In the exploration of the rituals of a musician, a separation of livelihood into a continuum of recording and production, composing and practicing, and listening and recovery suggested a linear progression of similar spaces. Therefore, the functional scheme as presented is a primary structural grid comprised of variable, while structurally consistent elements held the same, allowing the conditioning of the infill, interior and exterior to determine the acoustic and environmental quality of each space readily and simply, catering to all aspects of the musician.

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In North Melbourne, the sessional musician invites collaborators over to record in their home, each room's material and programmatic intricacies shaping the sound that is desired through pure circumstance. Research around the acoustics of certain materials like stainless steel, ceramic tiles and fabrics helped suggest a linear transition between resonant, reflectant and deadened acoustic spaces. The key dichotomy is the hyper generic, hyper specific, hyper differentiable spaces: the studio, the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, and the completely dynamic movement of instruments or objects within the home - the ritual of infinite transition between occupation and domesticity.

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The primary glulam column and beam structure facilitates both the materially generic infill, and a ceiling grid of electrical and signal points enabling the placement of microphones, guitars and other appliances within these daily spaces. The non-structural double or staggered stud infill is rated for acoustic isolation and impact resistance on a site close to neighbours, preventing intrusive sounds and isolating produced sound.The nature of these generic spaces as hyper programmed is reflected in their compromises: say the musician needs to hang up their clothes in their bedroom space by suspending a hanger from the ceiling, the clothes adding to the acoustic deadening or where the musician stores their utensils, pots and pans on a rack in the kitchen, creating a cacophony of clatter during performance. Maybe the musician wants to record vocals in the bathroom for natural reverb off the hard tiled surfaces. And this is afforded by the ceiling, keeping the floor clear and despatialising each room

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The musician will take a few days in Castlemaine to dissociate from formal work in a space catered to acoustic quality favouring the occupant, rather than the room like in North Melbourne. The act of composition is all-consuming, with inspiration demanding a medium on which to be expressed. A repeated primary structure of processed lumber posts and beams facilitates a double-width central room, where uninsulated plywood interiors and timber arch create a practical resonance chamber for the baby grand piano, accentuating the space as an instrument itself. Offsetting the bathroom and kitchen on opposing, stair-stepped wings necessitates crossing into and out of this central space, assisting or at least accommodating the sketching of ideas throughout the day - it creates a pull between necessities

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Again, the primary superstructure enables a variable infill, with an insulated, waterproofed kitchen and bathroom contrasting the unconditioned composition room, differentiating spaces through thermal and acoustic conditions reminiscent of North Melbourne. But rather than circumstance, each treatment is contingent on occupant behaviour, whether it be composing in a resonant space, bathing in a comfortable space and all in between.

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In infrequent, two-week off-periods, the musician goes to Lerderderg in an ambient space, where sonic recovery and passive listening are accommodated by a manipulable array of various openings. The concept of the diffraction of sound waves inform a single-skin structure of hardwood ply doors of various sizes, allowing the occupant to favour targeted sounds or filter high or low frequencies of their immediate environment in the aim of respite, meditation and auditory reset. This environmental ambience works with the building to create its own noises: the creaking of timber, the rain against the large steel canopy and repurposed steel ductwork gutter, the wind whistling through openings, and the seasonal flow of the nearby river. A primary structure of reclaimed timber posts and beams differentiate outdoor decking from the interior, with interior curtain rails working with ceiling cutouts to afford a further separation of sound on a granular level. While compositionally similar, this house strips back the infill such that the external treatment can be non-existent.

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The gradient formed by the tempering of these acoustic and environmental skins speaks to the continuum of the musician’s livelihood, where similarity of structure and repeatability of space facilitate all desired circumstantial, pragmatic, and experiential variation.