Composition, sound, perception
Prof. Oliver Schneller (RSH Düsseldorf)
Original language: German. The English version was translated using AI.
Prof. Oliver Schneller
Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf
17 June 2026 · 17:00
Symposium “Designing. AI and other cultural protagonists.” · AMD Düsseldorf.
Composer and professor at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf. His work investigates the relationship between sound, space, perception and digital media. It focuses on spatial sound structures, electroacoustic composition and the question of how media technologies influence experience and atmosphere. His contribution opens up an interdisciplinary perspective on design beyond purely visual systems.
From the programme booklet for “Designing. AI and other cultural protagonists.” Translated from German.
The discussion following Mr Schneller’s lecture sharpened the conflict between technological assistance and professional musical work. An audience member described routine film scoring as laborious functional music and asked: Aren’t we glad that we can delegate this?
The exchange counterposed that promise of relief with the livelihoods and training of the musicians who perform such work. Mr Schneller had explicitly made musicians’ professional future a concern of his lecture.
A further contribution asked whether AI might shift appreciation towards live music: could less interesting commissions disappear while new opportunities for live performance emerged? This tested the assumption that other musical activities might compensate for the loss of automatable work.
The controversy concerned musical labour, education and livelihoods. Technical feasibility alone does not answer what automation means for the musicians doing the work. The exchange also records different assessments of routine work and the prospect of technological relief.
From the audience discussion following Prof. Oliver Schneller’s 17:00 lecture, “Composition, sound, perception”. Quotations translated from German.
Photographs: Katharina Petsch
