Sonic Art: An Introduction to Electroacoustic Music Composition

306 Pages·2016·3.78 MB·English

by  Adrian Moore

Sonic Art
Written by an active composer, performer and educator, Sonic Art: An
Introduction to Electroacoustic Music Composition provides a clear and
informative introduction to the compositional techniques behind
electroacoustic music. It brings together theory, aesthetics, context and
practical applications to allow students to start thinking about sound
creatively, and gives them the tools to compose meaningful sonic art works.
In addition to explaining the techniques and philosophies of sonic art, the
book examines over forty composers and their works, introducing the
history and context of notable pieces, and includes chapters on how to
present compositions professionally, in performance and online. The book
is supported by an online software toolkit which enables readers to start
creating their own compositions. Encouraging a ‘hands-on’ approach to
working with sound, Sonic Art is the perfect introduction for anyone
interested in electroacoustic music and crafting art from sounds.
Adrian Moore is Reader in Music at the University of Sheffield and
Director of the University of Sheffield Sound Studios. He is an active
composer and performer of electroacoustic music.
Sonic Art
An Introduction to Electroacoustic Music
Composition
Adrian Moore
First published 2016
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Taylor & Francis
The right of Adrian Moore to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by
any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are
used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Moore, Adrian, 1969– author.
Title: Sonic art : an introduction to electroacoustic music composition / Adrian Moore.
Description: New York, NY; Abingdon, Oxon : Routledge, 2016. | “2016 | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015036701 | ISBN 9781138925014 (hardback) | ISBN 9781138925038
(paperback) | ISBN 9781315684024 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Computer composition. | Electronic composition. | Computer music–Instruction and
study.
Classification: LCC MT56.M66 2016 | DDC 781.3/4–dc23LC record available at
http://lccn.loc.gov/2015036701
ISBN: 978-1-138-92501-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-92503-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-68402-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Out of House Publishing
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
1 What is Sound?
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Composition and Recording
1.3 Descriptors
1.4 The Sound Object
1.5 Gesture
1.6 Texture
1.7 Landscape
1.8 Environments
1.9 The Continuum
Notes
References
2 What Does all this Software Do?
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The USSS Pd Toolkit
2.3 Compound Tools
2.4 For Advanced Users
2.5 Csound and Blue
2.6 Computer Music Software
2.7 SoX
2.8 Reverberation
2.9 Mixing
2.10 A Few Words about Kit
2.11 But If You Are Going to Buy Something
Notes
References
3 The Theory of Opposites
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Effects and Descriptors
3.3 Structure
3.4 Form
3.5 Originality
3.6 Revisiting the Mix
3.7 A Very Obvious Conclusion
Notes
References
4 Multichannel Composition
4.1 Composing in a Multichannel Studio
4.2 Multichannel Sound Manipulation
4.3 Multichannel Additions to the USSS Toolkit
4.4 The Multichannel Gesture
4.5 The Multichannel Texture
4.6 Multichannel Mixing
4.7 Multichannel Performance
4.8 Listening in Multichannel
Notes
References
5 Examples from the Repertoire
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Examples
5.3 What’s Left
Notes
References
6 Space and Time
6.1 Space (and Time)
6.2 Time (and Space)
6.3 Wave – Particle Duality
6.4 Quantum Theory of Opposites
6.5 Time and Space Equals Energy
6.6 The Practicalities of Time
6.7 The Practicalities of Space
Notes
References
7 Philosophical Reasonings
7.1 Understanding Sound and Understanding Sound
7.2 A Social Theory of Learning
7.3 An Historical Perspective
7.4 The Brain on Electroacoustic Music
Notes
References
8 The Presentation of your Work in Performance
8.1 Prior to the Concert
8.2 The Rehearsal
8.3 The Concert
8.4 The Art of Sound Diffusion
8.5 Further Reading
Notes
References
9 The Presentation of your Work Outside Performance
9.1 Presenting your Work for Submission
9.2 Presenting your Work for Competitions and Concerts
9.3 Backing Up and Recording your Progress
9.4 Presenting your Work on the Internet
Notes
References
Appendices
A USSS Toolkits
A.1 Downloading and Installing Software
B Composer Recollections
B.1 Kevin Austin
B.2 Jonty Harrison
B.3 Andrew Lewis
B.4 Alistair MacDonald
B.5 Adrian Moore
B.6 Louise Rossiter
B.7 Pete Stollery
C Binary Representations
C.1 Decimal (Base 10)
C.2 Binary (Base 2)
C.3 Counting in Binary
C.4 Bits, Bytes and Leading Zeros
C.5 Adding Binary Numbers
C.6 Representing Negative Numbers
C.7 Fractional Numbers
C.8 Floating Point
C.9 ASCII Strings
C.10 Hexadecimal
D Pure Data (Pd)
D.1 Basic Units of Programming Pd
D.2 Signal Processing in Pd
D.3 Sampling
Glossary
Index
Figures
1.1 Microphone play space
1.2 The work – reflect process
1.3 ADSR envelope
1.4 The relation of language to materials
1.5 Artificial and natural shape design
1.6 Graphical analogy of the ‘kiki, bouba’ effect
1.7 Emerge–release profile
1.8 Upbeat profile
1.9 Downbeat profile
1.10 Complex object profile
1.11 Similar but different profile
1.12 Sound object as trigger
1.13 Sound object texture carried
1.14 Attack with ‘torn flag’ ending
1.15 A Pd patch to generate a quick filter swish or swipe with frequency
and amplitude shapes
1.16 Bouncing ball motif, accelerate to gesture
1.17 A chirp based on Farnell 2010 with acceleration and deceleration
motions
1.18 An illustration of granular synthesis to create a time stretch texture
1.19 Randomised input pointer delivering hyper-mixed resultant