using Intermediaries to make music like:
marking, picturing, wording, computing, techniquing, are
Digital MATTER
or how we count our sensations
We are used to use the writing -> to distinguish -> to describe our musical intentions [1]
This means four things:
first, we cannot conceive music without outside measured signs,
second, we don't like to have our works forgotten,
third, our brain is handicapped. Without intermediaries we cannot communicate.
fourth, we like external objects: toys.
The score is a souvenir of an assembling and processing of quantified musical sensations [2].
The music in this way seems to be a structural result of small quantities.
A digital thinking by counting our fingers (a digit is a finger).
But listening to music is a feeling of qualities, a continuum, a continuity.
What can we do against this paradox?
NOTHING,
either we conceive music through intermediaries or we conceive music by playing.
Writing-music has nothing to do with Playing-music
-> they are different activities of music
but complementary.
We do not know to conceive continuum tools to make music.
We do not know to make music without tools.
With writing we keep a distance with sound-sensations and we are connected with the world of mind's structures' sensations.
With playing free from technique we are in sound sensation and we are also connected with the world of mind's structures' sensation (an acrobat in a lucky warm mud).
THE ELEMENTARY WESTERN CONCEPTION OF WRITING MUSIC,
=> AND ITS LIMITS
are musical parameters,
which they are:
Pitch -> Pitch is a sensation of merged vibrations located in the Time continuum [3]. A single vibration is a frequency but a frequency is not a pitch sensation, it's a clock, a periodical phenomenon (which the duration of a cycle is T-1 second). However it can become one. A frequency is a sine shape wave (a circle in one-dimention space) and an ensemble of sine waves is a spectrum. A non-perpetual wave in four-dimentions representation is a sphere-shaped spiral: a spatial short duration clock. How it is possible to understand the sense PITCH who is a clock? Tone is the name of localized discrimination pitch in Time continuum. The perception of exact tone position is determined by what the listener judge to be the most important frequency among the connected frequencies in a sound. This judgment depends tight on the education and culture: when and where we grow up [4]. This is why the sensations of musical tones cannot be measurable precisely. But there is a resistance of our recognition to keep the scale we know and to reject the scale we do not know. We hope to create enough unstable pitches to erase the resistance of tribe recognition. The unstable pitches are a necessity to make music. The scales' building will be continuously a subject of controversy, because a scale represents a culture, and a game of counting digits. We choose to build unlisten scales for their specific colors.
Western pitches are written in one dimension and two directions:
towards down = low sounds, towards up = high sounds [5].
NOTES:
[1] See the thought diagram: "conceiving music philosophically."
[2] Pierre Barbaud has shown in his book "Musique, discipline scientifique" how to replace notes by numbers and compute them, like J.S. Bach who replaced notes by letters to sound words and names: especially his, and Mozart who wrote waltzes with the help of dices.
[3] See the diagram "duration scale" with the location of hearing sounds.
[4] See how many different pitch-modes (scales) were created by all the civilizations, historically and geographically, according to their own cultures and mythologies. Yet it exists a universal mode: the pentatonic. Less than 5 tones there are no mode perceived.
[5] The 7 lines pitch notation was specially created for the 7-tone major mode. Other modes and scales are considered as alterations of this major mode.
Intensity -> Intensity [1] is a static abstraction of Dynamic. The sensation of loudness depends of our psychological and physical state [2]. Dynamic is a non-stop multi-silence behavior in time. We know now that "without psychoacoustical phenomena that translates physical disturbances into conscious sensations, music could not exist." [3]. Deaf people who have the internal ear damaged, it means that the system to transmit and transform pressures in perceptual meaning, can feel different frequencies' pressures with skin, bones and guts like undeaf people. The sensation of intensity pressure is a physical constraint on matter, and its resistance depends of its focusing to divide this global pressure power: to unmerge the sounds. We know that in sound environment the high sounds "attack" our skull, the medium sounds "attack" our thorax and the low sounds "attack" our stomach. When by listening we decompose the sound we accumulate more flexibility with most of the sounds. Our ear is a balance, managing silence and unbearable internal and external sounds, receiving and producing sounds: out of phase to create silence, in phase to amplify silence and all the intermediary phases to locate them. Our ears are the management center of our body balance. Our ears are an incredible well-done complex sound manager and we are just at the beginning to know how it works. (See: Bernard Auriol, La Clef Des Sons, ed Érès Toulouse France 1994).
Notice that the sensation of our internal hearing noises fed the creation of the soul: something is inside me!
Western intensities are commonly written ppp pp p mp mf f ff fff
Duration -> Duration is a sensation of a time interval. The time passed by the sand of hourglass to flow out, is a time interval we would need to be a standard duration, a unit. Our standard time unit or frequency unit is the second. For music we use the sign of quarter note, and the minimal music sign duration is 64th note (la quadruple croche). Add this minimal ratio to itself or multiply by the Wholes Natural element of N = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...} and we obtain the additive time mode. Between a 64th note and a whole note we have 64 different values of duration (mathematically it is an arithmetic progression). The geometrical representation of this arithmetic progression physically is a straight line, but psychoacoustically it is a logarithm curve feeling. The second way to measure the time is deeply different from the first one. Is it the opposite? It's a deduction of the theoretical continuous movement (until 1950 it was the Earth rotation), the immediate data is a scale of time. "The perception of changing state of our organism and the memory that we retain of is the most immediate example of a time scale, or to be more exact a scale of chronology." (Bernard Decaux et Guinot, La Mesure du Temps, PUF, 1969.) It is a historical time. A date is a name of a localization in scale time. For example the calendar is a scale of chronology. In music there are an infinite number of time scales. We divide a limited duration by a Whole Natural Element of N={0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...} with each duration of the additive time mode repeating it in time or not. The result will be a fraction, a rational-number element of Q and a geometrical progression. There are three types of division in music. The tempo-technique, divides constantly one minute between approximately 40 to 250 Beats to give the speed of the musical piece. Note: 1 minute divided by 60 beats correspond to 1 second. The tempo is independent but linked with the bar-technique which divides the time by a number Whole Natural between 2 to 8 generally in Western music. The bars are independent but linked with the "triplet-technique" which divides any duration value by a Whole Natural (the triplet divides a duration value by 3). This duality is unavoidable and it will be always these two types of measured time on Earth to use. One is the duration time modes, second the chronological time modes: in the antique Greece they were named respectively Aïon and Chronos. The sensation of rhythm is a perception of one or several events put down on these different time scales at the same time.
You know how Western durations, tempo, bar, rational-time scale are commonly written. This Western notation system is the one more flexible.
NOTES:
[1] In physics the acoustic intensity is expressed in Watts per m2: at 10-12 w/m2 is the minimal intensity heard, at 1 w/m2 is the maximal. The acoustic intensity depends of the matter density, of the speed sound propagation in this matter and the amplitude of the transmitter sound. The Watt expresses the power of an energetic system inside what 1 joule is transferred uniformly during 1 second. The Joule expresses the work produced by a force of 1 newton in 1 meter in the force direction. The Newton expresses the force communicate to an object of 1 kg, an acceleration of 1 meter by square second.
[2] It means that two persons in a same sound environment will never have the same evaluation of loudness.
[3] "Psychological foundations of musical behavior" by Rudolf E. Radocy and J. David Boyle.1979
Timbre -> Timbre is a recent and particular notion in Western music who was created and first independently exploited by Arnold Schoenberg with his "Klangfarbenmelodie." At this time - around 1910 - the limit of the Tonality was reached and composers tried to find other systems to write music. The most spectacular system was the Dodecaphonism created by Schoenberg, Berg and Webern in Austria. But this democratic-tones-combinatory-system was not enough satisfying to express their musical desire. Then they transpose the dod-syst to instruments "colors" <=> "Klange" and made color melodies. On the same pitch they used different kind of instruments playing (cf. Schoenberg's Five Orchestral Pieces op. 16). This technique was fully exploited and "Poussé à bout" by Giacinto Selci in Italy between 1920 and 1950 app.
Now every music maker takes care of timbre in different ways. Analog synthesizers are one of this passion result: progressive mutation of timbre. Computer sound design is an another one. This virus of morphing sounds was injected in 1910 by Arnold Schoenberg and today we are crazy to control this process by computer. Cf. the following softwares and hardware like Chant, Audio Sculpt and Fone from Ircam, Kyma by Symbolic Sound, SoundHack by Tom Erbe and Larry Polansky, etc. The first spectacular (1979) example computer music was Jean Claude Risset's Mutation who creates with Music V's Max Matthews software the separate control of fundamental and partials of sound spectrum.
In orchestral works (Scelsi works were discovered only in 80s) the "Romanian School" worked from 50s on Heterophony Technique with composers like Aurel Stroe, the unbearable Horatio Radulescu (I was travelling with him in England for performances in 1983), Costin Miereanu (who was my composition professor), Costin Cazaban, etc. They developed several subtle techniques to write musical timbre. Followed by French composers (Most of these Romanian composers was immigrated in Paris from 60s) like Gérard Grisey who create the "Spectral Technique" - to be short, Spectral Technique is to write orchestral chords based on musical instrument spectrum - Tristan Murial, Ircam's composers, etc.
In other hand many instrumentalists in jazz and "serious-music" from the 60s developed some fabulous techniques to generate strange sounds and other multiphonic like on saxophone Daniel Kientzy, on trombone Vinko Globokar, on flute Pierre-Yves Artaud, the organ of Gerd Zacher etc. in serious music, the guitar of Derek Beley or Fred Frith, the voice of Demitrio Stratos or Diamanda Galas, the saxophone of John Zorn, the drum of David Moss, the objects of Hugh Davies etc.
In popular music the precise timbre control became possible in the 90s with electronic recording MIDI studio, mixing composition techniques with mixing technique like The Orb, Future Sound Of London, Aphex Twin, Cold Cut etc. Most of these artists are London residents. Why? (And equipment gets cheaper).
The quantifying of timbre perception is only possible through acoustics parameters (cf. below).
Western timbre is commonly noted: e.g. "Cello con sord sul ponticello, staccato, etc."
(In classical music Italian was the musical language)
THE LIMITS OF THE ELEMENTAL WESTERN CONCEPTING OF WRITING MUSIC
and its particularities
Western written music sound like Western Written Music = a WWM. Music has several faces and the WWM is one of them. WWM reading music is a musical occupation with no sound = one of a WWM's particularity. WWM's live or unlive feelings seem to be a historical feeling problem. Feelings are cultural sensations of self-surviving in society, the connection's lines between our inside sensitive world and outside social world. Does the Western music have this elementary role with its music like the opposite example of an anthem of nation feeling to emphasize the social world to the detriment of our inside sensitive world?
DIPT
is more distinct sensations based on experiences than musical parameters
it is like the temperature:
too cold <-> very cold <-> cold <-> OK <-> warm <-> hot <-> very hot <-> too hot
we can feel with sensations but not control with sensations.
definition: "paramètre (n.m.)
1. Grandeur mesurable permettant de présenter de façon simple les caractéristiques d'un ensemble statistique. 2. (figuré) Elément constant à prendre en compte dans une opération intellectuelle quelconque." Larousse Fr. dictionary.
quantifying is the only way we found to control the matter
our Western culturalized perception is distinctive not continuous, we are a civilization of workers!
BUT
It is possible to be more precise about musical parameters,
it can be more convenient to use acoustics parameters of sound - with the computer help -
than blur sensations?
which they are:
Frequency [2] (in Hertz, Hz)
including
spectrum (according to the specific Fourier analysis)
partials each sine wave of FFT spectrum
formant the amplitude shape of spectrum [< phonemes]
noises complex of quiet frequencies in sound
Amplitude (in Decibel, dB)
including
envelope the global dynamic shape and of sound: A-S-R the dynamic shape of each partial of sound's spectrum
transients very short attacks perceived as noise
resonance growing chosen frequencies in time in inter-reaction with environment
beatings amplitude variation (tremolo) generated by two close frequency
Time (in second or millisecond)
including
phases the time of apparition of partials
iteration the frequency and recognition of partials
duration the time of existence
delays from flanging to echo through reverberation
Use FAT to write music is uncommon for usual classical score's readers. Most of the musicians from major orchestras who studied in academies of music [4] need a translation in usual Western notation like they have learned at school.[3]
It will be interesting to continue all the experiments started in 60s but abandoned in 80s with symphonic orchestras like "Score Out" my workshop of improvisation [5] for Classical Symphony Orchestra to create music without score.
NOTES:
[2] periodical phenomenon which is the duration of a cycle: T-1 second.
[3] cf. the works of Iannis Xenakis drawing a complex of lines and points on a large millimeter board like Metastasis, Pithoprakta, etc. before translation in traditional classical score.
[4] the PCCMs: the Preservative-Can-for-Classical-Music stay close to the Western music evolution.
[5] improvisation means immediate composition.
A timbre parameter in acoustics does not exist, Timbre is an arrangement of this entity:
FAT
This particular concepting of music analysis led us to decompose the musical sound in
4 independent perceptive attributes + 1 making up:
FAT - Pitch-shape
FAT - Intensity-shape
FAT - Duration-shape
FAT - Timbre-shape
FAT - Structure-shape
Often we mix up attributes of sound with music sensations:
D duration with rhythm feelings
I intensity with dynamics feelings
P pitch with melody and harmony feelings
T timbre with sound-colors feelings
In musical composition each of these attributes can be favored more than other one to
D emphasize rhythm e.g. some African drum music, Gamelan from Java, Techno and all dance floor music, etc.
I emphasize dynamics e.g. Varèse, certain Rock music, Hardcore, etc.
P emphasize melody or harmony e.g. Classical European music, popular songs, etc.
T emphasize sound color e.g. Electroacoustic music, Spectral music, Scelci, etc.
S emphasize structure. e.g. Bach, Boulez, Xenakis etc.
what it is interesting?
Today we can compose sound by decomposing sound with its own parameters [2]:
Pitch-shape can split up itself through FAT and with
Duration-shape can split up itself through FAT and with
Timbre-shape can split up itself through FAT and with
Intensity-shape can split up itself through FAT and with
Structure-shape can split up itself through FAT and with:
DA CAPO IN 14 PATHS AMONG THEM
a polyphony of digital para-matters' played by the same instrument.[4]
However it's a possibility...
NOTES
[1] musical structure can exist independently of DIPT musical sound attributes : cf. the Stockhausen's Spiral written with plus and minus signs attribute to virtual DIPT.
[2] see the musical works of Jean Claude Risset like Mutation (CD Wergo 2013-50)
[3] this is the blur Western concepting of generating writing music: computed structuralism.
[4] a "come back" to the "point against point" writing music technique!
THE ELEMENTAL CONCEPTING OF MOVING IN WRITING MUSIC,
the movements generate music
The movement is formalized by the following variables:
1. Position
2. Orientation
3. Speed
4. Energy / Force
E = faculty of body system to create work [?]
F = All causes capable to produce an effect. [5]
POSE
is the basic 4D field describing all movements on Earth
POSE can be scoring by the way of writing (i.e. memorizing):
A. different techniques of playing musical instruments
=> physical movements of muscles activities in space and time
including:
=> formalization of musical instrument's shapes:
materials-geometry-motor functions-sound result
=> formalization of muscles' activities:
tension-relaxation, reflexes => forces < energy
=> formalization of movements generating the sounds:
actions decomposed by POSE on instrument
=> interactions between man and instrument -> feedback
energy source-action-excitator mechanism- modulator mechanism- vibrating structure - resonator - sound result - reacting: da capo.
=> "photography of playing-techniques" (in French, "mode de jeux"):
constitution of a collection of resulting effects
=> memorization of "playing-manners":
the characters of hic et nunc (here-and-now) being
[7]
NOTES
[5] with constrained : m.kg.s-2 when it meets an obstacle, e.g.: air density, tiredness, stress, other disturbtions... it means all the time!
[6] The blur Western concepting to generate writing music
[7] see Alfred Tomatis "Ear and Voice" 1987
B. different communications between musicians playing together
=> psychological movements
brain activities
including
=> the organization of sounding the human reactions[1]:
imitation-integration-hesitation-provocation-etc
=> the organization of the context of playing:
the where-and-how process
=> the uncontrollable merging between musicians:
Emotion => the origin of sacred feeling
C. different types of scores drawing movements
=> elemental movements marks to draw
including
A => 2D in time drawing DIPT
"Ourdission" for 3 flutes with 3D moving sound in inflatable clear tube,
"Erre" for big orchestra in countryside placed in inter-connected lines,
"Miss Terra" for real and virtual piano in an amplified public-box-hall
This writing technique I call the Flow-Music. Have something with speed.
B => 2D in time drawing FAT
cf. the Romanian composers' group of Timbral-Music and the Xenakis' Upic.
C => 2D symbolic drawing POSE
"IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO GIVE A TITLE TO THIS PHENOMENON BECAUSE THE unfathomable BEYOND THE EXTREME EDGES OF SPACE AND TIME HAS NO NAME"
The "score" is drawn by an alphabet describing the POSE on strings: Position - Orientation - Speed - Pressure, of wood-bow on strings.
The basic POSE to write music is nearest of drawing music than writing music.
Drawing music is to create at each project a new alphabet. [2]
The digital para-matters of FAT and DIPT can be driven by POSE:
IN a 2-DIMENSION
combinatory matrix
Position of Duration
Orientation of Duration
Speed of Duration
Energy of Duration
Position of Intensity
Orientation of Intensity
Speed of Intensity
Energy of Intensity
Position of Pitch
Orientation of Pitch
Speed of Pitch
Energy of Pitch
Position of Timbre
Orientation of Timbre
Speed of Timbre
Energy of Timbre
Position of Frequency
Orientation of Frequency
Speed of Frequency
Energy of Frequency
Position of Amplitude
Orientation of Amplitude
Speed of Amplitude
Energy of Amplitude
Position of Time
Orientation of Time
Speed of Time
Energy of Time
All these 28 combinatories are attributes of appreciation [: a creation!] and can be recombine to create different dimensions.
NOTES
[1] see the theoretical work of Vinko Globokar in Musique en Jeu about basic reactions of musicians in improvisation context.
[2] why a note is symbolized by a point?
IN 3-DIMENSION SPACE AND MORE:
We had seen how to manage DIPT and FAT by POSE in 2-dimension spaces, but if we put together these "hot and cold" sensations in dimension it results multidimensional spaces like:
e.g.
Dimension 1: from FULL NOISE to SINE
Dimension 2: from STRONG ATTACK SOUNDS to SOFT ATTACK SOUNDS
Dimension 3: from SHORT SOUNDS to LONG SOUNDS
Dimension 4: from STRONG BEAT to NO BEAT FEELING
Dimension 5: from...
etc.
Then we draw different lines of wander to manage movements of the music =
MAPPING MUSIC
let's go for a trip
OPERATIONS AND MANIPULATIONS IN WRITING MUSIC,
is structural processes,
In operation of manipulation,
we play with different kinds of sound perception: A.
and we teasing the borders of admissible perception: B.
A.
distinguishable - undistinguishable => "Shadow Identities" or Masses
recognizable - unrecognizable => "Remarkable Identities" or Masses
eatable - uneatable => "Conflictable Identities" or Masses
B.
supportable - not supportable => music with sounds
pleasant - unpleasant => music with sounds
indifferent - marvelous => music with sounds
They are 36 combinations of these affective attributes,
see the diagram "we cannot mix up music and sound because"
this diagram set clearly our intention for a precise result.
In A. We play with digital matters,
in B. We play with ours intentions.
We mix them to have a global vision
of our wishing result.
USING OUTSIDE MODELS TO SHAPE WRITING MUSIC,
is to keep a distance with our intuition,
Models are every where around us formatted by analytical activities like:
Mathematics -> e.g. numeration, ensemble, combinatories, probabilities, chaos, chance etc.
Medecine -> e.g. models of infections, models of epidemics, models of cures etc.
Sociology -> e.g. models of moving population, models of conflict beetwen different populations, etc.
Astronomy -> e.g. models of stars' position, model of the expansion of the Universe, etc.
Philosophy -> e.g. models of thought systems from different philosophers, world concept, etc.
Psychology -> e.g. model of paranoia, model of the clinic, model of schizophrenia, etc.
Physics -> e.g. model of atom structure, model of matter structure, etc.
Ethnology -> e.g. models of human life organization, model of different Cosmogonies, etc.
Biology -> e.g. models of morphogenesis, model of transmission of chemical message by cells, etc.
etc.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT MUSICAL FORMS.
The idea of the form in music was applied to recognize the shape of different kind of dances in the party like for example: menuet, waltz, gigue, sarabande, courante, gavotte, aria, allemande. The suite was the organization of the party, the work now makes by the DJs [5].
We can say "the shape of this table" because we know its function. Every word has a form, it is a necessity of our perception. The musical form is more an idea of recognition than a yield of making music. We prefer working with concept. The idea of form is an external noticing, the idea of concept is an internal and perpetual rebuilding.
Often the musical forms are mixed up with the musical functions: church music, theater music (opera, ballet), party music, background entertainment music, dance music, personal intellectual music, poetry music (song) etc.
Often the musical forms are mixed up with the musical structure. The structure is an out-of-time system to build music.
The musical form does not exist, it is just an interpretation of our recognition.
USING INSTRUMENTS TO SHAPE A MUSIC,
is the beginning of the final result.
By choosing instrument for composition brings this composition in a particular social field:
a string quartet REPRESENTS classical Western music
a synthesizer from the seventies REPRESENTS pop space music, techno
a baby shakers or a toy instrument REPRESENTS family music
a pneumatic drill REPRESENTS industrial music
a chair or a lamp REPRESENTS gentle crazy music
a computer with sound softwares REPRESENTS new technology music
a steel drum band REPRESENTS Trinidad traditional music
a koto REPRESENTS classical Japan music
an electric guitar REPRESENTS rock music
a turntable REPRESENTS rap music, house, techno
a djembe REPRESENTS African traditional music
a classical symphonic orchestra REPRESENTS classical Western music, easy listening music
a selfbuild acoustic instrument REPRESENTS very particular music
a saxophone REPRESENTS jazz music
an accordion REPRESENTS European popular music
a bandonion REPRESENTS tango from Argentina
a tabla REPRESENTS classical India music
a singer REPRESENTS a world hero pretending
the music is always the representation of something or someone.
Infortunatly
but by making an unusual mixing of intentions,
all the impossible are exceeded.
We have to be realistic: we have to create the impossible.
LET'S DO IT!
THE ORIGIN OF THE VIBRATIONS,
is the STuFf Trinity
WoW! oWo! It doesn't remember you something?
LET'S COME IN THE ART OF ZERO LEVEL MUSIC,
...
Shadow-Sky-Brain-System
Sound does not exist The Master Class of Composition
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Le Disque du Centre de la Bombe (Omaggio alla musica contemporanea) GO
le Centre de la Bombe mapping page GO
