In its most general sense, the transfer or morphing of
characteristics of one sound to another. It is therefore closely
allied to the notion of transformations of sound. However, the
term has a more precise meaning in the work of the composer
Karlheinz Stockhausen, who during the 1960’s, in the context of
his serialist aesthetics and ’universalist’ spiritual ideology,
was much occupied with how to integrate heterogeneous sonic
material using strategies other than collage. Employing studio
techniques based upon multiple ring modulation, Stockhausen
intermodulated, or ’fused’, excerpts of existing musics from
diverse cultures (Telemusik -1966) or multiple national anthems
from around the globe (Hymnen -1967). This sense of the term
therefore reveals a cultural as well as technical dimension.