What makes an experience memorable, and what is it exactly that we recall when we remember a moment in time? What do we, as listeners, recall after a listening experience? To understand this question, one must become acquainted with how we process aural stimuli. In recent history, there have been inspiring developments in the realm of music and memory, including neurocognitive experiments that might not have been possible earlier. These experiments and research have opened the door to a common thought: Can composers utilize the information from this research in their compositional process, and, if so, to what degree? The implications of psychoacoustic and cognitive research on the creation of contemporary music are at the heart of the fixed-media electroacoustic sound installation entitled Rhizome, which is the subject of this study. It provides a brief exposition of research on expectation, consonance, dissonance, rhythm, and time, and presents the details of the listening experiment and the composition of Rhizome.
Published: December 12, 2025 Show citation
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