Composition Study 7 - Random Sequence

Introduction

For this week's composition we were tasked with creating a random process to be the core generative element of our composition. But the composition would have to have some kind of musical structure and develop. Or in other words, use a cageian method but producing a composition with some form. 

Research 

 Aleatoric music

 Also referred to as chance music, it is a term that refers to music that in some parts of the composition is left up to chance.

John Cage

John Cage was an American composer who is cited as one of the most influential American composers of the 20th Century. Cage's most well known composition is 4'33" which he composed in 1952. The piece consists of complete silence, the effect is meant to turn the audience into active listeners of the environment in which they are listening to the composition.

Methodology

A random method had to be created in order to generate the composition. The method I chose was to use a metal tape measure, the tape measure was thrown out and at random intervals I would clip to stop the tape measure. Whichever number it would land on would correspond to a number which I would then use as a MIDI value. I repeated this process fifty more times in order to have enough notes to generate the composition, I also used the inches on the tape measure, so the note values would range from twelve to seventy, so it would range over a few octaves. The second part was to determine the lengths of each notes, the same process was repeated but for this time I measured it in centre metres otherwise the note lengths would have been too long and the piece would have been boring. All of these results were then inputted into a table which could then be implemented into Cubase.

The recording process was pretty simple, the note values and lengths were taken from the table and inputted into Cubase via MIDI. I chose a violin and cello for the instruments which was a departure from what I would usually use as instruments for my pieces.

Final Mix

Conclusion

It was an interesting way of generating a composition, although because of how random it could be it was difficult to create something that was pleasing to listen to. However if I were to repeat the process again I would have added more variables for example, having values for rests between notes and also able to change the velocity.

References

1. TheWelleszCompany. (2011). John Cage: Fontana Mix (1958). Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roASIVIXGXY. Last accessed Sep 2014.

Composition Study 6 - Graphical Score

Introduction

This week we were tasked with composing a piece of music whilst using a painting supplied by the lecturer as a graphical score.

Things which needed to be considered included:

1. Colour;
2. Rhythm;
3. Line;
4. Space;
5. Texture;
6. Shape;
7. Implied depth.

Research

Adolph Gottlieb

Adolph was an American abstract expressionist painter. A noteable part of his biography is
"Gottlieb joined his New York school contemporaries to protest the prejudices of curators and critics against avant-grade art (most notably in May 1950, with the abstract painters and sculptors dubbed the Irascibles, against the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s refusal to show abstraction in a juried show)." The image I was supplied with was by Adolph Gottlieb, the painting called Frozen Sounds (1951).

I undertook research into the ideas of the painting in order to have a better idea of what to compose and found this quote:

The painting is split into two distinct sections, the bottom half supposedly being the earth as it is dense, in contrasts to the top half of the painting which is more sparse and meant to represent space. It is also suggested that there are some tidal implications of some of the patterns in the painting.

Composition 

After examining some of the research I tried to focus on starting with sound effects to start getting an atmosphere or certain aesthetic for the composition. However after a certain amount of time I decided that in order to compose a piece I was happy with I would take a more abstract view of how I thought the painting would sound and decided to make it my own. 

For example, there are two rectangular/square objects in the pieces, rather than trying to create sounds that may sound straight, or jagged or rectangular, I decided to make the first one into a melody. The main inspiration for the different sounds within the piece come from a number of words in one of the references, being "Sky", "Water", "Planets" etc.

Final Mix

 

Conclusion

Although it is a very abstract view of the painting I did enjoy the composition created, however again, in future I would like to try a different way of composing, using different sounds in order to complete the composition.

References

1. guggenheim. (n/a). Adolph Gottlieb. Available: http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/artists/bios/533. Last accessed Sep 2014.

2. Lawrence Alloway (1995). Adolph Gottlieb: A Retrospective. US: Hudson Hills Press. 56.

Composition Study 5 - Pencil and Paper

Introduction

We were given the task of creating a composition using only a pencil and a piece of paper as the source of all of our sound material. The sounds that were created could be manipulated in any way as long as the sounds create were only from the interaction of the paper and pencil.

"Create a “noise” piece.

1.     Create a small library of recordings using only the supplied pencil and paper as sound sources.

2.     Compose a piece of music using only this library.

Microphone(s) and recording technique(s) are subject to individual preference.

Source sounds may be manipulated in any way."

Research

Music Concrete

Music Concrete is a form of electroacoustic music, which uses sounds from a wide variety of instruments, voices and objects, partly made from acousmatic sound, meaning sound created without knowing what instrument or object is making that sound. It was an experimental technique of composition developed by Pierre Schaeffer. Pierre started Studio d'Essai which was a studio in which he took part in experimentation into this new way of composing. An example of a piece of music concrete is Pierre Schaeffer's piece - Apostrophe.

Pierre Schaeffer - Apostrophe

Karlheinz Stockhausen

Stockhausen was a german composer who studied at Schaeffer's studio d'Essai. One of his most well known pieces a piece of music concrete,  Etude. It is Stockhausen's earliest work of electroacoustic music. Here is an example of Stockhausen's piece "Studie II".

Composition

The song was composed by a combination of twelve sounds. The composition has a running sounds throughout of the pencil being written on the piece of paper. Other sounds that were produced included:

• Wrapping the paper around the microphone and hitting the paper with the pencil.
• Running the microphone over the paper.
• Stabbing the paper with the pencil.

The "narrative" of this piece as if someone is sitting in an exam in silence, trying to complete a test but end up day-dreaming. The sounds heard through the piece are meant to be all the different intrusive thoughts that the person is having. The piece then ends with the sound of the person scribbling on the page and scrunching up the paper, to symbolize them not being happy with what they had just written.

All of the sounds within the piece were then manipulated by a number of techniques using time stretching, pitch shifting and reverb.

Final Mix 

 

Conclusion 

I enjoy the idea of the pieces, but if the process was repeated again I would have spent more time on developing the sounds. Aside from that this was an enjoyable assignment.
 

References

1. Norock Androll. (2010). Pierre Schaeffer - Apostrophe . Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2o9VyuJSD4. Last accessed Sep 2014.

2. NewMusicXX. (2009). Stockhausen "Studie II" (Elektronische Musik). Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXqvBvOXV3U. Last accessed Sep 2014.

Composition Study 4 - One Note

Single Note

Create a composition using only one note. Transposition to different octaves allowed. No sustaining sounds. No drums or percussion.

Try and think about the quality of that note.

Rhythm.

Texture.

Dynamics.

Silence?

Research

One Note Song

 

This piece contains a number of different people playing E notes on a wide range of different instruments, played along to a drumbeat and bass line. The interesting part of the composition comes from the variety of sounds that come from the different instruments, each having a difference in texture and dynamic. However in the creation of this weeks piece, no percussion is allowed, so to create any interesting rhythmic patterns would have to come from other instruments.

Musica Ricercata by Gyorgy Ligeti (Musica Ricercata, 2014).

This first piece of music comes from a set of eleven pieces called Musica Ricercata, written for piano by Gyorgy Ligeti (1951 - 1953). The piece consists of mainly one note being played throughout, the note being A. A notable feature of this work is Ligeti confines himself to a range of pitch classes, with each piece adding one more pitch class. With not much room for any tonal movement within the composition, Ligeti instead focuses on texture, dynamics and the use of poly rhythms. At the end of the composition he uses the note D to finished the piece.

Methodology

When beginning to compose the composition, a number of different factors had to be considered, without being able to rely on any interesting melodies or harmonies, focus would have to be put solely on rhythm and the creation of interesting sounds, texture and dynamic just like in Ligeti's composition. 

The main part of the composition is focusing on the array of different sounds that are used. I try to make use of silence as well. The beginning of the compositions starts with an idea that is later repeated towards the end of the piece to give it some form of structure. Using the Spector VST plug-in in Cubase, I had access to a vast array of interesting sounds to build the piece.

Final Composition

Conclusion

I'm quite happy with the composition, it would have benefited from being longer but I think it demonstrates some of the different elements that were discussed in the brief. If this task were to be undertaken again, rather than using a VST synthesizer I would have looked into real instruments being played, to give a more human feel to the dynamics and texture.

References

1. Rob Scallon. (2013). One Note Song . Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IVaDoCQhTo. Last accessed Sep 2014. 

2. Thomas Ligre. (2011). György Ligeti - Musica Ricercata [1/11] . Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIs3jechQ_E. Last accessed Sep 2014. 

Composition Study 3 - Drums & Percussion

Composition 3 - Drums & Percussion

The brief for this week's composition is as follows:

Piece using only drums and percussion. No drum loops.

Layered sounds to create textures.
Uses complete frequency range.
Using whole dynamic range.
Using tempo changes.
Use either:
• At least one time signature change, or
• Polyrhythmic time base.
At least one performance element in the track.
Focus on contrasts to delineate structure: light and shade.

Research

Taiko Drums

When first hearing about the composition the first instrument that came to mind were these Japanese drums. Outside of Japan, the word is used to reference a specific kind of Japanese drum called a wadiako. The ensemble of these being played is where the main influence for this composition has been drawn from, having seen them being played live at the Edinburgh Tattoo in 2013.

Kodo - "O-Daiko" - HD (japanese drummers - Taiko - tambours géants Japon)

The composition uses a collection of the musical devices and elements which are describe in the project brief. They are able to layer sounds through having a trio of drummers, while also varying the tempo to create tension when build up to specific parts. The drummers also vary the velocity of their hits to again build tension. In terms of frequency range, even though the instrument is only a large drum they are still able to generate a number of different sounds, which are achieved through hitting different parts of the drum. Because of the composition being based purely on drums, the focus on writing the composition and making it interesting has to come from interesting drum patterns and differences in texture, dynamic and tempo.

African Burundi Drum Music

As opposed to the Japanese drums, which had been used in the feudal era of Japan to motivate troops during battle, African drumming music is much more of a social activity. The style of music contains clapping, singing and dancing, more elements than just using the drum itself. It also usually has a complex texture and rhythm, set by the master drummer who signals dancers or other drummers when to change the beat.

Composition

After searching for a number of different taiko drum vst's it was decided that the toms from the drumming program superior drummer 2.0 would be used, specifically the toms. This included using four toms from the main drum kit, as they sounded similar in EQ to the Taiko drums. However EQ was applied to each of the toms in order to give it more of the sound of a Taiko drum.

Since this composition was going to be completely done using MIDI, care had to be taken to the fine detail of making the piece sound more realistic.

Here is an example of some editing done to the MIDI notes for the drum parts. When changing the velocities, I would usually lessen the impact of everything second hit, because the first hit of the drum is usually the strongest. The second alteration was the different timing of the MIDI notes. For each tom I slightly adjusted the timing so it gives the impression of an ensemble of drummers, rather than it coming from one drum kit.

This is an example of a poly rhythm being played on top of the original drum beat, the china cymbal was suppose to add more frequency range to the composition as opposed to the low sounding drum samples.

 Final Mix

Conclusion

Although I used toms from a regular drum-kit to act as Taiko drums, I still feel that this is piece that somewhat accurately represents some of the musical devices shown within these types of music, as well as addressing some of the aspects of the composition brief.

References

1. AgoraVoxFrance. (2011). Kodo - "O-Daiko" - HD (japanese drummers - Taiko - tambours géants Japon) . Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7HL5wYqAbU. Last accessed Sep 2014.

2.  Traditional Music Channel. (2014). African Burundi Drum Music. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag6y6jz7bQQ. Last accessed Sep 2014.