The Substation/​ Artist/​Sam Dunscombe/

Samantha (Sam) Dunscombe is an audio engineer, sound artist, performer, and composer. Her interest in the ways music allows for novel experiences of time has led to explorations in a wide variety of areas: from studio engineering to field recording; spectralism and just intonation to free improv; new complexity to free jazz; computer music to wandelweiser. She has presented work for acousmonium at INA GRM and Archipel Geneva; conducted Radulescu for the opening concert of Maerz Musik in 2019 and performed Eliane Radigue’s music at the Berlin Philharmonie with Klangforum Wien and ONCEIM; been a featured artist at the Sonic Acts Biennale in Amsterdam; and performed as a member of Oren Ambarchi’s Carpe Diem.

Sam was awarded a Doctor of Musical Arts from UC San Diego in 2018 with a thesis exploring Horatiu Radulescu’s clarinet music, and subsequently worked as the archivist to his estate. Recordings resulting from this research were published by Mode in 2022 (Plasmatic Works, vol. 1). Inspired by her engagement with both Romanian spectralism and environmental sound, Sam is currently developing works of “Mass Plasma Synthesis,” a technique that weaves (tens of) thousands of sine-waves in complex harmonic tapestries. Alongside self-released studies in this methodology, MPS can be heard on all of Sam’s releases since 2021 (Black Truffle, Futura Resistenza, Ferns).
Sam’s work with environmental sound (as heard in record releases, installations, and performance projects) sits within the context of a broader interest in the art of sound recording (phonography). Sam has worked on recording projects including orchestral and chamber music by artists like JACK Quartet, Harmonic Space Orchestra, Dal Niente; soloists like Charles Curtis and Marco Fusi; and electro acoustic projects with artists including Miller Puckette, Jules Reidy, and Michelle Lou. She is currently employed as Lead Recording Engineer / Director of Audio Archives at the UCSD Music Department.

Sam Dunscombe, DMA
Research Associate: Recording Engineer
University of California San Diego