This page offers expanded context for a keynote presentation by Raub Roy at the University of Kentucky, delivered to first-year visual arts students in Spring 2025. The lecture traces key sonic influences and artistic lineages that inform Roy’s immersive, intuitive sound practice. While the live talk foregrounds personal narrative and listening-based experience, this page dives deeper into the works of foundational composers whose innovations resonate with Roy’s own methods.
The full keynote presentation is now available to watch below. It documents Raub Roy’s talk at the University of Kentucky in Spring 2025, exploring immersive listening, site-specific sound, and the intuitive creative process.
Maryanne Amacher created immersive sonic environments that transformed everyday spaces into dynamic acoustic architectures. Her pioneering work with “ear tones” – sounds generated within the listener’s ear – redefined auditory perception, turning buildings into living, breathing canvases.
Through projects like the City-Links series, Amacher used telecommunications to network live urban soundscapes across multiple locations. This innovative practice not only anticipated modern networked art but also underscored her commitment to exploring the direct, intuitive experience of sound in space.
Amacher’s work resonates with the broader themes of intuitive and immersive practice. By challenging traditional concert paradigms and embracing sensory, site-specific art, her legacy inspires a creative approach that values instinct and immediate perception.
Maryanne Amacher – City-Links: Buffalo
John Cage revolutionized musical expression by asserting that any sound – including silence – can be music. His iconic piece, 4'33", exemplifies his belief that the ambient sounds of the environment, rather than a traditional score, are what create a musical experience.
By employing chance operations and indeterminacy, Cage removed the artist’s personal preferences from the composition, inviting the audience to actively participate in the creation of meaning. His experimental practices broke down the boundaries between art, performance, and everyday life.
Cage’s philosophy of open, intuitive listening encourages an acceptance of unpredictability and spontaneity. His work invites contemporary practitioners to explore art as an experience shaped by the environment, a concept that aligns closely with immersive, intuitive creative practices.
Alvin Lucier focused on the inherent properties of sound, using simple yet profound processes to reveal its natural textures. In his seminal work "I Am Sitting in a Room," repeated re-recordings transform spoken words into a resonant, ambient soundscape, letting the room's acoustics become the music.
Lucier’s minimalist approach emphasizes the materiality of sound and invites listeners to experience the subtle interplay between sound and space. His work challenges us to listen deeply and intuitively, finding beauty in the interplay of natural resonances.
The intuitive dimension of Lucier’s practice – where the act of listening is central to the work – offers a model for immersive, sensory-based creative practice. His work encourages us to trust our sensory perceptions and explore the unexpected harmonies present in our environment.
Alvin Lucier – I Am Sitting in a Room
François Bayle is a pioneer of acousmatic music, a form that emphasizes sound detached from its visual source. By focusing on the intrinsic qualities of recorded sound, Bayle invited audiences to engage in a more imaginative and intuitive mode of listening.
His creation of the Acousmonium—a loudspeaker orchestra that spatially projects sound—redefined the concert experience. Bayle’s method transformed the listening space into a dynamic, immersive environment where the audience is invited to experience sound as a pure sensory phenomenon.
Bayle’s practice underscores the importance of intuitive listening, urging us to experience sound on its own terms. This approach aligns with modern immersive practices by encouraging a deep, personal engagement with sound, free from the constraints of visual context.
Mauricio Kagel fused music with theater and satire, challenging conventional performance norms through his innovative “instrumental theater.” His works incorporate dramatic gestures, ironic humor, and playful deconstructions of classical traditions to create dynamic, multi-sensory experiences.
In pieces like Staatstheater and Match, Kagel blurred the boundaries between composer, performer, and director, using theatrical elements to expose the hidden codes of musical culture. His work consistently invites audiences to engage with sound in an active, intuitive manner.
Kagel’s critical, performative approach demonstrates that intuitive creativity can flourish when artistic norms are subverted. His legacy challenges us to rethink the relationship between sound and performance, encouraging a spontaneous, immersive engagement with art.
Mauricio Kagel – Staatstheater
Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007) was a German composer renowned for his pioneering work in electronic and serial music. His innovative approaches to composition and sound exploration significantly influenced the avant-garde music scene from the 1950s through the 1980s.
Stockhausen's notable works include Gesang der Jünglinge, Kontakte, and the ambitious opera cycle Licht, which comprises seven operas, each named after a day of the week. His contributions extended to the development of spatial music and the integration of electronic sounds with traditional instruments, cementing his legacy as a central figure in 20th-century music.
Karlheinz Stockhausen – Kontakte
Pauline Oliveros (1932–2016) was an American composer and accordionist, celebrated for her role in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center in the 1960s and later served as its director.
Oliveros introduced the concept of "Deep Listening," a practice that explores the difference between hearing and listening, emphasizing an expanded consciousness of sound. Her work encompassed improvisation, meditation, and electronic music, aiming to bridge the gap between performers and audiences.
Notable compositions include Deep Listening and Sonic Meditations, which reflect her commitment to exploring the boundaries of sound and perception.
Pauline Oliveros – Deep Listening
These five pioneers illustrate that sound is a profoundly intuitive medium. Their work broke down conventional barriers, fostering immersive experiences that rely on deep, unmediated listening and spontaneous, sensory-driven creativity.
By focusing on perception, minimalism, and the interplay between technology and art, they laid the groundwork for practices that celebrate intuition and immersive engagement. Their legacies inspire modern artists to explore sound as a creative medium that transcends traditional boundaries.