Searching for lost data: outlines of aesthesic–poietic analysis

Abstract

Fifty years down the line, the analysis of computer music is still a very complex issue, highly dependent on the identity of computer music itself: the variety of software, the lack of a common musical notation for scores, the absence or presence of computer data. This has led to the emergence of a multitude of analytical methods, including aesthesical analysis, which approaches music from the point of view of perception, and poietical analysis, which pays attention to the creative process.This study aims to combine these two methods of analysis in order to understand the relationship between technology and the actual piece of music. The article presents a methodological approach – focused on six pieces produced at IRCAM in Paris and at CSC in Padua, between 1975 and 1985 – via an in-depth consideration of Mauro Graziani's Winter leaves, a work conceived in 1980 at the CSC using Music360. The method used consists of comparing data collected using a diversity of practices: repeated listening, the tracing of graphical schematics, sonogram and spectrogram analysis, data listing analysis. An algorithm has also been created in order to calculate the degree to which the software is exploited and to enable a comparison between the different analyses. It is hoped that this procedure will combine traditional musicological methods with new approaches suited to the medium and grounded in a thorough knowledge of computer technology and musical environments.

Sound models for synthesis: a structural viewpoint

“…In sample processing algorithms, each input sample is processed on a sample-by-sample basis, as for example happens in frequency modulation synthesis. (Zattra, 2004).…”

“…The piece is controlled both in its composition and in its synthesis by simple patterns. It progresses from the generation and accumulation of fundamental materials to their definitively structured organization at the end (Zattra, 2003a(Zattra, , 2004.…”

“…Figure 3. Time domain (left) and frequency domain (right) representation of an excerpt of Winter Leaves by Mauro Graziani(Zattra, 2004).…”

Recovering Music-Theatre Works Involving Electronic Elements: The case of Molly Bloom and FE…DE…RI…CO…

“…The comparison of different sources helps and reinforces the listening analysis based on visualisation tools such as spectrograms and sonograms (Orio and Zattra 2007). In addition to this, it is also relevant to note the importance of documentation for the preservation of this type of work, particularly the use of methodologies from areas such as conservation and restoration in order to complement the methods of musicology: ‘Once completed, the analysis does not provide us with any definitive analytical conclusions about the work, but acts as a learning process which improves our understanding of the work as the analysis progresses’ (Zattra 2004: 37). A documentation process, which implies the production of new documentation through interviews and the collection of contextual documentation in order to identify the authors and produce documentation, is an ultimate strategy for recreating performances such as those of Constança Capdeville.…”

Musicological Analysis as Cognition of Composition’s Artistic Logic

“…Особливу увагу було також приділено зарубіжним працям з техніки сучасної композиції та методів її аналізу (Smalley, 1997;Zattra, 2004;Thoresen, 2007). У цьому ряду важко переоцінити «Трактат про музичні об'єкти» П. Шеффера (Schaeffer, 1966) Візуалізація динамічного профілю композиції сприяє розумінню дослідника нерозривного зв'язку динамічного розвитку та структури твору: надає йому змогу визначити динамічні зони, зону кульмінації, а також визначити окремі структурні розділи, осягнути загальну будову твору.…”