ABSTRACT The author presents an overview of his work, revealing how the socioeconomic position of the electroacoustic composer may necessitate dumpster diving as a means of survival that also provides a hidden benefit in fueling the creative process.

ABSTRACT This paper provides an overview of electrical pre-loudspeaker sound art in Victorian music halls, focusing on key figures, including one of the first female performers of an electrical musical instrument. Control of “acoustic incidents” separate from the artiste and the employment of artful presentation to create an aesthetic edifice—prerequisites of sound art—are apparent in the entertainments examined here. It is shown that the issues of today's sound art (in reconciling science with art, the coveting of the “active principle,” etc.) were also a concern in these early sound art ventures.

ABSTRACT “Miraculous agitation” denotes an acoustic marvel: a striking sound emerging from vibrating physical systems. A somewhat subjective phenomenon, acoustic marvels are typified by expressive or harmonic richness, and their production is reliant on delicate interrelationships between objects under vibration, often involving chaotic or nonlinear behavior. In some cases it is even possible to observe emergent behavior. Significantly, acoustic marvels may commonly strike the auditor as seeming to be “of electronic origin,” thus pointing toward postelectronic electroacoustic techniques. This paper takes a qualitative approach to the examination of such acoustic marvels and their possible applications in new music composition.