Music, Sound, Performance - City University of Hong...

Music, Sound, Performance

Wednesday, October 3, 12

Listening test


What is sound?

Oscillation e.g. pendulum, spring

“An oscillation of pressure composed of frequencies with the hearing range”

Hertz (Hz): Frequency, cycles per secondPeriod = 1/f (100 Hz = 1/100 = 0.01s = 10ms)

H. Helmholtz “Every (complex) sound can be broken down to a simple sine wave” - The basis for FFT


What is sound?How the brain processes and perceives sound

Psychoacoustics:Human hearing range 20 Hz - 22,000 HzMP3 compression

Music Psychology:Sound illusions, absolute pitch

Harmonics, Overtones, Timbre


What is music?


Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring (1913)

Arnold Schoenberg, Serialism (1920’s ~)

Conlon Nancarroway, Studies for player piano (1948 - 1992)


Edgard Varése

I dream of instruments obedient to my thought and which with their contribution of a whole new world of unsuspected sounds, will lend themselves to the exigencies of my inner rhythm (1917)


And here are the advantages I anticipate from such a machine;

...unsuspected range in low and high registers... the possibility of obtaining any differentiation of timbre, of sound-combinations; new dynamics far beyond the present human-powered orchestra

...cross-rhythms unrelated to each other

...since the machine would be able to beat any number of desired notes, any subdivision of them, omission or fraction of them-all these in a given unit of measure or time that is humanly impossible to attain. (1939)


Electronic Sounds / Sound Synthesis


Karlheinz Stockhausen Kontakte (1958 - 1960)


John Cage (1912 - 1992)Indeterminate MusicPrepared PianoChance OperationMulti-media theater / performanceSilence Imaginary Landscapes Cartridge MusicMusic for Modern DanceMycologist4’33”


John Cage 4’33” (1952)


“When I hear what we call music, it seems to me that someone is talking. And talking about his feelings or about his ideas, of relationships. But when I hear traffic, the sound of traffic here on sixth avenue for instance, I don’t have the feeling that anyone is talking, I have the feeling that a sound is acting, and I love the activity of sound. What it does, is it gets louder and quieter, and it gets higher and lower. And it gets longer and shorter. I’m completely satisfied with that, I don’t need sound to talk to me.”


John Cage Variations VII


Music Concréte, Acousmatic Music, Tape Music


Pierre Schaeffer

Traditional music begins as an abstraction (musical notation) that is later produced as audible music. Musique concrète, by contrast, strives to start with the "concrete" sounds that emanate from base phenomena and then abstracts them into a composition. The term musique concrète is then, in essence, the breaking down of the structured production of traditional instruments, harmony, rhythm, and even music theory itself, in an attempt to reconstruct music from the bottom up.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomena

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomena

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmony

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmony

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_theory

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_theory

Dick Raaijmakers Pianoforte (1959)


Trevor Wishart Red Bird (1978)


Amplification & Feedback


Jimi Hendrix


Resonance & Infrasound


David Tudor Rainforest (1968, 1973)“The basic notion, which is a technical one, was the idea that the loudspeaker should have a voice which was unique and not just an instrument of reproduction, but as an instrument unto itself.”


Ultrasound


Alvin Lucier Vespers (1968)

Each performer is supplied with a Sondol (sonar-dolphin), a hand-held echolocation device which emits a fast, sharp, narrow-beamed click whose repetition rate can be varied manually, and is given the task of orienting himself in the dark by means of scanning the environment and monitoring the relationship between the outgoing and returning pulses. When the pulse repetition rate is adjusted so that the returning echo is half-way between the outgoing pulses, an object appears to emit sound, the quality of which depends upon the material of the object itself. Moving from place to place the performer discovers clear pathways, avoids obstacles and takes slow sound photographs of his surroundings.


Phasing & Beating


Steve Reich Clapping Music (1972)


Steve Reich Clapping Music


Steve Reich Music for 18 Musicians (1978)


Sampling, Cut-up, Mash-up


Dub, Versions, Remixing


20th Century: The liberation of soundNew instruments, new sounds, new musicSound phenomena & perception as musical inspiration

Theremin - sound synthesis, electronic soundsElectric guitar - amplification, feedback, distortionTurntable - sampling, dance music


21th Century: ?The Laptop - ?


Deadmau5 We all hit play...its no secret. when it comes to “live” performance of EDM… that’s about the most it seems you can do anyway. It’s not about performance art, its not about talent either

I think given about 1 hour of instruction, anyone with minimal knowledge of ableton and music tech in general could DO what im doing at a deadmau5 concert.

i just roll up with a laptop and a midi controller and “select” tracks n hit a spacebar.


2. Max/MSP http://cycling74.com/3. Oscillation, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OscillationH. Helmholtz, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_von_Helmholtz#Acoustics_and_aesthetics4. A frontal section of the human ear, http://www.medtrng.com/anatomy%20lesson/bhp14.htm5. Bat's echolocation http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/mystery_detectives/learn/bathymetry/index.html6. Music Psychology http://deutsch.ucsd.edu/psychology/pages.php?i=1017. Audio illusions http://listverse.com/2008/02/29/top-10-incredible-sound-illusions/8. Tuvan Throat singing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY1pcEtHI_w9. Pacôme Béru & Yann Leguay, The tune the old cow died of (2009) https://vimeo.com/2826282010. Chromatic scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatic_scale11. Try listening to Nancorrow's Study for Player Piano http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubepzLKAcCo12,13. E, Varése, The liberation of sound http://helios.hampshire.edu/~hacu123/papers/varese.html14. E. Varese, Ionisation (1929 -31) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9mg4KHqRPw16. Leon Theremin, Theremin (1928) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5qf9O6c20o17. Karlheinz Stockhausen 1964 at WDR 18. K Stockhausen Kontakte (1958 - 60) part 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNt6a5xFOnEpart 2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-K1P92aZk8&feature=relmfu21. John Cage, 4’33″ (1960) Tacet Tacet Tacet version 22. John Cage on Silence http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcHnL7aS64Y25. Pierre Shaeffer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Schaeffer26. Dick Raaijmakers, Pianoforte (1959) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uxfm8cL47U27. Trevor Wishart, Red Bird (1978) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lekLl7o8yrc


29. Jimi Hendrix, Feedback 31. David Tudor, Rainforest (1973) 32. Mark Bain Archisonic (Maritime Edition, 2008) https://vimeo.com/236686434. Alvin Lucier, Vespers (1968) http://turbulence.org/networked_music_review/2008/02/20/net_music_weekly-vespers-by-alvin-lucier/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRH3nJjt9y035. Evelina Domnitch & Dmitry Gelfand, Sonolevetation (2009) http://www.portablepalace.com/37. Clapping Music http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhhvgdQs_h438. Animation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu-tRXgOrdg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clapping_Music40. DJ Total Eclipse http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=133VrL7qNqg42.John Oswald, Oh Hell (1991) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBznPAirdzA43. Danger Mouse, The grey Album (2003)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grey_Albumhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERDTa-c8djY&feature=bf_prev&list=PL4FE810A8E43A5D3D45. Lee Scratch Perry, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_%22Scratch%22_Perry48. Aphex Twin, Boy/Girl Song (1996) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCSrMEsaNAM49. Ryuichi Sakamoto & Christian Fennez (2007)50. Deadmau5, http://deadmau5.tumblr.com/post/25690507284/we-all-hit-play51. Edison at STEIM Patterns + Pleasure Festival (2011) https://vimeo.com/3359389352. Michel Waisvisz, http://crackle.org/53. Michel Waisvisz, STEIM Archive (2003)54. Yao, Chung Han, LLSP (2011)56. Nicolas Collins, Trombone Propelled Electronics (1994) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89jbl0ZuaH457. Nicolas Collins, STEIM Archive (1994)


https://vimeo.com/2366864


http://turbulence.org/networked_music_review/2008/02/20/net_music_weekly-vespers-by-alvin-lucier/




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRH3nJjt9y0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRH3nJjt9y0

http://www.portablepalace.com

http://www.portablepalace.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhhvgdQs_h4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhhvgdQs_h4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu-tRXgOrdg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu-tRXgOrdg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clapping_Music




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=133VrL7qNqg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=133VrL7qNqg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBznPAirdzA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBznPAirdzA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grey_Album

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grey_Album

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERDTa-c8djY&feature=bf_prev&list=PL4FE810A8E43A5D3D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERDTa-c8djY&feature=bf_prev&list=PL4FE810A8E43A5D3D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_%22Scratch%22_Perry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_%22Scratch%22_Perry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCSrMEsaNAM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCSrMEsaNAM

http://deadmau5.tumblr.com/post/25690507284/we-all-hit-play

http://deadmau5.tumblr.com/post/25690507284/we-all-hit-play



http://crackle.org

http://crackle.org

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89jbl0ZuaH4




Music, Sound, Performance - City University of Hong...

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