Abstract
This thesis investigates the capacity of sound to measure and give voice to two contrasting terrestrial environments: the marshy bogs of the Northern Irish peatlands and the dune seas of the Rub’ al-Khali (Empty Quarter) desert in the United Arab Emirates. Drawing upon the situational knowledges of practice research, I conduct an enquiry into two sonic phenomena specific to these two environments: peatland ebullition (subsurface bog bubbling of carbon dioxide and methane gas) and ‘singing' sand (a resonance effect in large sand dunes, caused by granular shear flow). These earthy sounds render environmental change audible in new ways. From the wetlands to the drylands, this thesis proposes strategies for the ‘doing’ of sound, (or cultivating particular modes of sounding through practice), though which I produce new understandings on these two phenomena, examine audible relationalities between humans and their more-than-human environments, and reflect on how both sounding and refusing to sound environments shape relations of power, difference, and resistance. Through this, the thesis aims to provide sonic actualisations of theoretical apparatuses for ecocritical aurality. The new insights gained from these methods of sonic practice open dialogue between environmental arts, humanities and sciences, interrogating the need for different situated sensings of the ‘Anthropocene’. This type of research orientation takes music and sound as more than objects of study to be documented and disclosed, but as ways of focusing thought about the concrete world.The doctoral submission consists of a written dissertation and a portfolio of original project materials, including 46 audio listening examples derived from fieldwork, and 4 examples of creative practice in electroacoustic and acoustic mediums. Audio files and supplementary material associated with this project are submitted in the form of an online repository.
| Date of Award | Dec 2025 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Pedro Rebelo (Supervisor), Graeme Swindles (Supervisor) & Jen Bagelman (Assistant Supervisor) |
Keywords
- Field recording
- singing Sand
- booming Dunes
- desert
- peatland
- bog
- ebullition
- anthropocene
- environmental acoustics
- man-nature relationship
- music composition
- sound recordings
- terrestrial environment
- ecocriticism
- auditory cultures
- sound Studies
- musicology
- climate change
- earth sonics