(b. 1959, Melbourne).
Australian composer of chamber, choral, piano, electroacoustic, and multimedia works that have been performed in the Americas, Asia and Europe; he is also active as a scholar.
Mr. Doornbusch studied composition with Barry Conyngham and Peter Tahourdin at the University of Melbourne from 1980–83, where he also studied guitar. He then studied electronic composition and performance with Paul Berg at the Instituut voor Sonologie of the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Den Haag from 1992–94 and there also encountered Richard Barrett.
His music has been performed in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Switzerland, the UK, and the USA.
As a scholar, he has written articles on algorithmic composition, computer music, mapping, and virtual reality for publications in Australia, the UK and the USA and has given presentations in Australia, China, France, and Sweden. In addition, he has written the book The Music of CSIRAC (2005, Common Ground Publishing, Melbourne [with CD Common Ground]) and two chapters about the history of computer music for The Oxford Handbook of Computer Music (2009, Oxford University Press).
He is also active in other positions. As a performer, his specialty is contemporary music, including his own works. As a researcher, he worked at the Instituut voor Sonologie of the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Den Haag from 1994–99 and served as chair of a research project to reconstruct the music of the computer CSIRAC at the University of Melbourne in 2000. He later worked as a researcher of music, sound and technologies in virtual reality at RMIT University in Melbourne from 2001–05 and has collaborated with Jeffrey Shaw on the project of cultural engagement PLACE–Hempi since 2005.
He taught advanced techniques of digital synthesis, algorithmic composition, hardware hacking, history and analysis of electronic music, performance of electronic music, recording technology, and techniques of analogue studios at the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington from 2007–10. He has served as associate dean of Collarts in Melbourne since 2011.
COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
CHAMBER MUSIC:
M1, any homophonic instrument, fixed media (2 tracks), 1995
M2, any homophonic instrument, fixed media (2 tracks), 1995
Structured Luck, amplified bassoon, fixed media (2 tracks), 1996
On the Fence, flute, fixed media (2 tracks), 1997
Assifxiation, amplified flute, fixed media (2 tracks), 1997
ACT 5 (percussion instruments are hanging, are triggered by the bassoonist, fall from the ceiling, and hit the floor), amplified bassoon (+ glockenspiel, pots, pans, timpani), 1998
Continuity 2, 4 bass recorders, fixed media (2 tracks), 1999
Continuity 3, percussion, computer, 2000
CHORAL:
Preludes (text by T. S. Eliot), 4 mixed voices, 1994
Strepidus Somnus (text by the composer), 4 mixed voices, fixed media (2/4 tracks), live electronics, 1997
PIANO:
Lorenz, 2005
Continuity 4, piano, computer, 2013
ELECTROACOUSTIC:
MFPG, fixed media (2 tracks), 1994
Iceberg, fixed media (2 tracks), 1995
g4, fixed media (2 tracks), 1997
Dialogus, fixed media (2 tracks), 2000
Continuity 1W, live electronics (with ambisonic spatialisation), 2007
MULTIMEDIA/PERFORMANCE:
Place Hampi (media installation: stereoscopic panoramas of the temple complex in Hampi, Karnataka, India and of archaeological sites with field recordings with ambisonic spatialisation and 3D, as well as music), 2006 (collaboration with Jeffrey Shaw, L. Subramaniam)
DISCOGRAPHY
Iceberg. (Frog Peak Music: FP007, 1997)
Continuity 3; Continuity 2; ACT 5; g4; Strepidus Somnus. Randi Pontoppidan, soprano; Stephie Büttrich, alto; Richard Prada, tenor; Wim-Hein Voorsluis, baritone; Hamish McKiech, amplified bassoon; Timothy Philips, percussion; Malle Symen Quartet; Paul Doornbusch, computer, live electronics (Electronic Music Foundation: EMF CD 043, 2002)