Extra-Musical Meanings and Spectromorphology

Animated screen-based notation and visual representation of sound provide an important solution to visualising a range of musical phenomena and techniques including continuous parametrical changes, synchronisation with prerecorded audio or live processing, and nonlinear formal organisation. The limitations of human visual capabilities, however, place some constraints upon the efficacy of screen-based representation, particularly in regard to notation reading. Findings from sightreading studies exploring the manner in which notation is encoded, processed and executed are examined with the aim of identifying the perceptual and practical boundaries of presenting animated notation on screen. The development of efficient visual representation is proposed as an important requirement for alleviating the issues created by the time constraints of reading on screen. Studies in semantics and cross-modal activation are discussed as a foundation for the expansion of approaches to the visualisation of sound.

Section: Screen-score Notationsupporting

confidence: 68%

The Limitations of Representing Sound and Notation on Screen

Vickery¹

2014

“…However, it has also been acknowledged that Smalley departed from the acousmatic tradition just as much as he built upon it (Norris 1998; Tanzi 2011), and spectromorphology can certainly be deployed eloquently in analyses of non-electroacoustic music. The concepts of source-bonding and intrinsic–extrinsic coupling reveal that Smalley has never subscribed to the Schaefferian orthodoxy of reduced listening, whereby the formal properties of sounds are divorced from their sources and causes (cf.…”

Section: Reflections On Smalley’s Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Spectromorphology vocabulary is now taught in several UK universities as part of undergraduate and graduate degree programmes, often in tandem with visual aids (Blackburn 2011). There have also been reflections on Smalley’s theories and compositions in relation to the Schaefferian acousmatic tradition (O’Callaghan 2011; Tanzi 2011) as well as elaborate re-imaginings of space-form (Nyström 2011) and critical engagements with its principles (Born 2013). Yet a relatively unexplored question is whether spectromorphology and space-form might be relevant to musics beyond the electroacoustic sphere.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-orientating Spectromorphology and Space-form through a Hybrid Acoustemology

Spencer

2017

This article re-orientates Denis Smalley’s work on spectromorphology and space-form through a case study of electronic dance music (EDM) on YouTube. An EDM track and its related YouTube comments are analysed concurrently in order to examine how sound-shapes and sonic spatiality are experienced in practice on the social web. Using Stephen Feld’s notion of acoustemology as a theoretical base, I argue that semantic and somantic ways of knowing through sound are thoroughly entangled. A hybrid acoustemology model is outlined, merging spectromorphology and space-form with elements of ecosemiotics and music psychology. The model is then deployed during an acoustemology of the trance/breakbeat trackFinished Symphonyby Hybrid (1999). Selected YouTube comments onFinished Symphonyuploads are coded deductively using the descriptive system of Gabrielsson and Wik (2003). A larger set of comments is subsequently collected for inductive content analysis, which highlights some wider issues relating to the words we use for music and sound. The article concludes by calling forvantage point shiftsin music research.

“…Norman (1994, 1996) suggests the concept of real-world music to describe the electroacoustic music that uses referential sound to create narratives that establish a dialogue with reality. Other authors that discussed the use of referential sound in electroacoustic music include John Young (1996), Rajmil Fischmann (2008), Gabriele Proy (2002), Aki Pasoulas (2011), Dante Tanzi (2011) and James O’Callaghan (2011). A closer discussion of the various nuances involved in this discussion goes beyond the scope of this article.…”

Section: Five Meanings Of Space In Music and Sound Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating Sound in Space: Five meanings of space in music and sound art

Macedo

2015

Since the 1950s the spatiality of sound has become a key concept in different fields of artistic practice, emerging as one of the most relevant subjects in the contemporary arts. Ideas related to sound and space have been used in different discourses and practices to refer to or to explore perceptually different facets of the spatiality of sound. In the field of fine art they have been associated with the emergence of sound art, while in music, they have been associated with spatial music. In spite of this widespread interest in sound and space, the uses of spatial concepts in relation to sound and music have been inconsistent, with different authors and practitioners referring to different aspects of the complex relationship between the two. In this article I suggest a typology with five categories to describe five meanings of space I identified in the recent literature of music and sound art: metaphor, acoustic space, sound spatialisation, reference and location. With this typology I expect to clarify the contemporary uses of space and spatial concepts in music and sound art.