Eclectic I

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Creative Computing Major

Concrete Harmony
Luke Digance
2’30

In writing this piece I hope to challenge the musical ideals behind music concrete, and establish the foundations of traditional western music within music concrete.

To begin this process I started off gathering a group of ‘found sounds’ in which I could use. When editing these sounds I did not use any technique that was not typically used within music concrete.

I then proceeded to challenge the ideal that ‘found sounds’ need to be treated as sounds that are de-referenced from their source yet treated as sonic objects and not harmonic or melodic ones.

I continued to de-reference the sounds from their source, employing a number of traditional music concrete techniques to do this, but furthering this I analysed the fundamental frequencies of each sound and referenced them to a pitch. From this a chordal structure was born which progressed into a traditional western harmonic chord progression.

In doing this I feel that I haven’t actually bridged any gaps between the two musical schools of thought, but rather highlight the already existing union between the two in a lot of modern ‘computer music.’ This is also why the last part of the piece becomes slightly more modern with the use of a beat to tie the last 30 seconds together.

Harmonic Concrete

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Audio Arts Minor

Here is my recording of the Band 101 Damnations.




101 Damnations

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Technology Journal Week 13 Submission

Workshop with David Harris.

Steve Reich



Electric Counterpoint 1987

Movement 2. -Fast
Pat Matheny on guitar



This was a minimalist piece with constant repeating of a theme that other instruments and sounds were layered and in turn de-layered on top of. The harmony in the piece was really quite incredible. This style of piece gave the guitar a unique timbre in how it sat amongst the other sounds.

Movement 3. -After the War.

Was written for recorded quartet, live quartet, recorded train calls (voice,) and recorded train whistles. It was quite incredible piece. It had several sections and at the end of each section, one or more of the instruments in the quartet would introduce a different theme over the top of the end of the last section. It seemed slightly out of place when introduced but when it moved into the next section properly it was a powerful transition. I really liked the piece, the recorded sounds of trains and voice were done very well so as they didn't clutter the piece.

Tristram Cary



Soft Walls 1986



Written on a Synclavier synthesiser. It made use of many different sounds and 'pads.' I liked the way it would have many sections going and then introduce a certain sound that would lead the music into a different section of the piece; much in the same way that the instruments in the quartet of Steve Reich's 'after the war' did. Overall it sounded more like a study then an actual piece of music though.

Steam Music

Comprising solely of train noises overlayed on top of each other, you would first assume that this piece would be very monotonous. Instead it is incredibly haunting and compelling. It almost sounds as though it is in an oriental scale. The piece becomes more active as more and more sounds are meshed together and the volume increases until it fades away again at the end of the piece to the original skeleton of the piece.

Pink Floyd
'Interstellar Overdrive' From 'Piper at the Gates of Dawn 1966



David Harris described this piece as there first experimentations into 'weird' music. It begins sounding like typical rock, but quickly descends into a chaotic amalgamation of 'musical sounds.' There is a brief moment where it returns to 'normality' before ending once again in controlled 'chaos.' The piece is basically a controlled deconstruction of the music. I liked it but felt it went on a bit to long at points. I think it's one of those pieces you need to listen to in the right mood, which I wasn't.

Audio Arts

"Psycho Physical Mixing"

This class was especially enlightening. Although some concepts I had covered in C4, it was good to have a re-fresh and the whole concept was expanded upon in much greater detail. The use of amplitude, frequency, panning and FX to give body to a mix and give instruments and sounds there own space was the topic of the lesson this week.

Creative Computing

De-referencing sound from its source and the concepts and 'how to' was the focus of the lesson this week. The techniques presented particularly using one sound to 'play' another were awesome and I think I'm going to find them invaluable for the 'Musique concrete' assignment and indeed for many other pieces I work on in the future.






Picture References
(In order of appearance)

#1 unknown. "Steve Reich." Steve Reich Website. 2006. http://www.stevereich.com/ (8 June 2006).

#2 Amazon.com. "Different Trains/Electronic counterpoint/Kronos Quartet/Pat Matheny." Amazon music catalogue. 2006 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000005IYU/002-9078028-8563211?v=glance&n=5174 (8 June 2006).

#3 Tristram, Cary. "Tristram Cary." Tristram Cary homepage. 2006. http://users.senet.com.au/~trisc/ (8 June 2006).

#4 Warren, Burt. "Soundings." Tall Poppies Records. 2006. http://members.iinet.net.au/~tallpoppies@iinet.net.au/index.cgi?tp=cd&val=139 (8 June 2006).

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Technology Journal week 12 submission

Forum

Vinny Baghat

Performed piece he wrote last summer. Originally intended for a Jazz singer to accompany but the intended singer declined saying it wasn’t her style. Never the less it was an enjoyable piece. It began on a very experimental edge with a looping sample and live piano, but then progressed into a more ‘standard’ drum and bass style track. Excluding the live piano part, the piece was written entirely using Reason. The Piano part was based around the ‘gypsy’ scale.

Patrick McCartney

Proposed a musical project for any interested to be performed at the Mawson Lakes Planetarium. The idea is for people to choose one of 9 themes relating to a principle in ‘Astrophysics;’ Creation, Evolution, Reproduction, Non-Duality etc. and then either individually or in groups compose some music based around the chosen concept.

There will be a monthly workshop at the planetarium for people to come together and work on and talk about what they have been doing for there piece. Each theme will require a poster to be made based on the theme and the process around composing the piece which will then be compiled into a cd cover to attach to c.d. copies of the recordings; which will then in turn be sold with the money going towards the charitable trust fund Patrick has established called “hope for a new generation.”

He hopes for it to be a “process of self discovery*1” and Yoga and meditation are also a possibility to help encourage positive and productive outcomes from the process. I think it is a great idea and would love to be involved but will have to make sure I have the time to commit to such a project.

Tyrell Blackburn

Played some music by the New York based Electronic composer Ryoji Iked off his album “Data-Plex.” The music was very well crafted; using ‘clicks’ and ‘bleeps’ as a main source of musical content. I found it quite enjoyable, particularly when some ambient style loops were introduced, yet at times I felt it didn’t progress or change enough.



Workshop with David Harris

Nobukazu Takemura “Assembler Mix.”

The Aesthetic of this piece resembled that of musique concrete but with a more modern approach. I thought the beat introduced tied it together nicely

Gut Bucket "Snarling wrath of Angry Gods."

Using Assymetrical rhythm, this piece sits outstide of your typical heavy rock sound. The Barratone Sax steals the show in the end.

J.S. Bach 6 Part Ricecar from "Musical Offering."

Originally an improvised piece based upon a tune that the prussian king presented to him believing it would be to difficult for Bach to improvise a piece around. Bach proved him greatly wrong. Although I felt this piece deserved to be played on a grand piano and not a harpsichord, it was still enjoyable.

Toby Twining "Kyrie."

The layering of vocal harmonies within this piece was nothing short of incredible. It was also cool to hear harmonic singing used in this context as I have only heard it done solo before listening to this piece.

Arnold Dreyblatt "Lapse."

This piece was based on the overtone series. This gave the feeling of the piece sitting outside normal harmonic conventions yet still having a tinge of dissonant to consanant release to it. The array of instruments and the way they were played was quite unique and enjoyable too.

Yotomo Yoshihide Featuring John Zohrn "Hardcore Chinease Opera."

A mix of abstract 'noises' to create a highly rhythmic sonic result built up a great tension untill the only final release was that of the silence at the end. Used Block technique

Igor Stravinsky Symphonies of wind instruments

Also used Block technique. David Harris defined this as "A series of ideas that are extended upon and varied and then revisited. So it's like a musical narrative thats alive!*2" It was a quite enjoyable piece. I enjoyed the classical style instruments playing something outside normal classical style. I find the aesthetic to be quite thoughtfull.

Audio Arts
"Drum and Space" Basic mic'ing techniques for a drum kit and the way to approach them within different recording spaces. The reading was quite informative, particuarly the "mixing with your mind." articles.

Creative Computing
The Tape techniques discussed within this class were quite usefull. Some I am quite familliar with but there were some and just different approaches to ones that I am familliar with that have expanded my understanding. They should prove expecially usefull for the creative computing musique concrete assignment.

References
*1 Patric, McCartney. "Planetarium project. Music Tech Forum." Lecture presented at Univeristy of Adelaide, 1 June 2006.

*2 David, Harris. "Music Technology workshop." Lecture presented at University of Adelaide, 1 June 2006.

Picture Reference (in order of appearance.)

#1 Boomkat. "Boomkat Editorial" c.d. catalogue Ryoji Ikeda. 2006 http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=19845 (1 June 2006).

#2 Jim, Newberry. "Thrill Jockey artist page." Nobukazu Takemura . 2006. http://www.thrilljockey.com/press/index.html?id=10033 (1 June 2006).

#3 Amazon.com "Amazon catalogue." Gutbucket. 2006. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001WJNTG/ref=ase_sixapart-20/104-8590153-6268737?s=music&v=glance&n=5174&tagActionCode=sixapart-20 (1 June 2006).

#4 David. J. Grossman. "J.S. Bach," Arangements for electric bass. 2004. http://www.jsbach.net/bass/composer.html (1 june 2006).

#5 CGI. "Primarily A cappella." Toby Twinning. 2006. http://www.singers.com/choral/tobytwining.html (1 June 2006).

#6 Tom, Roberts. "Dusted review.'' Arnold Dreyblatt. 31 March 2002. http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/106 (1 June 2006).

#7 Yoshiyuki, Suziki. "Improvised Music from Japan." Otomo Yoshihide. 2006. http://www.japanimprov.com/yotomo/ (1 June 2006).

#8 Matt, Boynick. "Classical Music Pages." Igor Stravinsky. 2006 http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/stravinsky_4.jpg (1 June 2006).