Dockyard Terror 2038 is a multichannal acousmatic composition produced in 2022 and 2023 during the final year at University of Kent, studying the undergraduate Music Technology & Audio Production course. The intention of this piece is to set a first person perspective of a military veteran who fighting alongside his fellow soldiers in a vow to protect their dockyard during a period of technocratic warfare set in the year 2038. What the future holds for the crew post-war is at best uncertain, as the cause of the main hazard that eventually engulfs their submarine remains unidentified throughout, amplifying the possibilities of this threat imposing a detrimental impact on the army’s ability to successfully eliminate the threat, thus altering the outcome of the war.

This 15 minute piece is comprised of three movments which help to shape the overall structure and story of the composition. The first movement represents the preparation and build up to the war, symbolizing the army going to great lengths / planning out an efficient strategy to ensure the best possible outcome once the war has finished. The second movement represents the transition into the climax. The lives of the crew are on the line along with a lot of other things in which they hold near and dear to them, so they must work together to ensure that they make it out of battle in one piece. The final movement represents the aftermath of the battle, and the first person experiences of the trauma and paranoia that results after having experienced a great deal of loss during warfare.

Full initial storyline:

Movement 1:
The atmosphere is virtually silent at the start of this movement, with the exception of background ambience building up over the course of the first 15-20 seconds of the piece. The standstill with the gradual build up as opposed to a mere fade-in creates a watchful / observant environment as the mariners are on the lookout for hazards. Once the ambience has fully rolled in, enigmatic sounds come from the computers inside the submarine, signalling a potential hazard lingering 500 meters away from the vessel, raising uncertainty amongst the crew. The severity of the threat is not yet known.

Over the sound of the computers, a drone can be heard in the background, adding to the suspensful atmosphere. The leading veteran starts to make his way to the top deck of the submarine, at which point the ocean waves start to gradually build up in intensity until the veteran makes it to the very top of the vessel. He then attempts to locate the distant source of the threat. Distant chimes are heard, southwest from where the observant leader is stood, implying that this mysterious source of threat could be expanding into a large ring surrounding the submarine.

The waves continue to build up in a gradual, yet unsettling manner, almost to the point where it could become a tsunami. The sounds of the computers are still heard even as the waves grow closer to the veteran. Radio signals are also now heard. The source of threat is still unseen by the veteran, thus rendering it difficult to ascertain exactly where it is coming from. The chimes start to grow louder; at this point the veteran starts to make his way back to the main control room in the vessel to warn the rest of his crew about the potential hazard.
The noises then stop. The enviroment has now fallen silent, with the exception of a low frequency drone heard in the middle of this short period of disappearance. It isn’t entirely noticable, but it is intelligible enough to signal imminent disaster.

Suddenly, a huge / loud splash occurs, building up enough fource to lift up the submarine and hoist some of the mariners out of the vessel. The mariners are forced to evacuate from the vessel back onto dry land, for now the waves have grown big enough to engulf the vessel. This source of impact, again, is unseen by the veteran (or the rest of the crew for that matter). Several footsteps up the ladders on on the industrial floors are heard, footsteps from those somehow lucky enough to have been able to stand firmly on the ground during the moment of impact. This symbolizes the crew in a state of panic, bringing about a realization that nothing could properly prepare them for a technocratic war as great as this one. During this event, shorter bursts of radio signals are heard, followed by another period of silence.

Movement 2:
Once the second period of disappearance finishes, low frequency drones can be heard along with the sound of clamoring footsteps. The sound of multiple dooes opening is also heard, resulting in a burst of wind accompanied and range of whistles. This conveys something is seriously wrong as their enemies are now approaching, after the loss of one of theur most reliable submarines almost puts the crew in a weaker starting position.

Risset-like chimes are heard from around the entirety of the space surrounding the leader, conveying further uncertainty.
Later on in this piece, more intense clamouring sounds can be heard, causing the main headquarter floors to shake. Alarm bells are sounded as a warning of members of the opposition entering the premises, accompanied by the increase in volume of the chimes. At this point, the sounds of the protagonist and his crew preparing their weaponry come in, conveying a sense of readiness to walk the distance no matter what the cost may be. The clanging and dissonance come into play symbolizing the panic and adrenaline from both sides of the battle, eventually stopping as soon as the first shot has been fired from the protagonist’s army.

The catastrophic events intensify again. A loud cryptic noise is used to signal for help / used as a signal for extra crew members outside of the dockyard, and boat horns can be heard in the distance. Echoed screams exempligy the terror of experiencing the start of an event as grave as warfare.

During the climax of this piece, gunshots can also be heard, both from the veteran’s crew and the equally technologically advanced opposition. The lives of at least 50 army veterans are lost over the course of warfare on both sides of the battle. Luckily for the leading veteran, he and his crew had their strategies mapped out prior to the envelopment of their submarine by the waves, and their team are able to successfully eliminate the entirety of the enemies, along with the leader of opposition.

Rescue aircraft start to make their way towards the embattled crew, now victorious. Ladders are rolled out for the crew to climb up on. The helicopters are spaced out across the battlegrounds, and the submarine can now be seen afloat in the waters again as the waves have now subsided. The leader and his remaining crew members who survived the war start to make their way into the rescue helicopters. The submarine, now below them, has caught fire from the explosives set by soldiers in the opposing team. The fire is spreading at an alarming pace. Fire drill alarms can be heard going on in unison from over 30 meters below them. Time is running out, signified by new cryptic gated sounds.

As all of the survivors are now in the helicopters, an impolosion is heard from below. The submarine is now completely vanished, leaving only floating debris after the devastating impact. Luckily for most of the crew, they manage to make it back home from the dockyard in one piece, as they now depart the tragic scene. The helicopter doors close, at which point the sounds from the scene now become muffled and gradually fade away.

Movement 3:
The third movement cuts straight into the surviors who were severly injured during battle in hopsital, with the unharmed soldiers by their side. The veteran, although completely unharmed by the events in Movement 2, has experienced the very brunt of the detrimental impact the warfare has had on his mental and psychological wellbeing.
Computer sounds are heard throughout the entirety of this final movement to signify the severly injured patients undergoing treatment from the nurses in the hopsital, although the sounds do raise uncertainty regarding whether the treatment will be successful for some. Some of the beeping sound effects are also heard to convey the heart rates of some of the patients fluctuating.

The leading veteran experiences a period of hallucination throughout, as conveyed by the heavenly sounds of cathedral organs / church ensembles, accompanied by dissonant ambience which plays imminently over the course of his hallucinations. This simultaneously conveys the veteran’s relief that the battle has been fought and won by his alliance, yet thanks to the severe trauma this war has elicited, he ultimately questions whether he shall be deemed fit for combat ever again.

Towards the end of the piece where everything has gradually died down, the veteran, unable to hold himself together any longer, eventually falls into a coma, with some of his unharmed crew members rushing to his aid.

Recorded at the Engineering Workshop, University of Kent
From June 11, 2022 up until January 30, 2023

Processed at the Engineering Workshop, University of Kent
From June 15, 2022 up until February 2, 2023

Composition arranged and rendered in the Multispeaker Studio @ University of Kent