Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T08:23:36.216Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Compositional Procedures in Electronic Music and the Emergence of Time Continuum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2020

Danilo Rossetti ,
Micael Antunes  and
Jônatas Manzolli
Danilo Rossetti*
Affiliation:
Department of Arts, Federal University of Mato Grosso, Cuiabá-MT, Brazil NICS (Interdisciplinary Nucleus of Sound Communication), University of Campinas, Brazil
Micael Antunes*
Affiliation:
NICS (Interdisciplinary Nucleus of Sound Communication), University of Campinas, Brazil
Jônatas Manzolli*
Affiliation:
NICS (Interdisciplinary Nucleus of Sound Communication), University of Campinas, Brazil
*
Emails: d.a.a.rossetti@gmail.com;
micael.antunes@nics.unicamp.br;
jonatas@nics.unicamp.br
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We introduce an analytical methodology to approach the perception of time in the electronic works Thema: Omaggio a Joyce (1958), by Luciano Berio, and Gesang der Jünglinge (1955–6), by Karlheinz Stockhausen. Such works have already been widely analysed and discussed. Moreover, similarities between them have been pointed out, such as the use of the voice as their main compositional material and the search for a continuum between the voice and electronic sounds. Despite their similarities, we argue that the perception of time in those works is significantly different. For that purpose, we bring theoretical references such as time concepts related to complex dynamic systems, and the perception of time according to the Gestalt theory. We discuss segmentation and texture evolution in time of both works employing graphical representations based on perceptual audio descriptors such as the mel scale and the volume. In addition, aiming to find recurrences, repetitions and variations of the spectral material in time, we apply phase space graphs addressing the values of the descriptors employed in the analysis. The features found will lead to conclusions on the emergence of time perception in which the continuity depends on the presence of similar events, periodicities and pregnancies, while discontinuity is given by the presence of more variation, instability and saliences. We emphasise the differences of form perception in those pieces, arguing that they are the result of the manipulation of sound materials and organisation in time by the composers.

Type
Articles
Information
Organised Sound , Volume 25 , Issue 2: Time in Electroacoustic Music , August 2020 , pp. 156 - 167
Check for updates
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press, 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Agostini, G., Longari, M. and Pollastri, E. 2003. Musical Instrument Timbres Classification with Spectral Features. EURASIP Journal on Applied Signal Processing 2003(1): 5–14.Google Scholar
Antunes, M., Rossetti, D. and Manzolli, J. 2019. A Computer-based Framework to Analyse Continuous and Discontinuous Textural Works Using Psychoacoustic Audio Descriptors. Proceedings of the 17th Brazilian Symposium on Computer Music, Sao João del Rey.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashby, W. 1956. An Introduction to Cybernetics. New York: John Wiley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berio, L. 2009. Poesia e música: uma experiência [1959]. In Menezes, F. (ed.) Música eletroacústica; História e estéticas, 2nd edn. São Paulo: Edusp, 121–9.Google Scholar
Boucourechliev, A. 1960. La musique électronique. Esprit, Nouvelle série 280(1): 98–110.Google Scholar
Bussmann, H. 1998. Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Decroupet, P. and Ungeheuer, E. 1998. Through the Sensory Looking-Glass: The Aesthetic and Serial Foundations of Gesang der Jünglinge . Perspectives of New Music 36(1): 97–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di Scipio, A. 2000. Da Un’esperienza in ascolto di phonè e logos: Testo, suono e struttura in Thema (Omaggio a Joyce) di Berio. Il Saggiatore Musicale 7(2): 325–59.Google Scholar
Di Scipio, A. 2003. Sound is the Interface: From Interactive 935 to Ecosystemic Signal Processing. Organised Sound 8(3): 269–77.Google Scholar
Eco, U. 2012. Ai tempi dello Studio. In De Benedictis, A. (ed.) Luciano Berio – Nuove Prospettive. Firenze: Leo, S. Olschiki, 3–16.Google Scholar
Eimert, H. 1958. What is Electronic Music. Die Reihe 1: 1–10.Google Scholar
Eimert, H. 1961. Debussy’s Jeux. Die Reihe 5: 3–20.Google Scholar
Eimert, H. and Stockhausen, K. (eds.) 1958. Die Reihe 2 Anton Webern. Bryn Mawr: Theodore Presser.Google Scholar
Fletcher, H. & Munson, W. A. 1933. Loudness, Its Definition, Measurement and Calculation. Bell System Technical Journal, 12(4): 377–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraisse, P. 1967. La Psychologie du Temps. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.Google Scholar
Grant, M. J. 2001. Serial Music, Serial Aesthetics: Compositional Theory in Post-War Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gredinger, P. 1958. Serial Technique. Die Reihe 1: 38–44.Google Scholar
Heisenberg, W. 1971. Physics and Philosophy, 3rd edn. London: George Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
ISO. 2003. ISO 226:2003, Acoustics–Normal Equal-loudness-level Contours. Geneva: International Organization for Standardization.Google Scholar
Ligeti, G. 2010. Évolution de la forme musicale [1958]. In Neuf essais sur la musique, 3rd edn. Genève: Contrechamps.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Link, M. 2017. Thema Omaggio a Joyce – Expression as a Meaning. Proceedings of the Electroacoustic Music Studies Network Conference, EMS 2017. Nagoya.Google Scholar
Maconie, R. 2016. Other Planets: The Complete Works of Karlheinz Stockhausen, 1950–2007. London: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Malt, M. and Jourdan, E. 2009. Le BStD – Une représentation graphique de la brillance et de l’écart type spectral, comme possible représentation de l’évolution du timbre sonore. In L’analyse musicale aujourd’hui, crise ou (r)évolution?, 19–21 November. Strasbourg: SFAM.Google Scholar
Meyer-Eppler, W. 1958. Statistic and Psychologic Problems of Sound. Die Reihe 1: 55–61.Google Scholar
Peeters, G. 2004. A Large Set of Audio Features for Sound Description (Similarity and Classification) in the CUIDADO Project (Cuidado Project Report). Paris: Ircam. http://recherche.ircam.fr/anasyn/peeters/ARTICLES/Peeters_2003_cuidadoaudiofeatures.pdf (accessed 15 August 2018).Google Scholar
Prigogine, I. 1995. The End of Certainty: Time, Chaos and the Laws of Nature. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Rossetti, D. and Manzolli, J. 2019. Analysis of Granular Acousmatic Music from the Concepts of Sound Flux and Emergence. Organised Sound 24(2): 205–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rossetti, D., Teixeira, W. and Manzolli, J. 2018. Emergent Timbre and Extended Techniques in Live-Electronic Music: An Analysis of Desdobramentos do Contínuo Performed by Audio Descriptors. Revista Música Hodie 18(1): 16–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaeffer, P. 1952. À la recherche d’une musique concrète. Paris: Seuil.Google Scholar
Simondon, G. 2010. Perception et modulation [1968]. In Communication et information: cours et conférences. Chatou: Les Éditions de la Transparence.Google Scholar
Simondon, G. 2013. Cours sur la perception 1964–1965. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smalley, J. 2000. Gesang der Jünglinge: History and Analysis. http://sites.music.columbia.edu/masterpieces/notes/stockhausen/GesangHistoryandAnalysis.pdf (accessed 24 October 2019).Google Scholar
Stockhausen, K. 1958. Actualia. Die Reihe 1: 45–51.Google Scholar
Stockhausen, K. 1956. Sprache und Musik III. In K. Stockhausen. 1988. Texte zur elektronischen und instrumentalen Musik Band 2. Cologne: DuMont Buchverlag.Google Scholar
Stockhausen, K. 1959. …How Time Passes… Die Reihe 3: 10–40.Google Scholar
Stockhausen, K. 1988a. Musique dans l’espace [1958]. Contrechamps 9: 80–99.Google Scholar
Stockhausen, K. 1988b. Von Webern zu Debussy (Bemerkungen zur statistischen Form) [1954]. In Texte zur elektronischen und instrumentalen Musik Band 1. Cologne: DuMont Buchverlag.Google Scholar
Stockhausen, K. 1995. Kontakte für elektronische Klänge, Klavier und Schlagzeug (1958–60). Performance Score. Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag.Google Scholar
Thom, R. 1988. Esquisse d’une sémiophysique. Paris: InterEditions.Google Scholar
Truax, B. 1992. Musical Creativity and Complexity at the Threshold of the 21st Century. Interface 21: 29–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valiquet, P. 2012. The Spatialization of Stereophony: Taking Positions in Post-War Electroacoustic Music. International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music 43(2): 403–21.Google Scholar
Zwicker, E. Fastl, H. 1999. Psychoacoustics: Facts and Models. Berlin: Springer Science & Business Media.CrossRefGoogle Scholar