Resonant Bodies with Emma Kate Matthews

Spatiosonic practice and sound-based architecture are the groundbreaking fields at the heart of this episode, where Christof Zürn sits down with exceptional guests to explore the unique mindsets and stories of those who perform at the top of their fields – and who also happen to be musicians.

This conversation explores the profound links between the act of making space and the act of making sound – featuring multidisciplinary research, acoustic experiments, and unique mindsets you can leverage as a toolkit for your own path.

Meet the Guest

Emma‑Kate Matthews is an architect, composer, researcher, educator, and digital artist. Her work explores the creative intersections between sonic and spatial practices through the production of site-responsive and spatialised audiovisual projects. In addition to making music, she also designs and 3D prints her own experimental instruments, which she calls “resonant bodies”.

The Sound of Space

In five unique audio files included in this episode, you can hear the stark contrast of the exact same musical composition played in a completely dry anechoic chamber versus the massive, 12-second reverberation of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona. We also listen to Emma‑Kate’s self-made “bell-ish” idiophones and an excerpt from her piece Amalgams for Henry, which challenges the listener to focus on timbre and character over traditional melody.

Key Insights from the Episode

  • The Space as Collaborator: Why architecture should not be treated as a passive host for sound, but as an active participant. In Emma‑Kate’s practice, space and sound are so inextricably linked that they cannot be separated.
  • The Language of Space: Bridging the gap between technical acoustics and intuitive experience by finding new words – like calling a room “bouncy” instead of “reflective”.
  • Aural Diversity: Insights from the Routledge Companion to Sound and Space on why there is no “objective” sound, and how our individual physiological differences impact how we experience the world.
  • The Value of Not Knowing: The creative tension of “flip-flopping” between controlled digital simulations and unpredictable physical materials.

Listen now to Resonant Bodies

You can also listen to it on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Links and Resources