Author Archives: Kevinernste

sounds

Moog synthesizer:

R.A. Moog Co. Trumansburg Factory

David Borden’s Continuing Story of Counterpoint (Part I, 1977)

Buchla Synthesizer

History and the San Francisco Tape Music Center (Hoodline)

History of the Buchla Synthesizer

Morton Subotnick’s Silver Apples of the Moon (excerpt)

FM Synthesis

The origins of FM, CCRMA, and John Chowning (Father of the Digital Synthesizer)

PureData software

To all students looking to join a music course this semester but who were unable to get into Music 1421–particularly Frenshman and Sophmores who might be thinking of a major or minor in music–I have a recommendation: 1101 Elements of Music, taught by Prof. Andrew Hicks.

As a past a future guest of the course, I can highly recommend it for its nicely-intermingled historical and hands-on/practical approach. A syllabus for the semester is attached for your perusal. Feel free to ask me or contact Prof. Hicks if you think the course might be right for you.

Music 1101 Syllabus

Final semester concert, May 15th at 2pm in Lincoln Hall B20

Concert Order (with rehearsal time in parenthesis):

Joseph Simmons (10:30)
TJ Hurd and Wesley Jung (10:50)
Shining (Christina) Sun (11:10)
Amy Lin (11:30)
Albert Kung/Ryan Lin

Thomas Torng (11:40 … please show up earlier to setup) — Intermission

Adit Arya (12 noon)
Paul DeVito (12:20)
Pehuen Moure  (12:40)
Emre Findik
Miguel Palines (1pm)
Jenae Lowe (1:20)

Below are the (randomly selected) group presentation dates and order. Again, if you have not already, please let me know what equipment you need for your performance/presentation. We are planning to present and discuss these in B20 but you are free to use another space as the project seems appropriate (another motivation for us to view the concert and installation pieces together yesterday). Let me know if I can help secure an appropriate space for your idea.

Let me know if there are any errors in the group listing below…one or two of you never wrote and so I am going on a verbal discussion.

TUESDAY

Group 1:
– TJ Hurd
– Wesley Jung

Group 2:
– Amy Lin
– Ryan Lin
– Albert Kung

Group 3:
– Paul Devito
– Adit Arya

THURSDAY:

Group 4:
– Thomas Torng
– Christina Sun
– Emre Findik

Group 5:
– Pehuen Moure
– M. Jenae Lowe

Group 6:
– Joseph Simmons
– Miguel Palines

Here is the randomly generated order for this coming week’s in-class performances:

Students of Music 2421: Our Thursday visitor will be composer Erin Gee. In preparation for her discussion of “New Uses of the Voice (the vocal cavity as human ‘space’)”, she suggests considering the following questions:

As you prepare for class, here are some questions to ponder, a few excerpts to listen to, and an exercise to practice:

George Aperghis
Recitations 1-14 for solo voice (1977-78) – excerpts, #12 and #13:

Brian Ferneyhough
Time and Motion Study III (1974) for 16 voices with percussion, electronic amplification (and optional loop-tape delay) –

Dieter Schnebel
Für Stimmen…missa est (1956/67-68) for three choir groups and tape ad lib.

Beginning:

Ending:

1. How is listening to vocal music without text (non-semantic vocal music) similar to or different from listening to vocal music with a text in a language we understand? How does the non-semantic use of the voice change our perception of the vocal performer?

a. What are the vocal sound-materials that are used? Where do they come from? What are the compositional techniques that are used?

2. How does a text help guide a composer’s compositional choices? When a text is no longer present or used by the composer for the vocal line, what compositional choices does a composer have to make then?

3. There are three parts of sound production in the vocal tract: the active articulator (tongue or lips), the place of articulation within the mouth, and the type of airflow (where the air comes from and how it moves through the system). Following is an exercise to practice awareness of some possibilities of articulation:

a. Pronounce the syllable “tɑ” (with “ɑ” as in “father”)

b. Notice where the tongue is placed on the roof of the mouth. This point is called the place of articulation.

c. Now move the tongue to different places of articulation in different parts while still trying to pronounce the syllable “tɑ”. At what points does the sound change and why? At what points are you no longer able to produce a recognizable “tɑ” syllable?

d. Write a list of observations about the vocal tract that you discovered from this exercise and a list of the sounds that you found most interesting as part of a journal entry on the voice. Notice in particular what the breath does to create the “t” syllable. What is necessary in the mouth for this to take place?

4. As possibly the only living expert on your own voice, what would you consider to be some of the limitations to the voice or vocal tract that you have come across? These could be specific to your own voice or more general to the vocal tract. And more importantly:

What would be some possible solutions to these limitations?

You could approach this question either from the standpoint of a theoretical “re-designing” of the vocal tract or designing additional systems/technology that could be used in tandem with the vocal tract.

Students of Music 7411: Below are some links of interest from today’s seminar discussion. Think of these as points of reference for you in your own investigations. As I suggested in class, these readings can generally be considered informational and investigatory rather then “required”, providing context for our “workshop” explorations and discussion.

First, some visualizations of the workings of the human ear in response to sound:

1 (Auditory Transduction…with Beethoven), 2 the “Organ of Corti—home of the “hairs”/cilia

Pierre Schaeffer’s Traite´ des objets musicaux does not have an English translation, but there are some references to it’s concepts in Schaeffer’s other work as well as in writing around it, in particular by Brian Kane and Michael Chion (both below).

Pierre Schaeffer’s Solfege de l’objet Sonore (1966)

Pierre Schaeffer’s Acoustmatics (from Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music, 2004) – ML197 .A85 2004

Brian Kane’s L’objet sonore maintenant

Michael Chion’s Guide des objets sonores (Guide to Sound Objects), in english

Acousmatic composer Robert Normandeau’s discussion and proposed revision to Schaefer’s TARTYP (TAbleau Récapitulatif de la TYPologie) from Traite´ des objets musicaux.

Some additional resources, “more to explore”:

An interview of Pierre Scheaffer by with composer/performer Tim Hodgkinson

Several tracks from the 3 CD accompanying set (with translation) to Solfege de l’objet Sonore (1966)

A series of discussions / interviews with Pierre Schaeffer on his then recent publication of the Traite´ des objets musicaux as well as a general overview of his work. You may wish to have your browser “translate” the text to get a better sense of the dialog.

Brian Kane’s (long) Pierre Schaeffer, the Sound Object, and the Acousmatic Reduction (2014)

There are many, many other resources on Schaeffer, including pieces (ubuweb link), some of which are likely familiar to you from previous courses.

STUDENTS WHO DID NOT RESPOND AND WHO ARE, THEREFORE, NOT LISTED BELOW MAY SHOW FOR A SOUNDCHECK AND CONCERT!!!

Below is the concert schedule. Please let me know ASAP if there are any issues or errors that need correcting. Rehearsal times will appear here momentarily.

PD patches and soundfiles: pd_Materials