Compositional Techniques and Sound Spatialisation in Shanghai-Based Electronic Music since 2000

Abstract

To create a bridge between young students and senior scholars, the Shanghai Conservatory invited musicians who studied abroad to teach at the Conservatory beginning in the early 2000s. The result was the return to Shanghai of prominent composers. This article examines the impact of this project on electronic music composition and teaching and suggests how these developments relate to the broader historical context of Chinese electronic music. Through an analysis of representative works, it surveys compositional techniques and approaches to sound diffusion and spatialisation among composers associated with the Shanghai Conservatory. It demonstrates how these techniques, which reflect the international training of these composers, are used to express a range of subjects from abstract and philosophical concepts to concrete aspects of nature and human action.