Drawing sound in space: Digital spatial notation as constitutive audiovisuality

Abstract This paper examines how the design and realisation of a concert presentation entitled Drawing Sound in Space led to the concept of digital spatial notation. Seven Australian composers were commissioned to create digital scores for an electroacoustic chamber music ensemble, and scores were shared with the audience. The author argues that contemporary digital notation practices enhance live performances of new music by expanding concepts of the audiovisual to include alternative notational approaches engaging with space, creating a ‘spatial notation’. Further, Drawing Sound in Space aimed to transform musicianship and audience experience by offering a more immersive encounter with music notation as a multimodal, social practice where audience engagement and musical understanding are enhanced. A theoretical framework is provided to facilitate the analysis of each work, where semiotic expansion, temporal engagement, distributed agency and spatial reconfiguration are discussed. Through different approaches to presenting music notation in Drawing Sound in Space , the project sought to provide audiences with a novel concert experience whilst simultaneously challenging composers to design notation intended for audiences as well as performers.