340 research outputs found

    Voice and poetry as inspiration and material in acousmatic composition

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    This thesis combines both practice-based research, in the form of acousmatic composition, and theoretical research, addressing voice and poetry both as inspiration and material. It includes a portfolio of original compositions and a written text with aesthetic ideas that informed the compositional process. The aim of the research was to propose a particular creative strategy, based on Chilean poet Vicente Huidobro’s aesthetic theory; a system which aims to create artistic works independent of real world by taking materials from reality and combining them in unexpected ways through an equilibrium between rationality and intuition. This theory, alongside various other theoretical and artistic sources informing the creative process, is explained in a section entitled Compositional Rationale. The broader thesis is divided into two parts, each starting with a methodology relating to the compositions described within: Part 1: Octophonic cycle La lumière artificielle and Part 2: Three acousmatic tributes. In order to examine how the Compositional Rationale operates within the portfolio’s pieces, an analytical methodology has been proposed. This is described in an Analytical methodology section and considers the use of two parts of the tripartite model proposed by Nattiez (1990) and developed for electroacoustic music by Roy (2004). The two parts of the tripartite model are poietic analysis and neutral analysis. The first describes the creative process and compositional considerations of the author, and the second details the constitutive elements of each piece within five areas; Pierre Schaeffer’s notion of sound objects (1966), Denis Smalley’s notion of spectromorphological functions (1997), levels of spatial function by Annette Vande Gorne (2010), and finally two more types of analyses developed by the author: voice type and speech-sound type. Taken as a whole, the analysis demonstrates the structural constitution of each piece, and thus shows how Huidobro’s creative system, called creacionismo, has been applied successfully to acousmatic composition, generating the notion of acousmatic-creationist as nomenclature for the process. This is the main outcome of this thesis, a new artistic strategy which balances rationality and intuition within acousmatic composition and places poetry as a driven force in the use of voice, merging artistic practice and theory in a recursive action

    Hybrid filter blending to maintain facial expressions in rendered human portraits

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    Artistic rendering of human portraits is different and more challenging than that of landscapes or flowers. Issues are eye, nose, and mouth regions (i.e., facial features) where we need to represent their natural emotions. Shades or darkness around eyes, or shininess at nose tips may negatively impact the rendering result if not properly dealt with. Similarly, a lighter colour around the mouth region caused by lighting might produce some disturbing artefacts. The proposed computerised method attempts to be adaptive to those sensitive areas by utilising a face analysis module. First, the program detects main facial segments and features. Then it utilises a blending of various filtering parameters aiming at an adequate final portrait that represents the subject's original facial expression, while still supporting a non-photorealistic artistic rendering as the perceived impression

    Kenneth Frazelle's Blue Ridge airs I and Sonata for cello and piano : a synthesis of music, poetry, and nature

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    The purpose of this research is to document the life and work of American composer, Kenneth Frazelle (b. 1955). A native of North Carolina, Frazelle is a graduate of The Juilliard School in New York where he studied composition with Roger Sessions. Commissioned by artists such as cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Jeffrey Kahane, soprano Dawn Upshaw, and flutist Paula Robison as well as the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Spoleto Festival U.S.A., Frazelle composes in a wide range of media and genres. His compositions continually bring him critical acclaim as they are performed nationally and internationally. Frazelle's works show that literary, visual, and musical influences play an important role in his creative processes. His settings of the poetry of A. R. Ammons (40 poems to date) reveal his intimate knowledge of this poet's works. Inspiration from visual art and landscape affect the shapes and sonorities of his music. In addition, Appalachian and Southern folk song have been incorporated into his music in a unique fashion. This study includes seventy musical examples which reveal Frazelle's musical growth and the evolution of a distinctive manuscript style

    Real-time composition as a strategy for the 21st century composer

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    Real-Time Composition, despite being a term commonly used in computer music and free improvisation circles, is also one whose definition is not clear. This dissertation aims to, in seeking and attempting its conceptualisation, permit a deeper look at the core of the activity of western classical music making. By discussing the concepts and current views on composition, improvisation, musical work, interpretation and performance, we will propose a working definition that will later serve as a model for music making; one that involves both the composer and performers, influenced by their context, as creators. This model borrows heavily from Walter Thompson’s Soundpainting technique. We will then analyse the outcome of three different concerts, of increasing complexity and level of control, that resulted from the previous discussion and end by concluding that Real-Time Composition is, in fact, fundamentally different from improvisation, and an extension of western classical music practice.A Composição em Tempo Real, apesar de ser um termo regularmente utilizado nos círculos da música electrónica e da improvisação livre, não tem uma definição clara. Esta dissertação tem como objectivo, ao procurar a sua conceptualização, perceber de forma mais profunda o núcleo da actividade produtiva da música clássica ocidental. Ao discutir os conceitos e entendimentos correntes de composição, improvisação, obra musical, interpretação e performance, será proposta uma definição operacional que irá posteriormente servir como modelo para a criação musical; este modelo envolve tanto compositores como intérpretes, influenciados pelo seu contexto, enquanto criadores. Este modelo é baseado na técnica de Soundpainting, desenvolvida por Walter Thompson. De seguida iremos analisar o resultado de três concertos diferentes, de complexidade e níveis de controlo crescentes, que decorreram da discussão anterior, e terminar com a conclusão de que a Composição em Tempo Real é, de facto, fundamentalmente diferente da improvisação, e uma extensão da prática da música clássica ocidental

    Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 41 (02) 1987

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    published or submitted for publicatio

    Narrative through texture: shaping sound through abstract painting in my practice of ambient music

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    In an aesthetic of ambient music, this research investigates the creation of musical narrative through texture. The author finds varying results by experimenting with two ways of shaping sound; shaping sound with the use of controllers and designing sound through the aid of abstract paintings. This research focuses on the collaboration with Dutch painter Martijn den Ouden. The author discovers meaningful similarities between den Ouden’s abstract paintings and his music and derives novel compositional ideas from strategies in musical mapping. These ideas are explored in the accompanying album Expired Sceneries, a collection of four pieces, each relating to one of the paintings. The strategies involved in the process of composing this album are discussed and evaluated in this submission with the help of audio examples
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