The objective is for the contents to reach as many people as possible, this is also why the information has also been translated into 11 languages; Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish (accessible via QR code provided in the last page of the booklet). Sonology is a field of studies and approach to sound within electronic music of which little is known, this project intends to provide an insight into the world of Sonology.

• 1 Justin Bennett - Aura
• 2 Bjarni Gunnarson - Cendres
• 3 Kees Tazelaar - Berglandschap
• 4 Sonology Electroacoustic Ensemble - 20200129