Key Research Themes

Post-instrumental practice

Post-instrumental practice is a pioneering methodology integrating visual and sonic artforms/mediums in both process and product. This interdisciplinary approach to new music creation focusses on the expansion of musical tools and methods, with an emphasis on the application of structural, compositional and instrumental musical devices to materials traditionally associated with non-sonic aspects of performance (such as theatrical sets, lighting, gaming hardware, notation or physical gestures). The Sound Collectors Lab applies and develops the four key characteristics of post-instrumental practice in artistic research projects: Instrumentality, Plurality, Technique Transferral, and Integration (Devenish 2021).

See projects: Alluvial Gold, The SoundCatcher, Digital Phasing, Shock Lines, Cosmic Time, Self-World

The climate crisis and environmental communication through music

The climate crisis is a global issue strongly influencing the evolution of art music: shaping new directions in creative practice, informing conceptual frameworks, and guiding curatorial and collaborative approaches to programming and mentorship (Devenish and Goh 2024, forthcoming). The Sound Collectors Lab develops creative works that reveal and communicate environmental stories through music, with projects ranging from sonic representations of natural phenomena for solo performer, through to group projects emphasising human impacts on the natural environment and broader issues surrounding the climate crisis to bridge the gap between data, reflection, and action. Our approaches combine eco-artistic (Milligan 2022) and interdisciplinary collaborative methods.

See projects: Alluvial Gold, The Bloodwood Series, Sonic Possible Worlds, Climate Notes, We’re Always Touching Underwater

Percussion performance, pedagogy and presentation

Creation, recording and performance of new works featuring percussion, aimed at expanding and developing percussive materials, techniques, performance practices and pedagogies. Research in this area is practice-led, emphasising performer-composer collaboration, historic and new directions in Australian music (Devenish 2015), gender diversity in music, and supervision of PhD and Masters artistic research projects. The Monash Percussion Studio undergraduate teaching program is informed by this research.

See projects: Alluvial Gold, Sonic Possible Worlds, Cosmic Time, Digital Phasing