An Exploration of Audio-Score Techniques and Practices
Lindsay Vickery
This paper discusses the emergence of the Audio Score as a distinct compositional practice in which auditory communication, rather than visual notation, is the primary medium through which compositional information is conveyed to performers. Drawing on recent theoretical writing by Bhagwati, Sdraulig and Lortie, Schimana, and d’Heudières, the study situates Audio Scores within the evolution of technological, aesthetic, and ideological developments. The discussion proposes a framework distinguishing three core roles of auditory material in Audio Scores— orientation, emulation, and instruction—and seeks to clarify the boundaries between Audio Scores and adjacent practices. The analysis foregrounds performer experience as a critical site of evidence through detailed case studies of works by d’Heudières, Schimana, and the author, all performed by the Australian ensemble GreyWing.
© Lindsay Vickery
Lindsay Vickery
Lindsay Vickery is a composer, performer and researcher, and a founder member of New Music ensembles Decibel, GreyWing, HEDKIKR and Magnetic Pig. His work explores relationships between score presentation and musical structure, and between electronic/acoustic, composed/interactive and improvisational practices, with a particular focus on coordinating live performers and electronics. His music spans solo works to opera, in interactive, improvised and notated contexts, and has been commissioned for concert, dance and theatre. He is an active international collaborator and has performed at SWR Tage für Neue Musik, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Dark Music Days, Audio Art, Tokyo Wondersite, Café Oto and The Knitting Factory and others. Vickery is part of the team that developed the Decibel Scoreplayer, and coordinates Composition and Sonic Arts at WAAPA, Edith Cowan University.
From Rhythm to Representation: BTS’s “Idol” as a Multimodal Audio Score
Veronika Mattová and Michal Schwarz
Contemporary Korean music, especially through artists like group BTS, has reshaped global music by integrating traditional Korean elements with modern pop influences. This study examines how BTS’s song “IDOL” functions as a multimodal audio score, blending traditional rhythmic structures like jangdan (cyclical rhythms) and dance forms such as bukcheong sajanori (lion mask dance) with contemporary K-pop production. By analyzing Jeongganbo, a traditional Korean time-based notation system, this paper demonstrates how these cultural elements are adapted and transformed into visual, rhythmic, and sonic components of “IDOL”. The study highlights how rhythmic cycles, onomatopoeic syllables, and choreography are used to create a hybridized musical experience. Additionally, the research explores how “IDOL” exemplifies transmedia storytelling, where music, video, choreography, and fan interaction form a dynamic, layered narrative. This paper illustrates how BTS reinterprets traditional Korean musical practices within a global pop context, showing how multimodal audio scores and transmedia strategies allow for a deeper, more immersive engagement with music, bridging cultural and temporal gaps.
© Veronika Mattová
Veronika Mattová
I am a PhD candidate in Korean Studies at the University of Vienna and an assistant at Masaryk University, focusing on Korean popular music, parasocial interactions, and digital culture. My research explores how K-pop functions as a space for negotiating identity, emotion, and social inequality in a global context, with particular attention to its cultural and communicative impact.
With a background in cognitive science and psychology, I approach music as a multimodal and socio-cultural phenomenon, examining how audiences form emotional bonds with artists and how these relationships shape perception, language, and collective identity across cultures.
My work has been presented at international conferences and engages with themes such as global fandom, cultural translation, digital media environments, and the role of popular music in shaping contemporary Korean society.
© Michal Schwarz
Mgr. Michal Schwarz, Ph.D.
My long-term engagement in Korean and East Asian studies combines more academic fields. I have graduated in philosophy and the science of religions, and I am holding a Ph.D. in Indo-European comparative linguistics. My research projects have focused on comparative history and the development of religion in Mongolia, Korea, and Vietnam. I am also teaching the economic geography of Korea, Central, and Southeast Asia. I am a founder of the Department of Mongolian, Korean, and Vietnamese Studies at Masaryk University (MU), where I was establishing courses about Korean language and modern Korean Pop-music. I am a regular visitor of Kangwon National and Jeju National University at Jeju Island. As member of Altaic Society of Korea, I am regularly presenting at confernces at Seoul National University.