This presentation introduces deliberate interruption making within the creation of sound-based music composition and advocates for the creative potential of this little discussed technique via new thinking, terminology and visual composition aids. This creative process draws influence and understanding of interruptions from adjacent arts practices, including video and visual art, live performance practices such as concert, theatre and performance art, and external areas such as conversations, sports, events, scheduling, streaming and broadcasting, as well as high-risk industries which experience and interpret interruptions in divergent ways. Exploring the manifestation of interruptions through a blend of interdisciplinary approaches and synthesis, reveals detail and nuances about interruptive acts, which in turn offer alternative templates, terminology and methods for adopting, constructing and harnessing interruptions musically, widening creative possibilities for other creators and composers in the field. A process of transferring and applying ideas, features and learning from non-musical and external instances of interruption into the sonic realm leads to a new typology of interruption types for use within composition, presented within a collection of visual schematics. These schematics of sonic interruption not only indicate sounds and their behaviours but also demonstrate the fundamental nature of such occurrences to all sound and music contexts, encouraging a rethink of how sound and musical ideas can be envisioned, handled and sequenced in the compositional process.

Manuella Blackburn is an award-winning composer of electroacoustic music and is known for crafting intricate, acousmatic worlds from the sounds of the everyday. Her work is defined by sonic detail, where tiny gestures and textures are carefully clustered and sculpted into highly polished, immersive sound environments. Her music has been performed widely, featuring at festivals, concerts, exhibitions, and conferences in over 15 countries, including Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the USA. She is currently based in the UK as Reader in Electronic Music and Sound Design at Keele University and her research interests include compositional methodologies, intercultural creativity, sampling and sample libraries.

Photo credit: Decoy Media