NEXT WEEK

1
NEXT WEEK

• Techniques workshop 1, MacLab (CC-213)
• Everyone must bring their own set of headphones
  (1/8 jack)
• Bring your laptop if you have one with audio
  editing and montage software
• Most students will work in groups of two
  although there are 20 workstations, there are
  only 10 software licenses available headphone
  splitters will be provided
• Topics to be covered over the series of workshops
  include
• Building textures / layering schemes
• Making transitions between textures
• Using and constructing gestural sound objects
• Structuring sound objects and textures
• Conceptual / contextual manipulations

• Everyone will work from the same set of sounds,
  which will be in a shared folder on the hard
  drives of the various workstations
• Lab work is evaluated in the EAMT 203 portfolio

mikep_at_alcor.concordia.ca
http//alcor.concordia.ca/mikep/eamt203
2
Composition Process

• Points to be included in
• Portfolio documentation
• Listening assignment reviews
• Concert reports

• Music defined as containing
• Clear, stable pitches pitch systems
• Pulse-based, metered rhythms
• Harmonic systems (chords, keys, etc.)
• Pitch/rhythm producing timbres
• Stylized dynamic fluctuations
• Recognizable styles
• Large scale forms and structures
• Para-musical factors (gestures, concepts)

• Acousmatic aesthetic as favoring
• Non-pitched sounds or unstable/complex pitches
• Arhythmic or unmetered time organization
• Inharmonic sound layering
• Heavy processing of recognizable timbres
• Unstylized dynamic contrasts
• Avoidance of known styles
• Subtle transformative treatment of form
• Para-musical dichotomy abstract/conceptual

• DECISION AREA 1 BASIC APPROACH AND MATERIALS
  FOR
• SOUND OBJECTS
• TEXTURES
• ENTIRE PIECES

• Conceptual framing
• Calculated
• Left brain

• Intuitive construction
• Flexible spontaneous
• Right brain

Acousmatic materials

• Recognizable materials
• Nature
• Culture
• Music

3
Composition Process
1. Spectrum
2. Amplitude
4
3. Frequency - pitched unpitched sounds
Sonograms show us if a sound has a stable,
organized pitch, or not
Spectrum / Amplitude / Frequency / Space / Rhythm
/ Layering / Gesture / Structure / Concept
5
3. Frequency - pitched unpitched sounds
Pitched sounds have ordered harmonics,
onlycover specific parts of spectrum
Unpitched sounds (e.g. hits, hiss in this file)
cover full stretches of spectrum
6
Spectrum / Amplitude / Frequency / Space / Rhythm
/ Layering / Gesture / Structure / Concept
6
Frequency - pitched unpitched sounds
Parts of a zoomed-in oscillogram (not the attack)
can give us clues about whether the sound is
pitched or non-pitched
Spectrum / Amplitude / Frequency / Space / Rhythm
/ Layering / Gesture / Structure / Concept
7
3. Frequency - pitched unpitched sounds
Pitched sounds can also be stable (e.g. the
examples looked at so far) or unstable (the
violin note-gliss-vibrato note below)
5
Spectrum / Amplitude / Frequency / Space / Rhythm
/ Layering / Gesture / Structure / Concept
8
4. Space
Spatial behavior / perception of
sound Especially in indoor environments, the
sound we hear is not only the direct vibrations
made by the object, person or process, but a
number of echoes and reverberations laid on top
of the direct sound, the nature of which is
generally referred to as (room) acoustics.
The time it takes for reverberated sound to die
down to below the threshold of hearing is called
the reverb decay, and is given in seconds or
milliseconds
SWP OPCH
Concert halls and other listening environments
are / were designed to create a pleasing (but not
too confusing) reverberation, in the 1.5 - 2.0
second range
Spectrum / Amplitude / Frequency / Space / Rhythm
/ Layering / Gesture / Structure / Concept
9
4. Space
Recording studios, on the other hand, are
designed with shorter reverb times, because this
allows for more control of recorded signals. But
contrary to what many people think, a completely
dead studio acoustic (i.e., reverb time lt 0.3
sec) was only ever considered the ideal in the
late 70s and 80s.
Spectrum / Amplitude / Frequency / Space / Rhythm
/ Layering / Gesture / Structure / Concept
10
4. Space
Recording studios, on the other hand, are
designed with shorter reverb times, because this
allows for more control of recorded signals. But
contrary to what many people think, a completely
dead studio acoustic (i.e., reverb time lt 0.3
sec) was only ever considered the ideal in the
late 70s and 80s.
Today, most studio control rooms have reverb
times between 0.5 - 0.8 sec, while recording
rooms vary from 0.3 sec (e.g., booths for
recording voiceovers) to rooms that can be
opened up to over 1.0 secs when carpeting and
other acoustic baffling is removed.
Spectrum / Amplitude / Frequency / Space / Rhythm
/ Layering / Gesture / Structure / Concept
11
4. Space
Arenas and other large concert venues not
designed for sound present the challenge of very
long reverb times (gt3-4 seconds) that can
confuse listeners with too much overlap. This is
usually dealt with by providing as much direct
sound to as many parts of the venue as possible.
Spectrum / Amplitude / Frequency / Space / Rhythm
/ Layering / Gesture / Structure / Concept
12
Composition Process
DECISION AREA 2 PARAMETERS (micro- and macro-
levels)
4. Space

• Two levels of space usage in this example
• channel (L-R) manipulation
• spatial properties in the sounds themselves

7
Spectrum / Amplitude / Frequency / Space / Rhythm
/ Layering / Gesture / Structure / Concept
13
Composition Process
DECISION AREA 2 PARAMETERS (micro- and macro-
levels)
5. Rhythm

• Examples played showed a range of possibilities
  for rhythmic use in EA, including
• Metered sound objects mixed low enough that the
  rhythmic elements serve more as a color than a
  driving force
• Metered sound objects layered with other dominant
  non-rhythmic elements that form a strong
  counterpoint
• Rhythmic sound objects that are complex to the
  point of obscuring any obvious metric
  organization
• Several different meters and tempos layered
  together in textures such that no rhythmic
  element dominates
• Rhythmic sound objects or textures used as a
  transitory presence that sometimes comes forward
  but is masked or fades into the background at
  other points

Musical example excerpt from Stravinsky
8
EA examples
9-15
Spectrum / Amplitude / Frequency / Space / Rhythm
/ Layering / Gesture / Structure / Concept
14
Composition Process
DECISION AREA 2 PARAMETERS (micro- and macro-
levels)
6. Layering / Texture
Musical example excerpt from Aarvo Pärt
16
EA examples
17-18
In workshops, different types of layering /
texture schemes will be worked on homogenous,
homophonic, polyphonic, antiphonal, etc.
7. Gesture
Definition The energy profile of any
sound-producing real-world action (natural or
mechanical).
Musical example Penderecki, String Quartet no. 1
19

• Gestural sounds often evoke conceptual elements
  because of the real-world contexts they may
  be connected to
• Also closely linked to the use of gesture is the
  notion of causality
• (i.e., the perceived link between a gestural
  sound and its aftermath)

EA examples
20-25
Spectrum / Amplitude / Frequency / Space / Rhythm
/ Layering / Gesture / Structure / Concept
15
Composition Process
DECISION AREA 2 PARAMETERS (micro- and macro-
levels)
In EA, any calculated or intuitively derived
level of organization at the macro- or micro-
levels of a piece, texture or sound object
8. Structure
Musical example Theme variations, Bernard
Hermann, Citizen Kane breakfast montage
26
EA examples
27, 28
Workshop example A-B-A structural possibilities

• Unprocessed Sound - Processed Sound - Unprocessed
  Sound
• Based on Sound Source 1 - Based on Sound Source
  2 - Based on Sound Source 1
• Lower Frequencies - Higher Frequencies - Lower
  Frequencies
• Recognizable Sounds - Acousmatic Sounds -
  Recognizable Sounds
• Thin Texture - Dense Texture - Thin Texture
• Largely Static - More Rhythmic - Largely Static
• Music-Based Sounds - Nature-Based Sounds -
  Music-Based Sounds
• Vocal/Body Gestures - Machine Sounds - Vocal/Body
  Gestures
• Soft, Crescendo - Loud - Decrescendo, Soft
• Note-Like Sound Sources - Noise-Like Sound
  Sources - Note-Like Sound Sources

Spectrum / Amplitude / Frequency / Space / Rhythm
/ Layering / Gesture / Structure / Concept
16
Composition Process
DECISION AREA 2 PARAMETERS (micro- and macro-
levels)
9. Concept
Definition In EA, any piece affected by sound
elements carrying associations, images and ideas
from wider societal and cultural contexts.

• Text speech elements are common carriers of
  concepts
• Any recognizable sounds have the potential to
  evoke the imagery or associationsthat
  concept-driven pieces require.
• It is common for concept pieces to contain
  narrative, reportage or documentary elements
• But it is equally possible to treat the concepts
  touched on in an EA piece relatively abstractly,
  with no clear message or story.

Musical example any song with lyrics
EA examples
29-33
Spectrum / Amplitude / Frequency / Space / Rhythm
/ Layering / Gesture / Structure / Concept