MINIMALISM
Steve Reich and Phillip Glass are the most famous of the Minimalist composers and their names are widely known beyond classical music circles. We will look at what minimalism is and, examine the specific types of minimalist compositions that Reich and Glass developed. Minimalism’s influence on contemporary popular music will briefly be considered.
In the first half of the twentieth century, the two most prominent methods of composition were Serialism and Indeterminacy. The first was a mathematically precise method of composition. Indeterminacy, pioneered by John Cage, relied heavily on both improvisation and chance. The Minimalists rejected serialism for its needless complexity and indeterminacy for its chaos. In hindsight Minimalism was influenced by both. Webern’s serialist compositions included minimalist Pulses which early minimalists such as La Mont Young found inspiring, John Cage’s “silent” piece 4”33 is quite literally the ultimate form of minimalism. (Schwartz p. 9.)
Minimalist music is based on the idea of reduction, that is, the paring down to the bare minimum of material a composer will use in a given work. Elements such as harmony, rhythm, dynamics and instrumentation remain fixed for the duration of the work. Above all, minimalist music is characterised by unceasing repetition. (Schwartz, p 9). This style of music does not build up tension and release and therefore work towards a climax. In fact as Schwartz puts it “Minimalism changes our perception of time itself, since the music changes almost imperceptibly over minutes or even hours. (Schwartz, p. 9)
The two most prominent Minimalist composers were Steve Reich and Phillip Glass. Reich was keen to make the music process itself audible to the listener. This contrasted with serialism whose complex methods of composition were only understood by a chosen few. Therefore any change that occurred with his music, had to take place gradually and systemically (Schwartz. P. 9.) Reich’s early Minimalist compositions experimented with the technique of Phasing. It’s gonna rain (1956) featured two tape recordings of a preacher called Brother Walter saying the words “It’s gonna rain.”(Schwartz p. 61)
Another noticeable work is Reich’s percussion piece Drumming. Drumming is inspired by the rhythms of West African tribal drumming where each player is assigned a unique rhythm pattern that he repeats constantly (Schwartz p. 72).
The other most prominent minimalist composer is Phillip Glass who has composed mainly for film, theatre and opera. Glass’s interest in Minimalism was sparked by the additive process of Indian music whereby single beats are strung together to create longer rhythmical cycles. This lead Glass to compose a series of pulses which would become the backbone of many of his future compositions (Schwartz p. 115)
Much of Glass’s early work was composed using a series of additive and subtractive processes. He would add or subtract a single pitch while the rhythm. Dynamic and texture remained constant. (Schwartz p. 120)
Music with changing parts (1970) took this method to grand proportion. Glass introduced a small amount of tonal improvisation to his winds and voices. This work can often last one to too hours when performed (Schwartz p. 127).
The repetitive nature of minimalism can be seen in genres of contemporary dance music such as Disco, House and Techno. Sub-genres of Minimal Techno and Micro-House strip the Techno and house back even further. Minimal Techno combines the sight lines of Detroit Techno with the echo’s of Jamaican Dub. It focused on sparse grooves played on tightly edited snare clicks and base drops. (Chamberlain).
Whether you are intrigued by the slow and subtle variations in phasing or incensed by its mindless repetitiveness, there is no doubt that has been a commercially successful form of modern classical music, which has influenced many of not all genres and Sub-genres of electronic dance music.
REFERENCE LIST
Chamberlin, D September 18th, 2008. “Party Arty: Minimal Techno Producers Live Up to Their Avant-Garde Heritage and Turn The Party out, Brainiac-Style” in The Miami New Times, September 18, 2003, Music section. Last viewed 15/04/2011) http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2003-09-18/music/party-arty/
Swartz, K.R., 1996, Minimalists, Phaeton press ltd, London
BIBLIOGROPHY
Books, Articles and Websites
Australian Broadcasting Co-corporation et al. (20003) Sounds Like Techno viewed on 18.04.2001) http://www2.abc.net.au/arts/soundsliketechno/
Miller , P. 2008 (ed) Sound unbound. Sampling Digital Music and Culture. MIT press, Cambrige MA.
Arnold J A Brief History of Techno, Viewed 15.4,2011 http://www.gridface.com/features/a_brief_history_of_techno.html
Chamberlin, D September 18th, 2008. “Party Arty: Minimal Techno Producers Live Up To Their Avant-Garde Heritage and Turn the Party Out, Brainiac-style” in The Miami New Times, September 18, 2003, Music section. Last viewed 15/04/2011) http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2003-09-18/music/party-arty/
Nichols, D 2002 the Cambridge Companion to John Cage. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge UK.
Stelfox, D. Clicky Disco, Micro house’s forward march. 2002 Viewed on (15.04.2011)
Swartz, K.R., 1996, Minimalists, Phaidon press ltd, London
MUSIC
Glass, P. 1970 .Music with changing parts
Reich, S. 1965 it’s Gonna Rain. Viewed on 18.04.2011.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7ahn5_steve-reich-its-gonna-rain_tech
Reich, s. 19 71 Drumming,
TEXTURE AND DENSITY
Texture and density have always been present in music, but as technology allowed for increased manipulation of timbre, texture and density became one of the most defining aspects of modern composition.
Mitchell and Logan state that the idea of musical texture encompasses two main elements. The first part is the relationship between melody and harmony. The second part is the density of the simultaneous layering of different musical components. They go on to state that texture can be described in terms of thickness or thinness.
The first and most obvious way of affecting the texture of a piece of music is to increase or decrease the number of instruments or instrument patches. Music with a single line of melody or rhythm is a Monophony. A piece with two or more rhythms or melodies with equal complexity is called Polyphony. Counterpoint is the art of combining these melodies at the same time. (Mitchell, Logan)..
Texture can also be achieved through altering the quality of the sound itself. This is a common technique in non-western music such as African tribal music or Indonesian gamelan music. (Mitchell/Logan) Timbre or tonal colour refers to the quality of the sounds as distinct from there loudness or pitch (Wessel, 1978). Until the later years of the twentieth century, Timbre was largely overlooked as a method of composition by Musicologist as Wessels (1978) says. The reason for this was that most traditional acoustic instruments in western music, while allowing for detailed manipulation of pitch, had very limited ways of allowing for the manipulation of timbre. (Wessel 1978)
However Veal, P.( 37) notes that from the 50’s onwards, technology allowed audio engineers increasing creativity to the extent that many cane to be seen as composers in their own right. This was largely facilitated by the invention of multitrack rerecording, improvements in electronic circuitry and sound processing, which allowed engineers to apply effects such as backwards tape manipulation overdubbing and tape splicing.
The 70’s saw the widespread use of the synthesiser and the introduction of the sampler. Englishman, Brian Eno, place particular influence on timbre and sound colour in the creation of his early ambient music Tamm (p 17) notes that Eno was influenced by Doo-wop and Jazz music growing up. As an Englishman growing up he had no cultural context to place these sounds in. They simply fascinated him as if they were sounds from another planet. Enos ambient electronic music is characterised by low dynamics, blurred edges and washes of sound colours. (Tamm, p.3)
In the 21st century ‘bedroom musician’s “ have access to many computer programs with many Effects with which to alter the timbre of a sound. Compression gives drums a punchier sound. It’s does this by lessoning the different between the quieter and louder portions of a sound, through decreasing the amplitude of a sound beyond a certain point. (Roseman p. 252) Reverb is an effect that allows you to emulate the qualities of a sound as it travels through a certain space For example a concert hall, caverness space or a small room. Distortion gives the sound a fuzzy quality by warping a waveform (Roseman, 312)
House and techno music use additive and subtractive processes to manipulate texture and density through the layering of their sound. In the early 1990’s, progressive dance music did away with the traditional verse/chorus structure of pop songs completely. The main structural elements of progressive music are Build up which is the addition of sounds, break down which is the subtraction of sounds and climax where the sound were built up to their maximum intensity.
The recent emphasis on texture and density owes much to modern Technology. Perhaps this is also due to the modern role of music as a creator of relentless energy on the dance floor instead of something that is played on a gramophone in your living room where you can give it your full attention.
REFERENCE LIST
Mitchell, Logan, J. Four, Combinational operations music- texture. View on 18...04.2011 http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Arts/music/elements/fourcombinat/texture.htm
Roseman, J (2007) Audio Mashup Construction Kit. Wiley Publishing Company. Indianapolis.
Tamm E 1989. Brian Eno. His Music and The Vertical Colour of sound. Faber and Faber London.
Wessel, D. 1978. (Rewrite 1999) Timbre Space as a Musical Control Structure.
Centre Georges-Pompidou . viewed on 18.4.2011. http://articles.ircam.fr/textes/Wessel78a/
unknowm http://progressive-electronic-dance-music.co.tv/ viewed on 18.04.2011
Veal, M. 2007 Dub. Soundscapes And Shattered songs in Jamaican Reggae, Wesleyan University Press, USA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mitchell, Logan, J. Four Combinational operations music- texture. View on 18..04.2011 http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Arts/music/elements/fourcombinat/texture.htm
Reid, G. “Synth Secrets: Part 21 from Polyphony to Digitial Synths”. In Sound on Sound viewed 18.04.2011 http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/allsynthsecrets.htm
Rosemann, J (2007) Audio Mashup construction Kit. Wiley Publishing Company. Indianapolis.
Tamm E 1989. Brian Eno. His Music and The Vertical Colour of sound. Faber and Faber London.
Veal, M. 2007 Dub. Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae, Wesleyan University Press, USA
Wessel, D. 1978. (Rewrite 1999) Timbre Space as a Musical Control Structure.
Centre Georges-Pompidou . viewed on 18.4.2011. http://articles.ircam.fr/textes/Wessel78a/
Unknown http://progressive-electronic-dance-music.co.tv/ viewed on 18.04.2011
Wikipedia Break (music) viewed on 18.04.2011) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break_%28music%29
THE SAMPLER
The invention of the sampler impacted on music to such an existent that it generated several new genres in the late eighties and early nineties. We will look at what a sampler is, the types of early samplers and how these genres were created.
A sampler is an electronic device similar to a synthesiser in which snippets of sound known as samples are stored and triggered by hitting a note on a keyboard or a button. The origin of Sampling can be traced back to Frenchman, Pierre Schaeffer and his Musique Concrete compositional Technique, developed during the forties and fifties. To Schaeffer, Musique Concrete was not just Technique but an aesthetic. Basically, it consisted of working with sounds from pre-existing elements (Taylor. P. 45). Schaeffer himself later saw the flaws of this because listeners would associate the sounds with their pre-existing origins, thus negating the skill and creativity of the composer. (Taylor p. 46)
To negate this problem, Schaeffer found ways to manipulate the sounds, such as altering the speed, or removing the attack or start of the sound (Taylor p. 46) He established the Grouped de Recherche De Mosque Concrete (GRM), in 1951, to further his experiments in sound manipulation. Some of the sound manipulation devices invented by GRM included: The Photogene which could vary, the length, speed and attack of a sound: The three headed tape recorder which meant that sound could now be played back through three separate channels. And the Morphophones which could repeats sounds and repeat them over time using, delays, filtering and feedback, (Wikipedia)
A number of sampling devices’ were used from the 1960 by popular musicians. The Beatles featured a Mellotron, in their 1967 hit Hello Goodbye. Mellotron was a keyboard with tape reels inside it. Each loop would be triggered by a certain note on the keyboard. (Gunnell P. 6) The Mellotron was inspired by Musique Concrete composers such as Edgar Varese (Edwards. P2) The EMS was the first digital sampling device invented but it never reached the commercial market since it could hold only 12kb of sound samples. (Edwards’s p. 2) The first Polyphonic digital sampler was The CM1, invented by the Fairlight company (Edwards p 2). It was invented by accident By Australian Peter Vogel who hooked up an analogue to Digital- converter to a radio and sampled a second of piano music. When altering the pitch, he liked the results he got when playing it back.
Fairlight’s CM2 was the first digital sampler to have widespread commercial use. This had a graphical representation of notes which were layered horizontally from left to right and allowed for easy editing. This timing of the note could be edited via the process of Quantisation and sounds were grouped in cycles and so could easily be edited or removed. (Fairlight- the whole story)
In the late eighties and early nineties, The Hip-Hop genre was practically founded on sampling. This genre relied heavily on riffs and even vocal phrases from seventies funk songs. There were two drum beats that were sampled repeatedly in Hip- Hop. Drummer Clyde Stubblefield’s break in James Brown’s “Aint it Funky now” can be heard under many rapper’s rhymes including “Fight The Power” (Greene Street Recording) and “Bring the noise” (Greene Street Recording). By Public Enemy. Break
The Amen Break, a six second drum break recorded by funk band The Winstons during the song “Amen Brother” was the other pre-dominant drum break used in Hip-Hip. The Amen break was also the basis for other genres in the mid to late nineties. Such as Jungle which later became Drum and Bass. Here, the break was sliced up into its individual snare, base and high hat hits and then re-arranged. (Harrison 2004).
In Conclusion, the sample has influenced and created genres such like few other instruments have. It is interesting to consider that the success of many hip-hip tracks may depend on listener’s opinion of the song being samples. In this context Pierre Schaeffer’s initial concern that the listeners may focus more on the original source of the sounds rather than the composer’s manipulation of them is still highly relevant.
REFERENCE LIST
Edwards, C. 20009 “Music and Computers’ in Engineering and technology, Vol 4 Issue 18. Pp 18-21
Gunnell, J. 2007 A History of Music Technology and It’s Affect On Popular Music .Duquesne University. Viewed 28.04.2011. http://jonathangunnell.com/research/MusicTechOnPop.pdf
Hamer, N . 2005 “Electronic Maestros” in New Scientist vol 185 issue 2492, p. 48-51
Harrison, N. (2004) Can I get an Amen viewed on 19.04.2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac
Author unknown (1996) “Fairlight the Whole Story” in Audio Media Magazine viewed on 19.04.2011 http://www.anerd.com/fairlight/fairlightstory.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musique_concrete
MUSIC
Public Enemy 1989 fight The Power (Greene Street Recording)) viewed on 19.04/2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_t13-0Joyc
Pubblic Enemy Bring the Noise viewed on 19.04.2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvy7MWjfVPE&feature=fvsr
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS WEBSITES AND ARTICLES
Edwards, C. 20009 “Music and Computers’ in Engineering and technology, Vol 4 Issue 18. Pp 18-21
Gunnell, J. 2007 A History of Music Technology and It’s affect On Popular Music Duquesne University. Viewed 28.04.2011. http://jonathangunnell.com/research/MusicTechOnPop.pdf
Hammer, N. 2005 “Electronic Maestros” in New Scientist vol 185 issues 2492, p. 48-51
Harrison, N. (2004) Can I get an Amen viewed on 19.04.2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac
Author unknown (1996) “Fairlight the Whole Story” in Audio Media Magazine viewed on 19.04.2011 http://www.anerd.com/fairlight/fairlightstory.htm
Wikipedia Sampler (instrument) viewed on 19.04...2011 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampler_%28musical_instrument%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musique_concr%C3%A8te
MUSIC
Public Enemy 1989 fight The Power (Greene Street Recording)) viewed on 19.04/2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_t13-0Joyc
Public Enemy 1988 Bring the Noise Greene Street Recordings.
Viewed on 19.04.2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvy7MWjfVPE&feature=fvsr
UTS Bachelor of SOUND AND MUSIC DESIGN 2010
29 April 2011
28 April 2011
27 April 2011
CM1 - Assessment 2
By Cassie Flood
The Development of Atonality
“Must the majority be made "unmusical" so that a few may become more "musical"?” (Blacking, 1974, p. 4).
François-Joseph Fétis defined modern tonality as the, "set of relationships, simultaneous or successive, among the tones of the scale."(Fétis, 1844) He considered modern tonality as having one established key, and allowing for modulation to other keys and old tonality as establishing one key and remaining in that key for the duration of the piece.
In the early 20th century, music had reached a point where composers could almost follow a set of rules. Interest and tension would be created through the movement from consonance to dissonance and back. This is done by moving away from the tonal centre and back and moving to a different key and back. A chord or a note is said to be consonant when it implies stability, and dissonant when it implies instability. Resolution is the process by which the harmonic progression moves from dissonant chords to consonant chords. Tonality has a hierarchical structure: one chord is the centre to which other chords are supposed to lead. Transpositional techniques such as inversion are not considered applicable.
By this time, the tonality which had prevailed since the 17th century was seen to have reached a crisis or break down point. Because of the "increased use of the ambiguous chords, the less probable harmonic progressions, and the more unusual melodic and rhythmic inflections... the syntax of functional harmony was loosened to the point where at best, the felt probabilities of the style system had become obscure; at worst, they were approaching a uniformity which provided few guides for either composition or listening" (Meyer 1967, p. 241).
A common desire to be innovative soon became apparent in modernism, with composers such as Arnold Schoenberg developing a twelve-tone scale technique to replace tonality as a determining system. While much late-romantic music pushed the limits of tonality, Schoenberg was probably the first to completely break away from it. Tonality was rejected in order to exhibit progress in the stylistic development of music and others had already stretched tonal music to the breaking point. By 1909, Schoenberg had abandoned tonality for the most part, as had many other composers such as Claude Debussy and Heinrich Schenker. The vast array of individual styles was also inherent to modernism, with its emphasis on and personal expression and originality.
Atonality is commonly used in compositions written from about 1908 to the present day where music does not conform to the hierarchical system of pitches focusing on a single, central tone is not used that characterized classical European music between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. The notes of the chromatic scale function independently of one another. (Kennedy 1994) Atonality in its broadest sense describes music that lacks a tonal centre or key. It has allowed greater freedom for musicians as they are able to break away from the standard, limited methods of composition.
Serialism
“Serial music is almost completely detached from "traditional" music, in terms of melody, rhythm, and harmony. Ever since the days of Bach or Haydn, music had been written so that the listener could follow its development from beginning to end. This was done through "logical" harmonic progressions, melodic lines, and a sense of pulse or rhythm. In serial music, the listener is only aware of unrepeated and unpredictable musical "events" which dissolve in and out of each other in an apparently random fashion.” (Han, 1999)
In serial music, the note row is not used as a central theme, but instead a departure point for the development of musical ideas. They are subject to adaptations to create musical variation. They are manipulated commonly through retrogrades and inversions (or a combination of the two) to switch the order and sequences of the music. (Blatter, 1997) Serial composers such as Webern used what Schoenberg called Klangfarbenmelodie – a melodic line made up of instrumental colours. (Ford, 1997) At this point, the importance of tone colour and texture in composition was becoming more dominant, rather than simply tonality.
One of the most defining characteristics of serialism is the use of the twelve-tone series created by Arnold Schoenberg. His system is based on the principle that each of the 12 semitones is considered ‘equal’, and the hierarchy of notes is completely rejected. Total serialism followed the success of the 12-tone series, and developed around the beginning of the 1950's. It continued into the 1960's with composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Pierre Boulez, and Walter Piston. Total serialism is based on the idea that not only notes could be written according to numerical patterns. All aspects of music such as tempo, texture and dynamics could also be serialised.
This could be done in several different ways. A serial composer could have several different series to govern several different elements of the music or have everything being derived from a single numerical series. The aim for the composer is to come as close as possible to having "total control" over every little detail of the piece by way of the series on which it is based.
Examples of this include Structures for two pianos (I, 1952; II, 1961) by the French composer Pierre Boulez, which uses serial elements in pitch, rhythm, dynamics, and attack (how notes are struck and released). In Simon Says (1972) by Beauregard Forth, serial elements include specific harmonies, melodies, beats and key centres. “The music of any serial composer is likely to differ greatly from that of any other serial composer, because serialism is a method or technique of composing that specifies by itself little about the total sound and style of a piece of music.” (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011)
Serial composers took musical composition to its intellectual limits through the use of academic and logical methods. Serialism has influenced contemporary music by challenging traditional conventions and allowing greater musical possibilities. It has impacted on contemporary music by significantly altering compositional methods.
Extended Techniques
Extended techniques are performance techniques used in music to describe unconventional or non-traditional techniques of singing or of playing musical instruments to obtain unusual sounds or different instrumental timbres. The use of extended techniques was uncommon in the classical period however, they have become more common in modern classical music since the 20th century (Miller, Vandome, McBrewster, 2010).
“Extended techniques have also flourished in popular musics, which are typically less constrained by notions of "proper" technique than are traditional orchestral music. Nearly all jazz performers make significant use of extended techniques of one sort or another, particularly in more recent styles like free jazz or avant-garde jazz. Musicians in free improvisation have also made heavy use of extended techniques. Most contemporary composers strive to explore the possibility of different instruments, cooperating with musicians in order to expand the "vocabulary" of given instruments” (Miller, Vandome, McBrewster, 2010).
Extended techniques have significantly impacted on contemporary music. They have allowed for the development of music as much of what was once considered to “cutting edge” or “pushing boundaries” has now been accepted into modern music. As composers and performers begin to step outside of traditionally established methods, these “rules” were able to be changed as the needs of music changed and as a result, many instruments have significantly developed. “Stravinsky's high C in the opening bassoon solo of The Rite of Spring, for example, may have been considered at the very edge of the register for the instrument in that context, something approaching an extended technique, but it is now solidly part of the bassoon symphonic repertoire” (Burtner, 2005). Another example of this is the saxophone. The F# has become a standard feature in recent years which has lead to manufacturers adding an F# key to the instrument. In the 18th century, even the crescendo was considered an extended technique for the orchestra.
Some extended techniques require custom made instruments to explore extended techniques.
“The rush to search out new sonic territories in the 20th century drove the exploration of instrumental sound production. Composers of the European and American avant-garde traditions were intent on utilizing widely different timbres in their compositions. Building on Cowell's early pieces, John Cage invented the prepared piano (1938), filling it with a multitude of small objects that clank, thud, buzz, clink, and click when excited. The intended and audible effect is a piano with the sound of an infinitely variable percussion orchestra.” (Burtner, 2005)
Other examples of extended techniques include bowing under the bridge of a string instrument or with two different bows, using key clicks on a wind instrument, blowing and overblowing into a wind instrument without a mouthpiece, or inserting object on top of the strings of a piano. Most contemporary composers strive to explore the possibility of different instruments, cooperating with musicians in order to expand the "vocabulary" of given instruments. This undoubtedly increases the diversity of instrumental colours for contemporary pieces (Miller, Vandome, McBrewster, 2010).
References:
Books:
Blacking, J., 1974, How Musical is Man?, University of Washington Press, Seattle and London
Fétis, F., 1844, Traité complet de la théorie et de la pratique de l'harmonie contenant la doctrine de la science et de l'art, Conservatoire de Musique, Brussels, English edition translated by Peter M Landey, 2008 as Complete Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Harmony, Pendragon Press, New York.
Meyer, L. B., 1967 Music, the Arts, and Ideas: Patterns and Predictions in Twentieth-Century Culture, University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Kennedy, M., 1994, The Oxford Dictionary of Music - "Atonal", Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York
Blatter A, 1997, Instrumentation and Orchestration, 2nd edition, Schirmer, New York
Ford A, 1997, Illegal Harmonies: Music in the 20th Century, Hale and Iremonger, Sydney
Miller, F. B., Vandome, A. F., McBrewster, J., 2010, Extended Technique, VDM Publishing House Ltd., Mauritius, online synopsis viewed April 27, 2011 <http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Extended-technique/Frederic-P-Miller/e/9786130709679>
Articles:
Burtner, M., 2005, Making Noise: Extended Techniques after Experimentalism, New Music Box, USA, viewed online April 27, 2011 <http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=4076>
Websites:
Han, C., 1999, Serialism, ThinkQuest '99 Team 27110, USA, viewed April 26, 2011 <http://library.thinkquest.org/27110/noframes/periods/serialism.html>
Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011, Serialism, Encyclopædia Britannica Online, viewed 26 April, 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/535601/serialism>.
Bibliography:
Beilharz, K., 2011, Contemporary Music 1 Lectures, UTS Sydney
Books:
Christensen, T., 2002, The Cambridge history of Western music theory, The Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom
Smith Brindle, R., 1987, The new music: the avant-garde since 1945, 2nd edn, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Articles:
McHard, J., Klangfarbenmelodie as a Special Case of Sound-Based Composition, Iconic Press, Michigan, viewed online April 27, 2011 <http://www.futureofmodernmusic.com/article-3.html>
Websites:
Milne, A., 2007, The Tonal Centre – Tonality, Andrew Milne, <http://www.tonalcentre.org/Updates.html>
Solomon, L. J., 2003, Tonality, Modality, and Atonality, Larry J Solomon,
Pritchett, J., 2007, John Cage and the prepared piano: a twelve-year history in six parts, James Pritchett, New Jersey, viewed April 26, 2011 <http://www.rosewhitemusic.com/cage/texts/CagePreparedPiano.html>
The Development of Atonality
“Must the majority be made "unmusical" so that a few may become more "musical"?” (Blacking, 1974, p. 4).
François-Joseph Fétis defined modern tonality as the, "set of relationships, simultaneous or successive, among the tones of the scale."(Fétis, 1844) He considered modern tonality as having one established key, and allowing for modulation to other keys and old tonality as establishing one key and remaining in that key for the duration of the piece.
In the early 20th century, music had reached a point where composers could almost follow a set of rules. Interest and tension would be created through the movement from consonance to dissonance and back. This is done by moving away from the tonal centre and back and moving to a different key and back. A chord or a note is said to be consonant when it implies stability, and dissonant when it implies instability. Resolution is the process by which the harmonic progression moves from dissonant chords to consonant chords. Tonality has a hierarchical structure: one chord is the centre to which other chords are supposed to lead. Transpositional techniques such as inversion are not considered applicable.
By this time, the tonality which had prevailed since the 17th century was seen to have reached a crisis or break down point. Because of the "increased use of the ambiguous chords, the less probable harmonic progressions, and the more unusual melodic and rhythmic inflections... the syntax of functional harmony was loosened to the point where at best, the felt probabilities of the style system had become obscure; at worst, they were approaching a uniformity which provided few guides for either composition or listening" (Meyer 1967, p. 241).
A common desire to be innovative soon became apparent in modernism, with composers such as Arnold Schoenberg developing a twelve-tone scale technique to replace tonality as a determining system. While much late-romantic music pushed the limits of tonality, Schoenberg was probably the first to completely break away from it. Tonality was rejected in order to exhibit progress in the stylistic development of music and others had already stretched tonal music to the breaking point. By 1909, Schoenberg had abandoned tonality for the most part, as had many other composers such as Claude Debussy and Heinrich Schenker. The vast array of individual styles was also inherent to modernism, with its emphasis on and personal expression and originality.
Atonality is commonly used in compositions written from about 1908 to the present day where music does not conform to the hierarchical system of pitches focusing on a single, central tone is not used that characterized classical European music between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. The notes of the chromatic scale function independently of one another. (Kennedy 1994) Atonality in its broadest sense describes music that lacks a tonal centre or key. It has allowed greater freedom for musicians as they are able to break away from the standard, limited methods of composition.
Serialism
“Serial music is almost completely detached from "traditional" music, in terms of melody, rhythm, and harmony. Ever since the days of Bach or Haydn, music had been written so that the listener could follow its development from beginning to end. This was done through "logical" harmonic progressions, melodic lines, and a sense of pulse or rhythm. In serial music, the listener is only aware of unrepeated and unpredictable musical "events" which dissolve in and out of each other in an apparently random fashion.” (Han, 1999)
In serial music, the note row is not used as a central theme, but instead a departure point for the development of musical ideas. They are subject to adaptations to create musical variation. They are manipulated commonly through retrogrades and inversions (or a combination of the two) to switch the order and sequences of the music. (Blatter, 1997) Serial composers such as Webern used what Schoenberg called Klangfarbenmelodie – a melodic line made up of instrumental colours. (Ford, 1997) At this point, the importance of tone colour and texture in composition was becoming more dominant, rather than simply tonality.
One of the most defining characteristics of serialism is the use of the twelve-tone series created by Arnold Schoenberg. His system is based on the principle that each of the 12 semitones is considered ‘equal’, and the hierarchy of notes is completely rejected. Total serialism followed the success of the 12-tone series, and developed around the beginning of the 1950's. It continued into the 1960's with composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Pierre Boulez, and Walter Piston. Total serialism is based on the idea that not only notes could be written according to numerical patterns. All aspects of music such as tempo, texture and dynamics could also be serialised.
This could be done in several different ways. A serial composer could have several different series to govern several different elements of the music or have everything being derived from a single numerical series. The aim for the composer is to come as close as possible to having "total control" over every little detail of the piece by way of the series on which it is based.
Examples of this include Structures for two pianos (I, 1952; II, 1961) by the French composer Pierre Boulez, which uses serial elements in pitch, rhythm, dynamics, and attack (how notes are struck and released). In Simon Says (1972) by Beauregard Forth, serial elements include specific harmonies, melodies, beats and key centres. “The music of any serial composer is likely to differ greatly from that of any other serial composer, because serialism is a method or technique of composing that specifies by itself little about the total sound and style of a piece of music.” (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011)
Serial composers took musical composition to its intellectual limits through the use of academic and logical methods. Serialism has influenced contemporary music by challenging traditional conventions and allowing greater musical possibilities. It has impacted on contemporary music by significantly altering compositional methods.
Extended Techniques
Extended techniques are performance techniques used in music to describe unconventional or non-traditional techniques of singing or of playing musical instruments to obtain unusual sounds or different instrumental timbres. The use of extended techniques was uncommon in the classical period however, they have become more common in modern classical music since the 20th century (Miller, Vandome, McBrewster, 2010).
“Extended techniques have also flourished in popular musics, which are typically less constrained by notions of "proper" technique than are traditional orchestral music. Nearly all jazz performers make significant use of extended techniques of one sort or another, particularly in more recent styles like free jazz or avant-garde jazz. Musicians in free improvisation have also made heavy use of extended techniques. Most contemporary composers strive to explore the possibility of different instruments, cooperating with musicians in order to expand the "vocabulary" of given instruments” (Miller, Vandome, McBrewster, 2010).
Extended techniques have significantly impacted on contemporary music. They have allowed for the development of music as much of what was once considered to “cutting edge” or “pushing boundaries” has now been accepted into modern music. As composers and performers begin to step outside of traditionally established methods, these “rules” were able to be changed as the needs of music changed and as a result, many instruments have significantly developed. “Stravinsky's high C in the opening bassoon solo of The Rite of Spring, for example, may have been considered at the very edge of the register for the instrument in that context, something approaching an extended technique, but it is now solidly part of the bassoon symphonic repertoire” (Burtner, 2005). Another example of this is the saxophone. The F# has become a standard feature in recent years which has lead to manufacturers adding an F# key to the instrument. In the 18th century, even the crescendo was considered an extended technique for the orchestra.
Some extended techniques require custom made instruments to explore extended techniques.
“The rush to search out new sonic territories in the 20th century drove the exploration of instrumental sound production. Composers of the European and American avant-garde traditions were intent on utilizing widely different timbres in their compositions. Building on Cowell's early pieces, John Cage invented the prepared piano (1938), filling it with a multitude of small objects that clank, thud, buzz, clink, and click when excited. The intended and audible effect is a piano with the sound of an infinitely variable percussion orchestra.” (Burtner, 2005)
Other examples of extended techniques include bowing under the bridge of a string instrument or with two different bows, using key clicks on a wind instrument, blowing and overblowing into a wind instrument without a mouthpiece, or inserting object on top of the strings of a piano. Most contemporary composers strive to explore the possibility of different instruments, cooperating with musicians in order to expand the "vocabulary" of given instruments. This undoubtedly increases the diversity of instrumental colours for contemporary pieces (Miller, Vandome, McBrewster, 2010).
References:
Books:
Blacking, J., 1974, How Musical is Man?, University of Washington Press, Seattle and London
Fétis, F., 1844, Traité complet de la théorie et de la pratique de l'harmonie contenant la doctrine de la science et de l'art, Conservatoire de Musique, Brussels, English edition translated by Peter M Landey, 2008 as Complete Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Harmony, Pendragon Press, New York.
Meyer, L. B., 1967 Music, the Arts, and Ideas: Patterns and Predictions in Twentieth-Century Culture, University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Kennedy, M., 1994, The Oxford Dictionary of Music - "Atonal", Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York
Blatter A, 1997, Instrumentation and Orchestration, 2nd edition, Schirmer, New York
Ford A, 1997, Illegal Harmonies: Music in the 20th Century, Hale and Iremonger, Sydney
Miller, F. B., Vandome, A. F., McBrewster, J., 2010, Extended Technique, VDM Publishing House Ltd., Mauritius, online synopsis viewed April 27, 2011 <http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Extended-technique/Frederic-P-Miller/e/9786130709679>
Articles:
Burtner, M., 2005, Making Noise: Extended Techniques after Experimentalism, New Music Box, USA, viewed online April 27, 2011 <http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=4076>
Websites:
Han, C., 1999, Serialism, ThinkQuest '99 Team 27110, USA, viewed April 26, 2011 <http://library.thinkquest.org/27110/noframes/periods/serialism.html>
Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011, Serialism, Encyclopædia Britannica Online, viewed 26 April, 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/535601/serialism>.
Bibliography:
Beilharz, K., 2011, Contemporary Music 1 Lectures, UTS Sydney
Books:
Christensen, T., 2002, The Cambridge history of Western music theory, The Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom
Smith Brindle, R., 1987, The new music: the avant-garde since 1945, 2nd edn, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Articles:
McHard, J., Klangfarbenmelodie as a Special Case of Sound-Based Composition, Iconic Press, Michigan, viewed online April 27, 2011 <http://www.futureofmodernmusic.com/article-3.html>
Websites:
Milne, A., 2007, The Tonal Centre – Tonality, Andrew Milne, <http://www.tonalcentre.org/Updates.html>
Solomon, L. J., 2003, Tonality, Modality, and Atonality, Larry J Solomon,
Pritchett, J., 2007, John Cage and the prepared piano: a twelve-year history in six parts, James Pritchett, New Jersey, viewed April 26, 2011 <http://www.rosewhitemusic.com/cage/texts/CagePreparedPiano.html>
11 April 2011
Birdy Nam Nam
Birdy Nam Nam aim to use the turntable as a melodic instrument as opposed to a means of replaying music and samples.
This video amazes me every single time I watch it.
Enjoy.
This video amazes me every single time I watch it.
Enjoy.
07 April 2011
Synergy Percussion presents IANNIS XENAKIS: PLEIADES
Finally, contemporary music lovers will have their wish come true when Synergy Percussion performs the complete Pleiades at City Recital Hall Angel Place on Wednesday 8 June.
Composer, architect, soldier, mathematician and a pioneer of electronic music, Xenakis created brilliant works for percussion which expressed poetic beauty, his terrible experiences as a Greek resistance fighter during World War II, and his obsession with the intricate layers of mathematics and architecture.
Composed in 1978, this is a true symphony for percussion written in four movements for six musicians. Named after the hot blue star cluster of Pleiades, located in the constellation of Taurus, this dynamic music of organised chaos delivers a galaxy of sound - elemental, tribal, and kaleidoscopic as celestial showers of percussive colours ricochet between the players.
Ten years after his death, the rarely performed Pleiades remains uneclipsed in its epic scale, complexity and ability to take audiences on an unforgettable journey.
With a stage overflowing with drums, marimbas and vibraphones, the work also features Sixxens, crazy micro-tonal metal instruments especially built for this piece.
Synergy Percussion is Australia's premier percussion group, having performed at festivals and concert venues around the world during its 35 year history. This once-in-a-lifetime concert experience continues Synergy's exploration of the classic giants of contemporary percussion music.
Student price $25 or pre-sale discount for adults if you enter code "ANGEL"
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