Running Head: ELECTRONIC MUSIC THEORY AND ANALYSIS
Electronic Music Theory and Analysis
Electronic Music Theory and Analysis
Listening (30 September 2011)
Choose a sound like a spoken word, close your eyes and focus on the sound, apply effects. Speed it then slow it notices the invariant qualities in every file there’s a mute side. What was realist enterprise to get the importance of sound turns idealist. Lesson Learnt? Only partly through perception.
Sight dominates what we hear, though listening is dependent on what’s heard. In contemporary music listeners are keen on the sound’s features (Davis). Electronic music is basically for the ears with no visual interference. It’s about the subculture not recognized by the mainstream culture; don’t you think electronic music is about revolution?
Casual listening lies between perceptive and background listening, one is aware of the rhythm. The music is processed and sticks in your head. It’s not involving, try perceptive listening and see the contrast. Semantic listening evokes the sound description. Reduced listening is form of “specialized” listening, this isn’t true. It’s natural.
Listening: Acousmatic listening (30 September 2011)
The acousmatic is unique as it allows focus on a medium and ignores the others. It’s a mode of aesthetic experience connected to madness, divinity and spiritual (Barreiro). Ability to experience presence in absence, there is imagination to connect with sound (with a source) as the visual doesn’t explain the acousmatic sound.
Acousmatic is what’s heard with no origin noticed. Used in Pythagoras time to mean uninitiated students who went through three year probation then five years “silence” period before admission. Silence was related to mystic features and ceremonies of Pythagorean rule that happened in curtain. Successful ones saw the teacher the others partook acoustically.
Acousmatic banal is experienced every day; telephone, radio among others. It is neither special in listening like concerts in halls or elevated music context. Everyone is able to listen acousmatic. Though seems strange sitting in a hall to listen to loudspeakers (lacking performers). Since it’s familiar with listening it’s accessible.
Listening: Phenomenology (30 September 2011)
Edmund Husserl (1859- 1938) termed phenomology as being about consciousness, emphasizes on certain examples without theoretical presuppositions (like the phenomenon of love and two touching hands). Phenomenology creates freedom from prejudices and secures purity of detachment of observers (Jackson). Human make music through attuning and listening granting attunements, silence and equivocation are modes of speech while silence is opposite (a mode of speech about nothing). Phenomenology is an art with which humanity listening.
Listening in phenomenology is familiarity of contrast in consciousness based on subjective view. Gives the importance of personal importance of individual perspective and necessary for its understanding, acquire knowledge of motivations and actions.
It is applied in single instances, while in multiple instances the strength of inference advances when aspect begins to recur. It’s useful in identifying the presence of aspects and implications (though tentative in their extent to population). It studies sensation (like hearing, seeing and moving).
Listening: Phenomology – Interior/ Exterior (31 September 2011)
Listening has gotten a review (due to acoustic mirror) confirmed for the quality of listening (not interior or exterior) Based on listening one can provide assistance by listening (Tymieniecka). The singer is the sole instrumentalist to listen to “interior voice” and also the “exterior voice.” It’s hard to listen objectively depending on the instrument. More so for voice considering the ears are interior and external close to oral cavity. The head resonates the sound of the voice (more so sharp notes) hence saturating the listening for the theatre.
Listening is a form of subjective dimension that directs attention to oneself (called self-listening and has no acoustic expression) or to another person. It occurs in the human mind (inner speech and musical imagination) as well as the body (that may be intentional or unintentional). Imagination and perception are at odds; here music becomes polyphonic which occurs between listener’s perception of external and imagination.
Listening Environment (31 September 2011)
There are varied aspects that impact of listening and speaking of the person. More so in sensitive instances that need attention and privacy (minds). The external factors which distracts are then highly important and should be considered. Sensory factors of the senses may uphold or block listening more so sudden changes. Noisy create distraction that put things off. Environmental listening overcomes being visible and the presence in two places at once. Hearing satisfaction creates comfort. The use of hearing aids is used to create this satisfaction. It is hard to talk and listen in hot and humid instances (like sweating profusely), a decorated room creates a suitable environment while otherwise loud and distracting. Physiological aspects like discomfort distract and limit ability to talk or listen. Pain, illness (affects mind hence lack focus), fatigue (a person loses the ability to concentrate) and stress (loss of interest in talking or listening) does add to this.
Listening: Acousmatic and Embodied (31 September 2011)
Acousmatic listening is a mental representation acquired by listener and determined by focus on intrinsic and extrinsic aspect correlated to inner features of sound achieved by limited listening. While extrinsic aspects are related to human experience in bigger aspect (Ouzounian). The body is a mediator of instance based listening, which is a midway between mental and physical.
Pierre Schaeffer sees acousmatic mode of listening to be significant. It perceives sound with no basis of visual. Sound is used to insist on the context using the soundscape.
Embodied listening is a multidisciplinary method that is based on caring for individual and advancing relationships b issuing awareness. Listening enables openness and sensitivity to feelings and needs. It composes listening partnerships and discussions in better environment. It aims at exploring the connection of sound, space and sensation that happens in body, surroundings and imaginary points. It occurs based on sound or music as it relates to environment.
Listening: The continuum (1 September 2011)
The instrument produces chromatic pitch based on division of octave into pitches. This is the experience that incorporates physical, mental and emotional advancement of human more so little children (physical contact, breastfeeding). Attention varies from free floating to keen focus and the interventions in place (Eadie). Analyst is does not notice his thoughts as it happens unconsciously, another instance of continuum analyst is aware of the state and the intervention and the other end he is more conscious and focused. Listening is a continuum for information on the left (of it) to hear with empathy on the other side. It’s a complicated behaviour that relies on the listener’s aim and the speaker’s goal when communicating. Listening is hard to investigate and occupies time of scholars. Continuum establishes format for Smalley’s spectromorphological and allows sensible interpretations of sound.
Ideological thinking display electroacoustic music varies to instrumental music. It’s original and definitive though idiosyncratic and below par research.
Sound: Description- Spectromorphology (1) (1 September 2011)
Life is kept in human mind like database based on behaviours of physical stuff. Are applied in database composed of formats with expectations of sound allowing inferential of sound (acousmatic) based on Spectromorphology and character, the database is a sound and things showing its origin, cause and trend (Blackburn).
It’s based on limited listening. Creates ability to describe sound of object with no reliance on vocabulary.
Schaeffer used sound object to manage music task, it’s an abstract method far from world by listening. A theory relates it to body and world, assumption is created on cognitive procedures (personal experiences). It’s the real (governance by set rules and regulations) that we ought to follow.
The network is subdivided into Indicative fields vary from gesture (creating sound suing energy), uttering (creating sound using body for presence), behaviour (correlation of human and plants), energy (spectromorphological like resonance), object, surrounding, vision of both seeing and hearing and space (of listening and implied).
Sound: Description – Spectromorphology (2) (2 September 2011)
Spectromorphology is a copy of sound spectrum with time that analyses electroacoustic music. Smalley advanced on Schaeffer’s work on classifying sound (SMALLEY). Analyzing by describing connects listening while described spectromorphology incorporates limited listening based on internal characteristics. However, limited listening takes up natural listening that correlates with it, it’s tiny.
It’s based on translating perception of an object and not description, analysis requires simplifying and making formal perception to represent and know it. Acousmatic music expounds the context of what is heard.
Smalley terms the descriptive analysis and implies the nonexistence of “spectro” without morphology (can be modeled with time and has sonic content). There is importance of spectromorphology for advancing certain strategies. It’s a systemization and remedy to terminate choice of possibilities when working. Smalley’s vocabulary visualizations are the focus that shows the method of sound creation and joining. There are three typologies called noise-note broken to three; noise, node and note.
Sound: Description- Spatiomorphology (2 September 2011)
Smalley introduced it based on spatial perspective created with time (M). Elaborating certain spatial factors and method of space creation through motion and anatomy. The indicative networks are important for spatial effect, while the sensory mode is informed for perception and by memory. For perception sound and vision are necessary and the other three senses necessary in proximate experience for body. The experience is embodied while body issues spatial orientation. Body is basis for personal and others.
Smalley’s spatiomorphology issues sufficient format and terminology for handling music spatiality issues certain analysis and description of deploying music. Majorly for acousmatic music however used in other instances of music (instances are at discography).
Smalley clams acousmatic music is quasi-visual and aural while sound and vision aren’t connected (the aspects of space insist on music presenting itself on the listener’s basis). It also describes texture in space considering environment. Critics claim space is supplant.
Works Cited
Barreiro, Daniel L. “Sonic Image and Acousmatic Listening.” Organized Sound (2011).
Blackburn, Manuella. “Proposed application, pedagogy and metadata.” Composing from spectromorphological vocabulary: (2007).
Davis, Robert. “Modes of production, modes of listening: alternative realities and the sonic divide.” Journal on the Art of Record Production (July, 2011).
Eadie, William F. 21st century communication: a reference handbook, Volume 1. London, UK. SAGE, 2009.
Jackson, Michael D. “Reflections on Copenhagen: Listening with Steve.” Sensate (2011).
M, ERIK NYSTRO¨. “Textons and the Propagation of Space in Acousmatic Music.” Organized Sound (2011): 14-26.
Minds, changing. “Environmental factors.” Listening (2011).
Ouzounian, Gascia. “Embodied Sound: Aural Architectures and the Body.” Contemporary Music Review (February/April 2006): 69-79.
SMALLEY, DENIS. “Spectromorphology: explaining sound-shapes.” Organized Sound (1997): 107-126.
Tymieniecka, Anna-Teresa. Phenomenology and existentialism in the twentieth century: Fruition, cross-pollination, dissemination. Hanover, USA: Springer, 2009.
