john cage (1912-92) an american composer. cage organized the project of music for magnetic tape. he worked with composers Earle Brown(1926-2002)Morton Feldman(1926-87)christian wolff(b.1934) and david tudor who all began to explore the tape medium with assistance from louis and bebe barron. cage was also associated with chance operations. he opened his mind to any and all possible sounds. pitched or unpitched it did not matter to him. he was never limited to rules. he was a musical advisor for over 40yrs with the merce cunningham dance company. he extended the use of electronics to live performances, which were recorded later. the company also maintained cages interest in electronic music because he didnt like the typical format of magnetic tape concerts during that time.
who were the performers in the video?
there weren't really any performers. they were more engineers than anything else. just setting up the stage with all the "instruments", wires and cables. they would all walk around and that would trigger the photoelectric cells.
who was john cage in the movie?
cage was the mastermind off the performance. he would compose the people and the variables. he would bring engineers at random and add them to the stage. he created performers.
what was cages roll in relinquishing control?
he definitely had control but it wasn't as if he was a control freak. he was very chill, relaxed and laid back. he would set up everything and whatever happened he would go with it. he just accepted the sounds from the world.
what were the instruments?
there weren't really instruments as they would set up different wires all over different places. such as a turtle tank to capture the water cleaning device, a kitchen in a busy restaurant. the cooks had no idea they were being recorded. so it wasn't staged or anything it was a live performance sort of speak. a classmate called it a "voyeur audio" which makes sense because it was as if they were eves dropping on them and enjoying the sounds that it would produce. not only that but they would take house hold appliances like a juicer or a vacuum and set them up on stage. cage would take everyday sounds and warp them.
how would you define the piece of music?
i honestly would not call it music but an art performance. they took all sources and putting them in one room. it was just a lot of organized noise and they would arrange it to there liking.
how was it more than a sound performance?
it was more than just noise or "music". there was a lot of multimedia. there were a bunch of objects to watch. the people the shadows the lights would provide. they were described as "beautiful shadows".
Friday, October 8, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
2projects....schoenberg...stockhausen
- 2projects to do. we have to do a found sound project. we will need a portable recorder, an mbox, a laptop and we will be recording in mono.
- we have to choose a paradigm of one composer we have learned from so far
- we have to note the it is composed
- the limitation process: mic to laptop, it has to be in the fort ord campus or within 10 feet. it can be in buildings, we can be in a wide open space
- it has to be significant
- each samples combined have to be a total of 4min for the project
- they have to be person made objects
- for the narrative part we have to compare the limitations to the composers limitations
- 2nd project will be an in class presentation on a pre apporoved electronic subject. 10 min including a 1min audio sample
- it has to be related to class
- there are 4limitations to follow:1.living elements, voices, and animal sounds.2.noises.3.modifies or prepared instruments.4. conventional instruments(non traditional manners)
- developed 7values:1.mass-organization of sounding spectral dimension, high frequency where it lies.2.dynamics-measurable values.3.tone quality and timbre(tone).4. melodic profile-temporal evolution of tonal spectrum of sound.5.profile mass-" " spectral components of a high mass. 6.grain-analysis and irregularities. 7. pace-loud or soft it goes, analysis of the amplitude in time
- broader application, taking what we know about melody
- schaeffer had 3plans: harmonic plan-20---20k. dynamic plan-effected envelope (attack decay sustain release). melodic plan-pitch and tone
- there were to types of composition to electronic music. french and German: french were more organic and German were serial-ism, 12 tone music
- arnold shoenberg (1874-1951) inventor of 12tone music. he would take all chromatic pitches but doesnt repeat. it lead in certain direction. it has a strong sense of rhythm. 5 general rules for the rows of 12 tone music:pitches are organized in a definite order or row. no note can be played until all notes are played. row can be organized in a diff manner. one note is no more important than another note. each row can be inverted or reversed.
- Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007) german composer, most important and controversial composer of 20th century
- etude 1952 first piece
- tape deck as unified time domain. in composition he felt he could manipulate time. duration can be controlled and manipulated. serialized composition, applied mathematical analysis of tones to generation, shape and deiting of the tape recorded sounds. tone generator and tape. sign waves (pure tone no harmonics)
- 1,920 hz frequency range of human voice (average) calculated frequencies and recombined individual pitches through calculations.
- studie2 1954 was the first composition for sign waves.
- stockhausen had a 4process method: unified time structure. splitting sound. multilayering spatial composition. equality of tone and noise.
- we saw a clip of stockhausens helicopter string quartet....crazy and insane!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
review review
before the tape recorder there were disks and wire recorders and phonofilm.
phonofilm would capture a snap shot of audio.
phonofilm was invented by Lee De Forest.
it would last longer than disk and wire recorders.. it harnessed AC(alternating current) it lost its patten a few times though
turntable-ism was used to change pitch and timbre
Pual hindemith, varese and age used turntables in their compostitions.
musique concrete and found sound were really similar
pierre schaeffer (1910-95) worked with pierre henry (1927-present) with the beginnings of recording music from 1949 to 1951. schaeffer was more familiar with the technology and henry was more the composer so it worked pretty well.
they would play their sounds backwards...experimenting in a compositional way.
schaeffer coined the the words "musique concrete" in 1948.
musique concrete can be summarized as real world sounds (audibles) that occur naturally and that do not include instrument or human interface.
it is considered a great type of art that enlightens us in ways unimaginable because we hear these things in our day to day life but we never hear them in a type of music. where they are recorded in patterns which to us is pleasing. we are used to rhythms because we like to know what is going to happen next.
musique concrete is breaking the breaking down of the structure of traditional instruments. it is reconceptualizing the abstraction of music
schaeffers first idea was the concept that can include any and all sounds except produced...by traditional instruments
on top of this info we also had an assessment that i did not do so well on. i was pissed. it completely caught me off guard. i completely spaced out.
the telharmonium was invented by thaddeas cahill (1861-
it was built on the works of helen hotlz. it percieved synthetic orchestra played by one person. the goal was to create music over long distances. complex sounds and additive synthesis. it faced some challenges however such as..method tone generation, tuning, keyboard design(interface), power, mixing sounds and there size, amplification, control dynamics, funding, and wide spread use.
lee de forrest (1875-1961) he invented vacuum tubes. which created a low signal and it amplified it. it lead to radio broadcasting and recording technology
phonofilm would capture a snap shot of audio.
phonofilm was invented by Lee De Forest.
it would last longer than disk and wire recorders.. it harnessed AC(alternating current) it lost its patten a few times though
turntable-ism was used to change pitch and timbre
Pual hindemith, varese and age used turntables in their compostitions.
musique concrete and found sound were really similar
pierre schaeffer (1910-95) worked with pierre henry (1927-present) with the beginnings of recording music from 1949 to 1951. schaeffer was more familiar with the technology and henry was more the composer so it worked pretty well.
they would play their sounds backwards...experimenting in a compositional way.
schaeffer coined the the words "musique concrete" in 1948.
musique concrete can be summarized as real world sounds (audibles) that occur naturally and that do not include instrument or human interface.
it is considered a great type of art that enlightens us in ways unimaginable because we hear these things in our day to day life but we never hear them in a type of music. where they are recorded in patterns which to us is pleasing. we are used to rhythms because we like to know what is going to happen next.
musique concrete is breaking the breaking down of the structure of traditional instruments. it is reconceptualizing the abstraction of music
schaeffers first idea was the concept that can include any and all sounds except produced...by traditional instruments
on top of this info we also had an assessment that i did not do so well on. i was pissed. it completely caught me off guard. i completely spaced out.
the telharmonium was invented by thaddeas cahill (1861-
it was built on the works of helen hotlz. it percieved synthetic orchestra played by one person. the goal was to create music over long distances. complex sounds and additive synthesis. it faced some challenges however such as..method tone generation, tuning, keyboard design(interface), power, mixing sounds and there size, amplification, control dynamics, funding, and wide spread use.
lee de forrest (1875-1961) he invented vacuum tubes. which created a low signal and it amplified it. it lead to radio broadcasting and recording technology
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Theremin
who was professor Leon Theremin?
Lev Sergeyevich Termen or most commonly known as Leon Theremen. he was the inventor of the "Theremin". he was born in russia on august 15 1896 and died on november 3rd 1993.
what inventions and innovations was he responsible for?
leon theremin invented the "theremin" which was an electronic instrument that was played without touching it. it consisted of coils creating magnetic fields causing pitch and volume. he created it just by using his ears. he also invented a cello shaped theremin as will which pretty much did the same thing. also in russia he was forced build a "bug." the russians used it to spy. another invention of his was a censor alarm that was put on cradles to alarm when a thief was trying to kidnap a baby. another somewhat similar to the baby alarm. was a censor at banks when the would get robbed as soon as the tellers would put there hands up it would send an alarm to the authorities.
what significant events changed the course of his life?
i think one event that changed theremins life was when he fell in love with a black ballet dancer. after then he married her. and it was around the time were it was "bad" for a while male to get involved with a black female or vise versa. i think the most life changing event that happened to him was when he left the country or was taken under soviet arrest back to russia. he disappeared for thirty years and no one knew what happened to him. they didnt know if he was dead or alive. some said that he was in prison for seven years and the the russian government made him invent things that would help russia but hurt other countries. such as the" bug". others believed that he was a russain spy and had been passing american technology secrets to soviet union.
how did his inventions change the course of electronic music?
his inventions changed not electronic music but life entirely. it was an instrument you are able to play without touching it. that is amazing! it inspired many other people to get involved with electronics and try to invent some of there own like the synthesizer. the theremin was used in science fiction and horror movies. the press described it as "mere caterwauling" and "piercingly shrieking". theremin was used in great songs by great bands such as the beach boys. nicholas slonimsky called him the "profit of future music"
if you were him, what would you have done differently?
if i had invented the theremin i wouldve have called it the sanchez haha (my last name) but seriously i probably would have tried to make it sound a little more soothing. im a fan of the instrument but not how it sounds. i find it to be really eerie. which i thought was weird when they were using it instead of a violin. it just didnt fit for me. it sounded like an alien romance ensemble. i would have maybe tried to have made it a little more portable or smaller.
if you could have spent 3 months of his life working with him, what period of his life would you chose?
i would have chosen the time around where he started working on the instrument. i would have want to know exactly what he was doing that made him want to create it. what his process was. exactly how he went about to choosing what he did. all the materials and what not. also i would have tried to see if he would have been able to change the pitch. make it sound soothing. another part would probably be when Einstein played the theremin. how leon said that einstein had no ear for the instrument. i thought that was pretty funny.
Lev Sergeyevich Termen or most commonly known as Leon Theremen. he was the inventor of the "Theremin". he was born in russia on august 15 1896 and died on november 3rd 1993.
what inventions and innovations was he responsible for?
leon theremin invented the "theremin" which was an electronic instrument that was played without touching it. it consisted of coils creating magnetic fields causing pitch and volume. he created it just by using his ears. he also invented a cello shaped theremin as will which pretty much did the same thing. also in russia he was forced build a "bug." the russians used it to spy. another invention of his was a censor alarm that was put on cradles to alarm when a thief was trying to kidnap a baby. another somewhat similar to the baby alarm. was a censor at banks when the would get robbed as soon as the tellers would put there hands up it would send an alarm to the authorities.
what significant events changed the course of his life?
i think one event that changed theremins life was when he fell in love with a black ballet dancer. after then he married her. and it was around the time were it was "bad" for a while male to get involved with a black female or vise versa. i think the most life changing event that happened to him was when he left the country or was taken under soviet arrest back to russia. he disappeared for thirty years and no one knew what happened to him. they didnt know if he was dead or alive. some said that he was in prison for seven years and the the russian government made him invent things that would help russia but hurt other countries. such as the" bug". others believed that he was a russain spy and had been passing american technology secrets to soviet union.
how did his inventions change the course of electronic music?
his inventions changed not electronic music but life entirely. it was an instrument you are able to play without touching it. that is amazing! it inspired many other people to get involved with electronics and try to invent some of there own like the synthesizer. the theremin was used in science fiction and horror movies. the press described it as "mere caterwauling" and "piercingly shrieking". theremin was used in great songs by great bands such as the beach boys. nicholas slonimsky called him the "profit of future music"
if you were him, what would you have done differently?
if i had invented the theremin i wouldve have called it the sanchez haha (my last name) but seriously i probably would have tried to make it sound a little more soothing. im a fan of the instrument but not how it sounds. i find it to be really eerie. which i thought was weird when they were using it instead of a violin. it just didnt fit for me. it sounded like an alien romance ensemble. i would have maybe tried to have made it a little more portable or smaller.
if you could have spent 3 months of his life working with him, what period of his life would you chose?
i would have chosen the time around where he started working on the instrument. i would have want to know exactly what he was doing that made him want to create it. what his process was. exactly how he went about to choosing what he did. all the materials and what not. also i would have tried to see if he would have been able to change the pitch. make it sound soothing. another part would probably be when Einstein played the theremin. how leon said that einstein had no ear for the instrument. i thought that was pretty funny.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
chapter 2 notes
pierre schafffer (1951) pupitre d'espace: four rings used during live performance to control spatial distribution of electricity produced sounds. it had two channels one in the rear and another in the overhead. sound on film- recording was another technology in 1930s.
Lee De Forest invented audion vacumm tube.
De Forest process- called phono film. it made talking movies in 1919. john whitney (1917-95) experimental films 1940. james whitney (B. 1922) was also apart of the De Forest Process. turntablism- invention is the mother of necessity. Ottorino Respighi-disc recording of nightinglas... the pine of rome 1924 Paul Hindemith and Ernst Toc (1887-1964) new application for turn table. Gromophonmusic- roots of turntablism. indemith names two works. trickaufnahmen (trick recordings) toch- gesprochene music (spoken music) pierre schaffer (b. 1970) radio engineer, broadcaster, writer. Pierre Henry (1927) composer. musique concrete: sound recording tools, natural sounds electronic signals and instrumental sounds. abraham Moles (1922-92) multi disciplinary theorist "seperable in expirements from the contunuity of perception"
1. harmonic plan: development timbre as function entire range of audible frequencies over time.
2. dynamic plan: dynamic aspects of sound with respect to time
3. melodic plan: pitch and tone sequences over tiime
electroacoustic- electronic sound sources. lock grooves-endless loops.
Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM) - collective composers became subsumed by RTF in 1958
Henry Pousseur (b. 1929) Gyorgi Ligeti (1923-2006) cornelius Cardew (1936-81) Mauriclo Kagel (b.1931)- technical limits of th e studio devising and engineering bag of tricks to realize musical ideas. etude-monophonic piece- progression of atomized bursts of sound that transformed piano. 1,920 hz center frequency range of human voice.
1. unified time structuring
2. splitting of sound
3. multilayered spatial composition
4. equalty of tone and noise
karlheinz stockhuasen 1956 gesang der junglinge produced host of electro music production techniques. specialized tape recorder- "springer" to lengthen or shorten radio broadcasts
Lee De Forest invented audion vacumm tube.
De Forest process- called phono film. it made talking movies in 1919. john whitney (1917-95) experimental films 1940. james whitney (B. 1922) was also apart of the De Forest Process. turntablism- invention is the mother of necessity. Ottorino Respighi-disc recording of nightinglas... the pine of rome 1924 Paul Hindemith and Ernst Toc (1887-1964) new application for turn table. Gromophonmusic- roots of turntablism. indemith names two works. trickaufnahmen (trick recordings) toch- gesprochene music (spoken music) pierre schaffer (b. 1970) radio engineer, broadcaster, writer. Pierre Henry (1927) composer. musique concrete: sound recording tools, natural sounds electronic signals and instrumental sounds. abraham Moles (1922-92) multi disciplinary theorist "seperable in expirements from the contunuity of perception"
1. harmonic plan: development timbre as function entire range of audible frequencies over time.
2. dynamic plan: dynamic aspects of sound with respect to time
3. melodic plan: pitch and tone sequences over tiime
electroacoustic- electronic sound sources. lock grooves-endless loops.
Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM) - collective composers became subsumed by RTF in 1958
Henry Pousseur (b. 1929) Gyorgi Ligeti (1923-2006) cornelius Cardew (1936-81) Mauriclo Kagel (b.1931)- technical limits of th e studio devising and engineering bag of tricks to realize musical ideas. etude-monophonic piece- progression of atomized bursts of sound that transformed piano. 1,920 hz center frequency range of human voice.
1. unified time structuring
2. splitting of sound
3. multilayered spatial composition
4. equalty of tone and noise
karlheinz stockhuasen 1956 gesang der junglinge produced host of electro music production techniques. specialized tape recorder- "springer" to lengthen or shorten radio broadcasts
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