Showing papers in "Organised Sound in 2006"

Gestural-Sonorous Objects: embodied extensions of Schaeffer's conceptual apparatus

Abstract: One of the most remarkable achievements of Pierre Schaeffer's musical thought is his proposal of the sonorous object as the focus of research. The sonorous object is a fragment of sound, typically in the range of a few seconds (often even less), perceived as a unit. Sonorous objects are constituted, studied, and evaluated according to various criteria, and sonorous objects that are found suitable are regarded as musical objects that may be used in musical composition. In the selection and qualification of these sonorous objects, we are encouraged to practise what Schaeffer called ‘reduced listening’, meaning disregarding the original context of the sound, including its source and signification, and instead focus our listening on the sonorous features.However, it can be argued that this principle of ‘reduced listening’ is not in conflict with more fundamental principles of embodied cognition, and that the criteria for the constitution, and the various feature qualifications, of sonorous objects can be linked to gestural images. Also, there are several similarities between studying sound and gestures from a phenomenological perspective, and it is suggested that Schaeffer's theoretical concepts may be extended to what is called gestural-sonorous objects.

An enactive approach to the design of new tangible musical instruments

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a theoretical framework for the design of tangible interfaces for musical expression. The main insight for the proposed approach is the importance and utility of familiar sensorimotor experiences for the creation of engaging and playable new musical instruments. In particular, we suggest exploiting the commonalities between different natural interactions by varying the auditory response or tactile details of the instrument within certain limits. Using this principle, devices for classes of sounds such as coarse grain collision interactions or friction interactions can be designed. The designs we propose retain the familiar tactile aspect of the interaction so that the performer can take advantage of tacit knowledge gained through experiences with such phenomena in the real world.

New concepts and techniques in eco-composition

Abstract: This paper has two main objectives: (i) to discuss essential concepts of the ecological approach to composition, proposing the term eco-composition as a common reference for theoretical perspectives and compositional techniques; and (ii) to present the multimedia piece Vivir sin despues, realised within the context of the Paititi Project.Following the Introduction, the paper is divided into two main sections. In section 2 we discuss issues raised by the application of the ecological approach to composition. Regarding the data-gathering procedures, eco-composition provides two effective methods: re-enaction and anchoring. Organisation of sonic materials is done through accumulation of heterarchical layers, giving rise to emergent musical phenomena. Section 3 dwells on the compositional strategies applied in the multimedia installation Vivir sin despues. We describe the process of re-enacting the first Spanish trip through the Amazon River Basin, carried out by Francisco de Orellana and fifty-nine Spaniards in 1541. Then we address technical aspects of the piece, such as the application of multiple views of single entities, the development of non-hierarchical forms and the manipulation of sonic fields.

A comparative evaluation of auditory-visual mappings for sound visualisation

Abstract: The significant role of visual communication in modern computer applications is indisputable. In the case of music, various attempts have been made from time to time to translate non-visual ideas into visual codes (see Walters 1997 for a collection of graphic scores from the late computer music pioneer Iannis Xenakis, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and others). In computer music research, most current sound design tools allow the direct manipulation of visual representations of sound such as time-domain and frequency-domain representations, with the most notable examples being the UPIC system (Xenakis 1992), Phonogramme (Lesbros 1996), Lemur (Fitz and Haken 1997), and MetaSynth (Wenger 1998), among others. Associations between auditory and visual dimensions have also been extensively studied in other scientific domains such as visual perception and cognitive psychology, as well as inspired new forms of artistic expression (see, for example, Wells 1980; Goldberg and Schrack 1986; Whitney 1991).

Discovering How Accessible Electroacoustic Music Can Be: the Intention/Reception project

Abstract: The Intention/Reception (I/R) project concerns an investigation of the relationship between composer intention and listener response in electroacoustic (E/A) compositions. Phase one of the project focuses on E/A compositions that contain or are perceived to contain real-world sound references (RWE/A). The methodology involves introducing works that are unknown to the listening subjects and then evaluating their listening experience. Through repeated listening and the introduction of the composers' articulation of intent (through a work's title, inspiration, elements that the composer intends to be communicated, eventually elements of the compositional process itself – in short, the ‘dramaturgy’ of the work) listening responses are monitored. The purpose here is to investigate to what extent familiarity contributes to access and appreciation and to what extent intention and reception are meeting in this particular corpus of E/A art music.This paper offers an introduction to the I/R project outlining its background, its context and presenting pertinent points concerning the design and operation of its methodology. Following this, some of the key results discovered thus far, including the first presentation of test data that formed the basis of the conclusions of a recently completed doctoral thesis, will be shared.

In what form can ‘live electronic music’ live on?

Abstract: In 1991 I wrote a short article comparing three ‘live electronic’ ensembles based in the UK and active in the late 1960s and 1970s (one into the 1980s) (Emmerson 1991). It was only in the final stages of preparation of this paper for presentation at the EMS05 conference in Montreal that I realised that the death of Hugh Davies on 1 January 2005 meant that a key member of each of the three ensembles was no longer with us. This article is thus dedicated to Barry Anderson (1935–1987, founder and director of the West Square Electronic Music Ensemble), Tim Souster (1943–1994, co-founder of Intermodulation) and Hugh Davies (1943–2005, founder member of Gentle Fire). The fact that they can no longer describe, elucidate and explain the repertoire that they created is directly pertinent to this paper. While its practitioners must inevitably (though hopefully not so prematurely) move on, as we celebrate Mozart's 250th birthday with performances of the vast majority of his compositions, we must ask ‘in what form live electronic music can live on’

The significance of techné in understanding the art and practice of electroacoustic composition

Abstract: The birth of electroacoustic music is associated with an era of creativity which is now firmly embedded in the past. As the years advance so the opportunities for evaluating the pioneering years of the medium become increasingly remote. Few can now claim first-hand experience of working with the technologies that shaped and influenced the evolution of the early repertory, and many commentators are content to see them consigned to the museum. Others are less sure, having become aware of a number of features that appear to have no parallels in the modern all-digital domain. This article is predicated on the proposition that the functional characteristics of the equipment available during the formative years materially influenced the ways in which composers developed their compositional aesthetic. By studying the characteristics of the resulting interactions, important clues emerge as to the true nature of this engagement. Central to this study is the nature of the techne involved in these processes of creativity, and the significance of this is evaluated in the context of establishing a case for further research in this area. Particular attention is paid to the role of the tape recorder in this context, in particular its influence on the development of spatialisation techniques.

Voices from the Past: compositional approaches to using recorded speech

Abstract: This paper investigates some of the ways in which composers and sound artists have used recordings of speech, especially in works mediated by technology. It will consider this within a wider context of spoken word, text composition and performance-based genres such as sound poetry. It will attempt to categorise some of the compositional techniques that may be used to work with speech, make specific reference to archive and oral history material and attempt to draw some conclusions.

A model for the conservation of interactive electroacoustic repertoire: analysis, reconstruction, and performance in the face of technological obsolescence

Abstract: This paper presents a three-stage model (analysis, reconstruction and performance) for the conservation of interactive electroacoustic works for which the original technology is now obsolete or otherwise unavailable. The first stage, analysis, is a detailed documentation of the electronic processes and effects required for each work in a format that is independent of any specific device or system. The analysis provides a blueprint for future realisations using available technology. The second stage, reconstruction, provides a working performance resource, as well as a test case for the validity of the analysis. Reconstructed systems are then tested and refined through the third stage, performance. With repeated performances, compositions gain wider exposure and may be evaluated by listeners on their musical merits. To date, the author has analysed, reconstructed and performed several works for clarinet and interactive electronics. Each performance has informed the continued development of the newly reconstructed system, and has in some cases led to corrections to the underlying analysis. As a classically trained clarinettist and computer musician, the author's approach to the conservation of electroacoustic repertoire comes from a desire to find performable works and to keep them viable and accessible for as long as possible. Four works for clarinet and interactive electronics (by Musgrave, Pennycook, Kramer, and Lippe) are presented as test cases for this model.

The Analysis of Electroacoustic Music: from sources to invariants

Abstract: The musicologist is confronted with many situations during the analysis of electroacoustic music, whether on support media, mixed, or real-time. Musical genres and styles vary greatly, and the collection of electronic musical instruments has also proven to be very heterogeneous. The intrinsic characteristics of the electroacoustic parts and their scoring create serious limitations. Furthermore, many sources remain inaccessible or are already lost. Thus the preoccupation with documentary sources related to the acts of creation, interpretation, and technological context becomes more and more pressing. It is now essential to formulate a synthetic vision of this music, which has existed for half a century, and to pursue the search for invariants. This work must be based on a rigorous methodology that has yet to be developed. More generally speaking, the goal is to establish the terms and conditions of a systematic musicology of electroacoustics.

Noise/music and representation systems

Abstract: The word ‘noise’ has taken on various meanings throughout the course of twentieth-century music. Technology has had direct influence on the presence of noise, as phenomenon and as concept, both through its newfound ubiquity in modernity and through its use directly in music production – in electroacoustics. The creative use of technologies has lead to new representation systems for music, and noise – considered as that outside of a given representation – was brought into meaning. This paper examines several moments in which a change in representation brought noise into musical consideration – leading to a ‘noise music’ for its time before simply becoming understood as music.

The Identity of the Work: agents and processes of electroacoustic music

Abstract: An electroacoustic musical work is a complex network of processes and elements: technical, musical, human, etc.; therefore, while the aesthetic perception is unified, its definition is fragmentary. This observation compels us to intensify our study of a taxonomy of agents and processes, with the aim of clarifying the identity of this music.The discussion is positioned according to two different vantage points: (i) analysis of works, and (ii) the writings devoted to the aesthetics of electroacoustic music. Musicological analysis is simultaneously the means, the goal and the motivation for getting to know this arborescent reality. It allows us to arrive at the identification of six agents and four processes associated with the work, whose main properties we will describe. These elements are used as a methodological and theoretical grid for organising the discussion about the works. The question centres on a paradigm which is created from the analysis and returns to it, as an essential link between hermeneutic knowledge and the knowledge of the internal logic of an electroacoustic work.

Time to re-wire? Problems and strategies for the maintenance of live electronics

Abstract: While much work is proceeding with regard to the preservation and restoration of audio documents in general and compositions for tape in particular, relatively little research has been published with regard to the issues of preserving compositions for live electronics. Such works often involve a distinct performance element difficult to capture in a single recording, and it is typically only in performance that such works can be experienced as the composer intended. However, performances can become difficult or even impossible to present over time due to data and/or equipment issues. Sustainability here therefore refers to the effective recording of all the information necessary to set up the live electronics for a performance. Equally, it refers to the availability of appropriate devices, as rapid technological change soon makes systems obsolete and manufacturers discontinue production. The authors have had a range of experience re-working performances over a number of years, including compositions by Luigi Nono and Jonathan Harvey, amongst others. In this paper we look at the problem as a whole, focusing on Jonathan Harvey's works with electronic elements, which span some twenty-six years, as exemplars of the types of problems involved.

Towards a semiotic model of mixed music analysis

Abstract: In this paper I try to outline a model that can bring out the meaningful relationships between ‘the instrumental’ and ‘the electronics’ in mixed music The model is based on the semiotic square which is considered in semiotics as a powerful conceptual framework to examine the relationships between two terms (S1/S2) and their negative (non-S1/non-S2), terms which can be characters, situations, actions, concepts, etc Two paradigmatic axes represent the relations between the actors of mixed music: the sources (instrumental and electronic) on the one hand, and the manipulations (real-time processing and sound projection) on the other According to the semiotic square, the relations inside the environment are defined in terms of contrariety, contradiction and complementarity This model allows us to start out with a purely technological description of the ‘mixed music’ genre and of individual pieces, with the advantage of a pre-operative analysis of the system It describes the immanent structure of the environments and releases the potential interactions between the instrumental and the electronics of mixed music These interactions are examined, from a paradigmatic point of view, with numerous representative pieces of mixed music from the twentieth century

Sonic memory material as ‘pathetic trigger’

Abstract: Memory, according to Henri Bergson, is gleaned from the present and realises the present perception from its sensory-motor elements through movements towards that which it perceives.The purpose of this article is to propose and debate the deliberate use of such ‘present memory’ in the sonic artwork. The suggestion is that sonic memory material – sounds that are plundered from old recordings – can be collaged into complex sonic works to produce, not a nostalgic experience in the sense of a recognition of the past, but a current production of sonic material in a continually present perception. Such a production strategy employs the affective quality of memory to ‘trigger’ a sensorial engagement in the sense of a ‘pathetic’ engagement understood as an emotional and sentimental involvement with the work. The understanding is that such an emotional engagement involves the listener centrally in the production of the artwork and challenges modernist (visual) art discourses, which evaluate the work from a distance.

Re) Presenting electroacoustic music

Abstract: Art always does more than subsist upon technical progress; for centuries its practice has merged with it, and we should never forget that the first meaning of the word art was techne. However, never before has the relationship between art and technology raised so many questions and provoked so much misunderstanding. As a matter of fact, at the same time as the frontiers of technique continue to recede, the frontiers of art seem more and more difficult to grasp. (Couchot and Hillaire 2003: 15)

Juxtaposition and Non-motion: Varèse bridges early modernism to electroacoustic music

Abstract: Edgard Varese's Poeme electronique can be viewed as a bridge between early twentieth-century modernism and electroacoustic music. This connection to early modernism is most clearly seen in its use of musical juxtaposition, a favoured technique of early modernist composers, especially those active in Paris. Juxtaposition and non-motion are considered here, particularly in relationship to Smalley's exposition of spectromorphology (Smalley 1986), which in its preoccupation with motion omits any significant consideration of non-motion. Juxtaposition and non-motion have an important history within twentieth-century music, and as an early classic of electroacoustic music, Poeme electronique is a particularly striking example of a composition that is rich in juxtapositions similar to those found in passages of early modernist music. Examining Poeme electronique through the lens of juxtaposition and non-motion reveals how the organisation of its juxtaposed sounds encourages the experience of sound structure suspended time.

Analysing and Transcribing Electroacoustic Music: the experience of the Portraits polychromes of GRM

Abstract: Portraits polychromes are a series of books associated with multimedia documents presented on the Internet site of the GRM since 2001. In releasing this collection, our primary concern was to increase awareness of the electroacoustic repertoire and the reserves in the GRM archives. The GRM, being a pioneering centre of electroacoustics, is fortunate to possess a consistent and significant reserve dating back to the beginning of the 1950s. At present, the catalogue contains around 2,000 works, accompanied with supplementary documents: composer's biographies, reviews, photographs, documentary movies, radio broadcasts, recorded public lectures, theoretical research work, transcriptions and analyses. In addition to the heritage value of the GRM's collection, the enterprise of the Portraits polychromes, with the aid of multimedia tools, aims to advance the progress of research on analysis and the transcription of musical works.

Electroacoustic adaptation as a mode of survival: arranging Giacinto Scelsi's Aitsi pour piano amplifée (1974) for piano and computer

Abstract: Arrangement has always played an essential part of transmitting, preserving and disseminating works in the musical practice of both ‘high art’ and popular music. However, at present it is rarely practised in electroacoustic music, which can partly be explained by the nature of electronic technology and current thinking about authenticity. Despite this context, there are benefits to performance opportunities through the diversity created by arrangement; therefore, the process of adapting the electroacoustics of Scelsi's Aitsi is explored. The work offers this opportunity, since it lacks precision in its musical documentation, has received a number of quite different renditions and shows ontological malleability as it exists in another form, Scelsi's Fifth String Quartet. The new electroacoustic adaptation exploits Max/MSP software to extend the electroacoustic treatment of the piano beyond previous interpretations, whilst attempting to remain consistent with the aesthetic of the work. The article aims to encourage the composition and adaptations of works that afford performers interpretative licence with the electroacoustics in order to promote the distinctive and evanescent nature of mixed acoustic-electroacoustic works in concert performance, and encourage its continuation through an evolving performing tradition.

Something Lost, Something Hidden, Something Found: electroacoustic music by Latin American composers

Abstract: Electroacoustic music has been of great interest to Latin American composers since its inception. Hundreds of composers have been working in this field, creating thousands of pieces. However, there is a significant lack of information and recordings in this respect, and little research has been conducted in this area until recently. One step forward to advance the exploration of a somewhat lost sound world is The Latin American Electroacoustic Music Collection, a documentation, preservation and dissemination project, developed by the author.

From Peering in the Window to Opening the Door: a constructivist approach to making electroacousticmusic accessible to young listeners

Abstract: A casual listener may not have the relevant cognitive tools to relate to electroacoustic music as an independent art form. Even music students who have had several years' formal training may not know how to listen purposefully to it. The authors investigate the hypothesis that by engaging in the composition of musique concrete, students will become more informed listeners to electroacoustic music in general. This study describes a teacher and ten 16-year-old high school students who use a digital audio editor (Cool Edit Pro) to manipulate sound and to structure sound events. A variety of teaching approaches are tested. Having experienced the creative process, the participants display a growing ability to engage in higher-order critical thinking skills in relation to electroacoustic music.

Modernising musical works involving Yamaha DX-based synthesis: a case study

Abstract: In this article we describe a new approach to performing musical works that use Yamaha DX7-based synthesis. We also present an implementation of this approach in a performance system for Madonna of Winter and Spring by Jonathan Harvey. The Integra Project, ‘A European Composition and Performance Environment for Sharing Live Music Technologies’ (a three year co-operation agreement part financed by the European Commission, ref. 2005-849), is introduced as framework for reducing the difficulties with modernising and preserving works that use live electronics.

Sonic Constellations: Taiwanese sojourners' listening experiences in London

Abstract: This paper provides an account of my current PhD research. It is conducted as an art project that involves both practice and theory. By taking Taiwanese sojourners in London as a case study, the research intends to present the emotional and cultural impacts they experience when they are immersed in the actual London soundscape. Following the proposed notion of ‘sonic constellations’, a few examples of audio works are demonstrated to analyse the relationships between sounds and the Taiwanese sojourners. Integrating art practice, soundscape studies, cultural studies and ethnography, the research is developed in an interdisciplinary way. The connected challenges taking place in various stages of the research, such as the pilot interview, will be addressed in this paper.

Phantom Music: radio, memory, and narratives from auditory life

Abstract: Radio and memory form a radical coupling, stitching together musical cultures with personal psychologies. I pursue such relations in Phantom Music by focusing on, and unpacking a project I developed for exhibition in 2005. The project, Phantom Radio, is based on forming a library of radio memory. Collecting stories from 105 individuals from around the world, the library consists of written statements and CDs of all the songs mentioned. Through the project, questions of broadcast technology, and the work of memory, are brought forward. To pursue such questions, the following article maps out the territory explored in the project. Reflecting on various threads, from habits of listening to the effects of music on individual lives, leads to a tracing out of the ‘phantasmic’ and the ‘social’ aspects of radio. And further, how music supplies a form of shared ground to the individual instances of unexpected experiences.

Developing a rhythmic performance practice in music for piano and tape

Abstract: There are many excellent works for piano and tape; however, there have been an insufficient number of pianists widely performing these works. The purpose of this article is to critically analyse the rhythmic relationships between piano and tape, serving a pedagogical function for both composers and pianists in technical and aesthetic terms. Hopefully these techniques will encourage pianists to include music for piano and tape as part of their repertoire.

Urban Song Paths: place resounding

Abstract: The project Urban Song Paths took a traditional musical form, the Kaluli song path from Papua, New Guinea, and translated it for a contemporary urban situation. The Two Rivers Project explored a classic song path subject, the route of a waterway, in terms of two London rivers. A sense of place, the journey and the importance of the human voice were transferred from the Kaluli song path tradition into The Two Rivers Project, but other factors were necessary to create a truly urban song path form. Notions of dislocation, true and false memory, the changing functions of place and the unconscious effects of city zones were addressed by this work.

Composing from Memory: the convergence of archive creation and electroacoustic composition

Abstract: The Video Archive of Electroacoustic Music, an oral history project begun in 1996 by the author and sociologist, Barbara Cassidy, captures a first-person history of many pioneering electroacoustic music composers, scientists and engineers from 1950 to present. Transcript excerpts from The Archive are presented. Simultaneous with the founding of The Video Archive, the author began composing a series of pieces that draw on archival materials (from within and without The Video Archive) in a number of ways. Some possible compositional opportunities and approaches are mentioned and explored as embodied in the author's Left To His Own Devices (1996), and Crossing Boundaries (2000).

Language ecology and photographic sound in the McWorld

Abstract: The unique sounds of the world's small-scale languages are being extinguished at an alarming rate. This article explores links between acoustic ecology and language ecology and outlines an approach to the creation of archive material as both source for and useful by-product of sound art practice and research. Through my work with endangered click-languages in the Kalahari Desert, it considers the boundaries between language and music and discusses the use of flat speaker technology to explore new relations between sound and image, portrait and soundscape in a cross-cultural context.

Making the Archive and Archiving the Making: insights and outcomes from a major research project

Abstract: This paper seeks to address some of the problems faced by those archiving an area of musical practice – electroacoustic music and the sonic arts – which is, by definition, involved with technologies which change and develop, and which unsurprisingly is itself in a state of flux and transformation. Drawing on the experience gained from two linked research projects – one looking at the development of the practice, the other seeking to archive it – it is suggested that the two apparently disparate areas of activity can be fruitfully regarded as overlapping in many respects. Both activities involve selection and aesthetic judgement, both strive for an elusive ‘completeness’ while acknowledging its impossibility, and at a technical level the strategies now emerging for searching and collating information from ‘separate’ archives look increasingly like the strategies used in some areas of ‘real-time’ composition and performance practice. It is argued that archivists of material from such a disparate and rapidly developing practice, rather than aiming for spurious ‘coverage’ of the field, should acknowledge and celebrate their difference from each other, while conforming to simple principles which will allow their archived content to be searched and collated dynamically by individual users, each querying and configuring the material optimally for their own purposes.