Dissertation
Thresholds of the audible
In our culture, vocal harmonics function as independent musical elements since only a few decades. Thresholds of the audible explores the changing relationship between singers, listeners and harmonics.
- Author
- Mark van Tongeren
- Date
- 13 March 2013
- Links
- Full text available in Leiden Repository
As a research method a series of compositions (Nulpunten/’Zeropoints’) has been developed, which attempt to make a fresh approach to overtone singing and to the sonic source material of the human body. They spark off further investigations of reality and illusion of our auditory world.
Using his experiences with Tibetan monks and Sardinian brotherhoods and the ‘transverbal’ oeuvre of Michael Vetter, Mark van Tongeren develops his notion ‘multiphony of the body’. The last word, according to him, must be given to readers/listeners, who are challenged to shift their thresholds of the audible with the cd It starts here and the performance Incognito ergo sum.
This thesis is the result of practice-based research in the arts and accompanied by a CD with 59 audio tracks and one video file. Since this research was carried out at the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, three performances are an integral part of the presentation of the final results of the research, together with the PhD-thesis. The performances are entitled 'Incognito ergo sum' (March 10 and 12, 2013) and 'Boventoonzangmarathon: 0... op de werkvloer' ('Overtone singing marathon: Zeropoints on the shopfloor') (March 11, 2013).