Harnessing Virtualization to Transpose Place-Based Music

The project Nightports at Hull Minster originally aimed to create a 30-minute musical composition intended for live performance across a loudspeaker orchestra in situ. As the project evolved, new dissemination opportunities emerged, leading to adaptations in spatialization techniques and approaches to performance. These opportunities, such as a live radio broadcast, prompted considerations about how a site-specific work tied to the unique acoustics of Hull Minster could be transposed to other formats and spaces. The capture of spatial room impulse responses (SRIRs) became key to transferring the work’s spatial qualities as both a novel hybrid acousmonium/virtualmonium and a full virtualmonium, offering a way to reframe the performance while retaining the acoustic essence of the Minster. This article outlines both the technical and artistic approaches behind Nightports at Hull Minster, exploring the relationships between performance and technological mediation within each transposition. Through its multiple iterations, the project reveals how site-specific music can be adapted and transformed while maintaining an intimate connection to its originating place.